President Biden Delivers Remarks on Strengthening the Care Economy 4/18/23 Transcript

… distinguished guests, the President of the United States, accompanied by Kezia Rodriguez.

Good afternoon everybody. What a beautiful day. It’s an honor to be here with my family. I thank you guys for having us. My name is Kezia Rodriguez, mother to beautiful twin girls and a full-time student at Felician University.

(01:06)
First, I’d like to honor my husband who works so hard as a truck driver. His hard work and sacrifice has allowed me to raise our daughters and return to school to work towards my career.

(01:18)
A little over a year ago, I was given the privilege of introducing the First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden, when she visited Bergen Community College. I was able to share my experience as a student parent with access to free childcare. I am so thankful for all the support I received, including fundings provided under the American Rescue Plan that allowed me to have access to free childcare while working towards my associate’s degree. I was able to complete my degree with honors all while my daughters were being cared for.

(01:47)
Now though, while working towards my bachelor’s in the science of nursing, we’re in the same position as most families: trying to find affordable care that is safe while juggling work and school obligations.

(01:59)
All you need to start a fire is a spark. My family was that spark. And free childcare was what allowed my fire to continue to burn. The greatest part is seeing the pride reflected on my daughter’s faces. I want them to see that you can truly achieve anything you set your mind to. They said they want to be doctors so they can work with mommy, so I guess it’s working.

(02:27)
Free childcare helped propel my education, and though I’m no public speaker, it is something I truly believe in and I’m proud to speak on, which is why it is an honor to introduce someone who always fights for hardworking families like mine, President Joe Biden.

Thank you very much. Thank you. Well thank you, Kezia and thank you for the introduction.

(03:00)
And former Speaker Pelosi, members of the Congress, members union labor that are here today that make a lot of this possible, so many of you, thank you for being here. The Vice President’s in Nevada today fighting for reproductive rights for women, but I know she wanted to be here as well because this is an issue she’s worked on her whole career.

(03:22)
And I want to thank members of the Congress who have spent decades in the trenches fighting for this issue. I want to thank the advocates and the proud union members who are here. Without you, none of this progress, in my view, would be possible. And by the way, that’s why every worker needs to be free to make the choice to join a union.

(03:49)
And thank you care workers and family caregivers for doing God’s work, taking care of our children, our parents, and those we love so dearly. You care for the people we value the most in the whole world and I want you to know how much we value you and I mean that.

(04:06)
We’re here today to take action on an issue that’s fundamental to who we are as a nation, who we are as a country: How do we treat the people we care so much about? Who needs the most help – our children, the people we love, people with disabilities including veterans. And how do we value those caring for them – childcare workers, nurses, home care workers, family caregivers.

(04:34)
The executive order I’m about to sign is the most comprehensive set of actions any administration has taken to date to increase access to high quality childcare and long-term care and support for the caregivers. Under this order, almost every federal agency will collectively take over 50 actions to provide more peace of mind for families and dignity for care workers, who deserve jobs with good pay and good benefits.

(05:03)
The executive order doesn’t require any new spending. It’s about making sure taxpayers will get the best value for the investments they’ve already made. For example, we used last year’s increase in Head Start funding to take steps to recruit and retain workers by increasing wages so that families who need affordable care can get it. Like I called for in my State of the Union address, we’re going to improve long-term care by strengthening staffing standards at nursing homes and I also instructed the Department of Health and Human Services to figure out how home care workers can get the pay they deserve with the money already allocated.

(05:42)
I’m directing the VA, the Veteran Administration to cut red tape and give veterans who need assistance at home more flexibility to pick their own caregivers. We’ve heard directly from the veterans that this is one of the top priorities for them, one of their top priorities. To ensure we have enough care workers, we’re expanding partnerships with community colleges, registered apprenticeship programs, and the America Corp.

(06:14)
More than one in every five adults is a family caregiver. This order recognizes the labor of love and makes sure family caregivers are involved and informed when a hospital discharges the one they love, that the caregivers know about the Medicare benefits their loved one qualifies for, the caregivers of veterans have access to mental health support.

(06:39)
Folks, there’s a lot we can do. We’re doing all of this. Why? Because right now, the cost of care is too high for seniors in nursing homes, for working families with young children. Pay for care workers is too low and that’s why that so many are leaving the whole endeavor. In fact, half the long term care workforce, nearly 20% of childcare workforce leave their jobs each year, make it even harder, harder for families to find the help they need.

(07:16)
And family members are too often forced to leave their own good jobs behind to stay home to be mom and dad. The United States of America, we should have no one, no one should have to choose between caring for the parents who raised them, the children who depend on them or the paycheck they rely on to take care of both.

