JUST IN: First Lady Jill Dr. Biden Delivers Remarks At Congressional Hispanic Caucus Event

2 months ago

On Tuesday, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden delivered remarks at a Congressional Hispanic Caucus classrooms to careers event.

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Transcript

00:00Hello everybody. Nice crowd. Thank you all for being here. And first of all, I want to

00:18welcome Dr. Biden. As I said to her when she came out the door here, you're kind of familiar

00:28with the community college setting, so you should go right at home. And I also want to

00:34welcome my wonderful colleagues, Chair of the Hispanic Caucus, Nanette Baradon, and

00:40as a ranking member on the Small Business Committee, Nathan Glassman. And I'm really

00:46honored to have them all here in Allentown as part of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus

00:53On the Road initiative. This is Pennsylvania's greater Lehigh Valley. I'm saying that more

00:58for the people in back of me rather than the people in front of me, because you all know

01:01that. But I am so honored to represent this district in Congress, and I am so proud of

01:08the fact that it is home to such a vibrant Latino community. And I'm so grateful that

01:13we are having this event today to discuss the impacted education and workforce development

01:18programs, one of my favorite subjects, have in our area. Dr. Bieber, thank you so much

01:24for hosting us today at Lehigh Department of Community College, one of the two incredible

01:33community colleges that we have here in Pennsylvania 7, that provide our students with comprehensive

01:39and wide-ranging workforce development and educational opportunities. And as a lot of

01:45people know, I spend a lot of time talking about our two great community colleges, so

01:49I am just so happy to be one of them today. Ms. Montero and Ms. Rosado, thank you for

01:54sitting down with us to share your stories with us. Mayor Turk, thank you as always

01:59for being a tireless advocate for the city of Allentown and the Steadfast Partner. And

02:05thank you all for being here, and thank you to the press for covering this event. Setting

02:11our children up for success is one of our most fundamental responsibilities as parents,

02:16as educators, as members of society. From providing access to high-quality, affordable

02:24child care, to ensuring that our public schools have the funds that they need to meet our

02:29kids where they are at and helping them grow, and then investing in workforce development

02:37programs to teach students the hands-on skills that they need to succeed in their chosen

02:43field. And this is no small task. It's a big thing, and it requires everybody's buy-in

02:49to it. I am the mother of two now adult children, and I was once a parent of young children,

02:58and I experienced firsthand what our families go through. I was always a working mom. Their

03:04dad worked, and they often struggled with child care issues and so forth. No longer,

03:11thank goodness. But my children attended Parkland School District right down the road from here,

03:18and they went to public schools from 8 through 12, and I'm very, very proud of that. I understand

03:24the importance of providing families in our community with the support and resources that

03:29they need to set their children up for success later in life, in whatever form that takes.

03:34And I think it's really important that we understand that success is different for different

03:39people, and that there is not a one-size-fits-all formula. So, as a member of the House Education

03:47and Workforce Committee, I know that the federal government plays a crucial role in supporting

03:52our schools, our educators, our students, our families, and giving them the tools they

03:57need to learn and thrive. And that includes meeting all of our children and families where

04:03they are in the language that they speak. And that's why I am so grateful to the First

04:09Lady and to Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Farraghan and Congresswoman Velazquez

04:14for being here today for this important discussion. As lawmakers, our work is literally informed

04:23by conversations that we have back home in our districts with constituents. That's how

04:28we know what the problem areas are, what concerns people have, what needs they have. And again,

04:34it's not a one-size-fits-all, so it's really important to have this kind of listening session.

04:39And I know that what we learn today is going to affect all of our work moving forward,

04:44and the work that I do as I continue to represent our community in Congress. So, thank you,

04:49everybody, for showing up for the Greater Lehigh Valley. I am so proud of this community,

04:54and I'm so excited. I always am. When I get anybody here from Washington, I like to introduce

04:59them to our district. And Congresswoman Velazquez has actually been here a couple of times within

05:04our community. I'm just very excited to give my friends and colleagues the opportunity

05:09to hear a little bit more about all the great programs that we have to offer. And with that,

05:14it is my pleasure to introduce Congresswoman Mia Velazquez, who represents New York's

05:197th Congressional District.

05:26Well, good afternoon, everyone. And Dr. Biden, thank you so much for being here. It is important

05:36for the people in Lehigh Valley, but also for Latinos and Puerto Ricans to see the intentionality

05:47of public policies that have been put together in Washington, because we know and we understand

05:55what does it take to help you achieve your dreams. And one of that area is education

06:03and is workforce development. As chair of the ranking, soon to be chair of the Small

06:12Business Committee, I know the interconnection that exists between succeeding in school,

06:21in college, community colleges that play an important role, and fulfilling the needs of

06:28small businesses. But before I get into what I want to say and my message, I want to thank

06:36and recognize the fearless leader that you have in Washington, Susan Wild. I've been

06:43coming here to help get the people out to vote, and that is the most important tool

06:51that we all have in a democracy. And every time I come to meet with Latino leaders here

06:58in Lehigh Valley, I tell them the importance, you know, our country depends, our democracy

07:05on your participation. And I just want to also recognize Nanette Barragan, who is an

07:12incredible chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. So it's an honor for me to be here.

