Refinitiv Newscasts - Biden makes 'Made in America' announcement 1

Proterra

04/03/2022 21:29

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   >> Ladies and gentlemen, please silence your cell phones and take your
seats. The program will begin shortly. >> Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome
the President of the United States, Joe Biden, accompanied by Celeste Drake,
Barbara Hampton, Lonnie Stephenson , and Johnny Lee. >> Good afternoon. I'm
Celeste Drake, the President's Made in America director. Over the past year,
it's been my distinct honor and privilege of setting up the first ever Made in
America office, helping deliver on the President's vision for a future that's
made in all of America by all of America's workers. The Made in America office
is working to coordinate a whole of government strategy to ensure that when
the federal government spends taxpayer dollars, we support American. These
investments will make our economy stronger and more resilient, with more jobs,
more growth, and more opportunities for America's workers. Our strategy is
working; businesses are investing in American manufacturing at historic rates
and our economy added 423,000 manufacturing jobs since the President came to
office. A good example of this success is Siemens USA. Siemens USA is a global
leader in innovative healthcare, infrastructure, and energy technologies,
employing 40,000 people serving customers all over the United States. Siemens
is just one of many major companies investing in the United States, meaning
jobs for hardworking Americans. At the helm of this corporation is Barbara
Hampton, a woman who views the true purpose of technology as expanding what's
humanly possible. Barbara most recently served as president and CEO of Siemens
Government Technologies, where she was the leading integrator of Siemens
products and services for federal agencies. She currently sits on the board of
directors for the National Association of Manufacturers. And for these
reasons, it's my pleasure to introduce Barbara Hampton, president and CEO of
Siemens USA Corporation. >> Thank you, Celeste, and thank you Mr. President
for inviting us to the White House for this announcement. And what better day
than Employee Appreciation Day. You can see on the screen here we have
employees from Pomona, California, as well as Grand Prairie, Texas. And you
know that for years, the questions about America's crumbling infrastructure
has been, what if, instead of just maintaining, what if we really invested in
the next century of American Growth and leadership? We now have the
opportunity to answer this question, thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure
Law. As the President said in his State of the Union address earlier this
week, we're done talking about infrastructure weeks, now we're talking about
an infrastructure decade. And when we get to focus on today is not just what
we'll build, but who will build it over this next decade; people like my
colleagues joining us today, workers who support the industries and create the
infrastructure that form the backbone of America's economy. Our teams in
Pomona and Grand Prairie develop electrical equipment, powering critical
infrastructure systems including electric vehicle chargers, data centers, and
factories. Today to meet the growing demand and to support national
infrastructure projects, Siemens is announcing our plans to invest 54 million
into these manufacturing facilities. Additionally, later this spring will
identify the location of a new EV charging manufacturing hub to support our
goal to produce more than a million EV chargers over the next four years. All
told this footprint expansion, just this footprint expansion, it translates to
nearly 300 new jobs. And we know there'll be more jobs still to come in our
regional supply chains. Folks, a new era for manufacturing is now taking shape
in America. Think about what we've experienced during the global pandemic.
COVID-19 affected everyone everywhere, but from the start, the response to it
was local. We had to have readily available production and in-demand supplies.
And as we've continued to address supply shortages of critical items,
everything from PPE early in the pandemic to chips more recently, the future
of industry we're now seeing is what I've been calling glocal. We've seen how
essential global innovation can be and it will continue so, but as supply
chains have been disrupted and we've also seen how important it is to be able
to establish local production capabilities, we see that we can build
resilience against future disruptions. But that's not all, technology from
automation to digital tools to additive techniques like 3D printing is
strengthening the case for investing in American manufacturing or for
glocalization. It's strengthening the case for making things in America for
American customers, leveraging state of the art technology, and being able to
co-locate manufacturing with research and development, just like we're doing
today as we partner with national manufacturing institutes in Detroit,
Chicago, and Silicon Valley. All of this leads to more resilient supply
chains. I'll add that when Intel CEO, Pat Gelsinger was here in January to
announce plans for new US semiconductor plants, we heard Pat voice his support
for funding the chips for America Act to boost US semiconductor production.
