Second Gentleman Pool Reports of April 30, 2021

SGOTUS in North Carolina pool report #1

Good morning,

I'll be providing pool reports today for Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg's visit to Raleigh, North Carolina.

It's 10:06 a.m. EST and we are at Teamsters Union Hall where Mr. Emhoff and Sec. Buttigieg are expected to arrive at 10:30 a.m. EST for a roundtable to promote President Biden's American Jobs Plan.

The following people will join them in the roundtable:

-Aiden Graham, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) Campaigns Manager and Field Director in North Carolina

- Sherita McCullers, Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Vice President, bus driver and 26-year union member

- Terrence Dewberry, President of ATU Local 1328 in Raleigh

- Alvin Warwick, North Carolina Building Trades President, electrician and 43-year member of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)

- Latarsha Jackson, Teamsters member

SGOTUS in North Carolina pool report #2

It's 10:23 a.m. and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Sec. Pete Buttigieg have arrived at Teamsters Union Hall in Raleigh, North Carolina.

They're here for a roundtable to promote President Biden's American Jobs Plan.

Some may have received two "#1" reports. Reports will be labeled in proper succession from here.

SGOTUS in North Carolina pool report #3

Clarification on report #1.

Information on next two stops was not for publication. Embargoed until those events start.

SGOTUS in North Carolina pool report #4

It's 10:56 a.m. EST and Mr. Emhoff and Sec. Buttigieg are speaking with union member representatives at Teamsters Union Hall in Raleigh, North Carolina about the American Jobs Plan.

They are talking about investing in more jobs, green infrastructure and promoting workers' rights to unionize.

They are also speaking about supporting frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Transit workers are frontline workers," Emhoff said. "They need to be treated as such."

"A lot of people weren't able to work on Zoom," Emhoff said. "It's been a tough year out there taking care of people like you all have."

Sec. Buttigieg spoke about investing in trade jobs, not higher-entry jobs, when investing in infrastructure.

"These are not mysterious jobs," Buttigieg said. "We're talking about needing carpenters and electrical workers."

SGOTUS in North Carolina pool report #5

Mr. Emhoff and Sec. Buttigieg are now leaving Teamsters Union Hall in Raleigh, North Carolina at 11:09 a.m. EST.

Emhoff spoke about the need to invest in clean energy to benefit the general public.

"Climate should not be a political issue. Everyone needs clean water and clean air, " Emhoff said. "This is not controversial."

SGOTUS in North Carolina pool report #6

It's 11:59 a.m. EST and Mr. Emhoff and Sec. Buttigieg have arrived at North Carolina State University's campus in Raleigh, North Carolina to tour the Center for Additive Manufacturing and Logistics.

They are here to promote research and development investment within the American Jobs Plan.

They will be joined by Congresswoman Deborah Ross of North Carolina's 2nd congressional district, which covers all of Raleigh, and by Raleigh City Council member Stormie D. Forte.

SGOTUS in North Carolina pool report #7

It's 1:03 p.m. and Mr. Emhoff and Sec. Buttigieg have left North Carolina State University's campus in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Along with those reported in pool report #6, they were also joined by Rep. David Price of North Carolina's 4th congressional district, which covers other parts of the Raleigh metropolitan area, including Durham and Chapel Hill.

They went to the Additive Manufacturing Lab where NC State staff showed them objects produced with 3D printing technology.

They then went to the Pavement and Asphalt Testing Lab, where staff and students showed them the mixing process of a new pavement formulation that extends the lifetime of paved surfaces.

Finally, Emhoff and Buttigieg toured the Construction Facilities Lab where the development of construction materials and systems are researched to enhance infrastructure sustainability.

This was all a part of seeing research and development for infrastructure taking place at NC State. President Biden's American Jobs Plan calls for more funding in infrastructure R&D.

Emhoff and Buttigieg are now going to lunch before going to their final stop in Raleigh.

SGOTUS in North Carolina pool report #8

It's 2 p.m. and Mr. Emhoff and Sec. Buttigieg have arrived downtown at the Raleigh Union Station.

They're here with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin, Rep. David Price (NC-4), Rep. Deborah Ross (NC-2) and Amtrak President Stephen Gardner.

They're here to talk about the American Rescue Plan, which President Biden signed in March, as well as the administration's infrastructure proposal, the American Jobs Plan.

