Statements and Releases

Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer traveled to Kyiv on September 4 and 5 to coordinate on U.S. plans to support Ukraine over the remainder of President Biden’s term in office. 

Finer met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss U.S. support for Ukraine’s military, energy system, and economy, among other areas, and to consult on Ukraine’s strategy in its fight against Russian aggression. Finer expressed condolences on behalf of the United States for the casualties caused by Russia’s recent missile attacks and emphasized the President’s steadfast commitment to stand with Ukraine until they prevail in this war. 

Finer met with Andriy Yermak, the head of the Presidential Office, and Ukrainian military officials to discuss the state of Ukraine’s operations across the front lines. Finer briefed the Ukrainian officials on the ongoing provision of U.S. security assistance to help Ukraine defend itself.

Finer joined Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and senior officials from across the Ukrainian government, including regional representatives from Kharkiv and other regions in Ukraine in a conversation to review Ukraine’s energy security. Finer received updates on Ukraine’s recovery efforts following recent Russian strikes and discussed U.S. assistance to help Ukraine repair its energy system. Additionally, Finer visited a critical energy site in Ukraine to see first-hand the efforts underway to harden these sites ahead of the winter. 

Finer participated in-person in Ukraine’s conference on food security as part of the peace formula process, which representatives from more than 75 countries attended virtually. In his remarks at the conference, Finer emphasized U.S. support for Ukraine’s pursuit of a just and lasting peace to end this war. 

Finer also met with First Deputy Prime Minisyer Yuliia Svyrydenko to discuss U.S. sanctions against Russia and with Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to review Ukraine’s efforts to rally global opposition to Russia’s war of aggression. 

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Administration approves 10th offshore wind project; previous Administration approved none

With this approval, Nation has permitted 15 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity, as progress continues toward President Biden’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts by 2030

President Biden and Vice President Harris’s leadership has catalyzed the nation’s offshore wind industry which is creating good-paying and union jobs, establishing and growing new industries in the United States, providing reliable clean power for homes and businesses, strengthening Made in America supply chains, tackling the climate crisis, and helping lower costs for families.

The Biden-Harris Administration has built the offshore wind industry from the ground up. Right now, American workers across manufacturing, shipbuilding, construction, and other sectors are building this new industry. The Administration continues to use every tool available —including leveraging historic resources from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda — to seize near- and long-term offshore wind opportunities across America that will create new jobs for our communities.  

At the beginning of this Administration, there were no approved commercial-scale offshore wind projects in federal waters in the United States. Recognizing the urgency of catalyzing this industry to generate clean energy and combat climate change, President Biden set an ambitious goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind in the United States by 2030, while protecting biodiversity and promoting ocean co-use. Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing the 10th approval of a commercial-scale offshore wind project. With this approval, the nation has now approved more than 15 gigawatts of offshore wind projects – enough to power 5.25 million homes, and equivalent to half of the capacity needed to achieve the 30 gigawatt goal.  

US Wind’s project offshore Maryland – approved today by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) – will provide up to 2,200 megawatts of clean, reliable renewable energy for the Delmarva Peninsula and power up to 770,000 homes. The development and construction phases of the project are estimated to support up to an estimated 2,679 jobs annually over seven years.

Overall, successfully deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind will help power 10 million homes with clean energy, support 77,000 jobs, avoid 78 million metric tons of CO2 emissions, and spur $12 billion per year in private investment in offshore wind projects.

Today’s announcement builds on significant progress that the Biden-Harris Administration has made to accelerate project reviews while protecting communities and our environment. Recent data demonstrates that the Biden-Harris Administration is delivering more projects, more quickly than the previous Administration.

Today’s milestones build on the Administration’s progress to grow our nation’s offshore wind industry, including:

Advancing Offshore Wind off Every Coast

Since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, the Department of the Interior has held five offshore wind lease auctions providing more than 1.3 million new acres for development – including a record-breaking sale offshore New York and New Jersey that generated more than $4 billion in winning bids. The Department of the Interior also held first-ever sales offshore the Pacific and Gulf Coasts; held the first sale in the Central Atlantic region in a decade; and announced the first-ever sales offshore Oregon and in the Gulf of Maine. Earlier this year, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced a new five-year offshore wind leasing schedule that aims to hold up to 12 potential offshore wind sales through 2028, including potential first-ever sales in HawaiˋI and a U.S. Territory. Because of the Administration’s progress on permitting the nation’s first offshore wind projects and leasing new areas, the total U.S. offshore wind project pipeline now exceeds 80 gigawatts, enough to power more than 26 million homes if fully developed.

