Statements and Releases

Vice President Kamala Harris spoke today with King Abdullah II of Jordan. The Vice President and King Abdullah discussed their work together to strengthen U.S.-Jordan ties across numerous meetings and phone calls. The Vice President and King Abdullah discussed the ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, and expressed their expectation that it will be implemented fully and on schedule. The Vice President welcomed that the deal would return hostages to their families, bring immediate relief to the people of Gaza through a surge in humanitarian aid, and form the basis for a lasting end to the war. The Vice President noted that, in her conversations with King Abdullah and leaders across the region, her unwavering focus has been to end this war such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom, and self-determination. The Vice President expressed appreciation for Jordan’s role in helping to facilitate aid to Palestinian civilians and the King’s leadership in advancing regional peace and stability. The Vice President also expressed her belief that the ceasefire and hostage deal can be the foundation on which we build to create a more peaceful future for Israeli and Palestinian people, and her intent to continue working to achieve a future of greater peace, dignity, and security for all people in the region.
 

# # #

The post Readout of Vice President Harris’s Call with King Abdullah II of Jordan appeared first on The White House.

Adding to his legacy of conserving more lands and waters than any President in history, two days ago President Biden signed proclamations creating the Chuckwalla National Monument and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument in California. These two monuments together conserve 848,000 acres of lands in California and will protect clean water for communities, honor areas of cultural significance to Tribal Nations and Indigenous peoples, and enhance access to nature.

Establishing the Chuckwalla National Monument is President Biden’s capstone action to create the largest corridor of protected lands in the continental United States, covering nearly 18 million acres stretching approximately 600 miles. The Moab to Mojave Conservation Corridor stretches from Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southwestern Utah, to which President Biden restored protections in 2021; through Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in Arizona and Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada, both established by President Biden in 2023; and reaches the deserts and mountains of southern California that are being protected with the designation of the Chuckwalla National Monument. 

President Biden and Vice President Harris’s record-setting environmental legacy includes conserving more lands and waters, deploying more clean energy, and making more progress in cutting climate pollution and advancing environmental justice than any previous administration. Following last week’s actions to protect the East and West coasts and the Northern Bering Sea from offshore oil and natural gas drilling, President Biden has now protected 674 million acres of U.S. lands and waters.

Leaders from California and across the country applauded the announcement:

Elected Officials

Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA)

“California is now home to two new national monuments that honor the tribes that have stewarded these lands since time immemorial. Thanks to President Biden and the leadership of California tribes and local communities, we’re protecting 840,000 acres of some of our state’s most culturally significant lands. This is a huge boost for our efforts to protect 30% of California’s lands and coastal waters.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA)

“Establishing the Chuckwalla National Monument is another major victory for safeguarding California’s public lands for generations to come. This historic announcement accelerates our state’s crucial efforts to fight the climate crisis, protect our iconic wildlife, preserve sacred tribal sites, and promote clean energy, while expanding equitable access to nature for millions of Californians. This designation reflects years of tireless work from tribal leaders to protect these sacred desert landscapes. President Biden has joined California leaders in championing our treasured natural wonders, and I applaud him for further cementing his strong public lands legacy.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA)

“Designating Chuckwalla National Monument is a victory for conservation, climate resilience, and expanded access to nature. I am glad these lands will now be protected for generations to come.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Congressman Raul Ruiz (D-CA-25)

“I am thrilled that President Biden has designated the Chuckwalla National Monument using the Antiquities Act. After years of negotiation and bringing several communities together, this achievement was made possible through the leadership and partnership of many organizations, tribes, and community leaders. Chuckwalla National Monument will pave the way for the future of conservation and renewable energy. I greatly appreciate Senators Padilla and Butler for their support and partnership over the last several years.” [Statement, 1/07/2025]

Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA-2)

“Designation of the Chuckwalla and Sáttítla Highlands National Monuments is yet another win for Indigenous and community conservation efforts championed by the Biden-Harris administration,” said Ranking Member Huffman. “The new Chuckwalla National Monument will protect sacred and ecologically invaluable lands that have been home to the Cahuilla, Chemehuevi, Mojave, Quechan, and Serrano peoples since time immemorial. Likewise, Sáttítla, also known as the Medicine Lake Highlands, has been a spiritual center for the Pit River and Modoc Tribes for millennia. I’m grateful to the community leaders and elected officials that listened to Indigenous communities and worked tirelessly to protect these lands so that the ancestral homelands, cultural resources and traditions, and sacred sites of the region are protected for generations to come.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

James Ramos, Assembly Member, Serrano/Cahuilla Tribe and Chair of the California Legislative Native American Caucus

“The California Legislature expressed strong bipartisan support for establishing Chuckwalla and Sáttítla National Monuments by passing Senate Joint Resolutions (SJRs) 16 and 17 last year. These new monuments include lands long-valued and cherished by California’s First Peoples for their cultural and sacred significance. I am glad to see these irreplaceable natural and cultural treasures join our nation’s network of national monuments.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Casey Glaubman, Councilmember, Mt. Shasta City and Executive Director, Friends of the Mount Shasta Avalanche Center

“As an avid explorer, runner, and lover of the outdoors, I couldn’t be more excited about the designation of Sáttítla National Monument. This new designation will ensure that these treasured public lands will endure for future generations.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Waymond Fermon, Councilmember, Indio City

“Chuckwalla National Monument will help provide access to nature, protect places for outdoor recreation, boost our economy, and benefit businesses. In under an hour’s drive, residents of my community of Indio can experience the beauty of the monument and explore nature close to home. National monument status ensures that places beloved for outdoor recreation are here for current and future generations to enjoy.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Evan Trubee, Owner, Big Wheel Tours and Councilmember, Palm Desert City

“I am thrilled to celebrate the new Chuckwalla National Monument. Protecting public lands here in the Coachella Valley will preserve the wildlife and beautiful landscapes that make our desert home unique. It will help ensure access to the outdoors for our local communities and protect the nature that draws visitors to Riverside and Imperial Counties.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Tribal Nations

Statement from the Tribal Council of the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe

 “The protection of the Chuckwalla National Monument brings the Quechan people an overwhelming sense of peace and joy. Tribes being reunited as stewards of this landscape is only the beginning of much-needed healing and restoration, and we are eager to fully rebuild our relationship to this place. This action is part of a greater movement around the country to reconnect Tribes to their ancestral homelands whilst ensuring they have the authority to guide management decisions with federal and state agencies. We, along with our sister Tribes, are dedicated to taking our spirit back, culture back, language back, and land back. This national monument designation cements into history our solidarity and collective vision for our peoples. While we celebrate, we also hold the truth that there is still much work to do to fully re-immerse ourselves as stewards within this ecosystem. The essence of who we are lies in the landscapes of Chuckwalla and Avi Kwa Ame. Every trail, every living being, and every story in these places is connected to a rich history and heritage that runs in our DNA. That is why we look forward to the day when we can celebrate adding the proposed Kw’tsán National Monument for protection, as well. Our Tribe believes that this effort is proof that Together We Progress. We extend a hand of immense gratitude to the Biden Administration, to our allies, partners, and communities that showed up to protect the Chuckwalla region. We thank you on behalf of the generations of today and for all our relations that will look after this land in the future.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Yatch Bamford, Chairman, Pit River Nation

“For generations, my people have fought to protect Sáttítla, and today we celebrate the voices of our Ancestors being heard. Sáttítla Highlands National Monument is a victory not just for Tribal Nations but for every American who understands the value of clean water, healthy lands, and preserving the true history of these United States of America.  These designations demonstrate what is possible when we center Indigenous leadership and honor the deep connections between Tribes and their homelands. We thank President Biden for listening to the many diverse voices that called for this designation and for standing in solidarity with the Pit River Nation.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Erica Schenk, Chairwoman of the Cahuilla Band of Indians

“The Cahuilla Band of Indians strongly applauds the creation of the Chuckwalla National Monument. The area includes village sites, camps, quarries, food processing sites, power places, trails, glyphs, and story and song locations, all of which are evidence of the Cahuilla peoples’ and other Tribes’ close and spiritual relationship to these desert lands.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Darrell Mike, Chairman, Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians 

“Our histories, stories, trails, songs, and traditional knowledge are alive in these lands. The animals, plants, insects, canyons, mountains, and other natural features in this region are foundational components to our cultural identity and existence as Tribal people. To us, cultural and natural resources are inseparable. They connect us to our ancestors and sustain our livelihoods and traditional practices today. The biodiversity and cultural resources present in this proposed monument are worthy of robust and proper protections.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Robert Burkybile, Chief, Modoc Nation

“Modoc Nation shared the sacred landscapes of the Medicine Lake Highlands with the Pit River Tribe. Our Pit River neighbors refer to this land as Sáttítla; it seems the traditional Modoc word for this land may have been lost following the attempted extermination and eventual forced removal of the Modoc people from our lands. Modoc Nation celebrates the designation of our shared sacred land as a national monument, and looks forward to participating in a new land management planning process.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Brandy McDaniels, Sáttítla National Monument Lead, Pit River Nation

“We could not be more excited that federal leaders are hearing our call to protect these sacred lands. There has been overwhelming support for this monument, as demonstrated at the USDA’s listening session recently. We have many diverse voices that are passionate about protecting what makes this region unique and following decades of defending our ancestral homelands, the Pit River Nation welcomes the news that our voices and the voices of our Ancestors are finally being heard.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Joseph DL Mirelez, Chairman, Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians

“For thousands of years, the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians have called the lands in the Chuckwalla National Monument home. We are happy to see the designation protect this area that contains thousands of cultural places and objects of vital importance to the history and identity of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Amelia Flores, Chairwoman, Colorado River Indian Tribes

“The Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) celebrates the permanent and long-term protection of ancestral lands and the cultural landscape through the designation of the Chuckwalla National Monument. CRIT has worked tirelessly to preserve and protect water, resources, and sacred sites. This designation clearly affirms CRIT’s spiritual, cultural, and ancestral connection to these lands.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Jack Potter, Chairman, Redding Rancheria

“Redding Rancheria celebrates the designation of the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument, and supports all Tribes working to protect their lands. Tribes revere our lands as historic places of learning and sacred practice. Just as other American cultures might seek to protect a historic church or university, tribal communities wish to preserve our culture by protecting the sacred land where we learn, heal, gather medicine, and honor The Creator. We thank President Biden for honoring and protecting our sacred space for generations to come.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Michael Madrigal (Cahuilla), Board President, Native American Land Conservancy 

“The Native American Land Conservancy celebrates the creation of Chuckwalla National Monument. We are grateful to the many Tribal Nations that engaged in the effort and called for the preservation and stewardship of this cultural landscape. It is heartening to see more Tribal communities involved in public land issues in recent years. Indigenous people must be heard and actively involved in all spaces that discuss the management of our homelands. We will continue to support Tribal communities and their many efforts to preserve cultural, natural, and spiritual values which are the foundations of our existence.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Conservation and Climate Leaders

Gene Karpinski, President, League of Conservation Voters

“LCV is forever grateful for President Biden and Secretary Haaland’s steadfast leadership and commitment to protecting our communities, climate, and sacred and treasured places. We are thrilled to celebrate today’s designations of the Chuckwalla and Sáttítla Highlands National Monuments, and proud to support the Tribal and local leaders who advocated tirelessly to make them happen. These monuments protect and honor living landscapes that are rich in cultural, recreational, and ecological resources that continue to sustain the well-being and survival of Indigenous peoples today. Sáttítla Highlands National Monument offers protections for a unique volcanic landscape which is home to critical water resources for millions of people, as well as agriculture and fish populations, and Chuckwalla National Monument provides a poignant example of how clean energy and conservation practices can coexist to simultaneously tackle the climate crisis and build climate resilience.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Ben Jealous, Executive Director, Sierra Club

“Our public lands tell the history of America. They must be protected for us to learn from, and to be enjoyed and explored, for this generation and those to come. Throughout his time in office, President Biden has not only recognized that, he has acted with urgency. Today, the Sierra Club celebrates President Biden’s bold actions to, once again, protect and preserve America’s natural and cultural resources. From the ecologically rich Chuckwalla deserts in the south to the primordial network of Sáttítla aquifers in the north to the fragile habitats and ecosystems of the southwest, communities and wildlife will continue to benefit from the clean water, protected landscapes and more equitable access to nature these monuments preserve. For years, Tribes and Indigenous voices have called for these landscapes to be protected. As he has throughout his presidency, President Biden answered those calls. Each new national monument adds a chapter to the story our public lands tell. We must continue the work to expand that story, protect the lands and waters that make this country special and preserve the historical, cultural and spiritual connections the original stewards of these landscapes continue to have with these places.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Dr. Elizabeth Gray, CEO, National Audubon Society

“We are grateful that the administration has heeded the call of thousands of Californians to protect our fragile deserts. This historic designation of the Chuckwalla National Monument not only ensures the preservation of the area’s rich biodiversity but also provides a critical sanctuary in addressing the climate crisis and supports the livelihoods of underserved communities. The expansion of protected areas underscores our commitment to collaborative habitat conservation, emphasizing partnerships with Indigenous peoples and local communities. We deeply appreciate the dedication of the administration and California’s congressional leadership in conserving these irreplaceable lands.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Nicole Gentile, Senior Director of Conservation, Center for American Progress

“These designations honor the culture, history, and conservation efforts of numerous Tribes while safeguarding culturally and environmentally rich landscapes from the threat of large-scale development. Chuckwalla National Monument protects some of the most connected, diverse, and rare ecosystems in the West. At the same time, the new monument broadens access to nature for people across southwestern California. President Biden committed to protecting nature and prioritizing environmental justice, and these designations help him do just that. With just a few weeks left in his term, designating these monuments helps to solidify his legacy as one of the country’s greatest conservation presidents.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Theresa Pierno, President and CEO, National Parks Conservation Association

“Chuckwalla National Monument is a cornerstone in a vast network of protected landscapes across the Southwest. Stretching from Joshua Tree to the Grand Canyon to Bears Ears, this corridor forms the largest swath of protected lands in the continental U.S. This designation protects an extraordinary stretch of the California desert, preserving a landscape shaped by millennia for those who find inspiration in the timeless beauty of our national parks. This 18-million-acre corridor links the Mojave Desert to the Colorado Plateau, providing safe migration routes for wildlife like the iconic desert bighorn sheep and ensuring clean water flows through the Colorado River and its tributaries. It protects sacred sites central to Tribal nations for countless generations, and welcomes millions of visitors each year, inspiring exploration and bringing lasting economic strength to surrounding communities. NPCA has been proud to work locally and nationally for decades to preserve the extraordinary landscapes in the California desert and beyond.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

David Seabrook, Interim President, The Wilderness Society

“The significance of the dual designations of Sáttítla Highlands and Chuckwalla National Monuments in California is as enormous as the state itself—from the cool, northern headwaters of Medicine Lake Highlands to the Joshua Tree desert refuge in the south. These connected landscapes are crucial for both human and wildlife communities alike. We applaud President Biden for taking meaningful action to safeguard these culturally and ecologically unique regions and for listening to Tribal and local community members who have called for their protection so that their connections to this land last for future generations.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Raisa Lee, Senior Director of Development, Clearway Energy Group

“Chuckwalla National Monument is a testament to the reality that conservation and clean energy progress go hand in hand. We are grateful to Senator Padilla and Representative Ruiz for their tireless and collaborative work to protect biological and cultural areas while helping meet the nation’s growing demand for reliable, low-cost energy.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Adam Cramer, CEO, Outdoor Alliance

“Outdoor Alliance is thrilled to see the designation of Chuckwalla National Monument and Sáttítla National Monument. Today’s designations expand protections for some of California’s most popular outdoor landscapes. We are grateful for the work of Senator Padilla, Senator Butler, Representative Ruiz, and Governor Newsom, and are especially grateful to the Biden administration for their commitment to conservation and communities.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Katie Goodwin, Western Regional Director, Access Fund

“Access Fund appreciates the work and commitment of Tribal leaders, Senator Padilla, Senator Butler, Representative Ruiz, and Governor Newsom, to protect the unique landscapes of the Chuckwalla National Monument and the Sáttítla National Monument. These monuments will safeguard sacred, cultural, and historic sites and protect critical habitat and biodiversity. The monument will ensure these lands remain accessible, enjoyable, and protected for current and future generations.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Steve Messer, President, California Mountain Biking Coalition

“We appreciate the tireless efforts of the advocates and tribal leaders who have worked to protect special places like Chuckwalla, and thank Senator Padilla, Congressman Ruiz, and the Biden Administration for taking action. We also appreciate the Pit River Tribe’s advocacy for Sáttítla National Monument in the Medicine Lakes area in far Northern California. These designations not only support California’s 30×30 conservation goals but can also support local economies, enhance opportunities for recreation, and ensure these lands remain accessible, enjoyable, and protected for future generations. They also respect tribal sovereignty, and will ensure the continued cultural stewardship practices by the original stewards of these lands.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Megan Fiske, California Stewardship Manager, Winter Wildlands Alliance

“Winter Wildlands Alliance is grateful to see another successful effort to preserve and protect lands in California with the adoption of the Chuckwalla National Monument and the Sáttítla National Monument. We extend our gratitude to Senator Padilla and Senator Butler, Representative Ruiz, Governor Newsom and the Biden administration for supporting these critical efforts, moving us closer to our 30×30 goals. Protecting the unique landscapes throughout California, from the mountains to the desert, is crucial to preserving biodiversity and providing equitable access to our public lands.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Jennifer Savage, California Policy Associate Director, Surfrider Foundation

“The dedication of the Chuckwalla National Monument and Sáttítla National Monument demonstrates a much needed commitment to preserving healthy ecosystems and safeguarding natural spaces from the mountains to the sea. We commend Senator Padilla, Senator Butler, Representative Ruiz, Governor Newsom, and the Biden Administration for their leadership in making this designation a reality.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Theresa L. Lorejo-Simsiman, California Stewardship Director, American Whitewater

“American Whitewater is thrilled to see the designation of both the Chuckwalla National Monument and Sáttítla National Monument in California. We are grateful for the leadership and commitment of Senator Padilla and former Senator Butler, Representative Ruiz, Governor Newsom and the Biden administration to conserve these natural landscapes for future generations.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser, President and CEO, Trust for Public Land

“The designation of the Chuckwalla and Sáttítla National Monuments in California marks an historic step toward protecting lands of profound cultural, ecological, and historical significance for all Americans. These monuments honor the enduring stewardship of Tribal Nations and the tireless efforts of local communities and conservation advocates who fought to safeguard these irreplaceable landscapes for future generations.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Jennifer Rokala, Executive Director, Center for Western Priorities

“With these proclamations, President Biden has secured his legacy as one of America’s great conservation presidents. It’s not enough to protect iconic landmarks and features—we must preserve the linkages between ecosystems and landscapes that support wildlife, clean air, and water that communities depend on. We thank President Biden for taking another big step toward achieving the national goal of protecting 30 percent of America’s lands and waters, and for honoring and respecting Indigenous peoples’ advocacy and heritage.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Eric Hanson, Chair, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers California Chapter

“As hunters and anglers, we understand the vital importance of conserving intact ecosystems for wildlife, habitat, and for future generations. BHA has long advocated for large-landscape conservation measures where hunters have a seat at the table, so we applaud President Biden’s decision to establish a national monument where our North American hunting traditions can endure and where BHA and partner organizations can continue to roll up our sleeves to improve wildlife habitat on the ground.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Janessa Goldbeck, USMC Veteran and CEO, Vet Voice Foundation

“The Chuckwalla National Monument simply wouldn’t exist without the leadership of Congressman Raul Ruiz. We’re honored to have joined forces with Tribes, community leaders, outdoor enthusiasts, fellow veterans, and Congressman Ruiz’s dedicated team to make this designation a reality under President Biden. This milestone is a lasting victory for all—veterans, non-veterans, and future generations.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Jamie Asbury, General Manager, Imperial Irrigation District (IID)

“IID was one of the early supporters of legislation by Congressman Ruiz to designate the Chuckwalla National Monument for its importance to the region. We applaud the announcement made today by President Biden to make this designation official.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Linda Castro, Assistant Policy Director, CalWild

“CalWild is extremely pleased that the Biden administration has heeded the call of six Tribal nations, hundreds of local small businesses, elected officials, historical societies, veterans, clergy, and other diverse interests to designate the Chuckwalla National Monument. After more than five years of work we are delighted to join these constituencies in thanking President Biden for protecting California’s desert public lands for us and for future generations to visit and enjoy.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Dr. Jun Bando, Executive Director, California Native Plant Society

“The California Native Plant Society is thrilled and grateful to see these national monument designations, which have received overwhelming community support, give rare plant species a fighting chance for survival, and honor knowledges held by the land’s original stewards since time immemorial. California faces the highest risks for species extinction in the nation, and habitat loss is the leading cause. Protecting intact habitat, like Chuckwalla and Sáttítla, is essential to stopping the extinction crisis and avoiding the worst impacts of climate change.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Lisa Belenky, Senior Counsel, Center for Biological Diversity

“I’m grateful the president designated these two national monuments, protecting rare wildlife, stunning landscapes and sacred lands in California for future generations. Chuckwalla National Monument includes lands sacred to native peoples and it’s home to wildlife the Center has worked to protect for decades, including bighorn sheep, desert tortoises, desert kit foxes and the monument’s namesake Chuckwalla lizards.  The Sáttítla National Monument is a stunning landscape sacred to the Pit River Tribe that provides habitat for Pacific fishers and northern spotted owls. Protecting these lands also safeguards aquifers providing clean water to millions of people.” [Statement, 1/8/2024]

Phil Francis, Chair, Executive Council Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks

“We celebrate the designations of the Chuckwalla National Monument and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument. The efforts to protect these landscapes were led by Tribes and broadly supported by elected officials, businesses, local community members, and outdoor enthusiasts. The Chuckwalla National Monument will safeguard hundreds of thousands of acres of desert land that serves as a habitat for an incredible amount of biodiversity, protect numerous historic sites and resources, and preserve a landscape that is culturally significant for many Tribes. The Sáttítla Highlands National Monument will help to protect lands that are critical to the protection of water and wildlife and sacred for the Pit River and Modoc Nations, as well as for surrounding Tribal Peoples. We thank President Biden for taking action to protect these lands for future generations.” [Statement, 1/14/2025]

Chris Hill, Chief Executive Officer, Conservation Lands Foundation

“President Joe Biden’s use of the Antiquities Act to protect Chuckwalla and Sáttítla Highlands National Monuments is the culmination of years of strong Tribal leadership, bipartisan collaboration and heartfelt advocacy from local communities, businesses and elected officials. Today’s action honors Indigenous cultural connections, conserves vital habitats, expands outdoor access, and strengthens local economies.” [Statement, 1/14/2025]

Laura Deehan, California State Director, Environment America

“These designations mean a brighter and safer future for California’s wildlife and public lands. Thanks to Tribal leaders, local coalitions and our state and Congressional champs, our state has made a huge stride today toward safeguarding more nature. The Chuckwalla and Sáttítla National Monuments are two of the most stunning and ecologically crucial regions in our state. The Chuckwalla National Monument is a perfect example of reconnecting nature. The region hosts one of the greatest densities of desert tortoises in the world and connecting their habitats will give these threatened tortoises better opportunities to survive and thrive. The forests and clear waters of the Sáttítla monument area will be a safe home for generations of bears, birds and fish; and the communities of northern California will have clean water for decades into the future. We are thrilled that President Biden, Secretary Deb Haaland, Secretary Tom Vilsack and other decision-makers recognized these stunning wildlife habitats and natural landscapes should be safeguarded.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

LD Delano, Board Chair, Great Old Broads for Wilderness

“Great Old Broads for Wilderness joins with the many conservation organizations, Tribal groups, and residents across the state of California in celebrating today’s designation of Chuckwalla National Monument and Sáttítla National Monument. Chuckwalla National Monument in Southern California preserves the cultural heritage sites of five Indigenous tribes, supports a critical desert ecosystem, and provides recreation opportunities for historically underrepresented communities. Northern California’s Sáttítla National Monument preserves and protects the ancestral homeland of the Pit River Tribe—and one of the most important sources of clean, cool groundwater for people and wildlife in the region—from potential development. We thank President Biden for using his authority under the Antiquities Act to preserve these special landscapes for future generations, and for his administration’s commitment over the past four years to the conservation of our wild public lands.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Maite Arce, President and CEO, Hispanic Access Foundation

“The designations of Chuckwalla National Monument and Sáttitla National Monument reflect the power of collaborative advocacy and the importance of protecting landscapes that hold profound cultural, ecological, and recreational significance. These designations honor the leadership of Tribal nations, and broad support from a coalition of advocates, including Latino communities who have long championed safeguarding these lands.” [Statement, 1/7/2025]

Anna Peterson, Executive Director, The Mountain Pact

“Public lands lie at the heart of our communities, and we are thrilled that President Biden has provided permanent protections for two of the West’s most priceless landscapes. Permanently protecting these sacred lands will not only honor long standing efforts to protect these lands from industrial development, but also ensures current and future generations can continue practicing time honored traditions on unspoiled lands. We thank President Biden for designating a Chuckwalla National Monument in the California desert. This new monument will protect important heritage values tied to the land such as multi-use trail systems established by Indigenous peoples, sacred sites and objects, traditional cultural places, geoglyphs, petroglyphs, pictographs, plants, and wildlife. Permanently protecting these lands will also help protect vast desert ecosystems and critical habitat for species like the chuckwalla lizard and desert tortoise, and migration corridors for desert bighorn sheep. We also thank the President for hearing the calls from the Pit River Tribe and designating a Sáttítla Highlands National Monument in Northern California. This culturally significant, geologically unique, and life-sustaining region is critical for the health of the Californians who rely on Sátíttla as a source of fresh drinking water, and for the Indigenous peoples who have called this land home since time immemorial. Public lands contribute to our local economies, shape our culture, and give our communities the opportunity to connect with nature. At a time when climate change is already threatening so many of the lands in California that sustain life and connect so many people to their cultural heritage, it is of utmost importance that we do everything in our power to protect the places that hold such ecological, biological, and cultural significance.” [Statement, 1/14/2025]

###

The post WHAT THEY ARE SAYING: President Biden Builds on Historic Conservation Legacy, Establishes Chuckwalla and Sáttítla Highlands National Monuments in California appeared first on The White House.

Today, Joining Forces, along with the Department of Defense and Department of Education (ED), announced new actions to support military children with disabilities and ensure they receive the services they need when they move schools. Together, these actions will address delays in services due to issues with transferring special education records from one school district to another, often across state lines. 
 
Over the last four years, First Lady Jill Biden has met with military families who have shared the challenge of transferring their children’s Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) between school districts and across state lines as they move. Due in part to delays in transferring IEPs, some military families report waiting, on average, over 120 days—over half of most school years—for their children with disabilities to receive the services they need at their new school.  This loss of critical services is compounded with every move—which, for military children, will be an average of six to nine times throughout their K-12 education. 

Under the First Lady’s leadership through her Joining Forces initative, the federal government and private and non-profit sectors are working to ensure military children with disabilities, and all highly mobile students with disabilities, can receive the services they deserve in a timely manner. 
 
“Through my Joining Forces initiative, I’ve traveled to bases across the country and around the world, and have met with military families to learn about their experiences and challenges. I’ve heard from parents of military kids with disabilities who have shared how hard it is to transfer their child’s individualized education program when they move to new schools,” said First Lady Jill Biden. “These new commitments are a critical first step in helping military children with disabilities, and all students who move frequently, get the specialized services they need when they move schools – without delay.”
 
Department of Defense Education Activity
 
The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) in collaboration with the non-profit InnovateEDU and the Project Unicorn initiative announced a first-of-its-kind effort to participate in a working group with state and local education agencies and school data management software companies to seamlessly and securely transfer IEP-related data of students moving into and out of DoDEA’s federally-operated school system.
 
DoDEA and InnovateEDU signed a Letter of Intent to support the working group in its efforts to develop the processes, governance structures, and legal agreements needed to facilitate transparent and confidential data transfers with a goal of reducing gaps in special education services for military children resulting from challenges in transferring student records.  
 
DoDEA operates 161 schools across 7 states, 11 foreign countries, and 2 territories, serving more than 64,000 military-connected children. 
 
In addition to DoDEA’s efforts, the Department of Defense’s Office of Special Needs (OSN) updated enrollment criteria while streamlining the role of Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) Family Support providers. These revisions aim to provide military families with a more cohesive and consistent experience, ensuring smoother interactions and improved support.

Private Sector Commitments
 
Top school data management software companies serving millions of students across the country, including ClassLink, Clever, D2L, IEP&Me, Mindex, PowerSchool, and SIRAS Systems, are collaborating with the nonprofit InnovateEDU to take historic actions to address special education data transfer issues. 
 
Through Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs), these companies are aligning their products and services to a standard set of key special education data fields by the end of the month.  In addition, for the first time, they have committed to piloting seamless and secure transfers of data within these standard fields, between at least two school systems by the end of their 2024-2025 school years—intending to make these data transfers available to all school systems served by these companies by fall 2025. 
 
InnovateEDU is coordinating across these companies and school systems to develop the processes, governance structures, and legal agreements needed to efficiently and safely transfer IEP-related student data with parental consent.
 
Department of Education
 
To support Joining Forces’ efforts related to facilitating records transfers, the Department of Education (ED) has engaged key organizations through the Interoperability, Efficiency, and Portability Commitment, which asks signatories to reimagine data-sharing infrastructure and processes.
 
These new actions complement ED’s recent announcements related to military students with disabilities, including providing grant funding for projects that will develop school-level strategies to better engage military families who have children with disabilities and releasing tools to assist states in reviewing their current practices for supporting military children with disabilities.  ED also released guidance urging Vocational Rehabilitation programs to implement flexible and proactive processes to support seamless transfers of job training and employment support services for military families with youth, students, and adults with disabilities when moving between states.
 
