PHILADELPHIA-- President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden packed carrots and apples into boxes for the hungry and chatted with volunteers Sunday at a food bank as part of a day of service for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The couple traveled about a half-hour from their Wilmington, Del., residence to Philabundance -- a Philadelphia-based hunger relief organization which serves about 140,000 people a week in the Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey region.
The traditional day of service is on the holiday, which is observed today, but there was a bad winter storm heading for the area and events were being rescheduled around the region.
Before heading to the warehouse floor where conveyor belts carried cardboard boxes full of donated food, Biden said the child tax credit needed to be renewed.
The monthly credits were part of Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package -- and the president had proposed extending them for another full year as part of a separate measure focused on economic and social programs.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., objected to extending the credit out of concern that the money would discourage people from working and that any additional federal spending would fuel inflation that has already climbed to a nearly 40-year high.
"The child tax credit was really helpful. We've got to get it renewed," Biden said.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said the Senate will take up voting rights legislation on Tuesday, missing a deadline he initially set for action by today.
Biden spoke forcefully of the need to pass the legislation, likening the modern concerns over election subversion and increasing voting restrictions in states to the civil rights struggles of the 1960s.
The president said he supported changing Senate rules to allow the slim Democratic majority to push the package through.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden pack produce while volunteering at hunger relief organization Philabundance, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
President Joe Biden speaks with members of the press about the Texas synagogue hostage incident before volunteering with first lady Jill Biden, back right, at hunger relief organization Philabundance, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
First lady Jill Biden packs produce as she and President Joe Biden volunteer at hunger relief organization Philabundance, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden pack produce while they volunteer at hunger relief organization Philabundance, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
First lady Jill Biden packs produce as she and President Joe Biden volunteer at hunger relief organization Philabundance, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden pack produce while they volunteer at hunger relief organization Philabundance, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
President Joe Biden packs produce while volunteering at hunger relief organization Philabundance, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)