President Biden has been laser focused on accomplishing two things in his presidency. One, getting us through this pandemic, and the ensuing economic crisis.

One of the issues that is having a lot of political debate around it already is the way that President Biden has proposed to pay for this, including by increasing the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent.

He would like to be able to pass and accomplish these goals in a bipartisan fashion. But what is most important for him is that we actually make these investments in our economy.

I strongly believe, however, that diversity cannot be viewed solely along demographic lines.

We must take action to shepherd our Nation's economy back onto solid footing.

It is also an opportunity to rebuild the economy better than it was before.

Our prime focus right now has to be on getting us through this pandemic, to provide aid to our households, to our businesses, especially small businesses.

I believe we have to be doing smart investments as we come out of this that have economic returns such as those on investments in infrastructure, R&D, education.

I do believe that the best way for us to get back on solid economic footing is by getting through this pandemic, and that means supporting households, supporting businesses, especially small businesses, supporting our State and local…

If we do not, we run the risk of actually finding ourselves in a downward spiral, because the capacity to deal with our debt is not only the amount that we spend but the size of our economy.

I am pleased and honored to appear before you today as a nominee to be a Member of the President's Council of Economic Advisers.