Background on the First Lady’s Joining Forces Initiative:
 
Joining Forces is Dr. Biden’s initiative to support military and veteran families, caregivers, and survivors. Guided by the life experiences and the perspectives voiced during in-person and virtual listening sessions with military-connected families and stakeholders, the work and priorities of Joining Forces centers on the needs of this population in the areas of: Economic Opportunity; Military Child Education; and Health and Well-Being.
 
As First Lady, Dr. Biden has visited over 30 military installations; worked with Joining Forces partners to support over 80 engagements with the military-connected community; and helped coordinate the Administration’s efforts to increase and raise awareness of resources and support for military and veteran families, caregivers, and survivors.

 
###

The post Joining Forces, Department of Defense, and Department of Education Announce New Actions to Support Military Children with Disabilities appeared first on The White House.

Yesterday, 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 and flooding from October 20 to October 23, 2024.

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 and flooding in the Bering Strait Regional Educational Attendance Area and Northwest Arctic Borough.

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

Mr. Lance E. Davis 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.

###

The post President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Approves Alaska Disaster Declaration appeared first on The White House.

TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:

     Pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), I hereby report that I have issued an Executive Order that takes additional steps to deal with the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13694 of April 1, 2015 (Blocking the Property of Certain Persons Engaging in Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities), as amended by Executive Order 13757 of December 28, 2016 (Taking Additional Steps to Address the National Emergency With Respect to Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities), and further amended by Executive Order 13984 of January 19, 2021 (Taking Additional Steps To Address the National Emergency With Respect to Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities).

     Significant malicious cyber-enabled activities continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.  To address this continuing national emergency and protect against the growing and evolving threat of malicious cyber-enabled activities against the United States and United States allies and partners, including the increasing threats by foreign actors of unauthorized access to critical infrastructure, ransomware, and cyber-enabled intrusions and sanctions evasion, section 9 of the Executive Order I have issued updates the criteria to be used by the Secretary of the Treasury in designating a person for sanctions for engaging in specified malicious cyber-enabled activities and related conduct.

     I am enclosing a copy of the Executive Order I have issued.

                              JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

THE WHITE HOUSE,

    January 16, 2025.

The post Message to the Congress on Strengthening and Promoting Innovation in the Nation’s Cybersecurity appeared first on The White House.

The White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI) has issued Rising Together, its final report to President Joe Biden. The report offers a comprehensive review of the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic investments in Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities and includes:

• A broad summary of WHIAANHPI’s activities to uplift AA and NHPI visibility, support communities in crisis, strengthen federal employment pathways, and promote capacity building;

• Updates from 29 federal agencies detailing the implementation of their action plans and steps they have undertaken since the release of the National Strategy to Advance Equity, Justice, and Opportunity for AA and NHPI Communities;

• 86 community-centered, expert-informed recommendations from the President’s Advisory Commission on AA and NHPIs to address systemic barriers in the federal government’s policies and programs, many of which have already been implemented under the Biden-Harris Administration; and

• A snapshot of progress made across seven strategic priority areas, including combating anti-Asian hate, promoting belonging, advancing data disaggregation, improving language access, addressing COVID-19 recovery, expanding outreach and engagement, and diversifying the federal workforce.

To view the full report, please visit: wh.gov/whiaanhpireport2025.

The post White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders: Final Report to the President appeared first on The White House.

Today, Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall convened current and future Cabinet members to conduct a statutorily-mandated Principals-Level Presidential Transition Exercise in accordance with President Biden’s direction to carry out a professional transition. This traditional meeting provided a structured opportunity to share lessons learned over the last four years and help the incoming team prepare to protect the Homeland beginning at 12 noon on January 20, 2025. Over the course of two hours, current and future Cabinet members discussed a range of scenarios, including preventing and responding to terrorist attacks as well as managing pathogens like avian flu. Participants underscored the interconnectedness between homeland incidents and global challenges. Participants in the dynamic and interactive discussion included:

Outgoing Administration 

• Secretary of Homeland Security Ali Mayorkas
• Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Kristie Canegallo  
• FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell
• Attorney General Merrick Garland
• Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg
• Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dennis McDonough
• Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland
• Deputy Secretary of Defense Kath Hicks
• Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs ADM Chris Grady
• Small Business Administrator Isabel Guzman
• Deputy Director for National Intelligence for Mission Integration Morgan Muir
• Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Xochi Torres-Small
• Acting Under Secretary of State for Policy John Bass
• Deputy Sectary of Energy David Turk
• Acting EPA Administrator Jane Nishida
• Acting NCTC Director Brett Holmgren
• U.S. Coast Guard Commandant ADM Linda Fagan 
• Deputy Director of the FBI Paul Abbate
• Deputy Director of CISA Nitin Natarajan 
• Director of the CDC Dr. Many Cohen (virtual)
• Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (HHS) Dawn O’Connell
• Administrator of TSA Dave Pekoske 

Incoming Administration 

• Secretary of Homeland Security Nominee Kristi Noem
• Secretary of Transportation Nominee Sean Duffy
• Secretary of Defense Nominee Pete Hegseth
• Secretary of Veterans Affairs Nominee Douglas Collins
• Secretary of State Nominee Marco Rubio
• Director of National Intelligence Nominee TulsiGabbard
• Secretary of Energy Nominee Chris Wright
• Administrator of the EPA Nominee Lee Zeldin
• Secretary of Commerce Nominee Howard Lutnick
• Secretary of Labor Nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer  
• Deputy Secretary of HHS Nominee Jim O’Neill
• Secretary of Education Nominee Linda McMahon
• Secretary of Treasury Nominee Scott Bessent  
• Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Nominee Scott Turner
• National Security Advisor Mike Waltz
• Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Alex Wong
• Director of the National Economic Council Kevin Hasset

###

The post Readout of White House Presidential Transition Exercise appeared first on The White House.

President Biden spoke today with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel to congratulate him on the ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas. The two leaders discussed the unimaginable conditions the hostages – including Americans – have experienced over their 15 months in captivity and the terrible suffering their families have faced, and expressed their joy that hostages will soon be reunited with their families.

###

The post Readout of President Joe Biden’s Call with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel appeared first on The White House.

The Mayflower Hotel
Washington, D.C.

10:09 A.M. EST
 
     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Good morning.  (Laughs.)  Good morning, everybody.  (Applause.)
 
Good morning.  Good morning.  (Laughs.)  Good morning, everyone.  (Applause.)
 
Good morning.  (Laughs.) (Applause.)  Oh, good morning, NAN.  Good morning to everyone.  (Applause.)  Please have a seat.
 
I — I heard everybody was hanging out this morning.  I thought I’d come by and say hi.  (Laughter.)
 
And mostly, I just wanted to come by to thank everybody, starting with our Reverend Sharpton.
 
For the truth tellers who are here, in the spirit of Dr. King and this day that we celebrate him — his birthday, January 15th — and every day, and the spirit with which he did what he did — Reverend Sharpton, you and the leaders of NAN live that legacy in every way that is important.
 
This is about soldiers who understand the importance of using our feet, praying, doing good works that are about lifting up the people — with a sense of optimism and purpose.  Always, NAN, Reverend Sharpton, speaking truth, even when it is difficult to speak and more difficult to hear.
 
The leaders here understand, as I often say, that the true measure of the strength of a leader is not based on who you beat down.  It is based on who you lift up.  (Applause.)
 
I thank you for always lifting me up.  But more importantly, I thank you for lifting up whole communities of people who must be seen and heard, and who deserve all the dignity that God gave them to be able to live a life that is productive and a life where they have a quality of life where they know how important they are and how powerful they are.
 
     So, I came by to say thank you. 
 
As you all know, I am a native Californian — born in Oakland, California.  (Applause.)  But I do want to speak about the California fires and the devastation that has occurred in southern California because of these most recent wildfires.
 
You know, communities like Altadena — you know, you’re talking about generations of families that have lived there.  Some of the first hardworking Black families who were able to buy property in California and then pass down those homes through generations.  Many of those families who live in those homes and live intergenerationally within a block of each other, who have lost everything.
 
So, I want to speak about them.  I know we pray for them.  
 
But also, I — I’ve been thinking about it also in the context of what I saw when I was in North Carolina, when I talked to families in Georgia after, most recently, Hurricane Helene.
 
And so, NAN, as we move forward with this new year, one of the — the requests that I make of the leaders here is let’s use the voice of NAN in a way that lifts up what these moments of tragedy and th- — these extreme weather events are doing to the communities that you have historically worked to uplift, because there are a couple things going on that I see as patterns. 
 
One is this, and it’s about what the insurance companies are not doing — (applause) — to extend coverage.  They are canceling coverage, making it more difficult for young homeowners who are just first time buying their home, not even insuring them.  And what that means to those families and whole communities with these predictable extreme weather events, which are increasing.
 
     Climate change is real.  We have long known that some of the communities that will be most devastated by them are communities of color, hardworking communities, Black folks — we know when we talk about the Gulf states.  Right?
 
     So, that’s one issue.  The other issue that these extreme weather events are highlighting but is a big issue for all of us to deal with is the rampant amount of mis- and disinformation that is transiting throughout communities and the work that we then must do to not only recognize that it’s happening but figure out how we’re going to jump into that stream of mis- and disinformation in a way that we, at the very least, can debate it based on the facts that we know to be true, in terms of what’s happening on the ground, but also to rebut the sources of that mis- and disinformation because it often leads the people who NAN has historically worked for in a — in a place of despair and in a place of helplessness and hopelessness.
 
     Again, using as the example extreme weather events, when people are being told, “Oh, there will be no FEMA response.  Oh, you are not entitled to this or that.”  Or leading them astray with information that is misinformation about what they will be entitled to, which exceeds what it might be, and then they feel disappointed and they turn the whole system off.
 
     So, I’m here to talk about these couple of things because they’ve just been on my mind in the last — (laughs) — week — but for quite some time.
 
     But — but again, I’m going to just close my comments by saying this.  This is an extraordinary group of leaders.  And what Dr. King taught us — and — and the King family is here; you know I’m always quoting Coretta Scott King — (laughs) — ours is a journey.  Ours is a journey. 
 
     And the fight that we are in, which is the fight to uplift the people, the fight for freedom, the fight for civil rights, the fight for dignity, the fight for human rights must be fought and won with each generation.
 
     And what we know is that our definition of the win is the definition that takes us over a period of time, where part of how we measure the win is: Are we making progress?  How we measure the win is based on the knowledge that it is an enduring fight and that we must be strong and that whatever the outcome of any particular moment, we can never be defeated.  Our spirit can never be defeated, because when that happens, we won’t win.
 
     And as far as I know and am concerned, when I look at the group of leaders here, this is a group of winners.  (Applause.)  This is a group of winners.  So, let’s stay in the fight.  Let’s do what we got to do.
 
     And, again, I thank you, NAN, for all that you have done for me and so many people who are not in this room. 
 
     Be blessed.  Have a wonderful New Year.  Thank you.  (Applause.)
 
                             END                10:17 A.M. EST
 

# # #

The post Remarks by Vice President Harris at the National Action Network’s Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Legislative Breakfast appeared first on The White House.

Thanks to the leadership of President Joe Biden, a ceasefire and hostage deal has been reached between Israel and Hamas. I thank the mediators – Emir al-Thani of Qatar and President el-Sisi of Egypt – and I am grateful for the work of U.S. officials whose diligent diplomacy allowed us to arrive at this significant moment.
 
Doug and I pray for all the hostages, and we are grateful that some, including Americans, will soon be reunited with their loved ones. In my meetings with the families of American hostages, I vowed they will never be in this fight alone. President Biden and I have no higher priority than the safety of Americans, and are determined that all the American hostages be returned home as part of this deal.
 
We will never forget the lives taken as a result of the brutal Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, and the horrors endured by countless innocent people in the war that followed. In my many conversations with leaders in the region, my unwavering focus has been to end this war such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom, and self-determination.
 
Today’s agreement will begin to bring desperately needed relief to the people of Gaza through a surge in humanitarian aid and an end to the fighting. While there is more work to be done, I believe this agreement can be the foundation on which we build toward a two-state solution that creates a more peaceful future for Israeli and Palestinian people. I will never stop working to achieve a future of greater peace, dignity, and security for all people in the region.
 

# # #

The post Statement from Vice President Kamala Harris appeared first on The White House.

 In light of the recent undersea cable incidents in the Baltic Sea, Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology Anne Neuberger spoke with her Nordic-Baltic counterparts from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden to deepen cooperation on protecting undersea cables. 

The meeting participants affirmed the need to deepen practical cooperation through NATO and to jointly implement the New York Joint Statement on the Security and Resilience of Undersea Cables in a Globally Digitalized World, the principles of which outline a shared global approach to ensure the reliability, interoperability, and resiliency for the deployment, operations, and repair and maintenance of undersea cable communications networks.  All participants shared concerns about the range of threats to the security of undersea cable infrastructure whether communication networks or energy, recognizing the critical importance of this infrastructure to nearly every aspect of essential public services, international commerce, and digital economic prosperity.  

In their discussion, the participants emphasized the importance of enhancing public-private cooperation to improve regional security in addition to other efforts to protect critical undersea infrastructure, and discussed the following areas:   

• Harmonize and develop channels and procedures for sharing real-time situational awareness and incident information within national governments, across Allies, and between public and private sector stakeholders, including incorporating private sector disruption notifications,
• Identify opportunities for public-private partnerships to improve repair and maintenance fleet capacity, including through security of supply chain mechanisms, consortium investment and development funding mechanisms;
• Encourage commercial cable operators, where possible, to establish a repository or database to collect and share information between operators regarding accidental cable faults/damage, completed repair work, time taken to repair, and reasons for any repair delays;
• Streamline equipment import/export processes and allow for faster transportation of necessary commercial equipment to facilitate repairs, as appropriate/necessary; and

The participants intend to increase coordination in these areas through NATO, ongoing U.S.-Nordic-Baltic consultations, and all other relevant fora between Allies and partners.

###

The post Readout of Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology Anne Neuberger’s Meeting on Protecting Undersea Cables appeared first on The White House.

Today, after many months of intensive diplomacy by the United States, along with Egypt and Qatar, Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire and hostage deal. This deal will halt the fighting in Gaza, surge much needed-humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite the hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity.

I laid out the precise contours of this plan on May 31, 2024, after which it was endorsed unanimously by the UN Security Council. It is the result not only of the extreme pressure that Hamas has been under and the changed regional equation after a ceasefire in Lebanon and weakening of Iran — but also of dogged and painstaking American diplomacy. My diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done.

Even as we welcome this news, we remember all the families whose loved ones were killed in Hamas’s October 7th attack, and the many innocent people killed in the war that followed. It is long past time for the fighting to end and the work of building peace and security to begin. I am also if thinking of the American families, three of whom have living hostages in Gaza and four awaiting return of remains after what has been the most horrible ordeal imaginable. Under this deal, we are determined to bring all of them home. 

I will speak more about this soon. For now, I am thrilled that those who have been held hostage are being reunited with their families.

###

The post Statement from President Joe Biden appeared first on The White House.

Today, we are announcing that an additional over 91,500 UNITE HERE workers and retirees will have their pension benefits protected from expected future cuts thanks to my American Rescue Plan.

These workers, the unsung heroes of our economy, take care of many of us while we are away from home at airports and in hotels, and these newly approved benefits will allow our nation to take care of them.

When Vice President Harris and I came into office, we promised to fight on behalf of workers to create an economy that grows from the middle out and the bottom up and to ensure a secure retirement for every American. That’s why we worked with Congressional Democrats to include the Butch Lewis Act in my American Rescue Plan.

With today’s actions, our Administration has provided security to over 1.3 million workers and retirees and will ultimately restore or protect the earned retirement benefits of roughly 2 million Americans so that they receive the full retirement benefits that they have earned over the next several decades.

###

The post Statement from President Joe Biden on Protecting 91,500 UNITE HERE Pensions appeared first on The White House.

     Faith sustains many of us across our Nation, sharpening our sense of purpose, uniting us in shared belief, and reminding us of our obligations to each other.  Whether you worship in a church, synagogue, temple, or mosque, the Constitution of the United States protects every American’s right to practice their faith freely or to practice no faith at all.  Today, we celebrate our constitutional right to religious freedom which makes us a beacon of liberty and recommit to protecting that right, both here at home and around the world.

     We are all blessed to live in a Nation that is home to people of many faiths.  However, even in our land of liberty, too many people are afraid that practicing their faith will bring fear, violence, and intimidation.  Over the past year, we have seen a shocking rise in antisemitism in the wake of Hamas’s terrorist attack against Israel and a disturbing rise in Islamophobia.  Hate has no safe harbor here in America.  And around the world, minority communities continue to live in fear of violence and are denied equal protections under the law, including Christians in some countries.

     My Administration is committed to ensuring that people of every faith and belief can live out their deepest conviction freely, peacefully, and safely.  Working with the Congress, my Administration secured the largest ever increase in funding for the physical security of non-profit organizations, including places of worship.  Through that program and many related efforts, we continue to work across government to ensure that all religious communities are able to practice their faith without fear.  Additionally, I created the inter-agency group to counter Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Related Forms of Bias and Discrimination within the United States.  We released the first-ever United States National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, which works to counter antisemitism and protect Jewish communities.  We also released the first-ever National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Anti-Arab Hate, which works to combat these forms of hate and safeguard Muslim and Arab Americans.  Both strategies seek to strengthen coalitions across religious communities to bring an end to hate.

     We are also working to promote and protect religious freedom worldwide, because it is not only an American constitutional right — it is a human right, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  And so, around the globe, we are working with governments and organizations to end discrimination against religious groups.  My Administration has provided $100 million to promote religious freedom worldwide.  We have also provided hundreds of millions more to support victims fleeing religious repression.  And we have been cracking down on forced labor, which is often connected to the targeting of religious minorities.  My Administration sanctioned more than 240 individuals and entities for serious human rights abuses under the Global Magnitsky Sanctions Program.  The Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism at the Department of State promoted the United States-led “Global Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism,” a set of international best practices for effective public policy against antisemitism, which more than 40 countries and entities have endorsed.  My Administration also ended the discriminatory travel ban that prevented individuals from several Muslim-majority and African countries from entering the United States.  And the Department of State conducted a review of visa applications and took various corrective actions to process applications that were impacted by that ban, including reconsidering previously denied applications.

     Today, we recognize how religious freedom is at the core of who we are as a Nation. It is central to the freedom we offer all Americans. And it is threaded throughout all our work to advance human freedom and dignity in the world.  The task for all of us is to defend and protect religious liberty for everyone, to build a world where no one is endangered for what they believe, and to see one another as neighbors.

     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 laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 16, 2025, as Religious Freedom Day.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.

                              JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

The post A Proclamation on Religious Freedom Day, 2025 appeared first on The White House.

Nearly three years after the reignition of the Biden Cancer Moonshot, the work to end cancer as we know it has had a direct impact on American lives.

Today, the Biden Cancer Moonshot convened leaders and advocates to recognize the important progress made on a central priority of the Biden-Harris Administration, ending cancer as we know it. The event brought together the powerful and diverse Cancer Moonshot community to spotlight collective achievements and chart a course for the future through The Biden Cancer Moonshot: Ending Cancer As We Know It report and celebrate the enduring legacy of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden’s historic leadership of the Cancer Moonshot.  

Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the Cancer Moonshot mobilized a whole-of-society approach through the first-ever Cancer Cabinet, collaborating on new actions to better prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer and support those facing this diagnosis. This includes significant impact against a core set of accomplishments:

• Making extraordinary investments to prevent cancer—including protecting 100 million Americans from exposure to PFAS (so-called forever chemicals) and taking action to decrease smoking, the single largest driver of cancer deaths;
• Bringing cancer screenings to more communities—effectively recovering from 10 million missed screenings during the COVID-19 pandemic with a focus on equity;
• Creating a new research agency, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H)—and driving investment and innovation to reach more people and communities with breakthrough advances; and,
• Delivering first-ever reimbursable navigation services—impacting millions of Americans facing cancer and other serious illness, and improving access and affordability of cancer care for all Americans.

Even as the Biden Cancer Moonshot has made historic progress to reduce cancer deaths and improve the experience of those touched by cancer, the work continues across the government and private sector, to achieve these ambitious goals.

Today’s announcements from the Biden Cancer Moonshot include:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a proposed rule that, if finalized, would set a maximum nicotine level in certain combustible tobacco products, including cigarettes, thereby making them minimally or non-addictive. Smoking is the single largest driver of cancer deaths in this country. This rule would be the first of its kind globally—and a major step forward to reduce tobacco-related disease and death for millions of Americans.  This rule puts the power back in the hands of individuals, enabling those who want to quit to be successful and preventing millions of youths and others from starting in the first place.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) will double its investment in research on early-onset cancers. With rising rates of early-onset cancers nationally, that is, cancers that typically impact older Americans being diagnosed at increasing levels in young adults, NCI commits to ensuring that accurate and meaningful data are available to researchers and the public. To this end, NCI is leading a new effort to focus on this issue and will leverage new investment in studies into the underlying biology, as well as those that will improve understanding for prevention, treatment, and post-diagnosis care.

NCI will post a Decentralizing Clinical Trials guide with strategies to improve trial efficiencies and expand access to trial participants. The White House Office of Science Technology and Policy convened experts in 2023 to identify strategies for incorporating more decentralized trial elements into cancer clinical trials aligned with recent FDA guidance. The group developed resources that will help agencies, researchers and providers design and conduct clinical trials with decentralized elements, e.g., relaxed or more lenient eligibility criteria, allowing telehealth visits, etc.—encompassing regulatory, site infrastructure, financial, and education elements.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is supporting community groups in addressing cancer-causing environmental exposures. CDC is partnering with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, the National Center for Healthy Housing, and the Children’s Environmental Health Network to provide grants, subject matter expertise, and technical assistance for up to six community groups to examine concerns around cancer and the environment.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will expand access to cancer genetic testing and at-home colorectal cancer screening. By the end of fiscal year 2025, VA’s Comprehensive Genetic Service will increase cancer genetic testing use by 25%. Genetic testing looks for certain mutations in an individual’s genes that might indicate a higher risk of getting certain cancers, enabling preventative and screening interventions. Additionally, over the same timeframe, VA’s National Colorectal Cancer Screening Program will facilitate mailed fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) in at least 80% of eligible VA facilities. Currently, over 25,000 veterans receive mailed FIT kits each month. This outreach effort is expected to increase the proportion of veterans who are up to date with colorectal cancer screening, thereby promoting early detection and improved outcomes for those who develop cancer.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will finalize new actions to prevent cancer caused by the chemical ethylene oxide (EtO). EtO—a pesticide used in several applications including medical device sterilization and production of dried herbs and spices—is known to cause multiple cancers, including breast cancer, lymphocytic leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and myeloma. Workers who use EtO and people who live, work, and go to school near EtO facilities are at higher cancer risk due to their exposures. EPA’s new action will continue to lower worker exposure limits, finalize bans on several uses, improve air quality in facilities where EtO is used, and enhance monitoring—important steps forward to prevent EtO-caused cancers. The EPA previously took action on three chemicals associated with cancer. In December 2024, EPA finalized a rule to fully ban trichloroethylene—a carcinogenic chemical—to protect consumers, workers, and communities.  In addition, EPA banned most uses of perchloroethylene, and required worker protections for carbon tetrachloride, both of which are also known carcinogens.

An interagency task force through the Cancer Cabinet developed a Patient Reported Outcome (PRO) toolkit to guide data collection from those directly impacted by cancer. Successful implementation of PROs has been associated with increased patient-provider communication and improvements in survival and other health outcomes. Collaboration between the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) included the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Agency for Healthcare Research (AHRQ), the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy (ASTP), and the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

CMS integrated electronic health record standards to improve standardized patient data collection, an important step to ensuring patients have access to usable forms of their medical data. The Enhancing Oncology Model was the first model to successfully deploy Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources, a set of standards that allow for exchanging health care data between health systems, to collect sociodemographic and clinical data. This use case for USCDI+ Cancer is pioneering work in data standardization, which is critical to enable patients accessing their health data.

Expanding the ASCEND for Better Health Initiative at the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department will fund three new nutrition hubs in 2025 to advance community engagement efforts in Hispanic, Tribal, and Insular Territory communities. These hubs, in addition to the existing USDA Nutrition Hubs focused in Black communities, will translate precision nutrition research into culturally-appropriate nutrition messaging that will promote healthy eating and support the prevention of diet-related cancers, among other relevant chronic diseases and conditions.

Adding to the over 220 private, academic, and community organizations across the country who have made important progress as part of the Biden Cancer Moonshot, the following organizations stepped up to announce new actions to ensure all Americans can equitably benefit from cancer advancements, innovation, screening, and more:

Academy Health, through funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, launched the Transforming Cancer Navigation with Open Data & APIs Challenge to expand and enhance patient navigation, while leveraging clinical cancer research and health outcomes data sources. The challenge is to create solutions that are inclusive, user-friendly, and capable of providing comprehensive support to cancer patient navigators, helping them perform their duties more efficiently and effectively These solutions could improve patient outcomes by reducing diagnosis-to-treatment times, ensuring treatment adherence, and addressing social determinants of health such as food, housing, and transportation needs. The challenge is being run on the HeroX platform, in coordination with the American Cancer Society, CancerX, MITRE, EMI Advisors, VA, HHS ASTP, and Innovation Horizons, among others.

To ensure equitable access to supportive care, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Moving Through Cancer Initiative mapped exercise oncology program availability in the U.S. and identified disparities by race/ethnicity, SES, and geography. ACSM, American Cancer Society, and American Society of Clinical Oncology published clinical guidelines recommending exercise to improve symptoms and treatment outcomes for people living with cancer. To further address symptoms of underserved people living with cancer, Moving Through Cancer is developing a toolkit and course to integrate exercise programming that will be available in 2026 through the University of Pittsburgh Center for Teaching and Learning.

The Anticancer Lifestyle Program (ACLP) is expanding access to evidence-based, actionable tools for reducing environmental and toxic exposures. In early 2025, ACLP will launch the Spanish translation of a 7-Day Healthy Home Environment Kickstart, ensuring that Spanish-speaking communities can access this free, week-long program to reduce toxic chemicals in their homes and lower cancer risk. This initiative reflects ACLP’s commitment to addressing health disparities and supporting underserved communities.

Earli will expand their novel diagnostics platform to therapeutics beginning in 2025, using their technology to turn cancer cells into factories that consistently produce any desired marker or protein for better outcomes in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Ambiguous or non-existent cancer biomarkers, especially in early cancers, often make consistent diagnoses and treatment across patients very difficult. This will help stop unclear cancer diagnoses and treatment failures for millions of patients and fundamentally change how we approach cancer treatment by genetically forcing cancer cells to activate the immune system to attack cancer.Earli has now raised a total of $100M for this mission. 

In 2025, Elsevier Inc.’s oncology decision support, ClinicalPath, plans to launch new capabilities prompting oncologists to incorporate precision medicine in their treatment decision making while helping to reduce administrative burden. Supplemental to the latest evidence and guidance, these enhancements will enable clinicians to have direct access to their patient’s biomarker results at the point of care. This functionality helps to ensure that people living with cancer have access to innovative precision medicine treatment, including the latest clinical trials that apply to their disease and genomics.

Massive Bio is launching an advanced AI-powered clinical trial matching platform and pre-screening hubs to empower patients and communities with culturally competent, seamless trial navigation and ongoing support. This system ensures timely, personalized clinical trial access by leveraging real-world data and comprehensive genomic profiling to match patients with optimal trial opportunities. Launching in January 2025, this expansion initiative represents an initial investment of $15 million, and is expected to impact over 50,000 unique patients living with cancer annually, with a scalable goal of reaching 250,000 patients per year globally by 2027. The platform particularly focuses on underserved and underrepresented populations to ensure equitable access to clinical trials. Through this effort, Massive Bio is bridging critical gaps in care, accelerating access to the latest cancer treatments and improving outcomes for all.

The National Association for Veterans’ Research & Education Foundations (NAVREF) & the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) are launching an initiative to better enable the placement of prostate cancer clinical trials across the country to improve veterans’ health and wellbeing. As part of PCF’s $65 million Veterans’ Health Initiative, PCF is providing $50,000 to NAVREF to pilot a new data dashboard that would allow industry sponsors to more quickly identify communities across the country with veterans that would most benefit from potential studies and clinical trials.

POETIC, a network of 13 leading institutions for the treatment of children, adolescents and young adults with cancer, will enhance access to innovative clinical trials for kids facing cancer in underserved areas of the United States to advance the Cancer Moonshot goal of bringing the latest progress to patients and communities. Beginning in 2025, POETIC will collaborate with new sites to conduct an infant study across 27 institutions. This work builds on existing efforts who engage families in 10 states with high-need areas by providing education about clinical trials, and on-going collaboration with Stanford’s Office of Child Health Equity to strengthen state-led advocacy efforts.

The Susan G. Komen Foundation is launching the ShareForCures Alliance, a groundbreaking initiative designed to harness the collective power of women and transform the future of breast cancer research. The Alliance brings together diverse nonprofit organizations united in a shared goal: end breast cancer by accelerating the search for the cures. ShareForCures empowers individuals diagnosed with breast cancer to share their unique health data through Komen’s secure research platform, unlocking vital insights that drive meaningful progress against this disease.

The Together for Supportive Cancer Care coalition, the Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation and Healing Works Foundation have partnered with TFA Analytics and C-TAC to develop pilot programs to align clinical and administrative standards and expand the evidence of delivering interdisciplinary supportive care to people with cancer. These organizations are putting together a national clinical advisory council and will convene health systems, health plans, serious illness coalitions in 4 states.  The project will work with partners to develop the care model and referral pathways, provide technical assistance and convene the sites regularly. The final report, data and tools will be finalized by December 2025. This study will help to demonstrate that early palliative care results in better outcomes, better quality of life and lower costs.  An update on this project will be presented at the Association of Cancer Care Centers (ACCC) conference in March.

