Transcript - Speech: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Introduce their Economic Team - December 1, 2020 | Factba.se

Joe Biden

00:00:00 - 00:00:25 ()

Well, good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for being here. Hope everyone had an enjoyable and safe Thanksgiving even if it was far from the traditional large gathering of family and friends apart from many that we loved but I hope you had a good Thanksgiving. And I know times are tough but I want you to know that help is on the way.

Joe Biden

00:00:25 - 00:00:46 ()

Last week I announced the nominations and staff for critical foreign policy and national security positions, a first rate team that's going to keep us safe and secure and today I have the pleasure -- I have the pleasure of announcing key nominations and appointments for the critical economic positions in the administration.

Joe Biden

00:00:46 - 00:01:19 ()

A first rate team that is going to get us through this ongoing economic crisis and help us build the economy back not just build it back but build it back better than it was before. A team that is tested and experienced and includes groundbreaking of Americans who come from different backgrounds but who share in my core vision for economic relief here in the United States of America and given a fair shot and an equal chance there's nothing we all believe there is nothing beyond the capacity of the American people.

Joe Biden

00:01:19 - 00:01:42 ()

Let's not forget who built this country, working class and middle class people built this country and unions built the middle class. And from the most unequal economic and job crisis in modern history we can build a new American economy that works for all Americans, not just some, all. We need to act now though and we need to work together.

Joe Biden

00:01:42 - 00:02:14 ()

You know in the weeks since winning the election Vice President Harris and I have covered meetings with a number of people. We convened meetings with labor leaders and CEOs at the same time, mayors, and governors of both political parties. There's a consensus out there that as we battle the COVID-19 disease we have to make sure that business and workers have the tools, resources, and guidance and the health and safety standards to be able to operate safely.

Joe Biden

00:02:14 - 00:02:55 ()

The goal is simple, to keep businesses and schools open safely and for millions of Americans who have lost their jobs or hours and have had to claim unemployment. We have to deliver them immediate relief. That includes affordable healthcare for millions of people who have lost it and are in danger of losing it; childcare, sick leave, family leave so workers don't have to choose between work and family, relief from rent and student loans, we need to support small businesses and entrepreneurs who form the backbone of the communities that we live in that are teetering on the edge.

Joe Biden

00:02:55 - 00:03:23 ()

You know there is an urgent need to fund state and cities so they can the front-line workers on those jobs can stay in the jobs. You know the founders are pretty smart I -- I could have gotten this lesson from the future secretary of the Treasury you know there's a reason why all of the states and localities have to have a balanced budget but we are allowed federally to run a deficit in order to deal with crises and emergencies that we have in the past and we have to keep vital public services running.

Joe Biden

00:03:23 - 00:03:51 ()

We have to give aid to local and state governments to make sure they can have law enforcement officers, firefighters, educators as we did in the Recovery Act of 2009 and right now the full Congress should come together and pass a robust package for relief to address these urgent needs. But in a package passed in a lame duck session is lucky to be at best just a start.

Joe Biden

00:03:51 - 00:04:15 ()

My transition team is already working on what I will put forward in the next Congress to address the multiple crises we are facing especially our economic and COVID crises and the team I am announcing today will play a critical role in shaping our plan for action starting on day one and move fast to revive this economy.

Joe Biden

00:04:15 - 00:04:53 ()

They are going to help me -- help us and help the country lay out my build back better plan, a plan that an independent analysis from Moody's, a well-respected Wall Street firm projected would create 18.6 million jobs. It is based on a simple proposition reward hard work in America not wealth. It is time to invest in infrastructure, clean energy, climate change, manufacturing and so much more that will create millions of good paying jobs and it's time we address the structural inequities in our economy that this pandemic has laid bare.

Joe Biden

00:04:53 - 00:05:13 ()

Economists called this current economy and recovery K shaped. Well, like the two lines coming off of a K some people -- make some people are seeing their prospects soar upward while others are watching their economic prospects dropped sharply. For those at the top jobs have come back and their wealth is rising.

Joe Biden

00:05:13 - 00:05:45 ()

For example, luxury home sales are up over 40 percent compared to last year but for those in the middle and the bottom it's a downward slide. They are left figuring out how to pay the bills and put food on the table. Almost one in every six renters was behind in rent payments as of October. Let me be clear, when this team and others will add in the weeks ahead that we're going to create a recovery for everybody, for all.