(07:38)
Too many folks lie awake at night wondering if mom can’t take care of herself at home, what are we going to do? She’ll have to move into a nursing home. Are we going to be able to afford it? Can I still afford to get the kids through college and save for retirement? How do I do it all? If I take that better job with the better pay, longer hours, will I be able to take care of my kids or will it cost me more than I get the raise in the paycheck in the new job I’m about to have?

(08:05)
If you live in a major American city, you can pay more than $17,000 a year, as all of you know, per child, for childcare in order to be able to go to work. And for a lot of families, that’s more than you pay for your rent, your mortgage or your college education for your children. You can all imagine the young couple expecting their first child thinking they should be really excited, but instead they’re a little bit scared. They already need two paychecks to make ends meet now, or whether they’re going to be able to do it. They’re going to be able to do it, keep the job or are they going to be able to afford childcare when the baby comes?

(08:45)
Meanwhile, long-term care costs for the elderly or people with disabilities are up 40%. The costs are up 40% over the past decade. Some of you have had to spend your own retirement savings to care for your parents. Imagine dad lived in a house his whole life, but he can’t manage his own house anymore. He has trouble getting around. He needs [inaudible 00:09:11] to stay home, someone to just deliver the dinners, just to be able to shovel the sidewalk, et cetera, just to be able to stay where he was.

(09:20)
Who’s going to go tell dad? You probably had that conversation, some of you. Who’s going to tell dad you can’t stay in the house, can’t stay home anymore? You got to go to a nursing home. Millions of Americans are stuck in the middle, in part of so-called sandwich generation, caring for young children and not only parents at the same time.

(09:41)
It’s overwhelming. I get it. I was a single parent for five years with two young children after my wife and daughter were killed in an accident. Thank God I had family to rely on. There’s a reason why, by the way, a lot of people don’t move beyond where their families are, even though they have other opportunities. They can’t afford to.

(10:03)
My sister, my brother, my brother-in-law, my mother, they all chipped in. My sister and husband gave up their home and moved in to where I lived just to be there to help me with my kids. Folks, I couldn’t have done it without their help. I couldn’t have made it. And I was making a good salary. I was making, I think we got paid $45,000 a year then. And that was more money than never made in my life. But I couldn’t possibly. That’s why I committed every single day for 36 years so I could be home because I couldn’t sell my home and get reelected without having a home in Delaware. Couldn’t move down here and afford it. But I had a big family. I had help.

(10:44)
I often asked myself: What in God’s name would I have done? Not a joke, had I not have the family I had. Over the years, Jill and I took care of all four of our parents. Well, they didn’t have to take all four. One died suddenly. But my point is, we were with our parents till the very end. We could do it. We could afford to do it because where we were and we had the housing to be able to bring them in.

(11:12)
We understand. In the pandemic, we made even clearer just how hard it is for millions of working and middle class families to provide care for their families. It’s not just how important the care economy is to the entire economy. It’s when people have to leave the labor force or can’t enter in the first place because caregiving responsibility. They can’t fully participate in the economy and that drags down the whole nation’s productivity and growth overall.

(11:42)
Care work is demanding, as many of you in this audience know. It requires serious skill. But these workers are among the lowest paid workers in the country. As soon as I got in office, I signed the American Rescue Plan to help millions of families afford childcare. The consequence were able to keep 200,000 childcare advisors and providers, many of them small, women owned businesses, keep their doors open during the pandemic, taking care of as many as 9.6 million children during the pandemic because of that act.

(12:24)
One third of childcare providers said they would’ve to shut down for good without the help. Instead, the American Rescue Plan helped them stay afloat, and in many cases increased pay for the childcare workers. It also helped states expand and strengthen Medicaid home care programs. We also increased childcare and development block grants, helping more low-income families afford childcare.

(12:50)
We issued the first ever, a much needed, national strategy on support family caregivers. And that was Nancy, thank you. And received federal dollars through the CHIPS and Science Act, which I might point out has already generated $200 billion in investment in the United States commitments. Those companies are going to have to provide high quality, affordable childcare for their workers if they want to participate in the programs.

(13:23)
We’re using the power of the federal government to get companies to do what’s good for their workers, and I might add good for business as well. Good for business as well. And folks, care workers deserve to make a decent living and that’s a fight I’m willing to have. We need.

(13:46)
Folks, we know there’s more to do, and yet yesterday, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, went to Wall Street. He did not tell the wealthy or the powerful on Wall Street that it was finally time for them to start paying their fair share of taxes. That didn’t come up, other than saying they’re going to renew the $2 trillion tax cut. Anyway, I won’t… Instead, he proposed huge cuts to important programs that millions of Americans count on, million middle class, suburban as well as inner city folks.

