Remarks by Vice President Harris at the American Rescue Plan Workforce Development Summit

From day one, President Biden and I knew that to overcome these historic economic challenges, we needed to make a historic investment in our nation’s working families. We needed to build an economy that works for working people.

And that is why, with your help, we fought for and passed the American Rescue Plan, which included, among many things, a $40 billion investment in workforce development. With your help, we are creating good-paying jobs in small towns and big cities; jobs for nurses and doctors; jobs for steelworkers, pipefitters, and engineers.

Together, we are investing in training programs and apprenticeships that give workers the skills they need to take on the jobs with better wages and better benefits—in particular, workers from underrepresented backgrounds.

I have seen firsthand how much is possible when we collaborate across lines that relate to the direct benefit of the people of our nation. In fact, earlier this year, I visited a union training facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It’s called WRTP | BIG STEP. At [WRTP] | BIG STEP, I met workers who had received training to remove and replace the lead pipes and service lines that are poisoning our communities. It was truly an inspiration.

As a result of their training, those workers can now access good-paying union jobs—jobs they can raise a family on, jobs they can build a future on, jobs that are helping us build a better future for our entire nation.

Today, as many as 10 million homes and 400,000 schools and childcare facilities receive their water through lead pipes. Graduates of [WRTP] | BIG STEP are already removing lead pipes in Milwaukee—we have leaders from Milwaukee with us here today—and in communities across America.

[WRTP] | BIG STEP is one of hundreds of job training facilities around our nation that received funding through the ARP. Here with us today is Lindsay Blumer, President of WRTP | BIG STEP.

Since President Joe Biden and I took office, we have accomplished so much with your help, but we still have more to do. We must continue our work together to build a nation where every worker is treated with dignity, where every community is safe and healthy, and where every child can reach their God-given potential. Because every person in our nation, no matter where they start, deserves the opportunity to succeed and to thrive.

That is the future we are all fighting for, and that is the future our administration is fighting for—a future that we will all build together.

Click here to read the full speech by Vice President Harris.

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