Joe Biden

00:05:45 - 00:06:26 ()

We are going to get this economy moving again. We are going to create jobs, raise incomes, reduce drug prices, advance racial equity across the economy and restore the backbone of this country the middle class. Our message to everybody struggling right now is this, help is on the way. My dad you have heard me say this before when he lost his job in Scranton when I was a kid and we eventually move the family not far from here Claymont, Delaware just on the outskirts of Wilmington he used to say, "Joey, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck it's about your dignity, it's about respect your place in the community.

Joe Biden

00:06:26 - 00:06:50 ()

It's about being able to look a kid in the eye and say honey, it's going to be okay and mean it." He also used to say, "Joey I don't expect the government to solve my problems but I do expect them to understand my problems." This team understands. For secretary of Treasury I am really pleased to be able to nominate Janet Yellen.

Joe Biden

00:06:50 - 00:07:13 ()

No one is better prepared to deal with this crisis. I wish it weren't as much of a crisis future secretary but she will be the first Treasury secretary who has also chaired the Federal Reserve, vice chaired the Federal Reserve and chaired the President's Council of Economic Advisers. Janet is one of the most important economic thinkers of our time.

Joe Biden

00:07:13 - 00:07:53 ()

She has spent her career focused on employment and the dignity of work which is really important to me and to all of us. She understands what it means to people and their communities when they have good, decent jobs. Respect across and being looked at by their neighbors and being respected. It matters a lot to them and respected across party lines and around the world by Main Street and Wall Street an educator, a mentor, above all the daughter of a working class from working-class Brooklyn neighborhood who never forgot where she came from.

Joe Biden

00:07:53 - 00:08:20 ()

Her husband George is pretty good, too. He has won a Nobel prize but he's the one that married up. Janet will be the first woman to hold this office. We might have to ask Lin Manuel Miranda who wrote the musical about the first Secretary of Treasury Hamilton to write another musical about the first woman Secretary of the Treasury Yellen.

Joe Biden

00:08:20 - 00:08:52 ()

So that is what I'm working on right now, Janet. For director of Office of Management and the Budget I nominate Neera Tanden. You know I have known Neera a long time. A brilliant policy mind with critical practical experience across government. She was raised by a single mom on food stamps, an immigrant from India who struggled, worked hard, and did everything she could for her daughter to live out the American dream and Neera did just that.

Joe Biden

00:08:52 - 00:09:22 ()

She understands the struggles that millions of Americans are facing and she will be the first woman of color from South Asia -- from South Asian -- excuse me, from South Asia and I think that to lead OMB. We also have another one of those women who is vice president of the United States of America and so look, being very serious she will be in charge of laying out the budget that will help us control the virus and deal with the economic crisis and build back better.

Joe Biden

00:09:22 - 00:09:44 ()

But above all she believes what I believe, a budget should reflect our values. Again quoting my dad for real my dad -- people would say, "Joe, let me tell you what I value" and he would look at high school educated guy very well read and he would look at me and he would say "don't tell me what you value, show me your budget, I will tell you what you value." That is what you are going to do for us.

Joe Biden

00:09:44 - 00:10:17 ()

As deputy secretary of Treasury, I nominate Wally Adeyemo. Wally is you know Wally I don't know; I'll tell you what, Senator Warren really likes you. She highly recommended you, but I wasn't sure she worried that I stole you as well. But thank you for being willing to do this, Wally. A skilled leader and thinker on issues ranging from macroeconomics to consumer protection and from national security to international affairs, I've worked with Wally during the Great Recession.

Joe Biden

00:10:17 - 00:10:41 ()

That was my excuse to the senator saying that's why I wanted to steal you and I saw him tackle one big job after another. Deputy of National Security Adviser to President Obama, deputy director for the National Economic Council, former Chief of Staff to Elizabeth Warren where he helped create the Consumer Protection Bureau -- Financial Bureau which has done so much good.

Joe Biden

00:10:41 - 00:11:00 ()

It's designed to protect consumers and working people from unfair deceptive and abusive financial practices and now Wally will be the first African American ever to hold this post and the highest ranking African American in the Treasury Department's history. An immigrant from Nigeria, the son of a nurse and an elementary school principal.