To dramatically reduce mortality from lung cancer and improve access disparities by better enabling at-home screening, VisionGate will launch clinical collaborations to deploy its at-home collection test for early-stage lung cancer. Working with major cancer centers including Northwestern Medicine, HCA Healthcare (Sarah Cannon), and Kaiser Permanente in order to complete clinical trials, VisionGate will advance at-home lung cancer screening through its proprietary Cell-CT 3D cell analysis platform, which detects often symptomless stage 1 lung cancer with published 94% sensitivity, and without the burden of false positive indications.

ZERO Prostate Cancer will launch a transformative initiative to increase prostate cancer survival rates among the highest-risk populations. This is a bold patient-centric approach to increasing awareness and screening and improving the quality and quantity of life by implementing solutions in the highest-risk, underserved communities. Launching in 2025, the initiative aims to achieve an unprecedented reduction in late-stage diagnoses, especially among Black Men and Veterans.

###

The post FACT SHEET: Marking Historic Progress, the Biden Cancer Moonshot Convenes Mission Report and Announces New Government and Private Sector Actions to Accelerate Progress Against Cancer appeared first on The White House.

Letter from President Biden

Four years ago, we stood in a winter of peril and a winter of possibilities. We were in the grip of the worst pandemic in a century, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War. But we came together as Americans, and we braved through it. We emerged stronger, more prosperous, and more secure.
 
Today, we have the strongest economy in the world and have created a record 16.6 million new jobs. Wages are up. Inflation continues to come down. The racial wealth gap is the lowest it’s been in 20 years. We’re rebuilding our entire nation—urban, suburban, rural, and Tribal communities. Manufacturing is coming back to America. We’re leading the world again in science and innovation, including the semiconductor industry. And we finally beat Big Pharma to lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors. More people have health insurance today in America than ever before. I signed one of the most significant laws helping millions of veterans who were exposed to toxic materials and their families, as well as the most significant climate law ever and the first major gun safety law in nearly 30 years. Today, the violent crime rate is at a 50-year low.

I ran for president because I believed that the soul of America was at stake. The very nature of who we are was at stake. And, that’s still the case. America is an idea stronger than any army and larger than any ocean. It’s the most powerful idea in the history of the world. That idea is that we are all created equal, endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We’ve never fully lived up to this sacred idea, but we’ve never walked away from it either. And I do not believe the American people will walk away from it now.
 
Vice President Harris and I asked our staff to prepare a detailed summary of the progress we’ve made together throughout the last four years. Below, I’m sharing our record with you. I hope you’ll do your part to build on the progress we’ve made.
 
It has been the privilege of my life to serve this nation for over 50 years. Nowhere else on Earth could a kid with a stutter from modest beginnings in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Claymont, Delaware, one day sit behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office as President of the United States. I have given my heart and my soul to our nation. And I have been blessed a million times in return with the love and support of the American people.
 
History is in your hands. The power is in your hands. The idea of America lies in your hands. We just have to keep the faith and remember who we are. We are the United States of America, and there is simply nothing beyond our capacity when we do it together.
 
Thank you.
 
Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
 

FACT SHEET: The Biden-Harris Administration Record

HISTORIC RECOVERY

When President Biden took office, the country was in the midst of the worst pandemic in more than a century and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Nearly million workers had lost their jobs. COVID-19 was wreaking havoc on our country—closing businesses, keeping kids out of school, and killing thousands of Americans every day. Starting on his first day in office, President Biden took decisive action to beat the pandemic.
 
Ending the COVID-19 Pandemic
 
On President Biden’s first day in office, he released a National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response to vaccinate the nation and stood up the largest free vaccination program in the country’s history:

• The Biden-Harris Administration mobilized 90,000 vaccination locations, stood up dozens of federally run mass vaccination sites, and deployed over 9,000 federal personnel to support vaccinations nationwide.
   
• President Biden set an ambitious goal to get 100 million vaccines in people’s arms in 100 days. The Administration reached this goal in half the time and then achieved 200 million vaccines within 100 days.
   
• 230 million Americans are now vaccinated, up from 3.5 million when President Biden took office.

Relief through the American Rescue Plan

President Biden’s American Rescue Plan changed the country’s economic trajectory through targeted relief to meet the urgent needs of American communities, leading to the strongest jobs recovery on record and a world-leading economic performance. The American Rescue Plan:

• Invested about $160 billion to provide the supplies, emergency response, testing, and public health workforce to stop the spread of COVID-19.
   
• Provided critical relief to more than 15,000 school districts to reopen safely and support student well-being and academic recovery.
   
• Delivered immediate support for families hard-hit by the pandemic, including extending enhanced unemployment insurance benefits and eligibility for millions of Americans temporarily out of the workforce, lowering taxes for working Americans by increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit for 17 million workers, and providing $1,400 per-person checks for most Americans.
   
• Delivered assistance to help over eight million hard-pressed renters stay in their homes and kept eviction filings below historic averages in the aftermath of the pandemic. Hundreds of thousands of homeowners at risk of losing their homes also received assistance through the American Rescue Plan’s Homeowner Assistance Fund to help prevent mortgage delinquencies and defaults, foreclosures, and losses of utilities and home energy services.
   
• Provided a historic expansion of the Child Tax Credit, leading to the lowest child poverty rate in American history in 2021.
   
• Created the first-ever summer nutrition benefit, helping the families of 30 million children nationwide who rely on free and reduced-price school meals afford food over the summer.
   
• Delivered historic investments to help over 225,000 child care programs remain open, lowering costs for millions of families and helping speed the return to work of hundreds of thousands of mothers.
   
• Provided direct fiscal relief to every state and territory and 30,000 cities and towns, enabling critical investments in housing, workforce, public safety, and water and high-speed internet infrastructure.
   
• Lowered or eliminated health insurance premiums for millions of lower- and middle-income families enrolled in health insurance marketplaces, leading to record-breaking health insurance coverage nationwide.
   
• Delivered more than $28 billion in emergency relief to help keep 100,000 restaurants and other food and beverage businesses open during the pandemic. 
   
• Powered a small business recovery and boom, including through a historic investment in the State Small Business Credit Initiative to catalyze tens of billions of dollars in private investment, and new small business financing and support, for up to 100,000 small businesses over the next decade.

GROWING THE ECONOMY AND LOWERING COSTS

President Biden and Vice President Harris were determined not only to support a strong recovery, but also to build a stronger and fairer economy for the future. Before the President signed the American Rescue Plan into law, experts at the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office projected that the unemployment rate would stay above 4% until the end of 2025. The Biden-Harris Administration crossed that threshold three years early, and the U.S. economy even outperformed their final pre-pandemic forecast for economic growth, job growth, and incomes—with the economy now larger than experts projected it would be without the pandemic.

Over President Biden’s time in office:

• The economy added 16.6 million jobs, and Gross Domestic Product grew 12.6%. The Biden-Harris Administration is the only administration in history to have created jobs every single month.
   
• The Administration achieved the lowest average unemployment in 50 years—with record-low unemployment rates for Black Americans, Latino Americans, women, veterans, workers without a high school diploma, and workers with disabilities.
   
• The share of working-age Americans in the workforce reached its highest level in two decades, and the share of working-age women in the workforce hit a record high.
   
• The strong labor market led to better pay and working conditions. After-tax incomes increased by nearly $4,000, accounting for inflation, and real wages grew most quickly for low-wage workers. This is the strongest recovery for real wage growth in 50 years.
   
• Wealth, adjusted for inflation, rose a record 37% for the median American household.
   
• Americans filed a record 21 million new small business applications, the most in any presidential administration in history. This small business growth was particularly strong among Black and Latino small business owners—with Black business ownership doubling since 2019 and hitting a 30-year high for Latino families.

Investing in America

While this economic recovery was historic, President Biden and Vice President Harris believed the country could not just go back to the economy it had before the pandemic. Rather, they believed the country needed a fundamental break from the trickle-down economics that had left so many families vulnerable and so many communities hollowed out. Instead, they set off to grow the economy from the middle-out and bottom-up.

President Biden’s Investing in America agenda—the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act—is making smart public investments all across the country to catalyze additional private sector investments, increasing growth and American economic competitiveness. To date, President Biden’s Investing in America agenda has helped attract over $1 trillion in announced private-sector investments in clean energy and manufacturing, and created over 1.6 million construction and manufacturing jobs.

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. On November 15, 2021, President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—a once-in-a-generation investment in America’s infrastructure and competitiveness. Since then, the Biden-Harris Administration has broken ground on projects to rebuild our roads and bridges, upgrade transit and rail, modernize ports and airports, deliver clean and safe water, clean up legacy pollution, expand access to high-speed internet, lower energy costs, and build a clean energy economy. President Biden delivered an “Infrastructure Decade” that is unlocking access to economic opportunity, creating good-paying jobs, boosting domestic manufacturing, and building the foundation for durable, shared growth.

To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has announced nearly $600 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding and launched over 72,000 specific infrastructure projects and awards. This includes:

• Improvements on over 200,000 miles of roads and over 12,000 bridge repair projects.
   
• Launching over 2,400 drinking water and wastewater projects across the country.
   
• Replacing nearly 500,000 lead pipes, benefitting over 1.2 million people.
   
• Funding to deploy nearly 4,600 low-and zero-emission American-made transit buses and over 8,900 clean school buses in over 1,300 communities across the country.
   
• Funding nearly 450 rail projects as part of the largest investment since Amtrak was created more than 50 years ago.
   
• Funding for over 1,000 port and waterway projects to strengthen supply chains.
   
• Investments in over 400 projects to modernize and expand airport terminals—over 200 of which are under construction or complete.
   
• Removing hazardous fuel material from nearly 18 million acres of land to mitigate the impact of wildfires.
   
• Enabling over 23 million low-income households to access free or discounted high-speed internet service.
   
• Plugging nearly 9,600 orphaned oil and gas wells to address legacy pollution.

The work continues. Over the next decade, President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will:

• Replace every lead pipe in the country.
   
• Connect every home and small business to affordable, reliable, high-speed internet.
   
• Improve over 350,000 miles of roads—enough to circle the globe 14 times.
   
• Repair or rebuild more than a dozen of the nation’s most economically significant bridges, and replace tens of thousands of smaller bridges across the country.
   
• Build the country’s first high-speed rail corridors and transform Amtrak with an all-new fleet, modernized stations, and upgraded infrastructure.
   
• Improve transportation options for millions of Americans and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the largest investment in public transit in U.S. history.
   
• Deliver over 1,000 projects at airports and ports to strengthen our supply chains and prevent future disruptions.
   
• Install EV chargers on major highway corridors every 50 miles and in communities all across America.
   
• Upgrade power infrastructure to deliver clean, reliable energy across the country and deploy cutting-edge energy technology to achieve a zero-emissions future.
   
• Make infrastructure resilient against the impacts of climate change, cyber-attacks, and extreme weather events.

Inflation Reduction Act. On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law—the largest ever investment in clean energy, climate action, and environmental justice. The Inflation Reduction Act is helping the United States meet its climate goals, strengthening energy security, investing in America to create good-paying jobs, improving the health and resilience of communities, supporting clean air and cutting pollution in every sector of the economy, reducing energy and health care costs for families, and making the tax code fairer.

Since President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act:

• The private sector has announced more than $300 billion in new clean energy manufacturing and power investments, contributing to the highest level of real manufacturing construction spending and private investment on record. Since President Biden took office, companies have announced over $470 billion in new clean power manufacturing and deployment investments.
   
• Companies have announced more than 330,000 new clean energy jobs and are on track to create 1.5 million additional jobs over the next decade. This is in part due to the law’s transformative new and expanded tax credits for clean energy, buildings, vehicles, fuels, and manufacturing.
   
• Combined with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the law is projected to reduce emissions in 2030 by about 1 gigaton—10 times more climate benefit than any other legislation in history.
   
• The United States is now in a strong position to cut climate pollution over 50% by 2030 and over 60% by 2035 compared to 2005 levels, and to achieve a net-zero economy by 2050.
   
• In 2023 alone, more than 3.4 million American families saved $8.4 billion on home clean energy upgrades.
   
• More than 300,000 Americans have saved over $2 billion in upfront costs on electric vehicles, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act’s consumer tax credits.
   
• Medicare has negotiated prices for its first 10 drugs under its drug price negotiation program, which will save taxpayers $6 billion on prescription drugs costs and consumers $1.5 billion in out of-of-pocket costs in 2026 alone.
   
• 65 million seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries are benefitting from $35 insulin, free recommended vaccines, and an annual out-of-pocket cost cap of $2,000 per year.

CHIPS and Science Act. America invented semiconductors, and the United States used to produce nearly 40% of the global supply. When President Biden came into office, the United States produced only about 10% of the world’s supply—and none of the most advanced chips—making the economy more vulnerable to national security threats and the supply chain shocks we felt acutely during the COVID-19 pandemic. President Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act is delivering on the President’s vision to ensure America leads in innovation through a more than $50 billion investment in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, research and development, and workforce development. Since President Biden took office:

• Companies announced nearly $450 billion in manufacturing investments in semiconductors and electronics.
   
• The Administration announced over $33 billion in grant awards in 17 new semiconductor fabs, 8 supply chain or packaging facilities, and dozens of expansions across 21 states.
   
• All five of the world’s most advanced chip manufacturing companies now operate in the United States. The United States is the only country in the world to have more than two operating on their shores.
   
• These investments will create over 125,000 new construction and manufacturing jobs.
   
• The Administration stood up a National Semiconductor Technology Center to once again make the United States a leader in semiconductor research and development and launched 10 Regional Innovation Engines.
   
• At least 80 community colleges in 22 states announced new or expanded programming to help American workers access good-paying jobs in the semiconductor industry.

Supporting American Workers and Labor

President Biden is proud to be the most pro-union President in history. Over his four years in office, he took historic action to support organized labor—including by becoming the first sitting President to walk a picket line.

President Biden built an economy from the middle out and bottom up that puts the voices of workers at the center of the table. Together, he and Vice President Harris fought to protect workers’ free and fair choice to join a union, ensured Investing in America funding promoted strong labor standards, enforced rules against unfair labor practices, and created pathways to good-paying jobs for all Americans, whether they went to college or not. President Biden:

• Signed the Butch Lewis Act as part of the American Rescue Plan, saving the pensions of two million hard-working union workers and retirees. Already, more than 120,000 retirees received an average of $13,600 each in earned benefits that were protected or restored.
   
• Signed the Social Security Fairness Act, becoming the first President in more than 20 years to expand Social Security benefits. This bill expanded benefits by hundreds of dollars per month for more than 2.5 million Americans.
   
• Signed the “Good Jobs” Executive Order on Investing in America and Investing in American Workers, which calls on agencies to promote strong labor standards—including the free and fair choice to join a union, robust workforce development programs like registered apprenticeships, and worker health and safety—as they award funding from the Investing in America agenda.
   
• Finalized a rule to restore and extend overtime pay protections for millions of workers.
   
• Proposed a new rule from the Department of Labor to protect 36 million workers from extreme heat on the job.
   
• Raised the minimum wage to $17.75 per hour for federal contract workers.
   
• Published the first update to Davis-Bacon prevailing wages in nearly 40 years, which will increase pay for one million construction workers.
   
• Fought for and implemented fivefold bonus credits for clean energy projects that employ prevailing wages and registered apprenticeships to ensure fair pay and a skilled workforce.
   
• Required Project Labor Agreements on nearly all major federal construction projects over $35 million, so federal construction projects will be delivered on time and on budget with good wages and well-trained workers.
   
• Designated nine Workforce Hubs across the country to build partnerships among unions, educators, employers, and local governments centered around training residents for good-paying jobs created by the Investing in America agenda.
   
• Signed a Registered Apprenticeship Executive Order to bolster apprenticeships in the federal workforce.
   
• Invested more than $730 million in Registered Apprenticeships, leading to more than one million registered apprentices receiving gold standard earn-as-you-learn training for in-demand jobs.
   
• Signed into law bipartisan protections for pregnant and postpartum workers and strengthened protections for survivors of sexual assault and harassment in the workplace.
   
• Through the CHIPS and Science Act, provided nearly $300 million in dedicated funding to-date for training and workforce development to ensure local communities have access to the jobs of the future in upcoming projects.
   
• Introduced a requirement that companies receiving grants over $150 million under the CHIPS and Science Act create a plan to ensure access to quality, affordable child care for their employees.
   
• Expanded remedies available to workers through the National Labor Relations Board when employers engage in unionbusting.
   
• Overhauled the process for union representation elections by requiring employers to bargain if they commit an unfair labor practice during the election process, and by reducing unnecessary delays before workers can vote.
   
• Launched the first-ever White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, chaired by Vice President Harris, which resulted in over 70 actions to promote worker organizing and collective bargaining for federal employees and workers employed by public- and private-sector employers.
   
• Signed a first-of-its-kind Presidential Memorandum on Advancing Worker Empowerment, Rights, and High Labor Standards Globally to uphold common standards and fundamental workers’ rights that are key for American workers and companies to compete fairly in the global economy.

Made in America

From Day One, President Biden and Vice President Harris worked to make “Made in America” a reality. President Biden took bold action to support investments in workers here at home:

• In his first week in office, President Biden signed Executive Order 14005, “Ensuring the Future is Made in All of America by All of America’s Workers,” to launch a comprehensive government initiative to strengthen the use of taxpayers’ dollars to support American manufacturing.
   
• The Biden-Harris Administration announced the most robust updates to the Buy American Act in nearly 70 years to ensure taxpayer dollars create good-paying jobs at home, and to strengthen critical supply chains.
   
• President Biden’s “Invent It Here, Make It Here” Executive Order furthered America’s commitment to ensuring federal investment in innovation benefits American workers, communities, and supply chain resilience by prioritizing American manufacturing and workers.
   
• President Biden delivered on his commitment to establish standards that ensure construction materials used in federally funded projects—from copper and aluminum to fiber optic cable, lumber, and drywall—are made in America. These standards now apply to virtually all infrastructure spending supported by federal financial assistance.
   
• The Biden-Harris Administration proposed a rule to further strengthen “Made in America” with the shortest exception list in history to boost American manufacturing.
   
• During his 2024 State of the Union, President Biden announced the discontinuation of a sweeping Reagan-era Buy America waiver for manufactured products in federal-aid highway projects. The President made good on this promise and final action was taken to support American manufacturers and good-paying jobs across the United States.
   
• President Biden’s Investing in America agenda included historic funding for high-speed internet access. Close to 90% of the funding spent on equipment for the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program will be spent on equipment manufactured in the United States.

Tax Fairness and Fiscal Responsibility

President Biden fought to build a fairer tax system that rewards work, not just wealth; asks the wealthiest Americans and largest corporations to pay their fair share; and requires all Americans to play by the same rules and pay the taxes they owe. President Biden took the following actions to make this a reality:

• Secured historic legislation—through the Inflation Reduction Act—to make the tax code fairer, from enacting a 15% corporate minimum tax so that billion-dollar companies can’t get away with paying $0 in federal income taxes and imposing a 1% surcharge on corporate stock buybacks, to giving the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) the tools it needs to make wealthy tax cheats pay the taxes they owe.
   
• Used increased IRS funding to collect more than $1 billion in unpaid taxes from delinquent millionaires, launch enforcement action against 25,000 millionaires who have not filed a tax return since 2017, and crack down on high-end tax evasion like illegally structured complex partnerships that reduce tax liability or deducting personal use of corporate jets as a business expense. In total, the IRS is projected to collect hundreds of billions of dollars in additional revenue over the next decade.
   
• Expanded the Affordable Care Act Premium Tax Credit to save millions of people an average of $800 per year in health insurance premiums.
   
• Expanded the Child Tax Credit cut child poverty nearly in half to a historic low in 2021.
   
• Committed to investing in America responsibly. After the previous administration added $8 trillion to the debt, the annual deficit is over $1 trillion lower than it was when President Biden took office, thanks in large part to a strong economic recovery from the pandemic.
   
• Signed into law $1 trillion in deficit reduction over the next 10 years, including by enacting a corporate minimum tax, lowering prescription drug costs, and cracking down on wealthy tax cheats.
   
• Kept his promise not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 a year.

Affordable Housing

Upon entering office, President Biden confronted a housing crisis where millions of Americans were facing eviction related to the economic impacts of the pandemic. In response, the Biden-Harris Administration deployed unprecedented tools to keep Americans housed:

• Delivered aid to over eight million renters and more than 500,000 homeowners through the Emergency Rental Assistance program and other assistance included in the American Rescue Plan.
   
• Powered a first-of-its-kind national eviction prevention infrastructure that kept eviction filings below pre-pandemic levels after the expiration of the national eviction moratorium.
   
• Took quick action through the Federal Housing Administration after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that 1.7 million households at risk of losing their homes could keep them.
   
• Cut fees for more than one million borrowers with mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration by more than $900 a year.

President Biden also focused on building more housing to lower housing costs. Housing units under construction hit a 50-year high under the Biden-Harris Administration. President Biden:

• Increased the rate of new housing starts by 16% compared to the previous administration. Rents fell in many places during President Biden’s last year in office as a result of new supply, and the homeownership rate is higher now than it was before the pandemic.
   
• Introduced a bold plan to build and renovate more than two million homes and announced new steps to lower homebuying and refinancing closing costs and crack down on corporate actions that rip off renters.
   
• Called on Congress during his 2024 State of the Union Address to pass legislation to lower costs by $10,000 for first-time homebuyers through a mortgage relief credit and provide up to $25,000 in down payment assistance.

Finally, President Biden took unprecedented steps to strengthen tenant protections and increase fairness in the rental market, as well as steps to ensure that all households have an opportunity to build generational wealth by purchasing a home:

• President Biden led a coordinated effort to root out discrimination in the home appraisal and homebuying process.
   
• He launched a task force to address the appraisal gap—the likelihood that homes in communities of color are undervalued compared to homes in majority-white communities—leading to a cut in the gap by roughly 40%.

Making Markets Fairer and Cracking Down on Junk Fees and Corporate Greed

President Biden took a number of actions to root out and end illegal corporate behavior that raise prices through anti-competitive, unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent business practices. President Biden and his Administration:

• Created the Competition Council, chaired by the Director of the National Economic Council with the heads of 15 agencies, to address corporate consolidation, monopolization, and unfair competition.
   
• Launched a new Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing, co-chaired by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, to lower costs for American families.
   
• Worked with Congress to pass bipartisan legislation to boost funding for federal antitrust enforcers. The Administration increased annual funding to the DOJ Antitrust Division by $66 million and to the FTC by nearly $100 million.
   
• Banned bait-and-switch marketing tactics in the car buying process.
   
• Fought to cut credit card late fees from an average of $32 down to $8.
   
• Banned junk health insurance plans.
   
• Required cable and satellite television providers to disclose all fees up front.
   
• Required internet service providers to provide customers clear, easy-to-understand, and accurate information about the cost and performance of high-speed internet services.
   
• Banned the use of non-compete clauses in employment contracts so companies cannot stop regular people from switching jobs or starting new businesses.
   
• Required airlines to provide automatic refunds and disclose up-front fees for checked bags and changing flights.
   
• Proposed a rule to prevent airlines from charging parents extra just to sit next to their kid.
   
• Finalized a rule to require companies to make it as easy to cancel a subscription or service as it was to sign up for one.
   
• Announced increased scrutiny of banks that are heavily dependent on junk fees, leading to many banks eliminating these kinds of fees and resulting in a decline of $5.5 billion in these rip-offs annually.
   
• Capped overdraft fees at $5, which is expected to save consumers $5 billion annually.
   
• Banned hidden junk fees in the event ticketing and hotel and lodging industries.

Taken together, President Biden’s actions will cut junk fees by more than $20 billion annually.

Catalyzing a Small Business Boom

President Biden believed that starting a new small business is an act of hope and confidence in the economy. Small businesses account for more than 40% of Gross Domestic Product, create more than half of new jobs, and employ nearly half of all private sector workers. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, small business growth boomed:

• American entrepreneurs filed a historic 21 million new business applications since 2021—more than during any other presidential administration on record.
   
• In 2024 alone, the Small Business Administration backed a historic $56 billion in loans and investments to small businesses.
   
• The American Rescue Plan’s State Small Business Credit Initiative provided nearly $10 billion to increase access to capital and investment in small businesses through innovative financing programs.
   
• Federal agencies awarded the highest ever amount of federal contracts—in terms of both absolute value and share of overall contracting dollars—to small businesses and small disadvantaged businesses in 2024.
   
• Through the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden-Harris Administration preserved the American Rescue Plan’s premium tax credit supports for the Affordable Care Act—saving millions of small business owners and self-employed workers an average of $700 per year on their health insurance premiums.

AMERICAN LEADERSHIP AROUND THE WORLD

From Day One, President Biden strengthened America’s core strategic advantages: reasserting America’s leadership on the world stage, implementing policies to make the U.S. economy the strongest in the world, modernizing the U.S. military, and reinvigorating America’s unmatched network of alliances and partnerships.

In doing so, this Administration secured America’s vital interests and advanced its values. Today, our economy is the envy of the world; our military remains the strongest fighting force the world has known; our alliances and partnerships are stronger, deeper, and more integrated; and our country is better positioned to outmaneuver our competitors and adversaries while leading global efforts to tackle shared challenges. The combined impact of these efforts has made the American people more secure, prosperous, and proud of our global leadership.

Key Accomplishments:

During his presidency, President Biden:

• Ended the longest war in American history.
   
• Supported Ukraine as it bravely defended its freedom and democracy in the face of Russia’s unprovoked, illegal invasion, allowing Kyiv to defy expectations that it would fall in a matter of days.
   
• Rallied more than 50 countries to stand with Ukraine, providing Ukraine with economic and financial support to defend its territory, and imposing costs on Russia through the strongest-ever multilateral sanctions and export controls campaign.
   
• Expanded and strengthened NATO, adding Finland and Sweden as member states, shored up deterrence across Europe, and ensured that the majority of NATO countries are paying their fair share towards the common defense.
   
• Strengthened our competitive position and responsibly managed competition with the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
   
• Rallied the G7 to counteract China’s persistent industrial targeting and comprehensive non-market policies and practices.
   
• Leveled the playing field for American workers and businesses by standing up to the PRC’s unfair economic practices through targeted tariffs on imports in strategic sectors, such as steel, aluminum, and semiconductors.
   
• Reinvigorated America’s network of alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, including through the U.S.-Japan-ROK and U.S.-Japan-Philippines trilaterals, the Quad, AUKUS, IPEF, expanded partnership with the Philippines, and elevated relations with India, Indonesia, Vietnam, ASEAN, and Pacific Islands countries.
   
• Created a new strategy toward Sub-Saharan Africa that recognizes the continent’s critical role in advancing our global priorities in the 21st century and followed up on that strategy with commitments at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit.
   
• Significantly enhanced the value proposition of U.S. partnership to emerging market and developing countries through investment, economic partnership, and reform of multilateral development banks.
   
• Brought home more than 75 unjustly detained Americans from prisons abroad, including Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, and David Lin.
   
• Led a coalition of countries in defending Israel after Hamas launched its terrorist attack on October 7, and when Iran launched hundreds of missiles with the support of its proxies.
   
• Removed terrorist leaders from the battlefield, including al Qaeda emir al-Zawahiri, Hurras al-Din emir al-Makki, ISIS emir al-Qurayshi and his deputy, and a key ISIS operative and facilitator, al-Sudani.
   
• Fundamentally revised the U.S. approach to technology and national security, putting together a toolkit to ensure that sensitive technologies do not end up in the hands of those who would use it against America and its allies and partners.
   
• Established global AI leadership, guiding global efforts to ensure AI norms reflect our interests and values, while ensuring the United States remains at the cutting edge of AI technology.
   
• Imposed export controls to restrict the highest-performing AI chips and other sensitive technologies from falling into the hands of those who could use them against the United States.
   
• Secured nearly $450 billion in private manufacturing investments catalyzed by the CHIPS and Science Act to boost domestic supply chains and ensure the technologies of the future are made in America.
   
• Produced 4-nanometer leading-edge logic semiconductors on American soil for the first time ever, also marking the first time that leading-edge chips have been domestically produced in over a decade.
   
• Updated and restructured the U.S. government’s approach to protecting U.S. critical infrastructure from increasingly grave threats from adversaries and natural hazards.
   
• Forged a new partnership of 70 nations and international organizations to combat and prevent ransomware attacks through the International Counter Ransomware Initiative.
   
• Ended the COVID-19 pandemic at home, and donated nearly 700 million COVID-19 vaccines to other countries.
   
• Partnered with more than 60 countries to help prevent and prepare for future health emergencies.
   
• Advanced rights and opportunities for women and girls, launching partnerships to help close the gender digital divide, build childcare infrastructure, increase access to jobs, and address gender-based violence globally.

Expanded, Enhanced, Revitalized Alliances and Partnerships

America’s alliances and partnerships are the strongest they have been at any point in recent history because of President Biden’s work to revitalize relationships with countries around the world:

• High-Level Leader Summits. President Biden hosted high-level leader summits with partners from Africa, the Americas, Europe, and the Indo-Pacific. He helped restore the G7 as the premier platform in coordinating the international response to the biggest challenges the world has faced in years—from an international pandemic to energy security—and he rallied G7 partners to impose swift economic costs on Russia for its brutal war against Ukraine. President Biden led the way in the groundbreaking G7 announcement to make available $50 billion to Ukraine without burdening taxpayers by leveraging the extraordinary revenues of immobilized Russian sovereign assets.
   
• Indo-Pacific. In the Indo-Pacific, President Biden’s diplomacy made America more secure by deepening our economic and security partnerships in the region, both bilaterally and multilaterally. The Biden-Harris Administration launched the historic security partnership AUKUS with Australia and the United Kingdom; spurred unprecedented trilateral defense and economic cooperation between the United States, South Korea, and Japan; and launched a new trilateral partnership with U.S. treaty allies Japan and the Philippines. The Administration also elevated other partnerships in the region including with India, Indonesia, Vietnam, ASEAN, and the Pacific Island countries. President Biden deepened economic engagement with 13 Indo-Pacific partners under the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) and expanded technology innovation through the U.S.-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology. And he elevated the Quad with Australia, India, and Japan to the leader-level and hosted two historic summits with Pacific Island countries.
   