(14:26)
He threatened to become the first speaker to default on our national debt, which took over 230 years to accumulate. He threatened to be the first one to default on the debt, which would throw us in a gigantic recession and beyond, unless he gets what he wants on the budget. Folks, you’ve got to ask yourself, what are MAGA republicans in Congress doing? Because this is not your father’s Republican Party. This is a different deal.

(14:56)
The two presidents that warned most directly against playing with the national debt were Ronald Reagan. He spoke very, very passionately about that and he came forward. And anyway, I won’t… But why are they doing this? What’s the purpose? The speaker talked about limiting spending, which sounds good, and by the way, I was able to cut the deficit by $1.7 billion in two years. And if we pass the budget I’m proposing, we’ll lower the spending way beyond that just in the first… We’re going to lower the spending by $168 billion just because the way we’ve changed Medicare, I mean, excuse me, prescription drug costs.

(15:41)
But let’s take a closer look at what he didn’t say. Critical programs for hardworking Americans, the ones they count on, will be slashed starting next year if he has his way. He didn’t tell you the leading house Republican proposal would cut all the programs in discretionary spending by 22%. It would mean higher cost for childcare, higher cost for preschool, higher cost for college. 200,000 children would lose access to Head Start slots and even more would lose access to childcare altogether.

(16:14)
It would mean higher costs for housing, especially for older Americans, for veterans, people with disabilities and families and children. Longer wait times for social security and Medicare benefits, robbing seniors of their healthy males. 30 million fewer veteran outpatient visits, leaving our brave warriors unable to get checkups, mental health services and treatment for substance abuse disorders.

(16:41)
Congress just passed the Pact Act, which I was very proud of, to help – it was bipartisan – to help veterans exposed to toxic burn pits like my son. These cuts will make it harder for us to meet that sacred obligation to protect those we send into harm’s way and care for them and their families when they return home. They would deny tens of thousands of people suffering from opioid epidemic and addiction, the treatment they need for recovery.

(17:10)
They’re also planning other cuts as well. They’d cut 10 million people, including 4 million children, would lose food assistance programs. Changes to Medicaid would also cause millions of people to lose their healthcare. And now, what the speaker didn’t tell you, is the MAGA Republicans in Congress are still supporting over $3 trillion in tax giveaways overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest Americans and the biggest corporations. I might add, we have now about a thousand billionaires. You know what the average tax rate is? Three, T-H-R-E-E, percent. 3%.

(17:52)
And their cuts to those critical programs I talked about won’t go to reduce the deficit after all. They just pay for the rest of the MAGA Republican agenda: massive tax cuts, giveaways to gear up for the rich and large corporations who acknowledge they don’t need them all.

(18:07)
Folks, if MAGA Republicans in Congress won’t ask the wealthy or big corporations to pay a dollar more in taxes, but they’ll make a 22% cut to programs across the board like education, scientific research, basic services people rely on, then they should tell the American people what that means and why they’re doing it.

(18:28)
It means they want to go back to the same old trickle down economic theories of the past while we, the economy, have been growing from the middle out and the bottom up is sidelined. Instead of investing in kids and cutting taxes for families with children, MAGA Republicans in Congress support more than $3 trillion in tax cuts and giveaways over the next 10 years toward those at the very top of the agenda, on the income agenda.

(18:57)
On the other hand, as I said, in my first two years, we brought down the deficit by a record $1.7 trillion. And my budgets I proposed, which I’ve laid out, would cut the deficit over the next 10 years by another $3 trillion. So I urge Congress to take the threat of default off the table. Pass my budget. If you don’t pass it, at least argue with what they don’t like about it, let’s vote on it. But in the meantime, we’re not waiting around. That’s what today’s all about.

(19:29)
Let me conclude with this. The actions we’re taking today are about dignity, security, and peace of mind for working families and caregivers all across the country, and they’re good for the economy as well. When I ran for president to rebuild the backbone of America, the middle class, to grow our economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down. Two years in, we’re making progress, so let’s finish the job.

(19:59)
I can honestly say I’ve never been more optimistic about the future of America. We just have to remember who we are. We’re the United States of America. There’s virtually nothing, nothing beyond our capacity if we work together and I mean it, nothing, if we work together. So may God bless you all. May God bless our caregivers.

(20:20)
Now I’m going to go over and sign that executive order. Thank you.

(20:22)
Good to see you, man.

Good to see you, President Biden. How are you, sir?

[inaudible 00:20:49].

[inaudible 00:20:52].

Thank you for getting it, sir. Appreciate that.

Hey everybody, come on.

(21:25)
Thank you.

(21:25)
All right. We got everybody? All right. I’m about to sign an executive order increasing access to high quality care and supporting caregivers.

(21:31)
[inaudible 00:21:35], I’m not sure where the line is.

(21:43)
There you go.

Distinguished guests, please remain in your seats as the president departs. Thank you.

I’m not going far.