Statements and Releases

President Biden and Vice President Harris believe that every person should have access to clean drinking water and a healthy environment. On World Water Day, the Biden-Harris Administration is building on historic progress to secure clean water for all by announcing new actions to protect our vital freshwater resources and ensure every community can count on clean water when they turn on the faucet.

Rivers, lakes, wetlands, and other freshwater resources are fundamental to the health, prosperity, and resiliency of the nation, and sacred to many Tribes. Through the America the Beautiful Initiative and the global Freshwater Challenge, the Biden-Harris Administration is delivering on the first-ever national conservation goal to protect at least 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030 – accelerating locally-led efforts to tackle the world’s intertwined water, climate, and nature crises.

To ensure that clean water reaches communities across the country, the Biden-Harris Administration is harnessing historic resources from the President’s Investing in America agenda to replace lead pipes and other drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, build resilience to drought, and conserve and restore our rivers, wetlands, lakes, and ponds. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law alone includes more than $50 billion to help ensure every community has access to clean water.

While the Biden-Harris Administration delivers on a national commitment to protect clean water, this week Congressional Republicans are continuing attempts to weaken the Clean Water Act. These attacks are part of a decades-long effort to undermine Clean Water Act safeguards, which culminated in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Sackett decision last year – one of the largest judicial rollbacks of environmental protections in U.S. history. A report released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today reveals that from 2009-2019, the wetlands loss rate increased 50 percent over the prior decade, further showing the urgent need to use all the tools and resources available at the national, State, Tribal, and local level to protect and conserve America’s waters.

This World Water Day, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing new actions and resources to advance the most ambitious clean water agenda in history:

• The Army Corps of Engineers is releasing a new memorandum outlining ways it will support the protection, restoration, and enhancement of waters and wetlands that are more vulnerable following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Sackett decision.
   
• The White House Council on Environmental Quality is releasing a Wetland and Water Protection Resource Guide for Tribes, States, Territories, local governments, private land owners, and non-governmental organizations to advance water resource protection. The Resource Guide highlights technical assistance and funding opportunities available across the federal government.
   
• NOAA is announcing $60 million from the President’s Investing in America agenda for fish hatcheries to produce salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River Basin. This builds on a historic agreement the Biden-Harris Administration secured in partnership with Tribes and States in the Pacific Northwest to restore wild salmon and steelhead populations.
   
• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the Understanding Water Affordability Across Contexts, LIHWAP Water Utility Affordability Survey Report, which highlights the differences in water affordability across the country. President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget provides $4.1 billion for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), helping families access home energy and weatherization assistance, and proposes to allow States the option to use a portion of those funds to provide water bill assistance to low-income households.

Today’s announcements build on a series of landmark investments and actions the Biden-Harris Administration has taken to protect and restore the nation’s freshwater resources by advancing conservation, building resilience, and expanding access to clean drinking water.

Protecting more than 26 million acres of lands and waters, putting President Biden on track to conserve more lands and waters than any President in history. Highlights of the Biden-Harris Administration’s water conservation accomplishments, driven by the America the Beautiful Initiative, include:

• Safeguarding the Colorado River watershed by creating the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument, protecting nearly one million acres of greater Grand Canyon landscape. President Biden’s designation honors Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples by protecting sacred ancestral places and their historically and scientifically important features, while conserving our public lands, protecting wildlife habitat and clean water, and supporting local economies. President Biden has also designated additional national monuments that protect freshwater resources, including the freshwater springs of Castner Range National Monument and the high alpine lakes of Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument.
   
• Protecting the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and surrounding watershed from mining, which would have harmed the area’s watershed, fish and wildlife, Tribal and treaty rights, and outdoor recreation economy. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is a spectacular network of rivers, lakes, and forests in northeastern Minnesota that comprise the most heavily visited wilderness area in the United States. By withdrawing these lands from future mineral leasing, the Biden-Harris Administration is keeping the iconic area intact for future generations.
   
• Addressing threats to Alaska’s Bristol Bay, the most productive wild salmon ecosystem in the world and home to 25 Tribal Nations. Six rivers meet in Bristol Bay, traveling through 40,000 miles of tundra, wetlands, and lakes. EPA acted to help protect these waters and the communities dependent upon them from contamination associated with developing the Pebble Mine.
   
• Tackling transboundary water pollution in the Elk-Kootenai watershed to protect the people and species that depend on this vital river system. For over a decade, the Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples within the Elk-Kootenai watershed have requested that the U.S. and Canadian governments address pollution that has impaired downstream communities, fish populations, and ecosystems. Under President Biden’s leadership, the U.S. and Canadian governments have taken a key step with Ktunaxa Nation to achieve transboundary cooperation to protect clean water.
   
• Restoring the flow of rivers and streams by investing $1 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to remove, repair, and redesign infrastructure that impede water flow. The first round of grants will fix or remove almost 170 fish culverts and improve approximately 550 miles of stream habitat across the country – with a total of $196 million awarded to Tribal, state, and local governments. Reconnecting these waterways reconnects communities to their rivers, increases ecological functions of the rivers and streams, and ensures that goods – traveling along these rural roads from farms to urban areas – make their way to market.

Making unprecedented investments and leading collaborative efforts to increase the resilience of our water ecosystems. Highlights of the Biden-Harris Administration’s work to build the resilience of our communities and waters include:

• Delivering the largest single federal investment in the Everglades through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Years of human development have isolated portions of the Florida Everglades and altered natural flow patterns for freshwater, and the Everglades are already feeling the impacts of climate change and sea level rise. The Army Corps of Engineers has invested $1.1 billion through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help restore the ecosystems and water flows of the Everglades’ two million acres of wetlands. Thriving wetlands will also filter out pollution to improve water quality for the one-third of Floridians who rely on the Everglades for drinking water, and will help improve resilience to flooding that impacts the state.  In addition, this month the Department of the Interior established the Everglades to Gulf Conservation Area, a four-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge, where tools like voluntary conservation easements can be used to protect wildlife corridors, enhance outdoor recreation access, and bolster climate resilience.
   
• Leading a comprehensive effort to make Western communities more resilient to climate change and ongoing megadrought by harnessing the full resources of President Biden’s historic Investing in America agenda. As climate change has accelerated over the past two decades, the Colorado River Basin experienced the driest period in the region in over one thousand years. Together, the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provide the largest investment in climate resilience in our nation’s history, including $15.4 billion for western water to enhance the West’s resilience to drought and deliver unprecedented resources to protect the Colorado River System for all whose lives and livelihoods depend on it. Following extensive engagement with States, Tribes, and water users, the Administration announced a historic agreement to conserve at least 3 million-acre-feet of water in the Colorado River Basin through the end of 2026.
   
• Restoring wild salmon, steelhead and other native fish, in the Columbia River Basin. Building on President Biden’s direction to Federal agencies, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a historic agreement to work in partnership with Pacific Northwest Tribes and States to restore wild salmon populations, facilitate the development of Tribally sponsored clean energy production, and provide stability for communities that depend on the Columbia River System. The Administration committed more than $1 billion to the effort, which will, among other things, be used to restore freshwater habitat.
   
• Restoring the Klamath River Basin ecosystem and building drought resilience. With the removal of four dams underway, the Klamath Basin Drought Resilience Keystone Initiative is reestablishing wetlands and their functions, and advancing post-fire restoration efforts. The Department of the Interior, working in a whole of government approach, has leveraged funding from additional federal agencies as well as from Tribal, state, and other partners to restore the ecological function of the river and its associated river systems. The dam removals alone will open access to more than 400 miles of habitat for salmon and steelhead trout, help restore Tribal food sovereignty, and improve the health and water quality of the river.
   
• Providing rapid-response American expertise to international partners on critical water and climate adaptation challenges. Through the Ambassador’s Water Experts Program (AWEP), the Department of State and the Department of the Interior have deployed over 30 U.S. experts to support more than 20 technical and capacity building engagements since 2019, and already have six AWEP engagements underway in 2024. AWEP works through U.S. diplomatic posts to respond to time sensitive requests for support on a broad range of water and climate resilience topics and promotes long-term collaboration on water security.
   
• Strengthening data for decision-making and early warning systems to protect communities worldwide. The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and USAID are working with over 50 countries in Asia, Africa, and the Americas through the SERVIR Initiative, which uses satellite data to address critical challenges in food security, water resources, weather and climate, land use, and water-related disasters. NASA is also working with the U.S. Department of State to provide advanced remote-sensing, modeling, and capacity building activities through the Strategic Hydrologic and Agricultural Remote-sensing for Environments Program, which brings data and technical resources to end-users in some of the most complex hydrologic domains in the world. These efforts are supported by the launch of NASA’s Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission, a new satellite that will establish the first-ever global survey of Earth’s surface water. This innovation will improve our understanding of how water bodies change over time and will aid in freshwater management around the world.