Joe Biden

00:11:00 - 00:11:25 ()

Wally understands everything we do is basically for the people, for families, hardworking people. To understand their struggles and, most of all, their dreams and he understands both. And I want to thank you, Wally, for being willing to do this. For chairperson of the Council of Economic Advisers, I nominate -- notwithstanding, she was a very distinguished professor at Princeton.

Joe Biden

00:11:25 - 00:11:52 ()

I joke my children who went to Penn used to always kid about -- but Cecilia Cece Rouse. One of the most distinguished economists in the country. An expert on labor economics and race poverty and education. Dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. Member of the Council of Economic Advisers to President Obama and adviser to President Clinton at the National Economic Council.

Joe Biden

00:11:52 - 00:12:23 ()

More than that, she's a proud daughter whose mom, a school psychologist encouraged her to pursue her -- pursue economics. And her dad, one of the country's first African American astrophysicists who dared her to dream. She's done both. If confirmed, Cece will be the first, excuse me, the fourth woman to lead the Council of national -- of Economic Advisers and the first African American ever to hold that post.

Joe Biden

00:12:23 - 00:12:44 ()

And as CEA chair, she will serve as a member of my cabinet as well. As a member of the Council of Economic Advisers, we also appoint Jared Bernstein, an old friend who's been with me a long time. A brilliant thinker, a quick wit where they heart as big as his head and a heart he got from his mom, an educator who raised him correctly.

Joe Biden

00:12:44 - 00:13:06 ()

A social worker turned economist, Jared is one of my closest economic advisors and friend. He served as my chief economist during the vice presidency. He was there in that foxhole during the Great Recession with the economy with the economy on the brink and our country on its back. I couldn't think of anyone else who I'd want to be on my side to face the challenges ahead.

Joe Biden

00:13:06 - 00:13:31 ()

Jared will be one of the leading voices in my administration on economic policy. I can always count on him to deliver straight from the shoulder as his hero FDR used to say. Straight from the shoulder. The one thing I can assure you is working people will always have a voice with Jared in this council. As a member of the Council of Economic Advisers, I appoint Heather Boushey.

Joe Biden

00:13:31 - 00:13:53 ()

Heather, thank you for all the help you had in the transition team and getting me here. She's one of the foremost economists working to make sure we build an economy that works for all Americans. The daughter of a union family, it's no wonder she believes so deeply in the idea that leave no one out. Leave no one behind in this economy.

Joe Biden

00:13:53 - 00:14:15 ()

During the campaign, I relied on her counsel when addressing structural inequities within the economy and I'll do so again as president because the -- that's one of the central issues of our time. To this team, thank you for accepting the call to serve again. Your -- to your families and to your -- thank them I thank them for their sacrifices because it's real sacrifice.

Joe Biden

00:14:15 - 00:14:36 ()

We could not do this without you. And to the American people, this team will always be there for you and your families. This is family-oriented team. We've got to make sure ordinary people get a chance to do well because they've never, when given a chance, they've never, ever, ever let the country down.

Joe Biden

00:14:36 - 00:15:01 ()

Eleven years ago, President Obama and I entered office during the Great Recession and implemented the Recovery Act and saved us from a Great Depression. I didn't see the map of America at the time nor did he in terms of blue states and red states. We only saw the United States of America. We worked with everyone for everyone and we are recovering and rebuilt together as one nation.

Joe Biden

00:15:01 - 00:15:23 ()

Vice President Harris and I will do that all over again with an outstanding team. They are ready on day one. And to the United States Senate, I hope those outstanding -- these outstanding nominees will receive prompt hearing and that we will be able to work across the aisle in good faith and move forward as one country.

Joe Biden

00:15:23 - 00:15:46 ()

So let's begin the work to heal, to unite, to rebuild an economy for all Americans. They deserve and expect nothing less. Thank you. May God bless you, and May God protect our troops. I now turn this over to the new team starting with our next secretary of Treasury, Janet Yellen. Again, Janet, thanks for accepting.

Joe Biden

00:15:46 - 00:16:24 ()

Appreciate it. I think they're going to clean this off for us here. [Inaudible] No. I put it in my book. [Inaudible]

Janet Yellen

00:16:24 - 00:17:09 ()

Thank you, Mr. President-elect and Madam Vice President-elect. It's my great honor to have this opportunity to serve you and the American people and to join this incredible economic team at this moment of great challenge for our country. Mr. President-elect, when you reflect on what your father taught you about how we a job is much more than a paycheck, I hear my own father who raised our family in working class Brooklyn. When he graduated from medical school during the Great Depression, he looked for a home and a place to hang his shingle near the Brooklyn docks.

