November 14, 2023 • 35 mins
Great Speeches - Joe Biden at the Carpenters Training Center in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, President Biden announces the details of the American Jobs Plan. The plan proposes to modernize existing transportation infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, and airports, and build new rail corridors and transit lines. It will also work to tackle climate change by cutting pollution and providing incentives for Americans to buy clean cars. The plan will also focus on replacing the nation's lead pipes and providing high-speed internet service. President Biden plans to pay for the plan by increasing the corporate tax rate, and he makes a plea for bipartisan support for the plan.
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Good afternoon, and welcome to Pennsylvania, Mister President. My name is Mike
Fiori, and I'm a senior lineworker from Duke Can Light and a proud
member of the International Brotherhood of ElectricalWorkers Local twenty nine right here in Pittsburgh.
From day one of this pandemic,me and my coworkers have been on
the front lines. It's my job. There's no working from home. We've
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kept the lights on and the powerrunning to communities throughout western Pennsylvania. Every
day I deal with our electrical grid, so I know how critical infrastructure is
to our communities. That's why I'mso excited about Joe Biden's Build Back Better
plan. Nearly everyone agrees that weneed to modernize our roads, bridges,
power grids, airports, and railroads, that we need to invest in new
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energy technologies in American made manufacturing.But what President Biden is proposing isn't just
an investment in infrastructure. It's aninvestment in good union jobs. It's an
investment in good schools in strong communities. It is an investment in the future
so many forgotten paths in America.My brother teaches at Pine Richland High School
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in Gibsonia, just north of here, the same high school we both went
to. The kind of investment JoeBiden is talking about would mean so much
to his school and to his students, both now and in the years to
come. For example, President Bidenproposes a massive expansion of high speed broadband,
and that's critical to the health ofso many small towns in this area.
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I've got two little kids at homemyself, and I don't want to
see them leave the area or eventhe state to find opportunities. The Build
Back Better plan is directed at communitieslike mine. It's about opening up opportunities,
revitalizing local businesses, and creating jobs. For decades, Pennsylvania was a
global leader in manufacturing at good unionjobs. It can be that way again,
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as President Biden has a solid planto make that happen. I also
don't want my kids growing up ina world where the threat of climate change
hangs over their heads. That meansinvesting in electrical vehicle charging infrastructures, in
all forms of clean power technology,so we can slash garbon emissions and create
tens of thousands of green energy jumps, union jumps. And that's exactly what
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President Biden is proposing. Here's anotherreason I'm so excited about this. I'm
one hundred percent of union guy.It is in my blood. The union
changed my life and it gave meopportunities I could never have dreamed of.
Being a line worker isn't always easy, but thanks to my union, I
enjoy a great paycheck, strong healthand retirement benefits, and a voice on
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the job. Here's who else isa union guy, Joe Biden, And
he said again and again, unionsbuilt the middle class. That's why his
plan supports collective bargaining rights, itsupports a living wage and making sure the
taxpayer money goes to supporting American mademanufacturing. The men and women of the
IBW are ready to get to workrebuilding our infrastructure, retooling our plants,
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and revitalizing our communities and the middleclass. We're ready to build America back
better. So it is my pleasureand it is my honor to introduce the
President of the United States, JoeBiden. Thank you. Go Mike ast
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me and say, though, Bobby, my good friend, he asked me
back there, he said, doyou ever get nervous? And he said,
because I got up this morning madebreakfast of my kids. So I
got introduced to president and well,I said to you, Mike, you
did a heck of a job.But I'd get nervous if I had to
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get up in the middle of thenight, climb up a telephone pole replaced
in the middle of a storm,a connection that knocked out everybody's electricity,
put a transform and that's what theywould make me nervous. So what you
did was really good. I couldn'tdo what you do, Pal, I
couldn't do what you do, andI want to. And it's true,
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Mike, you're a union guy.Me too. I got in trouble,
but I don't make any apologies forit. I'm a union guy. I
support unions. Unions built the middleclass. It's about time they start to
get piece of the action. Toall my colleagues, from the county executive,
of the Mayorage, everyone that's here, I want to say thank you,
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Thank you Congressman for the for thepassport in your district, and I
appreciate to being here. I'm honoredto be with you. Two years ago,
I began my campaign here in Pittsburghsaying I was running to rebuild the
backbone of America, and today Ireturn as your president to lay out the
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vision of how I believe we dothat rebuild the backbone of America, as
a vision not seen through the eyesof Wall Street or Washington, but through
the eyes of hard working people likethe people I grew up with, People
like Mike and his union family,union workers, this Carpenter's Training Center.
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People like the folks I grew upwith in Scranton and Claymont, Delaware.
People will get up every day,work hard, raise their family, pay
their taxes, serve their country,and volunteer for their communities and just look
for a little bit of breathing room, just a little bit of light.
Ordinary Americas, extraordinary things. Peoplewho break their necks every day for their
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families and the country they love.The country that, in fact, which
on the day I was elected,was an extreme distress with a virus on
a deadly rampage that has now killedover four thousand. Assume me five hundred
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I carried in my pocket every day. I have the list of exactly how
many have died. Five hundred andforty seven thousand, two hundred and ninety
six Americans dead from the virus,more than all the people killed in World
War One, World War Two,the Vietnam War, nine to eleven,
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five hundred and forty seven thousand,two hundred and ninety six Americans, and
an economy that left millions out ofwork and created so much anxiety. That's
why I moved so quickly to passthe American Rescue Plan with the help of
my friends here in the Congress.I really mean that it didn't pass by
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a whole lot, but with theleadership of Connor and Bobby and you got
it done. Because it was anemergency. We needed to act to save
jobs, to save businesses, tosave lives, and that's what we did.
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We're beginning to see the results.We're on our way to having given
two hundred million vaccination shots in thefirst one hundred days of my presidency.