Expanding access to clean drinking water and wastewater by investing more than $50 billion from the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – the largest investment in clean water in American history. Highlights of this effort and other steps to address water pollution include:

• Removing all lead service lines. Over 9 million homes, schools, and businesses receive their drinking water through a lead pipe. Exposure to lead can cause irreversible brain damage in children, even knocking off several IQ points. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes a historic $15 billion in dedicated funding for lead pipe replacement, in support of President Biden’s goal of replacing all lead pipes within a decade.
  
• Combatting toxic “forever chemicals” in drinking water and wastewater. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests $10 billion to address harmful PFAS pollution in drinking water and wastewater. EPA has also proposed the first-ever national standard to address these “forever chemicals” in drinking water. This builds on President Biden’s action plan to combat PFAS pollution, safeguarding public health and advancing environmental justice.
  
• Ensuring no community is left behind. Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, nearly half of these clean drinking water and wastewater investments will be provided as grants or forgivable loans to disadvantaged communities, advancing President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative. In addition, EPA has launched several initiatives to partner with underserved communities nationwide to provide the support and technical assistance they need to access clean water funding. EPA will partner with 200 communities to help them replace lead pipes, while the initiative will help an additional 150 communities execute wastewater and sanitation projects. For example, in Lowndes County, Alabama, roughly 90 percent of households have failing wastewater systems and many children and families are exposed to raw sewage in their own backyards. EPA and USDA have worked with the Lowndes County community of White Hall to secure over $500,000 in federal funding for wastewater projects. In nearby Hayneville, EPA has awarded a 100% forgivable $8.7 million loan to address failing or non-existent wastewater systems in 650 homes.
   
• Investing more than $1 billion to restore the Great Lakes, a vital economic engine that supplies drinking water for more than 20 million Americans, supports more than 1.3 million jobs, and sustains life for thousands of species. With the largest investment in the Great Lakes in two decades through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA is cleaning up and restoring the Great Lakes’ most environmentally degraded sites, including the Milwaukee Estuary in Wisconsin and the Cuyahoga River in Ohio.
   
• Delivering clean water to Tribal Nations. For years, Tribal Nations have been left without access to safe, clean water for drinking and sanitation; today, approximately 48% of Tribal communities go without this human right. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has delivered $4.2 billion to date to provide safe, clean water for Tribal Nations and secure historic Tribal water rights. This includes over $8 million to remediate arsenic contamination that has been in the Hopi Tribe’s water supply since the 1960s. The Hopi Arsenic Management Project will make necessary infrastructure improvements to provide clean drinking water to over 5,000 people.
   
• Increasing access to safe and sustainable drinking water and sanitation services around the world. The U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) recent annual report shows that since the passage of the Water for the World Act ten years ago, USAID’s water, sanitation, and hygiene investments have resulted in more than 42 million people gaining access to sustainable drinking water and 38 million gaining access to sustainable sanitation services. With a focus on climate resilience, inclusivity and gender equality, locally-led development, and private-sector engagement, these investments are contributing to progress toward UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 to achieve universal access to clean water and sanitation. 

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Jobs and People are Returning to Puerto Rico Thanks to Over $140 billion in Federal Obligations Since President Biden and Vice President Harris Took Office

Today, during the Vice President’s visit to Puerto Rico, she will emphasize the Biden-Harris Administration’s ongoing commitment to supporting the island’s recovery and renewal. Vice President Harris will highlight how Puerto Rico’s economic turnaround has begun thanks to more than $140 billion in Federal obligations for the island supported by unprecedented whole-of-government partnerships through the Puerto Rico Economic Dialogue.[1]

Since President Biden and Vice President Harris took office, Puerto Rico has added more than 100,000 new jobs. [2] This includes construction employment, which is up by close to 30 percent. [3] Unemployment is now at a historic low of under six percent, [4] and labor force participation is growing to the highest level in more than a decade. [5] And in 2023, Puerto Rico had its first year of positive net migration since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. [6]

The beginning of Puerto Rico’s economic turnaround has come as the Biden-Harris Administration launched the Puerto Rico Economic Dialogue in December 2022, an unprecedented whole of government approach across 17 Departments that was organized in close collaboration with the Government of Puerto Rico. It is being led by Commerce’s Deputy Secretary Graves, the Puerto Rico Economic Recovery Coordinator. President Biden and Vice President Harris have long been reliable champions for Puerto Rico as they have fought for the health, wellbeing, and economic success of those who call the island home.

Infrastructure Investments are Creating Jobs and Rebuilding Communities in Puerto Rico

Construction employment has one of the fastest growth rates of any sector of the Puerto Rico economy – with 7,800 more jobs since January 2021.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) officials have collaborated with Puerto Rico government officials to facilitate an efficient deployment of reconstruction funds. FEMA adopted a new island-wide method (the Island-Wide Benefit Cost Analysis) to provide a holistic approach to accelerate the completion of Hurricane Maria related resilience projects. 

As of March 2024, Puerto Rico’s Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction, and Resiliency (COR3) reports that there are 2,725 projects with FEMA funding currently in the construction phase totaling $1.39 billion in project costs. Another 1,769 projects with a total projected cost of $814.3 million are in the procurement pipeline for construction. [7]

These investments are starting to rebuild communities.

• In San Juan, at Mirador Las Casas, new construction on the 294-unit apartment complex started in April 2023 and is funded by an investment of $96.2 million from a combination of permanent tax-exempt bonds, 4% Federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits generating $26 million in equity and deferred developer fees, plus $66.9 million from HUD’s Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program.
   
• In Carolina, CDBG-DR funds are being used for the renovation and remodeling of Sánchez Osorio and Galicia avenues.  The $43.4 million project will include improvements to the existing storm water system and replacing the lighting system.  The project which launched in January 2023 is creating 520 direct jobs according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
  
• When Hurricane Maria hit in 2017, Cataño lost more than 600 of its homes.  With a $44.1 million investment – including $29.2 million in CDBG-DR funds – the Bahia Apartments are rising in Cataño.  The new apartments will provide more than 100 new affordable housing units in the municipio of just over 20,000 residents.
   
• Under the CDBG-DR funded R3 Program, Puerto Rico’s Department of Housing is providing assistance to eligible homeowners to repair damaged homes or rebuild substantially damaged homes in non-hazardous areas. Priority is provided to “blue roof” homes, elderly applicants, disabled applicants and low to moderate income applicants.  As of March 2024, more than 6,100 homes have been repaired or reconstructed.

Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that Vice President Harris helped make possible with her tie-breaking vote in the Senate, more than $2.1 billion in projects have been announced. This includes $754.3 million in announced transportation projects.[8]  With support from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority is managing the expansion of Rafael Hernández International Airport and the PR-10 and PR-2 highways.  Puerto Rico’s Department of Transportation will receive $51.4 million to install fast EV charging ports at 10 locations along a major roadway designated as an Alternative Fuel Corridor. All charging stations will be within one mile of highway exits and less than 30 miles from each other.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continues to award and implement key construction contracts for four major projects:

• San Juan Harbor Improvements includes the widening and deepening of the inner San Juan Harbor channels to improve efficiency of cruise ships, container vessels, and petroleum tanker operations. This project also federalized an additional 1000-ft of the San Antonio channel making it more competitive for Oasis class cruise ships. Overall, this project sustains vital tourism, strengthens supply chains, and increases energy resilience on the island.
   
• Caño Martin Peña Ecosystem Restoration Project will re-establish the tidal connection between the San Jose Lagoon and San Juan Bay. The restoration project is critical for the revitalization of eight impoverished communities with a population of over 26,000 residents settled along the Martín Peña tidal channel.
   
• Rio Puerto Nuevo Flood Control Project will reduce the impact of flooding to over 150,000 residents and businesses in the metropolitan San Juan basin.
   
• Rio de La Plata Flood Control Project will provide flood reduction benefits to the municipalities of Dorado and Toa Baja.

Clean Energy, Broadband and Resilience Investments Position Puerto Rico for Sustainable Growth

• Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Granholm has traveled to Puerto Rico to convene stakeholders in support of Puerto Rico’s energy grid modernization; established an interagency Puerto Rico Grid Recovery and Modernization Team to accelerate the rebuilding of and upgrades to the island’s electrical infrastructure; and commissioned a 2-year study (PR-100) – funded by FEMA – analyzing stakeholder driven pathways to Puerto Rico’s clean energy future. 
   
• In December 2022, President Biden signed the FY 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act into law, which included $1 billion for the establishment of the Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund (“PR-ERF”) to drive key investments in renewable and resilient energy infrastructure in Puerto Rico.  In November 2023, companies and non-profits were selected by DOE to negotiate awards of up to $440 million of the PR-ERF for the installation of solar systems in low-income houses across the island. 
   