• Europe. President Biden oversaw the expansion of NATO with the addition of Sweden and Finland as member states, quickly winning strong congressional support for their accession. The Administration worked to shore up deterrence across Europe. When President Biden took office, only 9 of our NATO allies met the target to spend 2% of their GDP on defense. Today, 23 allies have met their defense spending commitments. President Biden hosted the historic 75th anniversary NATO Summit in 2024 in Washington, which demonstrated the strength and unity of the Transatlantic Alliance. At the Summit, he also built on the accession of Finland to further deepen important security ties within the NATO alliance by launching, alongside Canada, the Icebreaker Collaboration Effort (ICE Pact) to reinforce the importance of collaboration on economic security and defense industrial policy issues among NATO members. As a result, NATO is bigger, stronger, better resourced, and more united than ever.
   
• Africa. President Biden elevated the United States’ partnerships on the continent. He made a historic visit to Cabo Verde, a key democratic partner, and to Angola, where he celebrated the transformation of the relationship and the Lobito Trans-Africa Corridor, which will unlock inclusive economic growth and secure critical mineral supply chains. In a symbol of the close and growing relationship between the United States and Kenya, President Biden designated Kenya as the United States’ first major non-NATO ally in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Biden-Harris Administration also elevated African representation on the global stage, successfully championing the African Union to become a permanent member to the G20, and announcing support for United Nations Security Council reform that adds two permanent seats for African nations.
   
• Middle East. In the Middle East, the Biden-Harris Administration strengthened relations with partners across the region, and through a transformative agenda of regional integration established regional air defense networks and agreements to secure sea-to-rail linkages from India through the Gulf, Jordan, Israel and into Europe through Italy and Greece. Traditional adversaries of the United States—including Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and other Iranian-supported militant groups—are now at their weakest points in decades, and the Assad regime has fallen, while America’s position with its regional partners continues to strengthen across security and commercial sectors. After Hamas sought to derail these efforts through an invasion of Israel from Gaza on October 7, 2023—and then the launch of a multifront war against Israel from Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, and Iran—coordinated diplomacy and new security partnerships kept the United States out of a broader conflict while supporting the defense of Israel. This led to a ceasefire in Lebanon with Hezbollah’s leadership dismantled, Israel’s successful self-defense strikes against Iran, and ultimately the collapse of the Assad regime due to the weakened position of Russia and Iran. President Biden set forth the roadmap for ending the war in Gaza through a ceasefire and hostage release deal, a roadmap endorsed unanimously in the UN Security Council.
   
• New Historic Partnerships. The Biden-Harris Administration also created new historic partnerships, such as the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity to drive the Western Hemisphere’s recovery and growth to deliver for working people. Under the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection, the Administration brought together 22 countries to drive integration of migrants within the region, expand lawful pathways, and strengthen humane enforcement to reduce irregular migration. The Administration also leveraged partnerships to create space for the Venezuelan people to express their desire for democratic change. In response to Maduro’s fraudulent claims to victory, the Administration brought together over 50 countries to press Maduro’s representatives to release full results and cease repression that has seen over 2,000 arrests and two-dozen deaths. The Biden-Harris Administration rallied partners from every region of the world to support the people of Haiti, leveraging multilateral platforms to spotlight the crisis in Haiti and raising over $100 million in partner country pledges for the first of its kind UN- authorized Multinational Security Support mission to Haiti. President Biden deepened the strategic relationship with Brazil, launching a new Partnership for Workers Rights to empower workers and promote decent work, as well as a new Brazil-U.S. Partnership for the Energy Transition.
   
• International Financial Institutions. The Biden-Harris Administration stepped up support for developing countries, particularly by strengthening international financial institutions. The Administration led reforms to the multilateral development banks across their missions, incentive structures, operational approaches, and financial capacity to equip these institutions to be able to respond to the global challenges of today with sufficient speed and scale. The Administration helped drive an agreement on a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) quota increase to strengthen the institution, and made significant new resources available to low-income countries through the IMF. And the Administration also put forward a call to the international community to help developing countries with mounting debt burdens to be able to invest in their own futures.

Protected the American People from Terrorism and Wrongful Detention

President Biden worked to keep Americans safe and secure, maintaining an unwavering focus on terrorism and working both unilaterally and with partners to disrupt threats around the globe and degrade ISIS and al-Qa’ida.

• To counter foreign terrorist organizations, President Biden signed the National Security Memorandum to Counter International Terrorism Threats, directing a focus on the most acute threats to the United States, investment in partnerships, the promotion of civilian-led, nonlethal approaches wherever possible, and the execution of the counterterrorism mission in a manner consistent with U.S. values.
   
• At President Biden’s direction, the United States took key leaders of ISIS and al-Qa’ida off the battlefield, including al-Qa‘ida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who helped direct the 9/11 attacks, and ISIS leader Hajji Abdullah. In January 2023, President Biden authorized an operation in northern Somalia that resulted in the death of Bilal al-Sudani, a key operative and facilitator for ISIS’s global network, as well as a number of other ISIS operatives. These successful missions sent a powerful message to all terrorists who threaten America that we are committed to finding and eliminating terrorist threats to the United States and to the American people wherever they are hiding, no matter how remote.
   
• The Biden-Harris Administration worked closely with Five Eyes and European partners to prevent and disrupt threats in the West and cooperated with France and other partners to enable safe Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris for athletes and spectators from around the world. 
   
• To ensure the U.S. government has the tools it needs to counter terrorist threats, President Biden directed his team to work with Congress to renew and reform Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act—one of the United States’ most vital intelligence collection tools. This tool provides essential authority to understand and prevent a wide range of dangerous threats to Americans, while protecting privacy and civil liberties. 
   
• The Biden-Harris Administration implemented the first-ever National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism to prevent and disrupt this urgent threat to America’s national security. As a result of this work, the Administration sharpened its understanding of the domestic terrorism threat; increased information sharing with state, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement and foreign partners; doubled its investigations into domestic extremism and terrorism; and expanded its capabilities to disrupt and prosecute such acts, all while safeguarding privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties.
   
• President Biden and his team worked around the clock using intense diplomacy to negotiate for the release of Americans held hostage or unjustly detained abroad so that they can be reunited with their families. President Biden brought home over 75 Americans held hostage or unjustly detained—including Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, and David Lin—from places around the world, such as Afghanistan, Burma, Gaza, Haiti, Iran, Russia, Rwanda, and Venezuela.

Stood with Ukraine in Defense of Freedom and Democracy

President Biden rallied the world to defend Ukraine after the Kremlin’s all-out invasion in February 2022, pulling together the most far-reaching global coalition assembled in decades. As a result, Kyiv is still free today, fighting for its freedom, democracy, and sovereignty.

• President Biden worked around the clock to build a coalition of more than 50 countries to support the people of Ukraine by providing funding that was critical to helping them defend their freedom and independence and protect themselves from Russia’s brutal attacks.
   
• President Biden led the way in the groundbreaking G7 announcement to make available $50 billion to Ukraine without burdening taxpayers by leveraging the extraordinary revenues of immobilized Russian sovereign assets.
   
• President Biden worked with allies and partners to impose unprecedented costs against Russia to cut off funding for their war and hold them accountable for their aggression against Ukraine. He secured robust bipartisan support at home to deliver critical weapons and equipment to Ukraine, as well as economic and humanitarian assistance.
   
• Years into what Moscow expected to be a short war, Russia remains unable to advance on the battlefield without high costs. President Biden made clear that the United States will stand with Ukraine until it prevails.

Worked to Build Lasting Peace in the Middle East

President Biden and his Administration worked steadfastly to bring peace and stability to the Middle East:

• President Biden consistently demonstrated that his support for the security of Israel was ironclad. Immediately after Hamas launched its heinous attack on October 7, President Biden stood strong with Israel and became the first sitting United States President to visit Israel in wartime.
   
• President Biden built a regional coalition to counter Iran’s attack on Israel. Today, thanks to his support for Israel, Iran is weaker and more exposed than when the Biden-Harris Administration took office four years ago. Its proxies—including the Houthis, Hezbollah, and Hamas—are weakened, and its longtime ally Bashar al-Assad has fallen.
   
• President Biden was clear that far too many Palestinian civilians had been killed or wounded in this conflict, and from the beginning of the conflict in Gaza, he led international efforts to get humanitarian aid into Gaza.
   
• President Biden worked day and night to secure a deal that would free the hostages being held by Hamas terrorists, including Americans, result in an immediate ceasefire, create the conditions for an increased amount of humanitarian aid to get in to Gaza, and end the current conflict.
   
• At President Biden’s direction, the United States continued to work to build the conditions for a lasting peace in the region, including through support for a two-state solution, so that after this conflict is over, Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in lasting peace.

Responsibly Managed Competition with the People’s Republic of China

The Biden-Harris Administration strengthened the United States’ competitive position vis-à-vis the PRC and took historic steps to deliver on the U.S. strategy to “invest, align, and compete.”

• The Biden-Harris Administration made far-reaching investments in the foundation of American strength at home and deepened its ties with Indo-Pacific and European allies and partners to shape the rules of the road and address challenges to shared security, prosperity, and values.
   
• President Biden took necessary action to prevent advanced U.S. technologies from being used to undermine its national security and to address China’s unfair trade policies and non-market practices.
   
• As he took these steps, the Administration conducted effective diplomacy with the PRC in a way that built stability into one of the world’s most consequential relationships—including concrete progress to stem the flow of fentanyl precursors and the renewal of some military-to-military communication.
   
• Through this diplomacy, the Biden-Harris Administration responsibly managed competition to ensure that it does not veer into conflict.

Reformed the U.S. Approach to Technology and National Security

As the United States made historic investments to ensure that the technology of the future is made in America, President Biden took bold steps to ensure that sensitive technologies do not end up in the hands of those who would use them against us.

• The Biden-Harris Administration developed strategic and tailored restrictions to ensure that the most advanced U.S. semiconductor technologies cannot be exported to China or other competitors, given the implications for military or intelligence advantage.
   
• The Biden-Harris Administration restricted American outbound investment into the most critical technologies, including semiconductors, AI, and quantum systems.
   
• President Biden’s Executive Order on Preventing Access to American’s Bulk Sensitive Personal Data, and the Administration’s rule protecting Americans from connected vehicles from countries of concern, are among the actions taken to prevent Americans’ data, technology, and intellectual property from being weaponized or exploited by adversaries.
   
• Additionally, the Biden-Harris Administration led a global effort to counter the misuse of commercial spyware. The United States led by example through President Biden’s Executive Order that prohibits the use of commercial spyware that poses national security risks, and holds those who enable misuse accountable through financial sanctions.

CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT

When President Biden took office, he pledged to restore America’s climate leadership at home and abroad. On Day One, the President signed the United States back into the Paris Climate Agreement. The Biden-Harris Administration delivered on the most ambitious climate, conservation, and environmental justice agenda in history—setting into motion an economic transformation that is creating hundreds of thousands of good clean energy jobs, revitalizing American manufacturing, cutting household energy costs, and making progress towards President Biden’s goal of reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 50% to 52% below 2005 levels in 2030, by more than 60% in 2035, and achieving a net-zero economy by 2050. By passing legislation to deliver the largest climate and clean energy investments ever and taking hundreds of executive actions across every sector of the economy, the Biden-Harris Administration has tackled the climate crisis with urgency, grown a clean energy economy that benefits all Americans, and protected clean air, clean water, and our public lands for future generations.

Deploying Clean, Affordable Electricity and Strengthening America’s Power Grid

President Biden secured historic investments in a clean power sector, unleashing a boom in American solar, wind, battery storage, nuclear, geothermal, and other clean energy technologies that are creating good-paying jobs and saving families money on utility bills.

• Through the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, U.S. solar generation is projected to increase up to eight-fold and wind generation is projected to triple by 2030, while electricity costs fall by as much as 9%.
   
• The President’s Investing in America agenda is supporting transmission buildout and other power grid upgrades, investments in clean electricity across rural America, the demonstration and deployment of new nuclear reactors, and American manufacturing of clean energy technologies.
   
• Over the past four years, more than 440 new or expanded battery and solar manufacturing facilities have been announced in the United States, and half of all solar in the United States was installed during the Biden-Harris Administration.
   
• President Biden jumpstarted the U.S. offshore wind industry, with the first large-scale projects now under construction, and accelerated deployment of clean energy on public lands—including permitting approvals for over 40 projects since January 2021, enough to power about 3.5 million homes.
   
• President Biden led a dramatic recovery of the U.S. nuclear energy industry. His Administration brought the first new plant online in decades, and the United States pledged to support tripling nuclear at home and abroad, with pathways to safely and responsibly deploy 200 GW of net new capacity by 2050.
   
• To deploy these investments, the Biden-Harris Administration took action to accelerate efficient and effective project permitting and environmental reviews. This includes passing the first legislative reforms to modernize the National Environmental Policy Act in 50 years, finalizing the Bipartisan Permitting Reform Implementation Rule to accelerate the federal environmental review process, and investing more than $1 billion from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to expedite federal agency permitting. With the help of these investments and reforms, the Biden-Harris Administration reduced the median time to complete the most complex form of environmental review by 8 months, or 23% faster than during the previous administration.

Bolstering Climate Resilience and Adaptation

President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is building communities that are not only resilient to the impacts of the climate crisis, but also safer, more equitable, and economically stronger.

• The Administration’s National Climate Resilience Framework is advancing locally tailored, community-driven climate resilience strategies. Additionally, its Nature-Based Solutions Roadmap outlines strategic recommendations to put the United States on a path that will unlock the full potential of nature-based solutions to address climate change, nature loss, and inequity.
   
• President Biden secured more than $50 billion for climate resilience and adaptation through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. This historic level of funding is delivering real-world benefits while creating good-paying jobs that provide opportunities to community residents and offer a free and fair choice to join a union.
   
• The President’s investments are upgrading aging roads and bridges, restoring critical waterways, forests, and urban greenspaces, combating the growing threat of wildfires, reducing flood risks for infrastructure and homes, investing in cutting-edge forecasting tools, supporting resilient and climate-smart agriculture and forestry, restoring coastal wetlands to buffer communities from flooding, taking action to protect workers and communities from extreme heat, bolstering water infrastructure across the American West, and funding research to develop the latest energy-storage technologies here in America.

Accelerating a Clean Transportation Future

President Biden took historic action to invest in clean transportation, expand public transit, and ensure that the future of the auto industry is made in America by American autoworkers.

• The Administration’s National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization is a landmark strategy for cutting all greenhouse gas emissions from the U.S. transportation sector by 2050.
   
• The President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act invest tens of billions to decarbonize shipping, trucking, transit, rail, and aviation, all while improving air quality and making communities more walkable, bikeable, and connected.
   
• In addition, President Biden rallied automakers and autoworkers around a historic goal of having electric vehicles account for at least 50% of new passenger vehicles sold by 2030.
   
• To support this goal while driving down vehicle costs for American consumers, the President unleashed a manufacturing renaissance for EVs and batteries, issued the strongest-ever vehicle emissions standards, secured tax credits that give consumers thousands of dollars off new or used clean vehicles at point of sale, and is investing billions into building out a convenient, reliable, and accessible national EV charging network.
   
• Since President Biden took office, EV sales have quadrupled, and the number of publicly available EV charging stations has more than doubled, putting the country on track to deploy 500,000 chargers years ahead of the President’s 2030 goal.
   
• The U.S. auto manufacturing sector has added more than 100,000 jobs. Driven by Biden-Harris Administration policies, the auto industry is experiencing a manufacturing renaissance with more than $180 billion of investments in EVs, batteries, and their supply chains, along with billions of dollars available to help automakers and workers retrofit existing facilities to make electric vehicles.

Conserving Our Lands and Waters

President Biden set the first-ever national conservation goal through the America the Beautiful Initiative to conserve at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030. Over four years, he launched one of the most rapid accelerations of conservation progress in history and conserved 674 million acres of lands and waters—more than any President in history—and created the largest corridor of protected lands in the lower 48 states, the Moab to Mojave Conservation Corridor. Historic actions include:

• Establishing, expanding, and restoring 15 national monuments, including the establishment of 10 new national monuments, the expansion of 2 existing national monuments, and the restoration of 3 more. President Biden safeguarded a total of nearly nine million acres of federal lands and waters as national monuments through authorities under the Antiquities Act.
   
• Protecting American’s ocean and coasts from offshore oil and natural gas drilling, including more than 625 million acres across the entire U.S. Atlantic coast; the eastern Gulf of Mexico off Florida’s coast; the Pacific Ocean off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California; additional portions of the Northern Bering Sea in Alaska; and the entire U.S. Arctic Ocean.
   
• Establishing the Chuckwalla National Monument and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument to protect 848,000 acres of lands in California. The Chuckwalla National Monument in southern California was President Biden’s capstone action to create the new Moab to Mojave Conservation Corridor, the largest corridor of protected lands in the continental United States, covering nearly 18 million acres stretching approximately 600 miles, protecting wildlife habitat and a wide range of natural and cultural resources along the Colorado River, across the Colorado Plateau, into the deserts of California, and through Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in Arizona and Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada, both established by President Biden in 2023.
   
• Designating Camp Hale – Continental Divide National Monument in Colorado and the Castner Range National Monument in Texas to expand contiguous wildlife habitat, increase outdoor access, and honor our nation’s veterans.
   
• Establishing the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in Illinois and Mississippi, the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument in Illinois, the Frances Perkins National Monument in Maine, and the Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument in Pennsylvania to help ensure national park sites tell a more complete story of our nation.
   
• Expanding the San Gabriel Mountains and Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monuments in California.
   
• Restoring the Bears Ears National Monument, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument.
   
• Securing historic protections in Alaska, including 13.3 million acres in the western Arctic and 28 million acres across the state, which are vital to the subsistence economy of Alaska Native people and rural communities and contain important fish and wildlife habitat. These protections followed President Biden’s action to withdraw approximately 2.8 million acres of the Beaufort Sea, ensuring the entire U.S. Arctic Ocean is off limits to new oil and gas leasing, as well as restoring protections for the Tongass National Forest to safeguard nearly 10 million acres of roadless areas in southeastern Alaska. Further, the Biden-Harris Administration rejected the proposed Ambler Road project, which would have traversed 211 miles of significant wildlife habitat and pristine waters.
   
• Establishing three National Marine Sanctuaries and a new national estuarine research reserve. This includes the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary off the central California coast, the Lake Ontario and Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuaries, and the Connecticut National Estuarine Research Reserve.
   
• Launching the America the Beautiful Freshwater Challenge, which established national goals to protect, restore, and reconnect eight million acres of wetlands and 100,000 miles of rivers and streams by 2030.
   
• Protecting at-risk areas from damage from oil and gas drilling and hard rock mining, including Bristol Bay in Alaska; the Boundary Waters in Minnesota; Chaco Canyon and Placitas Area in New Mexico; the Pactola Reservoir in the Black Hills of South Dakota; and the Thompson Divide in Colorado.
   
• Creating six new national wildlife refuges, including the Everglades to Gulf Conservation Area in southwest Florida, the Wyoming Toad Conservation Area in Wyoming, the Paint Rock River National Wildlife Refuge in Tennessee, the Lost Trail Conservation Area in Montana, and the Southern Maryland Woodlands National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland.
   
• Advancing Tribal co-stewardship of federal lands through a joint secretarial order among the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, and Commerce, resulting in a historic 400 co-stewardship and co-management agreements between Tribal Nations and federal land management agencies.
   
• Restoring wild salmon, steelhead, and other native fish in the Columbia River Basin in partnership with Pacific Northwest Tribes and States.

Mobilizing the Next Generation of Clean Energy, Conservation, and Resilience Workers

Through President Biden’s landmark American Climate Corps initiative, the Administration mobilized a new, diverse generation of Americans.

• The American Climate Corps puts Americans to work conserving and restoring our lands and waters, bolstering community resilience, deploying clean energy, implementing energy efficient technologies, and advancing environmental justice, all while creating pathways to high-quality, good-paying jobs.
   
• More than 20,000 young Americans have been put to work through the American Climate Corps.

Cutting Energy Costs and Pollution at Homes, Schools, and in Communities

The Biden-Harris Administration transformed how we build, buy, and manage electricity, vehicles, buildings, infrastructure projects, and other operations to be clean and sustainable, while creating good clean energy jobs, supporting American manufacturing, and saving taxpayers money by cutting energy and operating costs:

• President Biden created new programs to save American families on their energy bills by retrofitting homes through EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, DOE’s Home Energy Rebates, HUD’s Green and Resilient Retrofit Program, and Treasury’s Home Energy Tax Credits.
   
• He also bolstered funding for proven programs that lower costs for American families, such as the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program and the Weatherization Assistance Program.
   
• The Biden-Harris Administration strengthened energy efficiency standards to save households and businesses money, with standards updated by the Department of Energy for dozens of appliances and equipment types expected to provide nearly $1 trillion in consumer savings over 30 years, saving the average family at least $100 a year through lower utility bills, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions by two billion metric tons or more—equivalent to the emissions of more than 15 million gas-powered cars over 30 years.
   
• The President brought solar and wind to low-income and disadvantaged communities throughout the country, including more than 400 schools that used direct pay in 2023 to install solar, geothermal, EV infrastructure, and other improvements to cut costs and lower emissions.
   
• President Biden is also helping families cut energy costs in new homes through the home energy tax credit.
   
• President Biden expanded domestic heat pump manufacturing, which will cut the costs of heat pumps for Americans.
   
• To ensure that new homes are efficient and resilient, President Biden’s National Initiative to Advance Building Codes is accelerating adoption of modern building codes that protect people from extreme-weather events and save communities an estimated $1.6 billion a year in avoided damages.

Additionally, Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022 upended global energy markets, causing energy prices to skyrocket in the United States. In response, President Biden took key steps to lower energy costs for families:

• Ordered the largest release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to ensure that domestic energy markets were adequately supplied, which lowered everyday costs for American households. These actions helped lower prices at the pump by up to 40 cents per gallon.
   
• Purchased nearly 200 million barrels of oil for the SPR. The Biden-Harris Administration’s successful replenishment strategy netted a $3.5 billion profit for taxpayers.

Revitalizing American Manufacturing for the Clean Economy

President Biden’s Investing in America agenda has created jobs and expanded manufacturing in every sector across the country:

• The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act helped catalyze historic manufacturing growth through incentives for domestic production of clean energy inputs.
   
• Since President Biden took office, businesses have announced more than $270 billion in private investments to manufacture clean energy and electric vehicle components, with factories opening across the industrial Midwest, the South, and beyond.
   
• The Inflation Reduction Act invested nearly $6 billion to slash climate pollution, create good union jobs, and support worker and community health at U.S. factories producing the steel, aluminum, cement, and other materials that form the backbone of our economy. These materials produce nearly a quarter of all U.S. carbon pollution, so these investments will result in cleaner communities and help ensure that U.S. innovations lead the world for decades to come.
   
• To further support U.S. industrial competitiveness, the Biden-Harris Administration’s landmark Buy Clean initiative is leveraging the government’s sway as the largest purchaser on Earth to spur demand for the cleanest infrastructure materials. President Biden’s agenda marks the largest U.S. clean manufacturing investment in history.

Advancing the Most Ambitious Environmental Justice Agenda in History

President Biden believed that every person has a right to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live in a healthy community. The Biden-Harris Administration prioritized embedding environmental justice into federal policies, programs, and decision-making within days of taking office.

• The President signed a historic Executive Order that called on the Federal Government to bring clean energy and healthy environments to all and mitigate harm to those who have suffered from toxic pollution or other environmental burdens like climate change.
   
• The Biden-Harris Administration took broad regulatory action to protect public health and secure environmental justice, including by finalizing ambitious regulatory protections for clean air, clean water, and fenceline communities.
   
• The Administration took action to tackle plastic pollution and released the first comprehensive, government-wide strategy to reduce the impact of plastic pollution throughout the plastics lifecycle.
   
• The President established historic offices to address environmental justice, including the first-ever the Office of Environmental Justice at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the Office of Climate Change and Health Equity at the Department of Health and Human Services to address the impact of climate change on the health of the American people, and the Office of Environmental Justice at the Department of Justice to protect overburdened and underserved communities from the harm caused by environmental crimes, pollution, and climate change.
   
• Through the Justice40 Initiative, President Biden set a goal to deliver 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal climate, clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, and other investments to disadvantaged communities that are overburdened by pollution and marginalized by underinvestment. Overall, 71% of the grants, loans, and other investments federal agencies made from Justice40 programs in the Initiative’s first two full fiscal years reached or benefited disadvantaged communities.
   
• The Administration took unprecedented action to protect communities from PFAS pollution, strengthen standards for hazardous air pollutants and toxic chemicals, and address legacy pollution.
   
• The Administration invested $21 billion through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to clean up legacy pollution from Superfund and brownfield sites, orphaned oil and gas wells, and abandoned coal mine lands.
   
• President Biden established the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, the first Presidential advisory body of outside, community-based experts tasked with providing recommendations to the Federal Government on how to address environmental injustice.

Delivering Clean Water and Replacing Lead Pipes

President Biden and Vice President Harris fought to ensure a future where every child and family has access to clean, safe water.

• The President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invested $50 billion in upgrading the nation’s water infrastructure—the largest investment in clean water in American history.
   
• States and localities have committed over $25 billion from the President’s American Rescue Plan to water infrastructure projects.
   
• President Biden made a historic commitment to replace every toxic lead pipe in the country within a decade, protecting families from lead poisoning that can cause irreversible harm to children’s brain development and disproportionately affects disadvantaged communities.
   
• Since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, nearly 500,000 lead pipes have been replaced nationwide, benefitting over 1.2 million people.
   
• The Environmental Protection Agency issued the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements that requires water systems nationwide to replace lead service lines within 10 years.
   
• The Administration finalized the first-ever national legally enforceable drinking water standard for PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, which will protect 100 million people from PFAS exposure, prevent tens of thousands of serious illnesses, and save lives.

Tackling Harmful Emissions

President Biden took historic action to dramatically reduce U.S. and global super pollutant emissions. The Biden-Harris Administration:

• Took nearly 100 actions in 2023 and 2024 to dramatically reduce methane emissions under the U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan.
   
• Finalized a historic rule to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas operations by nearly 80%.
   
• Announced a strategy to reduce methane emissions from food waste in landfills.
   
• Set strong national standards to reduce climate pollution from passenger vehicles, heavy-duty vehicles, power plants, and industry, while improving local air quality for communities.
   
• Launched a national phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons to provide a 40% reduction in 2024 and an 85% reduction by 2036, and signed the U.S. ratification of the Kigali Amendment, an international agreement to help avoid up to 0.5 °C of global warming by 2100 by phasing down these super-pollutants.
   
• Rallied leading U.S. companies around new actions that, by early 2025, will reduce overall U.S. industrial emissions of super-polluting nitrous oxide by over 50% compared to 2020 levels.

Delivering a Cleaner and More Resilient Federal Government

The Biden-Harris Administration transformed how the Federal Government builds, buys, and manages electricity, vehicles, buildings, infrastructure projects, and other operations to be clean and sustainable, while creating good clean energy jobs, supporting American manufacturing, and saving taxpayers money by cutting energy and operating costs. Just three years since President Biden signed Executive Order 14057 and issued his Federal Sustainability Plan, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from federal operations are down 38% from 2008 levels. Progress includes:

• Investing over $12 billion and launching thousands of projects to transition the Federal Government’s 300,000 buildings and 600,000 vehicles to electric vehicles and energy-efficient buildings powered by 100% carbon pollution-free electricity.
   
• Ordering nearly 82,000 electric vehicles and supporting the U.S. Postal Service’s commitment to acquire 100% electric delivery trucks by 2026 – the first of which have already started to roll through neighborhoods.
   
• Deploying over $4 billion in funding from the President’s Investing in America agenda and public-private partnerships to launch thousands of modernization projects that will eliver energy efficient, climate resilient, and all-electric federal buildings, including at least 2,700 net-zero emissions buildings that are underway or complete today.
   
• Establishing the U.S. government’s first-ever goal on plastic waste to phase-out federal procurement of single-use plastics from food service operations, events, and packaging by 2027, and from all federal operations by 2035.

Rallying the World

Under President Biden, the United States restored America’s climate and environmental leadership at home and abroad, including by:

• Fulfilling a pledge to increase U.S. international climate finance to over $11 billion a year, announced during President Biden’s historic trip to the Amazon Rainforest, the first-ever by a sitting President.
   
• Securing commitments from more than 155 countries to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30% relative to 2020 levels by 2030.
   
• Announcing a new U.S. climate target, or Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), under the Paris Agreement to reduce U.S. net emissions by 61 to 66% below 2005 levels in 2035.
   
• Successfully galvanizing other countries to commit, for the first time, to transition away from fossil fuels, stop building new unabated coal capacity globally, and triple renewable and nuclear energy globally by 2030 and 2050, respectively.
   
• Accelerating global action to keep the 1.5°C goal within reach, including through stronger emission reduction targets.
   
• Bolstering global climate resilience by launching the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience, which scaled up U.S. support for vulnerable developing countries to over $3 billion a year, and marshalled over $3 billion in additional resources from U.S. and global companies and partners.
   
• Launching the Partnership for a Lead-Free Future, the first-ever international public-private partnership dedicated to tackling lead exposure in low- and middle-income countries with over $150 million in global commitments
   
• Releasing a set of principles to inform and guide the development of high-integrity voluntary carbon markets to accelerate the deployment of climate technologies and nature-based solutions.
   
• Issuing the first of its kind U.S. international deforestation framework to reduce commodity driven deforestation and support countries in protecting and enhancing their forests.
   
• Joining the Freshwater Challenge, the largest-ever global initiative to restore degraded rivers, lakes, and wetlands, which are central to tackling the world’s intertwined water, climate, and nature crises.
   
