In America it takes too long and it costs too much to build, from concept to reality, in blue States and Red States and it's a national problem.

Transcript of Kamala Harris speech in Pittsburgh PA today (9/25/24)

-tax credits for expanding good union jobs in steel and iron, and Manufacturing communities like here in [SOUNDS LIKE] Mon Valley. And across all these industries of the future we will prioritize Investments for strengthening Factory towns. This is so important for strengthening Factory towns, retooling existing factories, hiring locally, and working with unions, because no one who grows up in America's greatest industrial or agricultural centers should be abandoned.

And understand what that means for real people people we know, people we care about, we don't have to abandon a strength we've known to achieve a strength that we [Applause] plan. And here is what else we will do.

When I am President we will double the number of registered apprenticeships by the end of my first [Applause] term cuz I almost made it a goal of mine. I am, I think I am going to fall short- but trying to visit every IBW local in America. Because I'm gonna tell you-

Those apprenticeship programs, those are tough Duty man and women and everyone they're tough Duty, I mean it.

Talk about the skills that are about engineering and science and math and just the most highly skilled folks who are in those apprenticeships and teaching there and also one of the things we must do- understanding that and understanding the nature of that part of our educational system is-

Let's eliminate degree requirements while increasing skills [Applause] development and let's start with something I can do as president was ensure that we do that for the half million of federal jobs that are within our ability to make it. So showing what is possible and then challenging the private sector to make a similar commitment to emphasizing skills and not just [Applause] degrees.

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Lift up workers through Equity profits and benefits.

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And we will reform our tax laws to make it easier for businesses to let workers share in their company's success. And I will challenge the private sector to do more to lift up workers through Equity profits and benefits, so more people can share in America's success and prosperity.

And not only must we build the industries of the future in America, we must also build them faster.

There's a time for patience and there's a time for impatience, that's not in Ecclesiastics but I just want to go off script for a minute, mayor, but the simple truth is-

In America it takes too long and it costs too much to build, whether it's a new Housing Development, a new Factory, or a new bridge, projects take too long to go from concept to reality. It happens in blue States it happens in Red States and it's a national problem.

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China is not moving slowly, they're not.

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And I will tell you this. China is not moving slowly, they're not. And we can't afford to either. If we are to compete, we can't afford to either.

As president, if things are not moving quickly, I will demand to know why, and I will act I will work with Congress, workers, and businesses, cities and states, Community groups and local leaders to reform permitting, to cut red tape, and get things moving faster. Because look as I said-

Patience may be a virtue but not when it comes to job creation or America's competitiveness. Many of you know the Empire State Building. You know how long it took to build that? One year. The Pentagon, you know how long that took? Months. No one can tell me why we can't build quickly in our [Applause] country. I've got empirical evidence now look-

My opponent Donald Trump, well he makes big promises on manufacturing. Just yesterday he went out and promised to bring back manufacturing jobs. And if that sounds familiar it should. In 2016 he went out and made that very same promise about the Carrier plant in Indianapolis, you'll remember.

Carrier then offshored hundreds of jobs to Mexico under his watch and it wasn't just there. On Trump's watch offshoring went up and manufacturing jobs went down across our country and across our economy. All told almost thousands of manufacturing jobs were lost during his presidency starting before the pandemic hit, making Trump one of the biggest losers ever on Manufacturing [Applause].

Donald Trump also talked a big game on our trade deficit with China but it is far lower under our watch than any year of his administration, while he constantly got played by China. I will never hesitate to take Swift and strong measures when China undermines the rules of the road at the expense of our workers, our communities, and our companies; whether it's flooding the market with steel inferior, or at all unfairly subsidizing ship building, or hurting our small businesses with counterfeits.

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I will never sell out America to our competitors or adversaries

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Recall Donald Trump actually shipped Advanced semiconductor chips to China, which helps them upgrade their military, understand the impact of these so-called policies that really are not about a plan for strengthening our prosperity, or our security.

I will never sell out America to our competitors or adversaries never never.

And I will always make sure we have the strongest economy and the most lethal fighting force anywhere in the world.

So at this pivotal moment we have an extraordinary opportunity to chart a new way forward, one that positions the United States of America and all of us who are blessed to call this home, for success and prosperity in the 21st century.

There's an old saying that the best way to predict the future is to invent it.

Well that is the story of the steel city that is the story of the Steel City, the city that helped build the middle class, birth America's labor movement, empower the rise of American manufacturing, and the city where Alan Newell and Herbert Simon launched the first AI research Hub at Carnegie [Applause] Mellon and created entirely new Fields like machine learning and Carnegie Mellon is now home to the largest university robotics Center in [Applause] America.

So the proud Heritage of Pittsburgh I so strongly believe reveals the character of our nation, a nation that harnesses the  Ambitions, the dreams, and the aspirations of our people, seizes the opportunities before us because we see them, because we believe in them, and then invents the future, that is what we have always done and that is what we must now do, and I know we will I thank you all for inviting me may God bless you may God bless the United States of America [Applause]

END OF SPEECH

[Harris’s speech today in Pittsburgh is available in several places on the internet. ] 

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Cofa Blog continues to document our strange times with readable transcripts, so years / decades from now readers can come to this blog and get an idea of what happened.  

Posted by Kay Ebeling, volunteering my blog to help Harris/Walz get elected