Janet Yellen

00:17:09 - 00:17:35 ()

Back then, Bush terminal on the upper New York Bay was a thriving hub for manufacturing and transportation and for the union workers whose livelihoods depended on them. Knowing they didn't have cars, my father found a home near a bus line. He started his family practice in the basement while we lived on the floors above.

Janet Yellen

00:17:35 - 00:18:02 ()

At the end of the day, he would talk to me, my brother, and my mom about what work meant to his patient. Our friends and neighbors, especially if they lost a job. The financial problems, the family problems, the health problems, the loss of dignity and self-worth. The value of work always stuck with me.

Janet Yellen

00:18:02 - 00:18:27 ()

So much so that I became an economist because I was concerned about the tool of unemployment on people on people, families, and communities. And I've spent my career trying to make sure people can work and achieve the dignity and self-worth that comes with it. Mr. President-elect, I know you've done the same.

Janet Yellen

00:18:27 - 00:19:07 ()

I saw that understanding during the last Great Recession and the Recovery Act that followed. And now we're facing historic crises again. The pandemic and economic fallout that together have caused so much damage for so many and have had a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable among us. Lost lives, loss jobs, small businesses, struggling to stay alive or closed for good, so many people struggling to put food on the table and pay bills and rent.

Janet Yellen

00:19:07 - 00:19:36 ()

It's an American tragedy. And it's essential that we move with urgency. Inaction will produce a self-reinforcing downturn causing yet more devastation. And we miss -- we risk missing the obligation to address deeper structural problems, inequality, stagnant wages, especially for workers who lack a college education.

Janet Yellen

00:19:36 - 00:20:07 ()

Communities that have seen industry disappear with no good jobs replacing the lost ones. Racial disparities and pay, job opportunities, housing, food security, and small business lending that deny wealth building to communities of color. Gender disparities that keep women out of the workforce and keep our economy from running at full force.

Janet Yellen

00:20:07 - 00:20:42 ()

It's a convergence of tragedies that is not only economically unsustainable, but one that betrays our commitment to giving every American an equal chance to get ahead. But I know this team will never give up that commitment. As you said before, Mr. President-elect, out of our collective pain as a nation we will find collective purpose to control the pandemic and build our economy back better than before, to rebuild our infrastructure and create better jobs, to invest in our workforce, to advance racial equity and make sure the economic recovery includes everyone.

Janet Yellen

00:20:42 - 00:21:03 ()

To address the climate crisis with American ingenuity and American jobs, working together with the outstanding national security and foreign policy team you announced last week to help restore America's global leadership. And above all, we share your belief in the American dream of a society where each person's effort can rise to their potential and dream even bigger for their children.

Janet Yellen

00:21:03 - 00:21:30 ()

I pledge as Treasury secretary to work every day towards rebuilding that dream for all Americans. And to the great public servants of the Treasury Department, I look forward to working with you and Wally to rebuild the public trust. To the American people, we will be an institution that wakes up every morning thinking about you, your jobs, your paychecks, your struggles, your hopes, your dignity, and your limitless potential.

Janet Yellen

00:21:30 - 00:21:30 ()

Neera Tanden

00:21:30 - 00:21:43 ()

Mr. President-elect, Madam Vice President-elect, I am humbled and honored by the trust you placed in the to work with this talented team on behalf of the American people. I'm especially proud to work alongside leaders who understand that budgets are not distractions. They are a reflection of our values.

Neera Tanden

00:21:43 - 00:22:01 ()

They touch our lives in profound ways, and sometimes they make all the difference. Like the vice president-elect's mother, Shyamala, my mother Maya was born in India. Like so many millions across every generation, she came to America to pursue a better life. I was raised in a suburb of Boston, a middle-class kid.

Neera Tanden

00:22:01 - 00:22:47 ()

But when I was five, my parents got divorced and my mom was left on her own with two young children and without a job. She faced a choice; return to India were at a time divorce was stigmatized and the opportunities for her and her children would be limited, or keep fighting for her American dream. She stayed, and America came through for her when times were tough.

