Whitehouse.gov Feed

Savannah Civic Center
Savannah, Georgia

1:26 P.M. EST

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon, Savannah.  Good afternoon.  Oh, it is good to be back in Georgia.  Thank you all.

Let — can we please give it up for President McDonald and all of your work — (applause) — and your leadership.  Truly.  And I want to thank you for all of your courage and your tireless work.

Mr. Mayor, where are you?  He was — there is — there is our mayor.  He — he greeted me on the tarmac when I landed on Air Force Two.  (Applause.)  He has been such a friend to our administration and a great national leader.  And, Mayor, I want to thank you for your powerful leadership of this great city.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you.

And I know they’re working hard in Washington, but I want to recognize Senator Raphael Warnock — (applause) — and Senator Jon Ossoff.  (Applause.)  They’re in D.C. today for votes, but I will say, Georgia, you have two extraordinary senators.  (Applause.)  And they are always fighting on behalf of the people of this state.

And to all of the leaders who are here — and there are so many — I want to thank all of you for the work that you do to — to uphold one of our nation’s highest and most important ideals.  And that is the ideal of freedom.  Freedom.

Freedom is fundamental to the promise of America — to the promise of America.  Freedom of speech.  Freedom of worship.  Freedom of assembly.  The freedom to vote. 

In America, freedom is not to be given.  It is not to be bestowed.  It is ours by right.  (Applause.)  By right.  

And that includes the freedom to make decisions about one’s own body and not have the government — (applause) — telling people what to do. 

Fifty-one years ago, in the case of Roe vs. Wade, the United States Supreme Court recognized the fundamental constitutional right to reproductive freedom.  And for nearly half a century, Americans relied on the freedoms protected by Roe. 

However, 19 months ago, the highest court in our land — the court of Thurgood and RBG — (applause) — right? — took a constitutional right that had been recognized from the people of America, from the women of America.  And now, we must speak of Roe in the past tense.

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  In states across our nation, extremists have proposed and passed laws that criminalize doctors and punish women. 

Laws that threaten doctors and nurses with prison time, including right here in Georgia, even for life — in some states, prison for life — simply for providing healthcare.  Laws that in some states make no exception even for rape and incest. 

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Now, I know it’s a difficult conversation to have, but we need to face reality.  Right?

As many of us know, and many of you may know —

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — I started —

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Shame on you!  You’re committing genocide!  You’re committing genocide!  (Inaudible.)

AUDIENCE:  Kamala!  Kamala!  Kamala!

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  It’s okay.

AUDIENCE:  Kamala!  Kamala!  Kamala!

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.

AUDIENCE:  Kamala!  Kamala!  Kamala!

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you all.  Thank you.  Thank you all.

And we know, in a healthy democracy, we value the freedom of all people to be heard.  And — but right now, we are talking about a different issue, and that is the issue of what has happened to the women and people of America as a result of the Dobbs decision.  (Applause.)

So, as I was saying, no exception even for rape or incest.  And we must have difficult conversations about what that means.   

As many of you know, I started my career as a prosecutor specializing in crimes of violence against women and children.  (Applause.)  But what many of you may not know is why. 

So, when I was in high school, one of my best friends, I learned, was being molested by her stepfather.  And when I learned, I said to her, “You got to — you got to come and stay with us.”  And I called my mother, and my mother said, “Of course she has to come and stay with us.”  And she did. 

So, the idea that someone who survives a crime of violence, a violation to their body, would then be told they don’t have the authority to decide what happens to their body next, that’s immoral.  

And let us all agree: One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling her what to do with her body.  (Applause.)  

If she chooses, she will consult with her pastor, her priest, her rabbi, her imam.  But it should not be the government telling her what to do.  (Applause.)

So, this is, in fact, a healthcare crisis.  And in that way, there is nothing about this moment that is hypothetical.

Today, in America, more than one in three women of reproductive age live in a state with an abortion ban — one in three women of reproductive age live in a state with an abortion ban, including more than 2 and a half million right here in the state of Georgia.

And let us understand what that really means.  Let us understand the horrific reality that women face every single day since the Roe decision was overturned.

Folks, I have met women who have had miscarriages in toilets because they were refused care.  I met a woman who went to an emergency room during a miscarriage and was turned away repeatedly because the doctors there were afraid they might be put in jail for helping her.  And it was only at the point that she developed sepsis that she received care.

Think about this fact: Of the number of women — and this is — this is difficult to talk about, guys.  I know that.  But this is the reality of what’s happening in our country. 

Of the number of women who became pregnant because of rape since this case came down, it is estimated that tens of thousands are in a state with a complete abortion ban. 

Now, think about what that means.  In Georgia, women face a six-week abortion ban — before many women even know they are pregnant.  Which, by the way, tells us these lawmakers e- — either they don’t know how a woman’s body works or they just don’t care.  (Applause.) 

And in Georgia, because of the way the law is written, no exception for rape or incest unless they file a police report to get permission — to get permission for an abortion after six weeks.  Permission.

So, as a former prosecutor, again, we got to break this down.  Okay?  Here’s what we’re talking about: So, this means she needs to walk into a police department, be questioned by a police officer.  If she lives in a small town, it might be somebody she knows.  And she will be required — after what she’s been through — required to recount the crime even if she don’t want to talk about it.  She will be required to report on someone even though the consequences of that may expose her to more harm, simply because she wants to exercise her right to make a decision about what happens to her body next.  Think about what this means. 

And for many of these women, all of this means that, in order to access the care they need, they have to leave Georgia — they have to leave their home; they have to leave their family or friends who might be with them through this moment to give them comfort and care — to travel to a state that protects reproductive freedom. 

And understand, there’s only one state in the South without an abortion ban: the state of Virginia.  In the entire South, one — a six-hour drive from here in Savannah.

Now, the majority of women, we also know, who have abortions are mothers.  So, again, let’s break down what this means.  For her to travel to receive care, well, God help her if she does not have paid leave or affordable childcare.  (Applause.)  God help her if she does not have the savings necessary to buy a plane, train, or a bus ticket to get where she can receive the care she wants and needs or to book a hotel room. 

And, by the way, while these extremists behind these laws say they are motivated by the health and well-being of women and children — (laughter) — while they say that, they have been silent on the crisis of maternal mortality.  (Applause.)  Silent.

Georgia has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in our nation.  Black women are three to four times more likely to die in connection with childbirth than other women.  And the top ten states with the highest rates of maternal mortality all have abortion bans.  The hypocrisy abounds. 

So, Georgia, there is profound harm happening in our country because of the state of the law.  The reality in real time across our country is that for every story we hear, there are so many we don’t. 

Today, an untold number of women are silently suffering — women who are being judged, who are being made to feel as though they did something wrong, that they should be embarrassed, made to feel alone. 

And I say, I do believe that, as a nation, that is not what we stand for.  I do believe that.

So, I say to these women: We see you, we see your incredible strength, and we are here with you.

And in this healthcare crisis, please do understand who is to blame.  The former President, Donald Trump — (applause) — hand-picked three members of the United States Supreme Court justice because he intended for them to overturn Roe.  He intended for them to take your freedoms.  And it’s a decision he brags about.

He said, “Well, for years” — and I’m going to quote — “they were trying to get rid of Roe v. Wade — trying to have it terminated.”  And then — but he said — I quote — “I did it,” he said.  “And I’m proud to have done it,” he said.  He is proud. 

Proud that women across our nation are suffering?  Proud that women have been robbed of a fundamental freedom?  Proud that doctors could be thrown in prison — in some cases, for life — for caring for patients?  That young women today have fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers?  How dare he.  (Applause.)  How dare he.

Understand, the former President is the architect of this healthcare crisis. 

And the extremists are not done.  In the United States Congress, extremists tried to pass a national abortion ban to outlaw abortion in every single state. 

But what they need to know is that if Congress passes a national abortion ban, President Joe Biden will veto it.  (Applause.)  

Because here’s the deal about all of us: We trust women.  We trust women.  We trust women to make decisions about their own body.  We trust women to know what is in their own best interest. 

And, folks, women trust all of us to fight for their rights — (applause) — and to protect their most fundamental freedoms.  And it is going to take all of us.  And it is going to take all of us. 

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We ready!

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And we’re ready. 

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  That’s right!  (Inaudible.)

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  (Laughs.)

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Four more years!

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Four more years!

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  I see that.  (Laughs.)

AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  So, on that point — so, on that point, Joe Biden and I are fighting in court to protect women’s access to medication and emergency care.  We are strengthening patient privacy protections so that medical records stay between a woman and her doctor.  And we are protecting the right of women to travel for abortion care.  And fighting for access to free contraception.  (Applause.)  Yes.

And the bottom line is: To truly protect reproductive freedoms, we must restore the protections of Roe.  What the United States Supreme Court took away, Congress can put back in place.  But we must have a majority in the United States Congress who simply agree that the government should not be making those personal decisions for people.  (Applause.) 

And when Congress passes a law that puts back in the protections of Roe, Joe Biden will sign it.  (Applause.)  

So, again, I say, it’s going to take all of us to get there — everybody here.  And the momentum is on our side.  We are winning. 

Since Roe was overturned, every time reproductive freedom has been on the ballot, the people of America have voted for freedom.  From Kansas to California to Kentucky, in Michigan and Montana and Vermont and Ohio — (applause) — the American people have voted for freedom.  And not by a little but by overwhelming majorities. 

Proving, also, by the way — and I say that to whichever political pundits might be behind those cameras — (laughter) — proving, also, that it is not a partisan issue.  Tens of millions of Americans, in red states and blue, marched to the polls in defense of fundamental freedoms. 

And so, with that, I say, the voice of the people has been heard, and it will be heard.

And then I say — and ask, in conclusion: Georgia, are you ready to make your voices heard?  (Applause.) 

Do we trust women?  (Applause.) 

Do we believe in reproductive freedom?  (Applause.) 

Do we believe in the promise of America?  (Applause.) 

And are we ready to fight for it?  (Applause.)

And when we fight, we win! 

God bless you.  God bless America.  Thank you, all.  (Applause.)

                        END            1:44 P.M. EST

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On Tuesday, February 6, 2024, the President signed into law:
 
S. 3427, the “Overtime Pay for Protective Services Act of 2023,” which extends through 2028 the waiver that allows U.S. Secret Service employees performing protective services to receive premium pay up to level II of the Executive Schedule.

Thank you to Senators Graham, Klobuchar, Grassley and Coons, and Representatives Mark Green and Bennie Thompson, for their leadership.

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Yesterday, the Biden-Harris Administration convened community college presidents and provosts at the White House to discuss the ways they are strengthening talent pipelines into growing sectors fueled by President Biden’s historic Investing in America agenda.  The Investing in America agenda—including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, Inflation Reduction Act, and American Rescue Plan—is creating strong demand for skilled workers in clean energy, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, and more. To support community colleges’ critical efforts to prepare a diverse, skilled workforce for these good jobs, the Administration has made robust investments in these institutions, including through the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technical Education program, the Department of Labor’s Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants, the Department of Commerce’s Tech Hubs program, and more.

     Biden-Harris Administration officials from the Domestic Policy Council, the National Economic Council, the Office of the First Lady, the Department of Education, and the Department of Labor heard from more than 30 community college leaders representing 21 states on their successful strategies for recruiting and training a diverse array of students and workers; their efforts to create partnerships with K-12 systems, employers, labor unions, local elected leaders, and others; and how the Biden-Harris Administration can continue to support their efforts. 

Community college participants included presidents and provosts from:  

• Community College of Allegheny County – Pennsylvania
• Community College of Spokane – Washington
• Chabot-Las Positas Community College District – California
• Clackamas Community College – Oregon
• Columbia George Community College – Oregon
• Corning Community College – New York
• County College of Morris – New Jersey
• Dallas Technical College – Texas
• Davidson-Davie Community College – North Carolina
• Edgecombe Community College – North Carolina
• Forsyth Tech Community College – North Carolina
• Frederick Community College – Maryland
• Grand Rapids Community College – Michigan
• Greenville Technical College – South Carolina
• Hawkeye Community College – Iowa
• Hillsborough Community College – Florida
• Lakeshore Technical College – Wisconsin
• Louisiana Community and Technical College System – 12 colleges across Louisiana
• MiraCosta College District – California
• Mount Hood Community College – Oregon
• North Carolina Community College System – 58 Colleges across North Carolina
• North Idaho College – Idaho
• Northeast Community College – Nebraska
• Northwest Arkansas Community College – Arkansas
• Parkland College – Illinois
• Reynolds Community College – Virginia
• Richland Community College – Illinois
• Riverside Community College District – California
• Rowan College at Burlington County – New Jersey
• Truckee Meadows Community College – Nevada
• Ulster County Community College – New York
• Virginia Peninsula Community College – Virginia
• William Rainey Harper College – Illinois

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     I have always believed that the promise of America is big enough for everyone to succeed and that it is each generation’s responsibility to open the doors of opportunity just a little bit wider to include those who have been left behind.  During National Tribal Colleges and Universities Week, we honor and celebrate these critical institutions for doing just that:  providing opportunities for students and their communities throughout Indian Country.

     A quality education can transform lives and give students the power to shape their future.  But we know that not everyone has a fair shot at pursuing higher education — including many Native American students.  We know that promoting educational opportunities is all the more important for Native people, after over a century of Federal assimilation policies that used education as a tool of cultural and physical violence — devastating Native communities and ripping Native families apart.  We have seen time and again that Tribal Colleges and Universities uplift Native American students through culturally grounded education and put them on a path toward a brighter future.  That is why my Administration has been working relentlessly to provide these institutions with the support they need to thrive.

     During my first year in office, I was proud to issue an Executive Order on the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Native Americans and Strengthening Tribal Colleges and Universities.  This initiative directs the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Labor to collaborate with leaders from Tribal Nations to advance educational equity, excellence, and economic opportunity for Native American students.  We are also investing millions of dollars to provide Tribal Colleges and Universities with the resources they deserve.

     My Administration has also been working to make higher education more affordable for all students.  To date, we have worked with the Congress to increase the maximum Pell Grant by $900 — making it easier for millions of students to pay for school.  We have also fixed the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program to ensure that students who become public servants receive the debt relief they are entitled to under the law.  Through our Saving on a Valuable Education Plan, we are cutting payments for undergraduate loans in half, providing early forgiveness to many borrowers with low balance loans, and saving the typical borrower around $1,000 per year.  We are pursuing new actions to relieve the burden of student debt for as many borrowers as we can, as fast as we can.

     Every child in America has a dream.  It is our responsibility to give them the opportunity to make those dreams a reality.  This National Tribal Colleges and Universities Week, let us recommit to supporting these centers of academic excellence as they empower young Native American leaders to pursue their loftiest ambitions and build an America we can all be proud of.

     NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim February 4 through February 10, 2024, as National Tribal Colleges and Universities Week.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-eighth.
 

                               JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

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State Dining Room

1:16 P.M. EST
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon.  For much too long, as you all know, the immigration system has been broken.  And it’s long past time to fix it. 
 
That’s why, months ago, I instructed my team to begin negotiations with a bipartisan group of senators to seriously and finally fix our immigration system.
 
For months now, that’s what they’ve done, working around the clock, through the holidays, over the weekends.
 
It’s been an extraordinary effort by Senators Lankford, Murphy, and Sinema.
 
The result of all this hard work is a bipartisan agreement that represents the most fair, humane reforms in our immigration system in a long time and the toughest set of reforms to secure the border ever.   
 
Now, all indications are this bill won’t even move forward to the Senate floor.
 
Why?  A simple reason: Donald Trump.  Because Donald Trump thinks it’s bad for him politically.  Therefore, he doesn’t — even though it would help the — the country, he’s not for it.  He’d rather weaponize this issue than actually solve it.
 
So, for the last 24 hours, he’s done nothing, I’m told, but reach out to Republicans in the House and the Senate and threaten them and try to intimidate them to vote against this proposal.  And it looks like they’re caving.
 
Frankly, they owe it to the American people to show some spine and do what they know to be right.
 
So, I want to tell the American people what’s in this bill and why everyone from the Wall Street Journal to the Border Patrol to the Chamber of Commerce — United States Chamber of Commerce support this bill.
 
Because it’s going to make the country safer, make the border more secure, treat people more humanely and freel- — and fairly, and make legal immigration more efficient and consistent with the values of our nation and our international treaty obligations.
 
It would finally provide the funding that I have repeatedly — repeatedly requested, most recently in October, to actually secure the border.  That includes an additional 1,500 border agents and officers to secure the border — to physically secure it. 
 
In addition, 100 cutting-edge machines to detect and stop fentanyl at the Southwest Border.  We have that capacity.
 
An additional — 100 additional immigration judges to help reduce the year-long asylum backlog.  You show up for asylum and you get told a judge is supposed to talk to you.  It takes a year to get that discussion going.
 
This bill would also establish new, efficient, and fair process for the government to consider an asylum claim for those arriving at the border.
 
Today, the process can take five to seven years, as you all know.  They show up at the border, get a bracelet, told to be — come back when called, five to seven years from now, in the country.  That’s too long, and it’s not rational.
 
With the new policies in this bill and the additional 4,300 more asylum officers — who spend hours, I might add, with each immigrant to consider their claims — whether they — they qualify — we’ll be able to reduce that process to six months, not five to seven years.  
 
This bipartisan bill will also expedite work permits so those who are here and who qualify can begin work more quickly.
 
That’s something that our governors, our mayors, and our business leaders have been asking me for and asking them for.  All across the country, they’ve been asking for this.
 
It’ll also create more opportunities for families to come together, for business to hire additional workers. 
 
And for the first time in 30 years — the first time in 30 years, this bipartisan legislation increases the number of immigrant visas for people legally — legally able to come to this country through ports of entry.
 
And it ensures that — for the first time, that vulnerable, unaccompanied young children have legal representation at the border.
 
This bill would also give me, as President, the emergency authority to temporarily shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed — the numbers they’re talking — over 5,000 people trying get in in one day.
 
The bill — if the bill were law today, it would qualify to be shut down right now while we repair it.
 
The bottom line is: This bipartisan bill is a win for America because it makes important fixes to our broken immigration system, and it’s the toughest, fairest law that’s ever been proposed relative to the border.
 
Now, it doesn’t address everything I’d like — that I wanted.
 
For example, we still need a path for — of documentation for those who are already here.  And we’re not walking away from
true immigration reform, including permanent protections and a pathway to citizenship for young DREAMers who came here when they were children and who have been good citizens and contribute so much to our country.
 
But the reforms in this bill are essential for making our border more orderly, more humane, and more secure.
 
