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First Lady Jill Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, right, listen to apprentice carpenter Samantha Ervin-Upsher, left, talk about joining her union and training as a carpenter Tuesday, July 18, 2023, with union training director Richard Paganie.
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Jill Biden lauded her husband for 'strengthening communities like Pittsburgh' in a visit to the area

Sebastian Foltz/Post-Gazette

Jill Biden lauded her husband for 'strengthening communities like Pittsburgh' in a visit to the area

The first couple’s bookending of Pennsylvania this week is the latest indication of the battleground state’s importance in 2024

First Lady Jill Biden visited the Pittsburgh region on Tuesday afternoon to meet with local officials and business owners about industry investment and workforce development. 

Her visit was the latest in the Biden administration’s summer “Bidenomics” tour touting economic gains and investments in America’s workforce. President Joe Biden’s administration has adopted the branding to showcase its efforts to invest in infrastructure, boost U.S. manufacturing and create jobs in a range of industries such as biotech and renewable energy. 

“When we invest in America, we bring people together and fundamentally transform what it means to make a living and make a life here in the United States of America,” Mrs. Biden said Tuesday. “[President Biden] understands the middle class because he’s from the middle class. And that’s why he’s strengthening communities like Pittsburgh, fueling a nationwide manufacturing boom and creating jobs for hard working families.”

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Mr. Biden himself will visit Philadelphia on Thursday. The first couple’s bookending of Pennsylvania during a 72-hour period is the latest indication of the battleground state’s importance to his 2024 reelection hopes

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Mrs. Biden delivered her remarks from a construction site at Pittsburgh International Airport, which is currently undergoing a $1.4 billion modernization project. 

“When President Biden rolled out his infrastructure plan, he did it right here,” Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said as he appeared with Mrs. Biden. “It became something that has really benefited us here in southwestern Pennsylvania.”

Mr. Fitzgerald highlighted the county’s “37-year low” unemployment rate of about 3.5%. 

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Mr. Biden has presided over record job growth and near-record low unemployment. But ahead of a 2024 reelection campaign where voters say the economy is their top issue, polls and interviews with voters show he isn’t getting much credit. And Republicans have mocked the “Bidenomics” campaign by pointing to persistent inflation — though the government reported last week that inflation fell to 3% in June, the lowest level in more than two years.

Mrs. Biden was also joined in Pittsburgh by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su. 

The White House in May named Pittsburgh as one of five workforce hub sites across the country, along with Columbus, Ohio, Augusta, Ga., Baltimore and Phoenix. Pittsburgh was singled out at the time for its emerging robotics, biomanufacturing and clean energy industries, along with its “world-class universities.” The administration will partner with local leaders in these cities to help develop a skilled and diverse workforce. There are plans to use these cities as models for similar programs elsewhere in the future. 

Before landing in Pittsburgh around 4 p.m., Mrs. Biden visited Augusta earlier Tuesday

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Mayor Ed Gainey thanked the first couple Tuesday for choosing Pittsburgh as one of the hubs.

“We were selected because we have always been the [connection] between everything that comes through this region,” Mr. Gainey said at the airport. “We bring people together to create jobs.” 

Part of the airport modernization project includes a focus on building the region’s workforce through local trade unions. Mrs. Biden met Tuesday with representatives from the Union Carpenters Local 432, who are helping build the new airport terminal, to discuss apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs that are being started through the project. The workforce development being promoted through the airport construction project is one reason why Pittsburgh was chosen as a hub city. 

“That is ‘Bidenomics’ in action,” Ms. Su said. “An economy that puts workers first and where opportunity is available to everyone.”

The White House last month highlighted that Pennsylvania has received $9 billion in federal funding for infrastructure projects under the Biden administration and another $2 billion in private investment spurred by federal legislation. 

“Today we’re seeing what that [investment] looks like in real life,” Mrs. Biden said. “Here, that means thousands of jobs strengthening and rebuilding Pennsylvania’s infrastructure, including modernizing the Pittsburgh airport.”

Hallie Lauer: hlauer@post-gazette.com

First Published: July 18, 2023, 3:18 p.m.
Updated: July 19, 2023, 4:58 p.m.

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