>> earlier today, president biden talked about the economy and his administration's infrastructure proposal from the white house. president biden good morning. sorry to keep you waiting. apologize. good morning. we're looking at what we've

achieved since six months ago and what i believe we've -- i believe where we're headed. before i took office, there was a lot of folks out there, a lot of folks out there making some pretty bold predictions about how things would turn out. you might remember some of the predictions. if i became president, we'd see a depression the likes of which we have never seen before. it is true the economy was sputtering before i got here. adding only 60,000 jobs per month where three months before i was sworn in, but six months later we have changed that. we have gone from 60,000 jobs to 60,000 jobs every three days. more than 600,000 jobs per month since i took office. more than 3 million new jobs all told. that is the fastest growth i'm told in any administration's

history. another prediction, my favorite i must add, is that if i got elected, i would bring the end to capitalism. i have never understood that one but we have heard an awful lot. in my six months the economy has experienced the highest growth rate in nearly 40 years and we know we needed to launch wartime effort to get america vaccinated and we passed the powerful american rescue plan. now forecasters have doubled projections for growth this year in the economy to 7% or higher. in fact, the u.s. is the only developed country in the world where growth projections today are stronger than they were

before the pandemic hit. at the same time companies across the country are giving workers a raise, unusual thing. the number of new unemployment claims has been cut by half since i took office. by the way, two weeks ago i issued a major executive order promoting fair and open competition which is the cornerstone, the cornerstone of american capitalism. banning noncompete clauses, lowering the price of things like hearing aids, prescription drugs, internet service, along with dozens of other actions. folks, it turns out capitalism is alive and well. we are making serious progress to ensure it works the way it is supposed to work, for the good of the american people. for all those predictions of

doom and gloom six months in here is where we stand. record growth, record job creation, workers getting hard earned breaks. look, we brought this economy back from the brink. we designed our strategy not only to provide for a temporary boost but to lay the foundation for a long-term boom that brings everyone along. you know, that's why we designed the american rescue plan. to help not just everyone at once but over the course of a full year and beyond. so we could help families at small businesses whether the ups and downs as the economy recovered from a historic pandemic and there are going to be ups and downs. we saw a great example last week. for the first time monthly payments began going out to nearly every working family raising a child in the united states of america. thanks to the expanded child tax credit and the american rescue plan $300 a month going out for each child under the age of 6 and $250 for every child 6 through 17. every month for the next six months with more coming in the spring. that money is a game

changer. for some, it is a lifesaver. think of a single mom struggling to put food on the table each month. the parent has to tell their kid, i'm sorry, honey, but we can't afford dance classes or the sports team you want to play on this fall. we can't do it. you know, they cannot wait for the credit to be coming next year as a tax credit. they need cash in their pockets today. for families with the least this money will do the most to radically reduce child poverty and for millions of middle-class families it will give them a little bit of breathing room every month. that is just one example of how we are building the economy from the bottom up in the middle out. but despite that progress we cannot afford to be complacent.

we know our economic recovery hinges on getting the pandemic under control. and by fully vaccinating 160 million americans or 80% of our seniors we fundamentally changed the course of the pandemic. for one that threatens all americans, to a disease that has the most severe impacts only on the unvaccinated in the country. but we cannot let up. especially since and because of the delta variant which is more transmissible and more dangerous. unfortunately, cases are now rising, particularly in communities with low vaccination rates. just four states account for nearly 40%, four states, 40%, of nearly all cases last week. virtually all hospitalizations and deaths are among unvaccinated americans. these tragedies are avoidable. the data could not be clearer.

if you are fully vaccinated, you have a high degree of protection against severe illness, hospitalization and death. if you are unvaccinated, you are not protected. please, please give vaccinated. get vaccinated now. it works, it's safe, it's free, it's convenient. you know, this virus doesn't have to hold you back any longer. it doesn't have to hold our economy back any longer. but the only way we put it behind us is if more americans get vaccinated. we also know as our economy has come roaring back we see price increases. some folks have raised worries this could be a sign of persistent inflation but that is not our view.

our experts believe, that the data shows, most of the price increases we have seen or expected and expected to be temporary. the reality is you cannot flip the global economic light back on and not expect this not to happen. as demand returns there is going to be global supply chain challenges. we have seen that in semiconductors which are used in automobiles. that global shortage has slowed vehicle production creating a temporary spike in car prices. that is a real challenge. my administration is doing everything we can to address it, but again these disruptions are temporary. lumber prices are another example.

they spiked early in our recovery. but in recent weeks they began to fall and have fallen more than 50%. hospitality industry, prices are returning to where they used to be. economists call all these things transitory effects and they account for about 60% of the price increases we have seen the last few months. i want to be clear, my administration understands if we were to ever experience unchecked inflation over the long-term, that would pose a real challenge to our economy. so while we are confident that is not what we are seeing today we remain vigilant about any response needed. as i made clear to chairman powell and the federal reserve when we met recently, the fed is independent. to take whatever steps it needs to support a strong, durable economic recovery. but whenever different views some might have on current price increases who should be united in one thing -- the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure framework which we shook hands on, we shook hands on.