That’s why the Border Patrol Union — which, by the way, endorsed Donald Trump in the 2020 election — endorses this bill.  These are the people whose job it is to secure the border every single solitary day.  They don’t just show up for photo ops like some members of Congress.  They’re there to do their job.
 
This is the risk — the thing they — many of them risk their lives doing every single day.  And they decided — they decided — the Border Patrol decided this gives them the tools they need to do the job: more personnel across the board.
 
It’s also why the U.S. Chamber of Commerce endorsed this bill, because they know this bill is not just good for the border, it’s also good for American business and for the American economy.
 
And it’s why the Wall Street Journal endorsed the bill with the headline this morning which reads, quote, “A Border Security Bill Worth Passing.  The Senate Has Reforms Trump Never Came Close to Getting.”  That’s the quote from the Journal.
 
This bill would also address two other important priorities.  First, it provides urgent funding for Ukraine.  I’m wearing my Ukraine tie and my Ukraine pin, which I’ve been wearing because the — they’re — they’re in dire straits right now, defending themselves against the Russian onslaught and brutal conquest.
 
The clock is ticking.  Every week, every month that passes without new aid to Ukraine means fewer artillery shells, fewer defense ai- — air defense systems, fewer tools for Ukraine to defend itself against this Russian onslaught.  Just what Putin wants.
 
Ukrainians are fighting bravely. 
 
You know, you’ve — many of you — I look around the room here — have followed me in this for a long time.  I pulled together a coalition of over 50 nations to support them.  On the phone, talking to these leaders, I — we unified NATO.  Remember when we first came into office, NATO was — well, they’re all together, and I actually increased the size of NATO. 
 
We can’t walk away now.  That’s what Putin is betting on.
 
Supporting this bill is standing up to Putin.  Opposing this bill is playing into his hands. 
 
As I’ve said before, the stakes on this fight extend well beyond Ukraine.  If we don’t stop Putin’s appetite for power and control in Ukraine, he won’t limit himself to just Ukraine.  And the costs for America and our allies and partners will rise.
 
For those Republicans in Congress who think they can oppose
funding for Ukraine and not be held accountable, history is watching.  History is watching.  A failure to support Ukraine at this critical moment will never be forgotten.
 
The position of the MAGA Republicans can be characterized by the New York Times headline: “First…”  And this is the headline.  It reads, “Trump First.  Putin Second.  America Third.”  That cannot pertain.
 
This bipartisan agreement also provides Israel with what it needs to protect its people and defend itself against Hamas terrorists.  And it will provide the necessary lifesaving humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people. 
 
By opposing this bill, they’re denying aid to the people who are really suffering and desperately need help.
 
You know, there’s more work to get this done, over the finish line.  And I want to be clear: Doing nothing is not an option. 
 
Republicans have to decide.  For years, they said they want to secure the border.  Now they have the strongest border bill this country has ever seen.  We’re seeing statements about how many oppose the bill now.
 
Look, I understand the former President is desperately trying to stop this bill because it’s not — he’s not interested in solving the border problem; he wants a political issue to run against me on.  They’ve all but said that, across the board.  No one really denies that, that I’m aware of.
 
The American people want a solution that puts an end to the empty political rhetoric which has failed to do anything for so long.  We have to get the resources to the border to get the job done.
 
So, Republicans have to decide: Who do they serve — Donald Trump or the American people?  Are they here to solve problems or just weaponize those problems for political purposes?
 
I know my answer.  I serve the American people.  I’m here to solve problems. 
 
It was just months ago that Republicans were asking for this exact bill to deal with the border, to provide support for Ukraine and Israel.  And now — and now it’s here, and they’re saying, “Never mind.  Never mind.”
 
Folks, we’ve got to move past this toxic politics.  It’s time to stop playing games with the world waiting and watching.  And, by the way, the world is waiting.  The world is watching.  They are waiting and watching what we’re going to do.
 
We can’t let — we can’t continue to let petty partisan politics get in the way of our responsibility.  We’re a great nation that’s not acting like a great nation. 
 
So, I’m calling on Congress to pass this bill and get it to my desk immediately.  But if the bill fails, I want to be absolutely clear about something: The American people are going to know why it failed. 
 
I’ll be taking this issue to the country, and the voters are going to know that it’s not just a moment — just at the moment we were going to secure the border and fund these other programs, Trump and the MAGA Republicans said no because they’re afraid of Donald Trump — afraid of Donald Trump.
 
Every day between now and November, the American people are going to know that the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends.
 
It’s time for Republicans in the Congress to show a little courage, to show a little spine to make it clear to the American people that you work for them and not for anyone else. 
 
I know who I work for.  I work for the American people.
 
In moments like this, we have to remember who in God’s name we are.  We’re the United States of America.  You’ve heard me say it many times: There is nothing beyond our capacity if we do it together.  We’re right on the verge of doing it together.
 
I hope — I hope and pray they find reason to reconsider blowing this up.
 
May God bless you all.  And may God protect our troops.
 
Q    Mr. —
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Folks, you’re going to ask me questions.  Hang on a second.  I’m going to be back on Thursday, and I don’t want to prejudice what may be going on in negotiations now, so I’m not going to be answering any questions on this. 
 
I’ll be back Thursday to stand here with you and answer all the questions you want about this issue. 
 
Thank you.
 
Q    Can we ask you about the hostage deal, sir?
 
(Cross-talk.)
 
Q    What needs to get done for the hostage deal to get resolved, sir?
 
THE PRESIDENT:  This indirectly has a lot to do with the hostage deal and what’s going on in the Middle East — the decision on what we do relative to Israel, the decision what we do or in terms of American funding of whether we’re going to engage with the situation in Ukraine.  It all goes to the question of American power.  It all goes to: Does America keep its word?  Does America move forward? 
 
There is some movement, and I don’t want to — I don’t want to — well, let me be — choose my words. 
 
There is some movement — there’s been a response from the — the — there’s been a response from the opposition, but it —
 
Q    Hamas?
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Yes, I’m sorry — from Hamas.
 
But it seems to be a little over the top.  We’re not sure where it is. 
 
There’s — there’s a continuing negotiation right now.
 
Q    Would — Mr. President, if this bill fails, would you consider supporting something separate that just addresses Israel or Ukraine?
 
THE PRESIDENT:  I’m not going to concede that now.  I — we need it all.  The rest of the world is looking at us, and they really are. 
 
Thank you.
 
1:30 P.M. EST
 

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Via Teleconference

11:06 A.M. EST
 
MODERATOR:  Hey, everyone.  Thanks for joining us.  Sorry for the delay.  Kirby has a few words here at the top, and then we’ll take some questions.
 
MR. KIRBY:    Thank you.  In the interest of time — and I know everybody wants to get postured and ready for the President’s remarks, so I’ll just very, very quickly just draw your attention to the letter written jointly this morning by nine of our ambassadors to countries across the Indo-Pacific, to include Japan, China, India, the Philippines, and the Republic of Korea — a letter that they sent to Congress urging them to act quickly to pass the President’s national security supplemental funding request, including the funding that it contains for the Indo-Pacific, as well as, of course, for Ukraine and for Israel. 
 
The ambassadors wrote about how, quote, “Many countries in the Indo-Pacific are intently focused on the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.” 
 
Again, with Russia’s growing strategic partnership with the People’s Republic of China and with military support from Iran and North Korea, our support for Ukraine — or the potential termination of that support at such a decisive moment here in these winter months — will fundamentally affect not just Ukraine, but other strategic theaters as well, obviously to include the Indo-Pacific theater. 
 
And then, just before I close out, I’m sure many of you saw the statement that I issued yesterday, correcting what I had said Friday night about pre-notification to Iraqi officials on Friday night before the strikes that we took on facilities related to the Iran-backed militia groups.  And I deeply apologize for the error, and I regret any confusion that it caused.  It was based on information we had or that was provided to me in those early hours after the strikes.  Turns out that information was incorrect.  And I certainly regret the error. 
 
And I hope that you’ll understand there was no ill-intent behind it, no deliberate intent to deceive or to be wrong.  I take those responsibilities very, very seriously.  And I deeply regret the mistake that I made. 
 
And with that, we can take some questions.
 
MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Our first question will go to Steve with Reuters.
 
Q    John, could you just give us a little readout of what you’re expecting Biden to talk about with the German Chancellor on Friday?  Is it Ukraine assistance?  Is it the attempt to use Russian assets to pay for Ukraine assistance?  What are you expecting on Friday?
 
MR. KIRBY:  Well, just broad-brush, Steve — there’s no question that they’re going to talk about the war in Ukraine and how we can work together to push back on Putin’s continued aggression.  I have no doubt that they’ll have an opportunity to discuss what things look like along that battlefront. 
 
I have no doubt that they’ll discuss the work on the Senate side that Republicans and Democrats have worked so hard to get a bill put forward, which would allow for funding for Ukraine to continue.  And the President, I’m sure, will share his views on that, as he will share his views on that with the American people here shortly. 
 
And I think that they will also have an opportunity to talk about what’s going on in the Middle East writ large, I mean, just in terms of the scope of activity that’s being supported by Iran throughout the region, but also more critically, the fight between Israel and Hamas, and share our steadfast support for Israel’s right to defend itself, as well as our mutual obligations to try to do what we can to increase humanitarian assistance and to decrease the number of civilians that are being harmed in Gaza. 
 
And then lastly, I think, Steve, they’ll have an opportunity to touch on the NATO Summit coming up in Washington soon — later this year, and just sort of check signals on the approach that we want to take and the things that we want to get done at the NATO summit.
 
Q    And lastly, John, do you know — as far as you know, has Hamas responded to the U.S.-Qatar proposal to release hostages in exchange for a pause?
 
MR. KIRBY:  I would say that the negotiating effort is still ongoing, Steve; that we aren’t at a place where we have finality on it and that we’re about in — about to be in imminent execution.  So we’re still working on it. 
 
I’d rather not talk about sort of where folks are on the particulars and where they are in terms of final approval.  But we don’t have a deal at this point, as you and I are talking.  And we’re hoping that we can get closure on it very, very soon.
 
Q    Thank you.
 
MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Our next question will go to Aamer with the AP.
 
Q    Thank you, John and Sam.  Following on Steve’s question on the Scholz visit, what can President Biden tell him to assure Germany and the rest of Europe that they won’t be alone in helping Ukraine, particularly considering where things are with Congress?
 
And is the President and the U.S. now in sort of a place where we have diminished credibility in these conversations?
 
MR. KIRBY:  To some degree — I don’t want to get ahead of the President here today; you’re going to hear from him soon, Aamer — and I think the answer to your first question will be, I think, part of the President’s arguments today.  So I want to be careful I don’t get ahead of him. 
 
But I think he will make clear to Chancellor Scholz how much he personally wants to continue to support Ukraine, how hard Senate negotiators worked on both sides of the aisle to get at this final bill.  I think he’ll stress that if that bill reaches his desk, that he’ll sign it. 
 
And I think he’ll also, you know, remind the Chancellor that there is strong bipartisan support, actually in both chambers.  And I recognize what we’re hearing out of the Speaker.  I get that.  But if you talk to the leaders in the House, certainly the leadership of the national security-related committees, all of them will tell you they want to continue to support Ukraine.  And that’s not an insignificant fact.  And I think he’ll be willing to, you know, remind the Chancellor of that.
 
Again, up on Capitol Hill, for all the dysfunction that we tend to see, particularly regarding on the House side, that there is strong bipartisan leadership support for Ukraine and that the President is going to stay committed to the task. 
 
And on your second question: As I’ve said before, American leadership matters.  What we say matters.  What we do matters.  And it’s American leadership that has really spearheaded and helped make the contributions to Ukraine’s security so tangible and so operational.  People look to us to lead in that effort, as we have, through the Ukraine Defense Contact Group and other initiatives. 
 
And so, it’s important — there are a lot of eyes on us right now, certainly in our allies and partners and some adversaries as well.  So it’s really important that this deal that was reached in the Senate find its way through the process, of course, but find its way to the President’s desk so he can sign it so we can continue to do what we have to do to support Ukraine.
 
MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Our next question will go to Neria with Israel Channel 13.
 
Q    Hey, Kirby.  Thank you so much for doing this.  When America is talking about a hostages deal, is it part of a bigger deal of normalization with Saudi Arabia, or are we talking about two different paths here?
 
MR. KIRBY:  No, these are two different things.  We’re working very hard, as I mentioned to Steve, to try to come to closure on another hostage deal and an extended pause that will allow us to get the remaining hostages home with their families, to get more assistance in, and certainly to reduce harm to civilians.  Obviously, we’d like to have something that’s longer in length than a week that we were able to achieve back in November — again, to be as thorough as we can be on getting those hostages home. 
 
And then, you know, once that gets put in place then, you know, we’ll have to see where it goes from there, assuming that both sides meet their commitments. 
 
At the same time, we were, before the 7th of October, and are still now having discussions with our counterparts in the region, Israel and Saudi Arabia — obviously, the two key ones — about trying to move forward with a normalization arrangement between Israel and Saudi Arabia. 
 
So those discussions are ongoing as well.  We certainly received positive feedback from both sides that they’re willing to continue to have those discussions.  But that is a separate track and not related specifically to trying to get this extended humanitarian pause in place.  Both are really important though.
 
Q    Thank you so much.
 
MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Our next question will go to Nathan with Israel KAN.
 
Q    Hi.  Thanks for taking my question.  I’d like to know about the supplemental assistance.  Is there any assessment of how critical this is for Israel right now?  How long can Israel wait before this is approved?  And are there any measures that the U.S. can pass in order to mitigate that?
 
MR. KIRBY:  Yeah, I’m going to be careful here that I don’t talk about operational security matters for the Israeli Defense Forces. 
 
But the figure that we came up with in October and then the one that’s in this bill — roughly, they’re about the same:  more than $10 billion.  And it’s designed — the figures that we came up with were achieved in close consultation with our Israeli counterparts about their expectations of what they would need so many weeks hence.  So, we’re glad to see that this bipartisan Senate bill does continue to provide security assistance for Israel. 
 
I want to say just one thing, though.  I want to be — again, I will let the Israelis speak for how much longer they have to go and (inaudible) the munition, but we know that air defense capabilities are a key, critical need for the Israelis as rockets continue to get launched against them and targets in Israel.  And they have expended quite a bit of air defense munitions, and we know that that’s a critical need.  So that’s one area where, you know, I am comfortable talking about and saying that, you know, we know we’ve got to do more to help replenish their stocks. 
 
Q    Thank you.
 
MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Our next question will go to Nick with PBS.
 
Q    Hey, Sam.  Thanks very much.  Hey, John.  Two questions on Ukraine.  Given the response so far by Speaker Johnson, is the White House interested in and/or pursuing an alternative — for example, somehow combining the Israel bill that came out of the House with the Ukraine funding that would have to be created by the Senate and then sent back to the House?
 
And then, on air defense for Ukraine, I know you won’t be able to be specific, but if there’s no supplemental, could you say anything about how critical air defense for Ukraine levels
would be?  Thanks. 
 
MR. KIRBY:  Thanks, Nick.  On the first one — you’ll hear more from the President soon, so I hope you understand that I won’t get ahead of him — our focus is on this negotiated bill from the Senate side, where Democrats and Republicans really worked hard to come up with a proposal, a bill that we believe and the President has said, you know, we support and we believe will go a long way to helping us with these emergency supplemental requests.  And that’s our focus. 
 
And as the President — as we have said — as we have said, that, you know, if it gets to the President’s desk, he’ll sign it.  So that’s our focus.  And we’d prefer that, on the House Republican side, instead of political gamesmanship and ploys, that they focused on — they focused more seriously on this Senate bill, because there’s an awful lot of goodness in this bill for not just the people of Ukraine but also Israel, and, of course, to help our Border Patrol agents down at the southern border. 
 
And as the ambassador said in the Indo-Pacific, there’s a lot of goodness in here for our national security.  And we urge members of Congress in the House to take it up and to take it up seriously.  That’s our focus. 
 
On your second question, on air defense — again, without getting into inventory numbers, which I would never do for the Ukrainians — air defense, likewise, for Ukraine is critical right now, particularly in these winter months.  We have seen a continued onslaught by Russian drones — actually supplied many of them by Iran — and cruise and ballistic missiles targeting particularly two things in Ukraine: one is obviously military units, but also specifically and directly targeting Ukraine’s defense industrial base to try to eliminate Ukraine’s ability to organically produce many of the munitions that they need to defend themselves. 
 
So, air defense is critical, whether it’s short, medium, or long range.  And it’s going to become more critical over these winter months as Mr. Putin continues to try to pound away at that Ukrainian defense industrial base.
 
MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Our next question will go to Asma with NPR.
 
Q    Hey.  Thanks, John, for doing this.  I have two questions on two different topics. 
 
First, I know, on Friday, when you spoke of the administration’s response to the servicemembers who were killed in Jordan, you had said that at that time you did not yet know, kind of, the scale of what that meant in terms of militants who had been killed or wounded.  I’m wondering now if you have anything that you can share on that front.
 
And then, second topic is: In regards to the ongoing negotiations to release remaining hostages that were taken by Hamas, could you characterize what or whom has been the primary holdup?  My understanding is this is now in the hands of Hamas, but could you characterize what is the major sticking point?
 
MR. KIRBY:  I’m going to be unsatisfying on both of these questions. 
 
I think the Pentagon briefed yesterday and spoke to their belief that there probably were some militia group members killed and/or wounded, but they did not have a number.  And so, I’m not really able to go beyond what they are assessing.  Your question is really better put to them.  They’re doing the battle damage assessment, and they would know. 
 
And I’m not going to negotiate here, in public, and start throwing out labels on who’s the holdup or what’s the holdup.  We believe that there has been a serious proposal put forward here and — for an extended pause that can do all the things we’ve said it can do.  And we are still now in the process of trying to get that proposal inked and underway. 
 
And I think I probably should just leave it at that lest I say anything that could negatively affect what is still a very sensitive negotiation process.
 
MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Our next question will go to Michael with the Washington Post.
 
Q    Hey.  Thanks so much for doing this.  Question or two about Ukraine.  In the Scholz meeting on Friday, to what extent are you guys hashing out a strategy about how to help Ukraine if the supplemental doesn’t pass and if there isn’t substantial more U.S. funding for military assistance to Ukraine?
 
And just wanted to ask also about Jake’s visit to Brussels tomorrow.  I mean, is that what’s on the agenda there with Stoltenberg?  Thanks a lot.
 
MR. KIRBY:  Yeah.  Without additional funding to support Ukraine, the United States, at least unilaterally, won’t be able to continue to provide security assistance.  We said that very clearly.  We’ve got to have the supplemental funding in order to be able to provide continued security assistance. 
 
