President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for the education system to be expanded from 12 years to 14 years for all Americans to make the US more competitive on a global scale.
His speech in Illinois drew about 100 protesters holding signs supporting Donald Trump. McHenry County, where Biden made his remarks, went for the former president in the 2020 election. One large sign read: 'Make America Proud Again.'
Biden's focus during his daylong trip is on his plan for free childcare and the education component of his 'human' infrastructure package that he will push to pass Congress without Republican votes. In addition to his call for more, free education, Biden also wants to extend his expansion of the child tax credit.
'We should have a minimum of 14 years of education,' the president said, 'without spending a cent.'
'Does anybody think in the 21st century, with changes taking place in technology and across the board, than 12 years of education is enough to be able to live enough middle class life? I don't think so,' he noted.
Biden argued such a move would make America more competitive with the world.
'Imagine if we present the world and nation with a better-educated workforce. It helps everybody,' he said.
President Joe Biden called for the education system to be expanded from 12 years to 14 years for all Americans
About 100 protesters supporting Donald Trump picketed Biden's Illinois trip
President Joe Biden speaks to a child as he tours a children's learning center at McHenry County College; he was in Illinois to push his 'human' infrastructure plan
President Biden speaks to a little girl during his tour
The 14 years would include two years of free pre-K for three and four years and then two years of free community college, both part of Biden's American Families Plan.
The president also called for his child tax credit to be expanded until 2025. The payments kick in on July 15. Biden raised the Child Tax Credit from $2,000 per child to $3,000 per child for children over the age of six and from $2,000 to $3,600 for children under the age of six, and raised the age limit from 16 to 17.
'I know that's a boring speech but it's an important speech,' he said at the end of his remarks.
Biden visited McHenry County College in Crystal Lake, a community college with a workforce development program and a child care center similar to the programs he wants to pass as part of his American Families Plan.
The sales pitch is part of the president's larger economic agenda that includes around $4 trillion in traditional infrastructure spending along with his investments in social programs such as free community college, green projects and expanded paid family medical leave.
The administration is negotiating a nearly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill - which focuses on traditional infrastructure projects - with senators that would need Republican support to pass.
Biden is looking to pass a second bill - focused on social programs - through the Senate via a process called reconciliation, which would allow Democrats to get it approved without a single Republican vote and bypass the 60-vote threshold needed to advance legislation.
Liberals, however, are stacking that measure with more than $6 trillion in spending to expand social programs that benefit working Americans and the poor. Moderate Democrats like Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia have expressed their concern at the ballooning costs.
Republicans oppose the measure, which is financed by tax increases on the wealthy.
'I don't want to punish anybody,' the president said in his remarks. 'Everybody has to pay their fair share. I'm not trying to gouge anybody but we just get in the game.'
Biden has made clear he would like both measures to pass but he said one is not dependent upon another.
Congressional Democrats are hoping to move on both bills in the halls of Capitol Hill this month but the legislative language on the two measures is still being worked out.
McHenry county, where Biden visited on Wednesday, went for Trump in the 2020 election
President Biden greets a little boy during his community college tour
President Joe Biden speaks with Heather Zaccagnini , a professor, and college president Dr. Clint Gabbard during his tour of a manufacturing lab at McHenry County College
Biden used his trip to tout the education component of his American Families Plan
Biden was greeted by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot when he landed.
Lightfoot held a quick conversation with him on tarmac about the gun violence that has roiled the city.
The Chicago mayor told local reporters ahead of the president's trip she planned to ask him to send in more federal aid to Chicago to combat ongoing gun violence.
The July 4th weekend saw the deadliest and most violent weekend this year in Chicago, more than 100 people were shot and 19 of them killed. Among the wounded were at least 13 children and two Chicago police supervisors.
Through July 4, the Chicago Sun-Times reported, 2,019 people have been shot in Chicago this year, an increase of almost 13 percent compared to the year before.
On Wednesday morning, ahead of Biden's visit, a Chicago police officer and two federal agents working undercover were shot and wounded while driving onto an expressway on their way to an undisclosed assignment.
Two of the officers are agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and one is a Chicago officer, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said. Their injuries were not considered life-threatening.
During his conversation with Lightfoot, Biden 'expressed his personal support' for the two ATF officers and the Chicago cop, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in statement.
'He reiterated his commitment to working with the Mayor and leaders in Chicago in the fight against gun violence and conveyed that the Department of Justice would soon be in touch about the strike force announced just a few weeks ago that will be working with cities like Chicago,' Psaki said.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot greets President Joe Biden upon his arrival to her city
Mayor Lori Lightfoot told local reporters ahead of President Biden's trip she was going to press him for federal funds to combat gun violence
Officers work the scene where a young girl was shot in the leg on July 4; the holiday weekend saw more than 100 people shot and 19 killed in Chicago
The two ATF agents and Chicago cop were shot on an onramp to Interstate 57 as they worked undercover in the early hours of Wednesday morning
The president's stop in Illinois was to a congressional district held by Democratic Rep. Lauren Underwood.
The district is a key swing district that will help determine which party controls the House of Representatives after next year's midterm election.
Underwood was with Biden on his visit to the community college.
'This woman here, hang on to her,' the president told people.
Biden won Illinois in the 2020 presidential election but Donald Trump carried McHenry county, where Biden visited on Wednesday.
But White House press secretary Jen Psaki argued it was not a political trip, saying President Biden 'ran as someone who would represent, not just Democrats, not just Republicans, not just independents, but all people so I would see this as less of a political trip, more of as an opportunity to speak to all Americans.'
No comments:
Post a Comment