• In April 2023, DOE’s Loan Programs Office announced a conditional commitment to a private operator to make distributed energy resources including rooftop solar, battery storage, and virtual power plant-ready software available to more American homeowners.  The project is expected to prioritize providing up to 20% of installed systems through its loans to homeowners in Puerto Rico.
   
• With Inflation Reduction Act funds, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) has helped small businesses and farmers to obtain renewable energy systems and energy-efficient equipment, which enable them to have power consistently and at lower costs.

• Close to $1 billion in funding from National Telecommunication and Information Administration’s BEAD Program, The American Rescue Plan (ARP) ’s Capital Projects Fund, and the Federal Communications Commission’s Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund will support the Smart Island program vision of building a new submarine cable to ensure network resilience and enabling programs that create equitable access to the Internet, including rural communities. Under the Smart Island program, the goal is to provide connectivity for all residential, commercial and government structures in Puerto Rico, so that every resident of the island has access to high speed Internet through the right infrastructure.
   
• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) invested $1.6 million across four municipalities in Puerto Rico (Aguas Buenas, Aibonito, Corozal, and Las Piedras) under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support brownfield cleanup, the first step in redeveloping land to support climate change mitigation and leveraging the land for projects such as solar farms.
   
• The Federal Transit Administration has awarded a total of $471 million in American Rescue Plan – which the Vice President helped make possible by casting the tie-breaking vote to advance the legislation in the Senate – and BIL funding to Puerto Rico since FY 2021 to support cleaner buses, train and ferry service. An additional $20 million has been awarded for the purchase of low and no emission buses.
   
• The Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recommended $34.4 million in funding across eight projects partnering with non-government organizations s in Puerto Rico to mitigate the effects of extreme weather events, support coastal and marine research, improve safety in the marine and coastal environment, and ensure sustainable fisheries.

Workforce Investments Ensure Puerto Rico’s Long-Term Competitiveness

• Through the American Rescue Plan’s Good Jobs Challenge, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) invested $6.7 million in a partnership with UnidosUS and Puerto Rico’s One Stop Career Center  aimed at creating workforce development programs in the construction and aerospace industries. This innovative project was competitively selected as one of 32 winners out of more than 500 applicants.
   
• As of the end of 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor, in coordination with the Puerto Rico Department of Economic Development and Commerce, has introduced 24 new registered apprenticeship programs, and registered approximately 770 new apprentices, providing practical training and skills for workers.
   
• To help meet Puerto Rico’s need for a workforce to support reconstruction, the Government of Puerto Rico has discretion to use up to $225 million in BIL funds for workforce development. BIL provides that activities related to workforce development are funded at 100% federal share. Recent Federal Highway Administration guidance clarifies which federal-aid formula funds can be used by state departments of transportation and U.S. territories to support workforce development

• In a joint effort between Education Secretary Cardona and Governor Pierluisi, the decentralization of the Puerto Rico Department of Education has begun. This significant transformation aims to make schools more responsive to the needs of school communities, potentially impacting workforce development by aligning education more closely with labor market requirements.  The first three decentralization pilot zones will take effect later in 2024.
   
• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services established an MOU in March 2023 between the University of Puerto Rico and the PR Department of the Family, providing $12.5 million of Title IV-E funding for 5 years in support of hiring and training social workers, implementing retention strategies and mitigating high-caseloads. The first cohort of social work students began their studies in August 2023.

Economic Development Investments Promote Innovation and Entrepreneurship

• EDA designated the PRBio Tech Hub as one of 31 inaugural Tech Hubs in the U.S., a consortium led by the Puerto Rico Science and Technology and Research Trust that will advance the region as a global leader in biotechnology.  
   
• The Department of Defense (DoD), in collaboration with the Government of Puerto Rico, invested close to $4 million to launch a LIFT satellite facility to enhance advanced manufacturing technology and talent development opportunities. LIFT is the DoD Manufacturing Innovation Institute (MII) for Advanced Materials, one of nine DoD MIIs and one of 17 national MIIs under the Manufacturing USA network.  In addition, the Navy announced an additional $1 million DoD investment in LIFT Puerto Rico for manufacturing ecosystem development.
   
• DoD continues to provide funding and assistance to renovate the infrastructure of Roosevelt Roads and lay the ground work for space commerce, tourism, and commercial marine operations.
   
• The American Rescue Plan’s State Small Business Credit Initiative is investing up to $109 million so that the PR Economic Development Bank can provide capital to small businesses such as Biosimilar who acquired specialized equipment to strengthen its production capacity while contributing to the pharmaceutical industry in Puerto Rico.   Additionally, the University of Sagrado Corazon received a Capital Readiness grant from Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency to prepare entrepreneurs to launch and scale businesses. The Small Business Administration conducted over 200 small business-focused events during 2023 and according to the Government of Puerto Rico, the Federal government granted over $500 million in contracts to Puerto Rico businesses in 2023.
   
• USDA established the Rural Partners Network to help communities navigate and access federal resources, while supporting long-term economic stability on their own terms with initiatives in sustainable energy, entrepreneurship, housing and healthcare, among others. The network supports communities in the central, eastern and southwest regions of the island.

Investments Continue to Support Puerto Rico Families and Children and Reduce Poverty

• President Biden and Vice President Harris have spent their careers fighting for the wellbeing of children and families. To support Puerto Rico’s families, the American Rescue Plan (ARP) broadened tax benefits at an historic scale by expanding the Child Tax Credit (CTC) in Puerto Rico to all families with at least one child, permanently bringing CTC benefits into parity with the mainland. As a result, 225,00 families in Puerto Rico are now eligible for the credit—as opposed to just 20,000 families in 2019. A historic expansion in the American Rescue Plan and strong working partnership between the White House, the Government of Puerto Rico and countless community-based organizations also ensured that Puerto Rican families saw significant benefits from ARP’s expansion of the CTC in 2021, dramatically cutting child poverty. The average annual benefit was $4,700 per family in 2021, with more than $1.2 billion disbursed to families in Puerto Rico for 2021. The American Rescue Plan’s changes to the CTC for Puerto Rico will continue to cut child poverty in Puerto Rico – and ensure a fairer tax system – for years to come.
   
• ARP also made historic investments in the Earned Income Tax Credit for Puerto Rico workers. It provided substantial funding to expand Puerto Rico’s version of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). This investment will quadruple the EITC for Puerto Rican workers and narrow longstanding disparities in access to the EITC between Puerto Rico and the mainland. These two expansions of the CTC and EITC will continue to reduce child poverty in Puerto Rico by about 11% in future years, and the President continues to fight to restore the additional expansions that cut child poverty nearly in half in 2021.
   
• And with many struggling to make ends meet, ARP provided a permanent, annual increase of over $463 million for its food assistance block grant going forward, in addition to nearly $1 billion in emergency food assistance for Puerto Rico to help them recover from the pandemic.
   
• President Biden has called on Congress to pass legislation to transition Puerto Rico from the current capped NAP federal nutrition block grant, which is insufficient to meet the island’s needs, to the SNAP program used by other states. To prepare for a transition, the USDA arranged six in-person and virtual state exchange visits for Puerto Rico officials to learn about SNAP operations; contracted for translation of handbooks, guides, and relevant SNAP materials into Spanish; and supported Puerto Rico’s efforts to give NAP participants access to job training and support services similar to what is required under SNAP. USDA will continue to work closely with Puerto Rico officials to support a successful transition from NAP to SNAP once Congress opens up this pathway. 

The Biden-Harris Administration will continue its focus on reconstruction and efforts to advance the full and long-term economic recovery of Puerto Rico – with active engagement with residents, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, unions, academia and local elected officials. 

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[1] Data is from USAspending.gov.

[2] Seasonally Adjusted Total Nonfarm Employment in Puerto Rico increased from 851.1 in January 2021 to 956.4 in January 2024 (employment in thousands).  Data for January 2024 is Preliminary.  Data is from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment database. 

[3] Seasonally Adjusted Total Construction Employment in Puerto Rico increased from 27.9 in January 2021 to 35.7 in January 2024 (employment in thousands). Data for January 2024 is Preliminary.  Data is from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment database.

[4] Unemployment Rate in Puerto Rico (PRUR) | FRED | St. Louis Fed (stlouisfed.org)

[5] Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15+) (modeled ILO estimate) – Puerto Rico | Data (worldbank.org) and PRMEI_ENG.pdf

[6] U.S. Population Trends Return to Pre-Pandemic Norms (census.gov)

[7] Puerto Rico Disaster Recovery Transparency Portal – COR3 (pr.gov)

[8] Data last updated on February 6, 2024 and accessed from www.build.gov.

