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President Biden Delivers Remarks on the State of the Economy & the Need for the American Rescue Plan - YouTube
Channel: The White House
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thank you for your patience we had a
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very good but
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long meeting with the chairpersons of
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house representatives in
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the oval and it went a little longer
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went very well thank you all for being
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here
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i'm accompanied by the vice president
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and the secretary of treasury janet
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yellen
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and i want to talk today about our plan
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and uh the january job numbers
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came out today and while we're grateful
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for everyone who found work
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and is earning a paycheck it's very
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clear
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our economy is still in trouble we added
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just 6 000 private sector jobs
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in the country last month overall we
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added
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49 000 jobs and
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this at a time when we have more than 10
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million people out of work
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four million people have been out of
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work for six months or longer
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and 2.5 million women have been driven
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from the workforce
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15 million americans are behind in the
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rental payments
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24 million adults and 12 million
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children
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literally don't have enough food to eat
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these aren't democrats or republicans
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they're americans
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and they're suffering they're suffering
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not because of anything
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they did through no fault of their own
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their suffering
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once in a century virus has decimated
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our economy
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and it's still wreaking havoc on our
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economy today
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and so much of it is still about the
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virus we're still in the teeth of this
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pandemic
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in fact january was the single deadliest
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month of the whole pandemic
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we lost nearly 100 000 lives
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i know some in congress think we've
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already done enough to deal with the
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crisis in the country
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others think that things are getting
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better and we
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can afford to sit back and either do
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little
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or do nothing at all that's not what i
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see
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i see enormous pain in this country
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a lot of folks out of work a lot of
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folks going hungry staring at the
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ceiling tonight wondering what am i
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going to do tomorrow
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a lot of folks trying to figure out how
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to keep their jobs
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and take care of their children a lot of
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folks
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reaching the breaking point suicides are
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up
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mental health needs are increasing
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violence against women and children is
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increasing
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a lot of folks are losing hope and i
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believe the american people are looking
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right now to their government
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for help to do our job to not let them
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down
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so i'm going to act i'm going to act
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fast
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i'd like to be i'd like to be doing it
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with the support of republicans
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i've met with republicans or some really
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fine people want to get something done
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but they're just not willing to go as
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far as i think we have to go
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i've told both republicans and democrats
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that's my preference to work together
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but if i have to choose between getting
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help right now to americans
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who are hurting so badly and getting dr
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bogged down
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in a lengthy negotiation or compromising
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on a bill that's
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that that's up to the crisis that's an
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easy choice
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i'm going to help the american people
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are hurting now
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that's why i'm so grateful to the house
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and the senate for moving so
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fast on the american rescue plan here's
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what's in that plan first it puts 160
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billion dollars
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into our national cova 19 strategy
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which includes more money for
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manufacturing
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distribution and setting up of vaccine
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sites everything is needed to get the
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vaccines
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into people's arms there's simply
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nothing more important
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than us getting the resources we need to
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vaccinate
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the people in this country as soon as
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quickly as possible
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so job number one of the american rescue
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plan is vaccines
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vaccines the second the american
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rescue plan is going to keep the
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commitment of two thousand dollars
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600 has already gone out 1400
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checks to people who need it this is
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money directly in people's pockets
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they need it we need to target that
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money
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so folks making 300 000 don't get any
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windfall
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but if you're a two if you're two uh uh
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if you're a family that's a
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two uh wage earner each of the parents
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one making 30 grand one making 40 or 50.