• Becoming a world leader in innovative debt-for-nature swaps, high-integrity carbon markets, and land restoration investments that have helped countries unlock hundreds of millions in new financing for conservation investments.
   
• Launching the Women in the Sustainable Economy Initiative, a $2 billion partnership to promote women’s access to jobs, training, leadership positions, and finance in clean energy.

UNITY AGENDA

The day he took office, President Biden pledged to be a president for all Americans, and he worked tirelessly to keep that promise by advancing a Unity Agenda for the Nation. The Unity Agenda addressed big challenges that unite all Americans—beating the opioid epidemic, tackling the mental health crisis, holding tech platforms accountable, meeting our sacred obligation to veterans, and ending cancer as we know it.

President Biden signed into law more than 400 bipartisan bills to support his Unity Agenda. That includes the bipartisan MAT Act, which has allowed over 1.8 million more medical practitioners across America to provide life-saving treatment for opioid use disorder; the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which is expanding access to mental health services in American schools; the PACT Act, the most significant expansion of benefits and services for veterans in more than 30 years; and bipartisan legislation to launch ARPA-H and drive breakthroughs against deadly diseases such as cancer.

Beating the Opioid Epidemic

When President Biden and Vice President Harris came into office, the number of drug overdose deaths was increasing by more than 30% year over year. Thanks to increased funding and resources, overdose deaths saw their biggest year-over-year decrease on record under President Biden. The Biden-Harris Administration took critical steps to make this possible.

• Seizing Deadly Drugs to Save American Lives. Under President Biden’s leadership, federal law enforcement agents kept more deadly drugs out of our communities than ever before. Officials stopped more fentanyl at ports of entry over two years than in the previous five years combined. The President also prioritized deploying cutting-edge drug detection technology across the southwest border.
   
• Cracking Down on the Global Criminal Networks that Fuel American Overdose Deaths. President Biden cracked down on the global criminal networks fueling American overdose deaths. That meant holding accountable PRC-based companies that manufacture and distribute chemicals for making the fentanyl that fuels American overdose deaths. After the PRC refused for years to cooperate with the United States on counternarcotics, President Biden convinced Beijing to deliver on concrete steps that will save American lives: shutting down companies that produce deadly drugs, placing controls on dangerous chemicals, and sharing information about emerging drug trends and threats. The United States also criminally charged leaders of the world’s largest and most powerful drug cartel, as well as thousands of drug traffickers distributing fentanyl on our streets and on social media. The Treasury Department sanctioned more than 250 people and organizations involved in the global illicit drug trade.
   
• Delivering Life-Saving Medication and Care Across America. President Biden took bold action to expand access to addiction treatment to save American lives—including by expanding access to life-saving medications such as buprenorphine and naloxone—delivering a 15-fold increase in the number of health care providers who can prescribe medications for opioid use disorder and modernizing decades-old policies for opioid treatment programs. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, historic investments in the State Opioid Response program have delivered free, life-saving medications across America, preventing more than 600,000 overdose deaths and delivering nearly 10 million naloxone kits. The Biden-Harris Administration also acted to make naloxone available without a prescription at grocery stores and pharmacies, to make naloxone available at all federal facilities across America, and to allow Americans with opioid use disorder to access the medications they need through telehealth visits.
   
• Increased Information Sharing and Coordinated Disruption Efforts. In July 2024, President Biden issued a National Security Memorandum on Prioritizing the Strategic Disruption of Illicit Fentanyl and Synthetic Opioids through a Coordinated, Whole-of-Government, Information-Driven Effort. The National Security Memorandum directed increased intelligence collection, more intensive coordination and cooperation across relevant departments and agencies, and additional actions to disrupt the production and distribution of illicit fentanyl.

Tackling the Mental Health Crisis

To advance his Unity Agenda, President Biden took bold steps to transform how mental health is understood, accessed, treated, and integrated in and out of health care settings.

• Taking on Health Insurers to Expand Access to Mental Health Care for All Americans. The promise of mental health parity for all has united Republicans and Democrats for decades, and the President committed to taking on health insurers and making it a reality. The Biden-Harris Administration finalized a mental health parity rule, which requires health plans to make sure they cover mental health at the same level as other health care for over 175 million Americans.
   
• Delivering the Largest Investment in School-Based Mental Health Ever. Thanks to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the Biden-Harris Administration delivered the largest investment in school-based mental health services in American history, providing nearly $1 billion to help train and hire an additional 16,000 mental health professionals to work in America’s K-12 schools.
   
• Expanding Mental Health Services for Veterans. President Biden worked to make sure that every American veteran received access to timely, high quality mental health services. Under his Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hired new Veteran Peer Specialists to serve in VA medical centers and in critical outreach roles nationwide. The Biden-Harris Administration also launched the 988 Veterans Crisis Line to provide 24/7 mental health support for veterans. The Administration removed cost-sharing for the first three behavioral health visits for veterans and service members each year, launched a new program to provide cost-free suicide care to over 80,000 veterans, reduced wait times for mental health visits at VA, and took executive action to better support military and veteran spouses, caregivers and survivors by expanding critical programs, including those that provide mental health support.
   
• Expanding America’s Mental Health Workforce and Clinics. When President Biden came into office, America’s shortage of qualified mental health professionals and facilities made it harder for people to get the care they needed. President Biden delivered tens of billions of dollars to expand federal and state mental health and substance use services across America and called for permanent funding for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics, which provide 24/7 crisis care and treatment for mental health and substance use disorders, regardless of individuals’ ability to pay. His Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is expanding these clinics to all states across the United States. The Biden-Harris Administration authorized use of Medicaid to deliver mobile crisis services in 21 states and the District of Columbia, and also launched FindSupport.gov and 988, the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, which has connected over 10 million Americans in crisis to immediate, confidential, and free care from trained counselors.

Holding Tech Platforms Accountable

The American tech industry is the most innovative in the world. President Biden recognized that although tech platforms can help people to share ideas, stay connected, and access new products and services, they can also wreak serious real-world harms.

• Protecting Americans’ Privacy and Safety Online, Especially Our Kids. In 2024, President Biden took the most significant federal action any President has ever taken to protect Americans’ data security. His Executive Order stops the large-scale transfer of sensitive personal data—which includes intimate insights into Americans’ health, location, and finances—to countries like China and Russia. In each of his State of the Union Addresses, President Biden called for strong federal protections for Americans’ privacy, including clear limits on how companies collect, use, and share highly personal data. In 2024, the Kids Online Health and Safety Task Force released a critical report calling for additional actions to better protect the online privacy, health and safety of youth.
   
• Holding Companies Accountable for the Harms They Cause. President Biden believed that all companies—including technology companies—should be held accountable for the harms they cause, including the content they spread and the algorithms they use. The Biden-Harris Administration used its authorities to crack down on algorithmic discrimination and algorithmic collusion and to bring more competition back to the tech sector. President Biden worked with Congress to pass bipartisan legislation to boost funding for federal antitrust enforcers.
   
• Making Sure AI is Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy. President Biden moved swiftly to seize the promise and manage the risks of artificial intelligence (AI). In 2023, he issued a landmark Executive Order on AI to ensure that America leads the way toward responsible AI innovation. The Order directed federal agencies to establish new high standards for AI safety and security, protect Americans’ privacy, advance equity and civil rights, stand up for workers and consumers, and much more. The Order used the Defense Production Act to compel developers of the most powerful AI systems to report vital safety information; the Order also resulted in a government-wide AI talent surge that brought hundreds of AI professionals into government. He took action to put AI to work for the American people in areas ranging from health innovation, to sustainable materials, clean energy, and more. The Federal Communications Commission took critical action to make AI-generated robocalls illegal, and the new AI Safety Institute is leading the government’s efforts on AI safety and trust. Additionally, 16 AI companies made voluntary commitments on safe and responsible AI use in partnership with the White House. These commitments include internal and external security testing before releasing AI systems, and sharing information with the public about safety risks and dangerous capabilities. The Biden-Harris Administration also imposed export controls to restrict the highest-performing AI chips from falling into the hands of those who could use them against the United States. Finally, President Biden issued an Executive Order to ensure that the infrastructure needed for advanced AI operations—including large-scale data centers and power infrastructure—can be built with speed and scale here in the United States.

Delivering on Our Sacred Obligation to America’s Veterans and their Families

President Biden and the First Lady believed that there is no obligation more sacred than taking care of our nation’s military service members, veterans, and their families, caregivers, and survivors. President Biden signed into law more than 30 bipartisan bills addressing critical issues facing veterans, including the PACT Act, which is the most significant expansion of benefits and services for toxic exposed veterans in more than 30 years.

• Expansion of Benefits. In 2022, President Biden signed the landmark PACT Act into law. This historic legislation is delivering timely benefits and services to veterans—across all generations—who have been impacted by toxic exposures while serving our country. For survivors of veterans who died from a toxic related illness, the PACT Act provides a pathway to benefits including monthly stipends, access to home loans, as well as education benefits. Surviving veteran spouses with children can qualify for over $2,000 per month and funding toward college tuition. Since enactment, VA has received over 2.2 million PACT Act-related claims and has granted toxic exposure benefits to more than 1.2 million veterans and over 12,600 survivors. Additionally, nearly 360,000 veterans eligible under the PACT Act have newly enrolled in VA health care, and more than 5.9 million veterans have been screened for toxic exposure. Under the PACT Act, VA is making care and benefits available to veterans battling over 300 medical conditions, including more than 100 cancers. In addition, VA added more cancers to the list of those considered service connected for veterans exposed to burn pits, paving the way for veterans with bladder cancer, ureter cancer, acute and chronic leukemias, and multiple myeloma to receive VA disability benefits.
   
• Delivering More Benefits Than Ever Before. In 2024 alone, the VA delivered $187 billion in earned benefits to 6.7 million veterans and survivors, and processed a record 2.51 million disability claims. VA delivered more than 131 million health care appointments, over 6 million dental procedures, and provided services and assistance to more than 88,095 family caregivers.
   
• Ensuring Access to Affordable, Stable Housing. Under President Biden’s leadership, the Administration also reduced veteran homelessness by expanding access to permanent supportive housing, legal support, and job training for veterans and their families. In 2023, VA helped more than 145,000 Veterans and their families retain their homes or otherwise avoid foreclosure and permanently housed more than 46,000 veterans. The Biden-Harris Administration awarded more than $1 billion in grant funding to help homeless veterans. The Administration also launched first-of-its-kind funding for legal services for veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness. In 2024, new data was released showing that veteran homelessness has reached its lowest point on record, marking a 7.5% reduction in veteran homelessness in the previous year alone and 55.6% reduction since 2010.
   
• Reducing Veteran Suicide. In 2021, President Biden released a comprehensive strategy for reducing military and veteran suicide. Alongside the Administration’s expansion of peer mental health counseling programs for veterans, VA expanded its Veteran Justice Outreach Specialist workforce by over 20% and launched a new $10 million program to support states and territories in their efforts to prevent veteran suicide. As of October 2024, VA has provided no-cost life-saving care to more than 82,000 veterans at risk of suicide since the program began. VA awarded over $150 million in grants for community-based organizations to deliver or coordinate suicide prevention programs and services for veterans and their family members. In September, VA announced more than $4.3 million in cooperative agreements for states and territories to help fund and provide technical assistance to better inform veteran suicide prevention.
   
• Supporting Military and Veteran Families, Caregivers, and Survivors. As a military family, President Biden and the First Lady recognize the commitment and resilience of military-connected families as essential to the recruitment, retention, and readiness of our Armed Forces. First Lady Jill Biden, through her Joining Forces initiative, worked to eliminate barriers to employment and increase economic opportunity for military-connected families. In June 2023, the President, alongside Dr. Biden, signed an Executive Order on Advancing Economic Security for Military and Veteran Spouses, Military Caregivers, and Survivors. This Executive Order is the most comprehensive set of administrative actions any President has directed to support military spouses, and it included nearly 20 new actions aimed at enhancing career stability, expanding employment resources, and improving transition assistance support for military-connected spouses. The Biden-Harris Administration also expanded critical programs that crack down on predatory actors that scam our veterans and military families, as well as those that address food insecurity, access to quality, affordable childcare, job security for spouses, and mental health support. Additionally, the Administration increased support for military-connected children by eliminating barriers for military-connected children as they transfer schools and implementing universal Pre-K across Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools.

Ending Cancer as We Know It

The President and First Lady reignited the Cancer Moonshot to reduce the cancer death rate in the United States by at least half—preventing more than four million cancer deaths by 2047—and improving the experience of people who are touched by cancer. The President established a Cancer Cabinet to mobilize action in advancing these goals. In the time since, the Cancer Moonshot has announced more than 120 new programs, policies, and resources, and more than 225 private companies, non-profit organizations, patient groups, and academic institutions have stepped up with new actions in support of these goals.

• Accelerating Cancer Research and Novel Breakthroughs. President Biden and Congress worked together to launch ARPA-H, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, with an investment to-date of $4 billion to improve health outcomes by driving breakthroughs to prevent, detect, and treat cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and other diseases. ARPA-H has already committed more than $500 million in cutting edge programs aimed at ending cancer as we know it. To date, President Biden and Vice President Harris secured a bipartisan increase of $4 billion for the National Cancer Institute as compared to the previous four years and leveraged research across the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, Energy and others to make progress against cancer that will save and extend millions of Americans lives.
   
• Lowering Costs and Delivering Patient Navigation Support. Starting this year, millions of seniors on Medicare will save up to tens of thousands a year with the $2,000 out-of-pocket cap on prescription drugs, especially those receiving cancer drugs, which are among the most expensive drugs for Medicare beneficiaries. Additionally, the Biden Cancer Moonshot announced key steps to deliver support to people with a cancer diagnosis through expanded patient navigation services. Under the President and First Lady’s leadership, the Administration created the first-ever CMS codes for cancer navigation, providing reimbursement for direct personal support to patients and families facing a cancer diagnosis. The Administration announced that Medicare would begin paying for patient navigation services starting January 1, 2024, and also announced new commitments from seven leading insurance companies which cover more than 150 million Americans to reimburse for navigation services. In addition, the Biden Cancer Moonshot announced 40 comprehensive cancer centers and community oncology practices nationwide who commit to using the new navigation codes to provide patient navigation services to people facing cancer. Finally, under the First Lady’s leadership, the Administration expanded access to high-cost drugs and cancer treatment in Tribal communities by enabling Indian Health Services and Tribal facilities to receive separate Medicare payment for high-cost therapies, including cancer drugs, providing a pathway for cancer care services to be provided on Tribal lands.
   
• Tackling the Drivers of Cancer and Cancer Deaths. President Biden focused on tackling the drivers of cancer in America, including by making the largest investment in clean water in America history thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The President committed to ensuring every community has access to clean drinking water, and took steps to protect more than 100 million American from PFAS exposure by setting the first ever drinking water standard for PFAS and dedicating more than $20 billion to improve Americans’ drinking water. President Biden delivered funding to every single state and territory in the country to expand access to clean drinking water, replace lead pipes, improve wastewater and sanitation infrastructure, and remove PFAS contamination in water. Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Environmental Protection Agency dedicated more than $1 billion for cleanup projects at 50 toxic Superfund sites across the country, decreasing exposure for impacted communities. And after more than three decades of inadequate protections against chemicals, President Biden announced a historic ban on ongoing uses of asbestos in the first rule finalized under the nation’s updated chemical safety law. That rule was followed by several other actions to protect the health of workers and local communities, including children, from known cancer-causing chemicals in the air, water, or workplace.
   
• Expanding Access to Early Cancer Detection. Nearly 10 million cancer screenings in the United States were missed during the early days of the pandemic, risking later stage detection of cancer, worse outcomes, and deepening inequities. The President and First Lady made improving access and affordability of cancer screenings a priority, investing in new early detection tools, greatly expanding access, especially to medically-underserved communities, and removing cost barriers by improving insurance coverage of certain screenings. Now, screening numbers have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels.
   
• Lowering Tobacco Use, Particularly Among Children. President Biden proposed a historic rule to establish a maximum nicotine level in cigarettes and other tobacco products. If the proposed rule is finalized, the U.S. adult smoking rate would drop to below 2%, 48 million youth and young adults would be dissuaded from becoming established users of cigarettes, and about 1.8 million tobacco-related deaths would be averted by 2060. Today, tobacco use among middle and high school students is at its lowest level in 25 years, including low levels of e-cigarette use. The Administration finalized age requirements for buying tobacco products, increasing them from 18 to 21, took significant enforcement action to remove illegal e-cigarettes from the market, and funded robust education efforts to prevent thousands of youth from starting to use tobacco products.

KEEPING AMERICANS SAFE

President Biden took bold action to reduce crime and make America’s communities safer. He funded effective, accountable policing; invested in crime prevention; and kept illegal guns off of streets and firearms out of dangerous hands. The results are clear: violent crime is at a near 50-year low, and homicides fell dramatically to nearly a 50-year low. In 2023, the murder rate saw its sharpest decrease ever recorded.

Investing in Safer Communities

Before President Biden came into office, the country had just seen the biggest increase in the murder rate on record. President Biden and Vice President Harris moved swiftly to turn that around.

• President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan, which helped over 1,000 state, city, and county governments to invest over $15 billion in public safety—one of the largest one-time commitments of federal resources for state and local law enforcement and public safety on record—to put more officers on the street, avoid cuts to police budgets, and employ more technologies that reduce crime.
   
• Three decades ago, then-Senator Biden was one of the original creators of the COPS program, which, among other things, has helped to put 136,000 more cops in police departments nationwide to ensure accountable community policing. Funding for the COPS office increased by 72% since 2020, going from $386 million to $665 million.
   
• In 2023, the Department of Justice provided state, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies, research institutions, and nonprofit organizations nearly $5.8 billion to advance public safety. Those grants included more than $200 million to fund 1,730 new police officers in nearly 400 communities. The Department of Justice’s 2023 grant funding also included more than $173 million in site-based funding to improve school safety.
   
• In 2024, the Justice Department awarded $4 billion through 3,800 different grants to support public safety and community justice activities in the states and territories and in local and Tribal communities.
   
• Under the President’s leadership, federal agencies also worked quickly to expand partnerships with state and local police to tackle violent crimes. The U.S. Marshals Service worked closely with non-federal law enforcement partners to apprehend more than 10,000 fugitives, including more than a thousand charged with homicide.

Gun Violence Prevention

President Biden and Vice President Harris took more executive action to get illegal guns off of our streets and firearms out of dangerous hands than any Administration in history. This included signing into law the most significant gun violence prevention legislation in nearly 30 years. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act included:

• The first-ever federal gun trafficking and straw purchasing law, which allowed the Department of Justice to charge more than 600 defendants.
   
• A broadened definition of who must become a licensed dealer and run background checks before selling guns.
   
• Enhanced background checks for gun purchasers under the age of 21, which has already helped stop the transfer of firearms to prohibited persons under 21 nearly 1,000 times.
   
• The biggest ever one-time investment in youth mental health through the Department of Education to support students with a range of mental health needs, including the trauma resulting from gun violence, by helping to train or hire roughly 16,000 mental health professionals for schools.

In addition to signing comprehensive legislation, President Biden and his Administration took more executive action to reduce gun crime than any other President has.

• In 2023, President Biden established the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention to accelerate his work to reduce gun crime and other forms of gun violence.
   
• After hearing from law enforcement that they were increasingly finding “ghost guns” at crime scenes, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives issued a final rule to rein in the proliferation of unserialized firearms.
   
• The Administration launched the first-ever federally funded campaign to encourage safe firearm storage.
   
• Last year, President Biden announced additional actions to combat machinegun conversion devices and to improve school-based active shooter drills.

Safe, Accountable Policing

• President Biden signed and implemented a historic Executive Order to advance police reform. The Executive Order required that federal law enforcement agencies ban chokeholds, strengthen use-of-force policies, restrict no-knock warrants, and direct other measures to advance effective, accountable policing that increases public safety.
   
• The Department of Justice launched the first-ever federal law enforcement misconduct database covering the nearly 150,000 federal officers. Federal agencies have conducted thousands of checks to identify potential misconduct before making critical decisions about hiring, promotions, and officer assignments. The Administration also encouraged state and local agencies to expand their use of a state and local misconduct registry that is currently in place in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Since May 2023, the number of registry users has increased almost 75%, and the number of records in the database has increased almost 85%.
   
• President Biden continued to call on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to advance accountability, transparency, and public trust in law enforcement.

Violence Against Women and Girls

Working to end gender-based violence has been a cornerstone of President Biden’s and Vice President Harris’ careers, and the Administration made significant progress in reducing violence and supporting survivors. Between 1993 and 2022, annual domestic violence rates dropped by 67% and the rate of rapes and sexual assaults declined by 56%.

• President Biden signed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Reauthorization Act of 2022 and increased funding for VAWA programs by over 35% since 2021.
   
• President Biden narrowed the “boyfriend loophole” to help keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, implemented historic reforms to strengthen the military justice system’s response to sexual violence, invested nearly $1 billion in supplemental funding for domestic violence and sexual assault services, issued a historic memorandum increasing accountability for conflict-related sexual violence, issued the first-ever National Plan on Gender-Based Violence to combat this scourge at home, and updated the U.S. Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally.
   
• The Administration also addressed online harassment and abuse, including by establishing the President’s White House Task Force to Address Online Harassment and Abuse, funding the first-ever national helpline to provide 24/7 support and specialized services for victims of the non-consensual distribution of intimate images, and training law enforcement on cybercrimes against individuals and provisions in the VAWA Reauthorization Act of 2022.
   
• The Administration convened a Global Partnership for Action to Address Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse and announced voluntary commitments from AI model developers and data providers to reduce AI-generated image-based sexual abuse.

Cybersecurity and Cyber Threats

• The President set the first-ever cybersecurity requirements for the operation of critical infrastructure—including airports, airlines, railways, pipelines, ports, and healthcare systems—and ensured owners and operators receive warning and information to fight cyberattacks.
   
• The Administration worked with leading technology companies to launch programs offering free cybersecurity technology and training for underserved constituencies, such as over 1,800 rural hospitals and over 9,000 small school districts.
   
• President Biden and his Administration launched the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark Program, a labeling program to encourage companies to build Internet-connected household devices—from baby monitors to home security systems—that meet high-threshold cybersecurity standards for American consumers.
   
• The Administration responded to nation-state, ransomware, and other cyber threats by executing disruption operations, sanctioning cyber actors and facilitators, seizing illicitly-obtained cryptocurrency, and other law enforcement actions in collaboration with allies and partners.
   
• President Biden issued two groundbreaking cybersecurity executive orders to strengthen the nation’s cybersecurity in the face of persistent state and non-state malicious cyber activity. The first established first-ever cybersecurity standards for software development and applied them to all federal procurement, and established the Cyber Safety Review Board to assess major cyber incidents. The second ensures accountability and transparency for software and cloud service providers, improves the security of federal communications and counter-fraud measures, drives use of artificial intelligence for cybersecurity, and lowers the bar to sanction adversaries in cyberspace.
   
• The Administration drove historic initiatives to improve security and innovation in emerging technologies such as AI and post-quantum cryptography, reinforcing U.S. leadership in technological innovation. President Biden improved access to and management of radio frequency spectrum critical to applications such as mobile devices and smart factories, via the National Spectrum Strategy, and issued the first-ever sweeping Executive Order for ensuring responsible development and innovation in digital assets.

Biosafety and Biosecurity

President Biden took a number of key steps to protect Americans from biological risks:

• The Administration released a new policy for oversight of biological research, marking a major new step in modernizing biorisk management. This policy streamlines and expands oversight of research of concern across the entire Federal Government—setting a new global standard for effective research oversight.
   
• The Administration introduced a new framework for biotechnology safeguards on federally funded purchases of synthetic DNA and RNA. These safeguards make it more difficult for malicious actors to access and weaponize synthetic biology.
   
• President Biden took the most significant federal action any President has ever taken to protect Americans’ data security. His Executive Order on Preventing Access to American’s Bulk Sensitive Personal Data and United States Government-Related Data by Countries of Concern stops the large-scale transfer of sensitive personal data—which includes intimate insights into Americans’ health, location, and finances. The Executive Order, as well as the rulemaking that followed, protects Americans’ sensitive data, including genomic data, from malicious actors who may seek to use sensitive personal data to develop AI capabilities and algorithms that are detrimental to U.S. national security.

Disaster Response

• The President entered office with clear directions to his staff to marshal every available resource at the government’s disposal when disasters strike to provide a comprehensive approach to the response, recovery, and long-term rebuilding and economic revitalization of communities.
   
• In 2024 alone, President Biden approved a record 101 requests for federal assistance from governors and Tribal Nations—and more than 270 across the entirety of his Administration—authorizing billions of dollars in direct financial and technical assistance to survivors and impacted communities for everything from search and rescue efforts and clearing debris to providing temporary housing and rebuilding public infrastructure.

HEALTH CARE

President Biden delivered health insurance coverage to millions more Americans while also lowering health care costs. In addition to building on, strengthening, and protecting Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act, President Biden signed laws such as the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act to lower prescription drug costs and health insurance premiums. Thanks to the President’s efforts, more Americans have health insurance now than under any other President in history.

Beat Big Pharma to Deliver Lower Drug Costs for Seniors and Families

President Biden took on Big Pharma to save millions of Americans money on the costliest prescription drugs on the market.

• Drug Price Negotiation. For the first time in history, Medicare reached agreements on new, lower prices with the manufacturers of drugs selected for the first round of drug price negotiation. When these lower prices go into effect, people with Medicare will save $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs for their prescription drugs, and Medicare will save $6 billion in the first year alone. Because of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare will select up to 15 additional drugs covered for negotiation in 2025, up to an additional 15 drugs in 2026, and up to 20 drugs every year after that.
   
• Cap on Insulin Costs. As part of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, nearly four million seniors with Medicare started to see their insulin costs capped at $35 per month.
   
• Cap on Out-of-Pocket Prescription Drug Costs. Because of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, out-of-pocket costs on prescription drugs are capped for seniors at $2,000 per year as of this year.
   
• Drug Companies Pay Rebates When They Increase Prices Faster than Inflation. Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, drug manufacturers must now pay rebates to Medicare if their price increases for certain drugs exceed inflation.
   
• Access to Vaccines at No Cost. Starting in 2023, the Inflation Reduction Act eliminated out-of-pocket costs for vaccines covered under Medicare Part D. This included vaccines to prevent shingles, whooping cough, and other diseases.
   
• Coverage for New Medications. The Biden-Harris Administration proposed a new rule to significantly expand coverage of anti-obesity medications. This proposal would expand access to anti-obesity medications for an estimated 3.4 million Americans with Medicare, and approximately four million adult Medicaid enrollees would also gain new access to these medications.
   
• Hearing Aids Over-the-Counter. The Administration issued a rule that allows adults with mild-to-moderate hearing loss to buy hearing aids at a store or online without a prescription, exam, or audiologist fitting. This provides significant breathing room for the nearly 30 million Americans with hearing loss.

Strengthened Access to Affordable Health Care

Today, more Americans have health insurance than under any previous President. The President’s efforts to lower health insurance premiums led to record-breaking enrollment in the Affordable Care Act’s Marketplaces. To date, nearly 50 million people have enrolled in Affordable Care Act coverage at some point in their lives.

• Expanding Access to Health Insurance. The nation’s uninsured rate hit record lows since President Biden took office.
   
• Keeping Health Insurance Premiums Low. Thanks to the President’s American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act, millions of Americans saved on average $800 a year on premiums. Lower premiums have helped nearly 24 million people sign up for coverage—nearly double from when the President took office—including tripling Black and Latino enrollment in ACA coverage.
   
• Expanding Medicaid. With help from American Rescue Plan funds, four states—Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and South Dakota—expanded Medicaid in the last four years, bringing health insurance to over one million Americans.
   
• Closing Research Gaps in Women’s Health Research. The President and the First Lady launched the first-ever White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research to fundamentally change how our nation approaches and funds women’s health research. The First Lady announced nearly $1 billion in new federal investments in women’s health research galvanized by the Initiative, including through the first-of-its-kind ARPA-H Sprint for Women’s Health. The President called on Congress in the State of the Union to make a record $12 billion investment in women’s health research, and he signed an Executive Order directing the most comprehensive set of executive actions ever taken to expand and improve research on women’s health. In December 2024, the First Lady convened a White House Conference on Women’s Health Research.
   
• Ensuring Access to Mental Health Care. President Biden committed to tackling the mental health crisis by making health plans provide adequate coverage and providing agencies with the needed support to make sure they’re doing so. The Biden-Harris Administration finalized a mental health parity rule, which requires health plans to make sure they cover mental health and substance use care at the same level as other health care for over 175 million Americans. President Biden also launched the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, which has answered more than 13 million calls, texts, and chats. The lifeline added American Sign Language in 2023, making the lifeline more accessible to millions.
   
• Making Home Care More Available. Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, President Biden helped deliver roughly $37 billion to expand access to home and community-based care in all 50 states and improve the quality of caregiving jobs.
   
• Cracking Down on Junk Insurance, Surprise Bills and Fees. The Biden-Harris Administration prioritized implementing surprise billing protections, preventing one million Americans from receiving surprise medical bills every single month. The Administration took key steps to prevent Americans from being ripped off by junk insurance that preys on vulnerable citizens by closing loopholes to ensure consumers know what they’re buying and can get the health coverage that best meets their needs.
   
• Reducing the Burden of Medical Debt. President Biden and Vice President Harris worked to protect patients and reduce the burden of medical bills. The Biden-Harris Administration finalized a rule to remove medical debt from consumer credit reporting, ensuring that unpaid medical bills do not keep people from taking out a loan to buy a home, a car, or to start a new small business. In addition, through American Recue Plan funds, the Biden-Harris Administration helped states and localities provide direct medical debt forgiveness, with local jurisdictions on pace to relieve up to $7 billion in medical debt by 2026.
   
• Protecting Seniors by Improving Safety and Quality of Care in the Nation’s Nursing Homes. The Biden-Harris Administration established a minimum nursing home staffing requirement given findings about the ties between staffing ratios and improved outcomes; took action to reduce resident room crowding; and reinforced safeguards against unnecessary medications and treatments.
   
