Washington: US President Joe Biden on Wednesday night addressed a joint session of Congress for the first time, rolling out his administration's two top priorities in a sweeping legislative agenda viz. the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan, while touting his achievements on the eve of his 100th day in office.
The American Jobs Plan, a planned investment of $4 trillion in building climate-friendly infrastructure such as roadways and broadband, would be guided by one principle, 'buy American, buy American," said Biden, pledging that the plan would create "millions of good paying jobs" and be the biggest increase in non-defence research and development on record in the US.
The American Families Plan will add two years of universal high-quality pre-school for every three- and four-year-old in America, increase Pell Grants and investment in historically black universities, tribal colleges, and minority-serving institutions, provide up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave, ensure low- to middle-income families pay no more than 7 percent of income to care for their children up to the age of five, and expand the child tax credit for every child in a family.
"Throughout our history, public investments and infrastructure have literally transformed America. These are investments we made together, as one country, and investments that only the government was in a position to make. Time again, they propel us into the future," Biden said.
To finance the two plans, Biden said he had no intention of raising the deficit or imposing any tax hikes on people making less than $400,000 a year. Instead, he proposed major hikes on corporations, investment income and wealthy households.
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