Remarks by the Vice President at a Campaign Event in Hemlock, Michigan

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Oh, please have a seat, everyone. Thank you.

Listen, I came by to say thank you, in particular to you all and the folks who are doing this work here.

A.B., Wendell, I want to thank you. And the — Congressman Kildee, you've been an extraordinary partner for us in Washington, D.C.

Mayor, I thank you for the warm welcome.

But I'm so excited about the work you all are doing here. This really does represent the best of who we are as a country.

You know, I think that when we understand who we are as a nation, we take great pride in being a leader on so many things, and we have a tradition of that.

But I think what we know as Americans is that we cannot rest on tradition. We have to constantly be on top of what is happening, what is current, and investing in the industries of the future as well as honoring the traditions and the industries that have built up America's economy.

And what you all are doing here is exactly that.

First of all, we talked about the fact that the people who are doing this extraordinary work here, the workers here, you're doing work that requires an incredibly high level of skill. As I listen to it, it's about engineering. There's a technology piece to this. There is a chemistry piece to this. There is math to this. And, I mean, it's — it's just — I mean, you're doing robots, for God's sake. (Laughter.) It's good stuff.

And the fact that it's right here and not very far from where you grew up and where you live. And if we're really going to strengthen America, we got to understand that we can do many things at once. We can invest in industries of the future while also knowing, look, folks don't want to have to leave home to have a good-paying job. And that job should be well enough paying that you are able to buy a home and to raise a family.

And what you guys are doing right here on the ground exemplifies all of that.

I was talking with Wendell and A.B. about the fact that what you are doing here on the ground makes real that investing in American industries and investing in American workers can happen at the same time. There doesn't have to be a tension between the two.

That doing this work will also be about understanding, look, we got to win the competition for the 21st century. We're not going to have China beat us in the competition for the 21st century.

And that's about, then, doing the work that Corning is going to be doing about manufacturing of those solar panels, together with the work that you are doing here. What is it, polysilicone?

AUDIENCE: Polysilicon.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Si- — silicon. I'm sorry. (Laughter.) That wasn't right.

Right? But doing the work here that is about — you're — you're creating the raw materials that these robots are then shipping out to other American-based manufacturers.

You're doing the work that's about building up a clean energy economy and a guess — and again, investing in workers. Wendell told me you're going to be hiring 1,300 new workers starting today — good-paying jobs; $89,000 a year, I understand, at least. My staff said, "Yeah, that's better than some of the White House jobs," in terms of how much it pays. (Laughter.) I said, "Look, it's important work."

And you're doing it in a way that also makes us so proud as a country.

And so, I came by, first and foremost, to thank you all. And as I said to many of you as we were on this tour, I'm going to be talking about you behind your back. (Laughter.) I am. I'm going to be talking about the fact that this is what we can do.

And I say this as a very proud, long-standing — my whole entire life working — I've always been a public servant. I believe in the important and good work that government can do.

I also know the limitations of government. And when we can find a way to have meaningful partnerships with the private sector, with industries, to do the kind of work that is happening here, everybody wins. Everybody wins.

And so, I want to thank you all for what you're doing here as a great example of what was a vision that we had — the president and I and the congressman. We're going to create a meaningful public investment in America's private industries through the Chips Act, through the Inflation Reduction Act. And we're going to infuse it with billions of dollars, knowing that if we do that, as that old saying comes, "If you build it, they will come."

And that's when you all stepped in, A.B. and Wendell, and created a facility like this and what's happening across the way that's going to be about hiring folks, who, by the way, are doing highly skilled work that are good-paying jobs that don't require a college degree.

And that's another point of emphasis that bears repeating. I believe that as we think of industries of the future and the future of America's workforce, we need to get in front of this idea that the only high-skilled jobs are — require a college degree. It's just not true.

And, in fact, when I become president of the United States, one of the things that I plan on doing immediately — people ask me, "What are you doing on day one?" — one of the things immediately is to reassess federal jobs — and I've already started looking at it — to look at which ones don't require a college degree.

Because here's the thing. That's not the only qualification for a qualified worker. You've got to look at the skills; you've got to look at the experience.

And, again, you all are making that real and showing that on the ground right here.

So, there are many points that are about how do we think about the future of work, the future of the workforce, the future of American industry in a way that understands that we should be optimistic about what's possible.

And look, we are eight days out from an election. So, I just got to also talk about the contrast, because my opponent spends full time talking about — just kind of diminishing who we are as America and talking down at people, talking about — I don't know, that we're the "garbage can of the world." We're not.

He just recently did a radio talk show and talked about how he'd get rid of the CHIPS Act. That's — that was billions of dollars investing in just the kind of work that's happening here.

And you know how we did it? We created tax credits to create the incentive for the private sector to do this work. That's good work.

When he was president, he sold advanced chips to China that helped them with their agenda to modernize their military. That's not about what's in the best interest of America's security and prosperity, which should be two of the highest priorities for president of the United States.

So, I say all that to say that there is a choice that the American public — a very serious choice presented in the next eight days. And as much as anything, it is a question about what is the direction in the future that we want for our country.

And I will refer to what you all are doing here to tell you that you are a source of my optimism and also my ambition about what we are capable of when we are focused on our capacity and we are focused on the future in such a meaningful way.

And so, I want to thank everybody for what you are doing. And, like I said, I'll be talking about you. (Laughter.)

But thank you for your good work, everyone, and thank you for the time. Take care. (Applause.)