Vice President Biden arrives in Seattle for fundraiser, remarks at Renton Technical

SEATTLE -- Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Seattle Wednesday night and is set to speak Thursday at Renton Technical College and attend a Democratic fundraiser sponsored by Sen. Maria Cantwell.

The money raised will go to help female Democratic Senate candidates in other states, including Kay Hagan in North Carolina, Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire, and Mary Landrieu in Louisiana.

Renton Technical College is a recent recipient of a U.S. Department of Labor job-driven training grant. The funding is part of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training competitive grant program, which awarded more than $450 million to 270 community colleges across the country last week.

In his remarks in Renton Thursday, Biden is expected to highlight the importance of investing in the nation's workforce and growing the economy.



The trip comes just a few days after the vice president set off a diplomatic firestorm by suggesting that the United States' Middle East allies were partly responsible for the rise of ISIS extremists.

Biden has since apologized to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for suggesting that they are our “biggest problem” in the fight against terrorists in Iraq and Syria.

Biden spent Wednesday afternoon in Portland campaigning for Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.