And I'd like to join Commerce Secretary, Raimondo and the President in
supporting targeted investments in research and development and in industrial
modernization projects. We're glad to see bipartisan support for growing
advanced manufacturing in America at greater speed and scale, and we urge
Congress to take action. Let's continue to work together across the public and
private sectors to build this industrial base. And I'll say this, we have some
real work cut out for us when it comes to inspiring the next generation of
workers to join in what we're building. At Siemens, we're actively recruiting
for more than 2,400 jobs, open jobs today nationwide. Approximately a quarter
of our hiring demand is in manufacturing where nationally, there are currently
more than 800,000 job openings. So I'm looking forward to handing it over to
Lonnie Stephenson, President of the International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers in just a minute. But before I do, I want to share one final idea
about how we build this workforce because I really think a lot of it comes
down to addressing the myth we hear so often, that investments in modern
technology will relegate workers to the sidelines. >> Folks for the first
time, a human picked up a rock and used it as a tool. Tools and technology
have elevated the role of humans. And the future of manufacturing is no
different. It's no different even as we introduce tools, which frankly, I
never could have even dreamed of when I started my career as a software
programmer in the early 1980's. I mean, we actually were using slide rules
back then. But today in Grand Prairie and Pomona, they use our Digital Twin
technology that was instrumental in supporting Nasa's Mars rover mission.
Software that combines the real and digital worlds. And in Grand Prairie,
they've also deployed advanced robotics. Yet what I saw when I last visited
Grand Prairie wasn't fear of an automated future, it was actually excitement.
Workers weren't being replaced. A new training program for technicians was
teaching them how to program robots. Instead of being focused on repetitive
tasks, workers were running multiple machines, they were programming the
delivery of parts for the next shift, multi-generational teams were working
together to increase product quality, safety, and speed to market. So as our
infrastructure investment leads to new orders that spark transformation across
American manufacturing, we're not going to automate people out of the process.
No, I promise you, we will expand what's humanly possible. We'll expand
opportunities for people at all stages of their lives, their careers, and
education to shape a future that's more sustainable, resilient, and equitable.
Mr. President, thank you so much for bringing us here today, and now I'd like
to introduce Lonnie Stephenson. >> Thank you, Barbara, and thank you, Mr.
President, for the opportunity to be here today. And just let me say this
before I get started with my remarks. President Biden said, a year ago, and he
was talking about bringing jobs back to the United States and good paying
manufacturing jobs. And more importantly, he says union jobs. That's what
we're here. We're here working with our partnership. The partnership that
we're so proud that we have in the IBEW with Siemens. And see them following
through having the opportunity with the infrastructure to be able to expand
what they're doing here across the country, which is going to mean job
opportunities for our members as they expanded means more union jobs available
in the United States. So thank you both Barbara and President Biden for your
commitment to make this happen. The IBEW is the largest union of electrical
workers in all of North America. The International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers is ready to work with business and elected officials in building a new
clean energy economy and a 21st century infrastructure. That's why I'm excited
by Siemens announcement that it's investing in America manufacturing to make
sure that the electrical equipment that will help modernize and strengthen our
industrial and energy infrastructure. While at the same time putting us on the
road to clean energy future at the same time. Not only will this equipment be
made in the USA, it will be union made as well. In supporting good paying jobs
for IBEW members, that they can then support their families and have a comfort
to know they've got good opportunities for them and their families. The
Bipartisan Infrastructure Act has opened up new opportunities to invest in
clean energy generation and building the parts that will modernize our
roadways, bridges, transportation system, and the energy grid, which we're all
part of that as well. And it's all going to be done here at home. Today's
announcement proves an action, that this groundbreaking legislation is already
helping support American jobs and American manufacturing. Investing in our
infrastructure and manufacturing industry also means investing in skilled blue
collar training, and the IBEW is proud to partner with Siemens and providing
the pathways to advanced manufacturing careers in this industry. Union
careers, they won't just rebuild our infrastructure, but our middle-class as
well. As I have been saying for years now, IBEW members are ready and I've
been saying it for a long time, are ready to get to work, and rebuilding our