Investing in Workers and Communities 

The Administration is advancing offshore wind development in a way that will maximize benefits for local communities and create good-paying jobs for American workers, including by harnessing a range of clean energy tax credits from President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda and federal financing programs across the Departments of Energy, the Interior, Commerce, and Transportation. The Department of the Interior has also introduced innovative provisions in lease sales supporting workforce training and union-built projects, domestic supply chain development, and community benefit agreements —including with Tribes and stakeholder groups. The Energy Department has charted a path to grow and train an American workforce to fill tens of thousands of jobs across the offshore wind industry. The Administration’s Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership is working to strengthen regional collaboration on offshore wind supply chain development, to unlock more American job opportunities. With these efforts driving progress, offshore wind investments announced during the Biden-Harris Administration now include more than $6.9 billion across 19 manufacturing facilities and 15 ports, as well as 25 new offshore wind vessels being built in 8 different states, totaling thousands of new jobs.

Accelerating Offshore Wind Permitting

Today’s tenth offshore wind project approval, reflecting collaboration across federal agencies, is part of comprehensive Administration efforts to improve the federal permitting process, including: investing over $1 billion through Inflation Reduction Act funds to hire experts and invest in new technologies to expedite reviews; passing the first reforms to modernize the National Environmental Policy Act for the first time in 50 years; and using executive authorities, wherever possible, to improve permitting and environmental review processes. Earlier this year, the Department of the Interior finalized a rule that is expected to save offshore wind developers about $1.9 billion over 20 years by modernizing regulations for offshore renewable energy development. The Department of the Interior is also developing programmatic environmental impact statements for the New York Bight and California offshore wind lease areas to create efficiencies for individual project reviews. Additionally, BOEM and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a joint strategy to protect and promote the recovery of endangered North Atlantic right whales while responsibly developing offshore wind energy. These agencies are also deploying Inflation Reduction Act funding and working with industry and environmental stakeholders to advance whale detection and monitoring technologies.

Strengthening Transmission and Port Infrastructure for Offshore Wind

The Departments of the Interior and Energy released An Action Plan for Offshore Wind Transmission Development in the U.S. Atlantic Region, a set of bold actions that will catalyze grid upgrades to boost offshore wind energy, strengthen the domestic supply chain, and create good-paying, union jobs. Similar efforts are underway along the West and Gulf coasts. These efforts are funded from the Inflation Reduction Act for offshore wind and interregional transmission analyses and convenings. This summer, the Department of Energy announced federal transmission investments that will help connect 4,800 megawatts of offshore wind to the New England grid and provide economic development grants to several communities that will host offshore wind transmission infrastructure. To help build out the port capacity needed for offshore wind manufacturing and project construction, the Department of Transportation has awarded more than $675 million in grants for East Coast and West Coast ports to support offshore wind activities.

Advancing Floating Offshore Wind Innovation and Deployment

Deep-water areas that require floating platforms are home to two-thirds of America’s offshore wind energy potential, including along the West Coast and in the Gulf of Maine. To seize these opportunities, the Department of the Interior set a goal to deploy 15 gigawatts of floating offshore wind capacity by 2035—enough to power over five million American homes. And the Administration launched an interagency Floating Offshore Wind Shot, which seeks to reduce the cost of floating offshore wind energy by more than 70 percent by 2035. The Departments of Energy, the Interior, Commerce, and Transportation have already achieved over 50 milestones and dedicated over $950 million to advance the Floating Offshore Wind Shot and American competitiveness on floating offshore wind turbine design, development, and manufacturing. Last month, the Department of the Interior announced the execution of the nation’s first floating offshore wind energy research lease offshore Maine.

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When I came into office, the United States had zero approved offshore wind projects in federal waters, and the industry was struggling to gain a foothold. But now, following my Administration’s investments in our clean energy future, the private sector has mobilized and the federal government has approved ten offshore wind projects – enough to power more than five million homes and equivalent to half of the capacity needed to achieve our goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. From manufacturing and shipbuilding to port operations and construction, this industry will support tens of thousands of good-paying and union jobs, provide reliable clean power to homes and businesses, strengthen our power grid against outages, and help reduce pollution – all while protecting biodiversity and marine ecosystems. We will continue to partner with industry, Tribes, ocean users, and other stakeholders to support supply chains that are Made in America, incentivize union-built projects, and continue seizing opportunities for additional clean energy technologies.

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The Biden-Harris Administration today secured the release of 135 unjustly detained political prisoners in Nicaragua, on humanitarian grounds.  No one should be put in jail for peacefully exercising their fundamental rights of free expression, association, and practicing their religion.  The 135 Nicaraguan citizens released today included 13 members of the Texas-based Mountain Gateway organization, along with Catholic laypeople, students, and others who Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo consider a threat to their authoritarian rule.  
 