When I said I'd get one hundredmillion done, people thought it was a
significant exaggeration. We're going to gettwo hundred million done, twice the original
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goal because of all the help ofall of you. Leading economists are now
predicting our economy will grow six percentthis year. That's a rate we haven't
seen in years and years. Wecan cut child poverty in half this year.
With the American Rescue Plan, we'remeeting immediate emergencies. Now it's time
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to rebuild. Even before the crisis, we're now facing. Those at the
very top in America were doing verywell, which is fine. They were
doing great, but everyone else isfalling behind. The pandemic only made the
division so much worse and more obvious. Millions of Americans lost their jobs last
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year, while the wealth is onepercent of Americans saw their net worth increased
by four trillion dollars. Just goesto show you how stored to an unfair
our economy has become. Wasn't alwaysthis way. Well, it's time to
change that. I note parenthetically thatI got criticized for giving tax breaks to
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middle class and poor folks this lasttime. I didn't hear that. Cry
you and cry when we're doing thesame thing. When Trump's tax bill passed,
eighty three percent of the money wentto the top one percent. You
know this is not the target thosewho made it, not to seek retribution.
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This is about opening opportunities for everybodyelse. And here's the truth.
We all will do better when weall do well. It's time to build
our economy from the bottom up andfrom the middle out, not the top
down. It hadn't worked very wellfor the economy overall. It hadn't work
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because Wall Street didn't build this country. You great middle class built this country,
and unions built the middle class.And it's time. In this time
when we rebuild the middle class,We're gonna bring everybody along, regardless of
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your background, your color, yourreligion, the winter, everybody gets to
come along. So today I'm proposinga plan for the nation that rewards work,
not just rewards wealth. It buildsa fair economy that gives everybody a
chance to succeed, and it's goingto create the strongest, most resilient,
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innovative economy in the world. It'snot a plan that tinkers around the edges.
It's a once in a generation investmentin America, unlike anything we've seen
or done since we built the InterstateHighway system and the space Race decades ago.
In fact, it's the largest Americanjobs investments since World War Two.
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Will create millions of jobs, goodpaying jobs, will grow the economy,
make us more competitive around the world, promote our national security interest, and
put us in a position to winthe global competition with China. In the
upcoming years. It's big, yes, it's bold, yes, and we
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can get it done. It hastwo parts, the American Jobs Plan and
the American Families Plan. Both area central or economic future. In a
few weeks, I'll talk about theAmericans Family Plan, but today i want
to talk about the Americans Jobs Plan. I'll begin with the heart of the
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plan. It modernizes transportation infrastructure,roads, our bridges, our airports.
I just left your airport as rectorof the airport said, we're about to
renovate the airport. Is that right, mister county executive. We're gonna innovate.
You're gonna employ thousands of people.And she looked at me said I
can't thank you enough for this plan. It grows the economy in key ways.
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It puts people to work to repairan upgrade it's that we badly need.
It makes it easier and more efficientto move goods, to get to
work, and to make us morecompetitive around the world. Some of your
local officials know when someone wants tocome in the area and a company wants
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to invest with other they ask,where's the first rail bed? How can
I get to the railroad? Whataccess to interstate do I have. What's
the water like? Tell me aboutit goes on and on. It's about
infrastructure. The American Jobs Plan willmodernizing twenty thousand miles of highways, roads,
and main streets that are in difficult, difficult shape right now. It'll
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fix the nation's ten most economically significantbridges in America that require replacement. Remember
that bridge that went down. Wegot ten most economically significant bridges with more
commerce going across it that need tobe replaced. Well. Also repair ten
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thousand bridges desperately needed upgrades to uncloggedtraffic, keep people safe, and connect
our cities, towns, and tribesacross the country. American Jobs Plan will
build new rail, cards and transitlines easy congestion, cutting pollution, slashing
commute times, and opening up investmentin communities that became connected to the cities
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and cities to the outskirts where alot of jobs are these days. It
reduced the bottlenecks of commerce at ourports and our airports. The American Jobs
Plan will lead to a transformational progressand refort to tackle climate change with American
Jobs and American ingenuity. Protect ourcommunity from billions of dollars of damage from
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historic superstorms, floods, wildfires,droughts year after year by making our infrastructure
more secure and resilient, and seizingincredible opportunities for American workers and American farmers
and a clean energy future, skilledworkers like one we just heard from,
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building a nationide wide network of fivehundred thousand charging stations, creating good paying
jobs by leading the world and themanufacturing and export of clean electric cars and
trucks. We're going to provide taxincentives and point of sale re rebates to
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help all American families afford clean vehiclesof the future. The federal government owns
an enormous fleet of vehicles, butyou're going to be transitioned to clean electric
vehicles and hydrogen vehicles right here inthe United States of America. Buy American
workers with American products. When wemake all of these investments, We're going
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to make sure, as the executiveorder I signed early on, that we
buy American. That means investing inAmerican based companies and American workers. Not
a contract will go out that Icontrol that will not go to a company
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that is an American company with Americanproducts all the way down the line and
American workers and will buy the goodswe need from all of America. Communities
that historically have been left out ofthese investments, black, the teeno Asian,
American, Native Americans, rural smallbusinesses, entrepreneurs across the country.
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Look today, up to ten millionhomes in America and more than four hundred
thousand schools and childcare centers have pipeswhere they get their water from pipes that
are lead based pipes, including pipesfor drinking water. According to scientists,
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there is simply no safe exposure tolead for a child. Lead can slow
development, cause learning behaviors, andhearing problems. American Jobs Plan will put
plumbers and pipe fitters to work replacingone hundred percent of the nation's lead pipes
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and service lines. So every America, every child can turn on a faucet
of our fountain and drink clean water. With these five thousand dollars investment replacing
a line that can mean up totwenty two thousand dollars in health care costs
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saved. Chance to protect our children, help them learn and thrive. We
can't delay. You can't delay anotherminute. It's a long past two.