The post FACT SHEET: During Visit, Vice President Kamala Harris to Highlight Biden-Harris Administration’s Historic Investments and Partnerships That Have Helped Lead to Puerto Rico’s Economic Comeback appeared first on The White House.

This week, the Republican Study Committee, which represents 100% of House Republican leadership and nearly 80% of their members, released a budget that—among its many other anti-choice restrictions—endorses a national abortion ban with zero exceptions for rape or incest.

The Republican Study Committee budget:

• Supports eliminating reproductive freedom for all women in every state and puts IVF treatment squarely on the chopping block through House Republicans’ support for the Life at Conception Act.

• Endorses banning mifepristone – an FDA-approved, safe and effective medication that has been on the market for more than 20 years.

• Supports rolling back policies that help ensure our Nation’s veterans have access to abortion care when their health or lives are at risk or in cases of rape or incest.

• Guts funding for contraception—which is supported by the vast majority of Americans on both sides of the aisle—for low-income and uninsured women. This would further erode access to essential health care, from cancer screening to primary care, at a time when state abortion bans have already forced health clinics that provide contraception and other critical health services to close.

If House Republicans get their way, all of these proposals would become the law of the land.

When the Supreme Court – enabled by justices nominated by Donald Trump – overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed politicians to intrude in the most personal decisions women and families can make, it paved the road for Republican elected officials to pursue their extreme agenda. Their latest budget advances that extreme agenda.

Republican elected officials have already imposed abortion bans in 21 states and last year, they introduced more than 380 state bills attacking access to reproductive health care. And, as the Republican Study Committee budget makes clear, they won’t stop until a national abortion ban is in place.

President Biden has been clear: he will do everything in his power to fight back and protect reproductive health from these extreme attacks and he will continue to call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade into federal law so that women can make their own health care decisions.

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This week, the White House Office of Public Engagement convened a roundtable on President Biden’s efforts to support Black men’s mental health. This event was moderated by Charisse Jones of USA Today and featured actor, Courtney B. Vance; recording artist, Raheem DeVaughn; actor, Lamman Rucker; Best-Selling Author and Licensed Psychologist, Dr. Robin L. Smith; and Public Health Analyst from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Dr. Walker Tisdale.

Since the beginning of his Administration, President Biden has prioritized tackling the mental health crisis in America, including advancing health equity in communities of color. In 2022, he released a comprehensive mental health strategy designed to strengthen system capacity, connect more people to care, and create healthier environments. To support this work and help advance how we transform mental health in the United States, the Administration launched 988, expanded community mental health centers, and established new Centers of Excellence to help promote mental health with a goal to provide culturally competent and quality care.

The Biden-Harris Administration has and will continue to invest critical resources to expand mental health and substance use support to Americans, including through the President’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2025.

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WASHINGTON – Today, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to serve as key leaders in his Administration:

• Michael Sulmeyer, Nominee to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy, Department of Defense
• Christopher T. Hanson, Nominee to be Member and Chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Michael Sulmeyer, Nominee to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy, Department of Defense

Michael Sulmeyer is the Principal Cyber Advisor to the Secretary of the Army. He is responsible for advising the Secretary on all cyber matters, including issues of readiness, capabilities, and strategy. Prior to his appointment with the U.S. Army, Sulmeyer served in a variety of roles in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the National Security Council, and at U.S. Cyber Command.

Outside of government, Sulmeyer was the Director of the Cybersecurity Project at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He has also taught at the University of Texas School of Law and was a Senior Fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology.

Christopher T. Hanson, Nominee to be Member and Chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Christopher T. Hanson was designated Chair of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) by President Joe Biden in 2021. He was sworn in as a Commissioner on June 8, 2020, and is filling the remainder of a five-year term ending on June 30, 2024.

Hanson has more than two decades of government and private-sector experience in the fields of nuclear energy. Prior to joining the NRC, he served as a staff member on the Senate Appropriations Committee, where he oversaw civilian and national security nuclear programs. Before working in the Senate, Hanson served as a Senior Advisor in the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy. He also served in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, where he oversaw nuclear and environmental cleanup programs, and managed the department’s relationship with congressional appropriations committees.

Prior to joining the department, he served as a consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton, where he led multiple engagements for government and industry in the energy sector.

Hanson earned master’s degrees from Yale Divinity School and Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, where he focused on ethics and natural resource economics. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religious Studies from Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana.

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The United States welcomes the UN General Assembly’s adoption of a resolution setting out principles for the deployment and use of artificial intelligence (AI). President Biden and I are committed to establishing and strengthening international rules and norms on emerging technology – because technology with global impact, such as AI, requires global action, and when it comes to the challenges of the 21st century, we believe all nations must be guided by a common set of understandings. This resolution proposed by the United States and co-sponsored by more than 100 nations, is a historic step toward establishing clear international norms for AI and for fostering safe, secure, and trustworthy AI systems.

As I said in London last year, AI must be in the public interest – it must be adopted and advanced in a way that protects everyone from potential harm and ensures everyone is able to enjoy its benefits.  And we must also address the full spectrum of risk, from catastrophic risks to all of humanity to the harms felt by individuals and communities, such as bias. Too often, in past technological revolutions, the benefits have not been shared equitably, and the harms have been felt by a disproportionate few. This resolution establishes a path forward on AI where every country can both seize the promise and manage the risks of AI.

This resolution reflects extensive consultation and input from countries all around the world. Together we have set a path whereby AI can be harnessed for sustainable development, all nations gain access to AI resources and expertise, and all nations understand the need to protect the safety, privacy, and human rights of their citizens. And the resolution makes clear that protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms must be central to the development and use of AI systems.

As this technology continues to evolve, the United States will continue to lead and work with partners throughout the international community to build on the important foundational principles adopted by the UN General Assembly today.

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Today, the UN General Assembly in New York adopted by consensus a resolution establishing principles for the deployment and use of artificial intelligence (AI). This resolution, proposed by the United States and co-sponsored by more than 100 countries, is a historic step in fostering safe, secure, and trustworthy AI systems.
 
The resolution adopted today lays out a comprehensive vision for how countries should respond to the opportunities and challenges of AI. It lays out a path for international cooperation on AI, including to promote equitable access, take steps to manage the risks of AI, protect privacy, guarding against misuse, prevent exacerbated bias and discrimination. Developed in consultation with civil society and private sector experts, the resolution squarely addresses the priorities of many developing countries, such as encouraging AI capacity building and harnessing the technology to advance sustainable development. Critically, the resolution makes clear that protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms must be central to the development and use of AI systems.
 
From the time he took office, President Biden has prioritized restoring our American leadership at the United Nations and on the world stage. For this reason, the United States turned to the UN General Assembly to have a truly global conversation on how to manage the implications of this fast-advancing technology. While it took nearly four months and countless hours of negotiations, the world now has a baseline set of principles to guide next steps in AI’s development and use.
 
We now look forward to building off of this landmark achievement. As this technology swiftly evolves, we will continue to strengthen

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My dad had an expression, “Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value.” The Republican Study Committee budget shows what Republicans value. This extreme budget will cut Medicare, Social Security, and the Affordable Care Act. It endorses a national abortion ban. The Republican budget will raise housing costs and prescription drugs costs for families. And it will shower giveaways on the wealthy and biggest corporations. Let me be clear: I will stop them.

My budget represents a different future. One where the days of trickle-down economics are over and the wealthy and biggest corporations no longer get all the breaks. A future where we restore the right to choose and protect other freedoms, not take them away. A future where the middle class finally has a fair shot, and we protect Social Security so the working people who built this country can retire with dignity. I see a future for all Americans and I will never stop fighting for that future.

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In his State of the Union Less than two weeks ago, President Biden laid out his vision for an economy that gives the middle class a fair shot. He also warned that congressional Republicans “will cut Social Security and give more tax cuts to the wealthy,” that they continue to oppose the Affordable Care Act, and that they are siding with Big Pharma over hardworking families.     

On Wednesday, the Republican Study Committee – which represents 100% of House Republican leadership and nearly 80% of their members – just proposed yet another budget that would cut Medicare, Social Security, and the Affordable Care Act , as well as increase prescription drug, energy, and housing costs – all while forcing tax giveaways for the very rich onto the country. Their plan would even raise the Social Security retirement age.

Like President Biden promised in the Capitol, “If anyone here tries to cut Social Security or Medicare or raise the retirement age I will stop them.”

He’s keeping that promise by standing against this new House Republican budget. He knows the last thing we should do is raid Medicare and Social Security while giving more giant tax cuts to the wealthy and big corporations.