infrastructure, and growing a renewable building or energy economy. And we're
excited to be working with our industry partners, such as Siemens and others,
in taking the first steps towards a stronger, more competitive and cleaner
economy. Again, Mr. President, I can't thank you enough, and I wanted to say
give a shout out to our members and hope California and Texas, they're the
ones the backbone. They're the ones doing the heavy lifting, the work day in
and day out producing for this country and making us a better country because
of it. So thank you to all of them. Next, I have the distinct honor to
represent our next speaker, IBEW member, Johnny Lee. Johnny, I think you'll
see what do you hear from him as a dedicated, He's a hard worker. He's very
well-respected amongst his peers is workers, and he also understands that he
wants to make sure that Siemens is also being able to move forward and as the
company and that they're successful as well. So please give a warm welcome to
Johnny Lee. >> Good afternoon. My name is Johnny Lee. I stand before you as a
proud member of the IBEW Local 220 in Fort Worth, a proud of the Siemens Grand
Prairie facility and a living embodiment of the American dream. When my
parents fled communist Vietnam with nothing but the clothes on their back and
the hope of a better life, they never envisioned that one day their son will
be introducing the President of the United States. What they did know was the
hope and promise of America. The idea that with a little bit of hard work,
everyone can succeed. Through their support of my involvement with my local
union, I am proud to say I have found success in achieving that dream. I built
a life that I love. One field of peace, pride, and the opportunity to serve
others. As a shop steward and a Vietnamese interpreter within the plant, I
help my union sisters and brothers on issues that impact all of us. All while
building infrastructure for a better tomorrow. My story, and so many others of
first-generation Americans would not be possible without the important pro
worker, pro-union policies that President Biden and his administration
support. By investing in infrastructure and good union jobs, President Biden
is laying the foundation for a future that will support working families for
generations to come. A proud partner in the future are companies like Siemens.
By investing millions in employee training programs and workforce development
initiatives, Siemens is creating a pathway to the middle-class for thousands
of working families, all while solving the infrastructure challenges of today
and tomorrow. It's true that individual sacrifice and hard work are central to
the American story, but as my contribution shows, the American dream is also
about a belief and a greater good. An idea that when we work together,
everyone can prosper. I am proud to be a part of that dream. Is now my
distinct pleasure to introduce to you the President of the United States. >>
Johnny didn't tell you he's a break dancer, but he's not going to do it on the
stage right now. Before I begin officially today, I want to thank the Made in
America director, Celeste Drake. I also want to acknowledge it's her birthday
and it's really tough turning 30, so be nice to her. Happy birthday cake.
Johnny, thank you. Thanks to all your coworkers I just had a chance to meet
before you all came in. I want to thank Barbara Hampton, Siemens, Lonnie
Stephenson, president IEBW, one of my closest buddies, and he's been my friend
for a long time. Earlier this week in my State of the Union address, I said
there was something happening in America, starting with historic economic
recovery that we're seeing right now. And today, we've learned that in
February our economy created 678,000 new jobs. Over the course of my
presidency, our economy has now created 7.4 million jobs. More jobs created in
a 13-month period than anytime ever before in our history. And we've learned
that in February the unemployment rate fell to 3.8%, down from 6.4% the day I
took office, beginning in 2021, which is the fastest decline in unemployment
rate in recorded history because of all of you. And by the way, before the
American Rescue Plan passed, Congressional Budget Office didn't project our
unemployment rate to hit 3.8% at anytime over the entire decade. Americans are
back to work. Yes, family budgets are still tight, but a lot of Americans are
getting paychecks this year, more than they got last year, and restoring the
dignity of work so they can show up at work with some pride. Job gains in
February we're broad-based across sectors, from construction to retail, to
manufacturing, to leisure and hospitality. The decline in unemployment rate
was broad-based as well. The fact that unemployment rate among workers without
high school degrees fell to 4.3%, the lowest since we've been keeping records,
4.3%. It's amazing. Workers weekly earnings rose in February. The people in
working class sectors like transportation, warehousing, saw some of the
strongest wage gains. This is what it looks like to grow an economy from the
bottom-up and the middle -out. Because of the progress we've made in fighting
COVID, Americans can not only get back to work, but they can go to the office
and safely fill our great downtown cities again and gain more commerce. With
75% of adult Americans fully vaccinated and hospitalizations down by 77%, most
Americans can remove their mask, return to work and move forward safely.
