Biden delivers first joint address to Congress

In arguing that his infrastructure plan would create well-paying jobs for Americans, President Biden said that “Nearly 90% of the infrastructure jobs created in the American Jobs Plan don’t require a college degree. 75% don’t require an associate’s degree.”

Facts First: While it’s impossible to fact check the impact of a plan that hasn’t even passed Congress, a forecast from Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce supports these figures depending on how “college degree” is defined. The study estimates that 85% of the jobs from the infrastructure plan would be filled by those without a bachelor’s degree, while 75% of the jobs would be filled by those without an associate’s degree, according to the estimate. 

The forecast predicts that 16% of the jobs could go to those with education levels below graduating high school, 37% could go to those with a high school diploma, 14% to those with some college education but no degree, 8% to those with a postsecondary vocational certificate and 10% to those with an associate’s degree. 

Many of these jobs would be temporary, as a study from S&P Global notes, estimating that the majority of jobs would taper off by 2029 as infrastructure projects are completed. It’s important to note too that studies and estimates around the infrastructure plan vary widely.  

Again, this is just one forecast of the potential effects of a plan not yet passed by Congress.

President Biden made an appeal for bipartisanship and his sweeping infrastructure plan tonight, framing the need for consensus domestically as a means for the US to maintain competitiveness globally, particularly with China.

“Vice President Harris and I met regularly in the Oval Office with Democrats and Republicans to discuss the American Jobs Plan. And I applaud a group of Republican Senators who just put forward their own proposal,” Biden said during his address to a Joint Session of Congress, referring to a proposal unveiled by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito last week.

Biden went on to describe a two-hour conversation he had with Chinese President Xi Jinping upon taking office.

“He’s deadly earnest on becoming the most significant, consequential nation in the world. He and others, autocrats, think that democracy can’t compete in the 21st century with autocracies. It takes too long to get consensus,” he said.

Biden is betting on democracy — and that, in his view, will require consensus and big investments. Central to that challenge will be the consensus of Congress, and whether he's able to forge ahead and pass key legislative priorities with a 50-50 Senate.

There have been active discussions with top White House officials and a group of Senate Republicans, including Capito, on the potential compromise, though the intensifying discussions are still in early stages. Biden has also suggested that his definition of “bipartisan” passage of his massive infrastructure proposals does not necessarily require Republican votes in Congress, but rather, support from a majority of Americans.

President Biden remembered his late son Beau Biden while urging for more funding for the National Institute of Health to create an advanced research project agency to focus on developing breakthroughs to prevent, detect and treat diseases like cancer, Alzheimers and diabetes.

Beau Biden died of brain cancer in 2015. Congress renamed a cancer research bill after him in 2016, Biden's last year as vice president. He recounted that moment during his remarks.

President Biden said during his joint address to Congress tonight that he is tasking Vice President Kamala Harris with being the point person on broadband efforts in the American Jobs Plan.

The infrastructure proposal, Biden said, will create "jobs connecting every American with high-speed internet, including 35% of rural Americans who still don’t have it. This will help our kids and businesses succeed in a 21st century economy.”

Though the scope of her responsibilities wasn't completely clear in the speech, a White House official told CNN that Biden is tasking Harris with the broadband component of the American Jobs Plan – not the entire jobs plan. The assignment is to focus on lifting the broadband piece within the broader jobs plan – to get it passed and implement it.

Watch the moment:

President Biden said that "independent experts estimate the American Jobs Plan will add millions of jobs and trillions of dollars to economic growth in years to come." 

Facts first: It's true that some experts say the plan could create millions of jobs, but analysts differ on how much economic growth it could spur.  

The American Jobs Plan proposes spending $2 trillion on improving the nation's infrastructure and paying for it by hiking corporate taxes. Some independent analysts say it will have a positive effect on jobs and the economy — but the magnitude of its effect will depend on the size and structure of the package that Congress ultimately passes.  

Moody's Analytics found that the proposal would create about 2.7 million jobs by the end of 2030. A separate report from S&P Global noted that the jobs created by the plan could be temporary. It estimated that in the short term, $2.1 trillion in infrastructure spending could create 2.3 million jobs, but that as infrastructure projects are completed these jobs would taper off and the net jobs added from the proposal would be 713,000 by 2029. 

Moody's Analytics projects that the infrastructure plan will result in a higher GDP over the next decade. It predicts GDP will grow by 3.8% in 2024, compared with 2.2% if the plan fails to become law.  

S&P Global also found that that much infrastructure spending would boost the economy over the next decade adding $5.7 trillion over that time period. It estimated that GDP growth will be lifted to 2.2% from 1.7% over the next 10 years.  

But a different analysis from the Penn Wharton Budget Model took a longer-term view and found that the infrastructure proposal would actually end up decreasing GDP by 0.8% in 2050. 

President Biden tonight pitched his administration's infrastructure plan directly to the American people, saying it would be led by the principle of American investment. 

"American tax dollars, are going to be used to buy American products, made in America to create American jobs," he continued. "That is the way that it is supposed to be and it will be in this administration."

Watch here:

A month after he laid out a roughly $2 trillion infrastructure plan aimed at helping the nation recover from the coronavirus pandemic, President Biden is unveiling an additional $1.8 trillion federal investment in education, child care and paid family leave during his first address tonight.

The massive package — which Biden is calling the American Families Plan — is the second half of his effort to revitalize the nation and ensure a more equitable recovery. The proposal would also extend or make permanent enhancements to several key tax credits that were contained in the Democrats' $1.9 trillion rescue bill, which Biden signed into law last month.

The President intends to finance the latest package by hiking taxes on the rich, saying he wants to reward work, not wealth. His new proposed measures would raise about $1.5 trillion over a decade.The families plan pairs with Biden's infrastructure proposal, known as the American Jobs Plan, which calls for improving the nation's roads, bridges, broadband, railways and schools.

Here's a closer look at what is in the plan:

Read more about the proposal here.

President Biden made the case for the American Jobs Plan by appealing to those who have been impacted by job loss during the pandemic, specifically women and caregivers.

"Two million women have dropped out of the workforce during this pandemic. Two million. And too often, because they couldn't get the care they needed to care for their child or care for an elderly parent who needs help," Biden continued.

Watch here:

Climate change and job creation go hand in hand for President Biden.

During his first joint session remarks to Congress tonight, Biden said the American Jobs Plan will "put engineers and construction workers to work building more energy-efficient buildings and homes." 

Biden also said there is "no reason why American workers can’t lead the world in the production of electric vehicles and batteries." 

"The American Jobs Plan will create millions of good paying jobs – jobs Americans can raise their families on," he added.

See the moment here: