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    On this day, we honor the more than half a million brave patriots who sacrificed their freedom as prisoners of war — risking their own safety for the safety of their fellow Americans.  We recommit to fulfilling our country’s one truly sacred obligation:  to prepare and equip those we send into harm’s way and to care for them and their families when they return home and when they do not.

Last September, I visited a memorial in Hanoi for my friend, former United States Senator John McCain, who had been imprisoned there for five and a half years when he was a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy.  I reflected on the unfathomable conditions and pain that he and so many others have endured as prisoners of war.  It was a solemn reminder of the grave costs of war and the immense sacrifices American service members are willing to make to defend our Nation.  They have always embodied the highest expectations of our democracy — daring all and risking all so that our country remains free and our people remain safe.  We owe them and their families, caregivers, and survivors a debt of gratitude we can never fully repay but will never cease trying to fulfill.

Today, and every day, we recommit to this vow.  We honor the unbending courage and unshakable devotion of our former prisoners of war.  We reaffirm our commitment to bringing home all those still missing or unaccounted for.  We pledge to keep faith in all these heroes and their families — just as they have kept ultimate faith in our Nation.

May God bless our former prisoners of war and their families, caregivers, and survivors — and may God protect our troops.

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 April 9, 2024, as National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day.  I call upon Americans to observe this day by honoring the service and sacrifice of all former prisoners of war as our Nation expresses its eternal gratitude for their service.  I also call upon Federal, State, and local government officials and organizations to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of April, 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.

The post A Proclamation on National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day, 2024 appeared first on The White House.

Federal agencies and private sector companies announce additional commitments to build awareness of the benefits of space – including the use of space-based data to address the climate crisis – and increase economic opportunities from space activity

Under Vice President Kamala Harris’s leadership of the National Space Council, the U.S. is continuing to steward the responsible and sustainable use of space to protect our national security interests, address the climate crisis, foster a thriving commercial space sector, and more. In 2022, the Vice President announced commitments to inspire, prepare, and employ the space workforce and ensure that the U.S.’ future in space remains strong. Today, the Vice President issued a call to action for both the private and public sectors to bring the benefits of space to communities across our Nation. As part of this call to action private and public organizations and institutions are announcing commitments to help achieve that aim.

Find Your Place in Space Week

Space is a growing industry that touches nearly every sector — from health care and climate, to banking, agriculture, and infrastructure. For America, space is a source of strength, inspiration, and innovation. Space activities have become critical to our way of life and provide numerous benefits to society. That’s why more than 100 organizations are coming together  to support the first-ever Find Your Place in Space Week, which includes more than 200 events across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C.. Each event will provide opportunities for people to learn about space.  

Space4All

To strengthen U.S. space collaboration and increase public engagement, the U.S. Department of Education (ED), Women in Aerospace (WIA), American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Club for the Future, and the Space Foundation are collaborating through a Private-Public-Partnership with more than 150 companies to develop Space4All. This is a five-year awareness campaign to raise public understanding of the benefits of space for life on Earth. This campaign will convey the importance of everyone participating in and benefiting from the space enterprise and increase public awareness of the opportunities and pathways to success in space and STEM-related education and careers. For more information contact info@Space4All.us.

Space Workforce Coalition

In September 2022, Vice President Harris announced a newly formed coalition of space organizations that are working together to meet the rising demand for a skilled technical workforce in the U.S. space industry. The coalition – launched in Florida, the Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast, and Southern California – has expanded to include nearly 40 companies, organizations, and academic institutions across the federal, state, regional, and local levels. Outcomes from the coalition include increasing the number of space-related registered apprenticeships in Southern California and the development of a Space Academy for Florida’s high school students and adult learners, graduating Aerospace Technicians in the New Orleans region. The newest states to join the coalition include Colorado and Alabama. For more information, contact info@spaceworkforcecoalition.org.

SpaceTechConnect

The White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) is creating the Executive HBCU Space Lab. This is an innovative collaboration between HBCUs, the Federal government, and industry partners. In May, The Lab will release SpaceTechConnect, a free platform to increase HBCU engagement in space-related federal contracting. The following HBCUs, organizations, and companies have already joined the Lab: The Equity Space Alliance, Alabama A&M University, Bowie State University, Florida A&M University, Morehouse School of Medicine, Morgan State University, Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Tuskegee University, Tougaloo College Research and Development Foundation, UNCF, University of the District of Columbia, Axiom Space, Blue Origin, The Boeing Company, Deloitte, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Sierra Space, United Launch Alliance, the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of Energy, the Federal Aviation Administration, the General Services Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Small Business Administration. For more information, contact OSHWHI-HBCU@ed.gov.

Earthrise Initiative

The Earthrise Initiative will provide educators with a collection of Earth and climate science resources each month. These resources will come from across the federal government. Earthrise was launched by NASA, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Defense, the National Institutes of Health, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency, the Smithsonian Science Education Center, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Department of Education, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program. To learn more about Earthrise and sign-up for this monthly engagement, visit nasa.gov/stem-content/earthrise/.

Milo Mission Academy for Climate Intelligence and Earth Science

The Milo Institute at Arizona State University and the Puerto Rico Science, Technology, & Research Trust (PRST) are establishing the Milo Mission Academy for Climate Intelligence and Earth Science. The academy will begin in fall 2024 and will equip students with expertise in remote sensing in order to create cutting-edge applications that use satellite data to address challenges on Earth. The applications will play a pivotal role in monitoring natural resources and land use within island communities to safeguard their wellbeing and sustainability. For more information, contact amaldonado@prsciencetrust.org.

International Space Station and Rosie Riveters Support Space STEM Education for Girls

The International Space Station National Laboratory is partnering with Rosie Riveters – a national STEM non-profit that is focused on engaging and inspiring girls – to bring STEM opportunities to girls. With a shared commitment to diversifying the STEM workforce and equipping the next generation of space explorers, this collaboration will help young girls develop the skills they need to impact the future of space. For more information, contact: info@rosieriveters.com.

Call to Action Focus Areas

This call to action is only one component of the Vice President’s strategy to increase the shared benefits of space discovery and exploration, maintain a robust U.S. space enterprise, and preserve space for current and future generations. It aims to generate new public-private-partnerships and commitments from businesses and social enterprises to bring more of space’s benefits to Earth in three focus areas. These focus areas have an emphasis on equity and include:

• Space STEM Education and Workforce Development – These commitments expand access to space and STEM education work-based learning opportunities. This includes apprenticeships and internships for current and future generations of scientists, welders, machinists, and engineers – including positions that require college degrees, those that do not require college degrees, and those that require security clearances in support of the United States Space Priorities Framework.
• Address the Climate Crisis – These commitments develop and scale climate services that use space-based data to strengthen decision making as a nation. They also enable businesses, communities, and individuals to reduce climate risk and increase resilience in support of the Administration’s goal to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

• Expand Economic Opportunity Through Small Businesses – These commitments increase private sector investments in small businesses, minority-owned businesses, women-owned businesses, and disadvantaged businesses in the nation’s commercial space sector. This includes providing technical assistance to obtain commercial sector certifications and market access to business-to-business contracting in support of the Administrations’ goal to increase the share of federal contracting dollars going to small businesses that are owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals to 15% by Fiscal Year 2025.

How to Join the Call to Action

The National Space Council will manage follow-up steps to today’s call to action.  Interested parties can get involved by contacting the National Space Council at Contact.NSpC@ovp.eop.gov.

The post FACT SHEET: Vice President Kamala Harris Launches Call to Action to Bring the Benefits of Space to Communities Across America appeared first on The White House.

Aboard Air Force One
En Route Madison, Wisconsin

12:25 P.M. EDT

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Okay.  Here we go.  So, from day one, President Biden vowed to fix the broken student loan system and make sure education was a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity. 
 
Today, we are heading to Madison, Wisconsin, where the President will announce his new plans to cancel student debt.  If these plans are finalized, more than 30 million people would stand to benefit from student debt relief when combined with the steps we have already taken. 
 
The Vice President, Second Gentleman, and Secretary Cardona are also fanning out across the country to talk to Americans who have received debt relief thanks to the Biden-Harris administration.  The President will continue to use every tool to deliver as much relief as possible to as many people as possible, no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stand in his way. 
 
Second, last night, the President, as you all know, called Coach Dawn Staley from the University of South Carolina to congratulate her and the team on their undefeated season and national championship.  Yesterday’s game was fantastic and capped off a woman’s tournament that generated record ratings.
 
On behalf of the White House, we congratulate the University of South Carolina and all the athletes who have accomplished so much for their teams and their — and their sport.  It was really a March Madness to remember. 
 
And finally to mark the eclipse, the White House released a video — hopefully, you all got to see it before we took off this morning — on social media with the President reminding people to wear protective eyewear.  The President hopes that everyone enjoys the eclipse but hopes they also play it safe and protect their eyes. 
 
With that, I am happy to take some of your question.
 
Darlene. 
 
Q    Thank you.  Congress is back this week.  Apart from the national security supplemental, money for Ukraine and Israel, is there any legislation the President would want to see Congress send him before they break again for recess in a couple of weeks?
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah, thank you for the question.  I think it’s really important.  You mentioned the national security supplemental, which we all know passed in a bipartisan fashion, overwhelmingly, in the Senate, 79-29.  And now we want to see Speaker Johnson put that national security supplemental on the floor.  We know it would get overwhelming support.  We want to see that moving forward. 
 
We also want to see Congress move forward with the border security negotiation that came out of the Senate.  It was done in a bipartisan way.  The President, obviously, was involved in that.  And so, we know that the last president, President Trump, told Republicans to reject that proposal and not put the — not put majority of Americans first.

A majority of Americans want to see that proposal move forward or — not even the proposal — want us to take action on the im- — immigration system, which has been broken for decades.  And we want to see that proposal move forward because we believe that proposal, if it were to move forward, it got to the President’s desk, and he were to sign it, it would be not just the toughest but also the fairest — getting support from U.S. Chamber of Commerce and also the Border control — Patrol folks. 
 
In addition, there is — the Senate should pass the bipartisan tax deal passed by the House, which would expand the Child Tax Credit for millions of families and support construction of hundreds of thousands of affordable homes. 
 
Congress should extend funding for the Affordability [Affordable] Connectivity Program — you heard us talk about that recently — which has helped over 23 million households save 30 to 75 bucks each month on their monthly Internet bills.
 
And then, finally, Congress should pass the bipartisan bill to reauthorize and reform Section 702, which provides irreplaceable information on almost every threat that the American people expect their government to find and stop: terrorist plots, illicit fentanyl, ransomware and other cyberattacks, Russian — Russian war crimes, and many, many more. 
 
So, there’s a lot for Congress to do, and we hope that they take — they take action. 
 
Q    Sec- — second, will the President be able to see any of the solar eclipse —
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So —
 
Q    — today?
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  — I — I don’t have any information on that to share with you.  Obviously, as I stated at the top, the President wants to make sure — it’s exciting time.  We know millions of Americans are excited about the — the solar eclipse that’s going to happen today.  We want to make sure that they protect their eyes, they have the protective eyewear.  I just don’t have anything to share on — on — right now, at this moment, on — on the President.
 
Q    On Section 702, does the White House have a contingency plan if Congress allows this to lapse?  And then what would be — you mentioned a few of the risks, but what are some of the ramifications if this provision expires?
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, look, I — I don’t want to get ahead of the most important point — right? — the provision underpinning the government’s most critical foreign intelligence tool, Section 702, is set to expire on April 19th and — along with other provisions.  And we’re — and we’re laser-focused on working with the Hill to prevent that from happening.  And so, that’s our focus.  That’s what we’re going to do.
 
And — and I — I think I’ve mentioned this already about what it — what — what Section [7]02 provides: irreplaceable information on almost every threat that the American people ex- — expect their government to find and stop.  And so, we urge Congress to — to reauthorize it now. 
 
The bipartisan bill that the House will take up this week includes some of the most extensive reform we’ve ever seen to protect the privacy of Americans and to strengthen guardrails to ensure accountability and transparency in how this critical authority is used.
 
The administration strongly, strongly supports the reauthoration — reauthorization and the of — and reform bill.  And so, don’t want to get into hypotheticals from here.  We are going to do everything that we can to get this done. 
 
Obviously, the deadline for this is April 19th.
 
Q    Do you have an update on the Gaza hostage talks in Cairo?  And I think Jake is meeting with some hostage families today.  
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I don’t have anything on the Jake meeting with hostage families.  I would certainly refer you to the National Security Council. 
 
As you know, there were reportings on the Di- — Director Burns being in Cairo over the weekend.  Certainly can confirm that for all of you.
 
I’m not going to get into details of those talks.  As you know, they’re incredibly sensitive.  And — and we’re doing everything — this administration is doing everything possible to broker a deal that secures the release of all hostages and leads to an immediate ceasefire.  And there is no — no higher priority for us at this time.
 
Q    And — and Israel’s withdrawal from parts of Gaza, what do you make of that?
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I’m just not going to get into the — Israel’s — Israel government op- — operations — military operations.  I’m just not going to get into.  I let them speak to it for themselves.
 
Go ahead, Mario.
 
Q    Yes, Jamie Dimon today, Morgan Chase’s CEO, said that — suggested that the LNG exports were political, the ban was — were — was political.  Does the administration have any response to that assertion at all?
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah, we want to be really clear about the facts here.  And the facts are: We announced a temporary pause on pending additional approvals of LNG report [export] licenses to evaluate the economic and climate impacts on consumers and communities.  I’ve mentioned this before — very recently, last week at the podium.
 
Meanwhile, record domestic oil and gas production is helping meet our immediate needs while we make the historic investment needed to transition to a clean energy economy. 
 
The President has been very clear that climate crisis — that the climate is indeed — climate change is a crisis.  He’s going to do everything that he can to deal with this.  He’s — he’s been the most — yeah, he’s taken the most progressive, ambitious actions on dealing with climate change.  And we have to deal with the facts.  That’s what we have to deal with: the facts.
 
Q    On the student debt plan — the second student debt plan.  The — the earnings-to-borrow ratio that’s being applied to for-profit universities — if you took that ratio, it would also apply to almost 80 percent of undergraduate degrees, some HBCUs.  Why isn’t that being applied evenly?  It looks like you’re targeting the for-profit universities.
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Just a couple of things.  Obviously, the Department of Education is going to be really squarely focused on this, but I’ll say a couple of things. 
 
We’re committed to holding colleges accountable when they leave students with mountains of debt and without good job prospects.  That’s our commitment.
 
And so, we’ll be issuing proposed rules on the policies announced today in the coming months.  So, we’ll be able to address those specific questions in the coming months.  But obviously, the Department of Education is — is monitoring all of this as well.
 
Q    And does the White House have any response to what Senator Fetterman said this weekend about squatting?  He took a pretty firm stance against that. 
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.  So, I — you know, I’m always very careful on what — what congressional — congressional members say.  You know, I’m going to obviously let — let the senator speak for himself. 
 
As I said before — I also spoke to this last week at the podium — it is critical that communities take action to address this issue in a way that works best for them.  While this is a local issue, it is important that we protect the rights of both property owners and also renters.
 
But I also want to be clear here: Anyone found guilty of a crime should be held accountable.  And that is something that we’ve been consistent about from here. 
 
The bottom line is this: Everyone in every community in this country wants the same thing.  They want their families to be safe, and we want to see that.
 
Q    Just one follow-up on that.  Democrats are talking about a bill that would eliminate — would ban back- — criminal background checks for renters.  That would include convictions for squatting.  Does the administration support that?
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I haven’t seen that particular legislation — what Democrats are working on — so, I want to be super mindful and not comment on that.  Obviously, I need to check in with our Office of Leg Affairs. 

But we’ve been very clear: Understanding this is a local issue, local government needs to address this, I don’t want to get ahead of — get ahead of where we might be on that. 

Q    Karine, Steve asked about the withdrawal of troops in southern Gaza.  I just want to ask, is that something that the President and Netanyahu talked about last week?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I don’t have anything beyond the readout that we all shared with you. 
 
Obviously, the purpose of that call last week was about protecting humanitarian aids who are in Gaza.  That was the purpose of that call.  And we have also said that Rafah operations was not part of that.  So, it was really focusing on that, what — what is — you know, what is Israel doing to protect humanitarian aid — aid workers, but also, six innocent civilians in Gaza, and that was the focus of the call. 
 
It was a 30-minute call.  It was very direct.  And so, don’t have anything beyond what we’ve read out to all of you.

Q    On Ukraine.  I know you’ve been asked similar things.  But if — if the Democrats were to support Speaker Johnson, if you were to bring that to the floor, is that something — would you be opposed to Democrats kind of helping out Johnson there?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Look, that is — and you’re talking about as it relates to the — the national security —

Q    Yes.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  — supplemental?  Look, we’ve been always very clear, Democrat — you know, Leader — Leader Jeffries — he’s the Leader.  He — he will — he will determine what’s right for his demo- — for his caucus — obviously, the Democratic Caucus.  We’re not going to step into that.  We’ll let them figure out how they want to move forward. 

Look, we’ve been very clear, and I said this at the top, I think even in my — in the first question that I got from Darlene: The national security supplemental — if we want to help Ukraine, if we want to keep our commitment to Ukraine as they are fighting for their freedom — the brave people of Ukraine fighting for their freedom, we got to get that national security supplemental done.  That is what is going to — we got to do our part.  We have to do our part.  And what we have seen in the past several weeks, several months is Ukraine is losing ground in the battlefield.  And that’s because of congressional inaction. 

And so, we have to continue our support, as we’ve been supporting them for almost — more than two years now.  And they are fighting for their freedom, their democracy against Mr.  Putin’s aggression. 

And so, look, we know what happens if we do not deal with tyranny, if we not — if we do not stop at a dictator.  We know how history has played out in the past.  And so, this is critical.  This is important. 

If that — if Speaker Johnson were to put that supp- — national security supplemental on the — on the floor, we know that it would get overwhelming support.  But as it rel- — as it relates to Democrats and how they’re going to move forward, I would have to leave it to Leaders Sc- — Leader Jeffries.

Q    Just — just one more quick one on Trump and abortion.  I know the campaign put something out, but just on the policy position that he’s taking, any response?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah, I do.  So, obviously, don’t want to comment on 2024 election.  Going to be really mindful. 

But I have a couple of things that I want to say here.  So, the only reason that — that extreme abortion bans are now in effect all over the country is because of the judges the previous President and Senate Republicans put in the courts.  The only reason that women are being denied lifesaving and even unrelated procedures and turned away from emergency rooms as a result of those bans is because of the judges the previous President and Senate Republicans have put in the courts.

The only reason that Republicans’ officials are able to take radical actions like banning IVF and criminalizing doctors for providing care is because of the judges the previous President and Senate Republicans put in the court.

When it comes to the fundamental freedoms at stake and the devastating healthcare effects that Republican officials’ extreme agenda mean for more and more American women every day, we need to be clear-eyed here. 

Just look at the extreme law about to go into effect in Florida, as one in three women live in states with bans — with bans. 

Just look at the budget.  Look at the budget 80 percent of House Republicans put out that bans abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest. 

The President is absolutely clear, his administration — the Biden-Harris administration — has been very clear: We need to restore the protections of Roe, and that’s what we’re going to continue to fight for.

Q    Karine, the Vatican, today, put out a new document that states gender-affirming operations risk, quote, “threatening the unique dignity the person has received from the moment of conception,” and also denounces attempts to obscure, quote, “the sexual difference between man and woman.” 

Obviously, the President is a devout Catholic.  I’m wondering if he has seen that document and if he has any comments on it. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I — I’ll say this: So, we are pleased to see that the document you just mentioned, Tyler, further the Vatican’s call to ensure that LGBTQ+ are protected from violence and imprisonment around the world. 
 
However, the President will continue to be an advocate for the rights, safety, and dignity of the LGBTQ+ community, including transgender people, here in the U.S. — and not just here in the U.S. but also around the world. 
 
And I just don’t have anything else to add.
 
Q    What about the — what about the more specific comments about gender theory and — and transgender individuals?
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Look, I’m going to be really careful and — and the President’s role to — to litigate internal church policy.  It’s not — that’s not his role.  So, I’m going to be super careful there. 
 