You know. In America, wherethe early interest was in internet, this
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thing called the Internet that we invested, We invented. The early early Internet
was invented here. Millions of Americans, though, lack access to reliable high
speed Internet, including more than thirtyfive percent of rural America. It's a
disparity even more pronounced. During thispandem, American Jobs will make sure every
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single, every single American has accessto high quality, affordable, high speed
Internet for businesses, for schools,and when I say affordable, I mean
it. Americans paid too much forInternet service. We're going to drive down
the price for families who have servicenow and make it easier for families who
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don't have affordable service to be ableto get it now. As we saw
on Texas and elsewhere, our electricalpower and power grids are vulnerable to storms,
catastrophic failures, and security lapses withtragic results. My American Jobs Plan
will put hundreds of thousands of peopleto work, hundreds of thousands of people
to work line workers, electricians andlabors, laying thousands of miles of transmission
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line, building a modern, resilientand fully clean grid, and capping hundreds
of thousands of literally orphan oil andgas wells that need to be clean up
because they're abandoned, paying the sameexact great that a union man or woman
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would get having dug that well inthe first place, will build, upgrade,
and weather. It is affordable,energy efficient housing, commercial buildings for
millions of Americans. Even before thepandemic, millions of working families faced the
enormous financial and personal strain trying toraise their kids and care for their parents
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at the same time, the socalled sandwich generation or family members of disability.
You got a child at home,you can't stay home from work to
take care of that child unless youlose You're going to put the child's at
risk, or you lose your job, or you have an only parent you're
taking care. And seniors and peoplewith disabilities living independently feel that strain as
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well. But we know if theycan remain independently living, they live longer.
American Jobs Plan is going to helpin big ways. It's going to
extend access to quality, affordable homecommunity based care. Think of expanded vital
services like programs for seniors, orthink of home care workers going into the
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homes of seniors and people with disabilities, cooking meals, helping them get around
their homes. And helping them beable to live more independently. For too
long, caregivers who are disproportionately womenand women of color, and immigrants have
been unseen, underpaid, and undervalued. This Plan, along with the American
Families Plan, changes that with betterwages, benefits, and opportunities for millions
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of people who will be able toget to work in an economy that works
for them now. Decades ago,State's government used to spend two percent of
its GDP it's gross domestic product onresearch and development. Today we spend less
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than one percent. I think it'sseven tenths of one percent. Here's why
that matters. We're one of onlya few major economies in the world who
public investment in research and development asa share of JGDP has declined constant over
the last twenty five years, andwe've fallen back. The rest of the
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world is closing in and closing infast. We can't allow this to continue.
American Jobs Plan is the biggest increasein our federal non defense research and
development spending on record. It's goingto boost America's innovative edge in markets where
global leadership is up for grabs,markets like battery technology, biotechnology, computer
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chips, clean energy, the competitionwith in particular, critics say we shouldn't
spend this money. They asked,what do we get out of it?
Well, they said the same thing. We first flew into space for the
first time, they said the samething. Well. Pushing the frontiers led
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to big benefits back home. WhenNASA created Apollo's digital flight control system,
unheard of at the time, itled to technologies that help us today to
drive our cars and fly our planes. When NASA invented ways to keep food
safe for the astronauts, it ledto programs that have been used for decades
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to keep food safe in supermarkets.At least two thousand products and services have
been developed and commercialized as a resultof American space exploration. GPS has helped
us find each other. Computer chipsallow us to see and talk to one
another even when we're separated by mountainsand oceans, sing Happy Birthday and watching
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the first steps of that new babygrandchild, comforting each other when comfort is
needed. Think about what means toyou and your loved ones. We just
have to imagine again. Had along discussion with Shijingping, the leader of
China, and he called it congratulates. We spent two hours on the phone,
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and he said, and it wasastonished. My NASA security team and
the China experts were on the line. He said, you've always said,
mister President, that you can defineAmerica in one word, possibilities. That's
who we are in America. Anything'spossible, Like what we did with vaccines
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a decade ago that laid the foundationfor COVID nineteen vaccines. We had today
like we did when the interstate highwaysystem that transformed the way we traveled,
lived, worked and developed. Americanscould visit relatives anywhere in the country,
but just a family station wagon businesshere in Pittsburgh could load up a truck
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get a product to Portland or Phoenix. To this day, about a quarter
of all the miles Americans drive eachyear on one of those very original highways.
Imagine what we can do what's withinour reach. We modernize those highways,
you and your family could travel coastto coast without a single tank of
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gas on board a high speed train. We can connect high speed, affordable,
reliable internet wherever you live. Imagineknowing that you are handing your children
and grandchildren a country that will leadthe world of producing clean energy technology,
and we'll need to address one ofthe biggest threats of our time. That's
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what we'll do. All together,along with the American Rescue Plan, proposal
I put forward will create millions jobsestimated by some Wall Street outfits of eighteen
million jobs over four years, goodpaying jobs. It also works the level
of the playing field and power workersand ensure that the new jobs are good
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jobs that you can raise a familyon, and ensure free and fair choice
to organize embargain collectively. That's whymy plan asked Congress to pass the Protecting
the Right to Organize Act the Proactand send it to my desk. This
plan is important not only for whatand how it builds, but it is
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also important to where we build.It includes everyone, regardless of you erase
your zip code. Too often economicgrowth and recovery is concentrated on the coast.
Too often investments have failed to meetthe needs of marginalized communities left behind.
There is talent innovation everywhere, andthis plan connects that talent through cities,
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small towns, rural communities, throughour businesses, in our university,
through our entrepreneurs, union workers,all across America. We have to move
now because I'm convinced that if weact now, in fifty years, people
are going to look back and saythis was the moment that America won the
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future. When I'm proposing is aone time capital investment of roughly two trillion
dollars in America's future, spread largelyover eight years, will generate historic job
growth, historic economic growth, helpbusinesses to compete internationally, create more revenue
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as well. They are among thehighest value investments we can make in the
nation investing in our infrastructure. Butput another way, failing to make these
investments adds to our debt and effectivelyputs our children in a disadvantage relative of
our competitors. That's what crumbling infrastructuredoes. And our infrastructure is crumbling.