And I would remind that one of the things baked into that Senate bill is a significant amount, something to the tune of $20 billion, of replenishment authority for the Defense Department to help restock its shelves and a significant investment in our own defense industrial base here at home.  It’s really critical. 
 
Other nations are also providing support to Ukraine.  I think you’ve seen, just a week or so ago, the EU pledged like $10 billion in financial assistance to Ukraine.  That’s welcomed.  That’s important.  And other nations, you know, unilaterally are continuing to support Ukraine, and we certainly hope that that support will not lapse either. 
 
But again, back to, I think it was Aamer’s question, the United States is certainly seen, and rightly so, as a real leader here on the support to Ukraine front.  And people will look to us for that leadership.  And we have the most robust defense industrial base, the most significant ability to continue to support in a robust way, more robust than many other nations around the world. 
 
And so, that we might not be able to provide support doesn’t mean that support won’t still be able to flow from other countries.  But our absence from that will certainly be felt in the hands of the Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield, and that’s what we want to avoid.
 
MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Our next question will go to Morgan with Semafor.
 
Q    Hey, John.  Thanks so much for doing this.  I’m wondering if you can give us a sense of what the impact the lapse in U.S. aid is already having on the battlefield in Ukraine.  What kind of things are you hearing from the Ukrainians?
 
MR. KIRBY:  So, again, without getting too much into their operations, we know for a fact that some of their battlefield commanders on the ground are making tough decisions about how many munitions they’re going to fire on a given day at a given target, how many do they have to keep back.  They’re making operational maneuver decisions based on their ability to continue to support the troops going forward in the field.  So they’re in a tough position. 
 
They’re also having to defend against, as I said earlier, a pretty heavy barrage in the air by drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles.  So they’re expending air defense, again, mostly medium to long range, at a rate that they’re concerned about.  And the Russians notice.  I mean, part of the tactic here is throw metal into the sky, knowing that the Ukrainians are going to have to throw metal back at it, and that there’s not a steady stream or reliable stream of backfill for that air defense capabilities. 
 
So we know that soldiers on the battlefield — on the battlefront are running low on certain types of ammunition.  We know that air defense is going to be a key inventory item for them going forward.  And we know that battlefield commanders, again, as I said earlier, are making some pretty dang tough decisions about what they’re going to expend and how they’re going to operate with what they have to spend in order to preserve some capability for the future, if that support is not coming. 
 
And I just — one last point on this, and then I promise I’ll shut up.  But, I mean, these winter months, it’s not as if the fighting has stopped.  Both sides are slugging it out in the air and on the ground.  And so, it’s not as if everybody can just take a knee here and wait for the spring, the “spring offensive,” and so we’ve got months and months to help resupply the Ukrainians.  The time is now.  They need this stuff now.
 
MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Our next question will go to Kevin with CNN.
 
Q    Thank you, John.  On Friday, you said, after these strikes, that there had been no communications, backchannel or otherwise, with Iran.  Has that changed in the last couple of days?
 
And then, I had a separate question on the hostage negotiations.  In the past, there had been reporting about some of the difficulties in actually getting in touch with Hamas, you know, between the communications blackouts in Gaza and the bombardments there, that there had been gaps in when Qatar or Egypt could actually communicate with the leaders.  Is that having any effect now in the back-and-forth over the hostage deal that appears to be coming together?
 
MR. KIRBY:  I know of no private messaging to Iran since the death of our soldiers in Jordan over a week ago. 
 
On your second question — again, I’ll be careful here because I don’t want to insert myself in the negotiations — but the communication with Hamas is done through Qatar.  And that communication process — because, ultimately, whatever is being negotiated has to reach Hamas leaders in Gaza too, not just the ones that are present in Qatar — that communication process can sometimes be cumbersome.  It doesn’t mean that it’s not effective; it doesn’t mean that it’s not reliable.  Just, at times, it can be cumbersome.  But we have managed in the past to work through that.  And I have no doubt that we are right now still able, through the Qataris, to communicate effectively with Hamas leaders.
 
MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Our next question will go to Aurelia with AFP.
 
Q    Hi.  Thanks for taking my question.  A really quick one on the impact on the battlefield.  Without American assistance, what do you think will happen on the battlefield in Ukraine?  Do you think the Ukrainian forces will collapse?  Do you see the conflict dragging on?  What’s your scenario here?
 
MR. KIRBY:  I’m not very good at predicting the future when it comes to military operations.  I’ll just tell you that American security assistance and the security assistance from so many other countries remains critical to Ukraine.  They’d be the first to tell you.  In fact, President Zelenskyy has said that without foreign support he would not be able to wage this war in Ukraine’s defense and to be able to claw back, as they have, more than 50 percent of the territory that the Russians originally took.  It’s absolutely vital.  It’s critical.
 
And the President is going to stay focused — and, again, you’ll hear more from him in just a wee bit — we’re going to stay focused on making sure we can continue to find a way to get them that security assistance. 
 
But as I said — again, I’m not going to predict the future here; I would not do that — but as I said to the previous question, the commanders on the battlefield are having to make some difficult decisions that they should not have to make to be able to defend themselves and their troops.
 
MODERATOR:  Thank you.  And as Kirby said, we’re going to hear from the President in a wee bit, so we’ll let you go. 
 
If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out, and we’ll get back to you. 
 
Oh, wait, Kirby has one more thing.
 
MR. KIRBY:  Yep.  Just again, I want to foot-stomp my apology at the top.  I made a mistake there on Friday night, and I do really regret it.  And I promise you I’ll do a better job going forward and work harder to not put bad information out there.  Again, my apologies.  Thanks.
 
MODERATOR:  Great.  Again, if there’s anything else we can do, feel free to email us, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.  Thanks.  
 
11:33 A.M. EST
 

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National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is traveling to Brussels, Belgium on February 7.  There, he will meet with NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg and join a North Atlantic Council meeting of his counterparts from our NATO Allies.  In these meetings, Mr. Sullivan will discuss a variety of key issues ahead of the 75th Anniversary Summit in Washington, including our continued support of Ukraine, our response to Russian aggression, and the investments that NATO Allies are making in strengthening our defense and deterrence postures including by investing in our defense industrial bases.

The post Statement from NSC Spokesperson Adrienne Watson on National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s Travel to Belgium appeared first on The White House.

Over the past three years, President Biden and Vice President Harris have leveraged the full force of the Federal Government to advance racial justice and equity and ensure the promise of America for all communities, including Black Americans, across the country. With the support of these efforts, Black Americans are starting new businesses, creating jobs, buying homes, and taking advantage of increased education opportunities at historic rates—contributing to a 60% increase in wealth compared to before the pandemic. And this boom in wealth creation following the pandemic is helping to drive a historically equitable economic recovery. From promoting entrepreneurship to increasing access to homeownership and delivering the lowest Black unemployment rate, from proving it’s possible to reduce child poverty to historic lows to expanding access to quality affordable healthcare, from advancing voting rights and police accountability to ensuring equal access to a high-quality education with historic funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), President Biden and Vice President Harris are committed to investing in the future of Black communities.
 
Growing Economic Opportunity for Black Families and Communities
Through the President’s legislative victories, including the American Rescue Plan (ARP), the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)—as well as the President’s historic executive orders on racial equity—the Biden-Harris Administration is ensuring that federal investments through the President’s landmark Investing in America agenda are equitably flowing to communities to address longstanding economic inequities that impact people’s economic security, health, and safety. And this vision is already delivering results. The Biden-Harris Administration has:

• Powered a historic economic recovery that created 2.6 million jobs for Black workers—and achieved both the lowest Black unemployment rate on record and the lowest gap between Black and White unemployment on record.
• Helped Black working families build wealth. Black wealth is up by 60% relative to pre-pandemic—the largest increase on record.
• Cut in half the number of Black children living in poverty in 2021 through ARP’s Child Tax Credit expansion. This expansion provided breathing room to the families of over 9 million Black children.
• Began reversing decades of infrastructure disinvestment, including with $4 billion to reconnect communities that were previously cut off from economic opportunities by building needed transportation infrastructure in underserved communities, including Black communities.
• Connected an estimated 5.5 million Black households to affordable high-speed internet through the Affordable Connectivity Program, closing the digital divide for millions of Black families.

Helping Black-Owned Businesses Grow and Thrive
Since the President entered office, a record 16 million new business applications have been filed, and the share of Black households owning a business has more than doubled. Building on this momentum, the Biden-Harris Administration has:

• Achieved the fastest creation rate of Black-owned businesses in more than 30 years—and more than doubled the share of Black business owners from 2019 to 2022.
• Improved the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) flagship loan guarantee programs to expand the availability of capital to underserved communities. Since 2020, the number and dollar value of SBA-backed loans to Black-owned businesses have more than doubled.
• Launched a whole-of-government effort to expand access to federal contracts for small businesses, awarding a record $69.9 billion to small disadvantaged businesses in 2022.
• Through Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative, invested $10 billion to expand access to capital and invest in early-stage businesses in all 50 states—including $2.5 billion in funding and incentive allocations dedicated to support the provision of capital to underserved businesses with $1 billion of these funds to be awarded to the jurisdictions that are most successful in reaching underserved businesses.
• Helped more than 37,000 farmers and ranchers who were in financial distress, including Black farmers and ranchers, stay on their farms and keep farming, thanks to resources provided through IRA. The IRA allocated $3.1 billion for the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide relief for distressed borrowers with at-risk agricultural operations with outstanding direct or guaranteed Farm Service Agency loans. USDA has provided over $2 billion and counting in timely assistance.
• Supported small and disadvantaged businesses through CHIPS Act funding by requiring funding applicants to develop a workforce plan to create equitable pathways for economically disadvantaged individuals in their region, as well as a plan to support procurement from small, minority-owned, veteran-owned, and women-owned businesses.
• Created the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund that will invest in clean energy projects in low-income and disadvantaged communities.

Increasing Access to Housing and Rooting Out Discrimination in the Housing Market for Black Communities
To increase access to housing and root out discrimination in the housing market, including for Black families and communities, the Biden-Harris Administration has:

• Set up the first-ever national infrastructure to stop evictions, scaling up the ARP-funded Emergency Rental Assistance program in over 400 communities across the country, helping 8 million renters and their families stay in their homes. Over 40% of all renters helped are Black—and this support prevented millions of evictions, with the largest effects seen in majority-Black neighborhoods.
• Published a proposed “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” rule through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which will help overcome patterns of segregation and hold states, localities, and public housing agencies that receive federal funds accountable for ensuring that underserved communities have equitable access to affordable housing opportunities.
• Created the Interagency Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity, or PAVE, a first-of-its-kind interagency effort to root out bias in the home appraisal process, which is taking sweeping action to advance equity and remove racial and ethnic bias in home valuations, including cracking down on algorithmic bias and empowering consumers to take action against misvaluation.
• Taken additional steps through HUD to support wealth-generation activities for prospective and current homeowners by expanding access to credit by incorporating a borrower’s positive rental payment history into the mortgage underwriting process. HUD estimates this policy change will enable an additional 5,000 borrowers per year to qualify for an FHA-insured loan.

Ensuring Equitable Educational Opportunity for Black Students
To expand educational opportunity for the Black community in early childhood and beyond, the Biden-Harris Administration has:

• Approved more than $136 billion in student loan debt cancellation for 3.7 million Americans through various actions and launched a new student loan repayment plan—the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan—to help many students and families cut in half their total lifetime payments per dollar borrowed.
• Championed the largest increase to Pell Grants in the last decade—a combined increase of $900 to the maximum award over the past two years, affecting the over 60% of Black undergraduates who rely on Pell grants.
• Fixed the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, so all qualified borrowers get the debt relief to which they are entitled. More than 790,000 public servants have received more than $56 billion in loan forgiveness since October 2021. Prior to these fixes, only 7,000 people had ever received forgiveness through PSLF.
• Delivered a historic investment of over $7 billion to support HBCUs.
• Reestablished the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans.
• Through ARP, secured $130 billion—the largest investment in public education in history—to help students get back to school, recover academically in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and address student mental health.
• Secured a 30% increase in child care assistance funding last year. Black families comprise 38% of families benefiting from federal child care assistance. Additionally, the President secured an additional $1 billion for Head Start, a program where more than 28% of children and pregnant women who benefit identify as Black.

Improving Health Outcomes for Black Families and Communities
To improve health outcomes for the Black community, the Biden-Harris Administration has:

• Increased Black enrollment in health care coverage through the Affordable Care Act by 49%—or by around 400,000—from 2020 to 2022, helping more Black families gain health insurance than ever before.
• Through IRA, locked in lower monthly premiums for health insurance, capped the cost of insulin at $35 per covered insulin product for Medicare beneficiaries, and helped further close the gap in access to medication by improving prescription drug coverage and lowering drug costs in Medicare. 
• Through ARP, expanded postpartum coverage from 60 days to 12 months in 43 states and Washington, D.C., covering 700,000 more women in the year after childbirth. Medicaid covers approximately 65% of births for Black mothers, and this investment is a critical step to address maternal health disparities.
• Financed projects that will replace hundreds of thousands of lead pipes, helping protect against lead poisoning that disproportionately affects Black communities.
• Provided 264 grants with $1 billion in Bipartisan Safer Communities Act funds to more than 40 states to increase the supply of school-based mental health professionals in communities with high rates of poverty.

Launched An Unprecedented Whole-Of-Government Equity Agenda to Ensure the Promise of America for All Communities, including Black Communities
President Biden believes that advancing equity, civil rights, racial justice, and equal opportunity is the responsibility of the whole of our government, which will require sustained leadership and partnership with all communities. To make the promise of America real for every American, including for the Black Community, the President has:

• Signed two Executive Orders directing the Federal Government to advance an ambitious whole-of-government equity agenda that matches the scale of the challenges we face as a country and the opportunities we have to build a more perfect union.
• Nominated the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court and more Black women to federal circuit courts than every President combined.
• Countered hateful attempts to rewrite history including: the signing of the Emmett Till Antilynching Act; establishing Juneteenth as a national holiday; and designating the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in Mississippi and Illinois. The Department of the Interior has invested more than $295 million in infrastructure funding and historic preservation grants to protect and restore places significant to Black history.
• Created the Justice40 Initiative, which is delivering 40% of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments in clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, clean water, and other programs to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution as part of the most ambitious climate, conservation, and environmental justice agenda in history.

Protecting the Sacred Right to Vote for Black Families and Communities
Since their first days in office, President Biden and Vice President Harris have prioritized strengthening our democracy and protecting the sacred right to vote in free, fair, and secure elections. To do so, the President has:

• Signed an Executive Order to leverage the resources of the Federal Government to provide nonpartisan information about the election process and increase access to voter registration. Agencies across the Federal Government are taking action to respond to the President’s call for an all-of-government effort to enhance the ability of all eligible Americans to participate in our democracy.
• Repeatedly and forcefully called on Congress to pass essential legislation, including the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, including calling for an exception to the filibuster to pass voting rights legislation.
• Increased funding for the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, which has more than doubled the number of voting rights enforcement attorneys. The Justice Department also created the Election Threats Task Force to assess allegations and reports of threats against election workers, and investigate and prosecute these matters where appropriate.
• Signed into law the bipartisan Electoral Reform Count Act, which establishes clear guidelines for our system of certifying and counting electoral votes for President and Vice President, to preserve the will of the people and to protect against the type of attempts to overturn our elections that led to the January 6 insurrection.

Addressing the Crisis of Gun Violence in Black Communities
Gun violence has become the leading cause of death for all youth and Black men in America, as well as the second leading cause of death for Black women. To address this national crisis, the President has:

• Launched the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, and taken more executive action on gun violence than any President in history, including investments in violence reduction strategies that address the root causes of gun violence and address emerging threats like ghost guns. In 2022, the Administration’s investments in evidence-based, lifesaving programs combined with aggressive action to stop the flow of illegal guns and hold shooters accountable yielded a 12.4% reduction in homicides across the United States.
• Signed into the law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most significant gun violence reduction legislation enacted in nearly 30 years, including investments in violence reduction strategies and historic policy changes to enhance background checks for individuals under age 21, narrow the dating partner loophole in the gun background check system, and provide law enforcement with tools to crack down on gun trafficking.
• Secured the first-ever dedicated federal funding stream for community violence intervention programs, which have been shown to reduce violence by as much as 60%. These programs are effective because they leverage trusted messengers who work directly with individuals most likely to commit gun violence, intervene in conflicts, and connect people to social, health and wellness, and economic services to reduce the likelihood of violence as an answer to conflict.

Enhancing Public Trust and Strengthening Public Safety for Black Communities
Our criminal justice system must protect the public and ensure fair and impartial justice for all. These are mutually reinforcing goals. To enhance equal justice and public safety for all communities, including the Black community, the President has:

• Signed a historic Executive Order to put federal policing on the path to becoming the gold standard of effectiveness and accountability by requiring federal law enforcement agencies to ban chokeholds; restrict no-knock warrants; mandate the use of body-worn cameras; implement stronger use-of-force policies; provide de-escalation training; submit use-of-force data; submit officer misconduct records into a new national accountability database; and restrict the sale or transfer of military equipment to local law enforcement agencies, among other things. 
• Taken steps to right the wrongs stemming from our Nation’s failed approach to marijuana by directing the Departments of Health and Human Services and Justice to expeditiously review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law and in October 2022 issued categorical pardons of prior federal and D.C. offenses of simple possession of marijuana and in December 2023 pardoned additional offenses of simple possession and use of marijuana under federal and D.C. law. While white, Black, and brown people use marijuana at similar rates, Black and brown people have been arrested, prosecuted, and convicted at disproportionately higher rates.
• Announced over 100 concrete policy actions as part of a White House evidence-informed, multi-year Alternatives, Rehabilitation, and Reentry Strategic Plan to safely reduce unnecessary criminal justice system interactions so police officers can focus on fighting crime; supporting rehabilitation during incarceration; and facilitating successful reentry.

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President Gustavo Petro of Colombia received Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer to advance cooperation on a broad range of bilateral and regional issues that characterize the strategic relationship between the United States and Colombia.

As part of the discussion, the United States and Colombia underscored their continued commitment to strengthen regional competitiveness and increase investment through the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity. 

The President and Mr. Finer reaffirmed both countries’ commitment to addressing irregular international migration in a safe, orderly, and humane manner through a regional approach and reviewed joint efforts to date under the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection.

The President and Mr. Finer agreed on the importance of accelerating implementation of the 2016 Peace Agreement, which will strengthen access to security, democratic institutions, and economic opportunities for all Colombians.  They also discussed the status of the government’s ongoing peace negotiations with armed groups, a priority initiative for President Petro.