What’s more, House Republicans’ plan would raise energy costs and send our new manufacturing jobs back overseas by gutting other crucial elements of the Inflation Reduction Act, raise housing costs, and allow big companies to rip off consumers with junk fees.  

President Biden has a different vison for how we move into the future: make the wealthy, big corporations, and special interests pay their fair share while protecting and strengthening Medicare and Social Security. Extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits he delivered to lower health care costs and cover more Americans than any time in history. Making the economy work for the middle class by investing in America and the industries of the future, while lowering key costs that working families face. And expanding Medicare’s ability to negotiate lower drug costs.

80% of House Republicans released a Budget that:

Cuts Medicare and Social Security while putting health care at risk for millions

1. Calls for over $1.5 trillion in cuts to Social Security, including an increase in the retirement age to 69 and cutting disability benefits.
2. Raises Medicare costs for seniors by taking away Medicare’s authority to negotiate prescription drug costs, repealing $35 insulin, and the $2,000 out-of-pocket cap in the Inflation Reduction Act
3. Transitions Medicare to a premium support system that CBO has found would raise premiums for many seniors.
4. Cuts Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program by $4.5 trillion over ten years, taking coverage away from millions of people, eroding care for seniors, children, and people with disabilities, and taking us back to the days where people could be denied care for pre-existing conditions and charged more for health insurance simply for being a woman.   

Rigs the economy for the wealthy and large corporations against middle class families

5. Passes $5.5 trillion in tax cuts skewed to the wealthy and large corporations, including permanently extending tax cuts in the Trump tax law, repealing the minimum tax on billion-dollar corporations the President signed into law, eliminating the estate tax for the wealthiest Americans, providing a massive tax cut for billionaire investors, and making it easier for the wealthy and large corporations to get away with cheating on their taxes.
6. Kills jobs and investment in communities throughout the country – including Red States – by eliminating the clean energy tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act.
7. Makes it easier for companies and banks to rip consumers off with unfair and hidden junk fees by eliminating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
8. Raises housing costs by cutting funding for rental assistance, cutting funding for programs that help build housing, and raising mortgage costs for first-time homebuyers.

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Today, my Administration is cancelling student loans for an additional 78,000 public service workers – teachers, nurses, firefighters, and more – through Public Service Loan Forgiveness. 

These public service workers have dedicated their careers to serving their communities, but because of past administrative failures, never got the relief they were entitled to under the law.  Because of the fixes my Administration has made, we have now cancelled student debt for over 870,000 public service workers– compared to only about 7,000 public service borrowers ever receiving forgiveness prior to my Administration. And through all of our various student debt relief actions, nearly four million Americans have had their student debt cancelled under my Administration. 

Today’s announcement comes on top of the significant progress we’ve achieved for students and student loan borrowers in the past few years.  This includes: providing the largest increases in Pell Grants in over a decade to help families who earn less than roughly $60,000 a year; fixing Income-Driven Repayment plans so borrowers in repayment for years get the relief they earned; and creating the most generous Income-Driven Repayment plan in history – the SAVE plan.  Borrowers can go to studentaid.gov to apply. And, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision on my Administration’s original student debt relief plan, we are continuing to pursue an alternative path to deliver student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible.

From day one of my Administration, I promised to fix broken student loan programs and make sure higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity. I won’t back down from using every tool at my disposal to deliver student debt relief to more Americans, and build an economy from the middle out and bottom up. 

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National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine today to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak, and senior Ukrainian officials to reaffirm the United States’ unwavering commitment to Ukraine in its self-defense against Russia’s brutal invasion. Sullivan underscored the multiple lines of U.S. support to Ukraine following yesterday’s successful Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting, and he stressed the urgent need for the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the national security supplemental to meet Ukraine’s critical battlefield needs. Sullivan discussed ongoing efforts with allies and partners to hold Russia accountable for its aggression and mitigate the economic impacts of Russia’s war on Ukraine and around the world, and progress on anti-corruption and other key reforms needed to further Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration.

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President Biden launched the historic Summit for Democracy in 2021 to strengthen democratic institutions, protect human rights, and accelerate the fight against corruption, both at home and abroad.  

At the first Summit, approximately 100 participating governments made over 750 commitments on a wide array of deliverables, including in the areas of advancing technology for democracy, media freedom, countering the misuse of technology, and improving financial transparency, gender equity and equality, and rule of law.  The second Summit built on these efforts, convening government stakeholders, youth voices, civil society, and the private sector to demonstrate the power of cross-sectoral collaboration and amplify the importance of including diverse voices in these spaces.  This year, the Republic of Korea hosted the third Summit for Democracy in Seoul under the theme “Democracy for Future Generations.”  

The U.S. delegation in the ROK, led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, highlighted U.S. efforts to strengthen democratic resilience, respect for human rights, and good governance globally.  The Biden-Harris Administration has requested $11.8 billion in Democracy, Human Rights and Governance (DRG) foreign assistance, of which $5.8 billion has already been appropriated for Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023.  The Administration intends to provide the remaining $6 billion over the next two years, subject to the availability of appropriations.  During the Summit, the United States held a high-level, multi-stakeholder event on combatting the proliferation and misuse of commercial spyware, which not only threatens democratic institutions but also poses risks to global security.

Under President Biden’s leadership, the United States has taken concrete steps to advance previous commitments and initiatives launched over the past three years, which include:

Advancing Technology for Democracy:

• In March 2023, President Biden signed the ground-breaking Executive Order Prohibiting the Use of Commercial Spyware that Poses Risks to National Security to prohibit U.S. Government use of commercial spyware that poses risks to national security and has been misused by foreign actors to enable human rights abuses.

• In July 2023, the Department of Commerce imposed export controls on four commercial spyware entities, building on an initial tranche of Entity List designations in November 2021.

• In October 2023, the U.S. Government worked with 59 other countries at the Human Rights Council in Geneva to issue a joint statement on Heightened Risks Associated with Surveillance Technologies & the Importance of Safeguards.

• In February 2024, the State Department announced a new visa restriction policy for individuals involved in or financially benefiting from the misuse of commercial spyware.

• In February 2024, the Department of Commerce imposed export controls on a company that has enabled foreign governments to conduct mass web-monitoring, censorship, and surveillance of perceived political opponents and human rights defenders.

• In February 2024, the United States joined the United Kingdom and France-led Pall-Mall Declaration, which brought together international partners and stakeholders to address the proliferation and irresponsible use of commercial cyber intrusion tools and services.

• In March 2024, the Treasury Department imposed unprecedented financial sanctions targeting five commercial spyware entities and their leadership that have enabled the misuse of commercial spyware. This was the first time that the U.S. Government sanctioned actors involved in the misuse of commercial spyware.

• In March 2024, the U.S. Government convened members of the investor community – during which the investors revealed voluntary principles and commitments – to discuss the role of trusted capital in advancing technology while promoting the values of free and open societies, including guarding against the misuse of commercial spyware and encouraging safe AI development.
  
• Since its launch at the first Summit for Democracy, the U.S. Government has contributed more than $46 million to the Surge and Sustain Fund for Anti-Censorship Technology, including $31 million in 2023 alone, to support 30 million users of circumvention tools such as virtual private networks (VPNs) each month.

Supporting Free and Independent Media

• USAID’s International Fund for Public Interest Media – announced at the second Summit for Democracy – has committed nearly $9 million in 32 grants across 16 countries to independent media outlets in urgent need of support and to strengthen their long-term sustainability.  The U.S. Government’s initial seed funding of $20 million has leveraged an additional $32 million from 15 governments, philanthropies, and corporate entities.
• The State Department launched two programs under its Journalism Protection Platform to combat impunity for violence against journalists and strengthen holistic security for journalists and independent media outlets, including those operating in exile.

Fighting Corruption

• In December 2023, the United States assumed the presidency of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) Conference of the States Parties (COSP).  At COSP, the United States secured consensus to adopt the U.S.-led Atlanta Declaration, which holds governments accountable to their UNCAC obligations and announced a new Presidential Proclamation restricting entry into the United States for those who enable corruption.
• In 2023, the Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on more than 130 individuals and entities engaged in corruption, spanning 17 countries, while the State Department issued public visa restrictions on more than 90 individuals from around the world for their involvement in significant corruption. 
• USAID kickstarted implementation of the Countering Transnational Corruption Grand Challenge for Development, with an initial focus on reducing corruption in the supply of green minerals. USAID also initiated new activities to seed a new investigative journalism network in Southeast Asia, strengthen public accountability in Zambia, and address Kremlin-backed strategic corruption in Eastern and Central Europe.
• In September 2023, the State Department expanded its Transnational Anticorruption Partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigations’ International Corruption Unit, which places regional anticorruption advisors in the field to build partners’ capacities to investigate and prosecute transnational corruption cases.  This program, part of the U.S. Democracies against Safe Havens initiative to tackle kleptocracy, has upskilled law enforcement agencies in over 30 countries, resulting in dozens of new actionable leads, cases initiated, and instances of cross-border cooperation to hold kleptocrats and money launderers accountable.    
• In the past year, the United States has made historic strides in preventing corrupt and other illicit actors from laundering funds through anonymous companies and advancing rulemaking processes to guard against dirty money in the residential real estate sector and investment advising industry.