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I ranked thirteenth in the world.What's more, it heightens our vulnerability to
attracts our adversaries to compete in waysthat they don't have up to now,
and our adversaries are worried about usbuilding this critical infrastructure. Put simply,
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these are investments we have to make. We can afford to make them,
and put another we can't afford notto So how do we pay for it.
I spoke to the majority leader.No longer. I guess he's no
longer the majority leader. You guy'sbeen for a long time. I spoke
for the Republican. I spoke toa republic leader about the plan. Everybody's
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for doing something infrastructure. Why havewe done it? Well, no one
wants to pay for it. Lessthan four years ago, as I said,
the Congress passed a tax cut oftwo trillion dollars, increasing national debt
to trillion dollars. It didn't meetvirtually any of the predictions it would in
terms of growing the economy. Overwhelminglythe benefits of that tax package went to
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the wealthiest Americans. It even includednew investments that would you profit by shifting
profits and jobs overseas if you're acorporation. Was bad for American competitors,
deeply unfair to the middle class families, and wrong for a future. So
here's what I do. I startwith one rule. No one, we
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said again, no one making underfour hundred thousand dollars. We'll see their
federal taxes go up. Period.This is not about penalizing anyone. I
have nothing against millionaires and billionaires.I believe American American capitalism. I want
everyone to do them. But here'sthe deal. Right now, middle class
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couple of firefighter and a teacher withtwo kids, making a combined salary of
say one hundred and ten hundred andtwenty thousand dollars a year, pays twenty
two cents for each additional dollar theyearn a federal income tax. But a
multinational corporation that builds a factory abroad, brings it homes and sell it,
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they pay nothing at all. We'regoing to raise the corporate tax. It
was thirty five percent, which istoo high. We all agreed five years
ago it should go down to twentyeight percent, but they reduced it to
twenty one percent. We're going toraise it back to up to twenty eight
percent. No one should be ableto complain about that. It's still lower
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than what that rate was between WorldWar two and twenty seventeen. Just doing
that one thing will generate one trilliondollars an additional revenue over fifteen years.
In twenty nineteen, an independent analysisfound that there were ninety one let me
sit again, ninety one fortune fivehundred companies biggest companies in the world,
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including Amazon, that use various loopholes, so they pay not a single solitary
penny and federal income tax. Idon't want to punish them. That's just
wrong. That's just wrong. Firemanand teacher paying twenty two percent, Amazon
and ninety other major corporations paying zeroin federal taxes. I'm going to put
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an end to that. Here's howwe'll do it. We're establishing a global
minimum tax for US corporations of twentyone percent. We're going to level the
international playing field. That loan willraise one trillion dollars over fifteen years.
We'll also eliminate deductions by corporations foroffshoring jobs and shifting assets overseas. You
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do that, you pay a penalty. You don't get a reward in my
plan, and use the savings fromthat to give companies tax credits to locate
manufacturing here in manufacturing and production herein the United States, and will significantly
ramp up the IRS enforcement against corporationswe either fail to report their incomes or
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underreport. Estimated that active raise hundredsof billions of dollars. All this adds
up to more than what I proposedto spend in just fifteen years. It's
honest, it's fiscally responsible and bythe way, as the experts will telet
reduces the debt. The failed todebt over the long haul. But let
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me be clear, these are myideas and how to pay for this plan.
Others have additional ideas, let themcome forward. I'm open to other
ideas so long as they do notimpose any tax increase on people making less
than four hundred thousand dollars. Letme close this. Historically, infrastructure have
been a bipartisan undertaking, many timesled by Republicans. It was Abraham Lincoln
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who built the trans Continental Railroad.Dwight Eisenhower Republican the Interstate Highway system.
I could go on, and Idon't think you'll find a Republican today in
the House of Senate. Maybe I'mwrong, gentlemen who doesn't think we have
to improve our infrastructure. They knowChina and other countries eating our lunch.
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So there's no reason why I can'tbe bipartisan again. The divisions of the
moment shouldn't stop us from doing theright thing for the future. I'm going
to bring Republicans into the Oval Office, listen to them what they have to
say, and be open to otherideas well, have a good faith negotiation
with that. Any Republican you know, wants to help get this done,
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but we have to get it done. I truly believe we're in a moment
history's going to look back on thistime as a fundamental choice having been made
between democracies and autocracies. You know, there's a lot of autocrats in the
world who think the reason why they'regoing to win is democracies can't reach consensus
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any longer autocracies do. That's acompetition between America and China and the rest
of the world is all about.It's a basic question. Can democracies still
deliver for their people? Can theyget a majority? I believe we can.
I believe we must delivery for theAmerican peoples. What the American Rescue
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Plan was all about, and it'sbeen overwhelmingly popular. When I wrote it,
everybody said I had no bipartisan supportor overwhelming biparty support. Where Republican
registered Republican voters, And ask around, if you live in a town with
a Republican mayor Republican county executive,Republican government, ask them how many would
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rather get rid of the plan?Ask him if it helped them at all.
It's what the American Job Plan isabout. The new one I'm proposing.
I hope Republicans and Congress will jointhis effort. I hope, and
I believe a number of businesses willjoin this effort. And I hope I'll
believe the American people will join thiseffort. Democrats, Republican independence, we
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can do this. We have todo this, We will do this.
We just have to remember this isthe United States of America and have said
it a thousand times. There's nothingbeyond our capacity if we act together.
So it's time to move together.Thank you, and I hope I get
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to come back to see you folksafter this plan has passed. And the
question is you have to attrack evenmore apprentices, more people because we're building
so much. God bless you all, and may God protect our church.
Thank you,
Good afternoon, and welcome to Pennsylvania, Mister President. My name is Mike
Fiori, and I'm a senior lineworker from Duke Can Light and a proud
member of the International Brotherhood of ElectricalWorkers Local twenty nine right here in Pittsburgh.
