President Joe Biden's visit to Minnesota focused on job growth, improving supply chains and industrial improvements that have emerged as a result of his “Investing in America” initiative. Photo by Shawn Thew/UPI |
License Photo
April 3 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden visited a power plant in Minnesota on Monday as part of a whirlwind national tour to promote the ongoing impact of his legislative agenda, including the expansion of federal infrastructure projects and electric vehicle manufacturing across the country.
Biden spoke at Cummins Power Generation Facility in Fridley, Minn., which was awarded a government contract in October to manufacture electrolyzers for the first time in the United States in an effort to reduce carbon emissions. The plant "will help power our clean energy future while bringing supply chains back to the United States, and creating good-paying jobs," the White House said earlier Monday.
During his visit to the plant, Biden touted his administration's successes and how those successes will help propel the plant forward.
"Federal investment attracts private investment," the president said Monday. "It creates jobs and industries, and it demonstrates we're all in this together. And that's what today is all about."
"Cummins is turning this part of the factory, where we're standing now, into a new production line for clean energy technology," Biden said. "Here at this plant, 600 workers now making diesel engines will be retrained, and an additional 100 jobs -- so a total of 700 jobs -- will be making clean energy technology."
The president's visit focused on job growth, improving supply chains and industrial improvements that have emerged as a result of his "Investing in America" initiative, which includes billions of dollars in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the American Rescue Plan.
"The progress we've made creating strong, sustainable, economic growth has been real," Biden said.
"We passed the American Rescue plan, the most aggressive economic recovery package since Franklin Delano Roosevelt. We passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the most substantial investment since President Eisenhower invested in the Interstate Highway System -- bridges, roads, ports, airports, clean water, high-speed Internet," Biden said.
"And the CHIPS and Science Act, which we didn't get the other team to join very much, but -- but the most significant investment in manufacturing and research and development in American history. And the Inflation Reduction Act, the most transformative investment in climate ever," Biden added.
"And right here in Minnesota, when you're driving across I-94 or taking I-35 through the Twin Cities, charging stations will be easy to find -- as easy as it is to find a gas station today," Biden said. "Folks, we're providing incentives for companies like Cummins to manufacture clean energy technology right here in Minnesota."
"When Cummins first manufactured hydrogen electrolyzers, they had to make them overseas. These are the machines that make clean hydrogen, a renewable energy used to power our economy, from clean cars to trucks to steel to cement manufacturing," Biden said.
"But now, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act with the tax credits for renewable energy, Cummins is going to manufacture these electrolyzers here in America for the first time."
"Already, Cummins has signed contracts for clean hydrogen for producers and utilities in New York, Florida and Washington State, and it's just beginning. Just beginning."
On Tuesday, Biden will be back at the White House to host the Energy Communities Summit, which will bring together a number of Cabinet chiefs and advisors to discuss the continuing agenda as the president embarks on the second half of his term.
The "Investing in America" tour will travel to more than 20 states over three weeks, and kicked off last week in Durham, N.C., where Biden praised a semiconductor manufacturing plant that was set to create 1,800 new jobs in the coming months.
In the days ahead, the tour will feature appearances by first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, and other senior White House officials and Cabinet members -- with each highlighting a different aspect of the president's agenda.
This week, Jill Biden plans to visit four states to hail new career programs that will train high school and community college students for the jobs created under Biden's plan.
Others appearing on the tour this week include Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who will travel to Oregon to give credit to Biden for private sector investments in supply chains and semiconductor manufacturing.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is expected to appear in Connecticut to highlight provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act that are rewarding companies for investing in clean energy manufacturing, the White House said.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will travel to New Mexico to highlight infrastructure projects that are focused on safety and reducing traffic deaths.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will also be in New Mexico to tout a $65 billion federal effort to bring high-speed Internet to remote areas of the country; while Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm will travel to Oklahoma to highlight clean energy investments.
Other administration officials will make stops next week in California, Georgia and Nevada to call attention to small business growth and take credit for other manufacturing successes under Biden's policies.
Other states on the tour lineup include Colorado, Delaware, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Wisconsin.
Since Biden took office in 2021, private companies have announced $435 billion in domestic manufacturing investments, according to the White House.