and my build back better plan will be a force for achieving lower prices for americans looking ahead. it's another reason why the investments are so important. if we make prudent, multiyear investment in better roads, bridges, transit systems at high speed internet, in a modern, resilient electric grid here is what will happen. it breaks up the bottlenecks in our economy, goods get to consumers more rapidly and less expensively, small businesses innovate more seamlessly. if we increase the availability of quality, affordable childcare, eldercare, paid leave, more people will enter the workforce. these steps will enhance our productivity, raising wages without raising prices. that will not increase inflation. it will take the pressure off of inflation, give a boost to our workforce which leads to lower prices in the years ahead. so if your primary concern is

inflation, you should be even more enthusiastic about this plan. as we promote fair competition in our economy through the executive order i mentioned it will drive down prices even further. new businesses will get in the game, competing against giant corporations who have been free to ramp up prices because they have not had any real competition. the bottom line is this, what the best companies do and what we as a country should do is make smart, sustainable investments with appropriate financing. to make this nation more productive, to advance america's leadership in clean energy to win the jobs of the future, while eliminating the threat of climate change. i'm sure all working americans benefit from the growth they are helping produce. the independent experts who have analyzed my plans found that would do just that, expand output and enable millions of

americans to enter the labor workforce. now, just this year, not just for the next and not just this year but for decades in the future, it is not temporary. this is the best strategy to create millions of jobs and lift up middle-class families and grow wages and keep prices affordable for the long-term. what we can't do is go back to the same old trickle down theories that gave us nearly $2 trillion in deficit corporate tax giveaways, that did nothing to make our economy productive or resilient. the same people who cheered on that approach are now telling us it isn't the problem. the big companies have to compete for workers and offer them a fair wage with some dignity.

i could not disagree more. we cannot go back to the old failed thinking. we need to grow the economy from the bottom up in the middle out as i said before. investments i propose are investments the american people want and investments our country needs. if we get this done, a wide range of independent forecasters project it will have an incredibly significant impact on gdp and jobs. good paying jobs with prevailing wages and the majority of these will go to people without a college degree. i have said it before and it is true, this is a blue-collar blueprint for building an american economy back. simply put, we can't afford not to make these investments. we are going to pay for them responsibly as well by ensuring our largest corporations, the very wealthiest among us, pay their fair share by reforming our international tax system with a minimum global tax, which

we have led the world to agree to. let me close with this, when i arrived in office it'd been a long time since the government had worked for the people. things had been great for big corporations and folks at the top. those 55 major corporations that paid zero in income tax while making billions in profit, they had no complaints. when i took office i made a commitment, a commitment to the american people, that we were going to change that paradigm. so working families could have a fighting chance again to get a good education, to get a good job and a raise, to take care of their elderly parents or child with disabilities, and still be able to go out and earn a good living. to stop losing hours of their lives stuck in traffic because streets are waiting for updates or waiting for slow internet. that is what the economy we are building is all about. that is why we passed the american rescue plan and that is why we need investment in the bipartisan framework and my build back better plan. our economy has come a long way

the last six months. it cannot slow down now. we can make this boom we are experiencing today one that will ensure all americans have an opportunity to share in it for years to come. and we could show the world that american democracy can deliver for the people. i look forward to continuing to build this economy and i'm incredibly optimistic about what we are going to be able to build together the next six months in the years to come. thank you for listening, may god bless you, and i will take a few questions. reporter: pres. biden: i am glad you asked me that question. one, i had just read that facebook pointed out -- it was pointed out that facebook, of all the misinformation, 60% came from 12 individuals. that is what the article

said. i was asked that question about what do i think is happening? facebook is not killing people. these 12 people are out there giving misinformation. anyone listening is getting hurt by it. it is killing people, it is bad information. my hope is that facebook instead of taking it personally that they would do something about the misinformation. the outrageous misinformation about the vaccine. that is what i meant. reporter: have they done enough in your opinion? pres. biden: to be completely honest, over the weekend i don't think they had but i don't know. reporter: will you hold them accountable if they don't do more? pres. biden: when you say "hold accountable," i'm not trying to make -- i want them to look in the mirror. think about that misinformation going to your son, your daughter, your relative, someone

you love. that is all i am asking. all the way in the back. reporter: [indiscernible] -- do you want to see the fed take action? why do you believe the budget bill is appropriate legislation for a pathway to citizenship? pres. biden: first of all, i think we need to find pathways to citizenship. the budget bill is an appropriate way to get around the filibuster and be able to make a judgment as to whether there should be a pathway. that is for the parliamentarian to decide, not joe biden to decide. the first part of the question? reporter: you mentioned -- pres. biden: there is nobody suggesting there is unchecked inflation, no serious economist. look, the stock market is higher then it has been in all of history. it even went down this

month. i don't look at the stock market to judge the economy like my predecessor did but he would be talking to me every day the last few months about how the stock market is so high. that is not how i judge whether or not we have economic growth. reporter: on china and cyberhacking. [indiscernible] -- naming china but no sanctions. why and is that effective enough? pres. biden: they are still determining exactly what happened. >> and the house back to gavel in for votes this evening. one vote expected. live coverage now here on c-span. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2021] of reverse auction and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the unfinished business is the vote of the motion of the the gentlewoman from from pennsylvania, ms. houlahan to pass h.r. 826 on which