From day one of this pandemic,me and my coworkers have been on
the front lines. It's my job. There's no working from home. We've
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kept the lights on and the powerrunning to communities throughout western Pennsylvania. Every
day I deal with our electrical grid, so I know how critical infrastructure is
to our communities. That's why I'mso excited about Joe Biden's Build Back Better
plan. Nearly everyone agrees that weneed to modernize our roads, bridges,
power grids, airports, and railroads, that we need to invest in new
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energy technologies in American made manufacturing.But what President Biden is proposing isn't just
an investment in infrastructure. It's aninvestment in good union jobs. It's an
investment in good schools in strong communities. It is an investment in the future
so many forgotten paths in America.My brother teaches at Pine Richland High School
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in Gibsonia, just north of here, the same high school we both went
to. The kind of investment JoeBiden is talking about would mean so much
to his school and to his students, both now and in the years to
come. For example, President Bidenproposes a massive expansion of high speed broadband,
and that's critical to the health ofso many small towns in this area.
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I've got two little kids at homemyself, and I don't want to
see them leave the area or eventhe state to find opportunities. The Build
Back Better plan is directed at communitieslike mine. It's about opening up opportunities,
revitalizing local businesses, and creating jobs. For decades, Pennsylvania was a
global leader in manufacturing at good unionjobs. It can be that way again,
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as President Biden has a solid planto make that happen. I also
don't want my kids growing up ina world where the threat of climate change
hangs over their heads. That meansinvesting in electrical vehicle charging infrastructures, in
all forms of clean power technology,so we can slash garbon emissions and create
tens of thousands of green energy jumps, union jumps. And that's exactly what
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President Biden is proposing. Here's anotherreason I'm so excited about this. I'm
one hundred percent of union guy.It is in my blood. The union
changed my life and it gave meopportunities I could never have dreamed of.
Being a line worker isn't always easy, but thanks to my union, I
enjoy a great paycheck, strong healthand retirement benefits, and a voice on
(02:34):
the job. Here's who else isa union guy, Joe Biden, And
he said again and again, unionsbuilt the middle class. That's why his
plan supports collective bargaining rights, itsupports a living wage and making sure the
taxpayer money goes to supporting American mademanufacturing. The men and women of the
IBW are ready to get to workrebuilding our infrastructure, retooling our plants,
(02:59):
and revitalizing our communities and the middleclass. We're ready to build America back
better. So it is my pleasureand it is my honor to introduce the
President of the United States, JoeBiden. Thank you. Go Mike ast
(03:42):
me and say, though, Bobby, my good friend, he asked me
back there, he said, doyou ever get nervous? And he said,
because I got up this morning madebreakfast of my kids. So I
got introduced to president and well,I said to you, Mike, you
did a heck of a job.But I'd get nervous if I had to
(04:06):
get up in the middle of thenight, climb up a telephone pole replaced
in the middle of a storm,a connection that knocked out everybody's electricity,
put a transform and that's what theywould make me nervous. So what you
did was really good. I couldn'tdo what you do, Pal, I
couldn't do what you do, andI want to. And it's true,
(04:30):
Mike, you're a union guy.Me too. I got in trouble,
but I don't make any apologies forit. I'm a union guy. I
support unions. Unions built the middleclass. It's about time they start to
get piece of the action. Toall my colleagues, from the county executive,
of the Mayorage, everyone that's here, I want to say thank you,
(04:53):
Thank you Congressman for the for thepassport in your district, and I
appreciate to being here. I'm honoredto be with you. Two years ago,
I began my campaign here in Pittsburghsaying I was running to rebuild the
backbone of America, and today Ireturn as your president to lay out the
(05:17):
vision of how I believe we dothat rebuild the backbone of America, as
a vision not seen through the eyesof Wall Street or Washington, but through
the eyes of hard working people likethe people I grew up with, People
like Mike and his union family,union workers, this Carpenter's Training Center.
(05:38):
People like the folks I grew upwith in Scranton and Claymont, Delaware.
People will get up every day,work hard, raise their family, pay
their taxes, serve their country,and volunteer for their communities and just look
for a little bit of breathing room, just a little bit of light.
Ordinary Americas, extraordinary things. Peoplewho break their necks every day for their
(06:03):
families and the country they love.The country that, in fact, which
on the day I was elected,was an extreme distress with a virus on
a deadly rampage that has now killedover four thousand. Assume me five hundred
(06:23):
I carried in my pocket every day. I have the list of exactly how
many have died. Five hundred andforty seven thousand, two hundred and ninety
six Americans dead from the virus,more than all the people killed in World
War One, World War Two,the Vietnam War, nine to eleven,
(06:47):
five hundred and forty seven thousand,two hundred and ninety six Americans, and
an economy that left millions out ofwork and created so much anxiety. That's
why I moved so quickly to passthe American Rescue Plan with the help of
my friends here in the Congress.I really mean that it didn't pass by
(07:12):
a whole lot, but with theleadership of Connor and Bobby and you got
it done. Because it was anemergency. We needed to act to save
jobs, to save businesses, tosave lives, and that's what we did.
(07:33):
We're beginning to see the results.We're on our way to having given
two hundred million vaccination shots in thefirst one hundred days of my presidency.
When I said I'd get one hundredmillion done, people thought it was a
significant exaggeration. We're going to gettwo hundred million done, twice the original
(07:57):
goal because of all the help ofall of you. Leading economists are now
predicting our economy will grow six percentthis year. That's a rate we haven't
seen in years and years. Wecan cut child poverty in half this year.
With the American Rescue Plan, we'remeeting immediate emergencies. Now it's time
(08:22):
to rebuild. Even before the crisis, we're now facing. Those at the
very top in America were doing verywell, which is fine. They were
doing great, but everyone else isfalling behind. The pandemic only made the
division so much worse and more obvious. Millions of Americans lost their jobs last
(08:46):
year, while the wealth is onepercent of Americans saw their net worth increased
by four trillion dollars. Just goesto show you how stored to an unfair
our economy has become. Wasn't alwaysthis way. Well, it's time to
change that. I note parenthetically thatI got criticized for giving tax breaks to
(09:13):
middle class and poor folks this lasttime. I didn't hear that. Cry
you and cry when we're doing thesame thing. When Trump's tax bill passed,
eighty three percent of the money wentto the top one percent. You
know this is not the target thosewho made it, not to seek retribution.