Neera Tanden

00:22:47 - 00:23:07 ()

We relied on food stamps to eat. We relied on Section 8 housing vouchers to pay the rent. We relied on the social net -- safety net to get back on her feet. This country gave her a fair shot to reach the middle class, and she made it work. She got a job as a travel agent. And before long, she was able to buy us our own home in Bedford, Massachusetts, and eventually see her children up to college and beyond.

Neera Tanden

00:23:07 - 00:23:39 ()

I am here today thanks to my mother's grit, but also thanks to a country that had faith in us and that invested in her humanity and in our dreams. I'm here today because of social programs, because of budgetary choices, because of a government that saw my mother's dignity and gave her a chance. Now it is my profound honor to help shape those budgets and programs to keep lifting Americans up, to pull families back from the brink, to give everybody a fair chance my mom got and that every single person deserves.

Neera Tanden

00:23:39 - 00:23:53 ()

That's the America Maya and Shyamala were drawn to, the America the president-elect and vice president-elect are ready to grow. I believe so strongly that our government is meant to serve all the American people, Republicans, Democrats, and independents alike, all of whom deserve to know their government has their back.

Neera Tanden

00:23:53 - 00:24:10 ()

I look forward to working together alongside the dedicated career professionals of the OMB to expand the possibilities for every American family. I want to thank my own wonderful family, my husband Ben, without whose love and support I would simply not be here, and our children, Elena and Jayden. Thank you all for this profound opportunity to serve.

Adewale Adeyemo

00:24:10 - 00:24:29 ()

Mr. President-elect, Madam Vice President-elect, thank you for this profound opportunity to return to the Treasury Department and serve the American people. I know firsthand the president-elect's capacity to lift our country out of our times because I had the privilege of working with him to help Americans recover from the great recession.

Adewale Adeyemo

00:24:29 - 00:24:45 ()

In California's Inland Empire, where I had grown up in a working-class neighborhood, the great recession it is hard. We were one of the foreclosure capitals in the United States. The pain of this was real for me. It wasn't just numbers in a report or stories on the nightly news, but neighbors and friends who lost everything.

Adewale Adeyemo

00:24:45 - 00:25:10 ()

I was proud of the work that I got to do at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau protecting American consumers and at the Treasury Department helping to grow the U.S. economy. I was proud also of getting a chance to serve with leaders like the president-elect, who oversaw the Recovery Act's implementation investing in American workers, betting on their resilience and drive, and giving families a chance to get up off the mat.

Adewale Adeyemo

00:25:10 - 00:25:37 ()

I believe that's what public service is all about at its best, giving people a fair shot when they need it most, offering hope to the dark times, and making sure that our economy works not just for the wealthy but for the hard-working people who make it run. Those are the lessons I learned from my parents, an elementary school principal and a nurse who came to America to build a better life for me and my siblings.

Adewale Adeyemo

00:25:37 - 00:26:26 ()

They taught us that we have a responsibility to serve our community and the country that gave us so many opportunities. But I also learned early on how much more needs to be done to ensure that everyone has the fair chance they deserve. I look forward to working with Janet Yellen to reduce inequality in this country and expand the middle class and make sure that we build an economy that works for everyone.

Adewale Adeyemo

00:26:26 - 00:26:52 ()

And as we build back better, we must also remain laser focused on the Treasury Department's critical role of protecting our national security. This includes using our sanctions regime to hold bad actors accountable, dismantling the financial networks of terrorist organizations and others who seek to do us harm, and ensuring our foreign investment policy protects America's national security interest.

Adewale Adeyemo

00:26:52 - 00:27:11 ()

The challenges before us today are unlike anything we have ever faced, but I know that what the president-elect so often reminds us of is true. The American people can do anything when given a chance. And I'm honored to be a part of this talented team and to work with them and all the American people to build an economy that gives everyone the chance and turns our nation once again from crisis to hope.

Adewale Adeyemo

00:27:11 - 00:27:11 ()

Ceclilia Rouse

00:27:11 - 00:27:35 ()

Good afternoon. Mr. President-elect, Madam Vice President-elect, thank you for this extraordinary opportunity to join this team. I'm humbled and honored and ready to get to work for the American people. To be perfectly honest until recently I did not anticipate I would return to public service. As every academic knows when you have laid down roots at a school you love with incredible students and colleagues you have grown with, it isn't easy to take a leave.