But I can speak to the President’s stance, and he’s always been very clear on the importance of protecting — or having protections for the transgender community and the broader LGBTQ+ community.  And that’s been very clear since day one of his administration.
 
Q    And just one more on student debt.  Does — the President’s previous attempts to cancel student debt have been struck down by the courts.  What is the level of confidence within the administration about the ability to — to go forward with the plan that he’s going to lay out in more detail today?
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, look, we know that Republicans’ officials, obviously, in the past, have done everything that they can to oppose the President’s — the President’s effort to give Americans — millions of Americans a little breathing room. 
 
So, while we can’t prevent them from — from filing lawsuits against this plan, the President will never stop fighting on behalf of borrowers, no matter how many times Republicans try to stop them. 
 
You know, we — as I just stated at the top in answering your question, we know what Republicans are going to do.  We can’t stop them from that.  But it’s also not going to stop the President on acting and taking action like he’s doing today.
 
Q    And just one more quick one.  Did the President — you said the President called the coach of South Carolina.  Did he watch any of the game last night?  And did he invite them to the White House?
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I’ll have more to share.  We’ll have more to share on — on a potential visit to the White House.  As you know, that is a common — that is a common — common event for the champions to come to the White House.  So, we’ll certainly have more to share. 
 
I have not had a second to ask him if he was able to watch the game last night, so I don’t have anything to share on that.
 
Q    One quick follow-up. 
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.
 
Q    Why is the —
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Which — which follow-up?  (Laughs.)
 
Q    I’m going back to the eclipse.
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Okay, okay, okay.  (Laughter.)
 
Q    Why is the President traveling today?  Did he not want to be at the White House for this, you know, big moment?  I mean, during the last eclipse, President Trump was at the White House and watched from the balcony.  So, just —
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  We all saw that moment, yes.
 
Q    Just wondering if this current president —
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  We all know that moment.  And, hopefully, you saw the President’s video on the eclipse.
 
Look, we know — we know how exciting this is.  We get it.  We know that people are going to want to watch it, obviously.  And I said this multiple times already: We want them to do it safely, put some — the — your protective eyewear on to do this. 
 
Look, but student loans matter — right? — giving — giving Americans student loan relief also matters, right?
 
Q    True, but you could talk about student loans any day of the week. 
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  (Laughs.)
 
Q    The eclipse only comes around, you know, once every 40 years.
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah, I know.  I know. 
 
But, you know, the President has a different schedule.  And the schedule certainly is — is focused on — on what he’s doing on behalf of the American people. 
 
And, look, you know, what he announced today con- — and as — as it’s obviously also connected to other announcement that he’s — he’s made on — on student — on student debt relief — is going to help at least 30 million Americans across the country.  That matters.
 
And I think when we go to Madison, Wisconsin, which the President is — is really looking forward to do and having — and him laying out what he’s — what he’s announcing, I think folks there are going to be excited to hear about that too.
 
And so, look, it’s an exciting day.  Yes, there’s an eclipse.  But, you know, the President — it’s not going to stop the President from traveling and being — going directly to the American people and talking about a plan that he pro- — he promised that he would deliver on — deliver on, even though Republican officials have tried to stop it.
 
Q    Can I ask you about the articles of impeachment against Secretary Mayorkas and the trial this week?  House Republicans clearly believe that he violated the law there.  Do you all take this as a sign that some law has been violated or just that it’s a — a representation of a frustration with border policies?
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, a couple of things.  And I’ve talk- — I’ve spoken to this many times before.  Obviously, this is not their first attempt. 
 
And as the President has said, “History will not look kindly on House Republicans for this blatant act of unconstitutional partnership.”  This impeachment stunt already failed once on the — on a bipartisan vote.  And it drew bipartisan opposition again in February, as I know you’re tracking.
 
Instead of wasting time on these kinds of political games, Republicans should — should want Congress to deliver more resources and stronger border security.  We talked about that.  There is a bipartisan border security proposal that we were able to ha- — make happen in the Senate, as you all know.  That took a couple of months.  And the former President told Republicans to reject it. 

Hopefully, they will do the right thing and be where majority of Americans are when it comes to the immigration system and fi- — fixing — fixing that — a system that’s been broken for decades.
 
So, if — this is not what the American people want or expect from their leaders.  They want us to deliver on real, real solutions — solving problems that they have — including, as I just mentioned, the border security.
 
Q    Is the administration still considering executive actions at this point?
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I mean, I’ve also been very clear about this, and I think the President has been as well: This administration has been — the only real solution, we believe, in dealing with the border challenges that we’re seeing and — and fixing the immigration system, again, that’s been broken for decades is moving forward with this border security proposal. 
 
Again, I stated this at the top; I’ll state it again.  You’ve got the Border Patrol union supporting this; you have the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.  It was done in a bipartisan way — the negotiation — coming out of the Senate.  You know, we believe this is the way to move forward. 
 
And it would be, yes, tough but also fair.  And it would be the first — I think the first — the first legislation, if it were to get through and the President were to sign it, that we have seen in some time. 
 
And so, a majority of Americans care about this.  Let’s get to work.  Congress should get to work and get this done. 
 
Q    If it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen, though, before the end of — before the end of President Biden’s first term, is it something that the administration thinks is important enough to move on unilaterally?
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Look, the President has taken so many actions over the last three years.  And he started off putting forth his own — his own proposal — a comprehensive immigration proposal the first day — first day that he walked in — the first piece of legislation that he wanted to move.  And three and a half — three — three years — more than three years, Republicans got in the way at every turn.  Every turn, they got in the way of getting things done. 
 
And so, we finally came to the end of the — end of last year, had a conversation — Republicans in the Senate, Democrats in the Senate — to get this done.  I mean, that’s pretty impressive to be able to come out with a bipartisan proposal. 
 
The former President got in the way and told — and told Republicans to reject it because it’s going to help Biden — I mean, you all reported that — and hurt him.  And that’s unfortunate. 
 
So, look, there’s been many times where we’ve been told that we’re not going to get things done in a bipartisan way, and we’ve been able to do that in the past three years.  So, that’s not going to stop us.
 
We’re going to continue to call on Republicans to — to — for them to reject what the former President told them on not doing — on not moving on this — and to move on this on behalf of no politics, not partisanship, but on behalf of the American people. 
 
All right?  Thanks, everybody. 
 
Q    Thank you.
 
12:47 P.M. EDT

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Madison Area Technical College
Madison, Wisconsin

1:26 P.M. CDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Wisconsin.  (Applause.)  Hello, hello, hello.  Please, have a seat if there is — you have one.  (Laughter.)

Gov, thank you.  Thank you for that nice introduction. 

And thank you, Ashley, for tha- — introducing me and sharing your story.  I, like an awful lot of people in this audience had — was the first in my family to go to college and watched my dad struggle to help me get there and get all the kids there.  And it wasn’t easy.

But, you know, I ask the rhetorical question: How can we be the leading country in the world without the best education system in the world and access to it?

You and Sam are from rural Wisconsin, first in your families to go to college — life partners, business partners, hardworking, paying off your loans — only to see your dreams being crushed by student debt. 

But now, thanks to what we’re doing, that student debt is no longer holding you back.  (Applause.) 

With this new freedom, you started your own business that helps women and minority-owned businesses right here in Wisconsin.  (Applause.) 

That’s what this is all about.  I think we all, in this room, share one goal: Give everybody a fair shot — just a shot — freedom to chase their dreams. 

You know, you’ve got some of the great leaders of Wisconsin here as well.  And I mean that sincerely.  I think Tony knows this: Your governor — I think he’s one of the best governors in the United States.  (Applause.)  And not just — you really are, Tony.  And what progress we’ve made, and we’ve made a lot, is in no small part because of Tony.  (Applause.)

And the bad news for Tony is, we’ve become friends.  (Laughs.)  (Applause.)

And, Mark, thank you, Representative.  Thanks for the passport to get into the district.  I appreciate it.  You’re doing a hell of a job. 

And Madison Mayor, thank you — where is she?  There you are.  Stand up.  (Applause.)  I get instructions from my wife, who’s a schoolteacher.  She said, “Make sure you say hello to the mayor.  I really like being with her.”  Thank you, Mayor, for taking care of her.  (Applause.)

And the state and local [and] Tribal leaders here today, thanks for making it available.  (Applause.)  Where are you?  There you — stand up, Chief.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

And, by the way, it’s Indian Nations.

And while she couldn’t be here, I’m always grateful for one of the best senators in the United States Senate, Tammy Baldwin.  (Applause.)  She really is.  She’s a great partner on education, infrastructure, buy American, and so much more.  She’s done so much.

And when Kamala and I ran this led in — in this lead county, we made a commitment to fix our broken student loan system.  Because while a college degree still is a ticket to the middle class, that ticket is becoming much too expensive — much too expensive. 

In fact, things are a lot different from when college tuition was more affordable and borrowing for college was — repaying those loans was re- — more reasonable. 

Today, too many Americans, especially young people, are saddled with unsustainable debts in exchange for a college degree.  The ability for working- and middle-class folks to repay their student loans has become so burdensome that a lot can’t repay it for even decades after being in school.  And I mean that sincerely.  Many of you know that, sitting in front of me.  Even when they have worked hard and pay their student loans, their debt increases, not diminishes. 

Too many people feel the strain and stress, wondering if they’re going to — can get married, have their first child, start a family, because, even if they get by, they still have this crushing, crushing debt. 

That’s not — you know, it’s not just a drag on them, it’s a drag on our local economies.  It’s a rag on — no, it really is.  It’s a drag on the economies when you can’t afford to buy a home, start that small business, chase that career that you’ve been dreaming about for a long time.

That’s why, early in my term, I announced a major plan to provide more than 40 million working- and middle-class Americans student debt relief.  Tens of millions — (applause) — tens of millions of people’s debt was literally about to get canceled, but then some of my Republican friends and elected officials and special interests sued us, and the Supreme Court blocked us. 

But that didn’t —

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, that didn’t stop us.  No, I mean it sincerely.  We continue to find alternative paths to reduce student debt payments — (applause) — that are not challengeable.

And altogether, my administration has taken the most significant action to provide student debt relief ever in the history of this country.  (Applause.)  We started by fixing two existing programs to get more people the student debt relief than their — that they were entitled to. 

First, we fixed what was called the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which was designed — (applause) — to make sure those in public service — schoolteachers, police officers, firefighters, social workers, faith leaders, public servants — you get the student loan forgiven in 10 years if they’ve made their payments for those first 10 years.  And after 10 years, in the student — in public service, they would have their loan forgiven. 

When I took office, 7,000 public service [servants] had their debt — 7,000 had their debts forgiven.  But the program wasn’t wor- — working very well, so I called in the Department of Education and other departments and said, “We got to fix this and fix it now.”  Thanks to our reforms, nearly 900,000 have had their debts forgiven — (applause) — including 16,400 right here in Wisconsin — right here in Wisconsin.  (Applause.)

Second, we turned what’s called an income-driven repayment program, which I’ve renamed the SAVE program — the most affordable repayment plan ever.

Before I took office, student borrowers had to pay 10 percent of their discretionary income on a monthly basis from what they borrowed — 10 percent discretionary income.  That’s the income after you pay necessities like housing and food.  A lot of people didn’t have the means to pay 10 percent, so I was able to (inaudible) my authority to have the department cut that to 5 percent for undergraduate loans.  (Applause.)

Now, that means no one with undergraduate loans, whether a community college or a four-year college, would have to pay more than 5 percent of their discretionary income to repay those loans starting in July — starting in July of this year. 

And for millions of borrowers who make less than $32,000 a year now after they’re out, their monthly student payments will be dropped to zero as long as they’re that — (applause) — really.

And already, close to 8 million Americans have enr- — had enrolled in the SAVE Plan, including 135,000 here in Wisconsin.  (Applause.) 

Because of our reforms, 25,000 people a month nationwide have been receiving letters from me about their debt they had for four years — for all those years is finally going to be forgiven.  But I’m not stopping here. 

Today, I’m proud to announce five major actions to continue to relieve student debt for more than 30 million Americans since this — I started my administration. 

First, my administration will propose a new rule to cancel up to $20,000 in runaway interest for any borrower that owes more now — (applause) — owes more now than when they started paying the loan.  (Applause.)  That make — it’s a big difference. 

And for low- and middle-class families enrolled in my SAVE program, we’ll cancel all of your interest — all of your interest.  (Applause.)   

And second, we plan to cancel student debt for borrowers who still owe student loans even though they started repaying them more than two decades ago.  

Folks, third, we plan to cancel debt for about 2 million borrowers who would be eligible for debt forgiveness through the SAVE program, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, or other debt-canceling programs but are not enrolled in these programs.  Some of you are only finding out after the fact, you’re — as you’re a teacher, a firefighter, a cop, that you qualify, but you just didn’t know about it before.  And now people are — but you’re eligible no matter how long it’s been — you’ve been out of the program.

Fourth, we plan to cancel debt for borrowers who the Department of Education determines were cheated by universities that left students with unaffordable loans and delivered little in benefits to students.  (Applause.)

And you know — you know one of those — you know one of those colleges was closed.  I won’t mention it.  (Laughter.)

And, finally, the Department of Education will propose a new rule to cancel student debt for Americans facing financial hardships, from childcare to healthcare, to [that] prevent them from paying back their loans.  

And over the coming months, the Department of Education will propose and then implement these plans. 

And starting this fall, we plan to deliver up to $20,000 in interest relief to over 20 million borrowers and full forgiveness for millions more.  (Applause.)

I can tell by the looks on some of your faces this relief — it’s not news to you all.  Because this relief can be life-changing — life-changing, just as you heard from Ashley.

Folks, I will never stop [fighting] to deliver student debt relief on [to] hardworking Americans.  And it’s only in the interest of America that we do it.  And, again, it’s for the good of our economy, that’s growing stronger and stronger — and it is. 

By freeing millions of Americans from this crushing debt of student debt, it means they can finally get on with their lives instead of being put — their lives being put on hold. 

That’s why every American making student loan payments should go to StudentAid.Gov — StudentAid.Gov to learn more about these plans and see if you’re — if — if any of them fit for you. 

Look, that’s not all.  People say to me, “It’s great you’re helping people [get] into college.  How about all those hardworking people who grew up and had no opportunity to go to college?” 

I get it.  That’s the neighborhood I come from. 

That’s why a big part of my economic agenda is investing in all Americans, whether you attend college or not. 

We’re expanding career and technical education at high schools — we — and think how many of these shop programs have been dropped, people not knowing whether they want to work with their hands, th- — not about being able to get started — to provide pathways to good middle-class jobs without college. 

My Labor Department is investing $200 million in grants for registered apprenticeship programs around the country — (applause) — so for- — folks can learn a skilled trade. 

And, by the way, parenthetically, you know all the money in the CHIPS program I put together?  Well, guess what?  It’s going to invest over $50 billion in new programs — new ability to make these chips here in America.  And in those “fabs” they call them, guess what?  You know what the average salary is?  A hundred and ten thousand dollars a year, and you don’t need a college degree — (applause) — but you need a skill.

Programs like the one that — taught right here at Madison Technical College that lead to good-paying jobs in high-growth fields — in clean energy, healthcare, and technology. 

These apprenticeship programs are four and five years before you qualify to have a license.  I love people saying, “Well, why are you — why are you so pro-union, pro-labor?” 

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Wooo!

THE PRESIDENT:  The — well — (applause) — no — a lot of people think you can walk up and say, “I want to be an electrician,” and you’re an electrician.  Five years of apprenticeship.  It’s like going to college.  Five years.

I also want to make — and I’ve been pushing this, and if I’m reelected, I’m going to push it hard; we’re going to get it done next time — is I want to make community college tuition free — (applause) — so you won’t need loans at all.  It’ll cut in half the cost of going to college.

If we do this, the economic gains will far outweigh the cost.  And that’s not hyperbole; that’s the truth. 

This is in addition to the historic investments we’re making to moderfiz- — modernize our infrastructure: roads, bridges, high-speed Internet, clean — clean water for every American.  We need more qualified people doing this work to bring back manufacturing — back to America, to build new factories in your communities. 

And I’m investing in the American agenda.  We expect to create millions of jobs over the next decade.  We’ve already created over 15 million new jobs — 15 million new jobs.  (Applause.)  And a significant number of these do not require a college degree, including across Wisconsin. 

Let me close with this.  My dad used to say — and I’m — it’s not hyperbole.  My dad was a hardworking guy.  He re- — well-read man, got into college.  He’s from Bal- — they say — everybody thinks it’s “Baltimore.”  It’s Baltimore.  (Pronounced in an accent.)  (Laughter.)

He was from Baltimore.  He — and he — he got into college to go to Johns Hopkins.  I didn’t know that until after he had passed away.  But it was during the war — just prior to the war.  He was working in the shipyard.  And he couldn’t go.

But he used to always — he had this phrase.  He’d say, “Joey, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck.  It’s about your dignity.  It’s about respect.  It’s about having a place in the community where you, in fact, are — feel like you belong.  It’s about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, ‘Honey, it’s going to be okay.’” 

That’s what we’re doing.  We’re giving people a chance to make it — not a guarantee, just a chance to make it.  And that’s why I’ve never been more optimistic about our future. 

We just have to remember who we are.  We are the United States of America.  And there’s nothing beyond our capacity if we do it together — nothing, nothing, nothing.  (Applause.)

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

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

1:40 P.M. CDT

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11:36 A.M. EDT

MODERATOR:  Looks like most folks are on.  Kirby has a few words at the top, and then we’ll take as many questions as we can in the next few minutes.  Thanks, everyone.

MR. KIRBY:  Hey, everybody.  Just a quick overview on the latest in the Middle East. 

First, yesterday we saw more than 300 trucks enter Gaza.  That’s more trucks than any single day since the war began.  And that’s progress.  But obviously, we need to see this number increase, and we need to see it sustained, to really address the dire humanitarian situation there in Gaza.

Also over the weekend, Ambassador Lew and David Satterfield had productive discussions with Minister of Defense Gallant, with the IDF, and with COGAT officials on the steps that the Israeli government has taken to implement the measures that the President discussed with Prime Minister Netanyahu in their call last week.  That includes to increase the flow of humanitarian assistance, sharpen up the deconfliction process, and again, to reduce the risk and raise the confidence level of humanitarian workers.

We certainly welcome all these steps.  Again, the President requested to get more aid into Gaza and address civilian harm.  But what we need to see, as we’ve said before, is that these steps are implemented and then sustained over time.  That includes major improvements, again, as I said, to the deconfliction process.  And we’re going to keep pressing the Israelis on exactly that. 

Second, just to provide an update on our review of the IDF independent investigation of the killing of World Central Kitchen workers in Gaza, we continue to review the conclusions of that investigation that was released by the IDF.  I know everybody is very curious about when we’re going to be done with that, what we’re going to say about it.  We’re still working our way through it.  I don’t have an update for you today.

Third, as has been publicly reported, Director Burns was in Cairo over the weekend as part of the hostage negotiations.  I don’t have a specific update to provide you today, but the administration is doing everything possible to broker a deal that secures the release of all the hostages and leads to an immediate ceasefire.  And there’s simply no higher priority.

Where we are now is that a proposal has been presented to Hamas, and we’re waiting on Hamas’s response.  As you all know from tracking this before, a response from Hamas to any particular proposal, one way or another, can often take a matter of days just because of the nature of communications with them and with Mr. Sinwar.  So that’s the best I have for an update for you.  I don’t have more detail. 

I’m not going to — as much as I know everybody is interested, I’m not going to get into what the specifics of that proposal is or what it looks like or what was negotiated in Cairo.  That would be one of the surest ways to torpedo this, and I’m not going to do that. 

I do want to add on the hostage front, though, that Jake will be meeting with family members of the U.S. citizens that are being held hostage.  And he’ll be meeting them tonight, later this afternoon, here at the White House.