President Petro and Mr. Finer also had an in-depth discussion on the situation in Venezuela and reaffirmed the importance of implementing all elements of the Barbados Agreement and working together with all parties to fulfill the agreed electoral roadmap.

###

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As part of the President’s Investing in America agenda, a key component of Bidenomics, the Biden-Harris Administration has made historic progress towards lowering costs – including internet costs – for American families across the country. The Affordable Connectivity Program, enacted under President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as the largest internet affordability program in our nation’s history, is now helping 23 million households – 1 in 6 households across America – save $30-$75 each on their monthly internet bills. And, because the Biden-Harris Administration worked with internet providers to offer high-speed internet plans that are fully covered by the Affordable Connectivity Program, most eligible households can now get high-speed internet for free.

However, without action from Congress, this program will sunset this spring and millions of Americans may no longer be able to afford high-speed internet service. On October 25, 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration sent Congress a supplemental request for $6 billion to extend funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program. Tomorrow, the FCC will be pausing new enrollments in the program. This means that households that can’t afford high-speed internet and haven’t yet signed up will stay stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide—unless Congress acts. The Biden-Harris Administration continues to call on Congress to pass legislation that would extend free and discounted high-speed internet for eligible households through 2024.

In the 21st century, affordable, reliable high-speed internet is critical in order to access education, healthcare, and work, engage in precision agriculture, and keep in touch with loved ones. Still, too many are left without high-speed internet because they lack the infrastructure or are inhibited by high costs. In particular, these inequities impact underserved communities, rural communities, veterans, and older Americans where the lack of affordable, reliable high-speed internet contributes to significant economic, health and other disparities.

Thanks to the Affordable Connectivity Program, the Administration has made historic progress toward closing the digital divide for communities that have been left behind for too long.

Key stats on enrollment include the following:

• Nearly half of the households benefitting from ACP are military families.
• Four million seniors and 10 million Americans over the age of 50 benefit from this program every month.
• 1-in-4 households participating in the Affordable Connectivity Program are African American and 1-in-4 households are Latino.
• The Affordable Connectivity Program provides an enhanced monthly subsidy to 320,000 households on Tribal lands, where high-speed internet is generally more expensive.

Below, find state by state data on how many families are enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program, including estimates of percentages of households enrolled in ACP in every Congressional District.

• Alabama
• Alaska
• American Samoa
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
• Connecticut
• DC
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Guam
• Hawaiʻi
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Puerto Rico
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• U.S. Virgin Islands
• Utah
• Vermont
• Virginia
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

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Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer travelled to Guyana and Colombia on February 4-5 to continue U.S. cooperation with our regional partners on issues of mutual interests, including democratic governance, economic stability, and regional security.  He was accompanied by National Security Council’s Senior Director for the Western Hemisphere Juan González.

In Guyana, Mr. Finer met with President Irfaan Ali to reaffirm our unwavering support for Guyana’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and defense capabilities.  They discussed ways to strengthen our bilateral cooperation on regional security, combatting climate change, and food security matters.  The United States appreciates Guyana’s leadership in the region, including its support for a Haitian political accord and for the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission for the people of Haiti. We look forward to advancing our shared priorities during Guyana’s membership on the UN Security Council these next two years.  Mr. Finer also met with Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary-General Dr. Carla Barnett to discuss ongoing planning for the MSS to Haiti and the urgent need for robust international support for the mission, as well as ways to promote democratic governance in Venezuela.

In Colombia, Mr. Finer met with President Gustavo Petro to continue building on our strong decades-long partnership with Colombia across a broad set of shared bilateral goals, including our support for the Peace Accord implementation and deepening U.S.-Colombian economic ties.  They also discussed our efforts to counter narcotics trafficking and manage hemispheric migration, as well as our work with international partners and actors in Venezuela to implement commitments made in the Barbados Agreement and pave the way for competitive and inclusive elections. 

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Jill and I are deeply saddened by the loss of life and devastation caused by the ongoing wildfires in Chile. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people impacted by this terrible tragedy and the first responders working to fight the fires and support displaced families and individuals. My administration is in contact with our Chilean partners, and the United States is ready to provide necessary assistance to the Chilean people. The United States stands with Chile at this difficult time. 

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No. 1 Boba Tea
Las Vegas, Nevada

12:17 P.M. PST
 
Q    Mr. President, Donald Trump said he’s ready to debate you right now.  Do you accept?
 
THE PRESIDENT:  (Laughs.) 
 
Q    He just said that on radio.  (Inaudible) — wants to debate you immediately, he says.
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Immediately?
 
Q    Yes.
 
Q    Will you debate him?
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I — if I were him, I’d want to debate me too.  He’s got nothing else to do.  (Laughter.)
 
Q    How worried are you about the border bill, sir?  How worried are you?
 
Q    What’s your message to Speaker Johnson?
 
THE PRESIDENT:  My message to Speaker Johnson is: Pay attention to what the Senate is doing.  We’ve got a bipartisan deal, and you’re going to see the detail of it this week.  It’ll be introduced on Wednesday.
 
The border — I’ve been asking since the first thing — the first bill I introduced was on the border.  We don’t have enough agents.  We don’t have enough folks.  We don’t have enough judges.  We don’t have enough folks there.  We need help.  Why won’t they give me the help, all this time? 
 
And now, they’re starting about the — about the border.  “It’s out of control.”  Well, guess what?  Everything in that bipartisan bill gives me control, gives us control without being — and still meets the needs of the people being able to come at all — legally come across. 
 
We want to open avenues of legality and shut down the ones that are not coming through the points of entry.  So, there’s a lot we can do. 
 
And the one thing I am disappointed in we didn’t get done in the Senate’s piece was — I think it’s about time that — we have all those young people who came and now — the DREAMers.  It’s ridiculous. 
 
Can you imagine?  You’re four years old and your mom says, “We’re crossing the Rio Grande.”  And you say, “No, Mom, leave me here.  I don’t want to go.”  Come on.  What the hell is going on here?
 
And they’ve become contributing Americans that are doing good jobs, and they’re decent.  So, it’s about time we give them not only compassion, but a little brain — some brains in our head about what to be doing.
 
And, by the way, I’ve asked for money for those machines that detect fentanyl.  We have these machines that can de- — and these guys are screaming about fentanyl.
 
AIDE:  All right.
 
AIDE:  Thanks, guys.
 
THE PRESIDENT:  And, by the way —
 
(Cross-talk.)
 
Q    How does the bill getting passed in the Senate?  How does the bill get through the Senate?
 
THE PRESIDENT:  With 60 votes, and you’re going to watch.
 
Q    Are you going to speak to Speaker Johnson?
 
AIDE:  Okay, thanks everybody. 
 
AIDE:  Thanks, press. 
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  Thanks, everybody.
 
By the way, this stuff is good.  (Points at tea.)  You ought to — you should’ve taken me up on it.  (Laughter.)  

12:19 P.M. PST
 

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Vdara Hotel & Spa
Las Vegas, Nevada

11:21 A.M. PST
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, very much.  (Applause.)  Folks, look, I was — where — I’m going to stand in the middle here so I can get both sides.
 
Folks, you know, my dad used to have an expression, for real.  He’d say, “You know, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck.  It’s about your dignity.  It’s about being treated with respect.  It’s about making sure that people know what you do matters.  It’s about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, ‘Honey, it’s going to be okay,’ and mean it.” 
 
I have a reputation that I’m proud of: being the most pro-union president in American history.  And there’s a simple reason for that.  When unions are doing well, everybody does well.  Not a joke.  (Applause.)  By the way, that’s a fact.
 
I had the Treasury Department do a study: What are the impact of union movement?  What’s the impact?  The impact is when you do well, everybody does better.  Workers that aren’t even members of a union are getting raises because of the things you guys have done and the work you’ve done and organizations.
 
So, I came to say thank you, thank you, thank you.  And we’re just getting started.  We’ve got over 260- — 300- — 260,000 jobs — new jobs just here in the state of Nevada.
 
Come here, Congresswoman. 
 
REPRESENTATIVE TITUS:  (Inaudible.)
 
THE PRESIDENT:  By the way, I’ve got a passport with me because she gave me — this is her district here — she gave me a passport to come here.
 
But all kidding aside, look, there’s a simple proposition.  For the longest time — and I know I don’t look — I know I only look like I’m 40.  (Laughter.)  Times two.  (Laughter.)
 
But, look, one of the things that I’m — I was raised in a family — we weren’t poor, but we weren’t — we were middle class and sometimes lower middle class.  We lived in a three-bedroom, split-level home with four kids and a grandpop.  It was a safe neighborhood, but it was — it was — you know, we didn’t have the money to make it to college.  We had to go borrow the money or work through college, that kind of thing. 
 
We didn’t — and I’m the first in my family to go to college — the first Biden to go to college.  And it’s because a lot of people made sacrifices for me to get there, along with my sister.  And my sister is a hell of a lot brighter than I am.  (Laughter.) 
 
My sister was three years younger than me.  She’s now 23 years younger than me.  I don’t know how the hell that happened.  (Laughter.)  And she’s managed all my campaigns. 
 
We got — we went to the same university at the same time, two years apart.  I graduated.  She graduated with honors.  (Laughs.)  Anyway.
 
The point is this: I’ve never believed that trickle-down economics is the way to build an economy, meaning that if the very weal- — and, by the way, if the very wealthy do well, that’s good by me, as long as they start paying their taxes.  That’s a different issue.  But anyway.  (Applause.)
 
But all kidding aside, the idea was the trickle-down economy would work because what would happen is you would have the very wealthy doing well and that would all drop down to the middle-class folks and poor folks.  I’ve never believed that.  Not a lot dropped on my dad’s kitchen table growing up.
 
So, I’ve always believed that you build the economy from the middle out and the bottom up.  That way, the working-class folks have a shot and the middle class grows.
 
And guess what?  You’ve heard me say it before, and I mean it.  And when I first said it, everybody thought I was going to get in real trouble, but I didn’t care.  Wall Street did not build America.  The middle class did — built America, and unions built the middle class.  (Applause.)  There would be no middle class without the union.  No, I mean that from the bottom of my heart.
 
And, by the way, even the business folks in — on Wall Street and other places are beginning to understand that.  There’s much less resistance now to deal with these issues. 
 
And so, we’re just on a roll here.  We’ve created over 15 million brand new jobs just in three years — more than any president has in American history in that period of time.  We’ve — we’ve actually made sure that we have all kinds of additional help. 
 
People are getting the paychecks for — Hispanics at 4- — 4- — they’re making 40 percent more money than they did before we started, in terms of wealth.  African Americans, 50 percent.  But this — it’s about everybody.  It’s not about just one group of people.  Because when we all do well, everybody does well.  I really mean it.
 
So, I came to say thank you — not just thank you for the support you’ve given me the last time out and this time, but thank you for having the faith in the union.  Thank you for continuing to push it because this really matters.  It matters, it matters, it matters.
 
And so, like I said, my dad would say, “It’s all about dignity — being treated with dignity.”  My dad would no more walk by the — the shoeshine guy in the Hotel DuPont, where the DuPont company was, and — or the — if he saw the chairman of the board, he’d say hi.  But he’d walk over and make sure he said hi to the shoeshine guy too, because that’s what we’re all about.  That’s what built America. 
 
And b- — we’re coming back.  We really are.  We have the best economy in the world.  Inflation is coming down.  There are still too expensive — too much is at expense and a little bit of corporate greed going on, too, nationwide.  (Laughter.) 
 
There’s — by the way, there’s a little article written — you ought to — I’ll get you a connection to it.  It’s called — it’s about Snick- — what’s happening with the Snickers bars.
 
Snickers bars — you know that candy? 
 
AUDIENCE MEMBERS:  Yeah.
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Well, they haven’t raised the price of a Snickers bars.  They just took 10 percent of it out.  (Laughter.)  Oh, no, no.  It’s a lot smaller.  So, that’s how they’re making more money.
 
But, anyway, I thank you for all you do and the way you make people happy.  And I know it’s not always easy.  So, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.  (Applause.)
 
11:28 A.M. PST   
 

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Dear Mr. Speaker:   (Dear Madam President:)

As I reported previously, since at least November 2023, Yemen-based Houthi militants have engaged in a series of attacks against United States military forces, including ships and aircraft, and against maritime commercial shipping, operating in the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden.  These attacks pose a threat to the safety of United States forces and commercial ships and their crews, regional political and economic stability, and navigational rights and freedoms.  The Houthi militants continue to pose a threat of future attacks against United States forces and military vessels and against other maritime traffic in the region.

I previously reported that on January 11, 2024 and January 22, 2024, in response to these attacks and the threat of future attacks, at my direction, United States forces as part of a multinational operation alongside the United Kingdom, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, and the Netherlands, conducted discrete strikes against facilities in Yemen that facilitate Houthi militants’ attacks in the Red Sea region.

On February 3, 2024, at my direction, United States forces as part of a multinational operation alongside the United Kingdom, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, conducted discrete strikes in Yemen against facilities, locations, and equipment associated with the Houthis’ missile and air surveillance capabilities, unmanned aerial vehicle capabilities, and command and control capabilities.  I directed the strikes against targets used by Houthi militants to support attacks in the Red Sea region in order to protect and defend our personnel and assets, and to disrupt the Houthi capabilities used to conduct or support further attacks that could further destabilize the region and threaten United States strategic interests.  The strikes were taken to degrade Houthi capacity to conduct future attacks and were conducted in a manner designed to limit the risk of escalation and avoid civilian casualties.

I directed this military action consistent with my responsibility to protect United States citizens both at home and abroad and in furtherance of United States national security and foreign policy interests, pursuant to my constitutional authority as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive and to conduct United States foreign relations.  The United States took this necessary and proportionate action consistent with international law and in the exercise of the United States’ inherent right of self-defense as reflected in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.  The United States stands ready to take further action, as necessary and appropriate, to address further threats or attacks.

I am providing this report as part of my efforts to keep the Congress fully informed, consistent with the War Powers Resolution (Public Law 93-148).  I appreciate the support of the Congress in this action.

                                Sincerely,

                             JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

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The Biden-Harris Administration strongly supports the bipartisan agreement announced in the Senate that would address a number of pressing national security issues. President Biden has repeatedly said he is willing to work in a bipartisan way to secure the border and fix our broken immigration system. From his first day in office, he has called on Congress to act and over the course of several months, his administration has worked with a bipartisan group of Senators on important reforms and necessary funding. This agreement, if passed into law, would be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we’ve had in decades. It will make our country safer, make our border more secure, and treat people fairly and humanely while preserving legal immigration, consistent with our values as a nation. This bipartisan national security agreement would also advance our national security interests by continuing our support for the people of Ukraine and Israel as they defend themselves against tyranny and terrorism while also providing much-needed humanitarian assistance to civilians affected by conflicts around the world. The Biden-Harris Administration calls on Congress to not delay and immediately pass the bipartisan national security agreement.
 
Provides Temporary Emergency Authority for the President to Shut Down the Border When the System is Overwhelmed

• Establishes a new temporary authority, the “Border Emergency Authority,” that allows the President and Secretary of Homeland Security to temporarily prohibit individuals from seeking asylum, with limited exceptions, when the Southwest Border is overwhelmed. The authority preserves access to other protections, consistent with our international obligations, and will sunset after three years.
• Importantly, this authority is to be used when the number of migrants encountered at the border reaches very high levels – levels that strain the U.S. government’s ability to process migrants.  Additionally, the authority is limited to a set number of days each calendar year – in the third year of implementation the authority may only be exercised for half of a given calendar year.
• The United States is a country of refuge for those fleeing persecution. For that reason, the legislation requires asylum access be preserved for a minimum number of individuals per day, limited to those using a safe and orderly process at ports of entry, when the authority is invoked.

Expedites Access to Work Authorization for Hundreds of Thousands of Migrants

• Ensures that those who are here and qualify are able to get to work faster. It provides work authorization to asylum seekers once they receive a positive protection screening determination. This will allow asylum seekers to begin to support themselves and their families in the United States much earlier than the current 180-day statutorily required waiting period, which only begins after an individual submits an asylum application.  This will also reduce the resource strain on our cities and states who have been supporting asylum seekers during this existing waiting period.
• This bill provides work authorization to approximately 25,000 K-1, K-2, and K-3 nonimmigrant visa holders (fiancé or spouse and children of U.S. citizens) per year, and about 100,000 H-4 spouses and children of certain H-1B nonimmigrant visa holders who have completed immigrant petitions (temporary skilled workers) per year, so they no longer have to apply and wait for approval before they can begin working in the United States.

Establishes an Efficient and Fair Process for Consideration of Asylum and other Protection Claims by those arriving at our Southwest Border

• Today, the process to get to a final decision on a migrant’s asylum claim can take 5-7 years.  That is far too long.  Once fully implemented, this bipartisan agreement would – for the first time – give the Administration the authority and resources to reduce that process to 6 months.  This gets people quick decisions on their asylum claims rather than leaving them and their families in limbo for years.
• The agreement also for the first time gives Asylum Officers the authority to grant a claim at the protection screening stage if the case is clear and convincing, thereby reducing the strain on the asylum system.

Recalibrates the Asylum Screening Process

• Moves consideration of statutory bars to asylum eligibility, such as criminal convictions, into the screening stage. This will ensure that those who pose a public safety or national security risk are removed as quickly in the process as possible rather than remaining in prolonged, costly detention prior to removal.
• Modifies the screening threshold for asylum from “significant possibility” to “reasonable possibility,” with the goal of making it more likely that those who are screened in to pursue protection claims are ultimately found to have a valid asylum claim.  Currently, of all migrants screened in and allowed to go to the next phase, only roughly 20 percent are ultimately granted asylum. 

Provides Critical Funding for Combatting Smuggling and Drug Trafficking, Border Security, and Asylum Processing

• Funds the installation of 100 cutting-edge inspection machines to help detect fentanyl at our Southwest Border ports of entry. 
• Over 1,500 new U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel including Border Patrol Agents and CBP Officers. 
• Over 4,300 new Asylum Officers and additional U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services staff to facilitate timely and fair decisions. 
• 100 new immigration judge teams to help reduce the asylum caseload backlog and adjudicate cases more quickly. 
• Shelter and critical services for newcomers in our cities and states.  
• 1,200 new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel for functions including enforcement and deportations. 
• More resources to fund transportation needs to enable increased removals. 
• Support to partner nations hosting large numbers of migrants and refugees, and funding to partner nations to ensure cooperation in accepting returns associated with the implementation of the Border Emergency Authority. 

