Biden stops at North Philly school, speaks to lawmakers

President Joe Biden spoke to Congressional leaders and toured a North Philadelphia elementary school during a stop in the city on Friday.

Biden visited the Hon. Luis Munoz-Marin Elementary School to tout the American Rescue Plan, the coronavirus relief package he signed into law last year, and he greeted students who were excited to meet him.

Mia Parilla, 9, gave Biden a hug and handed him a drawing of a gray-haired man in a gray suit, according to pool reports.

Before heading to Munoz-Martin, Biden addressed Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives at a conference being held at the Hilton Penn’s Landing Hotel.

He touched on a variety of topics, including the Russian attack on Ukraine, his domestic agenda and the upcoming midterm elections.

“This off-year election, in my view, may be the most important off-year election in modern history,” Biden told lawmakers. “We know the fundamental change that shifts if we lose the House and the Senate. The only thing I’ll have then is a veto pen.”

Biden also confronted rising gas prices and inflation, which he blamed on COVID-19 and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to launch an invasion.

“And don’t tell me gas prices rose because of the American Rescue Plan,” he said. “The San Francisco Federal Reserve analyzed this and other outfits confirm: The Rescue Plan contributed to 0.3 percent of inflation.”