Now, just on the state visit: As you all know, the President and First Lady are prepared to welcome Prime Minister Kishida and Mrs. Kishida of Japan to the White House for an official visit.  That will include a state dinner.  This visit will be a celebration of our bilateral relationship as it evolves into a global partnership that is a force for peace and prosperity; also a recognition of the significance of our alliance.  It builds on the immense progress between our two nations to help create a safer and more secure Indo-Pacific. 

You’ll be hearing more from us soon, obviously, on the wide range of deliverables that will be announced by the leaders on Wednesday.  I’m not going to get ahead of that.  But I do want to highlight that, on Thursday, President Biden will welcome President Marcos of the Philippines to the White House for his second bilateral meeting here at the White House and also a chance to host the first-ever trilateral leaders’ summit between the United States, Japan, and the Philippines.  And again, we’ll have much more to say about that as we get closer to Thursday.

The United States, Japan, and the Philippines are three closely aligned maritime democracies with increasingly convergent strategic objectives, interests, and, frankly, concerns in areas like the South China Sea.

The leaders are expected to announce new initiatives across a range of important issues during this historic trilateral meeting.  It’s the first ever at the leader level, and so we’re going to look to find ways to continue to deepen the collaboration with our closest partners, again, to ensure a free, open, prosperous, secure Indo-Pacific. 

And with that, I’m happy to take some questions.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Our first question will go to Aamer with the AP.

Q    Hey, thanks, John.  Thanks, Sam.  Any updates on scheduling of the Rafah meetings in Washington?

And then, second, will the President or anyone at the White House be meeting with Mr. Lapid while he’s in town this week?  I believe he is meeting today at the State Department. 

And I know you don’t want to talk about specifics on the Cairo talks, but generally speaking, is there any reason to be more optimistic that a hostage deal can come through soon, coming out of the talks this weekend?  Thank you, John.

MR. KIRBY:  Aamer, can you ask me your first question again?  I’m sorry, I was trying to write fast and I —

Q    Sorry.  On the Rafah meetings that were expected for Washington —

MR. KIRBY:  Oh, yeah.

Q    — is there any updates on timing on that?

MR. KIRBY:   Okay, thanks.  So, on Rafah, still no date certain.  Nothing set for the calendar.  We were hoping to be able to do it this week, but I’m not sure that it’s going to actually happen this week.  I think folks are really sort of circling around sometime next week.  But stay tuned, obviously when we know something.  But I’m not expecting one this week, but we’re still working the calendar items.

On Lapid, look, since the war started, Jake has met with Ron Dermer, Minister Gallant, Benny Gantz, Mr. Bennett, obviously and — and the Speaker of the Knesset.  And yes, he will be meeting with Mr. Lapid.  So he’s always made it a priority to meet with senior Israeli officials when they’re in town; Mr. Lapid is no exception.  And Jake will be having a discussion with him.

On the hostage deal, I really can’t say, honestly, Aamer, as — I went, really, as far as I could go in my topper.  There was a serious round of discussions and negotiations over the weekend.  Mr. Burns participated in that and represented us in those talks.  And at the end of the weekend, a proposal was submitted to Hamas, and now it’s going to be up to Hamas to come through. 

So what the chances are of that, I wouldn’t want to handicap it, except to say that — and I think it should be plainly obvious just by the amount of shuttle diplomacy that we’re doing and our counterparts are doing — we’re taking this very, very seriously.  And we really want to do — come to closure on a hostage deal as soon as possible.  Because again, with that hostage deal comes a ceasefire of some weeks’ duration, hopefully around six weeks, which could do a lot to ease the burden on the Gazan people and to help us improve that humanitarian assistance.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Our next question will go to Justin with Bloomberg.

Q    Hey, guys.  Thanks for doing this.  Two quick ones.  The first was: I was wondering if you could just kind of give a general reaction to the Israeli statements over the weekend that were positive on ceasefire negotiations and possibly pulling some troops out of Gaza.  You know, are you encouraged by those?  Are you still kind of wait and see?  Just whatever you have on that. 

And then, I know you said you didn’t have an update on the talks themselves, but I was wondering if you had a response to the — if you could share if there was a response to the letters the President sent to the leaders of Egypt and Qatar on the hostage talks.  And if there was response, anything you could share there.

MR. KIRBY:  So as we’ve said before, the announcements and the statements coming out of the Israeli government over the last two, three days are welcomed.  And we are, as I said in my opening statement, beginning to see them move on some of the very specific things, the concrete steps that the President asked them to do.

So, again, these are welcome steps.  These are welcome announcements.  These are welcome statements.  But really, what it comes down to is sustainability and a commitment to meet these — commitment to follow through on these steps over time.

I don’t have a response to speak to in terms of the President’s communications with the Emir of Qatar and with President Sisi of Egypt.  Those letters were sent to convey the President’s strong view that we want them to urge Hamas to commit to this hostage deal and to abide by those commitments.  And as I said, a proposal was offered, and we’re going to wait and see what Hamas’s response is. 

And I honestly think that anything more that I would say — even though you’re not really asking about the hostage negotiations; you’re asking about the letters — anything more I would say at this point, you know, could potentially put that response in some kind of jeopardy.  And I just don’t want to do that, not when so many lives are hanging in the balance.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Our next question will go to Andrea Mitchell with NBC.

Q    Hi, thank you.  Question about Khan Younis.  How are you interpreting it?  Have you sought any clarification about the repositioning of those troops, the withdrawal, as to whether it’s preparatory to something else, or is it a routine reservist, you know, withdrawal?  Or the rest, are they going back to their civilian jobs?  Can you give us any clarification about the military moves this weekend that were ordered?

MR. KIRBY:  Andrea, I’m really not going to do that.  I mean, that’s really for the Israeli Defense Force to speak to.  It’s their troops, their units, their movements.  And the last thing I’m going to do is try to talk for another military.  All I can —

Q    But have we sought any clarification from them as to what they’re up to? 

MR. KIRBY:  All I can say is —

Q    Because that’s been one of the issues on the table.

MR. KIRBY:  All I can tell you, Andrea, is that they’ve made it clear that these troops have been on the ground for four months consecutive, fighting, and they needed to be refit and get some rest.  So that’s our best understanding of what they’re doing. 

I don’t have any internal communications we might have had with them about this.  I will just add that we have consistently made clear that we don’t support a major ground operation in Rafah.  I would also add that we don’t see any signs that such a major ground operation is imminent or that these troops are being repositioned for that kind of a ground operation. 

The last thing I would add is that we’re still looking to have a conversation with the Israelis about Rafah here in coming days, hopefully sometime next week.  And the Israelis have assured us that there will be no operations in and around Rafah until we have had a chance to talk to them at greater length about the viable options and alternatives to a major ground operation.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Our next question will go to Andrea Shalal with Reuters.  Andrea, you should be able to unmute yourself.  Okay, we see you unmuted yourself, but we cannot hear you.

Q    Okay, can you hear me now?

MODERATOR:  We can.  Yep. 

Q    Okay, thanks so much.  Thanks for taking my question. 

John, I’m just wondering about the aid — you know, flow of aid into Gaza and what you’re seeing there.  And then, you know, like, how many trucks do you think are possible per day?  Three hundred was a lot compared to what we’d seen earlier, but is still not — you know, not sufficient.  So what are you looking for there?

And then, on the investigation into the World Central Kitchen thing, can you give us any more details in terms of what you see there?  And I know that this has been asked before, but do you — you know, is there thinking about whether that did, in fact, amount to a war crime?  Thanks.

MR. KIRBY:  Look, on the trucks, what we’ve said and what we communicated to the Israelis is we’d like to see the flow

in the very, very near future get up to between 3- to 350 per day.  And today, as I said, we saw more than 300.  So that’s a good start but still not up to the upper range of that and — of the 350.  And, again, what matters is how it can be sustained over time.

I have nothing for you on the investigation.  As I said, we’re still working our way through it.  I just don’t have any updates for you on that. 

And as I’ve said before, the State Department continues, as always, through their ongoing processes, to review operations by militaries that receive, you know, U.S. security assistance.  It’s an evolving thing that they watch it, they examine facts as they develop.  They have not made any determinations at this time with respect to war crimes.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  We’re going to try to speed through three more questions before we have to jump.

Our next question will go to Alex Marquardt with CNN.

Q    Thank you, guys.  Thanks for doing this.  John, in terms of what a potential Iranian retaliation could look like for the consulate strike last week, I know you guys have — I was wondering whether you guys could say a little bit more about what you may be tracking in terms of specific Iranian plans.  Do you have an expectation of whether targets could be civilian or military, U.S. or Israeli; whether Iran would retaliate themselves or have this done through proxies?  Thanks.

MR. KIRBY:  Alex, I’m going to be real careful here, because you’re talking about some intelligence assessments.  And I’m just not going to get into that. 

I will just tell you that, number one, we know that Iran has made very public threats against Israel itself.  And one of the things that the President said in his call with Prime Minister Netanyahu was that the Israeli government could count on the United States’ support for any self-defense needs against threats directly by Iran to Israel — again, threats that Iran has made public. 

Number two, our own people — not just our troops, but our diplomatic personnel, as well, in Iraq and Syria — are under constant threat.  We take that seriously, and we take the appropriate force protection measures we need to as the threat changes to make sure that they can protect themselves.  And that has not changed; that will not change.  We’re continuing to do that. 

But we take the threat to our own people and our own facilities seriously.  And we know that those groups, many of the groups that conduct those kinds of attacks, are supported, funded, resourced by the IRGC. 

So I think I’ll just leave it at that.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Our next question will go to Robin Wright with the New Yorker.

Q    Thanks, John.  A related question.  Has the United States received any message, directly or indirectly, that Iran might refrain from a military response for the attack on its facility in Damascus if the U.S. brokers a ceasefire?  In other words, is there any kind of understanding or sub-deal, deal parallel to the negotiations, on a ceasefire in Gaza?

And also, as related to Alex’s question, is the U.S. still seeing signs of Iran positioning to respond in any way?  And if so, where?  I know it’s related, but is there any detail you can provide, insight?

MR. KIRBY:  I’m sorry, Robin, the second part of the question was what? 

Q    Well, related to Alex’s question.  And are you still seeing signs, as U.S. officials said on Friday, that Iran is positioning for a response, both missiles and drones?

MR. KIRBY:  Oh.  Oh, I gotcha.  I gotcha.  I thought that was — I guess I should be more clear.  I thought it was kind of implied in my answer to Alex that, of course, we’re still considering this an active threat.

And look, I don’t really have a comment to make on the report that Iran claims they would refrain from responding if there was a ceasefire.  Quite frankly, if Iran desires a ceasefire in Gaza, then it should pull out all the stops to do what they can to press Hamas to accept the deal that’s on the table, to accept the proposal that was worked up this weekend, if that’s what they really want.  We want a ceasefire too.  They can lean on Hamas.  That would be the best outcome. 

And look, we want a ceasefire, again, that would release women, the wounded, sick, the elderly.  That’s really the focus.  But if Iran is serious about a ceasefire, they’ll use the influence they have with Hamas to press for a positive response to that proposal. 

Q    But has the U.S. received any message, directly or indirectly, to that effect?

MR. KIRBY:  I don’t have anything to offer on that.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Our next question, and unfortunately our last, will go to Nadia.  Nadia, you should be able to unmute yourself. 

Q    Hi.  Can you hear me now?

MODERATOR:  We sure can. 

Q    Oh, thank you, Sam.  Hi, John.  You said that, today, for the first time since October 7th, that 350 trucks of aid are entering Gaza.  I’m just wondering why it took that long.  And why — what were the major obstacles that prevented this vital aid to come to Gaza, especially for (inaudible)?  Is it the phone call from the President?  Is it a change of policy on the U.S. that made this happening?

MODERATOR:  Nadia, we can’t really understand you.  Are you on speakerphone?

MR. KIRBY:  Nadia, I could not pick up most of your question.

MODERATOR:  Now you’re breaking up.  So we’re going to move on and try get one more question.

We’ll go to Hiba.  Hiba, you should be able to unmute yourself. 

Q    Yes, Sam.  Thank you.  Thanks, John.  I want to follow up on the question regarding the Iranian consulate and the message that — reports on the message that the Iranian conveyed to the U.S. that they will go — they will refrain from hitting in case there’s a ceasefire.  Is it fair to say, John, that this report is not accurate?  Are you trying to tell us that? 

And my second question: On the strike itself against the Iranian consulate, some (inaudible) are saying it was unwise by the Israeli.  What’s your position?  We never understand what the administration position on the strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus. 

MR. KIRBY:  I don’t have anything more to say about the strike in Damascus, except that we weren’t involved in any way whatsoever.  And I need to just leave it at that.

And as I said to Robin’s question on this, I don’t have anything further to add on Iranian claims that they’re making this sort of promise.  You got to take pretty much everything that the Iranians say with a huge grain of salt. 

I would just add that if they’re serious about wanting a ceasefire, then they should put the pressure on Hamas to accept the proposal that’s on the table.  That’s it. 

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  And thank you, everyone, for joining us.  Sorry this was a quick one.  But as always, reach out to the NSC distro if we weren’t able to get to you.  Thanks.

 11:58 A.M. EDT

 

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Last week, the National Economic Council (NEC) convened stakeholders across the auto, energy, chemical, and industrial sectors to continue the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to support affected industries and mitigate supply chain impacts stemming from the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and the partial closure of the Port of Baltimore.

Representatives from the White House, Department of Commerce, Department of Energy, and Department of Transportation provided updates on the situation, including ongoing efforts to remove wreckage and reopen the Port as soon as possible. (The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has now shared a tentative timeline for restoring access, and several large automobile importers have committed to take steps to try to return key cargo operations to the Port of Baltimore once it reopens.) The representatives underscored federal, state, and local governments’ continued efforts to reach out to impacted stakeholders, provide economic support to displaced workers and affected small businesses, monitor capacity at alternative ports, and coordinate timely, all-of-government responses to supply chain disruptions. Stakeholders from the auto, energy, chemical, and industrial sectors spoke with Federal representatives and offered suggestions for addressing specific concerns.

These convenings followed two stakeholder listening sessions held the prior week, one led by Secretary Buttigieg with ports, labor groups, and industry partners focused on navigating temporary shipping and transportation diversions, and another led by the Department of Agriculture with federal, state, agricultural, and food industry stakeholders to assess potential short-term impacts to the agriculture and food sectors.

Auto industry stakeholders reported minimal impacts to operations, largely attributed to successful diversion of their cargo to other ports.  Auto sector representatives emphasized the importance of monitoring capacity at alternative East Coast ports, increasing trucking capacity to facilitate moving vehicles back to the Baltimore area in a timely manner, and ensuring the port returns to full operational capacity as soon as possible.

Representatives from the energy, chemical, and industrial sectors also reported minimal supply chain impacts at this time. Aluminum industry stakeholders stressed the importance of the Port of Baltimore to the aluminum sector and asked for the Administration’s continued support during the temporary disruption

The NEC reaffirmed the President’s commitment to “move heaven and earth” to fully reopen the port as soon as possible and to support the people of Baltimore. The NEC will continue to engage with stakeholders experiencing economic impacts over the coming weeks and will work to ameliorate supply chain impacts and coordinate all-of-government support for impacted industries, workers, communities.

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Semiconductors – those tiny chips smaller than the tip of your finger – power everything from smartphones to cars to satellites and weapons systems. America invented these chips, but over time, we went from producing nearly 40% of the world’s capacity to just over 10%, and none of the most advanced chips, exposing us to significant economic and national security vulnerabilities. I was determined to turn that around, and thanks to my CHIPS and Science Act – a key part of my Investing in America agenda – semiconductor manufacturing and jobs are making a comeback.
 
Today, we continue building on that historic progress, with the Department of Commerce announcing a preliminary agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to support the construction of leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing facilities right here in the United States. Thanks to this investment, TSMC will also build a third chip factory in Phoenix, increasing its total investment in Arizona to $65 billion and creating over 25,000 direct construction and manufacturing jobs, along with thousands of indirect jobs. These facilities will manufacture the most advanced chips in the world, putting us on track to produce 20% of the world’s leading-edge semiconductors by 2030. The agreement also dedicates $50 million of CHIPS funding to training and developing the local workforce, so workers don’t have to leave their hometowns to find good-paying jobs in innovative industries.
 
A year and a half ago, I toured the site of TSMC’s first new fab in Phoenix, Arizona. TSMC’s renewed commitment to the United States, and its investment in Arizona represent a broader story for semiconductor manufacturing that’s made in America and with the strong support of America’s leading technology firms to build the products we rely on every day.

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Today, Biden-Harris Administration leaders will fan out across the country as President Biden announces his Administration’s new plans to cancel student debt for tens of millions of Americans. The plans, if implemented, would provide debt relief to over 30 million Americans when combined with actions the Biden-Harris Administration has already taken to cancel student debt over the past three years. While Republican elected officials try every which way to block millions of their own constituents from receiving student debt cancellation, President Biden has vowed to use every tool available to cancel student debt for as many borrowers as possible, as quickly as possible. Today, President Biden will travel to Madison, Wisconsin to announce these new plans, while Vice President Harris will travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff will travel to Phoenix, Arizona, and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona will travel to New York City to meet with borrowers benefitting from the Administration’s student debt relief actions.

President Biden from Day One has worked to fix the student loan system and make sure higher education is a ticket to the middle class – not a barrier to opportunity – because he knows that debt cancellation not only benefits borrowers, it benefits the entire economy.  

To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has approved $146 billion in student debt relief for 4 million Americans through more than two dozen executive actions. That includes fixing Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Income-Driven Repayment plans, so borrowers finally get the relief they are entitled to under the law. It also includes launching the most affordable student loan repayment plan ever – the SAVE plan – which cuts undergraduate loan payments in half, ensures borrowers never see their balance grow from unpaid interest, helps drop millions of borrowers’ monthly payments down to $0, and cancels debt for low-balance borrowers faster. Nearly 8 million borrowers have enrolled in the SAVE plan, 4.5 million borrowers have a monthly payment of $0 under the plan, and an additional 1 million borrowers have a monthly payment of less than $100.  The Biden-Administration has also secured the largest increase to Pell Grants in a decade and has taken significant steps to hold colleges accountable for leaving borrowers with mountains of debt and without good job prospects.

Last June, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision blocking the Biden-Harris Administration’s original student debt relief plan, President Biden vowed to keep fighting to deliver student debt relief to borrowers held back by the burden of student loan debt. Immediately following that, the Department of Education began pursuing an alternative path to debt relief through negotiated rulemaking under the Higher Education Act.

Today’s announcement lays out the plans the Biden-Harris Administration is pursuing through that effort. In total, these plans would fully eliminate accrued interest for 23 million borrowers, would cancel the full amount of student debt for over 4 million borrowers, and provide more than 10 million borrowers with at least $5,000 in debt relief or more.

Canceling runaway interest for millions of borrowers

More than 25 million borrowers owe more than they originally borrowed, including many who have made years of payments, due to the interest rates on Federal student loans. President Biden will announce plans that, if finalized as proposed, would cancel up to $20,000 of the amount a borrower’s balance has grown due to unpaid interest on their loans after entering repayment, regardless of their income. Low and middle-income borrowers enrolled in the SAVE plan or any other income-driven repayment (IDR) plan would be eligible for the entire amount their balance has grown since entering repayment to be canceled under the Administration’s plans. This group of borrowers includes single borrowers who earn $120,000 or less and married borrowers who earn $240,000 or less. No application will be needed for borrowers to receive this relief if the plan is implemented as proposed.

Millions of the borrowers who could be helped by these plans have continued to see their balances grow because of accrued interest, despite making their monthly payments.  Many have also had this unpaid interest capitalized, meaning it is added to their principal balance and borrowers are now paying interest on that higher amount. The Administration’s plan would forgive interest balances built up to date for 25 million borrowers, with 23 million likely to have all of their balance growth forgiven.   

This plan builds off the actions the Biden-Harris Administration has already taken to prevent the negative effects of excessive interest accrual on student loans going forward by eliminating all interest capitalization not required by law. The SAVE Plan does not charge unpaid interest for borrowers who make their monthly payments, and has canceled interest for at least 4.5 million borrowers to date.