07:20And I have had the pleasure to be in Allentown so many times throughout my career. In fact,

07:27I launched a voter registration campaign when I was working for the government of Puerto

07:32Rico. So this is my passion, helping people connect the dots. Because if you participate

07:39in the process, in the system, then you can raise your voices. People have to see you.

07:47You can come back to Washington or to the City Council and address important issues

07:52that we are all facing. Over the years, I have observed the continued growth of the

07:58Latino population in the region and how that growth has strengthened the economy and culture

08:04here in the Lehigh Valley. During my time as the top Democrat on the House Small Business

08:11Committee, the incredible strength of Latino entrepreneurs has been showcased, proving

08:17that we, what we always know, we are unstoppable if we are provided the education and the resources.

08:27Because it is in our inner, in our soul, in our spirit, that entrepreneurial spirit that

08:37leaves their countries, come here and raise their children and open up businesses to contribute

08:47to the American economy. And I just want to say that the Biden administration has made

08:54progress in expanding the economic power of Hispanics and all people of color. A record

09:00setting number of Latino small business startups occurred this year, along with job gains

09:09and the lowest Latino unemployment rate on record. Latino business ownership is up 40

09:16percent compared to before the pandemic. Over 4 million jobs, over 4 million jobs have been

09:28created for Latino workers since President Biden took office. And we achieved record

09:35low Latino child poverty rate in 2021, fulfilling our social country, our social contract to

09:46make sure that every child in this country is given an opportunity to succeed. And this

09:53college is an example of that. These outcomes were not accident. They resulted from policies

10:00that this administration and Congressional Democrats worked so hard to implement. In

10:06addition to creating millions of new jobs, this administration has prioritized ensuring

10:12that Americans have the education and skills to succeed in the modern economy. Believe

10:19me, every time that we hold hearings in the Small Business Committee, the number one priority

10:25for businesses across the country is to find high skilled workers. My committee has made

10:32improving our nation's workforce one of our top priorities. From hearings to legislation,

10:38Democrats have coordinated across many policy areas to enhance our nation's workforce in

10:44a variety of industries. The Biden-Harris administration has been working hard to raise

10:50early education, educator pay, and extend access to pre-K. Early this year, the Department

10:57of Education launched the first ever Career Connected High School Grants Program to help

11:03reimagine the high school experience in schools across the country and better connect students

11:11to career pathways. And this is a must if we want to grow our economy. So the work that

11:18you're doing here is incredibly important. And I want to thank you all for being here.

11:25And next, Chairwoman Nanette Barragan from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

11:35Well, thank you. It's great to be here in Allentown. It's great to be here at Lehigh

11:45Cardin Community College, which I understand is a Hispanic serving institution. How amazing

11:51is that? I first want to thank my colleague, Representative Susan Weill, for her work,

11:59her advocacy for partnering up and making sure that in Congress we're working to hear

12:05about the voice of the Latino community, given that right here in Allentown, it's over 50%

12:10Latino. And so thank you for hosting us. Thank you for your voice and for all your advocacy.

12:17Let's give her a round of applause. I also want to thank my colleague, Nydia, who has

12:27said is going to be the next chair of the Small Business Committee for all the work

12:33that all of our colleagues have been doing. The Hispanic Caucus has this initiative. And

12:38the initiative is the CHC is on the road. We're going to different places across the

12:44country to talk to targeted areas and growing Latino populated areas, which is why we're

12:50right here in Allentown, because we have seen the Latino population here growing and saying

12:55we have to go and we need to make sure we're communicating, we're engaging. And most of

13:00all, we are talking to folks about what we're doing in Congress with the Biden-Harris administration

13:06is doing and our plans to continue that work forward. And there is no greater honor than

13:12to have the first lady, Dr. Jill Biden, with us. Who better to talk about education issues?

13:22And we know she's been not only at the forefront of making sure we talk about education and

13:27workforce development, but day in and day out, she is doing that work herself in community

13:33colleges. So it's so great that we were able to get this done. And just so you know, we

13:38have been trying to schedule her for a long time. And she is so popular that I'm so glad

13:43we were able to get this done today. And today we're going to focus, as I mentioned, on the

13:48classroom to career initiative. This program helps ensures American students, including

13:53Latinos, can access resources that lead to good paying jobs. And many of these resources

13:58were probably funded by the American Rescue Plan in Congress, which the CHC helped to

14:03get across the finish line, and then had President Biden and the Biden-Harris administration

14:08implement. And we appreciate all of you for being here today, because you are the community

14:14leaders with strong ties to Allentown, who can share today's message and further empower

14:20your neighbors. To have a healthy economy that empowers families to thrive, we must

14:26invest in education and career training resources for our future workers. If you go out and

14:32you talk to Latino communities, what do they tell you? My mom, who's an immigrant from

14:37Mexico, said, education is the door to opportunity. Just give us a chance to get an education,

14:45to live that American dream. And that's what you're doing here at the community college,