• Modernizing the Nation’s Organ Transplant System. The Administration took historic action to modernize the nation’s organ transplant system and help the more than 100,000 on the waitlist for a lifesaving organ. After 40 years of the status quo, the Administration secured the first legislative reforms to the nation’s organ transplant system in decades, dramatically increased annual appropriations, and for the first time ever, broke up the monopoly that had long managed the system.
   
• Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis. In June 2022, Vice President Harris announced the Biden-Harris Administration’s Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis, a comprehensive effort to combat maternal mortality and morbidity. Over four years, the Biden-Harris Administration expanded postpartum Medicaid coverage from 2 to 12 months, created a new “Birthing Friendly” hospital designation, established the first-ever baseline federal health and safety requirements for maternal emergency and obstetric services, launched the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline, expanded funding for Maternal Mortality Review Committees, and secured the first federal expansion of the maternal and child home visiting program in nearly 10 years.

Supporting Families and Access to Care

President Biden strengthened the care economy, including by enhancing the supply and quality of care, boosting job quality for care workers, lowering costs, advancing care as a supportive service, supporting family caregivers, and improving access to home-based care for veterans. President Biden and his Administration:

• Secured $39 billion in funding for child care—the largest one-time federal investment ever in child care—through the American Rescue Plan. This helped keep over 225,000 child care providers open and available (serving over 10 million children), brought hundreds of thousands of women with young children into the workforce faster, lowered child care costs by an average of $1,250 per child, and increased wages for child care workers by 10%.
   
• Delivered $37 billion in American Rescue Plan funds across all 50 states to enhance, expand, and strengthen home and community-based care, and $145 million to help the National Family Caregiver Support Program deliver counseling, training, and short-term relief to family and other informal care providers.
   
• Increased funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant program—the major child care grant program—by almost 50%, bringing the number of low-income children served from 1.3 million in 2021 to 1.8 million in 2024.
   
• Capped out-of-pocket spending on child care to 7% of household income under the Child Care and Development Fund program, saving about 100,000 families over $200 a month on average.
   
• Signed an Executive Order on Increasing Access to High-Quality Care and Supporting Caregivers, the most comprehensive set of actions any President has ever taken to improve care for families while supporting care workers and family caregivers.
   
• Increased pay for Head Start teachers by an average of $10,000, a key action to achieve equitable pay and improve quality and stability in Head Start programs.
   
• Lowered child care costs for military families.
   
• Ensured that more than 140,000 child care providers are paid more fairly and on-time.
   
• Established minimum staffing standards for nursing homes.
   
• Took steps to ensure that home care workers get a bigger share of Medicaid payments.
   
• Introduced a requirement that companies receiving CHIPS and Science Act grants over $150 million create a plan to ensure access to quality, affordable child care for their employees. More than three-quarters of all companies that have signed CHIPS awards or preliminary memoranda as of December 2024 are working to provide child care offerings for their workforce—including many grant applicants who are doing so voluntarily.

Increasing Food Access and Improving Nutrition

President Biden fought to lower food prices, including by calling on grocery chains to lower costs for consumers and increasing food assistance for families in need. President Biden:

• Updated the Thrifty Food Plan for the first time since 1975, resulting in an increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits of 21%. This kept an estimated 2.3 million people out of poverty, including nearly one million children.
   
• Invested $390 million in American Rescue Plan funding to support outreach, innovation and modernization in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
   
• Held the first White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in 50 years, garnering $10 billion in external commitments.
   
• Completed over 150 federal actions focused on ending hunger and reducing diet-related disease. This includes a proposed rule that, if finalized, would require a label on the front of food and beverage packages that indicates if an item is high, medium, or low in added sugars, sodium, and saturated fat; updating the criteria for foods and beverages to use “healthy” on their labels; and galvanizing the Food Is Medicine movement.
   
• Finalized a rule to make school meals more nutritious, including the first-ever added sugar limit in school meals.
   
• Launched SUN Bucks, the first permanent, nationwide summer grocery benefits program, through which nearly 21 million children received $120 in grocery benefits in summer 2024.

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

The Biden-Harris Administration took unprecedented executive action to protect access to reproductive health care after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The President and Vice President called on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law, and President Biden signed three Executive Orders and a Presidential Memorandum directing his Administration to protect access to reproductive health care. Over the last four years, the Biden-Harris Administration took action to:

• Protect Access to Safe and Legal Medication Abortion. Access to medication abortion was a key Administration priority since the day the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. As a result of a new pathway established by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2023, medication abortion can be prescribed by telehealth and many pharmacies across the country—including major retail pharmacy chains—are now certified to dispense medication abortion. On what would have been the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, President Biden issued a Presidential Memorandum directing agencies to consider further efforts to support patients, providers, and pharmacies who wish to legally access, prescribe, or provide medication abortion.
   
• Defend FDA Approval of Medication Abortion in Court. FDA and the Department of Justice (DOJ) defended access to mifepristone—a safe and effective drug used in medication abortion that FDA first approved more than 20 years ago—in court, including in a lawsuit before the Supreme Court that attempted to curtail access nationwide.
   
• Defend Access to Emergency Abortion Care. The Administration fought to ensure that women who are experiencing pregnancy loss and other pregnancy-related emergencies have access to the full rights and protections for emergency medical care afforded under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA)—including abortion care when that is the stabilizing treatment required. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) took comprehensive action to educate patients about their rights and to help ensure hospitals meet their obligations under EMTALA, including guidance to affirm the Administration’s view that EMTALA preempts conflicting state law restricting access to abortion in emergency situations, a new way for individuals to file an EMTALA complaint, new training and educational materials, and a dedicated team of experts to support hospitals in complying with EMTALA.
   
• Partner with State Leaders on the Frontlines of Abortion Access. The White House partnered with leaders on the frontlines of protecting access to abortion—both those fighting extreme state legislation and those advancing proactive policies to protect access to reproductive health care, including for patients who are forced to travel out of state for care. Vice President Harris led these efforts, highlighting the harm to women’s health at more than 100 events in more than 20 states and meeting with hundreds of state legislators, health care providers, and advocates.
   
• Defend the Right to Travel. On the day the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, President Biden reaffirmed that women must remain free to travel safely to another state to seek the care they need. In November 2023, DOJ filed a statement of interest in two lawsuits challenging the Alabama Attorney General’s threat to prosecute people who provide assistance to women seeking lawful out-of-state abortions. DOJ has continued to monitor states’ efforts to restrict the constitutional right to travel across state lines to receive lawful health care.
   
• Expand Access to Affordable, High-Quality Contraception. In response to directives from President Biden, the Administration rebuilt the Title X Family Planning Program and improved contraception access and affordability under the Affordable Care Act, through Medicare and Medicaid, through federal health centers, and for Service members, veterans, federal employees, and college students. The Administration did so at a time when abortion bans disrupted access to critical health services, including contraception, as health care providers are forced to close and as contraception access was under attack in states and in Congress.
   
• Support Access to Fertility Care, Including IVF. In the face of extreme attacks on fertility services, the Administration supported access to fertility care, including in vitro fertilization (IVF), for service members, veterans, and federal employees. The Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs expanded eligibility for IVF services for certain Service members and veterans, helping them build their families. And the Office of Personnel Management significantly expanded access to IVF benefits and coverage to support federal workers in growing their families.
   
• Strengthen Reproductive Health Privacy. HHS issued a rule to strengthen reproductive health privacy protections under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This rule prevents an individual’s information from being disclosed to investigate, sue, or prosecute an individual, a health care provider, or a loved one simply because that person sought, obtained, provided, or facilitated legal reproductive health care, including abortion. The Administration also took enforcement actions against companies for disclosing consumers’ personal health information, including highly sensitive reproductive health data, without permission.

PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS

In addition to ending the emergency phase of the pandemic, many of the Administration’s actions to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic will help the United States better respond to pandemics in the future. These actions include:

• Replenishing the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS). Since 2020, the SNS has successfully acquired 1.5 billion gloves, 1.1 billion masks, and 286 million gowns to replenish its inventory of personal protective equipment. The SNS has also distributed more than 27,000 tons of medicines, equipment, and supplies to support the country’s public health and health care needs.
   
• Expanding a National Wastewater Surveillance System that routinely reports from over 1,500 sites covering over 150 million Americans and scaling up genomic sequencing to more quickly identify and understand new pathogens and variants.
   
• Investing $7.4 billion from the American Rescue Plan to recruit and hire public health workers to respond to the pandemic and prepare for future public health challenges.
   
• Investing over $18 billion since 2021 to bolster domestic manufacturing capacity and capabilities for medical products.
   
• Creating a Public Health AmeriCorps and expanding Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Epidemic Intelligence Service—the renowned program that equips workers to identify and contain public health outbreaks.
   
• Standing up the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response, a permanent office in the Executive Office of the President charged with coordinating the Federal Government’s domestic response to public health threats.
   
• Launching the 2024 U.S. Global Health Security Strategy to articulate a comprehensive approach to strengthening global health security and to ensure the world is better prepared to prevent and respond to health emergencies.
   
• More than doubling U.S. global health security partnerships—working directly with more than 50 countries to prevent, detect, and control outbreaks.
   
• Advancing capabilities in RNA vaccine technologies. Multiple companies are partnering with the Department of Health and Human Services to develop RNA vaccines so that the government can effectively respond to pandemic influenza and other threats should they emerge.

SECURING OUR BORDER

From his first day in office, President Biden called on Congress to secure the border and address the country’s broken immigration system. Over four years, while congressional Republicans failed to act, President Biden and Vice President Harris took action, including by deploying the most agents and officers ever to secure the Southern border, seizing record levels of illicit fentanyl at ports of entry, expanding and creating lawful pathways for those seeking to come to the United States, bringing together world leaders under the Los Angeles Declaration to jointly address irregular migration, and implementing new policies and procedures to make America’s immigration system more fair and more just.

Legislative Action

On Day One, President Biden delivered a comprehensive immigration reform package to Congress that included:

• Historic investments in border technology and security.
   
• Expanded lawful pathways for those seeking to come to the United States.
   
• A process for Dreamers and farmworkers to seek legal permanent residence in the United States.

In early 2024, the President reached a historic bipartisan agreement with Senate Democrats and Republicans to deliver the most consequential reforms to America’s immigration laws in decades. This agreement would have:

• Added thousands of critical border and immigration personnel.
   
• Invested in cutting-edge technology to detect and intercept illegal fentanyl.
   
• Delivered sweeping reforms to the asylum system.
   
• Provided emergency authority for the President to shut down the border when the system becomes overwhelmed.

Despite a bipartisan deal on this border package, congressional Republicans twice voted against the toughest and fairest set of immigration reforms in decades.

Executive Action to Secure the Border

Given continued congressional inaction, the Biden-Harris Administration took additional executive action to secure the border:

• President Biden issued a proclamation on Securing the Border under Immigration and Nationality Act sections 212(f) and 215(a), suspending the entry of noncitizens who cross the Southern border into the United States unlawfully. This proclamation was accompanied by a rule from the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security restricting these noncitizens’ eligibility for asylum.
   
• These actions, which are in effect when migration levels are high, were designed to make it easier for immigration officers to quickly remove individuals who do not have a legal basis to remain in the United States. The new procedures include humanitarian exceptions to protect those who are truly in need of protection, including unaccompanied children and victims of trafficking.

Since President Biden announced these executive actions, illegal border crossings have dropped by over 60% and reached the lowest point since July 2020—well before President Biden took office.

The Biden-Harris Administration additional key actions to secure the border:

• Published a rule to ensure that migrants who pose a public safety or national security risk are removed as quickly in the process as possible rather than remaining in prolonged, costly detention systems for migrants who attempt to cross the border unlawfully.
   
• Launched a Recent Arrivals docket to more quickly resolve cases in the immigration court system, helping to reduce a backlog of immigration cases.
   
• Added prosecutors and support staff to increase immigration-related prosecutions in crucial border region U.S. Attorney’s Offices.
   
• Dismantled smuggling networks through the creation and significant expansion of the FBI’s Joint Taskforce Alpha, which led to over 300 domestic and international arrests, over 240 convictions in the United States, and the first ever extraditions from Guatemala to the United States on human smuggling resulting in death charges.
   
• Imposed visa restrictions on executives of transportation companies who profit from smuggling migrants by sea, and imposed visa restrictions on hundreds of individuals for selling transit visas to migrants who ultimately make their way to the Southern border.
   
• Operated more repatriation flights per week than ever before, enabling the Department of Homeland Security to repatriate more people in FY 2024 than any year since FY 2010.
   
• Ensured that fentanyl was not pouring into the country by seizing more fentanyl at ports of entry in two years than the past five years combined, and added 40 drug detection machines across ports of entry to disrupt fentanyl smuggling.

Executive Action to Improve the Immigration System

The Biden-Harris Administration also took key steps to make America’s immigration system more fair and more just.

• Preserved and fortified Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) by codifying the 2012 policy in DHS regulations and vigorously defended it against court challenges.
   
• Took action to ensure that individuals, including DACA recipients and other Dreamers, who have earned degrees at U.S. institutions of higher education and who have an offer of employment from a U.S. employer in a field related to their degree can quickly receive work visas.
   
• Rebuilt, strengthened, and modernized the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, successfully resettling more than 100,000 refugees in the United States in 2024—including a new record for refugees from the Western Hemisphere.
   
• Established new lawful pathways for those from countries suffering humanitarian crises.
   
• Extended, designated, or re-designated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) for numerous populations, protecting hundreds of thousands of individuals from being returned to dangerous conditions in their countries of origin.
   
• Significantly enhanced U.S. companies’ ability to fill job vacancies in critical fields and in seasonal industries by publishing rules that modernized and strengthened the integrity of the H-1B program for high skilled workers and the H-2A agricultural workers and H-2B non-agricultural workers programs.

EDUCATION

When President Biden took office, less than half of K-12 students were going to school in person. Over the past four years, the Biden-Harris Administration focused on improving academic achievement, increasing student attendance and engagement, and building communities where all students feel they belong and can thrive.

Investments in Schools, Teachers, and Students

• Through the American Rescue Plan, the Biden-Harris Administration secured $130 billion for America’s K-12 schools, the single-largest federal investment in K-12 education in history, to help schools safely reopen and address the impact of COVID-19 on students’ academic, mental and physical health, and other needs.
   
• The Administration also secured a $2 billion increase in Title I funding to school districts to help improve education opportunities and outcomes for students from low-income backgrounds, as well as a historic $1.4 billion increase in Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funds to help states support instruction and services for 7.4 million students with disabilities.
   
• Similarly, the Administration made record investments in America’s teachers, increasing investments by more than $100 million across several programs to support recruiting, preparing, developing, and retaining teachers and diversifying the educator workforce. Federal investments have helped create more than 643,000 education jobs.
   
• The Administration made similar investments in higher education, including a record of over $19 billion for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and nearly $16 billion for Hispanic-Serving Institutions.
   
• The Administration provided over $5 billion for American colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, and community organizations to increase college access and success for students from low-income backgrounds, first-generation students, and students with disabilities.

Investments in School Safety and Mental Health

• To help make our schools safer and meet the mental health and other needs of our students, the Administration secured $1 billion through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to train and hire 16,000 additional mental health professionals to serve America’s schools.
   
• To further help meet the needs of students and improve academic and other, the Administration increased investments in Full-Service Community Schools fivefold, including providing $253 million to create over 2,000 new full-service community schools that provide critical support to more than one million students to meet their physical, mental health, academic, and other needs.

Reducing the Cost of College and Student Debt

From Day One, President Biden set out to fix the student loan system and make sure that higher education is a pathway to the middle class – not a barrier to opportunity. The Biden-Harris Administration took historic steps to reduce the burden of student debt, cancelling more student debt than any President in history and delivering lifechanging relief to students and families. The Biden-Harris Administration approved student debt cancellation for over 5 million Americans, totaling over $180 billion in debt relief through various actions. These actions include:

• Making significant improvements to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program so that over one million teachers, firefighters, law enforcement officials, nurses, service members, and other public service workers received the student loan relief they are entitled to under the law. Before President Biden took office, only 7,000 public servants had ever received forgiveness under this program.
   
• Fixing administrative errors in the Income-Driven Repayment programs and delivering relief to hundreds of thousands of borrowers who have been in repayment for decades.
   
• Approving student debt relief for millions of borrowers whose schools suddenly closed or who were defrauded by an institution.
   
• Launching the SAVE plan—the most affordable repayment plan ever. Under the SAVE plan, monthly payments are based on a borrower’s income and family size, not their loan balance. The SAVE plan ensures that if borrowers are making their monthly payments, their balances cannot grow because of interest. Prior to lawsuits to attempt to halt these efforts, 8 million borrowers enrolled in the SAVE Plan, and 4.5 million borrowers secured a $0 monthly payment.
   
• Overseeing the largest increase to the maximum Pell Grant awards in a decade to help put higher-education in reach for more Americans, bringing the maximum award to $7,395 and extending its reach to 1.2 million more students in the 2024 to 2025 academic year.

Expanding High-Quality Career Pathways and Workforce Development Programs

During President Biden’s term, more than $80 billion from the American Rescue Plan was committed to strengthening and expanding the American workforce—from supporting high-quality free community college programs in high-demand fields, to expanding Registered Apprenticeships, to attracting and retaining a skilled, diverse workforce in critical industries.

• President Biden made record investments in high-quality workforce development models. In addition to signing a Registered Apprenticeship Executive Order to bolster apprenticeships in the federal workforce, the Administration secured more than $730 million for Registered Apprenticeships—the gold-standard earn-and-learn pathway—leading to the hiring of more than one million apprentices.
   
• The Administration supported industry-led sector partnerships, such as the $500 million Good Jobs Challenge, that bring together employers, unions, community colleges, and other partners to develop high-quality training programs.
   
• More than one million Americans started a Registered Apprenticeship after President Biden took office, including in new fields. For example, 46 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico now have K-12 teacher Registered Apprenticeship programs; no states had a teacher Registered Apprenticeship program when the Administration took office.
   
• As First Lady Jill Biden announced in November 2024, 34 states and the District of Columbia now have a free community college program. In total, over 400 colleges, cities, and states now offer tuition-free college and job training—up from about 50 programs when she, President Obama, and then-Vice President Biden launched the America’s College Promise Initiative in 2015.
   
• More than 80 community colleges across 22 states have created or expanded programming to train semiconductor workers for advanced manufacturing jobs spurred by the President’s CHIPS and Science Act.
   
• The Administration invested $225 million through the Strengthening Community College training grants, enabling nearly 200 colleges in more than 30 states to provide affordable, high-quality workforce training for workers and address major workforce priorities for employers in their local communities.
   
• First Lady Jill Biden’s leadership in rethinking the high school experience helped drive the Biden-Harris Administration’s effort to better connect both high schools and postsecondary programs to career pathways, which included the Unlocking Career Success Initiative’s $31 million investment in building model career-connected programs in high schools that will provide up to 120,000 students with pathways to high-wage, high-demand careers.
   
• As First Lady, Dr. Biden championed community colleges and workforce training programs, traveling the country to highlight evidence-based models and promising practices that connect high school and community college students to good-paying jobs.
   
• In 2023, First Lady Jill Biden announced five Investing in America Workforce Hubs in regions where the Administration’s Investing in America agenda is catalyzing historic public- and private-sector investments— Augusta, Baltimore, Columbus, Phoenix, and Pittsburgh. Since then, President Biden designated four additional Workforce Hubs in the state of Michigan, Milwaukee, Upstate New York, and Philadelphia. In these Workforce Hubs, the Administration has partnered with state and local officials, employers, unions, community colleges, K-12 schools, and other stakeholders to ensure these regions can meet the demand for labor driven by these investments.

EQUALITY AND OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL AMERICANS

President Biden fought to ensure the promise of America for all individuals and communities across the country, including rural communities, communities of color, Tribal communities, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, women and girls, and communities impacted by persistent poverty.

Racial Equality, Equal Opportunity, and Diversity

From Day One, the Biden-Harris Administration committed to restoring the soul of our Nation and made significant progress to redress systemic barriers, reduce burdens, and close unjust gaps. President Biden signed two historic Executive Orders to advance racial equality and support for underserved communities through the Federal Government.

To promote racial equality and protect equal opportunity, President Biden and Vice President Harris focused on:

• Increasing access to federal contracting dollars, capital, and lending programs for small disadvantaged businesses.
   
• Reducing discrimination and approval bias in the housing market.
   
• Tackling persistent poverty and building economic prosperity in rural communities.
   
• Reconnecting communities left behind and divided by historic redlining, disinvestment, and inadequate transportation infrastructure.
   
• Addressing health and health care disparities, including tackling the maternal health crisis and increasing access to treatment for rare and severe disease like sickle cell.
   
• Rooting out educational inequities and preserving pathways to equal opportunity.
   
• Ensuring all Americans can access the federal benefits they are entitled to.
   
• Promoting fairness, transparency, and accountability in the justice system.
   
• Countering discrimination and hate-fueled violence.
   
• Bolstering proactive enforcement that protects the civil rights of all Americans.

Black and Latino Communities

Because of these efforts, the Biden-Harris Administration made record progress:

• Achieved the lowest Black unemployment rate on record and a historically low Latino unemployment rate.
   
• Lifted 440,000 Black children and 360,000 Latino children out of poverty through increased SNAP benefits, and narrowed racial disparities in child poverty to a historic low during the COVID-19 pandemic through the expanded Child Tax Credit.
   
• Doubled Black business ownership and increased Latino business ownership by 40% since before the pandemic.
   
• Tripled the number of SBA-backed loans to Black-owned businesses and doubled the number of SBA-backed loans to Latino-owned businesses.
   
• Invested a record of more than $19 billion in Historically Black Colleges and Universities, as well as nearly $16 billion in Hispanic-Serving Institutions.
   
• Took on racial bias in home appraisals, closed the racial home value misvaluation gap by 40%, and achieved the largest single-year increase in homeownership rates for Latinos.
   
• Reduced mortgage insurance premiums for FHA loans, saving more than 130,000 Black households and 185,000 Latino homeowners an average of $900 per year.
   
• Distributed $2.2 billion in financial assistance to over 43,000 farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners who previously experienced discrimination in loan programs.
   
• Increased Black families’ wealth, even after adjusting for inflation, 60% relative to pre-pandemic levels—the largest increase on record.

To further affirm his commitment to racial justice, President Biden proudly signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act—the first new federal holiday since the creation of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday over 40 years ago—to honor and preserve the significance of African American history as U.S. history.

Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Communities

President Biden and Vice President Harris prioritized the advancement of opportunity, equality, and safety for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities. The Biden-Harris Administration:

• Created nearly two million jobs for AA and NHPI workers and historic small business growth.
   
• Lifted 63,000 AA and NHPI individuals out of poverty by updating SNAP benefits.
   
• Cut Asian American child poverty by almost 25% during the COVID-19 pandemic—thanks to the American Rescue Plan’s expanded Child Tax Credit in 2021, which lifted 56,000 Asian American children out of poverty.
   
• Delivered $5 billion in American Rescue Plan funds to AA and NHPI-serving colleges and universities.
   
• Increased enrollment in Affordable Care Act coverage which resulted in one million more AA and NHPI individuals having access to quality affordable health care in 2024, a 22% increase since 2020.
   
• Built a Federal Government that looks like America by appointing a record number of AA and NHPI appointees, electing Vice President Kamala Harris, and swearing in three AA and NHPI members of the Cabinet.
   
• Confirmed a record number of AA and NHPI federal judges, including the first Native Hawaiian federal judge.
   
• Re-established and expanded the President’s Advisory Commission and White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.
   
• Signed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act into law in 2021 and deployed resources to improve the reporting and prevention of hate crimes and strength community-based interventions.
   
• Recognized the cultural heritage of the Indigenous Peoples and communities of the Pacific Islands by renaming the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument as the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument.
   
• Became the first Administration to formally honor the Hui Panalāʻau, Native Hawaiians sent to secure United States territorial claim to the islands in the run up to World War II.

Tribal Nations and Native Communities

President Biden and Vice President Harris worked tirelessly to cement their legacy as one of the most supportive Administrations for Tribes ever. Together, they championed Tribal sovereignty, honored the federal trust responsibility, and strengthened Nation-to-Nation relationships. Through the Investing in America agenda, the Biden-Harris Administration made record investments to support Tribal Nations and Native communities. President Biden:

• Signed a historic Executive Order to usher in the next era of Tribal self-determination by making reforms to funding programs to be more in line with Tribal decision-making.
   
• Issued a historic Presidential apology for the Federal Indian Boarding School era, and established the Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument in Carlisle, Pennsylvania to tell the story of the oppression endured by thousands of Native children and their families at this site and others that the Federal Government operated across the country for more than 150 years.
   
• Cut the Native American child poverty rate by over a third in 2021, bringing the gap between Native American and white child poverty rates to a record low thanks largely to the American Rescue Plan’s expansion of the Child Tax Credit, which lifted nearly 90,000 Native American children out of poverty.
   
• Nearly doubled the total dollar amount of SBA-backed loans to Native American-owned small businesses.
   
• Provided $118 million in funding to help fight the opioid epidemic in Tribal Communities.
   
• Established the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Native Americans and Strengthening Tribal Colleges and Universities.
   
• Eliminated copayments for Native American veterans receiving care from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
   
• Signed two Presidential Memoranda directing federal agencies to submit plans of action to implement meaningful consultation with Tribal Nations and establishing uniform standards for Tribal Consultation.
   
• Made historic appointments of Native Americans across the Administration, including Secretary Deb Haaland and over 80 Native Americans in senior Administration roles.
   
• Made the largest direct federal investment in Tribal Nations ever of $32 billion through the American Rescue Plan.
   
• Invested $13 billion through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to build high-speed internet, roads, bridges, public transit, clean water, and improve sanitation in Tribal communities.
   
• Invested $700 million in Native American communities for climate resilience and adaptation programs, drought mitigation, home electrification, and clean energy development through the Inflation Reduction Act.
   
• Re-launched the Tribal Nations Summit and re-established the White House Council on Native American Affairs that serves to foster an all-of-government approach to coordinating and developing Tribal policy.
   
• Signed an Executive Order to improve public safety and criminal justice and address the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People by directing agencies to prioritize addressing this crisis and develop a coordinated and comprehensive federal law enforcement strategy.
   
• Signed a Presidential Memorandum to Restore Healthy and Abundant Native Fish Populations in the Columbia River, which supports cultural and spiritual practices, commerce, and economic growth for Tribes.
   
• Strengthened gender-based violence protections for Tribal communities and established the Not Invisible Act Commission.
   
• Protected and conserved lands and waters significant to Tribes, including restoring protections for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and Bears Ears National Monument in Utah; establishing Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada and Baaj Nwaajo I’tah Kukveni—Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in Arizona; designating the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of California; expanding the Berryessa-Snow Mountain National Monument in northern California; and creating the Chuckwalla National Monument and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument in California.
   
• Signed more than 400 co-stewardship or co-management agreements to allow Tribal Nations to collaborate with the Federal Government to manage the federal lands, waters, and resources that are most important to them.
   
• Released the first-of-its-kind government-wide Indigenous Knowledge guidance that assists federal agencies in recognizing and including Indigenous Knowledge in federal research, policy, and decision making.

Historic Appointments to the Judiciary

President Joe Biden set a historic precedent by appointing the most demographically diverse federal judiciary in U.S. history.

• Since January 2021, the Senate has confirmed 235 of President Biden’s nominees to lifetime federal judgeships. This is the largest number of confirmations in a single presidential term since the 1980s.
   
• Of the 235 individuals who were confirmed to lifetime positions on federal courts, 63% are women, and 60% are people of color. President Biden appointed more women (150); people of color (139); Black judges (63); Black women (40); Hispanic judges (39); Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander judges (41); Native American judges (4); and LGBTQ+ judges (12) than any other administration (whether 4 or 8 years) in history.
   
• In April 2022, Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed by the United States Senate as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, the first Black woman to ever serve on the Court.
   
• President Biden ensured professional diversity by appointing a record number of judges with backgrounds and experiences that have long been overlooked, such as advocates for civil rights, worker’s rights, immigrants’ rights, and more.

LGBTQ+ Rights

President Biden believed that everyone should be treated with respect and dignity and be able to live without fear no matter who they are or whom they love. During his term, President Biden:

• Signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law, recognizing same-sex marriage as legal in every state in the nation.
   
• Signed an Executive Order Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation, directing all federal agencies to implement fully all federal laws that prevent discrimination on the basis of sex, including sexual orientation and gender identity.
   
• Issued a categorical pardon for former military service members convicted of crimes based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, unlocking access to additional VA benefits such as medical care, disability benefits, home loan guarantee, and burial benefits.
   
• Ended the prohibition on blood donation by gay and bisexual men.
   
• Reversed the ban on transgender military service.
   
• Appointed barrier-breaking LGBTQ+ leaders, including the first openly gay Cabinet Secretary confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
   
• Strengthened the Affordable Care Act to ensure LGBTQ+ communities can access the health care they need.
   
• Expanded mental health services for LGBTQ+ youth, including by training and hiring 16,000 mental health professionals in schools and by funding mental health services specifically for the LGBTQ+ community through 988, the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
   
• Combatted the discredited practice of so-called “conversion therapy.”

Americans with Disabilities

The Biden-Harris Administration took historic action to protect the rights of people with disabilities and deliver on the promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Under President Biden:

• Americans with disabilities saw a historic 20% increase in employment and, and the number of people with disabilities in registered apprenticeships nearly tripled.
   
• Median household income for disabled Americans rose by over $10,000 while President Biden was in office.
   
• The Department of Justice issued a final rule under Title II of the ADA to ensure the accessibility of web content and mobile applications by state and local governments for the more than 50 million people with vision, hearing, cognitive, and manual dexterity disabilities.
   
• The Department of Health and Human Services issued two final rules protecting the civil rights of people with disabilities in health care and human services programs under the Affordable Care Act.
   
