WASHINGTON, March 31, 2021 — Statement from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack regarding the release of the American Jobs Plan today by President Biden and the White House.
“Just as the American Rescue Plan is helping families recover from the pandemic and recapture hope for a brighter future, the American Jobs Plan will help us rebuild our economy and rural communities and create good-paying jobs with staying power—enough to support a family, have a good home, and give our children a brighter future. President Biden believes this is the moment to reimagine and rebuild our country’s infrastructure and reinvest in American competitiveness and leadership.
“It is clear in the American Jobs Plan that USDA is central to the President’s strategy to build a strong economy for working people, restore the safety and integrity of our nation’s infrastructure from broadband to water to power and electricity, and to renew America’s leadership in science, research and development to give us the tools to make and create U.S. products to be sold around the world. The American Jobs plan invests in clean, safe drinking water in our rural communities, with specific emphasis on underserved and Tribal areas. The plan promises to close the broadband gap in rural America for millions of Americans, which is so critical for health care, education, and employment in our digital age. The American Jobs Plan makes significant investments in power and electricity infrastructure and affordable housing. The President’s plan invests in our children by upgrading schools, childcare facilities, and early learning centers, with investments in physical infrastructure as well as technology and connectivity. And true to his commitment to invest in American manufacturing and working families, the President’s plan makes once-in-a-lifetime investments to retool and revitalize American manufacturers and small businesses. This investment in manufacturing will allow an expansion of biobased products and renewable fuel production, giving U.S. growers and producers another market for their goods and supporting good-paying American jobs. Finally, the American Jobs Plan puts Americans to work managing our forests, grasslands and watersheds from the community-level, ensuring what’s good for the environment is good for jobs while protecting our forests from burning up in increasing catastrophic wildfires.
“The American Jobs Plan is a once-in-a-century capital investment in America that will meet our current infrastructure needs and invests in a brighter future. I look forward to working with Congress to make these plans a reality for American workers and rural communities and thank President Biden and Vice President Harris for their vision and commitment to rebuilding the middle class.”
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