14:50opening that door, creating those opportunities for students to live that American dream and

14:56making sure they have access to all the workforce development possible. It's investments like

15:01increasing access to affordable internet, raising educator pay to recruit and retain talent,

15:06and expansion of high-quality career pathways that move communities forward. So Congress,

15:12including the Hispanic Caucus, stands alongside the Biden-Harris administration as we continue

15:17this vital work. Sometimes community members are unaware of benefits delivered at the federal

15:23level, simply because they haven't heard about the impacts to their families. Yet laws like

15:29the American Rescue Plan, which Democrats passed and President Biden signed into law,

15:33continue to strengthen communities just like right here in Allentown. Just in Allentown,

15:39we got $2.3 million was enabled for investments in a new fire training facility under the

15:44American Rescue Plan and emergency operations. 17,000 households in Lehigh County gained

15:50access to affordable internet, and $200,000 was awarded to this very facility right here

15:57at Lehigh Carbon Community College for scholarships for former and current military service members

16:03to become commercial truck drivers. And so these are just a few of the instances of where

16:08we're at to talk about what we've done and how we're going to continue this initiative

16:13on the classroom to career. And this is all part of the Biden administration's initiative.

16:19And now it is my distinct honor. It's not every day you get to introduce the First Lady.

16:26And so it's my distinct honor to introduce somebody who really needs no introduction.

16:30She's been an ally for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. As I mentioned, her work

16:35in education has been key. She is in the classroom during the week. I mean, think about that

16:42for a moment. You're the First Lady and you're going into a community college and you're

16:47teaching. That is so admirable and so amazing to see. And it's just great to see she's

16:54over 30 years of classroom experience. And to this day, as I mentioned, she's teaching

16:59at the Northern Community College in Northern Virginia, much like this one. She's a military

17:04mother who understands the challenges of military families, just like the families of 1.6 million

17:10Latinos in uniform. Having traveled coast to coast to hear directly from Americans,

17:15she is a true champion for working families and always puts our nation first and people

17:21for politics. It's my distinct honor to welcome our special guest. Let's give her a loud,

17:25warm welcome.

17:26Thank you, Madam President. It's great to talk to you all again.

17:36Oh, goodness. So how many of you work here at the community college? Oh, so a lot of

17:43my colleagues are here. Welcome. Nice to see you all. And are you working during the summer?

17:48Yeah. Yeah, we are. I'm working, too, in a different sense. And so thank you, Congresswoman

17:55Barragan, for all that you do for Latino communities across the country. And your leadership of

18:02the Congressional Hispanic Caucus is creating change. And we saw that at the White House

18:08last month when the president signed an executive order to keep families together and give dreamers

18:15jobs. So we gave dreamers the opportunity to get jobs in the United States. And you,

18:26Congresswoman Velazquez and the CHC know that when Latino communities are strong, our country

18:35is strong. And Congresswoman Wild, Susan, you always look past partisanship to represent

18:45those who have deep ties to this area and really those who have just moved here. And

18:52over the years, I've seen how we share a love of education. So I'm so grateful that you

18:57gave me this invitation to come to your district to talk about an issue that we care so much

19:04about. And Mayor Turk and Executive Armstrong, what a warm welcome to Allentown. And thank

19:11you to Representative Borges and all the elected officials for joining us today. I think I've

19:19covered everybody. Okay. No matter how many places I go, it's always special to come back

19:27home to Pennsylvania. And it's even better to come to a community college. And Dr. Beaver,

19:35thank you for hosting us here today. I'm also glad to be here with Neera Tanden, the head

19:41of White House Domestic Policy Council. So today we're here to talk about education and

19:50the pathways to good-paying jobs, because that's how we grow the middle class. And just

19:56as Congresswoman Velazquez just said, it's how we grow Latino economic power, too, so

20:04that everyone has a place at the table. Last year, I met a young woman named Lily. And

20:11when she graduated from high school, she didn't have an answer to the question, you know,

20:17like, what's next? And it's a question every high school student knows all too well. On

20:24birthdays and school hallways, at the dinner table, it can seem like the only thing anybody

20:31wants to talk about, you know, is, like, what's next? And so probably all of you probably

20:37know a Lily in your life. And as many students like Lily, the answer isn't only, I don't

20:45know. It's, like, I don't know where to start. So nearly 60 percent of graduating high school

20:54students don't go directly to a four-year college. Six out of ten students. And Lily

21:02was one of those six. And a few weeks ago, I had the honor of speaking at her commencement.

21:11So she's graduating into a career that pays well and is in high demand. But Lily almost

21:21missed this path. And a growing industry almost missed out on her talent. It took a vice principal

21:30to help her to apply to a free community college program. And it took a little exploring there

21:37to find a career in construction management. A growing industry thanks to President Biden's

21:44investments in infrastructure. And there are countless young people like her across the

21:54country and right here in Lehigh Valley who are smart, ambitious, and hardworking, who

22:01just need a good education that starts early in life and a pathway to a career. And that's

22:10Joe's vision for the Biden Education Pathway. A vision that so many leaders here agree with.

