Washington, DC - This afternoon, Vice President Biden hosted newly elected governors from Alaska, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Texas for a working lunch at the White House.

The Vice President congratulated them on their successful campaigns and underscored his interest in working with each of them on a wide range of important issues. At the lunch, the Vice President discussed the need to work together to continue to promote economic opportunity and build the middle class. Specifically, the Vice President emphasized the importance of partnering with states to invest in our nation’s infrastructure and workforce.

As the Vice President highlighted, investing in our nation’s infrastructure will help create millions of middle class jobs and promote economic growth in states across the country. The need to repair our ports, rails, bridges, and highways exists in communities in every state, and working together to address this problem will help drive U.S. competitiveness. The Vice President also highlighted the Administration’s commitment to ensuring that America has the most skilled workforce in the world. To this end, the Vice President emphasized the need for states to work with businesses, community colleges, workforce development boards, and labor to invest in successful training programs that prepare workers for in-demand, good-paying jobs.