Automatically canceling debt for borrowers eligible for loan forgiveness under SAVE, PSLF, closed school discharge, or other forgiveness programs but not enrolled

Too many borrowers eligible for relief – including immediate cancellation –have not been able to overcome paperwork requirements, bad advice, or other obstacles. Since its first days in office, the Biden-Harris Administration has worked to get borrowers the relief to which they are entitled.

Today, the Administration is proposing to automatically cancel debt for borrowers otherwise eligible for relief through the SAVE plan, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, or other forgiveness opportunities like closed school loan discharges but who have not successfully applied for that assistance.

Under SAVE, borrowers who originally took out $12,000 or less in loans and have been in repayment for 10 years are eligible to get their remaining debt canceled. For every additional $1,000 in loans they took out (up to $21,000 total for undergraduate loans and $26,000 total for graduate loans), a borrower is eligible for relief after an additional year of repayment. For example, if a borrower took out $13,000 in loans, they would be eligible for debt cancellation after 11 years in repayment.

Under Public Service Loan Forgiveness, borrowers in public service for 10 years who have made 120 months of qualifying payments can get their remaining student debt canceled.

The Administration’s plans would allow the Department of Education to use data it has on hand to identify borrowers otherwise eligible for this type of relief without requiring them to apply for these programs. The Administration expects this action would cancel debt for around 2 million borrowers across the country.  

Canceling student debt for borrowers who entered repayment over 20 years ago

More than 2.5 million borrowers have had their share of student loans for two decades or longer and still carry debt from long-ago loans. The Biden-Harris Administration has already cancelled $45.6 billion in student debt so far for nearly 1 million borrowers who have been in repayment for at least 20 years, but never got the relief they were entitled to because of administrative problems with income-driven repayment plans. The Administration’s new proposals, if finalized as proposed, would cancel student debt for borrowers who first entered repayment 20 or more years ago. Borrowers with only undergraduate debt would qualify for forgiveness if they first entered repayment 20 years ago (on or before July 1, 2005), and borrowers with any graduate school debt would qualify if they first entered repayment 25 or more years ago (on or before July 1, 2000). Both Direct Loans and Direct Consolidation Loans that repay only undergraduate study or graduate study for 20 or 25 years respectively are eligible for relief in this proposal.  Borrowers would not need to be on an income-driven repayment plan to qualify.

Canceling student debt for borrowers who enrolled in low-financial-value programs

One of the Biden-Harris Administration’s top priorities when it comes to higher education is holding colleges accountable when they leave students with mountains of debt and without good job prospects. To this end, the Department has taken significant steps to crack down on colleges that provide low-value programs to borrowers, when they cheat students and families, and when they close unexpectedly – leaving borrowers and taxpayers to foot the bill.

Today, President Biden is announcing his Administration’s plans that, if finalized as proposed, would cancel student debt for loans associated with institutions or programs that lost their eligibility to participate in the Federal student aid program or were denied recertification because they cheated or took advantage of students. Further, borrowers who attended institutions or programs that closed and failed to provide sufficient value— for example that leave graduates with unaffordable loan payments or earnings no better than what someone with a high school diploma earns— would be eligible for relief under this proposal.

Canceling student debt for borrowers experiencing hardship paying back their loans

President Biden and his Administration recognize that the current student loan system and repayment programs don’t reach all borrowers, and for many Americans student loans continue to be a barrier for them participating in the economy, accessing economic mobility, or pursuing their dreams. The Administration’s plan for student debt relief will also include a plan that would cancel student debt for borrowers experiencing hardship in their daily lives that prevents them from fully paying back their loans now or in the future.

This plan could provide relief to millions of borrowers who experience hardship—such as borrowers who are at high risk of defaulting on their student loans, who could be eligible for automatic relief, or families who are burdened with other expenses like medical debt or child care who can apply for relief in the future.

Providing relief to millions of borrowers this year

The Biden-Harris Administration plans to release proposed rules on these plans over the coming months. If these plans are finalized as proposed, this fall the Administration would begin canceling up to $20,000 in interest for millions of borrowers and full loan forgiveness for millions more.    

Building off unparalleled record canceling student debt under President Biden

Today’s announcements follow historic actions the President and his Administration have already taken to approve student debt cancellation for nearly 4 million Americans and make student loan payments easier for millions more through the SAVE plan. These actions have benefited borrowers from all 50 states and U.S. territories, borrowers from different walks of life, and borrowers of all ages. To date:

• The Administration has canceled over $62.5 billion in student debt for 871,000 public service workers, including teachers, firefighters, nurses, and more. Prior to the Biden Administration, only 7,000 people in total had received debt forgiveness through Public Service Loan Forgiveness in the over 15 years since the program was put in place. The Biden Administration implemented fixes to make sure public service workers received the relief they are entitled to under the law, helping nearly 900,000 public service workers receive relief to date.

• The Administration has approved $45.6 billion in debt cancellation for nearly 1 million borrowers through fixes to income-driven repayment. For too long, as a result of administrative failures and loan servicer errors, borrowers never got credit for being in repayment. The Biden-Harris Administration fixed that, and has approved debt cancellation for over 930,000 borrowers who have been in repayment for over 20 years.

• The Administration has approved $22.5 billion in debt cancellation for borrowers cheated by their schools, who saw their schools abruptly close, or who were covered by related court settlements. The Administration has approved borrower defense and closed school discharges to provide debt cancellation for students that attended and were cheated by for-profit institutions like Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institute. Less than $600 million in debt relief had been approved through borrower defense, closed school discharges, and related court settlements from all prior administrations combined, compared to the $22.5 billion approved under the Biden-Harris Administration alone.

• The Administration has approved $14 billion in debt cancellation for over 548,000 borrowers with a total and permanent disability. Through automatic matches with the Social Security Administration and other actions, the Biden-Harris Administration has approved debt cancellation for over half a million borrowers with total and permanent disabilities.

• The Administration launched the SAVE plan – helping borrowers of all ages and walks of life manage their monthly payments, not charging interest for millions of borrowers, and setting $0 payments for 4.5 million borrowers every month. To date, nearly 8 million borrowers have enrolled in SAVE, and 4.5 million of them have a monthly payment of $0, meaning they are also not accumulating interest that would otherwise be due. An additional million borrowers have a monthly payment of less than $100. Already the Administration has canceled debt for 153,000 borrowers enrolled in SAVE who took out low balances and have been in repayment for at least 10 years. And in July, the SAVE plan will cap monthly payments for undergraduate loans at 5% of income compared to the 10% threshold now – which will save many young borrowers money on their monthly payments. The Administration continues to encourage borrowers to sign up for the SAVE plan at studentaid.gov/SAVE to save money on their monthly payments and reach loan forgiveness faster.

• The Administration secured the largest increase to Pell Grants in a decade, and has expanded eligibility for the maximum Pell Grant to 1.7 million more Americans. The President has taken historic steps to bring college in reach for more Americans, including low-income Americans. The President secured the largest increase to Pell Grants in a decade, expanded eligibility to Pell to 665,000 new students, and expanded eligibility for the maximum Pell Grant to 1.7 million more students. The President has also proposed making community college free so more Americans can access the promise of higher education.

President Biden will not stop fighting to cancel more student debt for as many Americans as possible, and today’s announcements are a key step forward in that effort.

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From Day One President Biden vowed to fix the Federal student loan program and make sure higher education is a ticket to the middle class – not a barrier to opportunity. To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has taken historic action to approve debt cancellation for 4 million borrowers, helping these borrowers get more breathing room in their daily lives, access economic mobility, buy homes, start businesses, and pursue their dreams. Today, President Biden is announcing his Administration’s new plans that, if finalized as proposed, would provide debt relief to over 30 million borrowers when combined with actions the Administration has taken over the last four years. These plans would not only help create more financial stability for millions of working and middle-class families, they would also help address the disproportionate debt burden on communities of color and advance racial equity.

These actions are expected to provide significant relief to Black and Latino borrowers, borrowers who attended community college, and borrowers who are financially vulnerable because they took out debt but never had the chance to complete their degree. Not only are Black students more likely to take on student loans than their white peers, but they also end up holding nearly twice as much debt as their white peers four years after graduation.  And Latino borrowers are also more likely to default on their student loans compared to white borrowers.

The plans President Biden is announcing today, if finalized as proposed, would deliver some amount of relief to:

• Borrowers who owe more than they did at the start of repayment. Millions of borrowers across the country owe more than they did when they started repaying because of accrued and capitalized interest. Black and Latino borrowers are likelier to experience growth in their student loan balances due to excessive interest accumulation. Four years after graduation, Black bachelor’s degree borrowers on average owe more than they borrowed.
• Borrowers who are otherwise eligible for loan forgiveness, but have not yet applied. Borrowers face administrative burdens with completing loan forgiveness applications. Many borrowers would receive automatic debt relief for loan forgiveness programs that they are eligible for but have not successfully applied for, such as the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, or other forgiveness programs.
• Borrowers who first entered repayment many years ago. Many borrowers are repaying their loans decades after leaving school. The Administration’s new plan would cancel debt for all borrowers with only undergraduate student debt who entered repayment 20 or more years ago and cancel loans for borrowers with any graduate student debt that first entered repayment 25 or more years ago.  
• Borrowers who enrolled in low-financial-value programs. Thosewho attended institutions or programs that failed accountability measures or failed to provide students with sufficient financial value would be eligible for relief, including those whose institutions closed prior to the finalization of such determinations.  Black and Latino borrowers make up a disproportionately larger share of students enrolled in these programs.
• Borrowers experiencing hardship paying back their loans. Millions of borrowers could be eligible for relief if they are experiencing hardship in their daily lives that prevent them from fully paying back their loans now or in the future. Black and Latino borrowers have higher default rates than white borrowers, undermining their ability to build generational wealth, start businesses, buy homes, and more.

The plans announced today would address the disproportionate debt burden on borrowers of color and other vulnerable borrowers.

Black borrowers

• In order to afford a college education, Black families—already disadvantaged by generational wealth disparities—rely more heavily on student debt than white families do.
• Twenty years after first enrolling in school, the typical Black borrower who started college in the 1995-96 school year still owed 95% of their original student debt.
• After 20 years of starting school, just 26% of Black borrowers were able to pay off all of their loans.
• A disproportionate number of students at for-profit colleges are Black, and many of these students have attended low-quality programs, leaving them with unaffordable debts and low prospects.

Latino Borrowers

• Latino borrowers have lower household incomes and significantly less wealth than their white counterparts, causing them greater difficulty in paying off loans.
• Latino students are also more likely not to complete college, making them more likely to have debt with no degree.
• Latino borrowers are also more likely to default on their student loans compared to white borrowers, with 15% of those in repayment in default and 29% in serious delinquency.
• Latino students are also a disproportionate number of students enrolled in for-profit programs.

Community college borrowers

• Under the Biden-Harris Administration’s SAVE Plan, 85% of community college borrowers are projected to be debt-free within 10 years.
• Latino students make up a disproportionately larger share of community college students, making up 23% of community college enrollees but only 18% of the overall undergraduate population.
• The share of community college students who are Latino and Black students is also increasing, with 2023 community college enrollment increasing by 2.1% for Black students, 5.5% for Hispanic students, and decreasing by 2.0% for white students.

The plans announced today, together with the Administration’s past actions, will provide relief to more than 30 million borrowers.  These plans would fully eliminate accrued interest for 23 million borrowers, cancel the full amount of student debt for over 4 million borrowers, and provide more than 10 million borrowers with at least $5,000 in debt relief or more.  With disproportionately high debt burdens, Black and Latino borrowers will get substantial benefits from this relief.

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Via Teleconference

6:32 P.M. EDT

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ:  Good afternoon, everyone.  Thank you for joining our press call regarding the President’s ongoing efforts to cancel student debt.

Today’s call will begin with on-the-record remarks from White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. 

After the remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session that will be on background and attributable to “senior administration officials.”

With that, Karine, I will turn it over to you.

Karine?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Hello?  Can you hear me?

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ:  Yes.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Oh, okay.  I apologize, guys.  I thought I was unmuted.

Thanks, Angelo.  And thanks, everyone, for joining. 

From day one, President Biden vowed to fix the broken student loan system and make sure education was a ticket to the middle class and not a barrier to opportunity.  And our administration has taken historic steps to cancel student debt for 4 million Americans so far. 

That’s 4 million people who have the breathing room to start businesses, buy homes, grow their families, and pursue their dreams. 

We’ve helped these borrowers through fixing Public Service Loan Forgiveness, so nurses, teachers, and other public service workers who have served their communities so — for 10 years can actually get the debt relief they are entitled to under the law.

Since taking office, nearly 900,000 people have gotten Public Service Loan Forgiveness.  Before we came into office, only 7,000 people had ever seen that relief since the program started over 15 years ago. 

The President launched a new repayment plan, the SAVE Plan — millions — pardon me — the SAVE Plan, which is the most affordable repayment plan ever, helping millions of borrowers have zero-dollar payments on their loans.

And earlier this year, we announced we were canceling the remaining student debt for over 150,000 borrowers enrolled in SAVE who took out loan balances of loans that — low balances of loans.  That debt cancellation came six months ahead of schedule. 

Those are just some of the ways that the President and — and the — and the Biden-Harris administration have delivered student debt relief to millions of Americans. 

And in 2021 [2022], President Biden announced that — announced a plan that would have elected of- — that would have canceled — I’m so sorry, guys — that would have canceled student debt for 40 million Americans.  But Republicans’ elected of- — elected officials sued us, and the Supreme Court sided with them, leaving — with them, leaving millions of people with the burden of student loan debt. 

On the day of that decision, President Biden promised he — that he wouldn’t stop fighting to deliver debt relief, and he announced that his Department of Education would immediately pursue a new path for debt cancelation. 

Tomorrow’s announcement is a result of that work. 

Tomorrow, the President will announce his administration’s new plans to cancel debt — cancel student debt.  And when combined with actions we’ve already taken, 30 million people would benefit from student debt relief under the Biden-Harris administration if these plans are fa- — finalized.

I’ll let the Secretary talk more about the specific plans, but in total, they would help 23 million people get all of their interest canceled if their balance today is more than it was when they started paying back their loans.

They would deliver $5,000 in relief to over 10 million borrowers.  And millions of borrowers would see their entire debts wiped out.

If these plans are finalized as proposed, our administration plans to start implementing some of these plans, such as interest cancellation, as early as this fall. 

Tomorrow, President Biden will deliver — will — will travel to Ma- — Madison, Wisconsin, where he will announce these plans and meet directly with borrowers who have benefited from his administration’s student debt relief efforts. 

We have Vice President, Second Gentleman, Secretary Cardona all fanning out across the country to meet with Americans who have had their debt cancelation — cancelled by the Biden adm- — -Harris administration and hear what his relief has meant to them.

Vice President Harris will be in Philadelphia, the Second Gentleman will be in Phoenix, and Secretary Cardona will be in New York City. 

I’ll close by saying that President Biden will use every tool available to cancel student loan debt for as many borrowers as possible, no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stand in his way. 

Thank you.  And I’ll turn it over to Secretary Cardona.

Secretary, the floor is yours.

SECRETARY CARDONA:  Thank you very much, Karine.  And I really want to thank everyone for joining in today.

When I became Education Secretary a little over three years ago, President Biden looked at me, and he said, “We’ve got a broken system, and I need you to fix it.”

When the Supreme Court struck down the President’s boldest student debt relief plan, within hours, we said, “We won’t be deterred.”  We announced a new rulemaking process designed to provide borrowers relief under the Higher Education Act.

And today’s announcement shows that we’re continuing to fulfill our promises.

As you know, the negotiated rulemaking process is how we change and improve our higher education policies.  As a result of that process, which we started last fall, the administration is announcing new proposals today to deliver student debt relief to as many as 30 million Americans. 

That includes more than 25 million borrowers who owe more money than they did at the start of repayment due to runaway interest — again, a broken system.  It includes automatic debt relief for least 2 million borrowers who are eligible for existing loan forgiveness program or closed school loan discharges but who haven’t yet successfully enrolled in or applied for these programs.

It includes borrowers who have been living with their student loans for 20 years or more and who have not already had their debt forgiven.  And it includes borrowers who have been taken advantage of by career training programs that left them with high debt and low-value credentials or borrowers who attended schools with unacceptably high rates of student loan defaults.

If these plans are finalized as proposed, altogether, this administration will begin to cancel up to $20,000 in interest for millions of borrowers and full loan forgiveness for millions more this fall. 

That’s on top of the $146 billion in student loan debt relief for four million Americans that we’ve already approved, more than any other administration in our country’s history.

We’ve also expanded Pell Grants to 1.7 million more Americans and are holding predatory institutions that cheated students accountable. 

It bears repeating: We’re delivering as much relief as possible for as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible. 

And what does that really mean for people?

It means breathing room.  It means freedom from feeling like your student loan bills compete with basic needs like grocery or healthcare.

It means the teacher I met in Philadelphia, who’d been teaching for 20 years, can finally afford to put a handicap-accessible bathtub in her house for her disabled husband thanks to the $20,000 in student loan debt relief she received.  Again, she’s been teaching for 20 years, and it was because of the debt relief that she can adjust the bathroom so that her husband can use it without issues.

Imagine that — working for 20 years and you can’t do that without the loan forgiveness.  That’s unacceptable.

Now, there’s an end to the nightmare of working hard, making loan payments, and still watching your loan balances get bigger and bigger month after month, and we’re proud to announce what we’re announcing today. 

Generations of students can now imagine themselves pursuing higher education instead of ruling it out early, sometimes as early as middle school, because of the cost.  And as a former school principal, I remember talking to young students who thought college was out of reach for them as young people.

President Biden often says the one word that describes America is “possibility.”  And when I think about all the possibility and all the potential we can unlock when — when young people see that they can afford and access higher education, I think this work is nothing short of transformative. 

That’s why we’re unapologetic about this fight.  Student loan forgiveness isn’t only about relief for today’s borrowers.  It’s about social mobility, economic prosperity, and creating an America that lives up to its highest ideals.

Again, thank you for joining.  And I’ll turn it back over to Angelo now, who will continue with the call. 

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ:  Thank you, Secretary Cardona. 

At this point, we will move to the question-and-answer portion of the call.  As a reminder, this will be on background and attributable to “senior administration officials.”

Please use the “raise hand” function on Zoom.  And I will give you all a minute to queue up.

Okay.  We will start — as you are called on, please identify yourself and your outlet. 

We will start with Jennifer Jacobs.  Over to you.

Q    Hey there.  Karine mentioned that you think that this would be implemented in the fall.  But can you say, are you expecting that it would be implemented before the election?  That’s one question.

And then secondly, will this plan go to a comment period?  And if yes, there will be a comment period, when will that start?  Thank you.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  (Inaudible.)  So, yes, these rule- — these proposals will go out for public comment in the coming months.  And the goal is to start delivering relief early this fall.

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ:  Thank you.  We will go to Michael next.  You should be unmuted now.

Q    Hey, thanks.  I appreciate being called on.  I have two questions sort of along the same lines of — of timing. 

One is, you know, given that the public comment period will ask for months and that — I think one of the — I can’t remember if it was the Secretary or Karine talked about some of the programs being implemented by the fall, is there — is there an exp- — I mean, it feels like the calendar is working against you here, that it’s unlikely that a lot of this is going to be implemented much before the election or before the fall. 

So, if you could talk a little bit more about which — which things you actually realistically think you could — you could put into effect. 

And then secondly, but related, is: Can you talk a little bit about the likelihood of a legal challenge?  And if there is a legal challenge, doesn’t that suggest that, you know, then you’re adding months and months on top of — on top of that, which — which puts you well beyond — you know, well into a potential second term?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  With regard to the timing question, this is not outside the norm for what we’ve done to turn around rules from draft to final by the early fall.  And we do anticipate beginning to cancel the outstanding interest for borrowers early this fall and then working on debt relief for millions of others. 

I’ll defer the questions on the legal challenges to others.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Yeah, just to echo [senior administration official] and, you know, the Secretary: The President’s goal has been to deliver as much relief to as many people as possible as quickly as possible.  And so, you know, we are focused on that goal within the constraints of what we can do.  And [senior administration official] talked a little bit about, you know, our sense of where we are on that right now. 

