WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Congressman James E. Clyburn (SC-06) penned an op-ed in the Post and Courier on President Biden’s transformative impacts for the state of South Carolina.
Joe Biden Delivered for South Carolina
By Congressman James E. Clyburn
In my 2020 endorsement of Joe Biden for President, I intoned, “I know Joe. We know Joe, but more importantly, Joe knows us.” Five years later, after expertly managing a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, successfully taming a global inflationary crisis, soldierly responding to a full-scale invasion of a sovereign nation by an adversary, and skillfully navigating life changing legislation through a narrowly divided Congress, those words I spoke about my friend, President Joe Biden, have proved prophetic.
While the full impact of his presidency will not be felt for years, the seeds he planted are already taking root throughout the nation and are bearing good fruit across South Carolina. Consider the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, a bold, once-in-a-generation investment to modernize America’s infrastructure that folks in Washington had talked about for decades but routinely failed to deliver. President Biden did with broad bipartisan support.
To date, that $1.2 trillion bill has invested nearly $5 billion in South Carolina and is funding a decades-long wish list of major infrastructure needs around the state. “Malfunction Junction” in Columbia is being reconfigured. The 60-year-old Lake Marion Bridges in Orangeburg and Clarendon counties are being replaced. Multi-million dollar access to Charleston’s largest shipping terminal is being enhanced, and the harbor has been deepened.
The corridor from Spartanburg to the North Carolina border is being transformed, as is I-77 from Charlotte to Columbia. Extensive widening and intersection improvements are taking place along I-95 and I-26. And earlier this month, the Department of Transportation announced $204 million to eliminate the Assembly Street railroad crossings that have frustrated visitors and residents of our state’s Capital for a century.
But it’s not just roads and bridges. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invested in transit like the Lowcountry Rapid Transit project and expanding high-speed internet across the state. Also, in combination with President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, South Carolina is receiving $950 million to connect residences and businesses to high-speed internet.
According to the South Carolina Broadband Office, South Carolina is on track to achieve that goal by 2026. In 2024, South Carolina ranked as the fifth fastest growing state in the nation. This growth isn’t being fueled solely by our “smiling faces and beautiful places.” South Carolina is retaining our workforce and attracting new talent thanks to historic private capital investment fueled by President Biden’s legislative initiatives.
Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and CHIPS and Science Act are making landmark investments in renewable energy, electric vehicles, semiconductor manufacturing, and research into emerging advanced technologies. Companies have invested, on average, twice as much in South Carolina under President Biden ($8.3 billion a year) than under President Trump ($3.9 billion a year). Nearly 55,000 new jobs have been announced. In fact, five of the six largest investments in South Carolina over the past four years are by companies that benefit from IRA incentives.
In addition to becoming a national hub for the EV industry, South Carolina is poised to lead in alternative energy technologies, thanks to its designation as a Tech Hub under the CHIPS and Science Act and subsequent $45 million award. South Carolina’s SC Nexus initiative will spur research into new clean energy technologies and create 14,000 new jobs across the Upstate and Midlands.
Many of these new investments are still being developed and only half of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill’s funds have been allocated. But the effects of President Biden’s leadership are clear — during the last four years, South Carolina’s economy experienced its fastest growth rate since the Clinton Administration.
It cannot be understated how much President Biden has done to make our nation’s greatness accessible and affordable for South Carolina’s families; capping insulin for Medicare patients at $35 per month, approving student loan forgiveness for over 5 million borrowers, and removing medical debt from people’s credit score to make it easier to purchase a home or take out a small business loan.
President Trump assumed the presidency promising to repeal the Inflation Reduction and the Affordable Care Acts, and eliminate the Departments of Energy and Education. These short-sighted actions would be a disaster for our state and nation. Electric vehicles and clean energy technologies are industries of the future. They also produce good-paying jobs that should be located here in South Carolina — not overseas.
Biden’s 29-point victory in South Carolina’s 2020 Presidential Primary catapulted him into the presidency, and what a presidency it has been. Last Sunday, we spent his last day in office worshipping together at Royal Missionary Baptist Church in North Charleston. In my remarks, I referred to Pastor Issac Holt’s morning scripture, Galatians 6:9, and encouraged President Biden to, “not grow weary of doing good, for in due season (he) will reap if (he) does not give up.” In my not-so-humble opinion, history will be very kind to Joseph R. Biden.
Read the full op-ed here.
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