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'It's a commonsense issue': President Biden visits Durham, calls on congress to pass assault weapons ban

President Joe Biden landed in the Triangle on Tuesday to kick off his administration's Investing in America tour in an effort to revive American manufacturing.

Posted Updated

By
Sarah Krueger
, WRAL Senior Durham reporter
DURHAM, N.C. — President Joe Biden landed in the Triangle on Tuesday to kick off his administration's Investing in America tour in an effort to revive American manufacturing.
The president will visit Wolfspeed, a semiconductor manufacturer on Cornwallis Road in Durham, to speak about job growth across the country. Wolfspeed recently announced a $5 billion investment for its facility, which would create 1,800 new jobs and expand its semiconductor production capacity.

Air Force One landed at Raleigh-Durham International Airport around 1 p.m. Biden briefly talked with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. Biden toured Wolfspeed and was seen shaking hands with employees. He's scheduled to deliver remarks after several prominent local and state politicians.

Durham Mayor Elaine O'Neal and Gov. Cooper spoke ahead of Biden at the event.

"Durham is honored to host the first stop on the Investing in America Tour," O'Neal said. "I could not think of a better place to begin the tour than Durham, North Carolina, and the Research Triangle Park."

"Manufacturing is changing here," Cooper said. "Building on our tradition of textiles and furniture to expand to a new generation of clean energy, electric vehicles, supersonic jets and semiconductors."

Biden started his speech by condemning the acts of the shooter in Nashville who opened fire at a private school on Monday. Six people died in the event, including the assailant.

"Don't tell me we can't do more together," Biden said. "I again call on congress to pass the assault weapons ban. Pass it. It should not be a partisan issue. It's a commonsense issue."

But the focus of his words were to bring jobs back from overseas. Biden said America is "determined to lead the world in the manufacturing of semiconductors" as part of the CHIPS and Science Act signed into law in 2022. The president also emphasized North Carolina's plans to build a network of electric vehicle charging stations, part of an effort to build 550,000 across the country.

"We used to invest 2 percent of our GDP in research and development," Biden said. "The last 35 years, it got down to 0.7 percent."

There's been more than $435 billion in private sector manufacturing commitments nationwide during the Biden administration, including approximately $16 billion in North Carolina.

Republicans used the visit to criticize Biden's , saying his economic policies have contributed to high inflation that has eaten into North Carolina workers’ wages.

“It is ironic that he would be down here in North Carolina, touting his economic successes, when North Carolina families … are saying that they are worse off over the last two years than they were under the previous administration,” Michael Whatley, chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party said in an interview.

“The president's economic agenda has made it harder for them to make ends meet,” he added. “It has made kitchen table issues very, very real for North Carolina families, farms and small businesses. And so rather than coming down to North Carolina to tout all of his economic agenda … we would think that he would go back and retool that economic plan to bring down inflation, to rein in gasoline prices and help out North Carolina families.”

Biden highlighted a workforce preparation partnership between Wolfspeed and Durham Technical Community College which has graduated 161 students since 2020. The 12-week course teaches chemistry, electronics, mechanical, programmable logic controllers, sensors, robotics, safety, quality, statistical techniques, problem solving and Lean Six Sigma to people training for work at Wolfspeed's planned new facility in Chatham County.

"The hard work of all of our employees is really for this kind of stage," said Margaret Chadwick, Chief Human Resources Officer with Wolfspeed. "To invite them to participate in this and have them take pride in what the company is doing."

CNN reports his other stops will include more than 20 states, including key battleground states like Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

"It really legitimizes what we have done over the years, which is to create a business that is changing the landscape of semi-conductors," said Wolfspeed co-founder John Edmond.

Edmond said the company considers North Carolina its home base and benefits from the trio of established universities in the Triangle. Wolfspeed produces chips for anything that has a motor.

"We have a huge base of students coming out of the university, whether it's Duke, State or Carolina, and others, it's really important to take advantage of that," he said.

Durham will be the first stop in the tour, which will extend over the next three weeks.

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