President Biden Delivers Jobs Speech In Connecticut: WATCH LIVE

CONNECTICUT — President Joe Biden made a pitch for his Build Back Better Agenda during a stop in Hartford Friday afternoon.

"I wanted to come here today because too many folks in Washington still don't realize it isn't enough to just invest in our physical infrastructure. We also have to invest in our people," Biden said.

The president delivered his remarks, the first of two speeches he is slated to make in Connecticut on Friday, shortly before 2 p.m.

"I don't think we should punish anyone," Biden said, "but just pay your fair share."

According to the White House, the Build Back Better Agenda is "an ambitious plan to create jobs, cut taxes and lower costs for working families."

Speaking at a child care facility, Biden said that families in Connecticut spend on the average of $16,000 a year to keep their children enrolled in child care. That translates to 26 percent of their income, Biden said. Under his proposed legislation, the president pledges that residents would spend "no more than 7 percent of their income on child care."

Biden's plan also envisions two free years of preschool for every child in America, free community college, and aid for historically black colleges and universities.

The Biden Administration has promised the jobs plan will be paid for by "making the tax code fairer and making the wealthiest and large corporations pay their fair share."

Biden told his Hartford audience, which included Gov. Ned Lamont, along with state and local lawmakers, that extending child care tax credits, and new initiatives meant to offset climate change, also figure prominently in the president's proposal, currently stalled in Congress.

"When I think climate, I think jobs, good paying jobs, union jobs," the president said.

Biden is slated to be at UConn mid-afternoon for the dedication of a re-emphasized Dodd Center for Human Rights at the University of Connecticut, according to the university.

Patch is carrying the president's remarks below, through a live feed provided by the White House:

Biden is slated to join former U.S. Senator Christopher J. Dodd and other dignitaries at the Dodd center. The Dodd Center for Human Rights will serve as an umbrella home for the UConn's "rich and diverse human rights programs, including The Human Rights Institute and Dodd Impact.

It had been known as The Thomas J. Dodd Research Center since its opening in 1995, and the UConn Board of Trustees voted unanimously in August to authorize its dedication as The Dodd Center for Human Rights.

"UConn is honoring over a half-century of public service of Connecticut's father-and-son U.S. senators, Thomas J. Dodd and Christopher J. Dodd, as well as the commitment of the Dodd family to supporting the growth and development of UConn’s widely recognized human rights academic, research, and engagement programs," UConn President Dr. Andrew Agwunobi said.

"We are deeply honored that President Biden is joining us as we dedicate ourselves to extending the Dodd family legacy," he added.

Although the event is open only by invitation, it will be broadcast on a livestream feed for public viewing via UConn's media channels.

The event has been billed as, "Human Rights for the Next Generation." President Biden, Dodd, and Agwunobi will be joined by UConn students, faculty, and staff members as well as members of the Connecticut Congressional delegation, Gov. Ned Lamont, the UConn trustees, and others.

Like his father, Christopher Dodd has "dedicated his life to serving the people of Connecticut and defending fundamental rights and freedoms in the U.S. and worldwide," UConn officials said.

"He has been a consistent voice for the values of human rights and the rule of law, from his Peace Corps volunteer service in Latin America to his early days in the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, when he worked to end the abuses of human rights in Central America," UConn officials said.

"I'm deeply grateful to UConn for recognizing me and my family by dedicating The Dodd Center for Human Rights, and I’m honored that my good friend President Biden is joining us to mark this occasion," Christopher Dodd said. "Given the challenges we face as a nation and as a global community, I am delighted that The Dodd Center will be a place where students, experts, advocates, and others can come together and work toward a more just world."

Added Glenn Mitoma, director of Dodd Impact at UConn and an assistant professor of human rights and education,

"Our work through Dodd Impact is about just that: Making an impact. Human rights can and should make a difference in the communities on and off campus, globally and close to home."
The Human Rights Institute has the largest undergraduate and graduate human rights program at a public university in the United States.
“We are educating and mentoring the next generation of human rights leaders,” said Daniel Weiner, UConn’s vice president for Global Affairs and a professor of geography.

The center, which opened in 1995, was originally named for the late Senator Thomas J. Dodd, a lead prosecutor for the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg after World War II and a strong advocate for human rights throughout his Senate career. Christopher Dodd worked with the university to conceive, fund, and build the center to preserve and extend his father's human rights legacy.

The Dodd Center for Human Rights will continue to be home to the Archives and Special Collections of the UConn Libraries, the Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life, and the Human Rights Institute.

UConn’s human rights research, teaching, and engagement is "predicated on the commitment of more than 40 engaged faculty members located across the university working together to build an unparalleled program," said Kathryn Libal, director of the Human Rights Institute and a UConn associate professor of social work and human rights.