BUILDING BACK TOGETHER HOLDS VIRTUAL RALLY WITH VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS AND LEADING ADVOCATES ON ADVANCING THE BUILD BACK BETTER ACT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 30, 2021
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BUILDING BACK TOGETHER HOLDS VIRTUAL RALLY WITH VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS AND LEADING ADVOCATES ON ADVANCING THE BUILD BACK BETTER ACT
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Building Back Together hosted a virtual rally with Vice President Kamala Harris and leaders of major advocacy organizations to celebrate the historic House passage of the Build Back Better Act and call for its swift passage in the Senate. In addition to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal being signed into law, this momentous step forward underlines how President Biden is delivering on the priorities Americans elected him to achieve.
The speakers highlighted that together, the Build Back Better Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will grow our economy from the middle out, not the top down, and build back better for working and middle-class families across the country. The advocates stressed the urgent need for the Senate to bring the President’s agenda over the finish line.
See key excerpts below:
“This is a pivotal moment in our nation’s history,” said Vice President Kamala Harris. “Our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is part one of two. We must lower the cost of living for working people in America, and to do that, Congress must pass our Build Back Better Act. Our Build Back Better Act will lower child care and health care costs, housing costs, prescription drug costs — all for working families who need to be able to afford to live with dignity and cover the basic and essential needs of themselves and their families.”
Building Back Together Executive Director Danielle Melfi: “Building Back Together and your organizations have worked together for months to blanket the airwaves and flood local town halls to make the case for the Build Back Better Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Together, we have held thousands of events across this country and spent over $150 million to get these critical pieces of legislation passed. And we’re not slowing down now.”
“The labor movement was so proud to work with you, and all of you on this rally, and with President Biden and Vice President Harris to deliver for the American people. As you said, this Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is historic. It will update all of the systems that connect us, and at the same time, growing the economy, and of course creating good-paying union jobs,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “But those are just the beginning. Because we’re not stopping there. The AFL-CIO’s 57 unions — 12.5 million working people — will not rest until the Senate passes the Build Back Better Act.”
“Investing in care work, just like investing in infrastructure and clean energy, boosts the economy and creates new jobs, primarily for women of color who are the nation’s care workforce. And we know that the Build Back Better Act that passed in the House is a lifeline to working families…Think about the working parents who faced impossible choices before the pandemic that got worse during the pandemic, pandemic that wants the security of paid family leave to take care of loved ones. Think about the elder Americans and people with disabilities who will finally be able to access dignified quality care that they deserve to live independently at home,” said SEIU President Mary Kay Henry. “Workers of all backgrounds, in districts red and blue, are eager to feel changes in their lives. That’s why I’m proud to join with this coalition in calling on the Senate to take a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring Build Back Better across the finish line and send that bill to President Biden’s desk for signature.”
“This is our moment, this is our time. The Build Back Better legislation will create those good-paying union jobs, address environmental injustice in communities of color that are most impacted, lower energy costs for consumers across the country, and cut climate pollution in half by 2030. That’s the historic and transformative progress we need to make,” said President of League of Conservation Voters Gene Karpinski. “We need to get the job done. So we’re all in to pass this bill right now, this month. Let’s get the job done. Let’s make the historic progress we need to make.”
“The pandemic shone a light on and exacerbated the vast inequities in this country. It is not enough to go back to what it was. We need to build back better and we need to make sure that we’re including protections and work permits for millions of individuals including essential workers, farmworkers, that never stopped working during this pandemic,” said President and CEO of Voto Latino Maria Teresa Kumar. “All of these measures will transform the lives of millions of Americans and address decades of disinvestment in communities of color. Thanks to your dedication, we are on the cusp of delivering this legislation that together with the infrastructure bill, the recovery bill, are the blueprints for a modern 21st thriving century of American priorities. It’s inclusive, ambitious and secures a middle class. We expect the Senate to pass this bill as organizers and voters will be watching.”
“Let’s be clear. Democrats are delivering from the American Rescue Plan package to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and most recently, the House of Representatives moved us one massive step closer to sealing the deal right before Thanksgiving break by passing the Build Back Better Act,” said Executive Director of Move On Rahna Epting. “Many people said we wouldn’t be able to pass [the Affordable Care Act] and yet we did. And you remember the opposition was formidable. There was a well-funded and well-organized effort to sink the ACA in House Districts, members faced protests in districts, negative ads, so much opposition, and the fact is, back then, we weren’t as prepared then as we are now, to take on this righteous fight. We have built so much power, and this moment is historic.”
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