Today's news is a welcome reminder that we're coming back stronger as a
country and as a people. We've been through two of the hardest years this
nation has ever faced. The pandemic has been punishing, as many of you know,
and some of you may know it from a personal standpoint. Maybe you lost someone
in this process. You got up this morning and looked at an empty chair. Well,
it's been punishing, but we're coming back. So many families are still
struggling to make ends meet because of inflation. I understand our top
priority must be getting prices under control. Look, our economy roared back
faster than most predicted, but the pandemic meant that businesses had a hard
time hiring enough workers to keep up production in their factories. The
pandemic also disrupted the global supply chains. When factories close, it
takes longer to make goods and get them to the warehouse and get them to the
store and prices go up. Let's take a look at cars. Last year there weren't
enough semiconductors to make all you automobiles people wanted to buy. They
had a lot more money in their savings accounts and in their paychecks, but
they weren't able to go out and spend it on leisure because of COVID. So what
happened? They decided that they are purchasing products like everything from
homes to automobiles, to hard products, and the price of automobiles, for
example, went way up. More people seeking them and fewer being made. And we
have a choice. The way to fight inflation is to drive down wages and make
Americans poor or have a better plan. To fight inflation, lower cost and not
your wages. The more semiconductors we make in America, and by the way, they
were invented here in America. The semiconductor was invented in America when
we went to the moon. And when we do that, when we focus on making sure that we
make those again in the United States of America, so few are being made, we
make a heck a lot more cars, and you bring prices down, the supply chain is
filled. Investment in America, rebuilding roads, bridges, airports, ports. We
invest in innovation in America. That's exactly what we're doing. Look, as a
result, we're seeing more jobs, more hope, and we're also seeing something
else, the rebirth of pride that comes from stamping products made in America.
And we're seeing the revitalization of American manufacturing. That's what I
want to talk a little bit about for the next few minutes. Today, companies are
choosing to build new factories, when just few years ago they would have built
them overseas. They're investing right here in America. On this very stage, we
were standing before Intel. The Chairman of the Board of Intel was here. He
announced $20 billion investment to build a semiconductor mega site outside
Columbus, Ohio, creating 10,000 new good paying jobs. Portion of them are the
construction jobs, but the full-time jobs, the average salary in those places
are going to be $135,000 a year. Now, if Congress passes the bipartisan
Innovation Act, Intel is ready to increase their investment from $20 billion
to $100 billion. As I said, we invented the semiconductor, but we haven't been
making them in America for a long time. We had to import them, we had to wait,
it costs more, and that's what I mean when I say dealing with the supply
chains. Since I took office, companies have announced investments totaling
more than $100 billion in electric vehicle industry for the future. And the
iconic companies like Ford, GM, new electric vehicle production, Tesla, our
nation's largest electric vehicle manufacturer to innovate and inspire younger
companies like Rivian, building electric trucks, Proterra, building electric
buses. Last month, the AMP materials, which operates the only rarest mine in
the United States announced a $700 million investment by 2025 that will have a
fully domestic end-to-end supply chain for the magnets that are used in
electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, and defense systems. >> Dismiss and
invest that money here in the United States. And the Union Pacific Railroad
announced the largest purchase American-made battery-electric locomotives in
history. And guess what? They're built in Western Pennsylvania. All told, the
economy created 423,000 new manufacturing jobs in America paying decent
salaries just since I entered office. There's also another reason this is
happening, we're not waiting for others to manufacture the products we
invented. We know what to do, we know how to manufacture things in America
today, that progress continues. I just had a chance to visit, I have a viral
tour both with Siemens facilities, one in Pomona and the other and Grand
Prairie, Texas, a chance to talk with some of the IBEW members working there.
Because their infrastructure law provides $7.5 billion to build a national
network of 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations across America, and also
provides $16.5 billion to modernize our power grid. How we move electricity
across America. Companies like Siemens are investing here in the United States
of America. And you just heard from Barbara, Siemens is announcing a $54
million investment to upgrade and expand those facilities in Texas and
California that develop high-tech, high-value electrical equipment that is
used in electric circuitry switchboards, electric vehicles, chargers out on
the highways, and data centers. This announcement alone is going to create 300
new good-paying cutting-edge manufacturing jobs. Folks, America is coming
back, it really is. In addition, Siemens will be building an entirely new
facility to make charging equipment for electric vehicles. Location of that
facility will be announced later this year, I don't know where it is, so don't
ask.  LAUGHTER  A lot of my colleagues in the Congress are going to be saying,
"Joe, where's it going to go?"  LAUGHTER  I don't know, but it's going to be
in America. And help us continue to grow our clean energy economy. Look folks,
when I ran and got elected, I said I wanted to rebuild America. This is what I
was talking about. And we want to see a lot more stories like this one. So we
went with the taxpayer's dollars to rebuild America, that's what they are,
taxpayer's dollars, we're going to buy American. Buying American products to
support American jobs. And by the way, these are the best products in the
world. The federal government spends about $600 billion a year in goods and
services to fulfill its responsibility to the American people. From the
Defense Department to healthcare and education, and beyond. In fact, what's
happening is the federal government is Siemens largest customer, for example.