I think, with respect to the legal questions, you know, we know that some Republicans in Congress and some Republican attorneys general have opposed the administration’s efforts to prevent millions of middle-class Americans from receiving student debt relief.  And we know some of them have even challenged the President’s work to fix administration of flawed programs that were originally established by Congress through bipartisan legislation, even where that work is clearly legal. 

So, it is unfortunate that Republican politicians have fought to deny breathing room to millions of working families who are struggling with student debt.  But after the Supreme Court weighed in on our original debt relief program, the President was quite clear, and he directed his administration to develop an alternative plan.  And this plan is being done under the Secretary’s longstanding authority under the Higher Education Act. 

You know, we have studied the Supreme Court’s decision carefully.  We intend to pursue these regulations in a way that is entirely consistent with that decision.  The plans differ from the administration’s prior pandemic relief proposal in a number of significant ways, and the Department’s proceeding under different legal authority, which is longstanding.  And the plans involve different considerations by providing targeted relief to borrowers with particular circumstances. 

So, you know, this isn’t the same plan.  And we feel confident going forward.

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ:  Thanks, [senior administration official].  We’ll go to Zachary next.  You should be unmuted now.

Q    Hi there.  Yeah, thanks for doing this.  So, again, just following up on timing here.  So, you say that you’re expected to begin implementing some of this stuff by the fall.  Can you help me understand how that’s possible if the regulation that went through the neg reg isn’t expected to go into effect by July of next year? 

And then, when can we expect the NPRM?  Is that going to be next month, a month after that?  You know, [senior administration official], you said “in the coming months.”

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I don’t have an exact date for you on the NPRM, but it is coming. 

And then the Secretary has the ability to designate provisions for early implementation.  As you may recall, we early implemented some parts of the SAVE program, which is why borrowers are already seeing more of their income protected.  It’s why they’re not seeing their balances grow from accumulating interest and why we are beginning to provide relief to borrowers with lower original loans for college now.

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ:  Thank you.  We will go to Katie next.  You should be unmuted now.

Q    Hi, thanks.  This is Katie Lobosco at CNN.  Can you say, like, whether or not — are all these proposals, like, a one-time thing?  Like, at one point in time, people who qualify are going to get the debt relief, or could someone possibly qualify, like, years later?

And also, if I’m — and just for clarification, it seems like the interest cancellation is the biggest part of that.  Like, that would be 23 out of possibly 26 million people who are getting debt relief.  I just want to make sure that that’s how I should be understanding this.  Thanks.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  It’s a mixture in these proposals.  I think, taken together with the other things the President has done, the goal is to, as the Secretary said, solve the student loan crisis and make loans more affordable on a permanent basis. 

The interest forgiveness is currently crafted as a one-time benefit, for example, but going forward, borrowers will benefit from substantially more favorable treatment through the SAVE program and other borrowers will benefit from revised rules around interest capitalization. 

So, overall, it is an attempt to build upon the progress the President has made to make sure that no borrowers are left with loans they can’t afford to repay and to substantially reduce the burden of student loans and give borrowers additional breathing room.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  And just to —

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  (Inaudible.)

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  — (inaudible) thing that [senior administration official] said, you know, there are a lot of different pieces here.  And one thing to keep in mind is that, you know, there is potential overlap between the different populations, you know, that are subject to the various forms of relief that we’re proposing here.  And so, you know, in terms of the total numbers — right? — you know, people could be eligible for multiple channels.  And then, obviously, going forward, borrowers have access to programs like SAVE and PSLF. 

So, you know, we believe we’re going to reach 30 million people, but, you know, underneath that, people could be accessing, you know, various provisions.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  And — and just to pile on on [senior administration official]’s last point about SAVE.   In SAVE, which is an ongoing program that’s widely available, if you have small balances, you can get forgiveness in as little as 10 years.  If you are repaying for 20 or 25 years, you get forgiveness.  And if you have a lower income, you can have zero payment and you’re not accruing interest. 

And, in fact, the interest provision we’re talking about here is providing retrospectively, going backwards, an interest benefit that is available to everyone in SAVE right now on a forward-looking basis. 

So, if you are paying back zero dollars or low le- — low amounts in the SAVE program every month, you’re not accruing interest.  And that’s because of the benefit of forgiveness of interest that’s built into SAVE.

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ:  Thank you.  We will go to Michael next.  You should be unmuted now.

Q    Hey, it’s Michael Stratford at Politico.  Thanks for doing the call. 

I’m wondering if you can just walk us through the math of how you get to the 30 million figure and if you could give us a little more detail on what exactly that figure includes and maybe doesn’t include. 

It doesn’t look like you have, for example, an estimate for the hardship category.  And there was also, I think in one of the fact sheets, a number of 10 million borrowers getting at least $5,000 in debt relief or more.  I’m wondering if you can sort of be more specific about how these numbers all fit together. 

Thanks.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I can start.  I think we will have greater detail in coming months as we produce the additional rules that you have heard about.  And so — so, there will be an opportunity to look under the hood more. 

But what we can say is that there are 25 million people benefiting from the interest forgiveness provision here.  And there are 4 million people getting full debt forgiveness.  And there are 10 million people getting more than $10,000 in forgiveness.  And that when you sum the effects of all the forgiveness provisions that we are talking about here, you get over that 30 million figure.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Yeah, just to add to that.  As [senior administration official] said, you know, 25 million in this interest category.  There’s a number — there’s another 2 million, approximately, we think are in the sort of eligible but ha- — you know, for forgiveness — but haven’t applied, mostly due to SAVE.  And then we have about 2 million — around 2 million that are in the category of loans that are about 20 years or more old. 

And then in the category of low financial value programs, we think that that is, you know, about a fifth of a million existing borrowers and more sort of into the future. 

And as you noted, with respect to hardship, you know, that will be an additional population as well that will cover additional people.

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ:  Thank you.  We will go to Andrew next.  You should be unmuted now.

Q    Thanks. 

Can you talk a little bit about if you’ve projected the potential economic effects of this sort of mass-level forgiveness?  Any concern that it could be inflationary? 

And then, on the legal theory, you said you studied the — the Supreme Court opinion.  On the first page of the opinion in — in June last year, Justice Roberts said that the Higher Education Act can cancel or reduce loans in — in, quote, “certain limited circumstances.”  Any concern that he’s sort of sending a signal that a wide use of this would get struck down by the Court?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I’ll take the second question first. 

You know, as I noted, we’ve studied the opinion carefully.  I think, you know, what you hear us talking about rolling out here is a variety of specific interventions and proposals that address specific situations and specific populations in ways that we feel very confident are covered by what the Secretary’s longstanding authority under HEA allows him to do.  And we’re confident that we’re acting within the scope of the law, as set forth by the Supreme Court. 

On the question of economic impact, you know, we have some CEA analysis that’s coming that we can follow up with you on around the plan.  I would say, generally, we know that student debt relief leads to economic mobility.  We know it leads to people contributing to the economy, being in a better position to be able to, for example, take out mortgages to buy homes and loans to start businesses. 

So, we know it’s good for people.  We know it’s good for the economy. 

We’re not concerned about an inflationary effect based on the analysis the CEA has done, you know, and we’ll have more detail on that that we can share. 

But we do feel good about its effect on economic growth and economic mobility and improving the ability of families to really be able to get that breathing room that the President has talked about and that the Secretary talked about in these sorts of situations.

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ:  Thank you.  We’ll have a time for a couple more questions.  We will go into Ayelet next.  You should be unmuted now.

Q    Hey.  This is Ayelet Sheffey with Business Insider. 

Can you confirm whether all of this relief will be automatic?  Or will there be any actions that borrowers have to take to be eligible?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Our goal is for the vast majority of this relief to be automatic.  Obviously, when you start talking about hardship, there are some things there that we’re looking to make as automatic as possible, but there may be details that we don’t have available to us.  But our goal is for the overwhelming majority of things like interest, loans that are older, borrowers that attended programs that didn’t deliver financial value — to do that all automatically.

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ:  Thank you.  And we will go to Michael Jones next.  You should be unmuted now.

Q    Thanks so much for doing this.  And thanks for taking my question.  Michael Jones from Once Upon a Hill. 

I’m curious — you know, obviously the Supreme Court made the decision last year.  The President has taken a lot of executive action.  I’m curious: Behind the scenes, have there been any conversations with congressional leaders, with members of any — either party to see if there’s any consensus around any legislative action that could be taken by Congress? 

A lot of this conversation is focused on the Supreme Court decision and the President’s, I think, executive actions.  I understand the mar- — the margins aren’t there, you know, vote wise for as much as the President would probably like.  But I’m curious if there’s any — been any conversation behind the scenes with Congress about any legislative action on this issue.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Thanks, Michael, for the question. 

You know, we can’t speak to that specifically.  But what I can say is, you know, as you know, there are things that could be done by legislation and there are things that the President can do administratively under preexisting authority, which has been granted to him by Congress. 

So, for example, when you think about SAVE and PSLF, these are programs that have been created and improved pursuant to acts of Congress.  And when you think about the authority in the Higher Education Act, you know, that is a law that was passed by Congress and authority that was delegated to the Secretary. 

And so, consistent with the President’s directives to us, to his team, to do as much as we can within the law, you know, we are using that as the basis for the announcements that we’re making, you know, today and tomorrow.

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ:  Thank you.  And our last question will come from the CBS desk, if you could please identify yourself.

Q    Hi.  This is Bo Erickson. 

Just a clarification on the interest component here.  Is it $20,000 of interest for everyone but then lower-income and middle-income borrowers can have more than $20,000 forgiven in interest?  Can you just clarify that?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Sure. 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  That’s right. 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  So —

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Oh, go ahead, [senior administration official].

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  It’s — it’s $20,000 for everyone.  And then, if you are in either the SAVE or the IDR plan and you have a low or middle income — so, a hundred — up to $120,000 for an individual or $240,000 for a married couple — then you can have all of your accrued interest forgiven.

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ:  Thank you.  And that’s all the time we have today. 

The embargo time for this call and the materials will now be 5:00 a.m. Eastern time — 5:00 a.m. Eastern time.  You all will receive a note from us with embargoed materials and the corrected time.

Thank you, again, for joining us, and we look forward to hearing from you tomorrow.

7:02 P.M. EDT

The post Press Call by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, and Senior Administration Officials on President Biden’s Efforts on Student Debt appeared first on The White House.

On this day 30 years ago, a brutal and systematic campaign of slaughter began in Rwanda. In the 100 days that followed, more than 800,000 women, men, and children were murdered. Most were ethnic Tutsis; some were Hutus and Twa people. It was a methodical mass extermination, turning neighbor against neighbor, and decades later, its repercussions are still felt across Rwanda and around the world. 

Today, as Rwanda begins its annual Kwibuka period of remembrance, the United States stands with the people of Rwanda in their grief. We honor the victims who died senselessly and the survivors who courageously rebuilt their lives. And we commend all Rwandans who have contributed to reconciliation and justice efforts, striving to help their nation bind its wounds, heal its trauma, and build a foundation of peace and unity. Those efforts continue to this day. 

We will never forget the horrors of those 100 days, the pain and loss suffered by the people of Rwanda, or the shared humanity that connects us all, which hate can never overcome.

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The post Statement from President Joe Biden on the 30th Commemoration of the Genocide in Rwanda appeared first on The White House.

Today, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. declared that a major disaster exists in the State of Alaska and ordered Federal assistance to supplement state, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by a severe storm, flooding, and landslides on November 20, 2023.

Federal funding is available to state, tribal, and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storm, flooding, and landslides in the Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, Southeast Island Regional Educational Attendance Area, and the City and Borough of Wrangell.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

Mr. Brian F. Schiller of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been appointed to coordinate Federal recovery operations in the affected areas. 

Additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION MEDIA SHOULD CONTACT THE FEMA NEWS DESK AT (202) 646-3272 OR FEMA-NEWS-DESK@FEMA.DHS.GOV.

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Leuven, Belgium

I. Introduction

The sixth ministerial meeting of the Trade and Technology Council (“TTC”) took place in Leuven, Belgium, on 4 and 5 April 2024. It was co-chaired by European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, United States Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai, joined by European Commissioner Thierry Breton, and hosted by the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The meeting took place against the backdrop of significant geopolitical developments and challenges, including Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine and the escalation of violence in the Middle East, that have shaken the international rules-based order to which we are jointly committed. The United States and the European Union remain unwavering in our long-term political, financial, humanitarian, and military support to Ukraine.

There has been a buildup of global economic pressure through extensive non-market policies and practices. This accentuates excessive and possibly high-risk dependencies of strategic supplies, tilts the level playing field, and poses a threat to our economic security, our prosperity, and the well-being of our firms, workers, and citizens.

The acceleration of the digital transformation creates unprecedented opportunities for growth and innovation but also raises numerous risks and challenges that call for accelerating our efforts to establish joint leadership and continue robust coordination on our approaches for creating rules of the road for emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), quantum technologies, and 6G wireless communication systems. We aim to foster interoperability and support our common democratic values and the protection of human rights, while also promoting innovation. We are also dedicated to continuing to equip our workforce with the skills necessary to meet the needs created by rapidly changing technology, including AI.

The cooperation between the United States and the European Union continues to be the bedrock for dealing with such global challenges, and the TTC has played a vital role in shaping a forward-looking dialogue and facilitating unprecedented coordination and quick responses to key trade and technology related issues and developments, not least in the context of Russia’s continued aggression against Ukraine. We therefore reaffirm the importance of the TTC and will continue to refine and adapt this forum to advance our shared objectives.

We have used the TTC to address global trade challenges, strengthen our economic and trade ties, accelerate the transition to climate-neutral economies, and boost our economic security. With the Transatlantic Initiative on Sustainable Trade (TIST), the TTC is contributing to the creation of a stronger, more sustainable, and more resilient transatlantic marketplace and facilitating environmentally responsible trade in goods and technologies. We have increased cooperation on interoperability of digital trade tools as well as standardisation of critical and emerging technologies to reduce the costs of trading across the Atlantic. To boost our economic security, we continue to cooperate through the TTC to diversify strategic supply chains, including solar panels, semiconductors, and critical raw materials, and to reduce vulnerabilities, including those caused by other countries’ non-market policies and practices. We have also deepened our dialogue and cooperation on export controls and investment screening.

Working with stakeholders, we continue to use the TTC to advance the governance of critical and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, semiconductors, biotechnology, and online platforms, including by supporting the development of rights-respecting international technical standards, codes of conduct, principles, and guidance. In particular, we call upon online platforms to ensure their services contribute to an environment that protects, empowers, and respects their users and the general public. We are working together to advance public interest research on online platforms, including to address particular societal risks, such as technology-facilitated gender-based violence. We will continue to combat foreign information manipulation and interference and to protect human rights defenders online, including in the context of elections.

We intend to continue our trade and technology cooperation as set out below.

II. Key Outcomes of the Sixth TTC Ministerial Meeting

A. Advancing Transatlantic Leadership on Critical and Emerging Technologies Artificial Intelligence

The United States and the European Union reaffirm our commitment to a risk-based approach to artificial intelligence (AI) and to advancing safe, secure, and trustworthy AI technologies. The dedicated coordination under the TTC continues to be instrumental to implementing our respective policy approaches which aim to reap the potential benefits of AI while protecting individuals and, society against its potential risks, and upholding human rights.

Our exchanges confirm our joint understanding that transparency and risk mitigation are key elements to ensure the safe, secure, and trustworthy development and use of AI, and we will continue to coordinate our contributions to multilateral initiatives such as the G7, the OECD, G20, Council of Europe, and UN processes to advance the responsible stewardship of AI. We encourage advanced AI developers in the United States and Europe to further the application of the Hiroshima Process International Code of Conduct for Organizations Developing Advanced AI Systems which complements our respective governance and regulatory systems.

With a view to ensuring continued and impactful cooperation on AI, leaders from the European AI Office and the U.S. AI Safety Institute have briefed one another on their respective approaches and mandates. These institutions today committed to establishing a Dialogue to deepen their collaboration, particularly to foster scientific information exchange among their respective scientific entities and affiliates on topics such as, benchmarks, potential risks, and future technological trends.

This cooperation will contribute to making progress with the implementation of the Joint Roadmap on Evaluation and Measurement Tools for Trustworthy AI and Risk Management, which is essential to minimize divergence as appropriate in our respective emerging AI governance and regulatory systems, and to cooperate on interoperable and international standards. Following stakeholder consultations, we have further developed a list of key AI terms with mutually accepted joint definitions and published an updated version.

We are also united in our belief of the potential of AI to address some of the world’s greatest challenges. We applaud the United Nations General Assembly Plenary Resolution “Seizing the Opportunities of Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence Systems for Sustainable Development,” that has solidified a global consensus around the need to manage the risks of AI while harnessing its benefits for sustainable development and the protection and promotion of human rights.

We are advancing on the promise of AI for sustainable development in our bilateral relationship through joint research cooperation as part of the administrative arrangement on artificial intelligence and computing to address global challenges for the public good. Working groups jointly staffed by U.S. science agencies and European Commission departments and agencies have achieved substantial progress by defining critical milestones for deliverables in the areas of extreme weather, energy, emergency response, and reconstruction. We are also making constructive progress in health and agriculture.

We will continue to explore opportunities with our partners in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Germany in the AI for Development Donor Partnership to accelerate and align our foreign assistance in Africa to support educators, entrepreneurs, and ordinary citizens to harness the promise of AI.

Quantum

The United States and the European Union established a Quantum Task Force to address open questions on science and technology cooperation between the United States and the European Union on quantum technologies. Its primary objective is to bridge gaps in research and development (R&D) between the United States and the European Union, thereby harmonizing efforts in quantum technology advancements. This includes the establishment of a shared understanding and approach to technology readiness levels, development of unified benchmarks, identification of critical components in quantum technology, and advancement of international standards.

The task force continues work to address key questions that are necessary to reach an agreement on launching joint actions for science and technology cooperation in quantum, such as reciprocity in openness of quantum research programs and in intellectual property rights regimes.

Post-Quantum Cryptography Coordination

The United States and the European Union affirm the importance of the rapid mobilization to secure our digital communication networks against the threats posed by the potential for a future cryptanalytically-relevant quantum computer. Our joint work in Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC), feeding into the U.S-EU Cyber Dialogue, enables U.S. and EU partners to share information to understand activities in PQC standardization and in the transition to PQC.

The Road to 6G

The United States and the European Union share the belief that advanced connectivity can  facilitate a more inclusive, sustainable, and secure global economy. We concur on shared principles for the research and development of 6G wireless communication systems, and we recognize that by working together we can support the development of technologies and global technical standards for tomorrow’s critical digital infrastructure that reflect shared principles and values. We support open, global, market-driven, and inclusive multi-stakeholder approaches for the development of technical standards for secure and interoperable telecommunications equipment and services. On the road to 6G, in a geopolitical environment increasingly marked by tension and conflict, the growing requirement for security and resilience of key enabling communications technologies and critical infrastructure highlights the need to rely on trusted suppliers, to prevent vulnerabilities and dependencies, with potential downstream effects on the entire industrial ecosystem.

We delivered a 6G outlook in May 2023. In addition, the two main industry associations on each side of the Atlantic jointly developed a 6G Industry Roadmap in December 2023. The roadmap affirmed the commitment of the stakeholders to collaborate on the development of 6G networks and proposed a comprehensive set of critical strategic reflections and recommendations from academia and industry. On 26 February 2024, ten countries, including some EU Member States concluded a joint statement on 6G.

These milestones have contributed to shaping the joint “6G vision” that we are adopting today. This vision focuses on technology challenges and research collaboration including on microelectronics; AI and cloud solutions for 6G; security and resilience; affordability and inclusiveness, sustainability and energy efficiency; openness and interoperability; efficient radio spectrum usage; and the standardisation process.

Having decided on this 6G vision, the United States and the European Union will strengthen cooperation between their research and innovation funding agencies, notably through an Administrative Arrangement signed between the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Directorate‑General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG Connect) of the European Commission covering collaboration in the field of 6G and Next Generation Internet technologies.