The Raleigh Union Station began operation in July 2018.

Also, I was sent a written statement from North Carolina League of Conservation Voters from their Director of Governmental Relations Dan Crawford:

"North Carolinians love traveling the Good Roads State from the Outer Banks to the Blue Ridge Parkway. President Biden's American Jobs Plan will make it easier and less expensive for us to explore our beautiful state in electric cars we can charge readily or in rail cars from Asheville to Wilmington and beyond. It's a jobs plan, a tourism plan, a health plan, an energy infrastructure plan, and a climate plan rolled into one."

SGOTUS in North Carolina pool report #9

Press conference in Raleigh, North Carolina, at the Raleigh Union Station downtown wrapped up at 2:43 p.m. EST.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Rep. David Price (NC-4), Rep. Barbara Ross (NC-2) and Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin spoke at the press conference.

They mostly talked about President Biden's initiative going forward with the American Jobs Plan to invest in infrastructure. Cooper, Price and Ross talked more from a North Carolina context. Baldwin spoke even more local from a Raleigh perspective. Price, Ross and Cooper emphasized the goal of expanding Amtrak rail from Raleigh directly to Richmond, Virginia. Here's some key quotes from each person below:

Emhoff

• "We've got to work to rebuild our economy. We've to work to build a nation that is healthier, safer, fairer, and as the President said, more competitive on the world stage."

Buttigieg

• "If you bike, walk, use a wheelchair, travel will be safer for you as transportation comes to be more centered around people and not only around cars."
• "When we envision travel for the next 50 years, the train should be a common sense option. The rumble of rails. The freedom of looking out your train window should once again be known to be as all-American as the open road."
• "What we just saw at NC State is a great example of how private sector, academic and public sector interact."

Cooper

• "The backbone of our recovery will have to be our infrastructure. Governors across this country have been waiting a long time for an infrastructure bill."
• "A comprehensive infrastructure bill is going to be critical for our state's recovery, and this country's recovery."
• "High speed internet has to come to this state and across the country,"
• "This is where the jobs are of the future," Cooper said referring to the climate portions of the American Jobs Plan.

Price

• "Let's just say it's on to Richmond. Richmond is next," Price said. He said funds in the American Jobs Plan could be used to expand the rail system to Virginia much like federal funds were used in the past to connect the rail system from Charlotte, NC to Raleigh.
• note: Price is Chairman of the House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee

Ross

• "The American Jobs Plan will meet these urgent needs and create millions of good jobs in the process, and none of these jobs can be outsourced. They are for our American workers. Everybody from that engineering PhD at NC State to the union worker to the high school graduate who can pave our roads."

Baldwin

• "When we built Raleigh Union Station, we didn't build it for today. We built it for 20 years from now," Baldwin said, "but we also built it to bring equity, transportation and housing to this area."
• "We need the American Jobs Plan because we want to be the city of the future."

SGOTUS in North Carolina pool report #10: CORRECTION on report #9

CORRECTION: Rep. Ross' first name is Deborah, not Barbara.

SGOTUS in North Carolina pool report #11: pictures and captions

Final report here. The link below will take you to pictures I gathered at the events today.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QajtA2cZgUQzZCqwxiuvr75JdPJKSo8F...

Here are captions for each. The photo file name corresponds to each caption.

ButtigiegEmhoff1: (from left to right) Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Rep. David Price (NC-4) and Raleigh City Council Member Stormie Forte at North Carolina State University's Additive Manufacturing Lab examining a 3D printed football.

ButtigiegEmhoff2: North Carolina State associate professor (back left) and graduate research assistant Nooralhuda Saleh (front left) showing an improved asphalt mixture to Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff (front right) and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg (back right) at NC State's Pavement and Asphalt Testing Lab.

ButtigiegEmhoff3: North Carolina State faculty administering a fortitude test of a ultra-high performance concrete beam for Secretary of State Pete Buttigieg, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Rep. David Price (NC-4) and Rep. Deborah Ross (NC-2) at the university's Construction Facilities Lab.

ButtigiegEmhoff4: Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg speaking about President Biden's American Jobs Plan at the Raleigh Union Station in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. On either side of him, from left to right, are Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Amtrak President Stephen Gardner, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Rep. David Price (NC-4).