Burlington County Board of Commissioners welcome First Lady Jill Biden to Burlington County

BURLINGTON CITY – The Burlington County Board of Commissioners released the following statement on First Lady Dr. Jill Biden’s visit to Burlington County to highlight the American Rescue Plan Act and how it will aid the county, schools, families and small businesses.

“We were absolutely ecstatic to welcome Dr. Biden to Burlington County and hear from her how the American Rescue Plan Act can help us continue our COVID-19 response so that we can do even more to aid our residents and small businesses,” said Commissioner Director Felicia Hopson, who was among a group of state and local officials who greeted Dr. Biden at the Samuel Smith Elementary School in Burlington City. “Since the earliest days of the pandemic, our County has made it our mission to help our residents through these challenging times, and it’s gratifying to have partners in the White House with the same shared compassion and empathy for our residents’ struggles and the same commitment to getting them the help they need.”

“The Bidens also understand that no single level of government can respond to this crisis alone. It requires the federal government, states, counties and towns working together in concert to defeat this virus and get our country back on its feet. And that’s exactly what’s occurring,” Hopson added.

New Jersey Sen. Troy Singleton also praised the First Lady for selecting Burlington County as one of the first destinations she will visit to promote the American Rescue Plan Act.

“The coronavirus pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on all of us, but it’s great to see President Biden and Congress respond with the kind of robust aid package this crisis demands,” Singleton said. “The American Rescue Plan Act will help our state, our county and our municipalities continue to deliver critical services and assistance to our most vulnerable residents, and Dr. Biden’s visit further demonstrates how strong leadership in Washington can make a difference.”

Dr. Biden’s visit comes just days after the President signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act, which will send direct federal COVID-19 aid to Burlington County and all 40 of its municipalities for the first time since the pandemic’s start. The aid can be used for the county’s response and to continue other essential services.

The Board of Commissioners released a statement on Friday that praised the signing of the legislation and thanked Congress and the Biden administration for working to make sure it became law.

Dr. Biden’s trip marks the first time the First Lady of the United States has made an official visit to Burlington County since May 1999 when then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke at McGuire Air Force Base and Fort Dix to greet the first of 4,000 Kosovar refugees as they arrived set foot on U.S. soil after being airlifted from the war-torn former country of Yugoslavia. The refugees lived at Fort Dix for several months before being resettled.

President Joe Biden also came to Burlington County in 2018 to support Congressman Andy Kim at the Golden Dawn Diner in Edgewater Park. He also headlined a fundraiser in 2014 for then-Congressional candidate Aimee Belgard in Maple Shade.

The last official visit by the President of the United States to Burlington County occurred in December 2014 when President Barack Obama came to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst to deliver an address to service members stationed there.