22:18It starts with free, high-quality, universal preschool. Because we all know we have to

22:24get it right at the start. Because if we want our children to succeed in school and

22:32in their careers, we need them to invest in them from the very beginning. So Joe helped

22:39childcare providers stay open during the pandemic. He also capped costs for tens of thousands

22:47of families and is working to raise pay for early childhood educators.

22:54President Biden has put forward an ambitious new proposal called Classroom to Career.

23:04You see it on all the signs here. And it would give every student in America the opportunity

23:11to take career-related community college courses while they're still in high school.

23:18Something that the Lehigh Carbon Community College knows a lot about. And Joe's invested

23:25in career and technical education, apprenticeships, and workforce training programs like the one

23:32run by St. Luke's. These kinds of career pathways help answer the question, what's next?

23:40This isn't a red idea or a blue idea. This is an American idea. And I grew up in the

23:48middle class, in a middle-class family not too far from here actually, in a Philly suburb

23:53called Bloor Grove. Probably most of you know, right? You're all shaking your heads not far.

23:59And when I dreamed of what my life would become, I knew that I wanted two things. A marriage

24:06like my parents, that was strong and full of love and laughter. And I wanted a career.

24:15But I really didn't know what I wanted to do or what I needed to do to find out.

24:22Lily and I had that in common. In college, I felt called to the profound optimism of education.

24:31The hope in looking at the students and seeing all their potential, like I'm sure all of

24:37my colleagues do here today. And that's why I continue to teach at a community college

24:44not far from the White House. Teaching isn't just what I do, it's who I am. And Joe understands

24:52this. And he knows that the key to our tomorrow rests in our classrooms, in making sure that

25:00our students are ready for the jobs of the future. Jobs that are available in the communities

25:06where they grew up. Communities like this one. In many ways, the Lehigh Valley has been

25:13a place of transformation. Where iron ore turns to steel, and steel to prosperity. And

25:22you're still transforming today. Industries like manufacturing and distribution are thriving.

25:29And you're creating pathways to great careers in those fields, like the ones that we're

25:35going to hear about in a minute. For Joe, the answer to what's next is continuing to

25:41make sure education starts early and leads to a good career. To help people like Lily

25:49reach for the futures that they want for themselves. And to make sure that every family can find

25:56a secure place in the middle class. So I can't wait to hear more about your experiences

26:04here in the Lehigh Valley. Thanks for having me.

26:07Applause

26:36Alright. Well, I am so happy again to be here with all of you. And now we're going

26:45to move into the roundtable part and some input from others. As I mentioned, a lot of

26:51the work we do in Washington is informed by what we hear on the ground. So here we are.

26:56What I'm going to ask each of the panelists to do is to introduce themselves and I'll

27:03ask some specific questions. And if we can start with you, Dr. Goldberg. If you could

27:08introduce yourself. I'd appreciate it.

27:10Sure. Good afternoon. I'm Andy. I'm president of Lehigh-Carver Community College. And I've

27:14had the good fortune of working at this institution for 40 years. I've had the opportunity of

27:20working and developing strong partnerships with our school districts, our business community,

27:25and our community organizations. All for the purpose of helping our students and the community

27:31achieve a career with family-sustaining jobs and then to go out and make sure that our

27:37businesses have a well-trained workforce so they can compete and then thrive in our economic

27:45future.

27:46Thank you. And as president of this wonderful community college, I know you work closely

27:52with the Allentown School District and I'm thrilled that Dr. Burks, our school superintendent,

27:57is here with us. And you work with the Allentown School District to facilitate early college

28:03dual enrollment and workforce development programs. How have these programs worked?

28:09How have they helped make the college education more affordable and accessible to the students

28:14in our community?

28:15Absolutely. Well, together with the Allentown School District, our goal is to make sure

28:19that every student leaves high school and they graduate with either a career education

28:24or a training pathway. And the programs are all accessible because all students and the

28:30courses are taken during the day, so it's during the school day. It's free, no cost to the

28:36students because of Allentown School District funding it for them. And we have a success

28:41team to guide the students to ensure that they are successful going through these programs.

28:46Dual enrollment courses, as you know, they can earn college credits, explore a career,

28:52or, and also save for student debt because they go on to their four-year degree and they

28:57have credits already in their back pocket. But also important is that they can prepare

29:02to go right into the workforce. We've exposed them to courses and if they want to, then

29:07they can come back on the path of higher education. The data shows that 80% of our students who

29:13are taking dual enrollment courses are definitely then continuing their education, which is

29:18very important. We've been very fortunate, and the donor that led this foundation is here

29:23today, the Century Fund, and he gave us pilot, there was pilot funding for an early college

29:28program six years ago. That allowed the Allentown School District, together with the

29:33Harvard Community College, to have an early college program. And it was so successful with the

29:38students graduating with their associate degree and their high school degree, but the Allentown

29:42School District continues to fund that program so that the students have that opportunity.