Ceclilia Rouse

00:27:35 - 00:27:52 ()

It requires a rare combination of urgency and opportunity to pull you away but that rare combination is precisely what our nation is facing right now. My path as an economist began in my first year of college. My mother, the school psychologist encouraged me to take a course in economics and it happened to coincide with want at the time was one of the worst spikes in unemployment since the Great Depression.

Ceclilia Rouse

00:27:52 - 00:28:13 ()

It was impossible for me to separate what we were learning in the classroom from what I know was going on in towns across the country and so I found myself drawn to the study of the labor market and all of its dimensions the reasons that jobs disappear. The impact of education on people's job prospects and the ways we can tear down barriers to job growth and make it easier for people to find long-lasting economic security.

Ceclilia Rouse

00:28:13 - 00:28:29 ()

Today nearly 40 years later we are once again living through one of the worst job crises since the Great Depression. Millions of families have had their lives turned upside down. The safety net has freight leaving vulnerable Americans to slip through into hardship and hopelessness and importantly structural inequities that have always existed in our economy are being exacerbated like never before.

Ceclilia Rouse

00:28:29 - 00:28:48 ()

This is a moment of urgency and opportunity unlike any we face in modern times. The urgency of ending a devastating crisis and the opportunity to build a better economy in its wake, an economy that works for everyone, brings fulfilling job opportunities then leaves no one to fall through the cracks. I look forward to working with the president-elect and vice president-elect in this amazing entire economic team to address than urgency and seize that opportunity and make our economic system work better for every American.

Ceclilia Rouse

00:28:48 - 00:28:48 ()

Joe Biden

00:28:48 - 00:28:49 ()

Jared Bernstein

00:28:49 - 00:29:03 ()

Good afternoon. I am hard-pressed to find the words to express my gratitude to the president-elect and vice president-elect for the chance to be here today. In thinking the path that brought me here a good place to start is 12 years ago almost to the day when I met with then Vice President-elect Biden at his home not far from here.

Jared Bernstein

00:29:03 - 00:29:42 ()

It was supposed to be a job interview to be his chief economist but it quickly turned into a conversation about economic justice and fairness which has many here know is a common destination in conversations with the president-elect. Over the years we have continued that discussion. Often it takes the form of some policy minutia, sometimes it's me hitting him with far more graphics than are necessary or him telling me to stop speaking economies and start speaking English.

Jared Bernstein

00:29:42 - 00:30:00 ()

Guilty as charged Mr. President-elect. I suspect the reason we had such a meeting of the minds back then dates back to a common saying in my household when I was growing up if you are not part of the solution you are a part of the problem. I grew up with a single mother, a lifelong educator. There was a picture of FDR on the wall.

Jared Bernstein

00:30:00 - 00:30:14 ()

Her proudest moment wasn't when I got a PhD, it was when I got a union card local 802, the New York City's Musicians Union but that's a whole other story. Of course if you intend to be part of the solution you need to accurately diagnose the problem. In that regard I think the president and vice President-elect's agenda is timely, resonant, and visionary.

Jared Bernstein

00:30:14 - 00:30:30 ()

Yes, they have stressed the urgent need to control the virus and provide the relief needed to help families and businesses get to the other side of this crisis but they have been just as adamant that simply getting back to where we were sets the bar too low. We must build back an economy that is far more resilient, far more fair, and far more inclusive.

Jared Bernstein

00:30:30 - 00:30:38 ()

It is precisely the vision this nation needs and I suspect I am not the only person on this stage chomping at the bit to get to work on making their vision a reality. Thank you.

Heather Boushey

00:30:38 - 00:31:00 ()

Mr. President-elect and Madame Vice President-elect, I am honored and very grateful for the chance to be a part of this absolutely exceptional team and excited to get to work helping build an economy rooted in the values that we share, a quality opportunity and the dignity of work. It is no accident that I focused my career on instilling those values in our economy, developing policies that help our nation grow stronger by growing more equitably.

Heather Boushey

00:31:00 - 00:31:20 ()

Like the president-elect and the vice president-elect those values were instilled in me at a young age. In the late 1970s my dad got a job at Boeing and if you grew up in Seattle like I did you know what that means, a lot more than a paycheck as Janet referenced and as the president so often reminds us and for our family my dad's job at Boeing meant security, it meant union benefits, a place in the neighborhood, a place in the middle class.