Strengthens Federal Law Against Fentanyl Trafficking

• Declares that international trafficking of fentanyl is a national emergency and gives the President authority to impose sanctions on any foreign person knowingly involved in significant trafficking of fentanyl by a transnational criminal organization.
• Allows for transfer of sanctioned persons’ forfeited property to forfeiture funds and authorizes Treasury to impose additional restrictions against sanctioned persons upon a determination that their transactions are of primary money laundering concern.
• Directs Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to issue guidance on filing suspicious transactions reports related to fentanyl trafficking by transnational criminal organizations.

Increases Lawful Pathways to Come to the United States

• For the first time in over 30 years, raises the cap on the number of immigrant visas available annually by adding an additional 250,000 immigrant visas over 5 years (50,000/year).  160,000 of these visas will be family-based, and the other 90,000 will be employment-based.
• These additional immigrant visas expand lawful pathways to the United States, prioritizing family reunification and reducing the time families have to spend apart, and get U.S. businesses access to additional workers.
• Establishes a faster pathway to permanent status for the approximately 76,000 Afghan allies who entered the United States under Operation Allies Welcome and their families.

Promotes Family Unity and Stability for Noncitizens

• Provides relief to over 250,000 individuals who came to the United States as children on their parents’ work visa.  These individuals have resided lawfully in the United States since they were children and have established lives here in the U.S but have since “aged out” of continuing to receive lawful status through their parents and have no other means of lawfully remaining in the United States with their families. Noncitizens who lived lawfully in the United States as a dependent child of an employment-based nonimmigrant for at least 8 years before turning 21 will be eligible to remain temporarily in the United States with work authorization.
• In support of family unity, the bill makes clear that certain noncitizens can travel to the United States on a temporary visitor (B) visa to visit their family members.

Ensure the Humane and Fair Treatment of Those Seeking Asylum, Especially the Most Vulnerable 

• Children should not be expected to represent themselves in a court – and this agreement will provide, for the first time, government-mandated and funded legal counsel for unaccompanied children age 13 or younger as they go through the process to seek asylum.  The bill would also provide counsel to particularly vulnerable, mentally incompetent adults.
• Strengthens legal requirements that migrants always be provided with clear and accessible information about their rights, including their right to counsel.
• Mandates that only trained Asylum Officers are permitted to conduct protection screenings.

Ukraine:

• Provides critically-needed military aid to help the people of Ukraine defend themselves against Russian aggression.  Russia continues to launch aerial assaults on Ukrainian cities and is actively attacking Ukrainian forces. 
• Invests in our defense industrial base, supporting American jobs across our country, and produce weapons and equipment that the United States can send Ukraine to help Ukraine’s military protect its people, defend against Russian attacks, and succeed on the battlefield. 
• Enables the United States to continue to send economic assistance to Ukraine. Putin has made destroying Ukraine’s economy central to his war strategy and boosting Ukraine’s economy is essential to its survival. If Ukraine’s economy collapses, they will not be able to keep fighting. This aid will help Ukraine pay its first responders, import basic goods, and provide essential services to its population. 

Israel:

• Authorizes the United States to provide additional military aid to help Israel defend itself from Hamas, which committed horrific acts of terror on October 7th, and whose leaders have pledged to repeat the attacks of October 7th over and over again until Israel is annihilated.  
• The aid in this agreement will also help Israel replenish its air defenses and ensure it is prepared for any future contingencies. 
• This includes its defense against Iran and groups backed by Iran, including Hezbollah. The funding in this agreement is essential to supporting Israel’s short- and long-term defense needs against a broad array of immediate and future threats.  

Humanitarian Aid:

• Includes important humanitarian aid funding to help civilians in need around the world, whether it’s to address the spillover effects of Putin’s war and help Ukrainians who have been displaced by Russia’s invasion, or to help Palestinians in Gaza, where we are actively working to increase the flow of aid for Palestinian civilians who have nothing to do with Hamas.

Indo-Pacific:

• Provides resources to help our allies and partners in the region build the capabilities necessary to address threats from an increasingly assertive PRC and to meet emerging challenges. It is critically important that we maintain our focus on the Indo-Pacific and preserve peace and stability. 

###

The post FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Calls on Congress to Immediately Pass the Bipartisan National Security Agreement appeared first on The White House.

Pearson Community Center
Las Vegas, Nevada

7:04 P.M. PST

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Nevada!  (Applause.)  Hello, hello, hello.  What a great crowd.   

Melvin, thank you for that introduction. 

And thank you, Congressman Steven Horsford, a great friend and an incredible leader of the Congressional Black Caucus.  Where is he?  (Applause.)  There is he.  Well, you know, it’s been — he’s been a key player in all of the progress we’re making.

And so is Dana Titus.  Where is Congresswoman Titus?  There she is.  (Applause.)  

And Senator Jacky Rosen.  (Applause.)  There you are, Jacky.  All right.  (Laughs.)  Okay, let’s be clear: We need to reelect Jacky.  It’s critical.  (Applause.)

And I’ll start with the simplest message: From the bottom of my heart, thank you, thank you, thank you.  You all are the reason why I’m President of the United States of America.  You’re the reason.  (Applause.)

No, I’m — you’re the reason that Kamala Harris is a historic Vice President.  (Applause.)

And you’re the reason that Donald Trump is a former President.  (Applause.) 
And you’re the reason — you’ll make Donald Trump a loser again.  (Applause.)

In 2020, I ran because I thought everything this country stood for — everything we believed in, everything that made America “America” — was at risk.  I think people thought that maybe I was being hyperbolic about that. 

I’d say — they’d say, “Joe, what do you mean our democracy is at risk?  What do you mean we’re in a battle for the soul of America?”  Well, they may not have understood it, but the people understood it.  They don’t say that anymore.

Just think back to the mess Donald Trump left this country in.  The pandemic was raging.  The economy was reeling.  And look how far we’ve come because of you. 

We vaccinated — (applause) — we vaccinated America to get through a pandemic.  We created a record 15 million new jobs, getting this economy strong — more than any president has in four years.  (Applause.)

And right here in Nevada, 285,000 new jobs.  (Applause.)

And nationwide, Black small businesses are starting up at a faster rate of any time in 30 years.  (Applause.)  Latino small businesses are starting up as the fastest rate in over a decade.

We passed the American Rescue Plan, which put $1,400 into people’s pockets.  (Applause.)  And on top of that, they got a $300 check per child, per family, per month for hardworking families.  (Applause.)  Over 300,000 — there were 380,000 families in Nevada benefited until the — our friends on the other side wiped it out.

You know, nationwide, that’s thousands of dollars that people put in their pockets to be able to get real crisis — to get through a real crisis.

That cut Black child poverty in half.  It cut — (applause) — it cut Latino child poverty by 43 percent.  (Applause.)  And it cut Indigenous child poverty by half as well.  (Applause.)

Look, I know — we know we have a lot more to do.  Not every- — not everyone is feeling the benefits of our investments in progress yet.  But inflation is now lower in America than any other major economy in the world — in the world.  (Applause.)

And in recent weeks, we’re seeing real evidence that the American consumers are feeling real confidence in the economy that we’re beginning to build. 

A recent Washington Post headline said, and I quote, “Falling inflation and rising growth give U.S. the world’s best recovery” — “the world’s best recovery.”  (Applause.)  And we’re just getting started.

And let me tell you something else — who is noticing this: Donald Trump.  (Laughter.)  The — the strange things he says.  He recently said, “When there’s a crash, I hope it’s in the next 12 months.”  Isn’t that wonderful — the former president to root for a crash?  It’s unbelievable.  It’s un-America.  How can anyone, especially a former president, wish for an economic crash that would devastate millions of Americans? 

And, by the way, pause for a minute.  How many times did you hear, when I first got elected President, my policy — we’re going to bring a recession next month?  Every month.  (Laughter.)  None of them are saying it anymore.  (Applause.)  The mainstream economists. 

Because of — I’m here because of you guys. 

Here’s what it really means: Donald Trump knows the economy we built is strong and getting stronger.  He knows that while it’s good for America, it’s bad for him politically. 

Trump also said the one president he doesn’t want to be like was Herbert Hoover.  Donald, I got bad news for you, pal.  It’s too late.  (Laughter.)  You’re one of only two presidents in American history — you and Herbert Hoover — who left office with fewer jobs than when you took office.  Herbert Hoover — yes.  Donald “Herbert Hoover” Trump.  (Laughter.)

Look, when I got elected — I’ve been working my whole career as a senator — long back with my old buddy Harry Reid and others — trying to get Big Pharma and the pharmaceutical companies to start to play at a new level.  I’m going to have to beat them.  They changed — they charge extraordinary prices, charging more for prescription drugs here in America than anywhere else in the entire world — made by the same drug company. 

You have a prescription for anything, take it to a local drugstore.  I promise you, if I put you on a plane and took you to Toronto or Paris or Berlin or anywhere in Europe, you can buy that same drug, that same prescription for somewhere between 40 to 60 percent less.  We said we’d beat them, and we did.  (Applause.)

Insulin — $35 a month for insulin for seniors on [with] diabetes instead of $400 a month or more.  (Applause.)

We’re also capping the cost of prescription drugs at $2,000 a year for seniors, even for expensive drugs like cancer drugs that cost $10-, $12-, $15,000 year.

Because of the progress we’re making so far, 143,000 Nevadans will begin to save an average of $434 a year on prescription drugs.  (Applause.)

And, folks, I promise you, I’m just getting started.  (Applause.)

Our actions not only save patients thousands of dollars, they save taxpayers billions of dollars.  You know, Medicare pays for these drugs that go out through — over- — being overcharged.  Guess what it’s saving the tax- — the American taxpayer — what we’ve done so far?  One hundred and sixty billion dollars that taxpayers don’t have to pay to Medicare to give them these (inaudible).  (Applause.)

Republicans say they’re concerned about the deficit.  Give me a break.  (Laughter.)  Give me a break.  We’ve tried to make it $35 a month for everyone, not just seniors, but Republicans blocked us. 

And with your vote in 2024, we’re going to make it happen for everyone in America, not just seniors.  (Applause.)  I promise you. 

And that will reduce the deficit by even more. 

Look, I promised we’d help eliminate the accumulated student debt.  That —

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  There you go.  Yes!  (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT:  — that millions of Americans carried during the economic pandemic and beyond. 

The Supreme Court of the United States blocked me, but they didn’t stop me.  (Applause.)  I found another way to help more than 3,700,000 people with $130 billion of relief and cou- –and counting.  

There were several existing programs that the bureaucracy wasn’t pushing, including one of th- — it’s called Public Servants — like teachers, firefighters.  Public Servants.  (Applause.)  So, I fixed the program to deliver relief for public servants — teachers, nurses, firefighters, social workers, and so on.  (Applause.) 

And guess what?  Some of you are getting notices right now.  You’re going to get another student cut.  And this time, you’re going to not have any doubt about who sent it to you.  It’s going to have my name on it: Biden.  (Applause.)  No, I mean it, because we got another $25 billion a year. 

And guess what?  It’s — not only is it a good thing to do, it drows [sic] the economy — it grows the economy.  It’s not costing people.  Guess what?  When you’re able to eliminate that — how many of you have had your student debt eliminated?  (Applause.)

Well, some of you had student debt eliminated for over $100,000.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  That’s right!  Right here!

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, guess what?  It changes everything.  You were able to go out and buy your first home.  You were able to go out and buy your first automobile maybe.  You were able to go out and see to it that you have an opportunity to get up — to build that business you wanted.

And I kept my promise as well to appoint the first Black woman to the United States Supreme Court.  (Applause.)  Her name is Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, and, by the way, she’s smarter than the rest of these guys.  (Laughter.) 

And, by the way, I’ve appointed more Black women to the federal courts of appeals than every other president in American history combined — combined.  (Applause.)

All told, with the help of the senator from the state of Illinois, I’ve gotten 175 federal judges confirmed.  Two thirds of them are women, and two thirds are people of color.  (Applause.)

Hold a second there.  I also said — when I got elected, I made a promise: I was going to have an American administration that looked like America.  I have more women in my Cabinet than men.  I have more African Americans on it.  (Applause.)  I have more people in the backgrounds that are similar. 

And, by the way, I make no apologize — no apologies for being the most pro-union president in American history.  (Applause.)

Let me say one more thing.  I also said that — I asked the Treasury Department to do a study with wa- — raising the wages of union members, which I’ve been able to — I fought like hell to have happen, and it’s happening.  And unions are more popular now than they’ve been in a generation.  I said, “What was — what’s the effect of that?”  It raises everybody’s wages.  Everything raises, because guess what?  When you’re making more money for the job you’re doing, you’re the best workers in — we have the — we have the best workers in Amer- — in the world. 

Look, remember those little computer chips that we were — we invented those suckers — about the size of the end of a fingertip?  Guess what?  You need 300 of them — 3 — to build an automobile.  You needed them for cell phones.  You need them for all kinds of things.  And we had lost that market.  We had lost that market completely. 

So, I got in a plane, and I flew to South Korea.  And they said, “What the hell are you doing in Kouth [South] Korea?”  Well, they are a major manufacturer of chips.  I sat down with their president and with Samsung.  I said, “Come and invest in America.”  Because guess what?  We now have $50 billion coming to America — investing in.  (Applause.)

And they’re building these facilities.  They built what they call “fabs” — factories.  They’re great big — look like gigantic football fields underneath a — a roof. 

Guess what?  Know what the average salary in those is?  And you don’t need a college degree.  A hundred and twelve thousand dollars a year.  (Applause.)  And they’re coming all over America. 

And thanks to what we call the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — it’s a fancy way of saying we’re building a hell of a lot — I’ve signed — that I signed, there are over 40,000 projects underway. 

Remember, the last president — he kept talking about “Infrastructure Week”?  He had “Infrastructure Week” for four years and didn’t do a damn thing.  (Laughter.)  No, but I’m serious. 

But guess what?  We’re doing a heck of a lot in the state of Nevada.  (Applause.)  I just approved $3 billion for the nation’s first high-speed rail line.  (Applause.)  Three billion dollars.  It’s going to take you from here to Las Vegas — well, from Las Vegas to Los Angeles in two hours by train instead of four hours by car.  (Applause.)  At 186 miles an hour, it will also reduce carbon emissions.  It will take 3 million vehicles off the road, helping the air quality.

And it’s going to create 35,000 jobs during construction, 10,000 union jobs — building trades: carpenters, electricians, ironworkers, laborers, and more.  (Applause.)  Jobs now and jobs beyond.

And generating significant economic growth from Nevada to California, and that includes transforming California with another high-speed rail line coming down from the south, going through central part of the state.  Guess what?  There’s o- — they’re going to — that’s train is going to go 220 miles an hour.

Things are changing, folks.  We have to get with the rest of the world.  We have to — we’re the best — we’re the most innovative country in the world.  What the hell have we been doing?  No, I’m serious.  Think about it.

And look, just like Franklin Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act back in the ‘30s — he provided electricity for every home and farm because it was necessary.  Electricity was the new need and rural areas and poor folks couldn’t afford it, so he signed the Rural Electrification Act.  

Well, we’re bringing high-speed Internet everywhere in America — (applause) — because Internet today is just as essential doing business as electricity was then.

So far, that includes nearly 270,000 households across Nevada that are paying less than $30 a month now for Internet, instead of two to three times that amount, so children can do their homework, businesses are able to thrive, farmers and ranchers can know when the best time to sell their product is. 

And, by the way, we’re ripping out every poisonous lead pipe in America so every child — (applause) — not a joke — so every child can turn on a faucet and drink clear water without worrying about brain damage. 

And guess what?  It’s creating thousands of good union jobs.  (Applause.)

And the one state I don’t have to talk about gun violence in is here.  I’ve been hearing the tragic times that occurred here in this state. 

We passed the most significant gun safety law in decades, but I want to make clear to you: I will not stop until I once again ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.  (Applause.)  There’s no rationale for it.  None, none, none.  (Applause.)

I mean it.  I did it once when I was a senator, and I will do it again.  (Applause.)

Look, we’re saving the planet with the most significant investments in climate change ever — ever, anywhere, anytime, in the whole entire history of the world.  And that includes, just in your state, an investment of $12 billion in clean energy provisions that en- — (applause) — so you’ll be a national leader in — in electric vehicles, batteries, and more, creating tens of thousands of jobs and generating significant economic growth.

I signed into law a thing called the PACT Act — one of the most significant laws helping veterans exposed to toxic materials, and their families.  It matters, and there’s so much more we’re doing that we can do with these folks. 

I’ve been saying for a long time —

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Joe!  Joe!  Joe!

THE PRESIDENT:  — and I think it’s — well, thank you.

AUDIENCE:  Joe!  Joe!  Joe!

THE PRESIDENT:  Folks —

AUDIENCE:  Joe!  Joe!  Joe!

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you. 

I’ve been saying for a long time, America has many obligations but only one sacred obligation: to equip those we send into harm’s way and to care for them and their families when they come home.  It’s a sacred obligation.  (Applause.)   

So, when I introduced this legislation, well, a lot of my Republican colleagues weren’t sure they wanted to vote for it.  But guess what?  I also included, from my generation, Agent Orange.  How many people in the Vietnam generation had Agent Orange come down upon their heads but they couldn’t prove without a doubt that whatever their ailment was was because of the Agent Orange? 

Well, guess what?  What it should have been is what it is now, and the same way with burn pits.  The burn pits out there where they burn — these pits are a size of a football field, 10 feet deep, 40 yards wide, and almost 100 yards long.  And guess what?  They burn everything in there, from jet fuel to body to — everything, all contaminated waste.

And it generates — just like you saw what happened to those 9/11 firefighters.  They all came out with cancer, many of them, because of the — the smoke they were inhaling.  Well, the same thing happened. 

Matter of fact, I had a son who was the Attorney General of the State of Delaware — and he should be here, not me.  And guess what?  He volunteered — he was Attorney General, and he gave up his — active Attorney General, and he said, “I’m going with my National Guard unit,” because they were going to go to Iraq.  And he spent a year there. 

I was in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan over 19 times.  And his hooch where he slept was only about 200 yards, maybe a little — may- — maybe more, maybe 400 yards from where he slept, breathing in that air for a year.  He came home with stage four glioblastoma, a brain cancer that there’s no cure for.  And he died — and he died. 

The idea that he’d have to prove it was because of that is bizarre.  And guess what?  Now anyone that’s exposed to these burn pits, anyone who can demonstrate they were there, if they come down with the disease, it’s covered.  And if they — (applause).

And one other thing it means.  It means if they passed away, their children are entitled to the education benefits and the other benefits they would have been if he’d been alive and come home — they’d been alive and come home.  So, folks, look, the same way, as I said, with Agent Orange.

Now, imagine the nightmare if Donald Trump is reelected.

