White House spotlights policy impacts on communities

WASHINGTON (CN) — With a little over two months to go before Americans head to the polls, the Biden administration is working overtime to showcase its accomplishments and make the case for another four years of Democratic leadership.

That push continued Monday, as President Joe Biden held a virtual round table discussion with community leaders from across the country who lauded the White House for investing in infrastructure development and working to slash prescription drug costs.

“Whether it’s through small business, clean energy, advanced manufacturing or health care, our residents see more and more that they don’t have to leave their hometown or city limits to get a good job, because they can get one right here,” said Randall Woodfin, the mayor of Birmingham, Alabama.

Woodfin, joining Biden via video call, credited the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act with boosting industry in his city — specifically automobile manufacturing and battery production for electric cars. Alabama became the number one auto exporter in the U.S. in 2023, he pointed out.

The Birmingham mayor added that the White House’s Good Jobs Challenge, a multi-million-dollar grant program aimed at developing regional economies and training the workforce, has helped to place as many as 1,000 residents in health care careers. And Covid-19 relief provided by the administration, Woodfin said, shielded the city’s small businesses, particularly Black- and women-owned firms.

“The people of Birmingham are excited,” said Woodfin. “Excited for a brighter future and excited to see themselves in it.”

Amelia Flores, chairwoman of the Colorado River Indian Tribes, piled on, explaining that the tribes face unique infrastructure challenges such as poor broadband access, water quality, roads and schools — and White House investments have helped address some of these problems. She said funding from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act helped the Colorado River tribes fix a broken well and provided more than $7 million for new water infrastructure and distribution systems.

Expanding access to water on the reservation won’t only benefit people currently living there; it will also help the tribes address an ongoing housing shortage, Flores told Biden.

“That means more families can live together on tribal land,” she said. “That strengthens our culture and, most importantly, our sovereignty.”

The president also heard from Jackie Trapp, a former social studies teacher living with an incurable cancer known as multiple myeloma. She thanked the White House for its move to cap prices on certain prescription drugs — such as the blood thinner she takes to manage her illness.

Trapp explained that before the prescription drug caps made law under the Inflation Reduction Act she was paying as much as $21,000 out of pocket annually for her medication.

“My energy to fight my cancer was diverted to finding ways to fund my prescriptions,” she told the president. “It became my occupation, really.”

Following the act, Trapp said, the cost of her blood thinning medication dropped to just $3,300. By 2025, the price will drop to as lost as $2,000, she added.

“I thought no one would ever take on Big Pharma as they held patients like me hostage,” Trapp said. “So I cannot overstate my gratitude for this law, and especially to you, President Biden.”

Biden did not weigh in much during Monday’s panel, but chimed in to ask participants to expand on ways in which White House policies had improved their communities or individual quality of life.

At the end of the event, the president said he would highlight more of his administration’s success stories in the weeks leading up to the election.

“Americans deserve a future worthy of their dreams, and that future is building today,” Biden said. “All people want in America is a shot, a chance, to be treated fairly and equally.”

The president did not take questions from the media gathered at the White House, ignoring shouted inquiries from reporters about a possible ceasefire deal in Gaza or whether the cost of groceries would help decide the presidential election.

The Biden administration is showcasing its policy wins as it props up Vice President Kamala Harris, who just last month accepted the Democratic nomination for president. Biden, who announced in July that he would no longer seek a second term in office, has been campaigning hard for his current deputy, joining her Monday at a Labor Day rally in Pittsburgh.

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