Heather Boushey

00:31:20 - 00:32:03 ()

But when the recession hit in the early 1980s one by one the pink slips arrived for every family in our cul-de-sac. Every kid at my bus stop had a parent who was laid off. Our entire community saw its future dimmed and one by one it was my turn. So the first time I truly experienced this thing called the economy it was my parents sitting down and explaining that things were going to be tougher for a while because my dad was on layoff.

Heather Boushey

00:32:03 - 00:32:18 ()

Too many kids in America experienced the economy through those kinds of difficult conversations or far worse. I was struck by the profound power this mysterious force held over my life, my friends and my community and I wondered if that power couldn't also be wielded to create happier conversations and fuller lives.

Heather Boushey

00:32:18 - 00:32:33 ()

I have dedicated my career to figure out how we can grow and sustain the middle class and uproot the gender barriers and racial barriers that leave too many Americans outside the dream looking in. Through the organization I cofounded I have pursued solutions to reverse the dangerous march of any quality and bring us back to the core value of broadly shared success.

Heather Boushey

00:32:33 - 00:32:44 ()

That is the same value I see at the heart of the build back better plan and why I am so excited and honored to help this team bring not just good jobs but the good lives and peace of mind that comes with them to every American community. Thank you.

Kamala Harris

00:32:44 - 00:33:04 ()

Mr. President-elect, congratulations on choosing this outstanding team of brilliant minds this economic team. This is the right team for this moment and to our nominees and appointees thank you for your continued service to our nation. This is the team we need to deliver immediate the economic relief to the American people to get our economy back on track and to make sure it works for working people.

Kamala Harris

00:33:04 - 00:33:28 ()

And as President-elect Biden noted earlier completing that task could not be more urgent. Cases of COVID-19 are spiking and beyond the tragic loss of life the toll of this recession continues to mount. Across America one in six adults with children say their families are hungry. Janet Yellen talked to about food insecurity.

Kamala Harris

00:33:28 - 00:33:54 ()

This is real. We are looking at a hunger crisis in America right now. One in three adults are having trouble paying their bills, essential bills, the bills that need to be paid at the end of every month to get to the next month. And the number of open small businesses has fallen by nearly 30 percent due to this pandemic while many others are hoping they can stay afloat until a vaccine is available.

Kamala Harris

00:33:54 - 00:37:14 ()

These are the struggles, the worries that keep people up in the middle of the night that have them sitting at their kitchen table past midnight trying to figure out how they are going to make it work but Americans are not united by their worries alone. They are also united by their aspirations. The aspirations they have for themselves, for their children, for their families, and for their community because no matter where you live or what language your grandmother speaks, everyone wants to be able to get a job and keep a job no matter what your gender or who you love.

Kamala Harris

00:37:14 - 00:37:22 ()

Everyone wants to be able to buy a home and keep a home. And no matter how you worship or who you voted for in this election, everyone wants to be able to give their children a decent education and allow those children to pursue their dreams, even during a pandemic. And Joe and I understand that. We were raised to respect the dignity of work.

Kamala Harris

00:37:22 - 00:37:28 ()

We were raised by hard working parents who always understood the dignity of work and the potential not only for their children, but over our country. And that's why I've always fought for working people, standing up for middle class families who lost their homes in the Great Recession. Wally, you talked about that.

Kamala Harris

00:37:28 - 00:37:38 ()

Families in California were devastated. But they were able to rely on their government and the leaders, as Joe always talks about who needed to see their condition and speak to that condition. And that's the work that needs to happen now. And I look forward to collaborating with this extraordinary team to put working people front and center in our administration.

Kamala Harris

00:37:38 - 00:37:56 ()

These public servants are some of America's most brilliant minds. They are proven leaders whose talents, achievements, and life stories, their life stories reflect the stories of the American people and their stories reflect the very best of our country. And they not only have the experience, expertise, and what is necessary to help end this economic crisis, but also what is necessary to put people back to work and they also share in our commitment to building an economy, in America where everyone has access to a higher minimum wage and affordable health care, paid family leave, and paid sick leave, home ownership and capital to start a small business, an America where opportunity is within reach for everyone, for all the people.

Kamala Harris

00:37:56 - 00:38:05 ()

So we've got a lot of work to do to build that America. And as Joe always says, to build back better. And President-elect Biden and I, together with this economic team will be ready to hit the ground running on day one because that is what this crisis demands and that is what the American people deserve.

Kamala Harris

00:38:05 - 00:38:06 ()