What They Are Reading in the States: President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda is Delivering for Americans

Across the country, national and local news outlets are spotlighting President Biden’s Investing in America tour, which kicked off this week with the President’s visit to a semiconductor manufacturing facility in Durham, North Carolina. During the visit, President Biden announced that private companies have made over $435 billion in major domestic investments since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, creating jobs that Americans can raise a family on in every state across the country.

Over the course of the three week Investing in America tour, President Biden, Vice President Harris, First Lady Jill Biden, Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, members of the Cabinet, and senior White House officials are fanning-out across the country, traveling to more than 20 states to highlight the impact of the President’s economic agenda.

President Biden’s Investing in America agenda – including historic investments from the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the American Rescue Plan – has spurred a manufacturing and clean energy boom, strengthened supply chains here at home, and has led to the strongest, fastest jobs recovery in nearly 40 years.

A sampling of the local coverage on President Biden’s investments across the country:

National:

AP: Biden: GOP policies would surrender tech economy to China
President Joe Biden said Tuesday that Republicans’ ideas for cutting the budget could undermine U.S. manufacturing and help China dominate the world economy. Speaking at a semiconductor maker in North Carolina to highlight his own policies, Biden is trying to shape public sentiment as he faces off with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., about whether the federal government should raise its legal borrowing capacity.

UPI: Biden touts ‘bringing supply chain home’ in first stop on ‘Investing in America’ tour
“All these investments mean now you grow up in North Carolina, you go to school in North Carolina, you can stay in North Carolina, and with a good job you can raise a family,” Biden said. It’s not just happening in North Carolina. It’s all about my agenda to invest in America.”

CNN: Jill Biden making 4-state ‘Investing in America’ blitz in preview of possible reelection deployment
During each of her stops, the first lady will tap into her own experience as an educator as she promotes how introducing high school and community college students to career-connected learning and workforce training programs helps prepare them for future jobs.

Local:

North Carolina
News & Observer: Biden touts North Carolina’s role in US manufacturing
The president specifically gave a nod to two future Chatham County facilities: Wolfspeed’s materials factory and VinFast’s car and battery plant. “Right here in America, here in North Carolina, we’re making chips that go into electric vehicles,” he said. “These vehicles are powered by batteries and critical minerals that we’re making here in North Carolina. We’re making electric vehicles here in North Carolina. That’s what invest means.”

WNCN (CBS Durham, NC): Biden visits Wolfspeed in Durham, making first stop of 3-week tour
After landing at RDU, the President traveled alongside Governor Roy Cooper to Wolfspeed, a manufacturer in Durham that produces 60 percent of the world’s silicon carbide materials. Wolfspeed recently announced a $5 billion investment to build its North Carolina facility and create 1,800 new jobs with it, according to the White House.

WUNC (NPR North Carolina): Biden wants companies like NC-based Wolfspeed to be a new wave of American manufacturing
President Joe Biden toured a North Carolina chip manufacturer Tuesday to promote his economic agenda. The president said the Durham-based company Wolfspeed could help revitalize American manufacturing […]Durham native and Duke business professor Ronnie Chatterji is helping the White House implement the CHIPS Act, a new federal law that invests about $280 billion to research and manufacture semiconductors.

Hickory Daily Record: N.C. governor, U.S. commerce secretary praise fiber optic cable makers CommScope, Corning during Hickory visit
Raimondo said the U.S. Department of Commerce will be investing $50 billion to ensure Americans across the nation have access to a high-speed internet connection. […] She also spoke about the importance of encouraging domestic manufacturing, at one point tapping a spool of wire set next to the stage and pointing to the “Made in America” label.

Spectrum: Biden puts clean energy, manufacturing in the spotlight in North Carolina
The president traveled to North Carolina Tuesday, touring a plant that produces silicon carbide chips for semiconductors. The company, Wolfspeed, just announced a new $5 billion facility about an hour west of Durham. President Joe Biden made the stop in Durham to kick off his “Investing in America tour.” The tour will highlight the administration’s spending on infrastructure and building up new manufacturing capacity for things like semiconductors and microchips.

WCNC (NBC Charlotte, NC):Pete Buttigieg tours Charlotte Douglas Wednesday
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was in Charlotte Wednesday to tour the air traffic control tower and runway construction that is enhancing safety at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport.

