(Bloomberg) -- Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said President Joe Biden's proposed spending on infrastructure, child care and education is necessary for the U.S. to remain a leading economic power.
The bipartisan infrastructure bill before Congress is “just the beginning,” with other parts of Biden's agenda geared toward housing, child care and schooling being “crucial pieces” to help Americans, Yellen said in excerpts of remarks prepared for delivery at a speech in Atlanta, where she's holding several meetings and events Wednesday.
“We've grown used to America as the world's pre-eminent economic power,” Yellen said in excerpts released by the Treasury Department ahead of her talk. “We aren't destined to stay that way, but with these investments, I believe we will. We have a chance now to repair the broken foundations of our economy, and on top of it, to build something fairer and stronger than what came before.”
Yellen said the U.S. had made a rapid recovery from the Covid-19 recession, which she attributed in part to support from fiscal policy. She said longer-term issues remain, such as a decline in labor-force participation, which she said is why more spending is needed.
The Treasury secretary said Biden's proposed investment should be an issue that garners bipartisan support, ensuring a “more vibrant, resilient economic future.”
The U.S. Senate is heading toward passage as soon as this week of a $550 billion, bipartisan infrastructure bill that would provide the biggest infusion of federal spending on public works in decades and mark a major milestone for Biden's economic agenda.
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