Considering the importance of developing a common vision to 6G and cooperating in the global standardisation process through standardisation organisations such as ETSI/3GPP, we also intend to develop an outreach plan with likeminded partners to support and advance the development of 6G networks.

Semiconductors

The coordination on our respective efforts to build resilient semiconductor supply chains remains crucial to the secure supply of semiconductors, which are indispensable inputs to an ever-growing range of key industry sectors, and to ensure leadership in cutting-edge technologies.

We have been cooperating fruitfully under two administrative arrangements:

• A joint early warning mechanism aimed at identifying (potential) supply chain disruptions and enabling early action to address their impacts, which has already proven useful in monitoring developments in the gallium and germanium markets; and
• A transparency mechanism for reciprocal sharing of information about public support provided to the semiconductor sector.

We intend to extend the two administrative arrangements for a period of three years to enable further coordination and to establish synergies between our support for investments in the semiconductor sector taking place under the EU Chips Act and the U.S. CHIPS Act.

The United States and the European Union share concerns about non-market economic policies and practices that may lead to distortionary effects or excessive dependencies for mature node (“legacy”) semiconductors. On the side of the fifth TTC ministerial meeting, which took place on 30 January 2024 in Washington, D.C., we held a joint roundtable with high-level industry representatives dedicated to legacy semiconductor supply chains. Both the United States and the European Union are committed to continuing to engage closely with industry on the issue. We plan to convene further government-to-government discussions with like-minded countries on this topic in the near future. In January 2024, the United States launched an industry survey to assess the use of legacy chips in supply chains that directly or indirectly support U.S. national security and critical infrastructure. The European Union is also gathering information on this issue. We intend to, as appropriate, continue to collect and share non-confidential information and market intelligence about non-market policies and practices, commit to consult each other on planned actions, and may develop joint or cooperative measures to address distortionary effects on the global supply chain for legacy semiconductors.

We plan to continue working to identify research cooperation opportunities on alternatives to the use of per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) in chips. For example, we plan to explore the use of AI capacities and digital twins to accelerate the discovery of suitable materials to replace PFAS in semiconductor manufacturing.

Biotechnology Cooperation to Promote the Bioeconomy and Address Global Challenges

The bioeconomy is supported by the use of foundational and widely-applicable tools and technologies (including emerging biotechnologies), which have the potential to drive innovation to address global challenges. .These tools and technologies also represent an opportunity to begin developing a common international understanding of the bioeconomy and future efforts to evaluate, measure, and grow the global bioeconomy as a whole. A crucial component of this effort is establishing a shared understanding of some of the risks and vulnerabilities associated with the bioeconomy, including economic and security considerations, alongside a simultaneous commitment to enabling the safe, secure, sustainable, and responsible use of tools and technologies for bioeconomic development.

We look forward to cooperating on shared research, development, and innovation priorities through the U.S.-EU Joint Consultative Group that will push bioeconomic development forward in ways that address the most pressing global challenges we all face.

We acknowledge the significant promise and risks associated with the integration of advanced biotechnology with other technological disciplines such as AI, information technology, nanotechnology, neurotechnology, chemistry, and medicine, which will drive innovation and have significant implications for academia, industry, and economic security. To address the potential risks associated with the convergence of these technologies, we are committed to work toward mechanisms to safeguard dual-use advanced biotechnology items and equipment.

Transatlantic Cooperation on Standards for Critical and Emerging Technologies and Clean Energy Transition

The United States and the European Union share an interest in recognizing mutually compatible technical standards as a way to expand transatlantic approaches for the deployment of critical and emerging technologies that reflect our shared values.

We plan to continue to exchange information on international standardisation activities for critical and emerging technologies via the “Strategic Standardisation Information (SSI)” mechanism, as established at the second U.S-EU TTC ministerial meeting. Our deepened cooperation enables us to cooperate on global standards. In order to strengthen collaboration with the private sector, we organised a joint stakeholder workshop in Washington D.C. on 17 November 2023, which identified relevant areas for transatlantic collaboration.

Together with standards development organisations and stakeholders, we have endeavoured to work towards mutually compatible standards and best practices in areas of strategic interest with the objective of avoiding unnecessarily burdensome technical trade barriers, without prejudice to the specificities and needs of our respective legal systems.

Over the last two years, our cooperation has led to tangible outcomes. We have facilitated commonly recognised international standards for the rollout of megawatt charging systems for heavy-duty vehicle charging points, and joint work of U.S. and EU standardisation bodies on plastics recycling and additive manufacturing since the start of the TTC. Our work continues to facilitate the development of mutually recognised and compatible standards to enhance new opportunities for cooperation within our respective standardisation systems.  

Following a successful round of government-to-government technical exchanges, the European Commission and U.S. government released a Digital Identity Mapping Exercise ReportDigital Identity Mapping Exercise Report which provides the results of an initial mapping centred on the definitions, assurance levels, and references to international standards included across Revision 3 of the NIST Digital Identity Guidelines (Special Publication 800-63, Revision 3) and European Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market. The next phase of this project will focus on identifying potential use cases for transatlantic interoperability and cooperation with a view toward enabling the cross-border use of digital identities and wallets.

The United States and the European Union intend to continue to identify emerging technology standards that are enablers of the clean energy transition for transatlantic collaboration.

B. Promoting Sustainability and New Opportunities for Trade and Investment 

Transatlantic Initiative on Sustainable Trade 

The Transatlantic Initiative on Sustainable Trade (TIST) work programme, which we launched at the fourth U.S-EU TTC ministerial meeting in May 2023, has advanced our cooperation on actions to accelerate the transition to climate-neutral economies in the United States and the European Union in a mutually beneficial way. The United States and the European Union have been making progress on the different work strands under the TIST work programme and will continue to advance this work.

Building a Transatlantic Green Marketplace

Building on our strong economic links to accelerate the green transition while creating new business opportunities for our firms and good employment opportunities for our citizens is a key objective of the TIST.

On 30-31 January 2024, the United States and the European Union jointly organised the “Crafting the Transatlantic Green Marketplace” event in Washington, D.C. The event brought together representatives from the U.S. and EU business, civil society, and labor communities to engage in a series of thematic stakeholder-led discussions that focused on identifying opportunities for transatlantic collaboration to promote the transition to a more sustainable and climate-neutral economy on both sides of the Atlantic. The United States and the European Union thank the participants for their time and input. We are currently analysing the various proposals for cooperation received from the stakeholders to assess their potential to be taken forward.

In addition, the United States and the European Union will continue various efforts under the TIST umbrella, including exploring potential avenues of cooperation on conformity assessment.

Green Public Procurement

The United States and the European Union underscore that, by achieving a common understanding on green public procurement practices, we can accelerate the uptake of more sustainable and greener solutions to achieve our common environmental and climate goals.

To this end, we have issued a Joint U.S.-EU Catalogue of Best Practices on Green Public Procurement. It will contribute to advancing sustainability objectives by identifying and promoting policy tools for accelerating the deployment of publicly financed sustainability projects in the United States and the European Union.

The Joint Catalogue presents a collection of policies, practices, and actions used across all stages of the procurement process, from the strategic planning to pre-procurement, procurement, and post-contract award stage, and addresses all types of environmental and climate challenges, such as reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency or promoting circular economy approaches. It can serve as an inspiration for policymakers and suppliers, as well as provide ideas for the uptake of green solutions in public procurement globally.

The United States and the European Union will continue to work together on how to use the Joint Catalogue and maximise its impact.

Secure and Sustainable Supply Chains for the Clean Energy Transition

The United States and the European Union reaffirm that secure and sustainable transatlantic supply chains are key for a solid and steadfast transition towards a net zero economy and will help reduce excessive dependencies in strategic economic activities. We intend to continue to cooperate on strategic supply chains, such as solar, to help us increase secure supply of clean energy. The United States and the European Union share common challenges in the solar sector and reaffirm the importance of a dedicated workstream that explores ways to jointly support our photovoltaic manufacturing capacity (including equipment) and to diversify and de-risk this supply chain.

The United States and the European Union also continue efforts to promote transparency and traceability to improve social standards and environmental protections across supply chains that support the green transition. In this context, we are planning a workshop with stakeholders to present ongoing initiatives to promote innovative solutions in the management of sustainable supply chains, including a focused session on solar.

U.S-EU Clean Energy Incentives Dialogue

The United States and the European Union share a strong commitment to tackling the climate crisis. We want to further the growth of the global clean energy economy while establishing resilient, secure, and diverse clean energy supply chains. By strengthening and expanding clean energy industries and investing in future-oriented sectors, we generate jobs, ignite a positive cycle of innovation, and decrease costs for clean energy technologies.

Through the U.S-EU Clean Energy Incentives Dialogue, we continue to work in a transparent and mutually reinforcing manner, to avoid zero-sum competition, subsidy races and distortions in transatlantic trade and investment flows that could arise from our respective policies and incentives. In this way, we strive to maximise clean energy technology deployment that creates jobs and does not lead to windfalls for private interests. To further enhance transparency, we intend to share specific information about our respective public incentive programs starting with one sector as a pilot with the possibility to extend this to further sectors in the future and will explore putting in place a reciprocal mechanism for consultations.

We share concerns about a range of third country non-market policies and practices. We have discussed thoseused by certain third countries to attain a dominant global position in clean energy sectors, and recognise the value of continuing to exchange information on such non-market policies and practices. We will continue to explore policy tools and possible coordinated action to address harm caused by these policies and practices. including by fostering supply chain diversification, reducing dependencies, and building resilience to economic coercion.

Critical Minerals

The United States and the European Union affirm their close collaboration on diversifying global critical minerals supply chains. We welcome the launch of the Mineral Security Partnership (MSP) Forum, which we will co-chair. The MSP Forum will formalize and expand its existing engagements with minerals producing countries, with a particular focus on advancing and accelerating individual projects with high environmental protections and social governance and labor standards and promoting discussion of policies that contribute to diverse and resilient supply chains.

Continuing our well-established cooperation on critical raw materials, a workshop on “Developing the permanent magnets value chain” resulted in valuable exchanges focussing on rare earth magnets. We plan to continue these exchanges in the future.

To promote a green transition, enhance economic security, and strengthen environmental protections and labor rights in international critical minerals supply chains, the United States and the European Union are advancing negotiations toward a Critical Minerals Agreement.

Transatlantic E-Mobility Cooperation

We welcome the successful completion of the Electro-mobility and Interoperability with Smart Grids workstream with the publication of the U.S-EU joint technical recommendations for “Future Public Demonstrations of Vehicle-Grid Integration (VGI) Pilots”. Devised in consultation with industry experts and stakeholders, the recommendations propose the development of best practices to prepare for large-scale VGI demonstrations, educate potential customers, and incorporate requisite customer-related factors in demonstration programme designs, and aim at supporting communication and coordination between the United States and the EU.

The recommendations complement the “Transatlantic Technical Recommendations for Government Funded Implementation of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure,” which were presented at the fourth TTC ministerial meeting in May 2023 in Luleå, Sweden.

Together, the two sets of recommendations can benefit companies and end users, and transatlantic trade and investment, by supporting the expansion of e-mobility as well as the realization of U.S. and EU clean energy and de-carbonization commitments.

Enhancing eInvoicing Interoperability between the United States and the European Union

As part of our efforts to increase the use of digital tools that enhance trade, Electronic Invoicing (eInvoicing) has emerged as a transformative tool in modern business, offering efficiency gains, cost savings, and trade benefits. The continued cooperation and efforts towards compatible eInvoicing between the United States and the European Union. offer a spectrum of advantages, with the potential to significantly reshape cross-market transactions and the dynamics of transatlantic trade. Even though most of the eInvoicing technical specifications and profiles are highly aligned, there are differences between our respective eInvoicing systems. We intend to continue to cooperate and coordinate for greater compatibility, particularly in terms of business and technical interoperability, as outlined in the declaration annexed to this Joint Statement.

Trade and Labor in the Green Transition

Today, the United States and the European Union held their third session of the tripartite Transatlantic Trade and Labor Dialogue (TALD). This session brought together TTC principals and senior representatives from labor, business, and government from both sides of the Atlantic and continued the joint transatlantic work with social partners on the promotion of sustainable and responsible supply chains with strong protections for labor rights. Building on the discussions during the workshop on the “Promotion of Good Quality Jobs for a Successful, Just and Inclusive Green Transition” on 30 January 2024, the TALD meeting provided the opportunity to dive deeper and hear views from labor and business stakeholders on the topic of the green transition, with specific focus on the green transition and other challenges, and the future of TALD.

In addition, the United States and the European Union reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate to eliminate forced labor from global supply chains, as called upon in the labor and businesses stakeholders’ May 2023 joint recommendations, and they expressed the intention to continue technical dialogue to exchange information, as well as share best practices regarding the implementation of their forced labor policies, including with regard to research and risk assessment.

C. Trade, Security, and Economic Prosperity

Trade for Economic Security

Strengthening our economic security is a fundamental pillar of the transatlantic partnership. The TTC has helped provide a better understanding of our respective approaches to economic security. We intend to continue cooperation under the TTC to address common challenges using relevant trade and technology tools, bilaterally and in relevant fora, including the G7 and the World Trade Organization. We reaffirm shared concerns about the challenges posed to our economic security by, among other issues, economic coercion, the weaponization of economic dependencies, and the use of non-market policies and practices by third countries. We share the objective of continuing efforts to de-risk and diversify our trade and investment relations, including by reducing critical and excessive dependencies and strengthening the resilience of strategic supply chains.

Cooperation on Export Controls and Sanction-Related Export Restrictions

We continue to recognise the important role played by the TTC in supporting the European Union, the United States, and other international partners in their unprecedented cooperation on measures against Russia and Belarus. Such cooperation has helped bring about a continuous alignment of our regulations and a consistent application of export restrictions targeting Russia and Belarus through, for example, regular exchanges of information about authorisation and denial decisions. It has also supported coordination to counter the circumvention of our measures, such as through the creation and update of a common list of high priority items (CHP) and our outreach to industry.

We will continue to work to further align U.S. and EU priorities on Russian export restrictions and coordinated international messaging on those priorities to combat circumvention and improve efficiency and effectiveness of domestic controls. As regards the implementation of export restrictions against Russia, both sides welcome the setting up of the platform for the exchange of licensing information and plan to continue to exchange information on outreach activities, including to third countries and industry.

Both sides have also decided to continue work on facilitating secure high-technology trade and reducing administrative burdens in areas covered by export controls by developing a common understanding of respective rules and mapping out measures that would help streamline this trade, while maintaining a well-functioning and effective export control regime. For example, the United States has expanded licencing exceptions to EU Member States.

We welcome the impulse the TTC has given to coordinated action by the United States and the European Union in reaching out to other countries and supporting them in strengthening their export controls, for example, through the provision of secure software for the processing of licenses.

Investment Screening

We reiterate the importance of having effective foreign direct investment (FDI) screening mechanisms in place aimed at addressing national security risks in the United States and addressing threats to security and public order in the European Union. We welcome the progress in this regard and will continue to support the development and implementation of these mechanisms, while promoting an open and attractive investment environment.

We have carried out joint work to identify certain best practices on foreign direct investment screening with the intention to eventually bring these to the attention of screening authorities and stakeholders more broadly. We will soon launch of a joint repository that will provide additional resources to U.S. and EU Member State investment screening professionals. We have deepened our cooperation on investment screening through hosting a public stakeholder event and conducting outreach to like-minded partners in the Western Balkans to support their development of effective FDI screening mechanisms and intend to continue such outreach in 2024.

We will continue our cooperation on investment screening through technical exchanges, including on investment trends impacting security risks related to specific sensitive technologies to provide a better understanding of similarities and differences in approach.

Outbound Investment Security

We recognize the importance of investment, innovation, and open economies. At the same time, we are also attentive to concerns regarding potential security threats and risks to international peace and security that may arise from certain outbound investments in a narrow set of critical technologies. Against this background, the United States and the European Union will continue to exchange information on the security risks, risk analyses, and on our respective approaches around this issue, and how to address this new challenge.

Addressing Non-Market Policies and Practices

The United States and the European Union remain concerned about the persistent use of other countries’ non-market policies and practices and the challenge they pose both to our workers and businesses and to other third-country markets. We continue to exchange on the risks that non-market policies and practices, including non-market excess capacity, pose in certain sectors and to engage with partners where appropriate.

We engaged with other countries who share our concerns about China’s non-market policies and practices in the medical devices sector, and conveyed these concerns directly to China. The United States and the European Union will continue to monitor developments in the medical devices sector.

D. Defending Human Rights and Values in a Changing Geopolitical Digital Environment

Protecting Information Integrity in a Pivotal Year for Democratic Resilience

The United States and the European Union reiterate our unwavering commitment to support democracies across the world. We are determined to defend human rights and will continue to call out authoritarianism. In a year marked by democratic elections around the world, we call upon all actors including governments, industry, journalists, human rights defenders, and civil society to protect and defend information integrity both online and offline.

We express our strong support for the role of free, pluralistic, and independent media in protecting information integrity. Independent media should serve as a public watchdog and a key pillar of democracy, as well as an important and dynamic part of our economy. We recognize its indispensable role informing public opinion, fact-checking, and holding those in power accountable.

We are witnessing rapid technological advancements which provide opportunities to enhance information integrity but also create new risks. The United States and the European Union share the concern that malign use of AI applications, such as the creation of harmful “deepfakes,” poses new risks, including to further the spread and targeting of foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI). We call upon technology companies and online platforms to uphold information integrity, including in the run-up to elections across the world.

In the European Union, the Digital Services Act (DSA) requires designated very large online platforms and search engines to assess and mitigate societal risks emanating from their services, including negative effects on civic discourse and electoral processes and recommends specific measures, including on generative AI content.

 Cooperation on Online Platforms

The United States and the European Union reaffirm their view that online platforms should exercise greater responsibility in ensuring that their services contribute to an online environment that protects, empowers, and respects their users. We reiterate that online platforms should take appropriate actions to address the impact of their services on the mental health and development of children and youth.

The United States and the European Union also reaffirm that urgent action is needed to address technology-facilitated gender-based violence, which disproportionately impacts women and girls, who often experience multiple and intersecting discriminations and oppressions. We developed a set of joint principles on combatting gender-based violence on online platforms that complement further the joint high-level principles on the protection and empowerment of children and youth and facilitation of data access from online platforms for independent research, which were released at the fourth TTC ministerial meeting. 

In addition to releasing these principles, we are also publishing a status report on mechanisms for researcher access to online platform data, which builds upon efforts undertaken by the academic and research community. The aim of this work is to disseminate information about the new and improved possibilities now available to study and understand systemic risks related to online platforms. We call on online platforms to expand and improve access for researchers, particularly on societal risks.

To deepen this work, in the margins of this Ministerial Meeting, we organized a joint workshop on access to platform data and using this data to combat technology-facilitated gender-based violence. We invited, and continue to encourage, the research community to analyse these data access mechanisms, and to explore how they can contribute to a better understanding of the functioning of – and the potential risks emanating from online platforms with regard to areas such as the mental health and development of children and youth, and technology-facilitated gender-based violence.

We share the commitment to the highest appropriate standards of protection in these areas for users in both the United States and the European Union.

Protecting Human Rights Defenders Online

The United States and the European Union recognise the key role human rights defenders (HRDs) play in defending human rights and fundamental freedoms, and we are committed to the protection of HRDs online and offline. We are working together to address human rights risks stemming from the misuse of digital technologies, including combatting internet shutdowns, unlawful surveillance, and the targeting of HRDs online. Elevating the critical role of HRDs and supporting and protecting them in doing their work safely is not only a shared foreign policy priority for the United States and the European Union, but an imperative for advancing human rights for all.

Following the commitment made at the fourth TTC ministerial meeting, we have published joint Recommended Actions for Online Platforms on Protecting Human Rights Defenders Online. This document sets out ten recommendations that online platforms can take globally to prevent, mitigate, and provide remedy for attacks against HRDs online.

