Vice President Joe Biden speaks at Iowa State University.
Vice President Joe Biden talked with Iowa State University students and got a look at their engineering research projects before making a speech today on the administration’s plans for creating more jobs.
Biden, a Democrat, told the audience of about 700 that universities like the one in Ames are going to be a leader with innovative research.
“You and your colleagues across the country are going to be part of putting tens of millions of people in America back to work, in entire new industries, in entire new areas, making products that you perfected and supporting entire new industries with products we never imagined,” Biden said. “We in the United States have ground to make up.”
Biden said millions of jobs have been outsourced to other counties in the last several decades, but he promised that will stop. “The generation of students at this university is not going to hear much about outsourcing any more. I promise you, you are going to hear a word we didn’t hear much in the last 25 to 30 years, insourcing, literally insourcing,”Biden said. “And there’s a very simple reason for that –we have the most skilled workers and engineers in the entire world. Just look at what you’re doing here at Iowa State.”
The Vice President said the administration can turn around the economy by investing in businesses. “We can do it by providing permanent tax relief for research and development companies, by giving tax breaks for companies that move back to America, not give them tax breaks to move out of America. And maybe most importantly we can do it by investing in you — in education. By ensuring that all of those qualified to attend school after high school can afford to do it, and not be denied because of their inability to pay,” Biden said.
Biden made one slip up in identifying the state school he was visiting. It came as he compared Iowa State to Bell Labs — the company which he says used innovation to create the first transistor.
“Bell Labs may not be around anymore, but today the idea factories of American research are universities like the University of Iowa. You have close connections to cutting edge private businesses and government labs and their frequent exchanges of research across the fields of eduction. I witnessed first hand today touring your lab the type of cross pollination that leads to new inventions,” Biden said.
“These are the kinds of innovations that will foster whole new industries.” Biden was joined on his visit to Iowa State by former Iowa governor and current U.S. Ag Secretary, Tom Vilsack.
Audio: Vice President Biden 35:00