Bolstering Human Rights and Democratic Reformers

• Since the first Summit, USAID’s Partnership’s for Democratic Development (PDD) has allocated $53 million to deepen relationships with democratic reformers and accelerate democratic development in nine countries.  PDD will provide up to $52 million in additional funding in the coming year, subject to availability of funds, to expand democratic reform and ensure PDD partner countries are given the support they need to make their democratic transformation a reality.

• Since announcing the Advancing Women’s and Girls’ Civic and Political Leadership Initiative at the first Summit, USAID has allocated over $15 million in nine focus countries to build and sustain women’s participation in political and civic engagement. USAID will provide up to $10 million in additional funding this year, subject to availability of funds.
• The Community of Democracies (CoD) is working towards the 2024 launch of the global Youth Democracy Network, announced by the United States at the second Summit for Democracy.  Ahead of the launch, the CoD YouthLeads, who will serve as the inaugural advisory board for the Network, are driving discussion on youth engagement in elections, including a new series of articles, “A Blueprint for Youth Electoral Engagement,” to showcase effective strategies and policies from around the globe that enhance youth participation in electoral processes.
  
  Defending Free and Fair Elections
• Following a commitment made at the first Summit for Democracy, USAID has worked with more than 30 leading international organizations and elections networks to launch the Global Network for Securing Election Integrity (GNSEI) to promote electoral integrity in the face of critical threats to democracy.  In 2024, GNSEI intends to develop and promote two electoral integrity priorities: one on principles to support democratic electoral reform processes and the other on safeguarding election management bodies’ independence in their interactions with other domestic agencies.

• In 2023, USAID launched the Defending Democratic Elections Fund, which is helping to pilot and scale up approaches to addressing critical long-standing and emerging electoral integrity issues — including on strengthening information integrity and resilience – particularly during the period in between elections, when resources have often been scarce. This past year, USAID provided nearly $16 million in additional support across 17 countries to tackle issues like campaign finance reform, and barriers to women’s political participation.
  
• The State Department contributed $25 million in new funding under the Political Accountability, Inclusivity, and Resiliency Support mechanism to promote political competition by building stronger connections between political parties and citizens.  

At the third Summit for Democracy, the United States reiterated and expanded upon its commitment to bolstering democratic resilience and advancing human rights at home and abroad.  Specifically, the U.S. delegation announced several new commitments and initiatives to further progress in the years ahead: 

• On March 18, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Poland signed the Joint Statement on Efforts to Counter the Proliferation and Misuse of Commercial Spyware, which was launched by an initial group of 11 like-minded countries at the second Summit for Democracy, expanding the coalition of countries committed to implementing robust guardrails against misuse of commercial spyware. The Joint Statement affirms the threat posed by the misuse of commercial spyware and countries commit to working within their domestic systems to establish robust guardrails to counter the proliferation and misuse of this sophisticated surveillance technology.
• The Biden-Harris Administration aims to provide financial support, working with Congress and subject to appropriated funds, to committed partners like the Platform for the Engagement of Civil Society, to coordinate the ongoing work of the Summit, including future convenings, and to build networks among the existing democratic renewal architecture.

• The United States, led by USAID, will convene a meeting to galvanize momentum for the next Summit gathering and to show our continued commitment to democratic renewal around the world on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly session in September 2024. 

• On March 17, USAID launched the Advancing Digital Democracy (ADD) Academy, building upon the ADD initiative announced at the second Summit for Democracy.  In partnership with multinational technology firms, the ADD Academy will offer essential skills training in cybersecurity, data privacy, cloud computing, and responsible AI, among other topics.   In the initial phase, ADD Academy intends to work with technology partners Cloudflare, Google, and Microsoft. 
• On March 18, the State Department released U.S. Guidance for Online Platforms on Protecting Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) Online, which highlights best practices online platforms can take to prevent, mitigate, and provide remedy for actions targeting HRDs online, building on joint guidance recently released by the U.S. and the EU through the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council.

• Through the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse, which was announced during the first Summit, the United States and UK are developing a response framework for coordinated, evidence-informed action to prevent, disrupt, and reduce the spread of targeted online campaigns against women political and public figures and human rights defenders, which will be informed through a first-of-its-kind global conference on countering gendered disinformation held in Kenya on March 25-27, 2024. Complementing the goals of this framework, in January 2024 the State Department announced a new Global Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) Rapid Response Fund for women politicians, political candidates, and civil society leaders who have experienced extreme forms and/or threats of TFGBV and need urgent access to flexible resources to meet their immediate needs.   

• On March 20, the United States released its second National Action Plan on Responsible Business Conduct, which outlines efforts to expand U.S. government guidance to and coordination with external stakeholders on responsible business conduct, strengthen federal procurement processes related to human rights, and promote access to remedy for those harmed by irresponsible business conduct.

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Funding catalyzes $100 billion in private investment from Intel to build and expand semiconductor facilities in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico, and Oregon and create nearly 30,000 jobs

Today, President Biden will travel to Chandler, Arizona, to visit Intel’s Ocotillo campus and announce that the Department of Commerce has reached a preliminary agreement with Intel to provide up to $8.5 billion in direct funding along with $11 billion in loans under the CHIPS and Science Act. The announcement will support the construction and expansion of Intel facilities in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico, and Oregon, creating nearly 30,000 jobs and supporting tens of thousands of indirect jobs. During his visit to Arizona, President Biden will discuss the vision that he laid out in his State of the Union, underscoring how his Investing in America agenda is building an economy from the middle out and bottom up, creating good-paying jobs right here in America, strengthening U.S. supply chains, and protecting national security.

Semiconductors were invented in America and power everything from cell phones to electric vehicles, refrigerators, satellites, defense systems, and more. But today, the United States produces less than 10 percent of the world’s chips and none of the most advanced ones. Thanks to President Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act, that is changing. Companies have announced over $240 billion in investments to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to the United States since the President took office. Semiconductor jobs are making a comeback. And thanks to CHIPS investments like the one today, America will produce roughly 20% of the world’s leading-edge chips by the end of the decade.

Today’s announcement is critical to realizing President Biden’s vision to reestablish America’s leadership in chip manufacturing. In particular, this CHIPS investment will support Intel’s construction and expansion projects across four states and will create nearly 30,000 jobs:

• Chandler, Arizona: Funding will help construct two leading-edge logic fabs and modernize one existing fab, significantly increasing manufacturing capacity to produce Intel’s most advanced semiconductors in the United States. This investment will create over 3,000 manufacturing jobs, 7,000 construction jobs, and thousands of indirect jobs. Intel’s investment in Arizona is among the largest private sector investments in the state’s history.
• New Albany, Ohio: Funding will establish a new regional economic cluster for U.S. chipmaking with the construction of two leading-edge logic fabs. This investment will create 3,000 manufacturing jobs, 7,000 construction jobs, and an estimated 10,000 indirect jobs. Intel’s investment in Ohio is the largest private-sector investment in the state’s history.
• Rio Rancho, New Mexico: Funding will support the nearly complete modernization and transformation of two fabs into advanced packaging facilities, where chips are assembled together to boost their performance and reduce costs. Advanced packaging is critical for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and the next generation of semiconductor technology. It also allows manufacturers to improve performance and function and shorten the time it takes to get many advanced chips to market.  When completed, these facilities will be the largest for advanced packaging in the United States. This investment will create 700 manufacturing jobs and 1,000 construction jobs.
• Hillsboro, Oregon: Funding will expand and modernize facilities to increase clean-room capacity and utilize advanced lithography equipment, further strengthening this critical innovation hub of leading-edge development and production in the United States. This investment will support several thousand new permanent and construction jobs and thousands of indirect jobs.
   

Creating Good-Paying and Union Jobs with Good Benefits Across America

President Biden promised to be the most pro-worker, pro-union President in American history, and his Administration has committed to ensuring that workers have the free and fair choice to join a union and equitable training pathways to good jobs. As part of the Administration’s effort to connect workers with good-paying jobs created by the President’s Investing in America agenda, the White House announced five initial Workforce Hubs across the country – two of which have focused on building pipelines to good jobs in the semiconductor industry: Phoenix, Arizona, and Columbus, Ohio. And, last year, the National Science Foundation and Intel announced $100 million to expand semiconductor workforce training opportunities, education, and research across the nation.