29:47So our students are graduating 18 years old and going into its junior status at some of

29:52the colleges locally. And our latest initiative is with Cedar Crest College, and our president

29:58from Cedar Crest College is here as well, with Allentown School District, so that the

30:03students were calling it a Quick Start to Teaching Initiative. Twenty Allentown School

30:08District students have the opportunity to start and get dual enrollment classes while

30:13they're in high school and early college, or in early education. They'll complete their

30:18associate degree with the community college and move seamlessly to Cedar Crest College

30:22with their bachelor's degree while they're having internships at Allentown School District

30:27and circling back to Allentown School District and hopefully being their teachers. And we

30:32have some of our best and brightest, if they could just take one minute and let them stand

30:37so you could get recognized. We're so proud of our early college students.

30:41They're amazing. That was great. And Dr. Bieber gave him a shout out by description,

30:56but I think it's worth noting that Lee Woods, who is the founder of the Century Podcast,

31:01is here with us in the back. Thank you very much for that.

31:04I have one more question for you. You know, obviously we know that this area has a rich

31:11history in manufacturing and transportation as well. I visit a lot of manufacturers and

31:17as was mentioned earlier, workforce, employees, that's the number one topic I hear about.

31:24Have you seen students in these programs successfully use the program to engage the local community

31:31to get these jobs that are available in those fields?

31:34Absolutely. Every year we serve about 11,000 students in the workforce training and credit

31:40programs in a variety of programs. Thanks to the stimulus funding, we were able to add

31:47our third global manufacturing lab, so we can take that hands-on lab right to the manufacturers.

31:53We've trained over 200 students in their lots at the local businesses, so their incumbent

32:00workforce do not have to leave. They can acquire the advanced skills and continue to

32:05move up in their organization. We also offer pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs,

32:10and we're very fortunate to have our partner, B. Braun, here. They lead our consortium of

32:1910 employers here, and for LTC, we have trained 1,000 apprenticeships over the last four years

32:25through our Amazon program, which again, thanks to federal funding, we were able to

32:30be considered to be one of five training programs in the United States for Amazon, and we've

32:37covered 24 states, come into Allentown, and we're graduating our 50th cohort in advanced

32:43manufacturing, so it's many opportunities.

32:47People ask, why have you been chosen? It was because of funding that gave us certification.

32:54And I was surprised when you told me a while back that you get students from many, many

32:59other states come into that program, and so thank you very much, and I remember being

33:04out there with Secretary Buttigieg when we were launching the CDL program.

33:08Absolutely, and that was the last one that we had because of the funding that we brought.

33:13Our veterans and our community members have access to CDL training.

33:17Thank you.

33:18So, Victoria Montero, could you introduce yourself to everybody, please?

33:23Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Victoria Montero. I am the Network Director of Community

33:28Workforce Development at St. Luke's University Health Network.

33:32Great, thank you. And Ms. Montero, your hospital, one of the people who are hard to really find

33:39in the healthcare networks here in the Lehigh Valley, has a workforce development pipeline

33:44program that creates good jobs for the Latino community in our area through partnerships

33:49with local state districts. And so, can you tell us a little bit about that program and

33:54how it is able to make healthcare more accessible, first of all, in the Lehigh Valley, especially

33:59from the Latino community?

34:00Sure. So, first, I would like to start by thanking the Biden administration, Dr. Biden,

34:06the U.S. Senate representatives, our workforce for Lehigh Valley, our local and state elected

34:12officials for supporting workforce work. For supporting workforce. Workforce is a collective

34:17effort. It is a collection of partnerships, school districts, and many different partners

34:23here in the Lehigh Valley. So, at St. Luke's University Health Network, we are committed

34:28to the health of our community as being a hospital, but also we care for the overall

34:33health and how do we break the cycle of poverty of the community that we are serving. So,

34:38through our community needs assessment, access to care is identified as an area of priority.

34:44And under that category, workforce development was identified in our last needs assessment

34:49as an area of focus. So, as a result, for the last 20 years, our network has been working

34:56with local school districts, such as the Allentown School District, the workforce for Lehigh

35:00Valley, the state, and many community-based organizations to develop in-school and out-of-school

35:06youth programs to provide employability skills, really focusing on the vulnerable population.

35:12And many of those students are Latino students. So, through our programs, we offer four components.

35:19So, we focus on increasing those employability skills, the job seeking and the job keeping.

35:25How do I look for a job, but how do I keep a job? Because we often see that our youth

35:30are able to secure a job, but once they get to the reality of that job, they don't have

35:35those employability skills. So, we really focus on teaching those through each of our

35:39programs. We focus on providing the clinical and non-clinical work experience, really bringing

35:45them into the healthcare network and having them explore what it's like to work as a nurse,

35:51what it's like to work as a patient care assistant, and also what it's like to work in those areas

35:56that are not patient care related, at hospitals and community, and in order for that community

36:01to run, we need people from many different levels of expertise.

36:05As part of that component, we also focus on career ladders. How does an individual, specifically

36:11the minority youth that we're serving, can come in and understand, if I'm a PCA, how

36:16can I become a nurse? And our network is very strongly committed to continue the growth

36:22of our staff, and Heidi is an example of that, who came with the participant program years

36:27ago, and today she is a clinical nurse serving at the Allentown Hospital.