• In 2022, the Department of Transportation issued the first-ever Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights and issued rules increasing the size and accessibility of lavatories, and requiring airlines to provide prompt, safe, and dignified assistance to passengers with disabilities.
   
• In 2023, President Biden signed an Executive Order on Increasing Access to High-Quality Care and Supporting Caregivers, directing more than 50 agency actions, including to expand home and community-based services (HCBS) for veterans with disabilities, improve pay for direct support workers, and ensure access to HCBS.
   
• The U.S. Department of Justice pursued key settlements under the Olmstead Act to ensure people with behavioral disabilities are allowed to receive care in their local communities or at home instead of being unnecessarily secluded in emergency rooms, juvenile detention or residential facilities.
   
• In 2022, the U.S. AbilityOne Commission issued a final rule ensuring that workers on federal contracts within the AbilityOne Program are paid at least the full minimum wage.
   
• The Department of Labor issued a proposed rule that will gradually phase out certificates that permit employers to pay workers with disabilities less than the full minimum wage.
   
• President Biden increased annual funding by $1.4 billion for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grants that support special education services for Pre-K-12 students.
   
• Federal agencies submitted language access plans with the objective of increasing language equity in government resources, including in American Sign Language, captioning, and simplified English to benefit people with disabilities and people with Limited English Proficiency.
   
• The White House also hired the first American Sign Language interpreters to provide access to multiple briefings, speeches, and recorded events.

Gender Equity and Equality

The Biden-Harris Administration took historic action to invest in the future of women and girls and advance gender equity. This work has been guided by the first-ever White House Gender Policy Council, which President Biden established to advance the rights of women and girls at home and abroad, and our nation’s first-ever National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality.

President Biden signed Executive Orders and Presidential Memoranda to advance women’s rights by directing his Administration to:

• Defend access to reproductive health care.
   
• Strengthen the military justice system’s response to sexual violence.
   
• Expand and improve research on women’s health.
   
• Improve pay equity for federal workers.
   
• Address online harassment and abuse, including image-based sexual abuse.
   
• Expand access to affordable, high-quality care and support care workers and family caregivers.
   
• Promote accountability for conflict-related sexual violence.
   
• Expand and diversify registered apprenticeship programs.
   
• Strengthen our nation’s recognition of women’s history.

Additionally, during his term, President Biden:

• Signed the VAWA Reauthorization Act of 2022, secured increased funding for VAWA programs by over 35% since 2021, issued the White House’s first-ever U.S. National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, and narrowed the “boyfriend loophole” to help keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.
   
• Restored and strengthened vital protections under Title IX to help keep students and employees safe from sexual assault and harassment on campus, and funded sexual violence prevention programs on university and college campuses.
   
• Strengthened women’s economic security by ensuring women have access to good jobs and safe workplaces free from discrimination, leading to historic gains in women’s labor force participation—including the lowest women’s unemployment rate in 70 years.
   
• Advanced women’s health care by defending reproductive freedom, improving maternal health outcomes, lowering health care costs for women, closing gaps in women’s health research, and extending Medicaid postpartum coverage from 2 months to 12 months of post-pregnancy care.
   
• Promoted rights and opportunities for women and girls abroad, launching initiatives to increase women’s economic security, address gender-based violence, promote women’s participation in peace and security processes, and advance women’s leadership and human rights.
   
• Appointed a record number of female Cabinet Secretaries as well as the nation’s first Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, and the first woman ever elected as Vice President, Kamala Harris.

Rural Communities

President Biden invested in rural America to create opportunity for farmers, small businesses, families, and communities. The Biden-Harris Administration:

• Made the largest investment in rural America’s electric system since the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, investing $9.7 billion to help member-owned rural electric cooperatives provide their communities with clean, reliable, and affordable energy.
   
• Created new and better markets for farmers and ranchers to increase competition, including expanding independent meat and poultry processing capacity and announcing rules to enhance transparency, stop discrimination, and support market fairness.
   
• Supported farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners in adopting climate-smart agriculture and forestry practices that provide new revenue streams and yield climate change mitigation benefits, reaching an estimated 180,000 farms and over 225 million acres in the next five years.
   
• Launched the Rural Partners Network (RPN), a program bringing together 25 federal agencies and regional commissions to help rural community leaders access federal resources. Through RPN, 36 rural and Tribal communities across 10 states and Puerto Rico are receiving support from full-time federal staff who live and work locally. Since its launch, RPN has helped federal agencies deliver over $8.5 billion in funding to these communities.
   
• Deployed $90 billion through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and American Rescue Plan to ensure every American has access to affordable, reliable high-speed internet. The Department of Agriculture invested more than $4 billion in projects to expand access to high-speed broadband and bring new economic opportunities and a better quality of life for more than 680,000 people across 46 states through its ReConnect Program.
   
• Invested $4.1 billion through Rural Area Formula Grants at the Department of Transportation to support 1,300 rural transit systems by enabling them to purchase transit vehicles and infrastructure, plan transit more effectively, and fund operations.
   
• Increased investments in the Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP), the Department of Education’s only formula grant program specifically designated towards rural K-12 districts. Since 2020, the program saw an increase of nearly $35 million, culminating in $220 million being allocated to rural small and/or low-income schools in 2024.

Puerto Rico

President Biden adopted a pathbreaking approach to investing in Puerto Rico. Through the White House Working Group on Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rico Economic Dialogue, President Biden brought to bear resources across the Federal Government to address issues such as hurricane relief and recovery, energy grid and infrastructure modernization, and workforce development. This approach has been a proven success. Since President Biden and Vice President Harris took office:

• Puerto Rico added more than 100,000 new jobs.
   
• Unemployment is at a historic low.
   
• Labor force participation grew to the highest level in more than a decade.
   
• In 2023, Puerto Rico had its first year of positive net migration since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
   
• Hundreds of thousands more Puerto Ricans have incomes above the poverty line, thanks to the American Rescue Plan permanently making Puerto Ricans eligible for the same refundable tax credits as other Americans.

DEMOCRACY AND CIVIL RIGHTS

Preserving Institutions and Rule of Law

President Biden and Vice President Harris took decisive action to restore and strengthen American democracy.

• Upon taking office, he immediately restored the independence of the Department of Justice to respect the rule of law.
   
• He also signed the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act into law, establishing clear guidelines for certifying electoral votes to preserve the will of the people and protect against the type of attempts to overturn our elections that led to the January 6 insurrection.

Countering Hate and Protecting Religious Freedom

The Biden-Harris Administration took numerous steps to counter hate in all its forms and promote pluralism:

• Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed the Justice Department’s first-ever Anti-Hate Crimes Resources Coordinator and designated staff to oversee expedited review of hate crimes.
   
• The FBI elevated hate crimes and criminal civil rights violations to its highest-level national threat priority, which increased the resources for hate crimes prevention and investigations and made hate crimes a focus for all 56 of the Bureau’s field offices.
   
• President Biden hosted the first-ever White House United We Stand Summit to address the hate-fueled violence that threatens our public safety and democracy. At the Summit, the White House established the White House Initiative to Counter Hate-Motivated Violence and announced an historic package of new actions to foster national unity and counter hate and toxic polarization.
   
• President Biden established an interagency group to increase and better coordinate federal efforts to counter Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and related forms of bias and discrimination within the United States.
   
• The President released the first-ever U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, and the first-ever U.S. National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Anti-Arab Hate.
   
• The Biden-Harris Administration sent a guide to the leadership of more than 5,000 colleges and universities with information on resources to promote campus safety, and the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights issued new guidance through a Dear Colleague Letter to every school district and college in the country, providing examples of Antisemitic discrimination, as well as other forms of hate, that could lead to investigations for violations of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
   
• The Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) further expanded security capacity-building services to synagogues, community centers, and Jewish day schools. These services include risk assessments, planning assistance, tabletop exercise packages, and active shooter and bomb prevention-related training. Since January 2023, CISA personnel have conducted nearly 400 visits with Jewish houses of worship and other institutions.
   
• The Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism at the Department of State promoted throughout the international community the U.S.-led “Global Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism,” a set of international best practices for effective public policy against Antisemitism. More than 40 countries and entities have endorsed the guidelines.
   
• On his first day in office, President Biden rescinded the discriminatory travel ban that prevented individuals from Muslim-majority and African countries from entering the United States. At President Biden’s direction, the Department of State conducted a review of visa applications and took various corrective actions to process applications that were impacted by the discriminatory travel ban, including reconsidering previously denied applications.
   
• In 2022, President Biden became the first United States President to recognize Arab American Heritage Month, which is observed in April. In 2023 and 2024, President Biden issued proclamations honoring this month.
   
• On March 15, 2024, President Biden became the first President to mark the International Day to Combat Islamophobia. In observance of this day, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights sent a letter to every school district and college in the country, reminding them of their legal obligation to address discrimination against Muslim, Arab, Sikh, South Asian, Hindu, and Palestinian students.
   
• 14 federal agencies clarified for the first time in writing that Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act’s protections prohibit discrimination on the basis of shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, including certain forms of Antisemitic, Islamophobic, and related forms of discrimination and bias in federally funded programs and activities. 
   
• In 2021, President Biden signed into law the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which includes the Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer NO HATE Act, to improve the reporting and prevention of hate crimes and ensure that hate crimes information is more accessible to Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.
   
• Since 2021, the Department of Justice awarded over $100 million in grants to law enforcement and prosecution agencies, community-based organizations, and civil rights groups to address hate crimes through outreach, investigations, prosecutions, community awareness and preparedness, reporting, hotlines, and victim services.
   
• Through the Fiscal Year 2024 National Security Supplemental, President Biden secured an additional $400 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which funds security improvements and training to nonprofits, including faith-based organizations such as houses of worship.
   
• President Biden reestablished the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and agency Centers for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships to collaborate with religious and community organizations on serving people in needed. Through this bipartisan initiative, the Administration worked closely with these organizations on objectives such as encouraging communities to get vaccinated for COVID-19; helping expectant mothers improve their health; connecting young people to jobs, internships, and apprenticeships; and affirming the key roles religious leaders play around the world in locally led development and humanitarian assistance.

Voting Rights

Throughout his term, President Biden continued to call on Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and Freedom to Vote Act to protect the sacred right to vote in free and fair elections, and ensure the government is working for the people. In addition, President Biden took the following steps:

• In response to obstruction and refusal to even debate the bills, he called for reforming the filibuster to protect our democracy.
   
• As he fought for legislation, President Biden used the tools at his disposal to strengthen democracy, including issuing an executive order to promote voting access.
   
• Annual funding for federal civil rights offices increased by 23% during President Biden’s time in office. Since then, the Department of Justice more than doubled its number of voting rights attorneys and enforcement staff.
   
• President Biden marshalled the full resources of the Federal Government to protect American elections from foreign interference and to support state and local officials in their administration of free, fair, and secure elections. The Attorney General established a Task Force to protect election officials from an unprecedented rise in violent threats.

Criminal Justice Reform and Clemency

President Biden and Vice President Harris believed that effective, accountable policing is critical to making our communities safer.

• In 2022, President Biden issued an Executive Order on effective and accountable policing and criminal justice practices that requires federal law enforcement agencies to ban chokeholds; restrict no-knock warrants; mandate the use of body-worn cameras; provide de-escalation training; submit officer misconduct records into a new national database; and restrict the transfer of military equipment to local law enforcement agencies.
   
• President Biden continued to call on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to advance accountability, transparency, and public trust in law enforcement.

President Biden and Vice President Harris also believed that it was time to end the country’s failed approach to marijuana:

• To help remedy the country’s failed approach to marijuana, including racial disparities, the Administration launched the process to reclassify marijuana under federal law.
   
• President Biden issued categorical pardons for federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana, lifting barriers to housing, employment, educational opportunities, and more for thousands of Americans.

President Biden used his clemency power to grant more pardons and commutations in four years than any of his recent predecessors.

• As mentioned above, President Biden issued categorical pardons for federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana, lifting barriers for thousands.
   
• President Biden commuted the death sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on death row to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Those individuals will have their sentences reclassified from execution to life without the possibility of parole.
   
• In December, the President carried out the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history, commuting he sentences of close to 1,500 individuals who were placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and who successfully reintegrated into their families and communities, and pardoning 39 individuals who were convicted of non-violent crimes.
   
• Throughout his term, President Biden corrected sentencing disparities and promoted public safety by issuing historic pardons and commutations for individuals with unduly long sentences convicted of non-violent offenses who had demonstrated a commitment to rehabilitation.
   
• President Biden redressed a historic injustice by categorically pardoning former LGBTQ+ service members convicted of private conduct because of their sexual orientation.

Supreme Court Reform

In the face of this crisis of confidence in America’s democratic institutions, President Biden released a bold plan to reform the Supreme Court:

• No Immunity for Crimes a Former President Committed in Office. President Biden called for a constitutional amendment that makes clear no President is above the law or immune from prosecution for crimes committed while in office. This No One Is Above the Law Amendment would state that the Constitution does not confer any immunity from federal criminal indictment, trial, conviction, or sentencing by virtue of previously serving as President.
   
• Term Limits for Supreme Court Justices. President Biden endorsed a system in which the President would appoint a Justice every two years to spend eighteen years in active service on the Supreme Court. Term limits would help ensure that the Court’s membership changes with some regularity; make timing for Court nominations more predictable and less arbitrary; and reduce the chance that any single Presidency imposes undue influence for generations to come.
   
• Binding Code of Conduct for the Supreme Court. President Biden called on Congress to pass binding, enforceable conduct and ethics rules that require Justices to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity, and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest.
   

###

The post The Biden-Harris Administration Record appeared first on The White House.

In northern California, the awe-inspiring geological wonders collectively described here as the Sáttítla Highlands have framed the homelands of Indigenous communities and cultures for millennia, and today this area continues to cradle historic and scientific treasures of our Nation.  At this area’s core rests a sleeping giant:  the Medicine Lake Volcano.  This massive volcano — one of the two largest volcanos in the Cascades Volcanic Arc — covers an expanse roughly 10 times that of Mount St. Helens, Washington.  “Medicine Lake,” as labeled in English on some maps since approximately 1890, is found within the summit caldera of the volcano for which it is named.  Far earlier and through the present day, however, these stunning and unusual lands have been known as “Sáttítla” in the Ajumawi language, which translates to “obsidian place.”  Sáttítla’s obsidian deposits formed by the volcano have long been important to Indigenous peoples, as shown by obsidian tools and sites they left here from their lives and travels.  The Sáttítla Highlands area as described here includes parts of the Modoc, Shasta-Trinity, and Klamath National Forests, and stretches from Sharp Mountain, Wild Horse Mountain, and Little Horse Peak in the west, to Cougar Butte, Glass Mountain, and Border Mountain in the east, and to encompass the cinder cones known as Porcupine Butte, Timber Hill, Snag Hill, and Powder Hill in the south.

Sáttítla includes portions of the ancestral homelands of the Pit River (Ajumawi – Atsugewi) and Modoc Peoples (Mo Wat Knii – Mo Docknii).   For them and many other Indigenous peoples — including the Karuk, Klamath, Shasta, Siletz, Wintu, and Yana and individual Tribes that are members of these groups — the volcanic landscape holds and reflects exceptional power and is central to their spiritual beliefs and cultural practices.  The Modoc believe Medicine Lake is a place of healing and have referred to the lake and its banks as “Lani’shwi.”  Plants and animals found within Sáttítla’s habitats include many that are rare or vulnerable and have long been important to the Indigenous peoples of the area for food, medicine, and ceremonies.  Sáttítla’s remarkable geologic formations and the ecosystems cultivated within and around them have shaped the history and cultures of generations of Indigenous peoples.

This area contains evidence of human occupancy dating back at least 5,000 years.  For members of the Pit River Tribe, Sáttítla, as part of the broader landscape within which it sits, is central to their creation stories and core to their physical, mental, spiritual, and cultural health.  Their cultural and spiritual connections to Sáttítla reach across time and space, linking a web of heritage sites near and far and underscoring the importance of this land to the Indigenous people who have lived here throughout history.  They believe that the people and the land are one in the same, not only that one cannot be separated from the other, but that one cannot exist without the other.  Sáttítla’s deep silence, local plants and animals, unobstructed views across the landscape, and pure water sources are necessary to carry out customs, traditions, and ceremonies of the Indigenous peoples connected to this area.  This area has long provided a place for vision quests, gathering of medicinal plants, spiritual training and purification ceremonies, obsidian gathering, and religious activities that demand privacy, solitude, and unobscured access to both day and night skies.  The night skies of Sáttítla, where distant galaxies and stars are visible, are renowned for being among the darkest in the United States.  

Located at the southern reaches of the Modoc Peoples’ ancestral homelands, Sáttítla could be seen from across Modoc territory.  The volcano and surrounding highlands were central to ceremonial life of the Modoc, and the area is an enduring place of historic and cultural significance.  The area continues to serve as a place of gathering, healing, and spiritual importance for surrounding Indigenous peoples — including the Karuk, Klamath, Shasta, Siletz, Wintu, and Yana.  Tribal Nations collaborate in some of these activities, including ceremonies in and around Medicine Lake.

At least 85 plant species found in Sáttítla are used by Indigenous peoples for healing, medicine, food, tools, building materials, and as ceremonial objects and are considered to have powerful medicinal and ceremonial uses.  For example, Indigenous people used lichen from this area to dye materials used to adorn clothes and ornaments.

Evidence of Indigenous peoples can be found throughout Sáttítla.  Sites in various parts of the area exhibit evidence of obsidian quarrying and use by Indigenous peoples, with some containing unique assemblages of flaked stone and obsidian tools, waste materials from tool manufacture, and blades and cutting implements.  Larger obsidian blades, including those quarried and found in Sáttítla, were highly prized as items of wealth and prestige in Indigenous cultures throughout the region.  Obsidian quarried within Sáttítla was an important resource in a broad Indigenous trade network throughout northern California and the California Coast, and within southern Oregon.  The Indigenous peoples of the region believe that distinct sources of Sáttítla obsidian — such as obsidian deposits in the central part of this area — retain special roles and significance in different uses.  In various locations, evidence of precontact hunting blinds and groundstone implements also highlight that Indigenous peoples have lived and hunted across Sáttítla.

In view of the importance of these lands to Indigenous peoples and the rich cultural resources found here, in 1999, the National Register of Historic Places determined approximately 33,000 acres of the Sáttítla area centered on Medicine Lake to be eligible as a Traditional Cultural Property District.  Further, in 2007, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management developed the Medicine Lake Highlands Historic Property Management Program, which extended this district to encompass approximately 73,000 acres.

Indigenous peoples would likely have witnessed some of the more recent eruptions of the Medicine Lake Volcano — which have occurred multiple times in the past 12,500 years and as recently as 950 years ago — reshaping their sacred lands as they watched, and creating geologic formations and other objects still visible today.  Future volcanic activity will likely continue to shape these highlands.  As a result of its dynamic geology and millennia of human occupation, Sáttítla contains numerous objects of historic and scientific interest — some formed by the volcano and surrounding ecosystems and others, like obsidian tools and ceremonial sites, created by Indigenous peoples — and is integrally connected to the Indigenous Knowledge amassed by the Tribal Nations and Indigenous peoples in the area over countless generations.  Some of the objects in this area are sacred to Tribal Nations, are sensitive, rare, or vulnerable to vandalism and theft, or are unsafe to visit.  Therefore, revealing their specific names or locations could pose a danger to the objects or to the public.

The lava flows emanating off the flanks of Medicine Lake Volcano extend in every direction for more than 30 miles, through and, in some places, even beyond Sáttítla.   Eons of historic geological activity provide visitors with vast panoramas of stark, unvegetated lava fields exemplified by the Burnt Lava Flow Geologic Special Interest Area in the southeast and the Callahan Flow in the north, and extending into Lava Beds National Monument along the northeast corner.  The area’s concentration of lava flows that are fewer than 13,000 years old makes Sáttítla one of the premier places to view geologically young lava flows in California — and in the United States.  

In addition to volcanologists who have come to Sáttítla to study and understand the depths of the earth’s core, astronauts have also learned from the area. Between 1965 and 1967, the area’s Pumice Crater –- located in the central portion of Sáttítla — was used by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for Apollo program astronauts who trained in the collection and identification of lunar-like geologic features to be prepared for observation and sampling on the moon.  Multiple groups of astronauts traveled to the Pumice Crater area, and four of those astronauts flew Apollo missions, making this crater an important piece of space exploration history. 

Many of the lava flows within Sáttítla created islands of remnant forests that were elevated enough to escape the deluge of lava.  In the north central area of Sáttítla, one such island is Black Lava Butte, which is dominated by shrubs, grasses, and old-growth ponderosa pine.  Isolated from historical logging and development, these islands of forest provide valuable laboratories for future study of enduring and unaltered ecosystems.

The southern portion of Sáttítla is home to miniature volcanoes known as spatter cones, a well-preserved and accessible handful of which appear adjacent to the Giant Crater Lava Flow located in the south-central portion of the area.  Sáttítla’s more than 100 cinder cones — which are formed when lava cools mid-air and falls as fragments creating mounds, including Pumice Stone Mountain, Paint Pot Crater, and Porcupine Butte — are intact, making them of particular scientific interest.

The Fourmile Hill Tree Molds Geologic Area, situated on the north flank of the Medicine Lake volcano, contains dozens of molds formed over 12,000 years ago when molten lava flowed through a conifer forest leaving behind casts of the ancient tree trunks.  These trace fossils can help improve scientists’ understanding of the complex geologic history of the region. 

Sáttítla also contains hundreds of cave-like lava tubes, which were formed over time when molten basaltic lava flows cooled.  Many of these formations are relatively unexplored, with more likely yet to be discovered through future scientific inquiry.  The Giant Crater lava tube originates just south of Medicine Lake, extends southward within Sáttítla, and ultimately forms the longest known lava tube system in the world.

Sáttítla is nearly devoid of surface water drainages, but its surface waters only hint at what is stored underground, as most of the precipitation that falls in this area filters down through the porous volcanic rock filling underground aquifers.   These aquifers supply water to spring systems in northern California — and ultimately to the Sacramento River to the south and the Lower Klamath and Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuges to the north.  

The first known Euro-American reports of Sáttítla emerged in 1826-27, with settler-driven development appearing in the region in the 1870s.  The Tickner Road, constructed in 1871, served as one of the earliest routes across Siskiyou County, and remnants of two tracks are still visible in isolated sections in the northeast portion of the area.

As Euro-Americans settled in the traditional homelands of the area’s Indigenous peoples, many Tribal Nations suffered dispossession and, often, forced removal.  The brutalities against them by Euro-Americans were systemic, as evidenced by California’s first Governor declaring a “war of extermination” against the Indigenous peoples, and the California State Legislature appropriating a half-million dollars to pay for militia campaigns to kill them.  By 1872, hostilities between the U.S. Army and the Modoc Peoples exploded into the Modoc War.  Tickner Road was used by the U.S. military during the Modoc War as a supply route, and its remnants serve as a physical marker of this war.  While battles took place in lava fields outside and to the north of the area, some Modoc people sought refuge in Sáttítla, where they successfully avoided relocation after the war and ultimately integrated with the Klamath Tribes.  For these members of the Modoc, their connection to and knowledge of the Sáttítla area proved life-saving.  Other members were less fortunate; following the war several Modoc leaders were captured and hanged, and the remaining approximately 150 survivors were forcibly relocated to Oklahoma.  In view of these atrocities and the resulting loss of homelands, Sáttítla and the objects it contains remain particularly significant both to the Modoc and to our Nation’s history.  

The area’s verdant forests and exceptional geology together have supported and still illustrate important parts of the region’s history.  For example, Sáttítla’s high quality and accessible stands of ponderosa pine attracted the development of railroad logging operations, which came to this area at the end of the 19th century.   Today, within the western and northern part of this area, visitors can see the remains of hundreds of miles of railroad grades, relics of logging camps, maintenance stations, loading and switchyards, and other traces from the railroad logging era. 

Near the center of Sáttítla, Little Mt. Hoffman Lookout Tower provides panoramic views across and outside of the area to distant Mt. Shasta, Mt. Lassen, and the Tule Lake Basin.  Constructed in the 1920s, and eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, the tower was actively used as a wildfire lookout until 1978 and today it provides a chance to see much of the Sáttítla Highlands from the edge of the volcano’s caldera.

Sáttítla’s exceptionally varied habitats also support high levels of biodiversity, including a variety of sensitive and endemic species.  For example, the Federally listed northern spotted owl relies on mature forest habitat, which is scattered throughout the southern and western portions of Sáttítla. The area also partially overlaps the historic range of the Federally listed Franklin’s bumblebee, which has one of the most limited geographic distributions of any bumblebee in the world.  The Townsend’s big-eared bat, a State of California Species of Concern, uses the region’s lava tube caves for roosting.  The Swainson’s hawk returns from South America in the spring to breed in the low-elevation juniper forests, sagebrush, and bitterbrush habitats found along the northwestern edge of area.  In the northern portion of Sáttítla, the Three Sisters Bald Eagle Winter Roost Area provides habitat for bald eagles, endangered in California.  Scattered aquatic and riparian habitats in the western portion of the area support two State of California Species of Special Concern, the Cascades frog and long-toed salamander.  Other species known to be north and south of Sáttítla, such as the Federally listed gray wolf, likely migrate through this area, with Sáttítla providing transitory habitat.

Sáttítla supports the survival of at least 16 plants considered threatened, endangered, or rare in California, including the Federally listed whitebark pine growing near Garner Mountain in the western portion of the area, as well as a diverse community of fungi, with 20 species considered rare or sparsely distributed.  Amongst host trees is the Pacific fuzzwort, a rare liverwort that is at the southern end of its habitat in northern California, andthe sugarstick, a parasitic plant associated with the roots of old-growth conifers.  As the climate continues to warm, high-elevation habitats within Sáttítla will remain critical refugia for species including the gray-headed pika and the Sierra Nevada red fox, a State of California threatened species. 

Sáttítla continues to provide traditional cultural resources used by Tribal and Indigenous communities, including food staples like sugar pine seeds and berries from gooseberry, currant, and manzanita, as well as plants collected for their medicinal properties, such as bitter cherry and Prince’s pine.  Various plants found in Sáttítla were historically used by Indigenous peoples for hunting, such as the blue elder­berry whose pithy stem-wood was fashioned into elk whistles and is still collected today.

Sáttítla’s soils, formed from lava over time, are home to several sensitive plants, including the sensitive talus collomia, the snow fleabane daisy, little hulsea, and pyrola-leaved buckwheat, all of which are restricted to fewer than four counties in Northern California.

At the lower elevations along the northwestern portion of Sáttítla, western juniper and ponderosa pine occur above a collection of Great Basin-type shrubs, including curl-leaf mountain-mahogany, bitterbrush, rubber rabbitbrush, and big sage.  The leaves, bark, flowers, and seeds from these shrubs were used by Indigenous peoples to make dye and medicines, and the dense wood of mountain-mahogany was used to make digging sticks, fire drills, bows, arrow shafts, and throwing sticks.  Two species uncommon in California are found in the dry, volcanic soils near the northern boundary of Sáttítla:  the tiny annual doublet and the cushion-like squarestem phlox.

Wet meadows and fens are infrequent within the landscape, but where they occur, they provide habitat for wetland plant species such as the California-endangered Boggs Lake hedge-hyssop and the three-ranked hump moss.  Traditional cultural plants found in these wetter habitats, including clover, yarrow, mountain strawberry, Baltic rush, and several grasses, were historically gathered for food, basket materials, and for their medicinal properties.  Further, sensitive vernal pools are situated southeast of Medicine Lake, supporting species including Oregon sedge.

Protection of Sáttítla will conserve the diverse array of cultural, precontact, historic, natural, and scientific resources — that the volcano at its core has shaped — for the benefit of all Americans.  It is vital to preserve this unique geologic landscape that holds sites and objects of historical, traditional, cultural, and spiritual significance for Tribal Nations and Indigenous peoples who have gathered Indigenous Knowledge and practiced and shaped their cultures linked integrally to this area over countless generations.  In addition to containing numerous objects of historic and scientific interest as described above, this area also provides exceptional outdoor recreational opportunities, including hiking, biking, snowmobiling, camping, hunting, scenic driving, and canoeing.  

WHEREAS, section 320301 of title 54, United States Code (the “Antiquities Act”), authorizes the President, in the President’s discretion, to declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the Federal Government to be national monuments, and to reserve as a part thereof parcels of land, the limits of which shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected; and

     WHEREAS, Sáttítla has long been profoundly sacred to Tribal Nations and Indigenous peoples with ties to these highlands; and     Whereas, I find that all the objects identified above, and objects of the type identified above within the area described herein, are objects of historic or scientific interest in need of protection under section 320301 of title 54, United States Code, regardless of whether they are expressly identified as objects of historic or scientific interest in the text of this proclamation; and

     Whereas, I find that there are threats to the objects identified in this proclamation, and in the absence of a reservation under the Antiquities Act, these objects are not adequately protected by applicable law or administrative designations, thus making a national monument designation and reservation necessary to protect the objects of historic and scientific interest identified above for current and future generations; and

     Whereas, I find that the boundaries of the monument reserved by this proclamation represent the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects of scientific or historic interest identified above, as required by the Antiquities Act; and

     Whereas,it is in the public interest to ensure the preservation, restoration, and protection of the objects of scientific and historic interest identified above;

     Now, Therefore, I, Joseph R. Biden JR., President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by section 320301 of title 54, United States Code, hereby proclaim the objects identified above that are situated upon lands and interests in lands owned or controlled by the Federal Government to be the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument (monument) and, for the purpose of protecting those objects, reserve as part thereof all lands and interests in lands that are owned or controlled by the Federal Government within the boundaries described on the accompanying map, which is attached hereto and forms a part of this proclamation.  These reserved Federal lands and interests in lands encompass approximately 224,676 acres.  As a result of the distribution of the objects across the Sáttítla Highlands, the boundaries described on the accompanying map are confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects of historic or scientific interest identified above.

