Biden, Harris tour U.S. to promote relief plan
WASHINGTON — President Biden kicked off the White House’s effort to highlight the benefits of his huge COVID relief plan Monday, declaring that “hope is here in real and tangible ways” as his administration began fanning out across the country to promote the new spending.
Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and their spouses have begun an ambitious, crosscountry tour this week to promote the $1.9 trillion plan as a way to battle the coronavirus and boost the economy. The road show — dubbed the “Help is here” tour by the White House — began Monday with Harris heading to a COVID19 vaccination site and a culinary academy in Las Vegas and first lady Jill Biden touring a New Jersey elementary school.
The president will hit the road later in the week — Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Georgia with Harris on Friday — but he stayed at the White House on Monday to declare that the bill will help put “shots in arms and money in pockets. That’s important.”
Hours earlier, Air Force Two lifted off from Joint Base Andrews and headed west to Nevada, and Harris will also make a stop the following day in Denver to meet with smallbusiness owners. Wednesday sees Jill Biden in Concord, N.H., and Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, in Albuquerque, N.M.
The stops at vaccination sites, businesses, schools and more are meant to educate the public about different aspects of the giant American Rescue Plan and how the administration says it will help people get to the other side of the coronavirus pandemic.
Biden has said President Barack Obama’s administration, in which Biden was vice president, failed to adequately educate the public about the benefits of its economic recovery plan. The president wants to do a better sales job this time around on the details of his first big legislative victory, and he began last week with highprofile speeches, one in prime time, the other from the Rose Garden.
Biden has chosen Gene Sperling, a longtime Democratic economic policy expert, to oversee the massive stimulus package, the role he himself had in 2009’s economic rescue package, to lead efforts “to stay on top of every dollar spent.”
“I learned from my experience implementing the Recovery Act just how important it is to have someone who can manage all the moving parts with efficiency, speed and integrity and accountability,” said the president.
The “Help is here” tour is taking Harris on her first domestic trip as vice president. Her husband, the nation’s first “second gentleman,” was breaking off for separate events in Las Vegas on Monday and New Mexico on Wednesday.
Hundreds of mayors and governors, including Republicans, are being lined up to give interviews to discuss what the plan means for their communities.