Biden to push trillions in investment, plead for police reform in Congress speech

U.S. President Joe Biden plans to unveil a sweeping $1.8 trillion package for families and education in his first joint speech to Congress on Wednesday, as he stresses the need to invest to compete with China, the White House said.

Biden will argue that the new package – which together with an earlier infrastructure and jobs plan totals around $4 trillion, rivaling the annual federal budget – is a once-in-a-generation investment vital to America's future.

The U.S. president will also plead directly with lawmakers to pass legislation to curb police violence, senior administration officials say. Biden will highlight repeated police killings of Black citizens and years of entrenched racism, while also honoring the service of the vast majority of officers.

The plan includes $1 trillion in spending on education and child care over 10 years and $800 billion in tax credits aimed at middle and low income families, according to a White House fact sheet.

The spending plans "reinvest in the future of the American economy and American workers, and will help us out-compete China and other countries around the world," it said.

Republican lawmakers have already rejected the $2 trillion-plus infrastructure plan as too large. The Democratic president is gambling that his spending plans, which are largely popular with American voters, can sway Republicans in Congress to cooperate with the White House.