Most people don't know there's been a law on the books for almost a century to
make sure that your tax dollars support American jobs and American businesses.
Every administration says they're going to use that law, but when it comes
time to make these purchases, whether that's the deck of an aircraft carrier
or a ventilation system in a school, response often is from the government. We
can't find an American company so we need to issue a waiver and buy the
product that was made overseas, not by an American worker. So Buy American
became a hollow promise. My administration, Buy American is a reality. We've
created and made an American office in the White House to oversee efforts. And
you just heard from Celeste, who runs that office. My first cabinet meeting
and I told everyone  NOISE  that if their agency wants to issue a waiver to
purchase something for their agency and what they have responsibility for and
they think they don't have to use an American company, well, guess what? They
have to come to the White House office and set up and then explain to me why
they have to post that request, why they have to do that? And they're going to
have to post a request publicly on our sites so American manufacturers and
business have a chance to raise their hand, say, "No, I can do that. Here, I
can do that in my shop in my town." Today, we're going even further. I'm
announcing the biggest change in the Buy American Act in 70 years. Right now,
if you're manufacturing a product that gets purchased by the federal
government, the law says that it has to be substantially all of that product
should be made the United State's. But because of loopholes over time, what
substantially all means when I took office? If 55% is made in America, it's
substantially all. To me, 55% isn't substantially all, it's slightly over
half. Today, we're issuing a rule to raise the amount of domestic content
required to be considered Made in America from 55%-75%. Substantially all is
going to start meaning substantially all. And today we're also announcing a
new framework for critical products where we know we need stronger, more
resilient domestic supply chains. We saw it during the pandemic that supply
chain disruptions can put American lives and livelihoods at risk. What we
needed the most, we were short on mass, gowns, gloves, ventilation,  NOISE 
and other essential health products we had to buy abroad. So we're creating a
new price preference. What this means is that if we're identifying some
product that is so critical to our national security, health, or resilience,
then we're going to create rules that allow us to pay a little more for them
if they're made in America. We're talking about things like semiconductors,
some pharmaceutical agreements, advanced batteries, among other things. It's
worth it for us to ensure that we have a domestic capacity to protect us from
shortages and price spikes in the future. And yes, we're going to keep trading
with our allies and friends and we're going to work with them to ensure every
single country can create global chokepoints for critical goods can have those
chokepoints. But we also need a resilient supply chains of our own so that
we're never at the mercy of other countries for critical goods ever again. By
the way, when I say Buy American, I mean buy all American. I want to increase
the share of frontal spending on goods and services that go to small
businesses in America, the backbone of our country. Last year, I released a
plan to increase the number of contacts that go to small disadvantaged
businesses by 50% by 2025. This means more contracts will go to black-brown,
Native American, women-owned, veterans-owned small businesses in every state
and territory. In every industry, from services to manufacturing to
agriculture. Already we're seeing success. Women-owned businesses have won
contracts to provide masks for the government, clothing for the Marines.
Veteran-owned small businesses are now producing specialty trucks and trailers
for the Department of Veterans Affairs and the army. We're seeing other Buy
American successes which will allow us to make synthetic rubber gloves in
Alabama, fibers that go into N95 mask in Hampshire, shipping containers in
Maryland, the list goes on. And here's what it all adds up to. >> Today I'm
placing a bet on America. Everyone here is going to make sure that it pays
off, everyone on this stage. What I say today, what we've seen in the past
months is more reason why we need to reject the defeatist view that the forces
of automation and globalization mean we can't have good-paying union jobs
manufacturing here in America. Our manufacturing future, our economic future
are solutions to the climate crisis. They're all going to be made in America.
And what that means to build a better America? Well, it does. We're going to
build a better America as a consequence. So thank you all very much and I
thank my colleagues for being here. And I understand a lot of Siemens folks in
the front row there too, welcome. And thank you all in California and in
Texas. Thank you. >> Mr. President [inaudible 01:46:30]