Minnesota
Star Tribune: Biden to speak Monday at Fridley factory
President Joe Biden will speak Monday at the Cummins Power Generation plant in Fridley, the White House has announced. The stop in Minnesota is part of the president’s “Investing in America” tour, in which he is promoting administration efforts to help build a clean energy economy, rebuild the nation’s infrastructure and promote American manufacturing.

Minnesota Public Radio:Biden in Fridley Monday to Highlight Business Boom
President Biden will be in Minnesota Monday as part of the ‘Investing in America’ tour.
President Biden will tour the Cummin’s hydrogen electrolyzer production facility in Fridley Monday. […] As part of the investments, Xcel Energy plans to invest $575 million to build the largest solar farm in Minnesota near Becker, and Bobcat plans a new construction plant in Rogers and hire an additional 100 employees.

Colorado
The Denver Post:First Lady Jill Biden to visit Denver
First Lady Jill Biden will swing through Denver Monday as part of a national tour to tout the president’s economic initiatives […] A White House handout highlights billions of dollars the acts direct toward Colorado and private sector investments in the state that have followed the passage of those bills. Colorado has also been campaigning to win a “tech hub” designation under the CHIPS Act.

Michigan
WJBK (Fox Detroit, MI): First Lady Jill Biden traveling to Michigan next week
First Lady Jill Biden is coming to Michigan next week as part of the president’s Investing in America Tour. Biden will be focusing on programs that help ready high school and community college students for jobs that will open up in the coming years. She’ll be joined by the education secretary for part of the tour.

Maine
WABI (CBS Bangor, ME):First Lady Jill Biden to visit Maine
The White House announced Friday morning that Biden will be in Portland on Wednesday, April 5, to talk about how career-connected learning and workforce training programs are central to the Biden Education Pathway. She will also talk about what the White House says is the importance of investing in these programs that are preparing high school and community college students for jobs created by the president’s Investing in America agenda.

Vermont
WVNY (ABC Burlington, VT): Jill Biden to visit Vermont next week, White House says
Jill Biden is scheduled to be in Vermont on Wednesday as part of the administration’s Investing in America Tour. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona will join the Biden for part of the tour, which includes stops in Maine and Michigan. According to the White House, 21,000 jobs have been created in Vermont since Biden took office in January 2020, and the president’s pandemic-relief programs helped keep 369 restaurants and bars and 965 child care programs open across Vermont.

Arizona
Copper Courier: Here’s a look at the work that’s being done in the Grand Canyon State and how it helps Arizonans.
In 2021, President Biden signed the historic $1 trillion infrastructure bill into law, delivering on a key piece of his economic agenda. Since then, billions of dollars have been funneled into all 50 states in order to upgrade highways, transit systems, water systems, and more. According to the White House, $2.2 billion in funding from the law has been allocated to Arizona roads, bridges, roadway safety, and other major projects as of February.

New York
WKTV (NBC Utica, NY): New York to expand access to high-speed internet using $100M in American Rescue Plan funding
New York State is getting $100 million in federal funding to expand access to high-speed internet. The money comes from the $10 billion Capital Projects Fund, which is meant to address challenges made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially problems with infrastructure, including internet access. 

Arkansas
KNWA (NBC Rogers, AR): Transportation Secy. Pete Buttigieg talks safety, infrastructure at Little Rock airport
These changes are being funded by a $41 million grant from the federal government. The secretary said the funding was provided as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by Congress in 2021.

Texas
KERA (NPR North Texas):Buttigieg makes Dallas visit to unveil $29 million airfield safety project
United States Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg made a stop in Dallas Thursday to break ground on a $28.8 million airfield project he says will cut down on near-accidents between aircraft. [..]”DFW, I think, will continue to be an economic engine, not just for this region, but really for the entire country,” he said.

Oklahoma
The Oklahoman: Buttigieg visits OKC to highlight focus on airspace safety, reliability
Buttigieg toured the Federal Aviation Administration’s Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center, where air traffic controllers are trained. He said their work was critical in view of rapid changes in the industry. He cited drones occupying the national airspace, artificial intelligence coming online, and the development of electric-powered vertical landing and takeoff craft, along with a robust commercial spaceflight economy.

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