Under their preliminary agreement with the Department of Commerce, Intel has committed to work closely with workforce training providers (e.g., educational institutions, state and local agencies, labor unions) to develop and train workers for jobs created by the investment announced today. The Ohio State Building Trades signed a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) for the Ohio construction site, and there is a majority-union construction crew in both the Arizona and Oregon sites. The Administration strongly supports workers’ right to organize and expects Intel to continue its longstanding tradition of creating good jobs and respecting workers’ rights, including expecting Intel to neither hold mandatory captive audience meetings nor hire anti-union consultants.

The announcement today also includes significant funding to train and develop the local workforce, including $50 million in dedicated CHIPS funding. The focus of this funding will be further determined in the coming months based on the Department of Commerce’s labor and workforce priorities in partnership with the Department of Labor. Those priorities include funding workforce intermediaries and labor-management partnerships, promoting inclusive and equitable training and hiring across the construction and facilities workforces, and providing supportive services, such as child care. Intel’s construction spending is contributing to union apprentice programs across all four sites—expected to amount to over $150 million in apprenticeship contributions. Additionally, Intel has committed to providing affordable, accessible, high-quality child care for its workers across its facilities. Intel will be increasing the reimbursement amount and duration for its back-up care program, adding additional access to discounted primary child care providers, and expanding access to a vetted network of child care providers for its employees. In addition, Intel will pilot a primary child care reimbursement program for non-salary employees.
 

Strengthening Local Economies

Today’s announcement is also poised to strengthen the local economies of these states and cities, and is part of the President’s commitment to investing in all of America and leaving no community behind. Intel’s investments in Arizona and Ohio are among the largest private-sector investments in each state’s history, and Arizona has received the highest level of private sector manufacturing investment per capita of any state since the President took office. Intel’s investment in Arizona is expected to create tens of thousands of indirect jobs across suppliers and supporting industries – on top of the nearly 30,000 manufacturing and construction jobs it will create, fostering a more resilient semiconductor supply chain in the U.S.

In Arizona, Intel’s investments have grown the surrounding community, attracting opportunities for professional growth and upward economic mobility for everyone – from graphic designers to restaurants and small businesses. And in Ohio, Intel continues expanding their partnerships with local businesses to support their construction projects and operations at other facilities – growing from 150 Ohio-based suppliers in 2022 to over 350 today. 

Intel has also prioritized sustainability and being responsible stewards of the environment at its facilities. It currently uses 100% renewable electricity in its fabs and factories in the United States, and plans to achieve net-positive water and zero waste to landfill by 2030.

Building on Historic Progress Under the CHIPS and Science Act

Today’s announcement is the fourth and largest preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) under the CHIPS and Science Act:

• In February 2024, the Biden-Harris Administration announced $1.5 billion for GlobalFoundries to support the development and expansion of facilities in Malta, NY, and Burlington, VT.
• In January 2024, the Administration announced $162 million for Microchip Technology Inc. to increase its production of microcontroller units and other specialty semiconductors, and to support the modernization and expansion of fabrication facilities in Colorado Springs, CO, and Gresham, OR.
• In December 2023, the Administration announced $35 million for BAE Systems Electronic Systems to support the modernization of the company’s Microelectronics Center in Nashua, NH. This facility will produce chips that are essential to our national security, including for use in F-35 fighter jets.

President Biden’s Investing in America agenda – including the CHIPS and Science Act – is spurring a manufacturing and clean energy boom. Since President Biden took office, companies have announced over $675 billion in private sector investments in manufacturing and clean energy, and over 50,000 infrastructure and clean energy projects are underway. This announcement is part of the President’s broader commitment to build an economy from the middle out and bottom up, not the top down, and invest in all of America. 

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Today, Jill and I send our best wishes to the millions of people around the world celebrating Nowruz—a time of reflection, renewal, and rebirth.

Generations of Americans have spread the hope of this holiday across every part of our nation. We see it in the pastries and presents exchanged between family and friends. We hear it in the sound of children banging pots, and in the laughs of families who’ve come together around the Haft-Sin table. And we feel it as communities gather to make this celebration such a joyous part of American culture—one that reflects the soul of who we are as a nation, and reminds us that hope lies ahead.

This year, Nowruz comes at a difficult time for many—when this hope is needed more than ever. The United States will continue to stand with the courageous women of Iran, who are fighting for their freedoms. And together with our partners, we will hold Iranian officials to account for denying fundamental human rights. The war in Gaza has also inflicted terrible suffering on the Palestinian people, and we will continue to lead international efforts to get more humanitarian assistance to them—including urgently needed food, water, medicine and shelter.

We have decorated our Haft-Sin table at the White House to reflect our hopes, and the potential and promise of the new year. And, as we mark the start of Spring, we honor the diverse diaspora communities across our nation, who have adapted old traditions anew to tell the ongoing story of America. To all who celebrate: Eid-eh Shoma Mobarak—we wish you a peaceful and joyous new year.

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We fundamentally disagree with the Supreme Court’s order allowing Texas’ harmful and unconstitutional law to go into effect. S.B. 4 will not only make communities in Texas less safe, it will also burden law enforcement, and sow chaos and confusion at our southern border. S.B. 4 is just another example of Republican officials politicizing the border while blocking real solutions. We remained focused on delivering the significant policy changes and resources we need to secure the border – that is why we continue to call on Congressional Republicans to pass the bipartisan border security agreement, the toughest and fairest set of border reforms in decades.

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Across America, families want the same thing: the freedom to feel safe in their community. To know their kids are secure. My Administration is making it a reality. This week, the FBI released data showing that crime declined across nearly every category in 2023. Last year, we also had one of the lowest rates of all violent crime in more than 50 years and the murder rate saw the sharpest decrease in history. That’s good news for the American people.

In 2020, before I took office, the prior administration oversaw the largest increase in murders ever recorded. My Administration got to work on day one to fix that. Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, which every Republican in Congress voted against, we made the largest-ever federal investment in fighting and preventing crime at any time in our history. That enabled cities and states to invest $15 billion in public safety. This record investment in crime reduction – in community violence intervention, mental health and additional officers – is delivering results. It is keeping law enforcement on the beat, and keeping communities safe from violence. My Administration is also taking on the crisis of gun violence head on, with more executive actions on gun violence than any President in history and signing the most significant law to address gun violence in almost 30 years.

Keeping communities safe is my priority. While we’ve made major progress, we still have more work to do. That’s why I’ll keep fighting to make more investments in preventing crime, to fund additional accountable police officers to ensure trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve, and to ban assault weapons to keep guns out of dangerous hands – and I will continue to urge Republicans in Congress to join me.

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We have come to an agreement with Congressional leaders on a path forward for the remaining full-year funding bills. The House and Senate are now working to finalize a package that can quickly be brought to the floor, and I will sign it immediately.

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President Biden’s American Rescue Plan has already invested $1 billion in Nevada to deliver affordable housing and housing assistance

President Biden is working to lower housing costs and increase the housing supply to address the large shortage of affordable homes inherited from his predecessor. In President Biden’s State of the Union address, he called on Congress to support the construction and rehabilitation of two million additional homes, lower costs for renters, and help first time homebuyers and families seeking to trade up or downsize.

Today in Las Vegas, Nevada, President Biden will detail his agenda to bring down the cost of housing. He will discuss the investments the Biden-Harris Administration has already made through the American Rescue Plan (ARP). The ARP provided $1 billion in Nevada to help boost affordable housing, lower housing costs, and keep homeowners and renters in their homes. This includes $700 million invested in affordable housing supply that includes major investments in senior housing. As a result, Clark County has several major 200-unit affordable housing developments coming, and about 1,000 new senior apartments on the way thanks to the ARP.

The President’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget includes a historic $258 billion in housing investments to give working families a fair shot, including an historic expansion in rental assistance for low-income families, while reducing the deficit by asking corporations and the wealthy to pay their fair share. These new proposals build on his Housing Supply Action Plan, major investments provided by the ARP, and actions the Biden-Harris Administration has already taken to increase the housing supply and lower housing costs for American families, including reducing mortgage insurance premiums by $800 per year for hundreds of thousands of homeowners, expanding rental assistance to more than 100,000 additional households, and building tens of thousands of affordable housing units. These actions have contributed to a record high of nearly 1.7 million homes currently under construction nationwide.