36:32We also incorporate a case management approach. We try to serve the individuals and understand

36:43what are the issues impacting them individually? Do they need bus passes? Do they need a uniform?

36:48Do they know how to communicate with their supervisor? So that's another very strong

36:52component of our program. And lastly, our career mentoring, the job coaching, the one-on-one

36:58mentoring, getting to know individually, and how do we help them continue to grow? Again,

37:02in order to break that cycle of poverty, we get people in entry roles because of their

37:07age, but how do we help them continue growing that ladder to become professionals?

37:12So our mentoring programs overall, in our workforce initiatives, is really focusing

37:17on breaking the cycle of poverty. So the first is, how do we get them to get a high school

37:22diploma, get those employability skills, and introduce them to that? Then we just, so our

37:27programs for the youth, in partnership with the Workforce Board, provide the observational

37:33experiences and also the work experience. And this program has been in existence for

37:38over 20 years with a great support from the Workforce Board, which thank you to the Biden

37:43administration and many administrations that continue to support the TANF and WIOA funding.

37:48In our latest model, as you know, many times our youth graduate, but they're not ready

37:54to continue post-secondary education. And many times, they are the dislocated workers.

38:00They're in and out of the job market because they never, they were not prepared academically

38:06or they don't know where to go from that point. So our latest model that we developed is called

38:12the Cultural and Linguistic Workforce Development Center. And this model is focusing on the

38:18out-of-school youth, those that have a high school diploma. So in partnership with the

38:22Harvard Community College, Northampton Community College, the Literacy Center, and the Hispanic

38:28Center in Lehigh Valley, we developed a model that is providing ESL, GED, and skills-based

38:35training for adults. Our focus for the first year was to engage 200 people. In nine months,

38:42the program engaged almost 300 individuals. It was a very well-accepted program by the

38:48community, but now we're looking at a different population. So all of our strategies in workforce

38:55development as it looks have really focused on, one, identifying the needs of our community,

39:02two, utilizing best practices, serving the community at their level, bringing bilingual

39:09staff members, helping them develop those career ladders, the experience-based knowledge

39:14for over 20 years of community mentorship and now implementing our latest model, and

39:20three, community partnerships. As I mentioned when I started, workforce is a collective

39:24effort from the entire community working together.

39:27And just as I hear from the manufacturers that they need more workforce, I hear the

39:33same thing from the healthcare providers, from the hospital networks. So thank you so

39:37much. And I just have to tell you, Dr. Carter, the proudest stuff in this area is how people

39:42all work together for the collective success. The hospital networks are competitors, but

39:49they work together. The community colleges are competitors, and yet they work together.

39:54And what you're hearing is exactly the kind of thing that demonstrates that. So I just

39:58wanted to mention that. Heidi Rosado. So introduce yourself, would you please?

40:04Heidi Rosado Hi. My name is Heidi Rosado, and I'm an emergency

40:07room nurse at the St. Louis Health On-Campus.

40:10Great. And so we just heard from Victoria that you were part of the St. Luke's program.

40:16And can you tell us a little bit about how that worked, when you went in and what you

40:22are doing now?

40:23So I came to the United States from Puerto Rico when I was just nine years old. English

40:29is my second language, so it was a little bit of a rough start for me. By age 16, I

40:34had joined the Health Career Exploration Program. Victoria was one of the mentors. And I had

40:41gotten a job in the neonatal ICU and in the clinical lab, in which I learned just clinical

40:51skills, critical thinking skills, teamwork. And I learned about the endless job opportunities

40:56that St. Louis has to offer. It was eye-opening for me. By the age of 17, I had decided that

41:02I wanted to become a nurse, and I attended community college for the first two years.

41:07My family comes from very humble beginnings, so I qualified from Pell Grant, and it made

41:12it easier to attend.

41:19After that, I was able to finish off my Bachelor's of Science in Nursing at Cedar Crest College

41:25in 2015. My journey hasn't really stopped there. It's slowed down a little bit due to

41:31being married and having kids, which I'm incredibly proud of. But I plan on continuing

41:37my education next year in the Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Program at DeSales University.

41:51So recently, we passed in Congress the Stronger Workforce for America Act, and it would help

41:58expand and improve WIOA, which I understand is how this program came about. I think it's

42:06still waiting for a vote in the Senate. But what would you say to lawmakers who are questioning

42:13the importance of supporting that kind of program?

42:16Sure. I would say continue to invest in your youth, since they are the future of America.

42:23We go on to becoming first responders, nurses, doctors, teachers, just essential workers

42:32in the United States.

42:34That's great. And you did touch on your experience with Pell Grant and getting into community

42:41college and your family's humble beginnings. But can you talk a little bit about how community

42:48college set you up for success when you later pursued a four-year degree?

42:53Sure. I think, obviously, financially it was a big responsibility to tackle. How am I going

43:01to afford going to school? So going to a community college definitely made it possible for me

43:06to then look into a nursing program. And because I qualified for the Pell Grant, it allowed

43:13me to save up enough money to then attend a nursing program.