These recommendations reflect commitments we made with global partners through the Declaration of the Future of the Internet and reflect key principles of U.S. and EU legislation, initiatives, and policies to safeguard human rights online. They were informed by extensive stakeholder consultations organized by the United States and the European Union from January 2023 to February 2024. The United States and the European Union intend to take further actions to address the needs of HRDs around the world. We will engage with all relevant stakeholders to promote the recommended actions and facilitate their implementation. We will also facilitate further exchanges and cooperation between the European Union- and United States-based emergency mechanisms on support strategies which seek to prevent, curb, mitigate, and eliminate online attacks, including the use of arbitrary and unlawful surveillance targeting HRDs.

Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference in Third Countries

The United States and the European Union consider foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) to be geopolitical and security challenges. We share the aim of addressing this threat and enhancing the resilience of democracies. Against this background, we have taken a number of actions to increase transatlantic cooperation to proactively address FIMI, including disinformation, while upholding human rights and fundamental freedoms. We will continue to work together to address FIMI through the TTC and other multi- and bilateral contexts.

We will continue to jointly use and further advance the common analytical methodology to identify, analyse and detect FIMI decided at the fourth TTC ministerial meeting. We are engaging with other international partners on a quarterly basis to familiarise them with this methodology. Expanding the network of partners familiar with this methodology will enhance our common understanding of the threat and allow us to jointly identify, analyse, and counter FIMI globally.

The European Union, the United States, and the Western Balkan partners share the same vision for an open, reliable, and secure Internet, as evidenced by their joint endorsement of the Declaration for the Future of the Internet. We will coordinate our efforts in order to support the Western Balkan partners by launching a coordination mechanism to address FIMI threats more effectively in the region. This is in line with the European Union’s and like-minded partners’ initiatives to increase their capabilities to further identify, assess, and counter FIMI. Our support will reduce third countries’, and in particular Russia’s and other actors’, including China’s, ability to effectively employ FIMI campaigns in the region. We will help our partners in the Western Balkans to develop capacity in five key action areas: the development of national strategies and policies, the creation of dedicated governance structures and institutions, increasing human and technical capabilities, protecting and supporting the role of independent media, academia, and civil society, and multilateral engagement.

Secure and Trusted Digital Infrastructure and Connectivity in Third Countries

The United States and the European Union reiterate the importance of and support for secure, trusted, and resilient digital connectivity and information and communication technology and services (ICTS) supply chains in third countries, provided by trusted suppliers.

We commend the decisions taken by partner countries towards trusted ICT ecosystems by ensuring high cybersecurity and resilience standards for connectivity solutions and networks, including by restricting or excluding high-risk suppliers from their national networks and using trusted vendors and services providers for maintenance and repair.

We will continue to reach out to partners across the world to understand the needs and challenges around securing digital infrastructure and explore how we can best collaborate to support the digitalisation goals of emerging economies. We continue to engage emerging economies through technical discussions and high-level roundtables to increase interest in secure digital connectivity. We also remain committed to continued exchanges with relevant industry actors such as mobile network operators and trusted equipment suppliers.

We are delivering on our commitments to support to secure and resilient connectivity projects in Costa Rica, Jamaica, Kenya, and the Philippines, including through mechanisms like the Global Gateway, the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, and technical exchanges, including third counties sharing experiences to accelerate secure connectivity in other parts of the region.

The United States and the European Union are supporting Tunisia’s goal of establishing secure digital connectivity and infrastructure by relying on trusted vendors through collaborative advocacy, technical assistance and by exploring financing, coordination, and policy alignment. This includes providing training programs to targeted Tunisian government agencies, IT professionals, and businesses, and promoting the development of cybersecurity standards and frameworks, in particular for 5G. The United States and the European Union are advancing discussions with relevant financial institutions for the mobilisation of support for secure digital connectivity infrastructure projects with trusted vendors.

We aim to continue our actions to support secure and resilient digital connectivity in third countries. Following the earlier signing of a memorandum of understanding between the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the United States and the European Union intend to augment their actions by furthering cooperation between the EU Member State and United States financing agencies. In 2023, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) signed co-financing memorandums of understanding with the Swedish EKN and Finnish Finnvera respectively to facilitate joint support for export projects, and has enabled direct support to trusted suppliers from both sides.

We are committed to exploring options to act strategically, cooperatively, and efficiently to provide attractive incentives to partner countries to choose trusted suppliers for the development of their connectivity networks.

Secure and Resilient International Connectivity

The United States and the European Union recall the economic and geostrategic importance of cooperating on trust and security in the entirety of ICT infrastructure, including maintenance and repair. To this end, we continue to seek ways to advance cooperation on international connectivity with trustworthy, secure, and resilient networks. This could include trans-oceanic routes including through the Arctic and Pacific regions.

III. Building the Transatlantic Partnership Together with Stakeholders

We remain committed to high levels of transparency and the close involvement of the transatlantic stakeholder community at large in the work of the TTC, including businesses, labor organisations, non-profit organisations, environmental constituencies, and academics.

We have therefore extensively reached out to stakeholders and given them the possibility to be involved and to provide input and receive feedback through the organisation of events, roundtables, and workshops and the establishment of dedicated websites like Futurium. With the support of the EU-financed Trade and Technology Dialogue, several high-level events have taken place and stakeholders have been consulted on topics such as sustainable trade, standardisation, AI, connectivity, and semiconductors.

In addition to these activities, we have also engaged with relevant stakeholders in more structured formats such as the Transatlantic Trade and Labor Dialogue, the Talent for Growth Task Force, and with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a series of webinars on the topic of SME access to and use of digital tools.

Talent for Growth

The Talent for Growth Task Force, launched in April 2023 with a one-year mandate, has served both as a platform for best practices and a catalyst for innovative skills approaches that promote economic growth and create opportunities for workers in the technology sector. The Task Force brought together leaders from government, business, labor unions, and organisations that support training from the United States and the European Union. The Task Force identified, mapped, and disseminated implementable models and ideas in four critical areas: training workers to meet business needs, including women and underrepresented groups in technical jobs, Moving to a skills-first culture, and micro-credentials. The Task Force endorsed a statement featuring key messages stemming from these discussions.

The discussions in this group have confirmed the critical role talent plays for the sustainable growth of our economies and the well-being of our societies in an age of rapidly changing technology. It examined the acceleration of change brought about by AI. The Task Force has established bilateral relations between Task Force members which have catalysed private-sector initiatives and will last beyond the timeframe of the Task Force. The European and the United States remain dedicated to continuing to equip our workforces with the skills necessary to meet the needs created by rapidly changing technology, including AI.

Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)

The United States and the European Union recognise the use of digital tools as a key enabler for SMEs to innovate, grow, and compete and are continuing their work to promote the uptake of digital technologies by SMEs.

Several webinars and outreach activities where SMEs shared their needs and experience were held during the last two years. After an analysis of these stakeholder exchanges, we have developed a common set of recommendations for U.S. and EU policymakers to implement measures to help SMEs to accelerate access to these technologies.

The recommendations focus on the topics of digital-related trainings; transatlantic exchange programmes; information-sharing on cyber-security, intellectual property, and standards; and access to finance. To continue the work, we intend to develop an implementation process for these recommendations, including measures such as a webinar on access to finance and the publishing of cross-referenced U.S. and EU websites with practical information for SMEs.

IV. Conclusion and Next Steps

Since its inaugural meeting on 29 September 2021, the TTC has realized substantial progress and achievements across all workstreams. These results have enabled the United States and the European Union: to explore how to create new trade and investment opportunities, notably to contribute to the green transition; to advance our shared leadership in emerging technologies, such as 6G, quantum, and biotechnology so that democracies can remain at the vanguard of these developments; to provide a robust joint response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine; to cooperate on economic security measures to reduce economic dependencies; to continue to develop a shared understanding of the non-market policies and practices and the risks they pose or our workers, businesses and markets globally; to jointly enhance supply chain resilience while promoting transparency and cooperation on our industrial policy approaches in key sectors, including semiconductors and clean energy; to exchange information on best practices in eliminating forced labor from our global supply chains; to advance and reinforce interoperability between AI governance frameworks based on our shared democratic values to achieve our common vision for safe, secure, and trustworthy AI globally ; to advance the resilience and security of our ICT infrastructures; and to finance and promote secure connectivity with trusted suppliers around the world.

These achievements demonstrate the enduring ties between the United States and the European Union and the importance of maintaining an operational forum for cooperation on strategic trade and technology issues of common interest and geopolitical relevance. As the United States and the European Union enter their respective electoral processes, the work we do under the TTC will remain relevant, strategic, and timely, while allowing for the necessary flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances.

Building on the lessons learned from our cooperation so far, we intend to use the remainder of 2024 to engage with U.S. and EU stakeholders to learn their views on the future of the TTC.

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National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke by telephone on Wednesday with Sri Lankan National Security Advisor Sagala Ratnayake. Their discussion covered areas of bilateral engagement including U.S. support to Sri Lanka’s security and sovereignty, Sri Lanka’s ongoing efforts to complete the fiscal, monetary, and governance elements of its IMF program, and future opportunities for cooperation. National Security Advisor Sullivan expressed his interest in maintaining an ongoing engagement with Sri Lanka in order to collaboratively pursue peace and security in the region.

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The post Readout of NSA Sullivan’s Call with Sri Lankan National Security Advisor Sagala Ratnayake appeared first on The White House.

Maryland Transportation Authority
Baltimore, Maryland

3:21 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, thank you, thank you. (Applause.) Please, please. Thank you.

By the way, folks, I say to my dad: Dad, they’re mispronouncing Baltimore. (Pronounced in an accent.) (Laughter.) My dad and the Biden — please, sit down — the Biden family goes all the way back to being watermen in this bay for a long, long time back in the la- — mid-1800s. And my father was born and raised here in Baltimore. And there’s a strong, strong connection. Still have family in the region as well.

Governor Moore, Senator Cardin, Senator Van Hollen, Congress[man] Mfume, Mayor Scott, County Executive Johnny O. — (laughter) — I like that — Johnny “O-ho-ho” — (laughter) — to all the military members and first responders and, most importantly, to the people of Maryland, I’m here to say: Your nation has your back, and I mean it. Your nation has your back. (Applause.)

And you’ve got, without exaggeration, one of the finest delegations in the Congress of any state in the Union. And they know how to get things done, and we’re going to get this paid for. Aren’t we?

PARTICIPANTS: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: All right. I was just briefed by the United — Uni- — Unified Command about the ongoing impact of this tragic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge last Tuesday.

The damage is devastating, and our hearts are still breaking. Eight — eight construction workers went into the water when the bridge fell. Six lost their lives. Most were immigrants, but all were Marylanders — hard-working, strong, and selfless.

After pulling a night shift fixing potholes, they were on a break when the ship struck.

Just seconds before, one of the men named Carlos, who was only 24, left a message for his girlfriend. Here’s what it said: “We just poured cement, and we’re waiting for it to dry,” he said.

Well, to all the families and loved ones who are grieving: I’ve come here to grieve with you. We all are.

It’s not the same, but I know a little bit about what it’s like to lose a piece of your soul — to get that phone call in the middle of the night to say family members are gone. I’ve been there. It’s feeling like having a black hole in your chest, like you’re being sucked in, unable to breath. The anger, the pain, the depth of the loss is so profound.

And we know it’s hard to believe, and you’re probably not going to believe me, but I can tell you now from personal experience: The day is going to come when the memory of your loved one, as you walk by that park or the church or something that you shared together, it’s going to bring a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye.

It’s going to happen. It’s going to take a while, but I promise you, it will happen. And that’s when you know you’re going to be able to make it. I promise you it will come. And our prayers for you is that time comes sooner rather than later — but it will come.

We’ll also never forget the contributions these men made to this city. We’re going to keep working hard to recover each of them.

And, you know, my vow is that we will not rest, as Carlos said, until the cement has dried on the entirety of a new bridge — a new bridge. (Applause.)

Earlier this afternoon, we took an aerial tour to survey the wreckage. You know, from the air, I saw the bridge that’s been ripped apart. But here on the ground, I see a community that’s been pulled together.

I want to thank you all — the first responders, the port workers, state and local officials — who sprang into action before dawn, who’ve been here ever since.

And we did talk at, I think it was, 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. You were out here. You were here.

Within minutes of the collapse, the U.S. Coast Guard arrived on the scene. Within hours, I ordered personnel from the Army Corps of Engineers, the Navy, the Department of Transportation to assist in every way possible.

Within a day, we stood up a Unified Command.

In the weeks to come, I want you to know: We’re going to continue to have your backs every step of the way. I guarantee you. I guarantee you.

First — our first is our priority to reopen the port. This is one of the nation’s largest shipping hubs. And it’s the top port in America both in importing and exporting of cars and light trucks — the number one.

Simply put: The impact here has a significant impact everywhere — up and down the coast and around the country.

Thousands of tons of mangled steel remain lodged in the water, blocking ships from moving in and out of the harbor.

I’ve dec- — I’ve directed the Coast Guard, the Navy, and the Army Corps of Engineers — who are, by the way, the finest engineers in the world — and the state officials to work together to help remove this steel as quickly as possible and as safely as possible.

So far, our team has been able to clear two small channels for essential ships helping clear the wreckage.

And, yesterday, the Army Corps announced that by the end of April they will be able to open the third channel for some commercial traffic, including car carriers. And by the end of May, we’ll open the full channel — the full channel. (Applause.)

My task force on Supply Chain Disruption has been able to — been engaging with union, rail, trucking, shipping, state and local leaders to minimize the impact on our supply chains.

And I’m proud to announce that the federal government will provide over $8 million in grant funds to make the infrastructure improvements at Sparrows Point, as the only [part of the] port unaffected by this collapse, which will allow Sparrows Point to take on more ships. And that’s happening now — will happen shortly.

Second, we’re focusing on protecting the workers and businesses. Folks, 20,000 jobs depend on this port. Twenty thousand families depend on this port to buy groceries, to make rent, to pay their bills.

Today, my administration is announcing the first tranche of Dislocated Worker Grants — fancy phrase to — which is dimed — all of it is there to make sure it — it helps create jobs for workers involved in the cleanup of this incident — additional jobs.

My Small Business Administration has also issued a disaster declaration, which will allow the SBA to offer low-interest loans for small businesses impacted by the collapse in order to keep things moving.

The state, the city, the county are also stepping up in impressive ways to help workers and businesses who have been affected by this disaster.

But, folks, we all need to step up. Amazon, Home Depot, Domino Sugar, and many other companies all rely on this port. And they have committed to keep workers and payrolls on their — and their businesses in Baltimore and [as we] move as quickly and clearly as possible to clear the channel. (Applause.)

I’m calling on every company at and around the port to do the same thing — the same exact thing: commit to stay.

And to the customers who use this port, we’re coming back, and we’re coming back soon.

Folks, finally, we’re going to move heaven and earth to rebuild this bridge as rapidly as humanly possible. And we’re going to do so with union labor and American steel. (Applause.) For a simple reason: They’re the best workers in the world, and that’s not hyperbole.

Every day, over 30,000 vehicles traveled across this bridge, and I was one of those people. I commuted every day from Delaware for 36 years year to Washington, D.C., back and forth, and about one fourth of that time by automobile. I’ve been to every part of this port.

Folks, we now face a question no American should ever have to ask: How will I get to work? How will I go to school? How will I get to a hospital?

A response — in response, everyone, including Congress, should be asking only one question, and they’re going to be asked the question by your delegation: How can we help? How can we solve that problem?

My administration is committed — absolutely committed to ensuring that the parties responsible for this tragedy pay to repair the damage and be held accountable to the fullest extent the law will allow.

But I also want to be clear: We will support Maryland and Baltimore every step of the way to help you rebuild and maintain all the business and commerce that’s here now. (Applause.)

As the governor — as the governor can tell you, within hours of the American req- — the Maryland request, we approved $60 million in emergency federal funding. I fully intend — I fully intend, as the governor knows, to have the federal government cover the cost of rebuilding this entire bridge — all of it — all of it — (applause) — as we’ve done in other parts of the country in similar circumstances.

And I stand here, I call on Congress to authorize this effort as soon as possible.

Let me close with this. This port is over 300 years old. As a matter of fact, as I said, my great-great-grandfather worked here as a waterman in this bay. This port is older than our Republic. And it’s been through tough, tough times before.

During the war of 1812, a young Marylander named Francis Scott Key, to whom the bridge is named after, sat in a boat in this very harbor, and he watched — he watched the British troops launch an attack after attack on American forces.

But as the dawn broke, we saw the American flag still flying, Baltimore was still standing, and our nation, as he wrote in the “Star-Spangled Banner,” had made it through a perilous fight.

Folks, this is going to take time, but Governor Moore, Senator Cardin, Senator Van Hollen, Congressman Mfume, Mayor Scott, County Executive Johnny O., and others are going to rebuild this bridge as rapidly as possible. And, folks, we’re determined to come back even stronger.

We’re the only nation that has gone through every crisis that we’ve had — we come out stronger than we went in. And we’re going to do it here as well. And once more to make this perilous challenge — this perilous challenge.

You know, because we’re the United States of America, there’s nothing — nothing, nothing beyond our capacity when we do it together. Think about that. Remember who we are. We’re the United States of America. Nothing is beyond our capacity.

May God bless you all. And may God protect our troops, our first responders, and all those who gave their soul.

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

3:33 P.M. EDT

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South Lawn

12:52 P.M. EDT

Q    Your reaction to the earthquake, sir — the New York City earthquake?  Can you talk about it briefly?  Your reaction, sir, to the New York —

THE PRESIDENT: With regard — with re- —

Q    Did you threaten to stop military —

THE PRESIDENT:  With regard —

Q    — aid to Israel?

THE PRESIDENT:  With regard to the earthquake, I spoke to the governor.  He thinks everything is under control.  He’s not too concerned about it — the governor of New Jersey — so things are all right. 

Thank you.

(Cross-talk.)

Q    Did you threaten to stop military aid to Israel, Mr. President?

THE PRESIDENT:  Pardon me?

Q    Did you threaten to stop military aid to Israel?

THE PRESIDENT:  I asked them to do what they’re doing. 

(Cross-talk.)

Q    Are you abandoning Israel?

THE PRESIDENT:  Where you from, man?

Q    Are you abandoning Israel?

THE PRESIDENT:  Is that a serious question? 

12:53 P.M. EDT

 

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Naomi Drenan Recreation Center
Charlotte, North Carolina

(April 4, 2024)

2:28 P.M. EDT

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon, everyone.   Good afternoon.  Please have a seat.  Please have a seat. 

Donnetta, thank you for that introduction and all the work you’ve been doing at Self-Help.  I’m going to talk about that work in a minute. 

But I really — I really appreciate the fact that the spirit behind the announcements we’re making today really are about our community leaders and the love, the passion, the commitment, the drive, the ambition that our community leaders have, knowing that when we see and understand who the community is, everyone will benefit.  Everyone will benefit.  So, thank you for that. 

Mayor Lyles — Mayor Lyles, thank you for once again welcoming me to your beautiful city and for all the leadership that you have provided and the partnership you have provided to the President and me.  I want to thank you for that. 

And, of course, it is so good to be back in this beautiful state with so many incredible leaders. 

The Administrator, Michael Regan, who has been so bold and innovative as a leader for the EPA. 

And then I just — you know I’m going to talk about you — my Congresswoman.  I mean, I know I don’t live in your district, but — (laughter) — the great Alma Adams, a long-standing champion of North Carolina’s families and a dear, dear friend to me for the years that I have been in Washington, D.C., before as a senator and now as vice president. 

And many of you may know of her extraordinary work, including being the co-founder of the Black Maternal Health Caucus and all your work there.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Thank you.

And so, thank you to everyone here for all your work. 

So, we are here today to address two issues that are critical to the strength of our economy and the future of our nation: access to capital and building a clean energy economy.  (Applause.)  Yes.

So, as you have now heard, since taking office, the President and I have made an incredible investment, the largest investment ever, to take on the climate crisis: roughly a trillion dollars — with a T — (laughter) — I had to — (laughter and applause) — over the next 10 years.  And that investment to create millions of jobs; to provide billions of dollars of clean energy money and investment to small businesses and entrepreneurs; to lower monthly energy bills for families across our nation; and to expand access to capital.