(09:39):
This is about opening opportunities for everybodyelse. And here's the truth.
We all will do better when weall do well. It's time to build
our economy from the bottom up andfrom the middle out, not the top
down. It hadn't worked very wellfor the economy overall. It hadn't work
(10:03):
because Wall Street didn't build this country. You great middle class built this country,
and unions built the middle class.And it's time. In this time
when we rebuild the middle class,We're gonna bring everybody along, regardless of
(10:24):
your background, your color, yourreligion, the winter, everybody gets to
come along. So today I'm proposinga plan for the nation that rewards work,
not just rewards wealth. It buildsa fair economy that gives everybody a
chance to succeed, and it's goingto create the strongest, most resilient,
(10:46):
innovative economy in the world. It'snot a plan that tinkers around the edges.
It's a once in a generation investmentin America, unlike anything we've seen
or done since we built the InterstateHighway system and the space Race decades ago.
In fact, it's the largest Americanjobs investments since World War Two.
(11:11):
Will create millions of jobs, goodpaying jobs, will grow the economy,
make us more competitive around the world, promote our national security interest, and
put us in a position to winthe global competition with China. In the
upcoming years. It's big, yes, it's bold, yes, and we
(11:31):
can get it done. It hastwo parts, the American Jobs Plan and
the American Families Plan. Both area central or economic future. In a
few weeks, I'll talk about theAmericans Family Plan, but today i want
to talk about the Americans Jobs Plan. I'll begin with the heart of the
(11:54):
plan. It modernizes transportation infrastructure,roads, our bridges, our airports.
I just left your airport as rectorof the airport said, we're about to
renovate the airport. Is that right, mister county executive. We're gonna innovate.
You're gonna employ thousands of people.And she looked at me said I
can't thank you enough for this plan. It grows the economy in key ways.
(12:22):
It puts people to work to repairan upgrade it's that we badly need.
It makes it easier and more efficientto move goods, to get to
work, and to make us morecompetitive around the world. Some of your
local officials know when someone wants tocome in the area and a company wants
(12:45):
to invest with other they ask,where's the first rail bed? How can
I get to the railroad? Whataccess to interstate do I have. What's
the water like? Tell me aboutit goes on and on. It's about
infrastructure. The American Jobs Plan willmodernizing twenty thousand miles of highways, roads,
and main streets that are in difficult, difficult shape right now. It'll
(13:11):
fix the nation's ten most economically significantbridges in America that require replacement. Remember
that bridge that went down. Wegot ten most economically significant bridges with more
commerce going across it that need tobe replaced. Well. Also repair ten
(13:33):
thousand bridges desperately needed upgrades to uncloggedtraffic, keep people safe, and connect
our cities, towns, and tribesacross the country. American Jobs Plan will
build new rail, cards and transitlines easy congestion, cutting pollution, slashing
commute times, and opening up investmentin communities that became connected to the cities
(13:58):
and cities to the outskirts where alot of jobs are these days. It
reduced the bottlenecks of commerce at ourports and our airports. The American Jobs
Plan will lead to a transformational progressand refort to tackle climate change with American
Jobs and American ingenuity. Protect ourcommunity from billions of dollars of damage from
(14:20):
historic superstorms, floods, wildfires,droughts year after year by making our infrastructure
more secure and resilient, and seizingincredible opportunities for American workers and American farmers
and a clean energy future, skilledworkers like one we just heard from,
(14:43):
building a nationide wide network of fivehundred thousand charging stations, creating good paying
jobs by leading the world and themanufacturing and export of clean electric cars and
trucks. We're going to provide taxincentives and point of sale re rebates to
(15:03):
help all American families afford clean vehiclesof the future. The federal government owns
an enormous fleet of vehicles, butyou're going to be transitioned to clean electric
vehicles and hydrogen vehicles right here inthe United States of America. Buy American
workers with American products. When wemake all of these investments, We're going
(15:28):
to make sure, as the executiveorder I signed early on, that we
buy American. That means investing inAmerican based companies and American workers. Not
a contract will go out that Icontrol that will not go to a company
(15:50):
that is an American company with Americanproducts all the way down the line and
American workers and will buy the goodswe need from all of America. Communities
that historically have been left out ofthese investments, black, the teeno Asian,
American, Native Americans, rural smallbusinesses, entrepreneurs across the country.
(16:12):
Look today, up to ten millionhomes in America and more than four hundred
thousand schools and childcare centers have pipeswhere they get their water from pipes that
are lead based pipes, including pipesfor drinking water. According to scientists,
(16:34):
there is simply no safe exposure tolead for a child. Lead can slow
development, cause learning behaviors, andhearing problems. American Jobs Plan will put
plumbers and pipe fitters to work replacingone hundred percent of the nation's lead pipes
(16:56):
and service lines. So every America, every child can turn on a faucet
of our fountain and drink clean water. With these five thousand dollars investment replacing
a line that can mean up totwenty two thousand dollars in health care costs
(17:17):
saved. Chance to protect our children, help them learn and thrive. We
can't delay. You can't delay anotherminute. It's a long past two.