President Biden’s Plan to Lower Housing Costs and Build Two Million Homes

Reduce Barriers to Homeownership
For many Americans, owning a home is the cornerstone of raising a family, building wealth, and joining the middle class. Too many working families feel locked out of homeownership and are unable to compete with investors for a limited supply of affordable for-sale homes. President Biden is calling on Congress to enact legislation to enable more Americans to purchase a home, including:

• Mortgage Relief Credit. President Biden is calling on Congress to pass a mortgage relief credit that would provide middle-class first-time homebuyers with a tax credit of $10,000 over two years. This is the equivalent of reducing the mortgage rate by more than 1.5 percentage points for two years on the median home, saving families $400 per month on their mortgage payments. It will help more than 3.5 million middle-class families purchase their first home over the next two years. The President’s plan also calls for a new credit to unlock inventory of affordable starter homes, while helping middle-class families move up the housing ladder and empty nesters right size. The President is calling on Congress to provide a one-year tax credit of up to $10,000 to middle-class families who sell their starter home, defined as homes below the area median home price in the county, to another owner-occupant. This proposal is estimated to help nearly 3 million families.
• Down Payment Assistance for First-Generation Homeowners. The President continues to call on Congress to provide up to $25,000 in down payment assistance to first-generation homebuyers whose families haven’t benefited from the generational wealth building associated with homeownership. This proposal would help about 400,000 families purchase their first home.

• Lowering Closing Costs. The Federal Housing Finance Agency has approved policies and pilots to reduce closing costs for homeowners, including a pilot to waive the requirement for lender’s title insurance on certain refinances. This would save thousands of homeowners up to $1500, and an average of $750, and the lower upfront fees will unlock substantial savings for homeowners as mortgage rates continue to fall and more homeowners are able to refinance. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will also pursue rulemaking and guidance to address anticompetitive closing costs imposed by lenders on homebuyers and homeowners.  These charges—which benefit the lender but not the borrower—can add thousands to the upfront costs of a mortgage. 
• Promoting Competition in the Housing Market. In his State of the Union Address, the President discussed the importance of boosting competition and lowering housing costs, and the Department of Justice has made those goals a priority. Last week’s settlement reached by the National Association of Realtors is an important step toward boosting competition in the housing market. It could save as much as $10,000 on the median home sale. Now, the Administration is calling on realtors and lenders to offer more choices and lower costs, while promoting access to homeownership for first-time, low-income, and low-wealth homebuyers.

Lowering Costs by Building and Preserving 2 Million Homes
America needs to build more housing in order to lower rental costs and increase access to homeownership. That’s why the President is calling on Congress to pass legislation to build and renovate more than 2 million homes, which would close the housing supply gap and lower housing costs for renters and homeowners.

• Tax Credits to Build More Housing. President Biden is calling for an expansion of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit to build or preserve 1.2 million more affordable rental units. Renters living in these properties save hundreds of dollars each month on their rent compared with renters with similar incomes who rent in the unsubsidized market. The President is also calling for a new Neighborhood Homes Tax Credit, the first tax provision to build or renovate affordable homes for homeownership, which would lead to the construction or preservation of over 400,000 starter homes in communities throughout the country.
• Innovation Fund for Housing Expansion. The President is unveiling a new $20 billion competitive grant fund as part of his proposed Budget to support communities across the country to build more housing and lower rents and homebuying costs. This fund would support the construction of affordable multifamily rental units; incentivize local actions to remove unnecessary barriers to housing development; pilot innovative models to increase the production of affordable and workforce rental housing; and spur the construction of new starter homes for middle-class families. According to independent analysis, this will create hundreds of thousands of units which will help lower rents and housing costs.
• Increasing Banks’ Contributions Towards Building Affordable Housing. The President is proposing that each Federal Home Loan Bank double its annual contribution to the Affordable Housing Program – from 10 percent of prior year net income to 20 percent – which will raise an additional $3.79 billion for affordable housing over the next decade and assist nearly 380,000 households. These funds would support the financing, acquisition, construction, and rehabilitation of affordable rental and for-sale homes, as well as help low- and moderate-income homeowners to purchase or rehabilitate homes.
• Bolstering Efforts to Prevent and End Homelessness. The President is calling for $8 billion for a new grant program to rapidly expand temporary and permanent housing strategies for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Funds from this proposal would support non-congregate emergency shelter solutions, interim housing, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, and rental housing for extremely low-income households experiencing housing instability or homelessness. 

Lowering Costs for Renters
President Biden is also taking actions to lower costs and promote housing stability for renters. The White House Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights lays out the key principles of a fair rental market and has already catalyzed new federal actions to make those principles a reality. Today, President Biden is announcing new steps to crack down on unfair practices that are driving up rental costs:

• Fighting Rent Gouging by Corporate Landlords. The Biden-Harris Administration is taking action to combat egregious rent increases and other unfair practices that are driving up rents. Corporate landlords and private equity firms across the country have been accused of illegal information sharing, price fixing, and inflating rents. As part of the President’s Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing, he is calling on federal agencies to root out and stop illegal corporate behavior that hikes prices on American families through anti-competitive, unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent business practices. In a recent filing, the Department of Justice (DOJ) made clear its position that inflated rents caused by algorithmic use of sensitive nonpublic pricing and supply information violate antitrust laws. Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission and DOJ filed a joint brief further arguing that it is illegal for landlords and property managers to collude on pricing to inflate rents – including when using algorithms to do so.
• Cracking Down on Rental Junk Fees. Millions of families incur burdensome costs in the rental application process and throughout the duration of their lease, from “convenience fees” simply to pay rent online to fees charged to sort mail or collect trash. These fees are often more than the actual cost of providing the service, or are added onto rents to cover services that renters assume are included—or that they don’t even want. Last fall, the FTC proposed a rule that if finalized as proposed would ban misleading and hidden fees across the economy, including in housing rental agreements. HUD has released a summary of banned non-rent fees within their rental assistance programs. These actions build on voluntary commitments the President announced last summer from major rental housing platforms to provide customers with the total, upfront cost on rental properties on their platform.
• Expanding Housing Choice Vouchers. Over the last three years, the Administration has secured rental assistance for more than 100,000 additional households. The President is calling on Congress to further expand rental assistance to more than half of a million households, including by providing a voucher guarantee for low-income veterans and youth aging out of foster care – the first such voucher guarantees in history. Receiving a voucher would save these households hundreds of dollars in rent each month.

The ARP Provides $1 Billion to Boost Housing Supply and Provide Housing Help in Nevada:

• Nevada is a national leader in investing ARP funding in affordable housing: In Nevada, the ARP has provided over $1 billion for housing investments, including helping to fund the construction of thousands of new units in Clark County, making them one of the national leaders in using this money to expand supply of affordable housing.
• Investing in Down-Payment Assistance to help Nevadans buy homes: The state also used ARP funds to provide 500 Nevadans with $15,000 in down-payment assistance to purchase a home. 
• Nevada State and local governments have used $700 million through the ARP to support major affordable housing projects.
• About 1,000 ARP-supported Senior Affordable Apartments on the way in Clark County today, including, for example:
  • 195 Units of affordable housing at Pebble and Eastern Senior Apartments in Clark County currently under construction.
  • 125 Units of affordable housing at Nevada HAND’s Buffalo and Cactus Senior Apartments in Clark County currently under construction.

The ARP Has Invested Billions of Dollars to Support Affordable Housing:

• Through the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, over 940 state and local governments have invested more than $18 billion for housing assistance, homelessness, and affordable housing initiatives, including over $6 billion to build and preserve housing.
• State and local governments are using an additional $5 billion in funding through the ARP’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program to build or rehabilitate at least 20,000 units of affordable housing and support an additional 23,000 households with rental assistance, non-congregate shelter, or supportive services. 
• New data released today shows that since the ARP’s passage, states, Tribal governments, and territories have distributed $6.6 billion HAF award funds to over 500,000 homeowners for past due mortgage payments, utility expenses, and property taxes, as well as other housing related expenses. As a result of this program and the strong economic recovery, foreclosure starts are well below pre-pandemic levels.

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President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. spoke this morning with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.  The President and the Prime Minister discussed ongoing hostage negotiations taking place in Qatar.  They also discussed the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.  The President stressed the urgent need to significantly increase the flow of lifesaving aid reaching those in need throughout Gaza, with special emphasis on the north.  The President reiterated his deep concerns about the prospect of Israel conducting a major ground operation in Rafah, where more than one million displaced civilians are currently seeking shelter after fleeing fighting in the north.  The President affirmed the need to defeat Hamas in Gaza while also protecting the civilian population and facilitating the safe and unhindered delivery of assistance throughout Gaza.  The President and Prime Minster agreed to have their teams meet soon in Washington to exchange views and discuss alternative approaches that would target key elements of Hamas and secure the Egypt-Gaza border without a major ground operation in Rafah. 

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I congratulate the Volkswagen autoworkers in Chattanooga who filed for a union election with the UAW. As one of the world’s largest automakers, many Volkswagen plants internationally are unionized. As the most pro-union president in American history, I believe American workers, too, should have a voice at work. The decision whether to join a union belongs to the workers.

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