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maybe that's a little more than well
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yeah they need the money
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and they're going to get it and here's
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what i won't do
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i'm not cutting the size of the checks
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they're going to be 1400
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period that's what the american people
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were promised
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very quickly here's the rest of my plan
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it has money for food and nutrition so
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that folks don't go
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hungry i think our republican friends
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are going to support that
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it extends unemployment insurance which
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is going to run
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out on march 13th of this year
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to the end of september of this year
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because they're still going to be
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we're still going to have high
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unemployment it helps small businesses
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thousands of whom have had to go out of
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business it has money to help folks pay
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their health insurance
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it has rental assistance to keep people
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in their
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homes rather than be thrown out in the
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street
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it's got money to help us open our
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schools safely
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there's money for child care for paid
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leave it gets needed resources of state
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and local governments to prevent layoffs
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of essential personnel firefighters
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nurses
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folks are school teachers sanitation
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workers
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it raises the minimum wage it's big and
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it's bold
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and it's a real answer to the crisis
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we're in
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that's one more thing and i want to say
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it very clearly on this
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be very clear in this point it's better
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economics
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it not only addresses the immediate
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crisis we're in it's better for the
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long-term economic health of our nation
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and our competitiveness
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my plan creates more jobs creates more
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economic growth
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and does more to make us competitive
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with the rest of the world
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than any other plan don't take my word
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for it
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just look at what leading economists
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across the nation have said and
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in the world and across the across the
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ocean have said
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wall street investment firm moody says
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if we pass the american rescue plan
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it will lead to four million more jobs
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than otherwise would be created
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the nonpartisan brooking institution has
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looked at the rescue american rescue
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plan
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and said the gdp that will reach
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pre-pandemic projections by 2021 meaning
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we'll have recovered by on in 2021
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much sooner by the way than if we do
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nothing
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look just this week the congressional
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budget office projected that if we don't
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take action
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it would take until the year 2025 to
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return
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to full employment there's also a
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growing chorus of top economists
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right center left that say we should be
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less focused on the deficit and more
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focused on the investments we make
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and can make now in jobs keeping
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families out of poverty
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preventing long-term economic damage to
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our nation
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the simple truth is if we make these
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investments
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now with interest rates at historic lows
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will generate more growth
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higher incomes a stronger economy
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and our nation's finances will be in a
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stronger position as well
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and the payoff won't just be in jobs but
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in our global
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competitiveness as well because we'll be
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regaining our economic strength faster
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so the way i see it the biggest risk is
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not going too big
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if we go it's if we go too small we've
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been here before
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when this nation hit the great recession
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that brock and i inherited in 2009
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i was asked to lead the effort on the
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economic recovery act to get it passed
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it was a big recovery package roughly
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800 billion dollars
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i did everything i could to get it
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passed including getting three
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republicans to change their votes and
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vote for it
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but it wasn't enough it wasn't quite big
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enough
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it stemmed the crisis but the recovery
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could have been faster
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and even bigger today we need an answer
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that meets the challenge of this crisis
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not one that falls short and that's the
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issue facing the country right
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now what republicans have proposed
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is either to do nothing or not enough
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all of a sudden many have rediscovered
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fiscal restraint
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and the concern for the deficits but
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don't kid yourself
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this approach will come with a cost more
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pain
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for more people for longer than it has
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to be
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secretary ellen talks about the scarring
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effect
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that comes with prolonged economic pain
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we see that scarring effect in economic
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data but more important we can see it in
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the lives of people
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living with long-term unemployment
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living in hunger
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at which end over how to keep their jobs
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take care of their kids
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and then she talks about the need to
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alleviate long-term suffering in the
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economy
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we can do that we don't have to wait
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until 2025
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to get back to full employment which
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will be the case if we don't do this
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again independent analysis from places
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like
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moody's on wall street brookie's
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institution
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the american rescue plan could achieve
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that by the beginning
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full employment by the beginning of next
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year
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so to me this is this is what this
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moment comes down to
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are we going to pass a big enough
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package to vaccinate people
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to get people back to work to alleviate
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this suffering in this country
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this year that's what i want to do
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or are we going to say the millions of
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americans are out of work
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many of whom have been out of work for
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six months or longer
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who've been scarred by this economic and
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public health crisis
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don't worry hang on things are going to
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get better
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we're going to go smaller so it's going
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to take us a lot longer
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like until 2025 that's the republican
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answer right now
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i can't in good conscience do that too
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many people in the nation have already
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suffered for too long through this
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pandemic and economic crisis
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and telling them we don't have the money
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to alleviate their suffering
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to get the full employment sooner to
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vaccinate
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america after eight trillion dollars in
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deficit spending over the past four
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years
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much of it having gone to the wealthiest
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people in the country
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is neither true nor necessary
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we do have the resources to get to full
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employment sooner
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we do have the tools to reduce a lot of
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suffering in this country
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we just have to choose to use them so
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it's time to act
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we can reduce suffering in this country
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we can put people back to work
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we can control gain control of this
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virus
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that's what the american rescue plan
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does
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and that's what i'm determined to do and
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that's what i hope we're going to be
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able to do in the near term
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so may god bless you all may god protect
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our troops
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and i truly believe real help is on the
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way
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thank you all so very much thank you
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