You know. In America, wherethe early interest was in internet, this
(17:37):
thing called the Internet that we invested, We invented. The early early Internet
was invented here. Millions of Americans, though, lack access to reliable high
speed Internet, including more than thirtyfive percent of rural America. It's a
disparity even more pronounced. During thispandem, American Jobs will make sure every
(18:04):
single, every single American has accessto high quality, affordable, high speed
Internet for businesses, for schools,and when I say affordable, I mean
it. Americans paid too much forInternet service. We're going to drive down
the price for families who have servicenow and make it easier for families who
(18:29):
don't have affordable service to be ableto get it now. As we saw
on Texas and elsewhere, our electricalpower and power grids are vulnerable to storms,
catastrophic failures, and security lapses withtragic results. My American Jobs Plan
will put hundreds of thousands of peopleto work, hundreds of thousands of people
to work line workers, electricians andlabors, laying thousands of miles of transmission
(18:56):
line, building a modern, resilientand fully clean grid, and capping hundreds
of thousands of literally orphan oil andgas wells that need to be clean up
because they're abandoned, paying the sameexact great that a union man or woman
(19:17):
would get having dug that well inthe first place, will build, upgrade,
and weather. It is affordable,energy efficient housing, commercial buildings for
millions of Americans. Even before thepandemic, millions of working families faced the
enormous financial and personal strain trying toraise their kids and care for their parents
(19:40):
at the same time, the socalled sandwich generation or family members of disability.
You got a child at home,you can't stay home from work to
take care of that child unless youlose You're going to put the child's at
risk, or you lose your job, or you have an only parent you're
taking care. And seniors and peoplewith disabilities living independently feel that strain as
(20:06):
well. But we know if theycan remain independently living, they live longer.
American Jobs Plan is going to helpin big ways. It's going to
extend access to quality, affordable homecommunity based care. Think of expanded vital
services like programs for seniors, orthink of home care workers going into the
(20:26):
homes of seniors and people with disabilities, cooking meals, helping them get around
their homes. And helping them beable to live more independently. For too
long, caregivers who are disproportionately womenand women of color, and immigrants have
been unseen, underpaid, and undervalued. This Plan, along with the American
Families Plan, changes that with betterwages, benefits, and opportunities for millions
(20:51):
of people who will be able toget to work in an economy that works
for them now. Decades ago,State's government used to spend two percent of
its GDP it's gross domestic product onresearch and development. Today we spend less
(21:11):
than one percent. I think it'sseven tenths of one percent. Here's why
that matters. We're one of onlya few major economies in the world who
public investment in research and development asa share of JGDP has declined constant over
the last twenty five years, andwe've fallen back. The rest of the
(21:32):
world is closing in and closing infast. We can't allow this to continue.
American Jobs Plan is the biggest increasein our federal non defense research and
development spending on record. It's goingto boost America's innovative edge in markets where
global leadership is up for grabs,markets like battery technology, biotechnology, computer
(21:56):
chips, clean energy, the competitionwith in particular, critics say we shouldn't
spend this money. They asked,what do we get out of it?
Well, they said the same thing. We first flew into space for the
first time, they said the samething. Well. Pushing the frontiers led
(22:18):
to big benefits back home. WhenNASA created Apollo's digital flight control system,
unheard of at the time, itled to technologies that help us today to
drive our cars and fly our planes. When NASA invented ways to keep food
safe for the astronauts, it ledto programs that have been used for decades
(22:38):
to keep food safe in supermarkets.At least two thousand products and services have
been developed and commercialized as a resultof American space exploration. GPS has helped
us find each other. Computer chipsallow us to see and talk to one
another even when we're separated by mountainsand oceans, sing Happy Birthday and watching
(23:00):
the first steps of that new babygrandchild, comforting each other when comfort is
needed. Think about what means toyou and your loved ones. We just
have to imagine again. Had along discussion with Shijingping, the leader of
China, and he called it congratulates. We spent two hours on the phone,
(23:22):
and he said, and it wasastonished. My NASA security team and
the China experts were on the line. He said, you've always said,
mister President, that you can defineAmerica in one word, possibilities. That's
who we are in America. Anything'spossible, Like what we did with vaccines
(23:47):
a decade ago that laid the foundationfor COVID nineteen vaccines. We had today
like we did when the interstate highwaysystem that transformed the way we traveled,
lived, worked and developed. Americanscould visit relatives anywhere in the country,
but just a family station wagon businesshere in Pittsburgh could load up a truck
(24:08):
get a product to Portland or Phoenix. To this day, about a quarter
of all the miles Americans drive eachyear on one of those very original highways.
Imagine what we can do what's withinour reach. We modernize those highways,
you and your family could travel coastto coast without a single tank of
(24:30):
gas on board a high speed train. We can connect high speed, affordable,
reliable internet wherever you live. Imagineknowing that you are handing your children
and grandchildren a country that will leadthe world of producing clean energy technology,
and we'll need to address one ofthe biggest threats of our time. That's
(24:52):
what we'll do. All together,along with the American Rescue Plan, proposal
I put forward will create millions jobsestimated by some Wall Street outfits of eighteen
million jobs over four years, goodpaying jobs. It also works the level
of the playing field and power workersand ensure that the new jobs are good
(25:12):
jobs that you can raise a familyon, and ensure free and fair choice
to organize embargain collectively. That's whymy plan asked Congress to pass the Protecting
the Right to Organize Act the Proactand send it to my desk. This
plan is important not only for whatand how it builds, but it is
(25:33):
also important to where we build.It includes everyone, regardless of you erase
your zip code. Too often economicgrowth and recovery is concentrated on the coast.
Too often investments have failed to meetthe needs of marginalized communities left behind.
There is talent innovation everywhere, andthis plan connects that talent through cities,
(25:56):
small towns, rural communities, throughour businesses, in our university,
through our entrepreneurs, union workers,all across America. We have to move
now because I'm convinced that if weact now, in fifty years, people
are going to look back and saythis was the moment that America won the
(26:18):
future. When I'm proposing is aone time capital investment of roughly two trillion
dollars in America's future, spread largelyover eight years, will generate historic job
growth, historic economic growth, helpbusinesses to compete internationally, create more revenue
(26:38):
as well. They are among thehighest value investments we can make in the
nation investing in our infrastructure. Butput another way, failing to make these
investments adds to our debt and effectivelyputs our children in a disadvantage relative of
our competitors. That's what crumbling infrastructuredoes. And our infrastructure is crumbling.
