PRESIDENT BIDEN COMES TO THE LEHIGH VALLEY TO PROMOTE HIS “BUY AMERICAN” AGENDA WITH A BOOMING ECONOMY AS HIS BACKDROP

PENNSYLVANIA — As President Biden prepares to touch down again in Pennsylvania to promote his ‘Buy American’ agenda, Pennsylvanians can be thankful that after six months of the Biden presidency, a thriving economy suggests that once again we’re building American, buying American, and hiring American.

Today, President Biden will promote his “Buy American” Agenda at the Lehigh Valley operations facility for Mack Trucks, where he will tour the facility, meet with UAW members working there, and be briefed on Mack Trucks’ electrical refuse truck currently being piloted in New York City and North Carolina. 

While President Biden’s “Buy American” agenda will take our economy to a new level, there’s no denying that over the past six months, the economy is already on a marked upswing thanks to the leadership from the White House. Just yesterday, the Consumer Confidence Index reached 129.1 for the month of July, its highest level since before the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s not the only good news we’ve seen recently: 

  • Since taking office in January, the U.S. economy has added more than 3 million new jobs, the most in any president’s first five months. 
  • Here in Pennsylvania, unemployment fell in July to its lowest rate since the start of the pandemic. 
  • The most recent economic data suggests that the U.S. Economy is growing at a rate of 6.4% on an annualized rate, which would be the fastest annual rate in nearly 40 years. Independent projections from the CBO, the International Monetary Fund, the Federal Reserve and others all continue to forecast that our economy will grow at its largest rate in almost four decades. 
  • Since taking office, the number of new weekly unemployment claims has been cut in half under President Biden.
  • Under President Biden and Democrats, millions of Americans are eligible for no-cost health insurance plans through the ACA marketplace. 

Much of the recent economic growth has been spurred by President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, which dished out checks of up to $1,400 for 8.1 million Pennsylvanian adults, provided $12.3 Billion in funding for Pennsylvania’s State and Local governments, and is now providing checks of up to $3,600 per child for the families of Pennsylvania’s 2.37 million children thanks to the expanded Child Tax Credit. The American Rescue Plan, which passed in March thanks to the support of President Biden and Congressional Democrats, did not receive support from a single Republican in Congress. 

“President Biden ran on a message of building Pennsylvania back better, and in the six months leading up to his visit to the Lehigh Valley, he’s done exactly that,” said Pennsylvania Democratic Party Spokesperson Rosemary Lapowsky. “Thanks to his leadership and the help from Democrats in Congress in delivering the American Rescue Plan, checks are in the pockets of working families, our economy is growing, and good-paying jobs are coming back to the Keystone State. Pennsylvanians are looking forward to hearing President Biden’s message today because they know he’ll continue to lead us into a future where our economy helps hard-working Americans thrive.”

###