President Biden on Tuesday pledged to continue pushing for expanded child care subsidies, early childhood education and paid medical leave, an agenda that went unfulfilled during his three-and-a-half years in the White House.
The pledge, delivered in a speech to a crowd of dedicated caregivers at Washington's Union Station, was aimed at reassuring Democratic voters that he would use his second term to fight Republicans who block ambitious policies. was there.
He has promised 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave, major investments in preschool for 4-year-olds, an extension of the Child Tax Credit to help working families, and $10 per child for families to receive quality child care. We asked for investment to enable us to do so. Day.
“All of this helps families, grows the economy, grows the economy,” he told the crowd, to applause. “And we can afford to do it. We can't afford not to do it.”
Biden promoted many of his care economy proposals early in his presidency. His 2021 Build Back Better plan initially included significant investments in preschools and health care workers. However, most of these proposals died during intense negotiations with some conservative Democrats in the Senate.
Now, as his campaign against former President Donald J. Trump heats up, Mr. Biden is hopeful that supporters of such ideas will want to wait another four years to pass the bill.
The president has included a new proposal in next year's budget, but lawmakers from both parties acknowledge that the election-year document is dead by the time it arrives on Capitol Hill. For Biden, it's an ambitious document aimed at laying out his priorities if re-elected.
In his speech, Biden criticized Republicans who have opposed many bills as too expensive as the nation struggles with mounting debt. He accused Republicans of proposing their own budget that seeks to “cut long-term care programs by a third” and “repeal the Affordable Care Act.”
Biden ended his speech Tuesday with a message to the care workers in the audience: I promise you: I've got your back. ”