(27:00):
I ranked thirteenth in the world.What's more, it heightens our vulnerability to
attracts our adversaries to compete in waysthat they don't have up to now,
and our adversaries are worried about usbuilding this critical infrastructure. Put simply,
(27:22):
these are investments we have to make. We can afford to make them,
and put another we can't afford notto So how do we pay for it.
I spoke to the majority leader.No longer. I guess he's no
longer the majority leader. You guy'sbeen for a long time. I spoke
for the Republican. I spoke toa republic leader about the plan. Everybody's
(27:47):
for doing something infrastructure. Why havewe done it? Well, no one
wants to pay for it. Lessthan four years ago, as I said,
the Congress passed a tax cut oftwo trillion dollars, increasing national debt
to trillion dollars. It didn't meetvirtually any of the predictions it would in
terms of growing the economy. Overwhelminglythe benefits of that tax package went to
(28:10):
the wealthiest Americans. It even includednew investments that would you profit by shifting
profits and jobs overseas if you're acorporation. Was bad for American competitors,
deeply unfair to the middle class families, and wrong for a future. So
here's what I do. I startwith one rule. No one, we
(28:33):
said again, no one making underfour hundred thousand dollars. We'll see their
federal taxes go up. Period.This is not about penalizing anyone. I
have nothing against millionaires and billionaires.I believe American American capitalism. I want
everyone to do them. But here'sthe deal. Right now, middle class
(28:57):
couple of firefighter and a teacher withtwo kids, making a combined salary of
say one hundred and ten hundred andtwenty thousand dollars a year, pays twenty
two cents for each additional dollar theyearn a federal income tax. But a
multinational corporation that builds a factory abroad, brings it homes and sell it,
(29:19):
they pay nothing at all. We'regoing to raise the corporate tax. It
was thirty five percent, which istoo high. We all agreed five years
ago it should go down to twentyeight percent, but they reduced it to
twenty one percent. We're going toraise it back to up to twenty eight
percent. No one should be ableto complain about that. It's still lower
(29:42):
than what that rate was between WorldWar two and twenty seventeen. Just doing
that one thing will generate one trilliondollars an additional revenue over fifteen years.
In twenty nineteen, an independent analysisfound that there were ninety one let me
sit again, ninety one fortune fivehundred companies biggest companies in the world,
(30:07):
including Amazon, that use various loopholes, so they pay not a single solitary
penny and federal income tax. Idon't want to punish them. That's just
wrong. That's just wrong. Firemanand teacher paying twenty two percent, Amazon
and ninety other major corporations paying zeroin federal taxes. I'm going to put
(30:33):
an end to that. Here's howwe'll do it. We're establishing a global
minimum tax for US corporations of twentyone percent. We're going to level the
international playing field. That loan willraise one trillion dollars over fifteen years.
We'll also eliminate deductions by corporations foroffshoring jobs and shifting assets overseas. You
(30:56):
do that, you pay a penalty. You don't get a reward in my
plan, and use the savings fromthat to give companies tax credits to locate
manufacturing here in manufacturing and production herein the United States, and will significantly
ramp up the IRS enforcement against corporationswe either fail to report their incomes or
(31:18):
underreport. Estimated that active raise hundredsof billions of dollars. All this adds
up to more than what I proposedto spend in just fifteen years. It's
honest, it's fiscally responsible and bythe way, as the experts will telet
reduces the debt. The failed todebt over the long haul. But let
(31:41):
me be clear, these are myideas and how to pay for this plan.
Others have additional ideas, let themcome forward. I'm open to other
ideas so long as they do notimpose any tax increase on people making less
than four hundred thousand dollars. Letme close this. Historically, infrastructure have
been a bipartisan undertaking, many timesled by Republicans. It was Abraham Lincoln
(32:07):
who built the trans Continental Railroad.Dwight Eisenhower Republican the Interstate Highway system.
I could go on, and Idon't think you'll find a Republican today in
the House of Senate. Maybe I'mwrong, gentlemen who doesn't think we have
to improve our infrastructure. They knowChina and other countries eating our lunch.
(32:29):
So there's no reason why I can'tbe bipartisan again. The divisions of the
moment shouldn't stop us from doing theright thing for the future. I'm going
to bring Republicans into the Oval Office, listen to them what they have to
say, and be open to otherideas well, have a good faith negotiation
with that. Any Republican you know, wants to help get this done,
(32:51):
but we have to get it done. I truly believe we're in a moment
history's going to look back on thistime as a fundamental choice having been made
between democracies and autocracies. You know, there's a lot of autocrats in the
world who think the reason why they'regoing to win is democracies can't reach consensus
(33:15):
any longer autocracies do. That's acompetition between America and China and the rest
of the world is all about.It's a basic question. Can democracies still
deliver for their people? Can theyget a majority? I believe we can.
I believe we must delivery for theAmerican peoples. What the American Rescue
(33:39):
Plan was all about, and it'sbeen overwhelmingly popular. When I wrote it,
everybody said I had no bipartisan supportor overwhelming biparty support. Where Republican
registered Republican voters, And ask around, if you live in a town with
a Republican mayor Republican county executive,Republican government, ask them how many would
(34:02):
rather get rid of the plan?Ask him if it helped them at all.
It's what the American Job Plan isabout. The new one I'm proposing.
I hope Republicans and Congress will jointhis effort. I hope, and
I believe a number of businesses willjoin this effort. And I hope I'll
believe the American people will join thiseffort. Democrats, Republican independence, we
(34:29):
can do this. We have todo this, We will do this.
We just have to remember this isthe United States of America and have said
it a thousand times. There's nothingbeyond our capacity if we act together.
So it's time to move together.Thank you, and I hope I get
(34:51):
to come back to see you folksafter this plan has passed. And the
question is you have to attrack evenmore apprentices, more people because we're building
so much. God bless you all, and may God protect our church.
Thank you,
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