     All Federal lands and interests in lands within the boundaries described of the monument are hereby appropriated and withdrawn from all forms of entry, location, selection, sale, or other disposition under the public land laws or laws applicable to the Forest Service other than by exchange that furthers the protective purposes of the monument; from location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and from disposition under all laws relating to mineral and geothermal leasing.

     The establishment of the monument is subject to valid existing rights.  If the Federal Government subsequently acquires any lands or interests in lands not currently owned or controlled by the Federal Government within the boundaries described on the accompanying map, such lands and interests in lands shall be reserved as a part of the monument, and objects of the type identified above that are situated upon those lands and interests in lands shall be part of the monument, upon acquisition of ownership or control by the Federal Government.

Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to alter the valid existing water rights of any party, including the United States.  This proclamation does not reserve water as a matter of Federal law.

     The Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary), through the Forest Service, shall manage the monument pursuant to applicable legal authorities, as part of the Modoc, Shasta-Trinity, and Klamath National Forests, and in accordance with the terms, conditions, and management direction provided by this proclamation.   

     For purposes of protecting and restoring the objects identified above, the Secretary shall prepare, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, within 3 years from the date of this proclamation, a management plan for the monument, which shall include provisions for continuing outdoor recreational opportunities consistent with the proper care and management of the objects identified above, and shall promulgate such rules and regulations for the management of the monument as the Secretary shall deem appropriate.  The Secretary, through the Forest Service, shall consult with other Federal land management agencies or agency components in the local area, including the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of Defense, and the National Park Service, in developing the management plan. 

The Secretary shall provide for maximum public involvement in the development of the management plan, as well as consultation with federally recognized Tribal Nations with cultural or historical connections to the monument, and conferral with State and local governments.  In preparing the management plan, the Secretary shall take into account, to the maximum extent practicable, maintaining the undeveloped character of the lands within the monument; minimizing impacts from surface-disturbing activities; providing appropriate and, where consistent with the proper care and management of the objects of historic or scientific interest identified above, improving access for recreation, hunting, fishing, wildfire risk reduction, wildlife management, and scientific research; and emphasizing the retention of natural quiet, dark night skies, and scenic values.  In the development and implementation of the management plan, the Secretary shall maximize opportunities, pursuant to applicable legal authorities, for shared resources, operational efficiency, and cooperation, and shall, to the maximum extent practicable, provide for the careful and full incorporation of the Indigenous Knowledge and special expertise of Tribal Nations.

The Secretary shall consider appropriate mechanisms to provide for temporary closures to the general public of specific portions of the monument to protect the privacy of cultural, religious, and gathering activities by members of Tribal Nations.

The Secretary, through the Forest Service, shall establish an advisory committee under chapter 10 of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the Federal Advisory Committee Act), to provide advice or recommendations regarding the development of the management plan and, as appropriate, management of the monument.  The advisory committee shall consist of a fair and balanced representation of interested stakeholders, including State agencies and local governments; Tribal Nations; recreational users; conservation organizations; wildlife, hunting and fishing organizations; the scientific community; business owners; the forestry community; and the general public in the region.

In recognition of the value of collaboration with Tribal Nations for the proper care and management of the objects identified above, and to ensure that management of the monument is informed by, integrates, and reflects Tribal expertise and Indigenous Knowledge (including in regard to the practice of cultural burning), as appropriate, the Secretary shall meaningfully engage with Tribal Nations with cultural or historic affiliation to the Sáttítla region including by seeking opportunities for co-stewardship of the monument.

If Tribal Nations with cultural or historic affiliation to the Sáttítla region independently establish a commission or other similar entity (commission) comprised of elected officers or official designees from each participating Tribal Nation to engage in co-stewardship of the monument with the Federal Government through shared responsibilities or administration, then the Secretary shall meaningfully engage the commission in the development, revision, or amendment of the management plan and the management of the monument, including by considering and, as appropriate, integrating the Indigenous Knowledge and special expertise of the members of the commission in the planning and management of the monument.  The management plan for the monument shall also set forth parameters for continued meaningful engagement with the commission, if established, in the implementation of the management plan and, as appropriate, incorporate public education on and interpretation of traditional place names and the cultural significance of land within the monument into the management plan.  The Secretary shall explore opportunities to provide support to the commission, if established, to enable participation in the planning and management of the monument.

The Secretary shall also explore entering into cooperative agreements or contracts, pursuant to the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, 25 U.S.C. 5301 et seq., or other applicable authorities, with Tribes or Tribal organizations to perform administrative or management functions within the monument and providing technical and financial assistance to improve the capacity of Tribal Nations to develop, enter into, and carry out activities under such cooperative agreements or contracts.  The Secretary also shall explore opportunities for funding agreements with Tribal Nations relating to the management and protection of traditional cultural properties and other culturally significant programming associated with the monument.

     Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to alter, modify, abrogate, enlarge, or diminish the rights or jurisdiction of any Tribal Nation, including off-reservation reserved rights.  The Secretary shall, to the maximum extent permitted by law and in consultation with Tribal Nations, ensure the protection of sacred sites and cultural properties and sites in the monument and shall provide access to Tribal members for traditional cultural, spiritual, and customary uses, consistent with the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (42 U.S.C. 1996), the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (42 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq.), Executive Order 13007 of May 24, 1996 (Indian Sacred Sites), and the November 10, 2021, Memorandum of Understanding Regarding Interagency Coordination and Collaboration for the Protection of Indigenous Sacred Sites.  Such uses shall include but are not limited to, traditional hunting activities and the traditional collection of waters, medicines, berries and other vegetation, obsidian and other mineral products, forest products, and firewood for ceremonial practices, so long as each use is carried out consistent with applicable law and in a manner consistent with the proper care and management of the objects identified above.

The Secretary shall explore mechanisms, consistent with applicable law, to enable the protection of Indigenous Knowledge or other information relating to the nature and specific location of cultural resources within the monument and, to the extent practicable, shall explain to the holders of such knowledge or information any limitations on the ability to protect such information from disclosure before it is shared with the Department.

     Consistent with the care and management of the objects identified above, the Secretary shall manage livestock grazing as authorized under existing permits and allotments, and subject to appropriate terms and conditions in accordance with existing laws and regulations.  The Secretary shall not issue new grazing permits and shall not designate new allotments on Federal lands within the monument where livestock grazing is not currently allowed.

     Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to preclude the renewal or assignment of, or interfere with the operation, maintenance, replacement, modification, upgrade, or access to, existing or previously approved flood control, utility, pipeline, and telecommunications sites or facilities; roads or highway corridors; seismic monitoring facilities; or water infrastructure, including wildlife water developments or water district facilities, within the boundaries of existing or previously approved authorizations within the monument.  Existing or previously approved flood control, utility, pipeline, telecommunications, and seismic monitoring facilities, roads or highway corridors, and water infrastructure, including wildlife water developments or water district facilities, may be expanded, and new facilities of such kind may be constructed, to the extent consistent with the proper care and management of the objects identified above and subject to the Secretary’s authorities and other applicable law.

For purposes of protecting and restoring the objects identified above, the Secretary shall prepare a transportation plan that designates the roads and trails on which motorized and non-motorized mechanized vehicle use will be allowed.  The transportation plan shall include management decisions, including road closures and travel restrictions, necessary to protect the objects identified in this proclamation.  Except for emergency purposes and authorized administrative purposes, motorized vehicle use in the monument may be permitted only on roads and trails documented as existing in USDA Forest Service route inventories that exist as of the date of this proclamation.  Any additional roads or trails designated for motorized vehicle use by the general public must be designated only for the purposes of public safety needs or if necessary for the protection of the objects identified above.

     Nothing in this proclamation shall affect the ability of the Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management, after consultation with the Forest Service, to provide access to or to remediate or monitor contaminated lands within the monument, including to provide ancillary road and utility access or water control developments, or access for remediation of geothermal, mine, mill, or tailing sites, for the restoration of natural resources, or for the plugging and abandonment of wells.

Nothing in this proclamation shall preclude low-level overflights of military aircraft, military flight testing or evaluation, the designation of new units of special use airspace, or the use or establishment of military flight training routes after appropriate coordination between the Department of Defense and the Department of Agriculture.

Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge or diminish the jurisdiction of the State of California with respect to fish and wildlife management, including hunting and fishing, on the lands reserved by this proclamation. 

The Secretary may carry out vegetative management treatments within the monument to the extent consistent with the proper care and management of the objects identified above, including addressing ecological restoration, wildlife connectivity or the risk of wildfire, insect infestation, or disease that would endanger the objects identified in this proclamation or imperil public safety.  Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to affect the use of prescribed fire within the monument.  The Secretary shall evaluate opportunities to enter into one or more agreements with governments, including State, local, and Tribal, regarding the protection of the objects identified above during wildland fire prevention and response efforts.

Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to alter the authority or responsibility of any party with respect to emergency response activities within the monument, including wildland fire response and search and rescue.

Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to revoke any existing withdrawal, reservation, or appropriation; however, the monument shall be the dominant reservation.

     Warning is hereby given to all unauthorized persons not to appropriate, injure, destroy, or remove any feature of the monument and not to locate or settle upon any of the lands thereof.

     If any provision of this proclamation, including its application to a particular parcel of land, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this proclamation and its application to other parcels of land shall not be affected thereby.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fourteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.

                              JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

The post Proclamation on the Establishment of the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument appeared first on The White House.

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. today announced the designation of a Presidential Delegation to attend the Inauguration of His Excellency Surangel S. Whipps, Jr. on January 16, 2025, in Ngerulmud, Palau.

The Honorable Joel Ehrendreich, United States Ambassador to the Republic of Palau, will lead the delegation.

###

The post President Biden Announces Presidential Delegation to the Republic of Palau to Attend the Inauguration of His Excellency Surangel S. Whipps, Jr. appeared first on The White House.

Since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, United States’ policy towards Cuba has focused on empowering the Cuban people to freely determine their own future, and advancing respect for human rights.  This singular purpose has guided our policies to reunify Cuban families, strengthen cultural and educational ties between Cuba and the United States, enable remittances to flow more freely to the Cuban people, and increase support for independent Cuban entrepreneurs. 

In that spirit, we are taking several steps to support the Cuban people as part of an understanding with the Catholic Church under the leadership of Pope Francis and improve the livelihood of Cubans.  First, today we notified Congress that President Biden determined Cuba should no longer be designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.  Secondly, we notified Congress that the President issued a waiver for Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, otherwise known as the Libertad Act, for a period of six months.  Finally, President Biden rescinded the 2017 National Security Presidential Memorandum 5 on Cuba policy to eliminate the so-called “restricted list” and by extension the additional regulations on engagement by U.S. persons and entities with Cuban persons and entities, beyond that which is currently prescribed in U.S. legislation.  We have also been informed by the Catholic Church that the Cuban government will soon begin releasing a substantial number of political prisoners.

In taking these steps to bolster the ongoing dialogue between the government of Cuba and the Catholic Church, President Biden is also honoring the wisdom and counsel that has been provided to him by many world leaders, especially in Latin America, who have encouraged him to take these actions, on how best to advance the human rights of the Cuban people.  We take these steps in appreciation of the Catholic Church’s efforts to facilitate Cuba to take its own, constructive measures to restore liberty to its citizens and enable conditions that improve the livelihood of Cubans. 

###

The post Statement from Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Steps to Support the Cuban People appeared first on The White House.

Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security Release New Resources to Help Schools Improve Active Shooter Drills

Emerging Firearm Threats Task Force Sends President Biden Report on Machinegun Conversion Devices and 3D Printed Firearms

The Biden-Harris Administration has overseen the two largest single-year decreases in homicide ever recorded.  Violence in many cities is at pre-pandemic levels.  The Administration helped contribute to these historic decreases through unprecedented public safety funding for states, cities, law enforcement, and community violence interventions; more executive action on gun violence prevention than any other Administration; passing and implementing the first significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years; and the establishment of the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention (OGVP) to coordinate and lead the Administration’s effort to reduce gun crime and other forms of gun violence.

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announces that it completed the work required under the Executive Order President Biden signed in September 2024, directing federal agencies to: 1) help schools improve school-based active shooter drills; and 2) combat the emerging threats of machinegun conversion devices and unserialized, 3D printed firearms. 

New Federal Resources to Help Schools Improve School-Based Active Shooter Drills

Today, the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security each are releasing new resources to help schools design and deploy school-based active shooter drills.  The majority of schools use drills to prepare for an active shooter situation.  However, there is very limited research on how to design and deploy these drills to maximize their impact and minimize any harms they might cause.

The Biden-Harris Administration has worked to dramatically reduce the impacts of gun violence on our schools, educators, and students.  We have made the largest-ever federal government investment in youth mental health and unprecedented funding and resources for schools to prevent and respond to gun violence.  We have also advanced strategies to keep guns out of the hands of students or those who seek to do harm, including by funding the implementation of red flag laws, enhancing background checks for people under 21 who are trying to buy guns, and equipping school leaders with tools to educate parents about the importance of safely storing any firearms in their homes.

While federal, state, and local leaders must continue these strategies to reduce the prevalence of gun violence in schools and communities, the new resources will help schools improve drills so they can effectively prepare for an active shooter situation while also preventing or minimizing any trauma school communities may experience in performing drills. The new resources are summarized below.

• The U.S. Department of Education’s resource, Considerations for Education Leaders in Preparing for Active Drills in Schools, provides substantive considerations school officials can use to plan for before, during, and after school-based active shooter drills.  School administrators and other leaders may find this resource helpful when they are working to design and deploy school-based active shooter drills to save lives and minimize any unintended consequences.  The information in this resource is based on robust outreach with practitioners, experts, and advocates, and are in line with existing research and evidence even as additional research is underway.  For example, the resource explains that schools should provide advance notice about active shooter drills to school communities, including parents; avoid simulated gun violence (including highly sensorial elements like fake gunfire); be age-appropriate and designed in similar ways that schools teach academic content; address the needs of all staff and students (including those in need of special accommodations) and ensure all students (including those with disabilities and English Learners) are provided an equal opportunity to participate in safety training; and always provide a clear, consistent message accessible to all students that the event is a drill.  This resource can be found here.

• The Department of Health and Human Services’ resource, Active Shooter Drills Research: An Annotated Bibliography, summarizes research on active shooter drills.  While there is a need for additional research, this document compiles relevant research for school administrators and other leaders to reference when making decisions about drill design. Researchers may also find this resource useful when working to identify gaps in the research that need to be filled.  This resource can be found here.

• The Department of Homeland Security’s resource, Active Shooter Landscape Assessment, summarizes the different types of active shooter drills currently in use in K-12 schools.  School administrators and other leaders may find this document helpful when they want a better understanding of their choices when designing school-based active shooter drills. This resource can be found here.

Combatting Emerging Firearm Threats

Emerging firearm threats like machinegun conversion devices (MCDs) and 3D printed firearms are deadly new trends that are taking innocent lives. In September 2024, the President signed an Executive Order to establish the federal Emerging Firearm Threats Task Force and ordered it to deliver to him a report that includes a risk assessment of these new threats and new strategies to stop the proliferation of MCDs and 3D printed firearms. The Task Force submitted this report to the President in December 2024.

There are viable strategies to reduce the proliferation of emerging firearm threats, strategies that must continue if the United States is going to stay ahead of these emerging threats.  Key strategies include:

• Enforcement action that focuses on the source of the threats, including illegal import of physical products and the availability of computer code used for 3D printing.

• Identifying and shutting down websites offering illegal products for sale.

• Investing in promising technological solutions that can impede the ability to 3D print illegal products. 

Below is a summary of key points on the risks compiled by the Task Force and potential strategies for combatting emerging firearms threats.

Potential Strategies for Combatting Emerging Firearms Threats

Following an assessment of the risks and data provided by the Task Force, OGVP identified the following strategies for combatting emerging firearms threats:

Machinegun Conversion Devices 

Federal agencies have a number of capabilities and legal authorities to detect, intercept, and seize MCDs.  The main pathways include: (1) seizing the websites that illegally offer MCDs for sale, (2) identifying MCDs at ports of entry, and (3) using traditional forensic tools and building new methods to trace 3D printed MCDs back to their origin.

• Websites: Recently, federal authorities seized more than 350 Internet domains that foreign companies used to sell and illegally import MCDs into the United States in violation of the National Firearms Act and other laws prohibiting trafficking in counterfeit goods.  The websites’ domains were used to import illegal MCDs and silencers from China.  Foreign sellers are continuing to establish these websites, so continued law enforcement prioritization of tracking and shuttering the illegal websites selling MCDs is essential.  Law enforcement should continue to use traditional investigatory methods and new technology to efficiently identify and quickly shut down websites that illegally sell MCDs.  OGVP supports a civil process for suspending websites, especially foreign-based websites, that are selling MCDs in the United States. 

• Port of Entry: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has targeted and tracked illegal MCDs since 2019.  CBP has provided all ports of entry with guidance material that highlights trends in shipping and concealment tactics.  CBP should continuously refresh these trainings and guidance to capture new tactics illegal MCD importers are using to avoid detection.

• Tracing 3D Printed Devices: There are already established traditional forensic toolmark methods to determine the source of a 3D printed MCD.  In addition, digital forensics techniques such as computed tomography and sonication may help identify the producer, the printer, or other specific information on a recovered MCD to help enforcement efforts.  Over time and with advancements in this technology, MCDs could be traced and mapped back to supply chains.  These technology solutions require federal, private sector, and philanthropic investment to become viable.

While there is no current U.S. law regulating the simple possession of computer code that could be used to 3D print MCDs, there are statutory authorities to prevent the illegal import and export of such code. Relevant authorities differentiate whether individuals placing MCD files onto the Internet are based in the United States or abroad. 

• Export: The Department of State (DOS) has jurisdiction over the export of MCDs and related technical data.  Thus, DOS has jurisdiction over a person in the United States who places MCD files onto the Internet. But, unlike the Department of Commerce (DOC), DOS has not published a regulation explaining the contours of its jurisdiction.  DOS should consider regulating computer code in the same fashion DOC regulates the computer code used for 3D printing firearms (which is explained in the next section) or moving jurisdiction for MCDs to DOC. 

• Import: The regulation of firearm imports falls under the jurisdiction of DOJ.  The legal authority to regulate these imports derives from the same statute, the Arms Export Control Act, that grants DOS their authorities. However, while DOJ defines “defense articles” on the U.S. Munitions Import List to include MCDs produced by 3D printers, it does not explicitly cover the computer code used to 3D print MCDs or define “importation” to include downloading computer files from abroad.  OGVP recommends that the interpretation of export and import laws be harmonized and applied to best prevent the distribution of computer code used to print MCDs.

There are also potential emerging software solutions to prevent or impede the 3D printing of MCDs.  Due to the reliance of 3D printers on software to convert MCD 3D designs (.stl files) to G-code, the nature of distribution of software and files for printing, and potential partnerships between the federal government and software companies, there are a range of software-based approaches to addressing this problem.  Members of industry and academia are working together on promising potential avenues to interrupt or block the printing of MCDs, which requires additional federal and philanthropic funding to continue the research and development.  There is significant opportunity for continued collaboration between the federal government, technology companies, philanthropy, and civil society.  Congress should authorize and fund the collaborative effort so it can continue to research live-saving solutions.

One limitation on stopping the proliferation of MCDs is that there are few laws related to the software and technology used to 3D print MCDs.  In a manner consistent with the 1st and 2nd Amendments, OGVP urges Congress to prohibit the possession, distribution, and use of computer code that can be readily used in a 3D printer to make an MCD, and create liability for the websites that permit these files to be accessed.

Unserialized or Undetectable 3D Printed Firearms 

While there is no current U.S. law regulating the simple possession of computer code that could be used to 3D print firearms, there are statutory authorities to prevent the illegal import and export of such code. Relevant authorities differentiate whether individuals placing files onto the Internet are based in the United States or abroad.  OGVP recommends that the interpretation of export and import laws be harmonized and applied to best prevent the distribution of computer code used to print unserialized or undetectable 3D printed firearms.

• Export: The Department of Commerce (DOC) has promulgated a regulation for addressing computer code that can be used to 3D print firearms pursuant to the Export Control Reform Act.[1]  DOC regulates code that is “ready for insertion” into a 3D printer and posted on the Internet.  DOC’s policy covers code that can directly interface with a 3D printer (e.g., G-code) as well as the code of the 3D design that only needs to be converted to G-code through widely available “slicer” software and with minimal additional information or manipulation from the individual.[2]  This provision applies to individuals in the United States who place code on the Internet.  Further interagency collaboration would assist DOC in identifying instances where an individual posts offending code on the Internet.

• Import: The regulation of foreign actors who place computer code on the Internet that could be accessed by individuals in the United States and used to 3D print firearms falls under the jurisdiction of the DOJ.  The legal authority to regulate these imports is substantially similar to the statute that is used by DOC, the Export Control Reform Act.  However, while DOJ defines “defense articles” on the U.S. Munitions Import List to include firearms produced by 3D printers, it does not explicitly cover the computer code used to 3D print firearms or define “importation” to include downloading computer files from abroad.  OGVP notes that these are areas where regulations can be strengthened.

DOJ has not engaged with the additive manufacturing industry on strategies to impede the 3D printing of firearms, but many of the same strategies for addressing 3D printed MCDs may be available.  OGVP suggests that one place to start a collaboration would be on fully plastic firearms that can evade a metal detector.

Like MCDs, one limitation in stopping the proliferation of 3D printed firearms is the lack of laws directly addressing the software and technology related to 3D printing of firearms.  Because of the risk posed by 3D printing firearms to enable prohibited individuals to access firearms, facilitate gun trafficking and illegal gun dealing, and create firearms that evade metal detectors, OGVP proposes that in a manner consistent with the 1st and 2nd Amendments, Congress should prohibit the distribution of software that is ready to be used in a 3D printer to make a firearm, including software that can be easily converted to that form.

Additionally, the Undetectable Firearms Act should be modernized and updated to fully capture the technical specifications of the firearms that can evade security and include prohibitions on the computer code used to 3D print undetectable firearms.

Risk Assessment

Machinegun Conversion Devices 

MCDs are a clear and present danger that pose a substantial threat to public safety and law enforcement because they convert semiautomatic rifles and pistols into fully automatic firearms that fire at rates comparable to military machineguns – up to thousands of rounds per minute.  Often small and difficult to identify, MCDs are inexpensive to make and, due to their size and concealability, much easier to traffic than complete weapons.  The devices are easy to obtain, install, and use. For purposes of federal law, MCDs are classified as machineguns, even when not installed on a firearm, and are subject to all the restrictions in the federal firearm laws applicable to the manufacture, possession, and use of machineguns.[3]

From January 1, 2022, to October 24, 2024, there were approximately 12,374 suspected MCDs recovered by law enforcement agencies and submitted for tracing to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).  In that period, the top ten recovery states comprised 64.4% (7,956) of the 12,360 MCDs recovered in the United States.  Florida (1,516), Illinois (1,376), Texas (1,045), Montana (1,030), and North Dakota (999) have submitted nearly half of all domestic recoveries (48.3% of 12,360).[4]  This total count of MCDs is very likely underinclusive as many MCDs are not submitted into the tracing system or are not identified by law enforcement officers at the time of recovery due to their inconspicuous nature.  One reason that so many MCDs are not identified by law enforcement is because they are not illegal under many state laws, and therefore, local law enforcement officers may not have been trained to identify and confiscate them.

The two principal ways that MCDs are currently acquired in the United States are through illegal imports and illegal 3D printing.  Although the MCDs themselves are machineguns and individuals cannot lawfully possess them under federal law and the laws of about half of the states, except under very limited circumstances, possession of the computer code used to produce them is currently unregulated under federal law. 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has targeted and seized an estimated 16,000 MCDs at the ports of entry since 2019, with the number of seizures increasing between FY22 and FY24.  The import trends have changed over time with shipments now containing a higher volume of MCDs.  The shipment size has increased from 1-2 MCDs per shipment to upwards of 50 per shipment.

MCD importers often use websites readily available to the general public to market their illegal products with websites operating like traditional e-commerce sites where products can be compared, purchased, and shipped to a customer.  A recent investigation by federal law enforcement shut down 350 websites and identified that MCD importers were also using social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok) to market their MCD business and run ads that target certain user accounts in the United States.  MCDs imported into the United States are almost exclusively from the People’s Republic of China.  After a purchase is made, MCDs are mislabeled on customs invoices as random parts, toys, and other innocuous items to thwart detection. 

Software files that can be used to 3D print MCDs are available to the public on the Internet for little or no cost and can be downloaded in minutes on any phone or computer with access to the Internet.  Once the design file is converted to G-code (the code necessary to 3D print an item), an inexpensive 3D printer (less than $150 or accessed for free at a public library) can be used to quickly print a functional MCD.  The 3D printed version of an MCD is nearly as reliable as the metal part.

Unserialized or Undetectable 3D Printed Firearms 

The emergence of unserialized, 3D printed firearms pose significant domestic and international threats.  Domestically, 3D printers can produce firearm components that, when assembled, create fully-functional, untraceable firearms.  While it is legal for individuals who are not otherwise prohibited from possessing firearms to make their own firearms, whether using 3D printing or otherwise, these types of firearms can create serious challenges for law enforcement, especially when in the hands of prohibited individuals, gun traffickers or unlicensed sellers.  Unserialized firearms cannot legally be sold by gun dealers nor provided to others otherwise prohibited from receiving or possessing firearms.  Internationally, Canadian authorities report a rise in 3D printed firearms, although illicit handguns in Canada are primarily sourced from stolen or smuggled U.S. weapons.

Unserialized firearms pose unique threats to public safety.  Law enforcement relies on the tracing of firearms recovered at crime scenes to identify the most recent purchaser of a firearm, thereby creating an investigative lead.  It is nearly impossible to trace unserialized firearms because they lack the necessary identification markings upon which tracing relies.  A law enforcement officer who encounters an unserialized firearm at a crime scene will therefore be unable to generate an investigative lead from a firearm trace.  In addition, unserialized firearms may not be traced to their point of origin, precluding firearm trafficking investigations from determining larger illegal trafficking patterns and those responsible for the trafficking.  These public safety concerns are the same whether the firearm is assembled from a ghost gun kit or 3D printed.

Undetectable firearms are not detectable by standard metal detectors and pose a particularly acute threat because they can be smuggled into sensitive areas such as airports, courthouses, government facilities, and large arenas.  Undetectable firearms may be made entirely of polymer, without metal, which is why they are undetectable by standard metal detectors.  While unserialized and undetectable firearms pose distinct threats, they are related because undetectable firearms may be produced by consumers using commercially available 3D printers.  The availability of undetectable firearms presents serious threats to public safety and national security.  The availability of 3D printing and files to print an undetectable firearm enables individuals to bypass background checks, border control, and other security measures, increasing the potential for prohibited persons, terrorists, and criminal organizations to use these weapons.  

Like simple possession of the computer code for 3D printing MCDs, simple possession of the computer code that enables a person to 3D print an undetectable firearm is not currently illegal under U.S. law.  The computer code needed for 3D printing can be downloaded or received from individuals on forums and purchased through web-based marketplaces, including on the dark web.  Though some expertise is needed, 3D printer users with minimal additional technical skills can successfully 3D print a firearm.

Transnational and terrorist criminal organizations, including cartels, have increasingly exploited 3D printing technology to manufacture firearms.  This capability allows them to bypass traditional supply chains and border controls, making it easier to arm their networks without detection.  These groups’ use of 3D printed firearms amplifies violence, disrupts security, and complicates efforts to combat organized crime.  The ease of production and distribution of 3D printed weapons, by or for the use of criminal or terrorist organizations, poses threats not only to the U.S., but also to its partner nations, straining law enforcement and national security measures.  The trend of 3D printed firearms’ use in transnational crime underscores the need for coordinated international regulations and prevention strategies to address the proliferation of these weapons.

[1] 15 C.F.R. § 734.7(c). “The following remains subject to the EAR: “software” or “technology” for the production of a firearm, or firearm frame or receiver, controlled under ECCNs 0A501, 0A506, 0A507, or 0A509, that is made available by posting on the internet in an electronic format, such as AMF or G-code, and is ready for insertion into a computer numerically controlled machine tool, additive manufacturing equipment, or any other equipment that makes use of the “software” or “technology” to produce the firearm frame or receiver or complete firearm.”

[2] In 2020, DOC provided public guidance on what types of files are covered in an FAQ document available on the BIS website. See https://www.bis.doc.gov/index.php/documents/policy-guidance/2572-faqs-for-the-commerce-category-i-iii-firearms-rule-posted-on-bis-website-7-7-20/file. If a person is unsure whether the criteria of section 734.7(c) are met, including whether the “technology” or “software” is ready for insertion into a computer numerically controlled machine tool, additive manufacturing equipment, or any other equipment, persons with such “technology” or “software” can submit an official classification request to BIS using the free online submission system, called SNAP-R, available on the BIS website to receive an official classification.

[3] See, Title 26, U.S.C., Section 5845(b) and Title 18, U.S.C., Section 922(o).

[4] Note that certain of these seizure statistics may include Forced-Reset Triggers, and the legality of certain types of Forced-Reset Triggers is subject to ongoing litigation.  Compare United States v. Rare Breed Triggers, LLC, 690 F. Supp. 3d 51, 88 (E.D.N.Y. 2023) (“[T]he Government is likely to succeed on the merits of its contention that the FRT-15,” a type of Forced-Reset Trigger, “is an illegal machinegun.”) with Nat’l Ass’n for Gun Rts., Inc. v. Garland, No. 4:23-CV-00830-O, 2024 WL 3517504, at *1 (N.D. Tex. July 23, 2024) (holding that the FRT-15 and WOT, a similar type of Forced-Reset Trigger, are not illegal machineguns). 

###

The post BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION TAKES ACTION TO COMBAT EMERGING FIREARM THREATS AND IMPROVE SCHOOL-BASED ACTIVE SHOOTER DRILLS appeared first on The White House.