No —

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE PRESIDENT:  No, no, no, no, no.  By the way, this is the guy who, when he was in France and he was — they asked him to go to this — a American cemetery in France from World War Two where Americans were buried.  And you know what he said?  He said those folks buried in that cemetery were “suckers” and “losers.”  “Suckers” and “losers,” the guy said.

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE PRESIDENT:  No, I’m not kidding.  By the way, that’s bey- — I’m glad I wasn’t there.  (Laughter.)  No, no, I’m serious.  I shouldn’t say that.  But I’m glad I wasn’t there. 

To call my son and your sons and daughters who gave their lives for this country “suckers” and “losers.”  That’s how this guy thinks.  Who the hell does he think he is?

After a recent deadly shooting in Perry, O- — Iowa where two kids [people] were killed — a sixth-grader and a school principal — what did Trump say?  It wasn’t long ago.  He said, they’ve got to “get over it.”  They’ve got to “get over it.”

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We don’t get over it!

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, we’re not going to get over it.  We’re going to stop it.  (Applause.)

And now Trump, from the beginning — and, by the way, you all know there’s no climate problems, right?  (Laughter.)  I mean, think — think about it.  Think about it.  All kidding aside, think about it.  This guy is denying we have a problem with climate.  This guy is saying — and his MAGA Republican friends want to repeal the historic climate legislation I got passed. 

And get this, 100,000 Nevadans will get healthcare this year through the Affordable Care Act — (applause) — and access to affordable premiums. 

But after trying and failing more than 60 times, Trump and his MAGA Republican friends are promising to get rid of the Affordable [Care] Act again if they get elected. 

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE PRESIDENT:  And, by the way, it’s the only reason why people all over this country have the protections for preexisting conditions — (applause) — and they’ll take it away.  I don’t know what they’re thinking.  I don’t know what they’re thinking.  I really mean it.

And seniors here in Nevada and all across America should know this: Trump and his MAGA friends are determined to take away the $35-a-month insulin, as well as the $2,000 cap on prescription drugs.

How many of you believe the tax system is fair?  Raise your hand.  (Laughter.)  And even those of you who are doing well.

We’ve made progress making sure the biggest corporations pay their fair share by paying a minimum 15 percent — just 15 percent.  That paid for all the programs I’m talking about so far.  And we did that and we still cut the deficit $7 billion.

But guess what?  Trump passed, last time out, a $2 trillion tax cut overwhelmingly benefitting the very wealthy and big corporations that expanded the federal debt significantly.

And now, instead of protecting Social Security and Medicare like I am, Trump and his MAGA friends want to give another billion-dollar ta- — multibillion-dollar tax cut to the super wealthy and the biggest corporations.

Look, I’m not anti-wealth.  I’m not anti-corporation.  I come from the corporate state of the world.  (Laughter.)  Seriously.  More corporations are incorporated in my state, as you know, Gov, than every other state in the nation combined.  But they got to pay their fair share.  (Applause.)  I’m serious.  Think about it.

Look, folks, we — before the pandemic, there were 750 — -48 maybe — roughly 750 billionaires in America.  Now there are a thousand.  You know what their average tax rate they pay — the federal tax rate?  8.2 percent.  Anybody wouldn’t trade that — for that tax rate?

Well, let me tell you something.  If, in fact, they paid their fair share, over the next 10 years, it’d be 40- — $400 billion in new income coming in.  We could take care of all these problems.  We could have daycare for all kids.  We could increase economic growth even more, et cetera.

But Trump and his MAGA friends are determined to take away that opportunity.  But I’m going to — if you reelect me — I tell you what, man — hang on, taxes.  And I promise, not anybody making less than 400 grand would have one penny in federal taxes raised.  I kept that promise in the beginning.  I haven’t make — and I will not make — I will not break it again.  (Applause.)

But, look, Trump and his MAGA friends are determined to take away your fundamental freedoms.  Your voting rights are under attack: where you can register, how you can register, when you have to register, whether there’s mail-in ballot, all the stuff they want to do to change the law.

And now, Trump is bragging about having overturned another basic freedom: Roe v. Wade.

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE PRESIDENT:  No, seri- — he’s on television, and he’s out saying, “I did this because it’s the Supreme Court that I appointed.”  God love him.

Well, Roe v. Wade has taken away a woman’s right to choose.  And, by the way, now they’re planning a national ban on the right to choose.  They made it clear.  If MAGA Republicans try to pass a national ban on the right to choose, I will veto it.  (Applause.)

And, by the way, Kamala is doing an incredible job going around the country making this case. 

And here’s the deal, folks.  Here’s the deal.  The idea, if, in fact, you do what I hope you will do — we’ll get more registered people — more people who are registered to vote between the — now and the general election, elect all the Democratic congressmen and senators all across the country, give me a Senate and a House, I’m going to bring back Roe v. Wade.  (Applause.)

And, by the way, I love how Trump is now saying, “Biden is for abortion on demand.”  Not true.  That’s not what Roe v. Wade said.  It said there are three trimesters and how it worked.

Let me close with this.  Look, Trump and his MAGA friends are dividing us, not uniting us; dragging us back to the past, not leading us to the future; refusing to accept the results of legitimate elections; and seeking, as Trump says, to “terminate” — his words — “terminate” elements of the U.S. Constitution.  And you’re telling me he doesn’t — democracy is not at risk?

Embracing political violence — never since the Civil War has any president engaged in or said political violence was ever appropriate — political violence in America.  Calling January 6th insurrections — you know what he calls them?  “Patriots.”

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, no, I — no, I’m — I’m se- — I mean, think about this.  People have pled guilty. 

You know, right — right after I was elected, I went to what they call a G7 meeting, all the NATO leaders.  And it was in — it was in the south of England.  And I sat down and I said, “America is back.” 

And Mitterrand [Macron], from Germany — I mean, from France looked at me and said — said, “You know, what — why — how long you back for?”  (Laughter.)  And I looked at him, and the — and the Chancellor of Germany said, “What would you say, Mr. President, if you picked up the paper tomorrow in the London Times, and London Times said, ‘A thousand people break through the House of Commons, break down the doors, two Bobbies are killed in order to stop the election of the Prime Minister.’  What would you say?”

And I never thought about it from that perspective.  What would we say that happened in another democracy around the world?  Well, the whole world watched — the whole world watched.  And what’s going on? 

Well, guess what?  It’s not going happen.  He’s not — you know what’s going to happen if he loses — he’s going to lose. 

You know, this guy has an interesting vocabulary. He calls immigrants “vermin” who “poison the blood” of the na- —

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE PRESIDENT:  It’s hard to make this up.  And he says they threaten our very democracy. 

He said — folks, we must make clear where we stand.  Well, we have to make sure we stand for the truth and will defeat the lies.  We must make it clear that in America, just like all of you do in Nevada, we still believe in honesty, decency, dignity, respect.  (Applause.)

Folks —

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  You better win, Joe!

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Get ‘em, Joe!

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, you’re right —

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you, Joe!

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, that’s the reason I’m running, because we have to win. 

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Thank you!

THE PRESIDENT:  No, no.  I give you my word.  We have to.  It’s not much of a choice here.

Look, we’re the most unique nation in the history of the world.  I’ll end with this.  And that sounds like hyperbole, like America is beating their chest, but we are. 

We’re the only nation in the world built on an idea.  Every other nation is built based on ethnicity, religion, or other common traits.  The only i- — thing we’re built on is that “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all women and men are created equal, endowed by their Creator,” et cetera.  We’ve never fully lived up to it, but we’ve never walked away from it before.  We’ve never — we leave nobody behind in America.  We believe everyone deserves a fair shot — just a fair shot.

My dad used to say — and he’d say at the dinner table — my dad was a well-read guy who didn’t get to go to college because of the war.  And — but he’d come home before he went back to close the business he was manager of.  And we’d have a conversation and, incidentally, eat.

And he’d look and he’d say, many times, “Joey, remember, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck.  It’s about your dignity.  It’s about respect.  It’s about your place in the community.  It’s about being able to look your child in the eye and say, ‘Honey, it’s going to be okay.’”  He meant it.

We don’t give hate any safe harbor in America.  We believe in America.  We know what the stakes are.  We must keep the White House and keep the Senate by reelecting Jacky Rosen.  (Applause.) 

And, folks, we have to win.  We have to win back the House of Representatives, and win it up and down the ticket — (applause) — and state and locally.

And that’s why we have to get more people to register to vote after this primary — to do that — to do that in the — in the primary.  Anybody wondering, tell them — where they vote — go to IWillVote.com.  And here in Nevada — here in Nevada, you’ll know — you’ll be given exactly where you vote.

We have to must- — we have to organize, mobilize, vote.  When we do that, we’ll be able to look back and say something few generations have ever been able to say.  When American democracy was at risk, like it is now, you all saved it.  (Applause.)  I mean it.

We just have to remember who we are.  We’re the United States of America.  (Applause.)  And there is nothing — nothing beyond our capacity when we act together.  We’re the only nation in the world that’s come out of every crisis stronger than we went in.  And that’s what we’re going to do again.  (Applause.)

May God bless you all.  And may God protect our troops. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you.  (Applause.) 

Thank you.  (Applause.)

Every time — every time I’d walk out of my Grandpop Finnegan’s house up in Scranton, he’d yell, “Joey, keep the faith.”  And my grandma — “No, Joey, spread it.”  Let’s go spread the faith, guys.  (Applause.)

7:37 P.M. PST

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Via Teleconference

8:03 P.M. EST
 
MODERATOR:  Good evening, everyone.  Thank you for joining tonight’s press call on the bipartisan national security agreement.  As a reminder, the contents of this call will be embargoed until its conclusion. 
 
This call will be on background and attributable to “senior administration officials.”  For your knowledge and not for attribution, today you will be hearing from [senior administration official], [senior administration official], and [senior administration official]. 
 
With that, [senior administration official], I will turn it over to you. 
 
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Thank you very much.  Thanks for joining, everybody.  Obviously, we’re grateful to have this opportunity to talk about the — this movement forward on these critical national security supplemental requests that the President put forward and the terrific work, really, truly in a bipartisan way to come together to get this arrangement. 
 
I just want to hit a couple of the top points of why we think what — what we’ve — what we’ve been able — what Senate negotiators have been able to achieve here is so important. 
 
Number one, it helps provide now critically needed military assistance to help the people of Ukraine defend themselves.  I don’t need to tell you all that Russia continues to launch aerial assaults on Ukrainian cities as well as Ukrainian defense industrial base sites and Ukrainian units as — as the winter months there now progress.
 
This — this — this deal will also help us invest in our own defense industrial base, supporting American jobs across the country and to help — help our ability to produce weapons and equipment that the United States can send to Ukraine, again, to help them continue to battle back against Russian aggression.
 
And then, not unimportantly when it comes to Ukraine, this arrangement will help us make sure that the United States can continue to send economic assistance to Ukraine.  Putin has made destroying Ukraine’s economy a central aim of his war strategy.  And being able to boost Ukraine’s economy is, quite frankly, essential to their survival. 
 
If Ukraine’s economy collapses, they will not be able to keep on fighting, and this assistance will help Ukraine pay its first responders — medical and — and fire and police — as well as be able to import basic goods and provide essential services to its population. 
 
Now, on Israel.  This also will help authorize the United States to provide additional military assistance to help Israel defend itself against Hamas, which I want to remind everybody has still made su- — made it clear that they are committed to conducting the attacks on the Israeli people and Israeli sovereignty, like — like on October 7th, again and again and again.  They truly have a genocidal intent when it comes to Israel.
 
The aid in this agreement will help, also, Israel replenish its air defenses and to ensure that it’s prepared for any future contingencies. 
 
Again, I don’t think it needs reminding that Hamas launched this — this conflict and continues to launch air assaults on the — Israel sites, Israel cities, Isr- — the Israeli people.  So, air defense is a ke- — a key part of this.  And we’re glad to see that we’re going to be able to help support Israel and their air defense capabilities. 
 
It’s also going to include some money — extra money, almost to the tune of $2 and a half billion for Central Command — U.S. Central Command — as they continue to help defend our troops and our facilities in Iraq and Syria and help defend international shipping throughout the Red Sea, a critical international waterway.  So, we’re grateful for that. 
 
On humanitarian assistance.  It includes important humanitarian aid funding to help civilians that are in need all around the world, whether it’s in Ukraine — clearly there’s a humanitarian assistance concern there and true humanitarian needs — but also in — to help Palestinians in Gaza, where we are actively working to increase the flow of aid for Palestinian civilians who — who have nothing to do with Hamas and shouldn’t be held accountable for what Hamas chose to do on the 7th of October. 
 
And lastly, if I could, just quickly on the Indo-Pacific.  This deal will provide resources to help our allies and partners in the region as they need to build the capabilities necessary to address threats from an increasingly assertive PRC, as well as an increasingly assertive North Korea, and to meet emerging challenges.  It’s critically important that we maintain our focus on the Indo-Pacific and to be able to preserve peace and stability there. 
 
This arrangement helps us.  It gives us those extra funds that we need to focus on the Indo-Pacific, even as we are engaged elsewhere in Europe and in the Middle East. 
 
And with that, I’ll turn it over. 
 
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Thank you, [senior administration official].  Our immigration system is broken and has been for years.  And as you have heard from President Biden, that’s why a few months ago, he instructed his and te- — his team to work to address it. 
 
Now, after negotiating around the clock and through holidays, we have a bipartisan national security agreement that, if passed into law, would include the toughest and fairest reforms to our immigration system in decades. 
 
This bipartisan agreement would make asylum processing fairer and more efficient, while ensuring protection for the most vulnerable.  And it would give the President emergency authority to shut down the border when it is overwhelmed. 
 
The question is now for Speaker Johnson and House Republicans.  If they believe we must take action as a country to secure our border, doing nothing is simply not an option. 
 
This is not a matter of partisan politics.  This is a bipartisan agreement.  And it would make our country safer.  It would make our border more secure, treat people fairly and humanely, consistent with our values as a nation. 
 
And now I’ll turn it over to [senior administration official] to walk through more of what’s — what this agreement would do. 
 
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Thank you, [senior administration official], and thanks, everybody, for participating on today’s call. 
 
As [senior administration official] noted, the legislation makes significant changes to our asylum system.  It creates a fast, fair, and functioning asylum process that will provide people who merit protection with asylum much faster, including by empowering asylum officers to grant asylum during credible — during screening interviews. 
 
But it also imposes consequences much faster to those who do not have a legal basis to remain.  It does so in a number of ways that I’ll walk through very quickly. 
 
First and foremost, it creates a new non-adversarial and non-detained provisional removal proceedings process that will allow individuals to receive a final decision in a few months — no more than six months — instead of the five to seven years that the process currently takes for individuals we are encountering today. 
 
The bill does this by modifying the screening threshold that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services asylum officers will use to evaluate protection claims with a goal of making it more likely that those who pass the initial screening are ultimately found to have a valid asylum claim at the end of the process. 
 
It also expedites work permits to those who are here and who qualify so they can get to work more quickly.  And it does so by allowing individuals who pass their initial screening interview — again, using a modified screening threshold that will make it more likely that those who pass the screening are ultimately found to have an asylum claim — the ability to be eligible for work authorization once they pass that screening.  That is significantly faster than is the case in our current immigration system. 
 
The legislation provides significant resources to secure the border and impose consequences on individuals we encounter.  It adds 1,500 CBP personnel, including Border Patrol agents and officers who will work at our ports of entry. 
 
It adds 4,300 asylum officers and additional USCIS personnel to help speed asylum claims and get to a final decision much faster. 
 
It adds 1,200 Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel to ensure that individuals who are ordered removed are removed more quickly, as well as the ability to operate significant more repatriation flights than we are currently operating. 
 
It will deploy 100 cutting-edge inspection machines to help and detect the stop — and stop the flow of fentanyl at our border, as well as funding for cities and states that are sheltering migrants. 
 
And, lastly, it will include a new funding to expand the capacity of our partner countries to accept and reintegrate migrants who are repatriated from the United States.  These resources are badly needed and will support and expand our workforce after decades of chronic underfunding that have led to enormous backlogs in the immigration court and the asylum system. 
 
They will allow us to enhance the security of the border, as well as significantly speed up processing for individuals who claim asylum at the border. 
 
Lastly, the authority — the legislation, I’m sorry, includes a temporary emergency authority that will allow the President to shut down the border when encounters reach elevated levels.  This authority will allow the President and the Secretary of Homeland Security to temporarily prohibit individuals from seeking asylum, with limited exceptions, when our southwest land border is overwhelmed. 
 
The authority preserves access to other protections, consistent with our international obligations, and will sunset after three years.  Importantly, again, this authority will be used when the number of migrants encountered at the border reach historically high levels — levels at which the U.S. government strains to process migrants quickly and effectively. 
 
Additionally, the authority is limited to a set number of days each calendar year.  And in the third year of implementation, it may only be exercised for half the year. 
 
And now I will turn it over to [senior administration official] to talk through some of the other important changes this legislation makes before we turn it over for questions. 

[Senior administration official], back over to you. 
 
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Thank you.  Additionally, the legislation would strengthen a migrant’s right to counsel, providing additional tools to ensure humane and fair treatment of those seeking asylum, especially the most vulnerable.  For the first time, the legislation would require gov- — the government to provide legal counsel for the most vulnerable asylum seekers, such as young, unaccompanied children ages 13 and younger. 
 
It would also strengthen requirements so that migrants are always provided with clear and accessible information about their rights, including their right to counsel. 
 
The legislation would also increase lawful pathways into the United States for certain populations and allow some individuals already here to adjust status or access work authorization more easily.  Specifically, the legislation would provide additional visas for families and workers.  It would raise the cap on the number of immigrant visas available annually by adding an additional 250,000 immigrant visas over five years. 
 
These additional immigrant visas expand lawful pathways into the United States, prioritizing family reunification, and also get U.S. businesses access to qualified workers that they need.  It promotes family unity, allowing individuals who came to the United States as children on their parents’ skilled labor visas to remain in the United States with their families even after turning 21. 
 
The legislation would make clear that non-citizens can travel to the United States on a temporary B visa to visit family members.  It would establish a faster pathway to permanent status for Afghan allies and their families who entered the United States under Operation Allies Welcome.  And it would expand work authorization to fiancés or spouses of children of U.S. citizens and H-1B visa holders so that they can more quickly support themselves in the United States. 
 
The administration calls on Congress to not delay and to immediately pass this bipartisan national security agreement. 
 
MODERATOR:  Thanks, [senior administration official], [senior administration official], and [senior administration official]. 
 
With that, we will move to the question-and-answer period.  As a reminder, this is on background and attributable to “senior administration officials.”  We will be taking questions one at a time.  Please use the “raise hand” function to queue up for questions. 
 
When you are called upon, please state your name, your outlet, and, for the benefit of everyone, please limit your questions to one per person. 