43:17Wonderful. Well, we all know we need more nurses. So I am thrilled that that's the field

43:22that you decided to go into. And thank you so much.

43:25Sure.

43:26Did you say that Spanish was your first language?

43:29Yes.

43:30It was mine, too, actually. And my sister, she passed the kindergarten because Spanish

43:36she didn't know English. So it's kind of interesting, like, growing up in a Latino household early

43:40on, sometimes you say, oh, you don't speak any more Spanish. But it's great to see that

43:44this program, that you were part of this program, and then, of course, now you're a successful

43:49nurse, and you probably know English and Spanish.

43:51Yes.

43:52Which there's a huge shortage, of course, as we know, in the workforce, the healthcare

43:56workforce. As somebody who sits on the healthcare sector in Congress, like, we hear about this

44:00all day long. So we need more and more of this to make sure that we're filling that

44:04need in the workforce. So thank you very much.

44:07I can't imagine being a patient in an emergency room or a hospital and not speak, and having

44:12my care providers not speak the language.

44:15And that's one of the real issues.

44:18Yes.

44:19You can't do it.

44:21Their families will go to the hospital and see this. And the only people that they saw

44:26was the nurses. And if they were not able to communicate, imagine the pressure and the

44:33pain and problem of not being able to be on the floor.

44:37Exactly. I'm going to turn to Mayor Church. Mayor Church, we know there are a variety

44:43of factors that play into whether or not someone is able to enter the workforce, and whether

44:49they have access to care for their children or other dependents, transportation issues,

44:54their training skills, as we've been talking about. Can you talk to us a little bit about

44:59how the city of Allentown is addressing the workforce development issues, and how we,

45:04the federal government, can continue to support you?

45:08Thank you, Congresswoman Wildman. Welcome, Dr. Biden. I'm Matt Turk, I'm the mayor of

45:14the city of Allentown. And I want to welcome, I want to officially welcome you all to the

45:18beating heart of the Lehigh Valley, and to one of Pennsylvania's most dynamic communities.

45:22So, you know, menilas, as we say in Spanish, mataban, as we also say in Arabic here in

45:27Allentown. And I want to just take a second and recognize that I'm on this incredible

45:31panel of amazing women. And that we have amazing women leading us in the Lehigh Valley, from

45:39Nancy Dishna, to Dr. Birx, to the women at the table. I'm totally honored.

45:43The CEO is here. The city council.

45:45The president of the city council.

45:48I did think of that, that you were the only manila today.

45:52I feel honored to be here. So, as you mentioned, Allentown is a city of over 125,000 people.

45:58In this growing metropolitan area of nearly 700,000 residents, as you know, Dr. Biden

46:04is robust and driven, as you mentioned, by health care manufacturing, and the latter

46:09manufacturing comprises over 16% of our economy. There's over 355,000 people employed in this

46:17bi-family region, but many Allentown residents struggle to access all of those jobs across

46:23the region. In certain areas of our city, 90% of residents travel outside of the city

46:30for work, yet only one of three households have access to a personal vehicle. More than

46:3625% of residents in the city of Allentown, aged 25 to 54, haven't completed their high

46:43school diplomas yet. And a lack of affordable child care, as you mentioned, prevents many

46:48from seeking employment. And consequently, Allentown's primary employment gap, so the

46:53number of people between age 25 to 54, is over 6%, which is much higher than the national

46:59average. So while the economy is strong and it's growing, it's constrained by labor supply.

47:05Our largest sector, as we've talked about a couple times here, health care manufacturing,

47:09has thousands of unfilled jobs. And the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation and

47:15the workforce for the Lehigh Valley have developed career dashboards to help and built industry

47:20partnerships to help address these needs, but there's ongoing work to be done. There's

47:25a tremendous need for skilled workers. In addition, our economic development efforts

47:30have identified another growth limiter, which is that there's a lack of available jobs within

47:34short distance of population centers like Allentown, Center City Allentown, and Bethlehem.

47:41So investment in small footprint industrial buildings will create opportunities in those

47:46cities, and investments in improving the transportation network will also help us get residents to

47:51jobs. But most importantly, and one of the things that we're discussing here is how Allentown's

47:56residents struggle with access to affordable child care. We know that investing in child

48:02care is an investment in economic growth. Child care businesses offer low-barrier entrepreneurial

48:09– we talked about the entrepreneurial spirit that Congresswoman Velazquez mentioned. Those

48:15home-based businesses offer entrepreneurial opportunities, and they support, more importantly

48:20perhaps, workforce development opportunities in education and in health care. Career and

48:25child care can lead to tremendous opportunities in health care. Moreover, quality health care

48:32– or, excuse me, quality child care enables parents to pursue their careers and contribute

48:37to the economy. When Tom Perez was visiting here a few weeks ago, he visited a community

48:43services for children site at one of our housing developments and met with parents who were

48:49able to participate in the workforce because of the availability of child care. So when

48:55Allentown was asked – Dr. Bergs, in fact, asked me to join an early childhood education

