Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to New Hampshire Friday to promote and rally support for President Biden’s $2.25 trillion American Jobs Plan, warning if the nation wants to keep its competitive edge it must invest big in the future.
Facing stiff opposition from Republicans on Capitol Hill, Ms. Harris said the sweeping jobs plan is about more than fixing roads and bridges.
“It is also about an investment in our future in terms of what we need to do to actually be competitive, to create jobs, and rise to this moment in the history of this country,” she said in front of a small audience at a IBEW training facility in Concord.
Ms. Harris highlighted how the plan sets aside $100 billion for job training and skills development needed to land good-paying jobs.
At an earlier stop, she shined a bright light on the $100 billion set aside for expanding broadband internet in rural areas.
The trip came a day after GOP lawmakers planted their flag in the debate over infrastructure spending, rolling out a $568 billion plan that fell well shy of Mr. Biden’s vision.
SEE ALSO: Harris touts planned boost in broadband internet spending in New Hampshire visit
In New Hampshire, Ms. Harris said now is not the time for incrementalism.
“We are not going to say, ‘Oh yeah, we are going to take it slow, one day at a time,’” she said. “No. We say, ‘Let’s be big,’ and when we set the bar high the very nature of American aspiration is such that we always jump for it and we do it.”
Ms. Harris said, “We said we would go to the moon and then we planted a flag there.”
The visit also came amid increasing pressure from Republicans for Ms. Harris to visit the nation’s southern border to see the migrant surge up close.
The New Hampshire GOP welcomed Ms. Harris to the #WrongBorder.
“As you travel over 2,300 miles away from El Pason, our country would be better served with an official visit to the southern border, not a campaign trip for [Sen. Maggie Hassan],” the state party said on Twitter.
Protesters also greeted Ms. Harris at her first stop with signs that read: “Mexico — 2,254 mi,” “Hey Kamala / Stop the illegal invasion / Go visit Mexico” and “Impeach Biden-Harris.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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