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CNN, Kevin LiptakNovember 18, 2021

President Joe Biden, reconvening a summit of North American leaders at the White House on Thursday, sought cross-border agreement on migration, Covid-19 and economic integration, even as his guests voiced concerns over what they say are protectionist trade policies left over from Biden’s predecessor.

“We can meet all of the challenges if we just take the time to speak with one another,” Biden said as he met in the East Room with the leaders of Canada and Mexico. “As leaders, we share an innate understanding that our diversity is an enormous strength.”

The main sticking points between the men center on Biden’s proposed tax credits for American-made electric vehicles, which are included in the major social and climate spending plan currently making its way through Congress. Canada has argued the proposed credits could violate a new North American trade agreement.

The White House holds a different view, and the topic was expected to arise during the lengthy talks between the leaders at Thursday’s gathering.

Biden welcomes Trudeau and López Obrador to the White House in revival of US-Mexico-Canada summit
CNN, Kevin LiptakNovember 18, 2021

President Joe Biden, reconvening a summit of North American leaders at the White House on Thursday, sought cross-border agreement on migration, Covid-19 and economic integration, even as his guests voiced concerns over what they say are protectionist trade policies left over from Biden’s predecessor.

“We can meet all of the challenges if we just take the time to speak with one another,” Biden said as he met in the East Room with the leaders of Canada and Mexico. “As leaders, we share an innate understanding that our diversity is an enormous strength.”

The main sticking points between the men center on Biden’s proposed tax credits for American-made electric vehicles, which are included in the major social and climate spending plan currently making its way through Congress. Canada has argued the proposed credits could violate a new North American trade agreement.

The White House holds a different view, and the topic was expected to arise during the lengthy talks between the leaders at Thursday’s gathering.

Biden signs $1.2T infrastructure bill: ‘America is moving again’
Virginia Mercury, Laura Olson, Ariana Figueroa, and Jacob FischlerNovember 15, 2021

President Joe Biden on Monday signed into law his $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill during a ceremony at the White House packed with some 800 supporters, heralding what he said was a “truly consequential” spending bill that will improve Americans’ day-to-day lives.

But Democrats also emphasized that there is more to come — a $1.85 trillion social spending measure that still faces a close final vote in the U.S. House and  major changes in the evenly divided Senate, where passage will have to come without GOP support.

Biden said the infrastructure legislation— backed by nearly all congressional Democrats, as well as 19 Senate Republicans and 13 House Republicans — is a signal that polarized public officials in Washington can come together to create jobs and solve long-lingering problems.

“My message to the American people is: America is moving again. And your life is going to change for the better,” Biden said during the South Lawn ceremony attended by federal and state legislators, governors, mayors, labor leaders, business leaders, and other supporters.

Biden to meet with Trudeau and López Obrador for first US-Canada-Mexico summit since 2016
CNN, Betsy Klein and Kate SullivanNovember 10, 2021

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador will come to the White House on November 18 to meet with President Joe Biden for the first North American Leaders’ Summit since 2016.

“During the Summit, the United States, Mexico, and Canada will reaffirm their strong ties and integration while also charting a new path for collaboration on ending the COVID-19 pandemic and advancing health security; competitiveness and equitable growth, to include climate change; and a regional vision for migration,” a statement from the White House said.

It has been five years since the leaders convened for the trilateral summit. No official summits between the leaders of the three countries were held while former President Donald Trump was in office.

“Strengthening our partnership is essential to our ability to build back better, to revitalize our leadership, and to respond to a widening range of regional and global challenges,” the White House said in the statement.

Easing of supply chain problems to start with backed-up seaports, White House says
Virginia Mercury, Jacob FischlerNovember 9, 2021

The first seaport to improve its facilities following passage of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill could be in Savannah, Ga., a senior Biden administration official said Tuesday.

President Joe Biden has yet to sign the measure, which Congress sent to Biden’s desk late last week, funding improvements in highways, transit, ports, waterways, airports and other infrastructure. But seaports facing historic backups from the pandemic are already making plans to put the money and policy changes to use.

“There’s work going on right now to actually get these projects teed up,” a senior administration official said on a background call with reporters Tuesday. Officials spoke on the condition they would not be named.

Port operators are planning to start many programs within 45 to 90 days through a variety of funding streams and policies the bill will provide, the official said.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia, was at the Port of Virginia in Portsmouth Tuesday to talk up the infrastructure bill, telling leaders there it could be “transformative for port operations, for road and rail infrastructure, for transit, which is really necessary here,” WTKR reported.

It wasn’t clear what the bill might mean specifically for Virginia’s port, but, in a statement to the Mercury, port officials called it “a significant federal investment in critical infrastructure projects that, among other things, will help strengthen the nation’s supply chain and keep trade flowing” and “an important step forward.”

‘It’s gotta stop for the sake of America’: Biden chastises GOP for targeting Republicans who supported infrastructure bill
CNN, Jason Hoffman and Maegan VazquezNovember 9, 2021

President Joe Biden on Tuesday called on Republicans to stop pursuing retaliation against 13 members of their party who voted to pass the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill in the House last week, saying he’s never seen things this way in Congress.

Some conservative House Republicans have discussed booting those GOP colleagues from committee spots, even though the effort faces little chance of succeeding. And former President Donald Trump has been privately criticizing the 13 Republicans who voted to pass the bill, questioning why they would give Biden a win when he’s struggling in the polls, according to a GOP source.

“Well, I’m hoping, Jaime, that we can get back to a place where there’s more civility in politics,” Biden said in conversation with Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison during a grassroots town hall. “I really mean it. And I’ve never seen it this way.”

He continued, “If they’re a chairman of a committee, they’re trying to strip them of that chairmanship. I’ve never seen it like this before. It’s gotta stop for the sake of America. I know I get in trouble when I talk about bipartisan — these people say, why in the devil would I like any Republicans? Well, it’s important. … Unless we can generate consensus in America, we’re in trouble.”

“It’s just not right. We’re going to change it though,” the President said.

During the town hall, Biden thanked members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, for passing the massive infrastructure package, something he noted that his predecessor never got done. He also expressed confidence that Congress will pass the Build Back Better portion of his agenda.

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