49:01coalition led by the Allentown School District, I eagerly accepted. When we were given the

49:06opportunity to invest our home funds into that little Lehigh housing project, I did

49:13so because I knew that it would include a child care center that would create on-site

49:18opportunities for parents. Our ARPA funds also went into things like public safety,

49:25public safety buildings, additional housing, which we know is economic development, infrastructure

49:31investment, but also into Da Vinci Science Center, which is a new world-class science

49:36museum here that will also be a home for a theme-based classroom for the Allentown School

49:42District, ensuring that students in Allentown have access to science, technology, reading,

49:48education, art, and street. So all of those efforts converge in an application to the

49:56Economic Development Administration's Recompete pilot program, which, as you know, is an effort

50:01to make sure that residents across the country have access to good jobs and that we lower

50:07barriers to employment. So Allentown was honored to have our Recompete plan approved

50:13in December in round one, thanks in large part to support from Congressman Wild and

50:17Senator Casey. You guys are fantastic. We received half a million dollars of support

50:23for strategic development, but we also were invited to apply for round two. And we submitted

50:30our request in April, requesting $20 million to support targeted investments in local employment

50:38through career navigation that we'll do in collaboration with our friends at the Workforce

50:43Board of Lehigh Valley and Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation, as well as many different

50:47community-based organizations like Promise Neighborhoods. We'll also invest in pre-apprenticeship

50:53programs in collaboration with the Lehigh Valley Labor Council and IBEW 375. I don't

50:58know if they're in the room, but definitely shout out to the labor. They were always in

51:04the back. Labor has been at the table for all of that effort, as they should be. So

51:13we'll also invest in inclusive community development through re-entry programs and

51:19re-entry workforce development and preparedness with partners like Promise Neighborhoods and

51:23Lehigh Valley. Additionally, and importantly, flexible and conveniently located childcare

51:29in collaboration with our partners at Lehigh Valley Community Foundation and Community

51:33Services for Children, as well as many others. You mentioned the effort to reduce the cost

51:38of childcare through improving childcare wages. So this is something that's on our radar

51:44as well, we'll be asking for. We're also working with expanded transportation options,

51:49which promote pedestrian safety and alternative transportation methods to make sure that people

51:54can get safely to work. Industrial site development. I talked about the small footprint opportunities.

52:00There's opportunities here in the Lehigh Valley. We've already seen assistance from our Commonwealth

52:06through PA Sites grant, but we'll do additional work with the Allentown Economic Development

52:11Corporation. And then as we've discussed here, expanding on the integrated healthcare

52:15network training. It's about working together. We probably have a re-compete strategic group

52:23here that we can redo, but pretty much everybody in the room is part of that re-compete effort.

52:28And that's the teamwork that Congressman Wild just mentioned to you. Together, these initiatives

52:33will help connect Allentownians to the regional opportunities that are available and unlock

52:38this whole region, the Lehigh Valley potential. So if you consider the impact of these investments

52:44to create a model for America's cities facing similar challenges, you'll be able to see

52:50what's next. So we're asking you to support this initiative and see what's next.

52:56Great. I just wanted to jump in and say a few words about the range of issues you've

53:01raised and a few other issues that have been raised here as well. Because I do think, you

53:06know, as you talk about a comprehensive approach, it also does describe the Biden administration's

53:12approach to all of these issues. Just calling out a few issues. First, on childcare, crucial,

53:20crucial issue to workers. The First Lady talked about our $16 billion investment. But I also

53:28just want to note for our future budget, the 2025 budget, the President has proposed a

53:35landmark childcare plan that is really focused on childcare affordability for families. So

53:42no middle-class family would pay more than $10 a day. That is a huge relief, as the President

53:49talks a lot about. A lot of families are experiencing, you know, need more breathing room. And those

53:56childcare costs are a real challenge. But also, as you laid out, Mayor, it is a critical

54:02format of a workforce strategy to have childcare. So that is one thing.

54:07I just would like to remind everyone here that the greatest resignation during the pandemic

54:15are women. Because all the daycare centers have shut down across the country. So it is

54:21an important, important role that it plays in our economy when women have to abandon

54:28their jobs, have to resign. So I am so happy that this President is making so much.

54:35I agree. She was introduced before, but for those who missed it, Ms. Tandon is the Assistant

54:41to the President for Domestic Policy. So we are thrilled to hear what they are saying.

54:45And I think childcare is the next big issue to be tackled. I mean, we have heard a lot

54:51about prescription drugs. We have made a lot of progress on prescription drugs. I believe

54:55that childcare is a game changer. I wish we had hours here, because there is so much

55:00we can say. But Dr. Biden, I hope that you have seen in this, and the examples of why

55:07I am so incredibly proud of this area and the work that is being done. It is just really

55:13people pulling together for the betterment of our community and our people. And thank

55:17you so much for being with us. Thank you, Representative Edelman and Representative

55:22Davis. And thank you all.

JUST IN: First Lady Jill Dr. Biden Delivers Remarks At Congressional Hispanic Caucus Event

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