In every community in our nation, there are, of course, extraordinary people with talent, ingenuity, and the ability to help us take on the climate crisis: entrepreneurs, who I’ve met, who founded an innovative solar and wind power start-up that can help reduce our greenhouse gas emissions; in communities where there are small-business owners who help produce the batteries that power our nation’s fleet of electric vehicles; and, of course, community organizers that help millions of families make their homes more energy efficient to lower their energy bills. 

But while every community has the capacity to join the clean energy economy, not every community has had the opportunity to do that. 

As vice president, I have met with climate leaders from communities across our nation — from rural Arizona, to downtown Detroit; from Dalton, Georgia, to Denver, Colorado, to Durham.  And I can tell you that I have seen firsthand that in too many places, too many people with all of that talent there have still had limited opportunity to access to capital to do the work that they want to do to start and grow a clean energy business, to make their homes more energy efficient, or to install solar panels or EV chargers in their community. 

So, I have fought for years with so many of you — we have fought together shoulder to shoulder — to expand access to capital for every community.  And as you heard, as a United States senator, I was proud to — to gain more than $12 billion, which we secured for our nation’s community banks.  And those are, of course, financial institutions which are run by folks who live, work, and invest in the communities they serve. 

And then, as vice president, in 2022, I launched the Economic Opportunity Coalition, which is a coalition of banks, technology companies, and nonprofits, to invest billions of dollars in community banks from the private sector so they can make more loans under what we know to be circumstances where we’re looking at communities that have been underserved, including our rural communities. 

And so far, the Economic Opportunity Coalition has invested over a billion dollars across our country. 

And then, last year, we announced the largest investment in our nation’s history, $20 billion, to create a national network of nonprofits to expand access to capital for community-based climate projects — projects run by leaders from the community.  (Applause.)  Yes.  And the majority of this $20 billion will go to communities that have historically been left out and left behind. 

And here is what is special about this announcement: For the first time in history, we are providing tens of billions of dollars directly to community lenders to finance local climate projects. 

This is a novel approach.  It is actually the first time we have taken this approach, because we know that we have the capacity with this approach to empower communities to decide which projects they want, that will have the greatest impact from their perspective in the place they call home.  And then we can invest in those projects in a way that will actually have value for the people who live there, instead of us from Washington, D.C., telling you what you need.  (Applause.)  And that is critically important. 

And so, today, our announcement is that we have chosen eight nonprofits to lead this work, from a community of — of banks that are a network that serve Native communities, to a rural economic development collective that works in Appalachia, to a group of lenders that focus on economic and climate justice.  Yes. 

And this $20 billion investment will allow these eight nonprofits to fund tens of thousands of community-based climate projects. 

So, I’d like you to imagine what this means. 

Imagine, for example, the young entrepreneur who wants to launch a startup to repair electric vehicle chargers, and that this person can now get a small-business loan to hire her first employees. 

Imagine a small-business owner who can now take out a line of credit to buy a fleet of electric delivery vehicles so he can stop paying for gas and reduce pollution at the same time. 

Imagine a house of worship that can now get a zero-interest loan so they can install solar panels to generate clean energy through electricity for the entire neighborhood. 

Our investment will also help lower energy bills for homeowners and renters.  When President Biden and I first ran for office, folks told us we — we have to take on the climate crisis and we have to also lower monthly energy bills.  Well, the investment we’re talking about today will do both. 

For example, today, I visited Grier Heights — (applause) — and as many of you know, it is an his- — an historically Black neighborhood here in Charlotte.  And over the past two decades, the community bank Self-Help worked with residents and community organizations to install good insulation, high-quality windows, and new electric appliances in 49 homes in this part of Charlotte to make them more energy efficient. 

So, earlier today, before I arrived here, I visited with one of those homes and met Levon, who is here with his two beautiful sons — (applause) — the baby, who is napping after our visit — (laughter) — and the older young leader’s son who was talking with me about how he was watching the Shirley Chisholm documentary.  And I told him I’m counting on his leadership. 

And — and they were so kind to — to welcome us to — to visit with them.  Levon is a small-business owner and a former middle school teacher.  And — and he shared with me that last — in his last home, every month, he paid $300 for his gas bill and $300 for his electricity bill. 

After moving into one of Self-Help’s energy-efficient homes, Levon’s total energy bill — total — dropped to around $100 a month.  (Applause.)

And he offered to me what that meant for him as a young father of young children.  He said, well, that savings now allows him to have more money to pay for childcare.  He’s a small-business owner; he needs childcare for his children.  He said that he and his spouse now are putting aside at least $50 a month for each of their sons for their savings account for college or whatever they choose to do. 

So, let’s think about what this means.  Yes, we talk about cutting energy costs.  But when we’re talking about real people with their dreams and aspirations and responsibilities and obligations, this is a big deal. 

So, today’s investment will allow Self-Help and other nonprofits to help 30,000 more families across our nation upgrade their homes.  And that is just the beginning. 

But think about it: Soon, 30,000 more families will have the funds they need to replace drafty windows and install better insulation to keep their homes warm in the winter and cool in the summer and, here in North Carolina, to help you lower that monthly Duke Energy bill.  (Applause.)  You’re welcome.  (Laughs.)  Right?

And just like Levon, 30,000 more families will now have the opportunity to save potentially hundreds of dollars every month and with more money in their pocket, then, for groceries and school supplies and childcare. 

Our $20 billion public investment will also serve as an investment for the private sector.  And I met with the leaders of the eight non- — nonprofits before I came out to thank them.  Because over the next seven years, this $20 billion public investment will incentivize more than $100 billion in private-sector investing. 

And I know, and I think everyone here knows, that there is great power in public-private partnerships, which demonstrate how much we can accomplish when we combine the experience and expertise of the private sector with the scale and capacity of government. 

So, all of that being said, we also know that this investment is going to create jobs — good-paying union jobs; jobs for the workers of IBEW, who are going to install the energy-efficient lighting; jobs for sheet metal workers who can replace the dirty furnaces and — and replace them with clean electric heat pumps; and jobs for the laborers who will build affordable, energy-efficient housing. 

So, I’ll conclude with this.  This investment demonstrates an important point: When we invest in climate, we create jobs, we lower costs, and we invest in families. 

When we expand access to capital and give every person in our nation, no matter who they are or where they live, the opportunity to pursue their dreams, we build a cleaner, healthier, and more equitable and more prosperous future for everyone. 

Thank you all.  (Applause.)

May God bless you.  And God bless America. 

Thank you.  Thank you.

END                2:44 P.M. EDT

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Today’s report marks a milestone in America’s comeback. Three years ago, I inherited an economy on the brink. With today’s report of 303,000 new jobs in March, we have passed the milestone of 15 million jobs created since I took office. That’s 15 million more people who have the dignity and respect that comes with a paycheck.

My plan is growing the economy from the middle out and the bottom up, investing in all Americans, and giving the middle class a fair shot. Unemployment has been under 4% for the longest stretch in more than 50 years. Wages are going up. Inflation has come down significantly.

We’ve come a long way, but I won’t stop fighting for hardworking families. I’m taking action to lower costs, from bringing down the price of insulin and inhalers and prescription drugs, to eliminating junk fees. I’m calling on large corporations to pass along their record profits to consumers. And I’ll continue to stand against Congressional Republicans’ efforts to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid and to enact massive tax giveaways for the wealthy and big corporations.

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Unified Command structure immediately established and clearing wreckage
 
$60 million in federal Emergency Relief funds quickly approved for Maryland’s initial costs
 
Small Business Administration to provide low-interest disaster loans to eligible businesses
 
 Department of Labor approves first tranche of Dislocated Worker Grant funding to support workers impacted by bridge collapse
 
President Biden requests congressional authorization to fully cover the cost of rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge
 
Private sector makes commitments to support workers

Following the devastating collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, President Biden has launched a whole-of-government effort to provide immediate response, reopen the port, rebuild the bridge, and support the people of Baltimore. President Biden and his team have worked with Governor Moore, Senator Cardin, Senator Van Hollen, Congressman Mfume, Mayor Scott, and numerous state and local officials. The President’s message has been clear: This Administration will be with the people of Baltimore every step of the way. This tragedy has had a devastating impact on the victims and their families, and as the President has said, our prayers are with them. The victims were fathers, husbands, and friends in their homes, work, and communities. The Administration will continue to work alongside our state and local partners to attend to the needs of the families and to assist in the ongoing search and recovery efforts of those still missing.  
 
Working Safely and Quickly to Clear Wreckage and Reopen the Port
 
Clearing the wreckage will be a complex and highly coordinated effort, as teams determine how to precisely cut the bridge’s steel trusses into movable pieces; develop plans to safely extract the cargo ship, which is weighed down by thousands of tons of wreckage; and as divers navigate murky waters with little to no visibility. The Biden Administration has taken decisive action to deploy federal resources to begin work to clear the wreckage and reopen the port as quickly and safely as possible.
 

• Immediately standing up a Unified Command: The U.S. Coast Guard immediately deployed following the collapse to support local emergency personnel. Federal agencies are working closely with the State of Maryland to survey the wreckage in the channel and allow the Port of Baltimore to reopen as soon as humanly possible. Through the Unified Command, the U.S. Coast Guard is coordinating this effort, in collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the State of Maryland, and others, leveraging a unique coordinating function the Coast Guard is trained to perform in circumstances like this. The Unified Command brings order to a response with multiple stakeholders, prioritization of tasks, integration of skills and resources as needed, and prompt access to additional Federal resources as emerging needs are identified. 
  
• Completing initial survey work: Dive teams continue to work in extremely hazardous conditions, rain, choppy cold water, and little to no visibility so that surveys can be completed in order to start removing wreckage from within the federal channel.  Using these surveys, USACE is developing a plan to open a deeper draft channel to allow limited cargo traffic to start transiting to the Port which will be a key step in the recovery process.  This is an extraordinarily complicated process and will be executed with the safety of all personnel as the top priority.
  
• Deploying assets for wreckage removal: Hundreds of personnel from the USACE, Coast Guard, Navy, and the State of Maryland are supporting efforts on the ground. Highly trained salvage crews successfully cut and removed the first pieces of steel wreckage from outside the federal channel on Saturday, March 30. The Unified Command has a fleet of six heavy lift crane barges to conduct wreckage removal within the federal channel, including the Chesapeake 1000, the largest crane barge on the East Coast – which is nearly 200 feet long and can lift 1,000 tons. This will be a critical asset in clearing large wreckage from across the bow of the stranded MV Dali. Earlier this week, the Unified Command was able to open two small alternate channels for essential vessels supporting wreckage removal to better access the area, marking the first time vessels have been able to cross the harbor since the bridge collapse.
  
• Announcing a timeline for reopening: After detailed studies and engineering assessments, the USACE announce yesterday that they tentatively expect to open a limited access channel for barge container service and some vessels that move automobiles and farm equipment by the end of April and to restore the port to normal capacity by the end of May. More information is available here.

Providing Necessary Resources to Rebuild the Bridge

The Port of Baltimore is essential to the regional economy and the national supply chain, and the I-695 corridor, of which the Francis Scott Key Bridge was a part, provides a vital connection for people and goods traveling along the East Coast. Over 30,000 vehicles crossed the bridge daily.

• Quickly releasing emergency funds: Within hours of receiving the request, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced the immediate availability of $60 million in “quick release” Emergency Relief funds for the Maryland Department of Transportation. These funds serve as a down payment toward initial costs, and additional Emergency Relief program funding will be made available as work continues. These “quick release” Emergency Relief funds are an initial installment to help with costs associated with wreckage removal efforts, restore essential transportation and design and reconstruction on I-695 and the bridge. FHWA is also providing technical assistance, conducting site assessments, and administering emergency contracts for the new bridge.
  
• Covering the costs of repair: The President has also been clear since day one about his commitment that the Federal government should cover any needed costs for reconstructing the bridge. While we continue to assess those costs alongside our Federal and state partners, the Biden-Harris Administration is asking Congress to join us in demonstrating our commitment to aid in recovery efforts by authorizing a 100 percent Federal cost share for rebuilding the bridge. This authorization would be consistent with past catastrophic bridge collapses, including in 2007, when Congress acted in a bipartisan manner within days of the I-35W bridge collapse in Minnesota.
  
• Holding the responsible parties accountable: President Biden also made clear that as the Administration pursues its work to clean up wreckage, clear the channel, and rebuild the bridge, it will continue to pursue all avenues to recover costs of past, current, and future work, and ensure that any compensation for damages or insurance proceeds collected will reduce costs for the American people.

Supporting the Workers and Businesses of Baltimore and Mitigating Economic Impacts

The Port of Baltimore is one of the nation’s largest shipping hubs and the Francis Scott Key Bridge is critical to travel in the Northeast Corridor. The Biden Administration, in coordination with State of Maryland and other partners, has been working around the clock to mitigate the economic impacts of this temporary disruption, including:

Supporting industry to mitigate supply chain disruptions. Since the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, the President’s Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force has engaged extensively with state and local officials, Port of Baltimore leaders, industry, labor unions, ocean carriers, rail and trucking companies, and ports along the East Coast to minimize economic disruptions. As a result of these discussions and collective efforts, import and export disruptions have been minimized. This work has included:

• Supporting the continued movement of autos and farm machinery through Baltimore. In 2023, Baltimore was the busiest port nationwide for handling of cars and light trucks, and is a hub for transporting other vehicles and machinery, all of which can require specialized equipment and facilities to load and unload. Over the past week, DOT has been working closely with the Port of Baltimore, Baltimore County, and the private Tradepoint Atlantic terminal operator to facilitate handling of additional “roll-on/roll-off” cargo at Sparrows Point, the only portion of the Port of Baltimore that is still accessible and operational following the bridge collapse. Additionally, to expand operations during this time, DOT is amending a previously awarded $8.26-million grant to help Tradepoint Atlantic take on permanent additional capacity that will also assist in handling vessels that are unable to access the other terminals at the Port of Baltimore. This funding will be reallocated to support paving of at least 10 acres, which will allow the Terminal to more than double its prior capacity of 10,000 autos per month to be able to handle over 20,000 autos per month. Tradepoint Atlantic estimates the new facility will be operational later this month.
  
• Encouraging East Coast port coordination and streamlining of rail service to Baltimore. Because of close coordination and collaboration among East Coast ports, ocean carriers, and others, dozens of vessels unable to dock at Baltimore have been successfully diverted to other East Coast ports for unloading so that Americans can get the goods they need. To help get that cargo to Baltimore for processing and storage as seamlessly as possible, the Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force worked with Norfolk Southern Railway Company to launch a dedicated new service between Elizabeth Marine Terminal at the Port of New York and New Jersey and the Seagirt Marine Terminal in Baltimore. This service is in addition to the service that rail company CSX has announced between New York and Baltimore.

Receiving commitments from businesses to support workers and Baltimore. The Port of Baltimore is a bedrock for the Baltimore economy, generating over $70 billion in economic impact for the State of Maryland in 2023 as it handled record cargo. Around 8,000 people work at the Port of Baltimore facility, many of them union members. Thousands more work nearby and depend on the port, including employees at small businesses in Baltimore. Businesses large and small over the past week have rallied to make clear that they will stick with Baltimore and its workers through this temporary disruption. Specific commitments made this week include:

• Keeping workers on payroll. Major local employers, including UPS, Amazon, Domino Sugar, Home Depot, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, and Floor & Decor, are committing to retain their workers—amounting to thousands of jobs—in their Port of Baltimore facilities.
  
• Providing work and relief to longshoremen and stevedores. On April 5, the port’s collective bargaining parties will make lump-sum payments to over 1,200 longshore workers valued at between 1 and 4 weeks of salary. This scheduled payment represents vacation pay earned under the collective bargaining agreement during the previous six months. Additionally, Ports America Chesapeake, one of the largest employers at the Port of Baltimore, has committed to provide temporary work to hundreds of longshoremen who would otherwise go without hours or pay with no new shipments through the port. The Biden Administration, in coordination with State of Maryland counterparts, will continue to work closely with the International Longshoremen’s Association, the Teamsters, and other unions to monitor risks of layoffs and income loss.
  
• Committing to resume business at the Port of Baltimore. As companies temporarily reroute shipments to other East Coast ports, companies and manufacturers have committed to take steps to try to return key cargo operations to the Port of Baltimore once it reopens. These companies include the Port of Baltimore’s top four largest automobile importers Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, and Mitsubishi Motors, as well as Amazon.

Standing strong with the people and businesses of Baltimore. President Biden has made clear that his Administration will move heaven and earth to fully reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible, and to stick with the people of Baltimore every step of the way. An outpouring of support has come in this week to support the victims’ families, affected workers and businesses, and broader recovery efforts. And, the federal government is working with its Maryland government counterparts to make every tool available for these efforts. These efforts include: 

• Promoting the Maryland Tough Baltimore Strong Alliance. The Biden Administration has partnered with Governor Moore, Baltimore Mayor Scott, Baltimore County Executive Olszewski, and Anne Arundel County Executive Pittman to support the Maryland Tough Baltimore Strong Alliance. Through organizations like the Greater Baltimore Committee, Maryland Chamber of Commerce, Baltimore Community Foundation, and Baltimore Civic Fund, the Alliance has collected commitments to support impacted workers, families, organizations, and businesses that rely on the Port of Baltimore.  
  
• Supporting the Building Bridges to Recovery Initiative. The Biden-Harris Administration and state and local partners are working with the Maryland Chamber of Commerce to support the Building Bridges to Recovery coalition. This broad-based coalition includes the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Greater Baltimore Committee, World Trade Center Institute, Greater Washington Partnership, along with regional and local chambers, economic development organizations, industry associations, neighborhood groups and others united to assist businesses across Maryland impacted by the bridge collapse and partial closure of the Port of Baltimore. Through this collaborative effort, businesses gain access to vital information and resources while having a powerful platform to share their experiences, articulate their needs, and ensure robust advocacy efforts are provided to rebuild and strengthen Maryland’s economy in the wake of these disruptions.
  
• Providing relief for displaced workers. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released an initial tranche of $3.5 million from its Dislocated Worker Grants Program for employment services and temporary jobs to assist with clean-up in the wake of the Key Bridge disaster—and approve up to $25 million in overall funding. These funds can be used for worker training, and to pay or subsidize wages for those who lost their jobs and are engaged in post-disaster relief employment. This initial tranche of funding is in response to the State of Maryland’s request, and DOL expects to release additional funds as Maryland implements its grant activities.
  
• Assisting workers in accessing benefits: DOL is working closely with the State of Maryland to launch ‘Worker Support Centers’—in-person services that will offer support to port workers and others to access all of the benefits that they are entitled to. The first center launched yesterday and Maryland is committed to ensuring these centers expand across the impacted counties in the state and to cover vulnerable workers.
  
• Supporting small businesses in need. In the days following the accident, the Small Business Administration quickly approved a disaster declaration that will provide low-interest disaster loan assistance available to eligible businesses in need. These loans will provide up to $2 million to overcome any temporary loss of revenue stemming from the bridge collapse and may be used to pay normal operating expenses such as fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disruption.  SBA has also set up two Business Recovery Centers to provide on-the-ground assistance to business owners in completing their applications and received over 550 applications. Yesterday, SBA approved the first four loans totaling $159,100, with more expected in the coming days.  
  
• Additionally, the Baltimore Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses team has committed to work on the ground in Baltimore to connect impacted small businesses with resources, navigate federal funding opportunities, organize network alumni, and connect impacted workers with temporary hiring opportunities.

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We welcome the steps announced by the Israeli government tonight at the President’s request following his call with Prime Minister Netanyahu. These steps, including a commitment to open the Ashdod port for the direct delivery of assistance into Gaza, to open the Erez crossing for a new route for assistance to reach north Gaza, and to significantly increase deliveries from Jordan directly into Gaza, must now be fully and rapidly implemented. 

As the President said today on the call, U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these and other steps, including steps to protect innocent civilians and the safety of aid workers. We are prepared to work in full coordination with the Government of Israel, the Governments of Jordan and Egypt, the United Nations, and humanitarian organizations, to ensure that these important steps are implemented and result in a significant increase in humanitarian assistance reaching civilians in dire need throughout Gaza over the coming days and weeks.

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