Kuster Reacts to President Biden's Joint Address to Congress, Applauds Focus on Child Care and Support for Families

Statement

**Kuster attended the joint address to Congress in person, sitting in the House gallery for the first time since January 6th, 2021**

Washington, D.C. -- Today, following President Joe Biden's joint address to Congress on the 100th day of the Biden-Harris administration, Rep. Kuster released the following statement reacting to the address:

"The first 100 days of the Biden-Harris administration have been transformative for our country, and I believe the best is yet to come. We have a long road ahead to recover and rebuild from COVID-19, and the bold leadership of President Biden and Vice President Harris have us on track to end this pandemic faster than we thought possible. That process began with the American Rescue Plan, which delivered critical relief for families and businesses in New Hampshire and across the country, and helped stave off further economic damage caused by this crisis. The forward-looking American Rescue Plan also put our nation on the path to get more shots into arms -- as of today, over 235 million vaccines have been administered. Our economy has already gained over one million new jobs this year, but more must be done to support Americans who are struggling to find work.

"The American Rescue Plan jump started our economy and delivered real, tangible results for Americans, putting us on track to end this crisis. Now, we are continuing those efforts to not only recover from COVID-19 but also to build back better -- that's why the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan are so important. I was pleased to hear President Biden speak at length about the urgent need to invest in our nation's infrastructure and to reimagine what infrastructure means as we work to expand access to child care, bolster support for hardworking American families, and build a more resilient economy that meets the needs of our citizens and creates equitable opportunities for all."

The American Jobs Plan will:

Upgrade our nation's physical infrastructure. The President's plan will modernize 20,000 miles of highways, roads, and main streets, and replace thousands of buses and rail cars, repair hundreds of stations, renew airports, and expand transit and rail into new communities.
Deliver clean drinking water, a renewed electric grid, and high-speed broadband to all Americans. The American Jobs Plan will eliminate all lead pipes and service lines in our drinking water systems, and put hundreds of thousands of people to work laying transmission lines and capping orphan oil and gas wells and abandoned mines.
Expand access to affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband to every American. The plan will bring broadband access to more than 35 percent of rural Americans who lack access to broadband at minimally acceptable speeds.
Create well-paying jobs to modernize our nation's facilities. President Biden's plan will create good jobs building, rehabilitating, and retrofitting affordable, accessible, energy-efficient, and resilient housing, commercial buildings, schools, and child care facilities all over the country, while also vastly improving our nation's federal facilities, especially those that serve veterans.

The American Families Plan will:

Provide direct support to children and families. The American Families Plan will provide direct support to families to ensure low- and middle-income families spend no more than seven percent of their income on child care, create a national comprehensive paid family and medical leave program, and provide critical nutrition assistance to families and students who need it most -- dramatically reducing childhood hunger.
Add at least four years of free education. The American Families Plan will provide universal, quality preschool to all three- and four-year-olds, provide Americans two years of free community college, invest in making college more affordable for low- and middle-income students, and improve teacher training and support so our schools become engines of growth at every level.
Extend tax cuts for families with children and American workers. The American Families Plan will extend key tax cuts in the American Rescue Plan that benefit lower- and middle-income workers and families, including the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, and the expanded health insurance tax credits to enable four million uninsured people to gain coverage.

Rep. Kuster was joined virtually for the joint address by Franklin, NH mom of six, Korin Suarez Soto to highlight the impact of the Biden-Harris administration on hardworking New Hampshire families.

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