I will give it a second for you all to queue up. 
 
All right.  We’ll start with Elliot.  You should be unmuted now. 
 
Q    Hello.  Yes.  Hi, I’m sorry about that.  My question — thank you — is for [senior administration official], I believe.  I’m just trying to get a better understanding of how things would change on the ground on day one. 

So, right now, as you know, there’s — the administration makes extensive use of parole through the CBP One app and — with Cubans, Haitian, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans.  How would those two programs change under this — under this law, under this legislation? 
 
And then, how about someone who crosses illegally and wants to claim asylum?  What would happen?  I’m just trying to understand mechanics.  Would they be sent back to Mexico?  What would — if — I guess it would depend on whether this emergency is in effect.  But could you explain just a little bit how things would change on the ground in those scenarios on day one?
 
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Absolutely.  Thanks, Elliot. 

So, on day one — were day one, for example, to be today, given where we are in terms of encounter levels at the border, we anticipate that the President and the Secretary would trigger this emergency authority immediately based on where we are on encounter trends and the levels that are set in the legislation. 
 
When the emergency authority is being implemented at the border, individuals who are encountered will not be generally eligible for asylum.  The legislation will require a manifestation of fear standard, and individuals who manifest a fear would be processed for a fast interview to determine whether they have a fear of persecution or torture such that they cannot be removed. 
 
In terms of CBP One, when we are exercising the emergency authority, the legislation requires that 1,400 individuals be processed through our land border ports of entry in a safe and orderly means.  And so, we anticipate that CBP One would continue to be in effect when we are exercising the authority. 
 
And, lastly, the legislation does not impact the CHNV process at all.  And so, that process will continue.  Thank you. 
 
MODERATOR:  Okay.  Next, we will go to Michelle.  You should be unmuted now. 
 
Q    Hi, everyone.  Sorry about that.  Can you address the 90-day windows in the bill where people have to receive their initial asylum screening?  And what happens if the government doesn’t meet that 90-day window?  Is there any, like, enforcement of it?
 
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Yeah, hi, Michelle.  Thanks for that question.  So, the legislation creates a new provisional removal proceedings process for individuals who are encountered and who are not detained through the process. 
 
As I think everybody knows, right now, individuals who are — who we cannot detain are released with a notice to appear into the immigration court process, and that is a lengthy process that can take five to seven years, we anticipate, for individuals who are being encountered today to reach a final decision. 
 
What this legislation does is require that those individuals go into this new process, and we will be required to conduct an initial protection screening interview within 90 days, as you noted.  We anticipate that — once we are fully staffed and resourced, that that interview will happen significantly faster than 90 days.  And at that initial interview, our CIS personnel will be assessing whether individuals have a reasonable possibility of being subject to persecution or torture if they are returned. 

We anticipate that this higher standard will lead to more individuals being screened out during the protection screening interview.  And the legislation will also require that some mandatory bars to asylum be reviewed during that interview. 
 
If we cannot get to an interview within 90 days, we will be required to schedule a protection merits interview for those individuals.  However, the legislation does include a ramp-up period.  I think we all recognize that this will be a new process; it will need significant resources in order to be implemented. 
 
Again, Congress has not adequately funded our immigration system now for many decades, which has led to the backlogs we are seeing both in the immigration court system and in the affirmative asylum context, and those backlogs are directly contributing to what we are seeing on the border. 
 
So, once we are fully resourced, we fully expect that every individual we encountered will reach a final decision within that 180-day period.  And, in fact, I think we anticipate that it will be substantially faster.
 
MODERATOR:  Thank you.  We will go to Gabe next.  You should be unmuted now. 
 
Q    Thank you, [moderator].  Thank you all for doing this. 

[Senior administration official], you mentioned that it’s up to the Speaker Johnson.  Does the President plan to meet with Speaker Johnson directly to sell this bill? 
 
And then, also, some DH- — DHS officials we’ve spoken with have told us that the emergency shutdown provision in the bill may not be effective unless Mexico agreed to take on more migrants.  Has Mexico agreed to take on more migrants? 
 
And finally, a point of clarification.  Fourteen hundred, you said, will be processed through CBP One, even though the border would be shut down.  I want to make sure that I understood that correctly.  So, even if the border were, quote, “shut down,” CBP One would still be in effect on that — any given day?  Thank you.
 
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I’m happy to take the first question.  The President speaks regularly with members of Congress from both parties and has called on Congress — the Senate and the House — to pass this national security supplemental.  We’ve been clear that this is a bipartisan agreement.  This is representative of Republicans and Democrats coming together to put solutions on the table.  And we are — are calling on Congress to take it up quickly and to pass it quickly.
 
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Thanks, [senior administration official]. 

With regards to the other two questions, first, obviously, the government of Mexico has been a critical partner for us over the last few years and has, you know, accepted returns of third-country nationals, both under our Title 42 implementation and, more recently, under our Title 8 authorities.  And we are hopeful that they will continue to do so, but they’re obviously a sovereign nation, and we will need to engage them in conversations about this new authority. 
 
That said, we have significantly increased our capacity to operate repatriation flights to countries throughout the hemisphere.  Over the last three years, we are operating record numbers of those flights, and we will always seek to return individuals who are encountered to their home countries before we would seek to return them to Mexico.  And I don’t anticipate that will change as a result of this legislation. 
 
And, lastly, I think when we are exercising the emergency authority, as we noted earlier, we — the emergency authority will require that we process a set number of individuals each day — 1,400 — through our ports of entry in a safe and orderly manner.  This will ensure that there is access to the asylum system in the United States even during times of emergency, which we feel is critical.  And as such, yes, CBP One will continue to operate during the emergency periods.
 
That said, individuals who are processed under CBP One moving forward, if this legislation should be enacted, will be subject to the new provisional removal proceedings process.  That means that they will be going through a much faster process in order to get to a final decision than they currently are today. 
 
Thank you.
 
MODERATOR:  Thank you.  We will go to Priscilla next.  You should be unmuted now.
 
Q    Hi.  Can you hear me?
 
MODERATOR:  Yes.
 
Q    Okay.  Great.  A few quick questions.  How quickly does the administration think that they can operationalize this bill if it were to pass?  Given that there are resources involved and talks with other countries, are we looking at months?  Years?
 
And then a question for [senior administration official].  Is there any backup here if House Republicans don’t budge and there is still a need in Ukraine funding and (inaudible)?
 
Thank you.
 
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Sure, I can take the first part of that question, and then, [senior administration official], I’ll turn it over to you for the second one. 
 
So, again, I think we will implement the bill on day one.  And as we discussed, given where we are today in terms of encounters, we anticipate that the emergency authority would be exercised immediately on day one, as the President noted the other day. 
 
We also, though, appreciate it will take some time to resource the system that, again, has been chronically underfunded by Congress now for many decades.  We do anticipate that it will take three years to fully resource the system, but we will be processing individuals we encounter through the new authorities starting on day one and ramping up quickly over time.  And we have, in fact, asked for and received special authorities in order to expedite our ability to hire, train, and deploy personnel at USCIS, ICE, and CBP.
 
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Hey, Priscilla, thanks so much for the question.  The bottom line is this is really critical funding here to help us support Ukraine with a range of capabilities.  And it includes almost $20 billion to help replenish U.S. military weapons and equipment — basically replenishment authority from the DOD inventory, which is critical, because, as you know, we ran out of that authority here in late December.  So, this will — this will be critical to us to be able to continue to support Ukraine. 
 
And without this funding that we have — that Senate negotiators have worked so hard to — to achieve in this — in this proposed legislation, we won’t have the ability to continue to send arms and munitions to Ukraine. 
 
And I want to remind that the last shipment from the United States with the authorities that we had left or was signed out on the 27th of December — and some of that materiel is still arriving — but there’s nothing in train behind it unless or until we can get this funding.
 
MODERATOR:  Thanks, [senior administration official].  We will go to Pedro next.  You should be unmuted now.
 
Q    Thank you.  Thank you.  A couple of questions.  Number one, are there, in the — in the new legislation, any funding for ICE to increase capacity of detention and bedding in the country and removal as well?
 
And, also, for [senior administration official], is — Speaker Johnson mentioned this morning that he was agreeing to maybe approve funding for Israel as a standalone.  I wonder if the President has considered that idea or the President wants to see the whole package approved rather than just a fund for Israel alone.
 
Thanks.
 
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Pedro, I can take the first part of the question.  Yes, the funding includes billions of dollars for ICE to expand our ability to detain individuals who are encountered at the border and put them through the expedited removal process in a detained setting.  It includes funding to add more than 1,200 personnel to ICE in order to help us process and remove individuals, again, much more quickly.  And it will also include funding to expand our ability to operate repatriation flights.  And all of that information is on the factsheet that I think you’ll be receiving shortly.
 
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  And as for the idea of something individual on Israel — to your second part of your question — the President wouldn’t have combined all these four different national security areas into one supplemental request if he didn’t believe that all four were absolutely critical to our own national security and to the national security interests that we have all around the world — in Europe, in the Indo-Pacific, and absolutely in the Middle East. 
 
It’s hard to look at what the Speaker has been talking about as much more than a political ploy.  We believe that Senate negotiators have worked really long and hard, that this is the path forward.  And if this legislation ends up on the President’s desk, then obviously he’ll — he’ll move forward.  He’ll sign that and he’ll move forward on it because this addresses all these very distinct but also very urgent national security needs.  And this is the approach that the President wants to see us take.
 
MODERATOR:  Thank you.  We will go to Danny next.  You should be unmuted now.
 
Q    Thanks very much for doing this call.  Just a couple of things, if I may.  Firstly, obviously, Speaker Johnson has previously said that this bill would be “dead on arrival” in the House.  What are the main elements in today’s plan that you think would be able to change his mind on that and the mind of Republicans in particular?
 
And, secondly, Chancellor Scholz of Germany is coming to the White House on Friday.  Are you going to be asking him to make the case to congressional leaders and Republicans, again, in particular, regarding the importance of aid for Ukraine? 
 
Thanks.
 
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I can take the first.  You have heard from President Biden — we must act.  Speaker Johnson and House Republicans should provide the administration with the policy changes and resources that we are requesting to secure the border. 

This is a bipartisan piece of legislation that represents real solutions that have been negotiated over months by Senate negotiators.  And there’s no reason that Congress should not pass this legislation to support national security priorities, like they have many times before, with strong bipartisan support.
 
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  On the Germany question, the Chancellor and, of course, the whole nation of Germany have been critical supporters of Ukraine go- — as they have battled for their democracy and their sovereignty over the last two years.  We welcome all of the contributions that Germany has made.  They have provided lethal and non-lethal capabilities.  And the President is looking forward to continued discussions with Chancellor Scholz about all the different ways where Germany can contribute to — can continue to contribute to those efforts. 
 
So, there’s going to be a wide-ranging agenda with the Chancellor on Friday.  And I have no doubt that that conversation will expand beyond what’s going on in the European continent and in Ukraine specifically to include issues concerning the Indo-Pacific and tensions there, as well as the Middle East. 
 
It is not our habit nor our practice to ask or to urge foreign leaders to engage with members of Congress on any particular policy issue.  Should the Chancellor feel that that’s a part of the discussions that he wants to have while he’s in Washington, that will be up to him, but there will be no pressure campaign from the President or from the White House to have Chancellor Scholz deliver any particular message.
 
Again, Germany has been — has been a key — obviously a key NATO Ally but a key partner in supporting Ukraine.  And we look forward to having a discussion with him about all the manner — all the ways in which we can continue to support that effort.
 
MODERATOR:  Thanks.  And our final question will come from Camilo.  You should be unmuted now.
 
Q    Hey, folks.  Can you hear me?  Yes?
 
MODERATOR:  Yes.
 
Q    Okay.  Great.  Awesome.  So, obviously, this bill that was published today is markedly different from the day-one bill that the President and you guys have repeatedly talked about that was sent to Congress.  And, ultimately, nothing happened with that bill.  There were no asylum restrictions in that bill.  And, obviously, there was certainly not a shutdown authority — as you’re calling it — in that bill.  Can you concede that there has been a major pivot in the sense of how this administration is handling asylum and border policy?  And if so, can you explain why that pivot has occurred? 
 
Thanks.
 
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Hey, Camilo.  I’m happy to take that.  If you look at the President’s record over the years, he has long sought and supported bipartisan solutions to our broken immigration system.  I think you’ll agree that the American people overwhelmingly agree with what President Biden underlined in his day-one bill and in his funding request: Our immigration system is broken, we have an imperative to secure our border, and we must treat people fairly and humanely. 
 
And the question is now for Speaker Johnson, House Republicans: Will you join Republican and Democratic senators to deliver these meaningful policy changes and additional resources to the border?
 
MODERATOR:  Thanks, [senior administration official]. 
 
And with that, that is all the time that we have today.  As a reminder, this call — the embargo for this call will lift now. 
 
Thanks.  Thanks, everyone. 
 
8:37 P.M. EST

The post Background Press Call by Senior Administration Officials on the Bipartisan National Security Agreement appeared first on The White House.

Our immigration system has been broken for decades. That is why President Biden and I have spent the last three years putting forward solutions to fix it and address the root causes of migration.

On the first day of our Administration, we sent a comprehensive immigration reform bill to Congress that included an increase in funding for border security and a pathway to citizenship for immigrants, such as Dreamers who have been here for years.

We have partnered with countries in the Western Hemisphere to address global pressures that are forcing people from their homes, and worked with the private sector to promote investment in Central America. Last October, as part of our national security supplemental request, we asked for $14 billion for border security, which would increase personnel and technology to secure the border and provide assistance to cities to manage the influx of migrants.

At each step, we have been clear: Congress must act. Unfortunately, we have too often been met with those who sought to play political games instead of participating in solutions.

For the past two months, President Biden, members of our Administration, and bipartisan Senate negotiators have worked together. Thanks to their collaboration, additional solutions are now at hand. Congress must quickly pass this agreement.

This package will also ensure that the United States can continue to fulfill its role of global leadership by supporting the people of Ukraine in their brave fight against unprovoked Russian aggression; providing Israel what it needs to defend itself against Hamas terrorists; ensuring life-saving humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people; and strengthening our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific.

This agreement on border security and immigration does not include everything we have fought for over the past three years — and we will continue to fight for these priorities – but it shows: we can make the border more secure while preserving legal immigration, consistent with our values as a nation.

Let us remember: we are a nation of immigrants. Immigrants have always helped strengthen our country, grow our economy, and drive innovation. We know that in America, diversity is our strength. So rather than politicize this issue, let us all address it with the urgency and seriousness it requires.

###

The post Statement from Vice President Kamala Harris on the Bipartisan Senate National Security Agreement appeared first on The White House.

Private Residence
Henderson, Nevada

5:00 P.M. PST

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, hello, hello.  Please, have a — please take your seats.  Thank you very much.

Richard, that was a very gracious introduction.  I really mean it.  Thank you. 

I look out, and, for a lot of the elected officials here, this is like a busman’s holiday for them.  (Laughter.)  Having to come here, even though they’re elected officials.

Sasha, thank you for hosting us.  As I said earlier, in the kitchen, that it’s not all that easy to open up your home.  Not — for some people, but not for a whole crowd.  And there were probably as many Secret Service agents in here before checking things out as there are standing here now.  (Laughs.)  So — but my host said, “No, I’m a cop.  I understand.”  (Laughter.)  Any rate.

Thank you all for your support.

You know, there’s a simple reason I’m here: to say thank you.  You all are the reason — not a joke — you’re the reason that I’m President of the United States.  You’re the reason Kamala Harris is a historic Vice President.  And you’re the reason Donald Trump is a defeated former President.  And you’re the reason he’ll [we’ll] make Donald Trump a loser again.  (Applause.)

In 2020, I ran — I thought everything this country stood for, everything we believed in, I thought it was all at stake.  What made America “America,” I believed, was at risk.  I think people thought I was being a little hyperbolic at the time.  I heard — the press would say, “Joe, what do you mean our democracy is at risk?  What do you mean we’re in a battle for the soul of America?”

Well, if you notice, most people don’t say that anymore.  They don’t say that anymore.

Just think back to the mess Donald Trump left this country in.  The pandemic was raging; the economy was reeling.  And look how far we’ve come because of all of you.  We vaccinated America.  People were dying.  We lost over 1,200,000 people because of the slow start in all this process. 

We created a record nearly 15 million new jobs just since we came into office — more than any president ever has in that short a time — to get the economy — make it stronger.  (Applause.)  And 285,000 of those jobs are here in Nevada — 285,000 new jobs in Nevada.  (Applause.)

It’s because of your congressional delegation, in large part, and I mean that sincerely.  Not a joke. 

We know we have more to do, but inflation is now lower in America than any other major economy in the world.  In recent weeks, we’re seeing real evidence that American consumers are feeling real confidence in the economy.  It’s beginning to move. 

And you — you may remember, I’d note parenthetically, that when I ran in 2020, everybody said we’re in real trouble.  And I said, “We’re going to be fine,” because I could tell.  As I went around the country, you could feel it; you could taste it. 

Well, and then in 2022, remember we were going to — the red wave was coming?  We were going to get wiped out?  We did better as an incumbent president in an off-year than any president has in recent history because people got it. 

And then the Washin- — and then we ended up in a situation where, in 2023, every contested primary, every contested general election in the country — from Kentucky on — we won, with one exception.

A recent Washington Post headline said, “Falling inflation and rising growth give U.S. the world’s best recovery” — “the world’s best recovery.” 

And that’s — to tell you something else that — that you want to know: Who else is noticing how good the recovery is?  Donald Trump.  He recently said — (laughter) —

(A child applauds.) 

THE PRESIDENT:  You got it, kiddo.  (Laughter.)

He recently said, “When the crash comes, I hope it’s soon.” He’s looking for a crash.  He wants it to happen in the next 12 months, because he does not want to be a Her- — another Herbert Hoover. 

I got bad news for him.  (Laughter.)  He’s already a Herbert Hoover.  (Laughter.)  He’s the only president, other than Herbert Hoover, who has lost more jobs than he had when he came into office in the first place.

It’s unbelievable.  It’s un- — un-American: a sitting Pre- — a former President that’s seeking the office, hoping for a recession that would devastate millions of Americans.

And here’s what he really means.  He knows, while the economy is strong, it’s good — good for America, and it’s bad for him politically. 

Trump said the one president he doesn’t want to be like, as I said, is Hoover.  But it’s too late.  He’s already Donald “Hoover” Hump — Trump Hump.  (Laughter.)  That was intended.  (Laughter.)

Folks, I promised — I promised we — we’d beat — take on Big Pharma.  They’re not bad guys, but they make extraordinary profits — extraordinary, exorbitant prices.  They charge more — if you have a prescription now and you take it to a local drugstore here in this — this state or this city, I can take you — get on a plane with me, we can go to anywhere from Montreal to Berlin to London to Rome, and I can get you that same prescription by the same company for 40 to 60 percent less.  How do you figure that?  How do you figure that?

Charging more for prescription drugs here in America than they do anywhere else in the world.  That’s not hyperbole.  That’s a fact.  I said we’d take on and we’d finally beat them. 

I was at a conference — I was a doing a town hall in Virginia a year and a half, almost two years ago.  And a lovely woman stood up and said, “I need help.”  She said, “I have insurance, but I don’t have enough because I have two daughters with diabetes, and it’s about 800 bucks a month for me.”  And she said, “I have to split the — I have to split the insulin.  I have to cut it.”  And I thought to myself, “What’s going on?”

The guy who invented insulin — many of you doctors in here know this — didn’t want to patent it because he thought it should be available to everybody.  It costs $10 to make.  If you package it, it may — you can get it up to maybe 12 and a half dollars. 

Well, guess what?  You have — they now only pay $35 a month for insulin.  That’s all they can charge for seniors with diabetes.  If they want to get their — anything doing — coming from the whole issue of what’s happening with regard to the situation we have where people can get the drug through Medicare. 

But, look, and we’re also capping the cost of all drugs for seniors at $2,000 a year, because you know — many of you know here — some of these cancer drugs are $10-, $12–, $14-, $16,000 a year.

Our actions not only save the patients thousands of dollars and save lives, but they save the taxpayer — the taxpayer more than $160 billion.  You hear me?  $160 billion is being saved because it does not — the — Medicare does not have to pay out that $160 billion in order to provide the drugs.  $160 billion — that’s what it means.

Republicans say they are concerned about deficit.  Well, give me a break.  (Laughter.)  No, I’m serious.

You know — well, I’m going to get too detailed.  I probably — (laughter).

We tried to make $35 a month for everyone.  It lasted for a little while during the pandemic — just after the pandemic.  But the Republicans, when we had to reauthorize it, wouldn’t go for it.  But with your help in 2024, we’re going to make it happen for everybody — everybody, man.  (Applause.)

And that’s going to reduce the federal deficit even more.  Not a joke.  It reduces the federal deficit when they’re not spending billions of dollars.

I promised to help ease accumulated student debt that millions of Americans carried for — all through the economic pandemic — economic crisis of the pandemic.  The Supreme Court blocked me, but they didn’t stop me.  I found another way.  They’re already on the books — I was able to get 3.7 million people a total debt forgiveness amounting to $130 billion.  And relief is continuing. 

There are several existing programs that the bureaucracy just didn’t know how to handle.  Now I found out — I didn’t even know they existed, to be honest with you.  And I’m pushing those programs, like the Public Service program, like that — that allows public — has anyone who’s engaged in public service, if you’ve paid your student debt for 10 years in a row and you’re a firefighter, cop, teacher, (inaudible) nurse, you get your debt forgiven — the remainder forgiven.

And guess what?  It generates significant economic growth as well.  It costs a lot of money not being collecting — well, you’ll be collected anyway.  But where we are, not it means those folks can buy their first home.  They can pay for their particular problems they may have.  They can start that small business they wanted to start. 

All across America, we fixed the program.  We delivered relief for public servants like teachers, nurses, firefighters, social workers. 

And I kept my promise to appoint the first Black woman to the Supreme Court of the United States of America.  (Applause.)  Her name is Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.  And, by the way, I’ve appointed more Black women to the circuit courts of appeal on the federal level than every other President in American history combined.  (Applause.)

And all told, I’ve gotten 171 federal judges confirmed.  Two thirds of those judges are women — (applause) — two thirds are women and people of color.

When I got elected, I said I was going to have an administration that looked like America, and it does.  I have more women in my Cabinet than men.  (Laughter.)  There’s a simple reason for that: They’re smarter than most of the men I know.  (Laughter.)

But all kidding aside, thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which I signed, there are now 40,000 infrastructure projects all across America and just getting started, including $3 billion for the nation’s first high-speed rail line from Las Vegas to — (applause) — Los Angeles. 

It’s a two-hour train ride instead of a four-hour car ride.  And guess what?  All the studies show if a person can get on a train — an electric train and go from point A to point B faster than they can in their car, they leave their car home.  It has — it’s going to take tens of thousands of cars off the highway, off the pollution index. 

186 miles per hour; also reduce carbon emissions; making 3 million — taking 3 million vehicles off the road; creating
35,000 jobs during the construction phase — good-paying union jobs — 10,000 union jobs in the building trades: carpenters, electricians, ironworkers, laborers, and more.  And now — and now — and jobs well beyond that.

Generating significant economic growth from Nevada to California.  And, by the way, it includes transforming California, at the other end, high-speed rail.  They’re going to have a 220-mile-an-hour train through the central part of the state.  That’s going to connect California and Nevada.  It’s going to change economic conditions in both places in a big way.

You know, like FDR — FDR had the Rural Electrification program.  Electricity changed the world in that time.  But guess what?  People in rural areas couldn’t afford it.  So, he set up the Rural Electrification program.  Well, the Inter- — providing that access was — is as — for affordable high-speed Internet is the same thing.  People can’t make it anymore without Internet.  Whether you’re a farmer knowing when to trade your cattle, whether you’re someone who is engaged in — in telemedicine — I mean, whatever it happens to be, it’s significant.

We’re bringing affordable high-speed Internet everywhere in America because Internet is just as essential as electricity was back then.

And that includes nearly 2- — nearly 270,000 households here in Nevada.  And, by the way, paying $30 or less — some that are already paying $30 now are going to pay nothing because that’s what we’re doing — for high-speed Internet, instead of two or three times as much, so children can do their homework, businesses can thrive, farmers can know when to sell their products.

Folks, we’ve ripped out every poisonous — we’re going to rip out every poisonous lead pipe in America so every child in America can turn on a faucet and drink clean water without worrying about brain damage.  (Applause.)  It’s real.  And in the process, creating thousands of good-paying jobs — thousands of jobs.

I don’t have to tell you about the carnage of gun violence.  I don’t have to tell anybody in the Las Vegas area about that.  We passed the most significant gun safety law in decades.  And I’m not going to stop until we once again ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.  (Applause.)  I did it once.

You saw what Trump said when those kids were killed recently — two teachers and a child — sixth-grade.  You know what his comment was when asked about it?  He said, they just got to “get over it.”  From the President of the United States, that’s a quote.  I’m not making it up.  They just got to “get over it.”

We’re saving the planet with the most significant investment in climate change ever, anywhere in the entire world.  That includes $12 billion in clean energy investments in Nevada to be a national leader in electr- — electric vehicles, batteries, and creating tens of thousands of good jobs creating significant economic growth.

I signed into law a thing called the PACT Act, because I felt very passionate about it.  I saw the — I’ve said and gotten in trouble for saying it — we have — for the last 30 years, we have a lot of obligations as a government.  We only have one sacred obligation, and that’s to prepare those we send into harm’s way and care for them and their families when they come home or don’t come home.  One of the most significant laws helping veterans exposed toxic materials and their families — it matters. 

There’s so much more we’re doing that we — and we can do it together.

And, by the way, you know, all those firefighters in 9/11, you saw what happened to them.  Our firefighters are dying.  Well, my son was Attorney General — I guess I shouldn’t get personal with it.  My son was the Attorney General of the state of Delaware, and he decided to join the National Guard. 

One day I was home, and he said, “Dad, what are you doing Friday?”  I said, “What do you need, Beau?”  He said, “Swear me in.”  I said, “Swear you in for what?”  He said, “I joined the National Guard.” 

When his unit got deployed, he kept coming to Washington, and I couldn’t understand why.  He had to get a dispensation.  You either work for the governor or you work for the president; you can’t work for both.  So, he gave up his job as Attorney General to go with his unit for a year to Iraq, like — like thousands of women and young men have done.

Well, guess what?  His hooch in Baghdad was about — was not quite a quarter of a half — a little over a quarter mile from where he slept, a burn pit 10 feet deep, 100 yards long, 40 yards wide.  They burned everything from human carnage to toxic waste in it.  He breathed that air.  He came home with stage 4 glioblastoma. 

Folks, so many — and this is what we did.

I also moved up, from my generation, Agent Orange.  Agent Orange now is totally covered, and they don’t have to prove.  If you have Agent Orange, you can prove — dropped on your head, you get covered. 

And now imagine the nightmare that Trump retu- — if he returns to office.

The President, he said — called servicemen buried in the cemetery in France — when he was there, he wouldn’t go up to — to deal with it.  You know what he said?  I’m — got to hold my Irish temper.  I’m glad I wasn’t with him because I’m not sure what I’d have done.  He said they’re all a bunch of “suckers” and “losers.”  My son was not a sucker, nor were any of yours.  Who does this guy think he is talking about Americans like that?

As I said, after that recent shooting in Perry, Iowa, two — two people died — a sixth-grader, principal — you just got to “get over it.”  Just got to “get over it.”

Well, we’re not going to get over it, but we’re going to stop it. 

Trump — (applause) — Trump and his MAGA friends want to repeal the historic climate legislation. 

And now, after trying and failing more than 60 times, Trump is trying — and his MAGA friends are trying to do away with the Affordable Care Act, which now another 20,000 people just signed up for because you can’t get health insurance if you have a preexisting condition, but for the Affordable Care Act, if you don’t have money.  The law is the only reason that people all over the country with preexisting conditions are able to have it, and they want to take it away.

Trump and his MAGA friends are determined to take away the $35-a-month insulin, which just got passed into law, the $2,000 cap on prescription drugs.

How many of you believe the tax system is fair?  You’re all successful people.  I’m not suggesting you — I come from the corporate state of the world.  More corporations are incorporated in the state of Delaware than every other state in the nation combined.  I served there for 36 years.  I’m not a socialist.  I’m not trying to — I want corporations to do well.

But the idea — the idea — you know how we paid for all these programs and still cut the deficit $7 billion on my watch?  Because I said that, you know, the — remember reading about those 50 Fortune 500 companies that didn’t pay a penny in tax that made $40 billion?  Well, guess what?  I got — we had a Democratic Congress, and I was able to pass a law having a minimum tax of 15 percent — just 15 percent.  It’s helped pay for every one of those investments I mentioned.  Well — (applause). 

Meanwhile, Trump passed a $2 trillion tax cut overwhelmingly benefitting the very wealthy and biggest corporations to — and exploded the federal debt — exploded the federal debt when he left. 

And now, instead of protecting Social Security and Medicare like I am, Trump and his MAGA friends want to give it another massive billion-dollar tax cut to the super wealthy corporations.  They want to do away with the 15 percent tax on corporations. 

You realize, before the pandemic, we had 750 tril- — billionaires in America.  Now we have a thousand.  You know what their average federal tax is?  8.3 percent. 

My new young friend who is going to president someday, he pays more than that.  (Laughter.)

But thi- — but, no, think about that.  Think about why people are so upset and why they’re so angry.  If they just had a 28 percent tax, which is not even the highest tax rate, they would generate over $400 billion over 10 years.  It would solve so many problems and be fair.  It wouldn’t cost anybody anything.  You can still do a hell of a lot as a billionaire with a 28 percent fa- — tax cut.

Trump and his MAGA friends are determined to take away your fundamental freedoms, by the way.  They have — they’re under the — under — voting rights are under attack right now.  And just — I won’t go into the detail, but I just got two calls about what’s happening in other states right now.

And now, Trump is bragging about having overturned Roe v. Wade.  He stood there and said, “In my Court, I was able to — I overturned Roe v. Wade” — a woman’s freedom to choose.  Look, now they’re planning on a national ban to get a majority of the states to vote to say there can be no — no exceptions.  No — and, by the way, that’s happening.  But not on my watch.

That’s why I need your help reelecting our Democratic constituents here — our congresspersons here.  Because we’ve got to have a Democratic — (applause) — a Democratic Senate and Democratic House.  Because I promise you, we are going to restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land.  (Applause.)

But — but I really mean it.  You know, the Supreme Court, when they passed the Dobbs decision, said, “Well, women have a voice; they can vote,” meaning like they don’t take it seriously.  They’re about — they’re about to see something they never thought about.  (Laughter.)  Loo- — look at the states where they have lost. 

If MAGA Republicans try to pass a national ban on the right to choose, I will veto it.  It will never happen.  And if you elect me and Kamala, we’re — and win back the House and the Senate, we are going to, in November, restore Roe v. Wade to the law of the land again.  (Applause.)

Look, let me close with this.  Trump and his MAGA friends are dividing us, not uniting us; seeking to — seeking, as Trump says, to “terminate” — his phrase — “terminate” elements of the U.S. Constitution — “terminate”; embracing political violence. 

I — you know, some of you have been to my office and you — you’re all invited to — if you’re going to be in Washington, to let us know when you are going to be there, because you can come by.  But I could show you where he sat on the 6th, in that little dining room right off the Oval Office, threatening everything we stand for.

Let me just read a couple of his key statements he’s recently made.  Trump said, “I want to be a dictator on day one,” and he’s repeated why he wanted to be that. 

Trump said: Our opponents “live like vermin in the confines of our country” and “the threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous, and grave than the threat from within” among Americans. 

Trump said, “We have a vi- — we have vicious people outside, but I believe truly the people inside our country are far more vicious.” 

Trump said, immigrants, including from Africa, Asia, and all over the world are “poisoning the blood of our country.” 

Trump said the “J6” — meaning the January 6th hostages that have been sentenced and pled guilty — he said, “The JC ho- — JC — J6 hostages — don’t call them prisoners.  They’re hostages.  I call them hostages.  They’re hostages, not prisoners.” 

What the hell is with this guy?  I mean — I mean, seriously.  Those of you that are students of history, can you ever remember any president ever saying anything like this?

In 2016, he said, I — quote, “In 2016, I declared I am your voice.  And now I say to you again tonight, I am your warrior, I am your justice, I am your retribution.” 

He joked about the attack on Paul Pelosi.  Remember the guy that came after him with a hammer and cracked his skull, nearly killed him?  Well, as he said, “What in the hell are you doing on her — what — what in the hell was going on with her husband?  She got a wall around her house.  Obviously, in that case, it didn’t work very well, did it?  (Laughs.)  Didn’t work.  (Laughs.)”

Oh, God, I wish we were still kids. 

Trump suggested that Mark Milley, who is a hell of a soldier, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, was — Mark Milley should, quote, “face death” because he contacted China following January 6th to reassure them that the United States was still stable.

You know, I bet folks in the press business know press people who are worried that if he wins, they’re going to have to move because he wants to move against them.

So, folks, look, you know, I think that the people of Nevada, the vast majority of Americans, are still decent; they still believe in honesty, decency, dignity, respect.  I think that they believe that we’re all created equal.  They don’t always — it’s hard to do, but we hold these truths self-evident.  We’ve never lived up to it, but we’ve never walked away from it before.

We’re the most unique nation in the world.  We’re the only nation based on an idea.  Every other nation is organized based on ethnicity, religion, or some common denominator.  We’re the only nation based on an idea, that we hold these truths to be self-evident; we’re all created equal, endowed by our Creator, et cetera. 

We’ve never fully lived up to it, but we’ve never walked away from it verbally before — but practically.  And I think everybody deserves a shot. 

My dad used to have an expression.  He’d say at the dinner table — my dad was a well-read man.  He never got a chance to go to college because of World War Two, but he was a really decent man.  And dinner was a place we had conversation and, incidentally, ate.  (Laughs.)  He’d go back and close his business he managed. 

And my dad would say, “Joey, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck.  It’s about your dignity.  It’s about respect.  It’s about being able to look your k-“ — I swear to God; my word as a Biden, these are his exact words — “It’s about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, ‘Honey, it’s going to be okay,’ and mean it.”

Just giving people a shot.  Just giving people a shot. 

And that’s why the fundamental change I made in the economy and a lot of serious economists, mainstream economists are now giving me credit and agreeing with me.  We used to have a trickle-down theory: Let the wealthy do very well — and I don’t have any problem with it.  You can make a billion dollars.  Make it.  Just pay your fair share.  Just pay your fair share.  But what — what’s happening now is that we used to have a trickle-down economy: If everybody — if they did very well, it would trickle down to middle-class folks. 

Well, the middle class kept shrinking the last 30 years.  And I’ve been of the view that the way to grow the economy is from the middle out and the bottom up.  Because the wealthy do very well when that occurs, and everybody grows.  I mean, for real.  And that’s exactly what we’ve done. 

There’s a provision in the labor law back in the ‘30s that no one paid attention to, including Democratic presidents.  And that is if, in fact — if, in fact, the Congress gives you money to spend, whether to put a new deck in an aircraft carrier or build a new highway, you’re instructed to do two things: It must be done with an American workforce and with American product. 

Well, everybody found all kinds of exceptions not to do that.  I changed the exception rule.  And guess what?  It’s working.  We’ve grown the economy, and the middle class is growing, and the wealthy are still doing very well.  And everyone is doing fine. 

But what’s going to happen if he gets elected president?

Look, folks, we have — we have to keep the White House, but we have to keep the Senate.  Got to reelect Jacky.  You’ve got to keep — I really mean this.  And we must win back the House and win up and down the ticket.

When we do that, we’ll be able to look back and say something few generations get to say: We literally saved
American democracy.  It’s not hyperbole.  (Applause.)  (Inaudible.)

Folks, one thing we have to remember — we seem to have forgotten — this is the United States of America.  Nothing — nothing is beyond our capacity.  Nothing ever we’ve set our mind to we’ve failed to do when we do it together.  Nothing.

This is you — we’re the only nation in the world that’s come out of every crisis we’ve entered stronger than we went in.  That’s who we are.

We can’t let this guy drag that out of us.  There’s nothing beyond our capacity.  Nothing.

And, folks, I think, with your help, we’re going to continue this going until the next generation picks us up and takes us even further.

So, thank you.  God bless you all.  And thank you for all you’ve done for me.  (Applause.)

Hey, folks, when I was a senator, I spent a lot of time on highway crowding and highway safety.  I got elected President; there’s no problem with highways.  There — we never have any cars in front of us.  I don’t know how that happens.  (Laughter.) 

But all kidding aside, we just got a notification that — to make a whole issue of this — the NFL teams are arriving, and I can’t — they can’t land until I take off.  (Laughter.)  Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.  (Laughter and applause.)

So, folks, I got to get the hell out of here.  I — no, I’m not even kidding.  You think I’m joking.  I’m not, Gov.  I’m not.

So, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.  (Applause.)

5:29 P.M. PST

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