The United States welcomes the leadership and generosity of the Government of Guatemala for graciously agreeing to accept these Nicaraguan citizens.  Once in Guatemala, these individuals will be offered the opportunity to apply for lawful ways to rebuild their lives in the United States or other countries through President Biden’s Safe Mobility Office initiative.  President Biden and Vice President Harris are grateful to President Arévalo for his continued leadership across the region in addressing humanitarian issues and championing democratic freedom. 
 
The United States again calls on the Government of Nicaragua to immediately cease the arbitrary arrest and detention of its citizens for merely exercising their fundamental freedoms.

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Via Teleconference

12:04 P.M. EDT

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ:  Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining today’s press call ahead of President Biden’s trip to Wisconsin to discuss investments in rural electrification from his Investing in America agenda.

This call will begin with on-the-record remarks from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Natalie Quillian and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.

Afterwards, there will be a question-and-answer period.  It will be on background and attributable to “senior administration officials.”

As a reminder, the contents of the call and related materials that you will receive after the call will be embargoed until tomorrow, September 5th, at 5:00 a.m. Eastern.

With that, I will turn it over to Natalie.

MS. QUILLIAN:  Thanks, Angelo.  Hi, everybody, and thanks for joining us today to talk about President Biden’s visit to Wisconsin tomorrow to discuss how his Investing in America agenda continues to benefit communities across the country.

Taking a step back, President Biden and Vice President Harris came to office inheriting a series of cascading challenges — from a once-in-a-generation pandemic and isolation on the world stage, crime being up, and the s- — middle class being sidelined.

But the president and the vice president rejected conventional wisdom that trickle-down economics was the best path for America.  Instead, President Biden built the economy from the middle out and the bottom up, and made sure that instead of providing tax breaks for companies that shipped jobs overseas, he invested here in America and in Americans.

The president has promised to be a president for all Americans — from small towns to big cities; blue, red, purple states; and places that, for too long, have been overlooked and left out. 

And over the last three and a half years, he’s followed through on that promise.

Today, because of the president’s historic Investing in America agenda — which includes the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act — opportunity is growing in communities across this country.

Wages are up, inflation is down, this administration has had the lowest average unemployment rate of any administration in 50 years, and manufacturing is making a comeback in communities across the country.

His agenda has spurred over $910 billion in private-sector manufacturing and clean energy investments.  We’re building a clean energy economy that is lowering costs for millions of families and businesses.  And we are making the most inv- –ambitious investments in our infrastructure — including high-speed Internet, clean water, and clean electricity — in a generation.

Because of the president’s actions and his vision, Americans all across the country are seeing and feeling a better, more prosperous future on the horizon and a future of possibilities.

When the president travels to Wisconsin tomorrow, he will visit a community near La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he visited about three years ago.  And when he was there in 2021, he laid out his plans for a better future.  And when he returns tomorrow, he will have delivered on so many of those promises.

For example, in 2021 when he visited, he talked about repairing roads and bridges and other infrastructure.  And he’s returning with having passed the infrastructure law and launching 350 projects across Wisconsin.

In 2021, he talked about eradicating lead pipes.  He’s returning after announcing $9 billion to do just that, including $200 million in Wisconsin.

And in 2021, he talked about dangerous chemicals — PFAS. And he’s returning after having created the first-ever national PFAS standard.

And importantly, in 2021, he talked about the need for good-paying jobs and opportunities in rural America and the need to address our climate crisis.  And tomorrow, he will announce $7.3 billion from his Inflation Reduction Act for clean, affordable, reliable electricity. 

It’s the largest investment in rural electrification since FDR’s administration and will spur economic development and lower costs for millions of American, and it will create 4,500 permanent jobs and 16,000 construction jobs.

He will hear from people on the ground about how these and other investments from his agenda are changing their lives for the better.  And it’s part of a broader effort that we’ve launched to hear directly from different communities across the country who are benefitting from the president’s Investing in America agenda and, as a result, have peace of mind and more hope for the future.

The president kicked off this push yesterday when he spoke directly to four local, community, and Tribal leaders and other Americans who are seeing the tangible benefits of his agenda.  And his trips to Wisconsin and Michigan this week will continue to highlight those stories.

And now I’d like to turn it over to Secretary Vilsack to talk more about this historic investment in rural America. 

Secretary?

SECRETARY VILSACK:  Natalie, thank you very much.  I appreciate the opportunity to be with all of you today. 

Looking very much forward to the announcement tomorrow.  It’s an exciting announcement with a massive impact across 23 states to bring the promise of clean energy and lower costs to approximately 5 million rural households, representing 20 percent of the nation’s entire rural household, as well as farms and businesses that are located in those 23 states. 

As Natalie indicated, as part of the president’s Investing in America agenda, and as a result of the passage of the president’s Inflation Reduction Act, USDA will be committing $7.3 billion to 16 awardees, rural electric cooperatives, in those 23 states. 

This resource will leverage an additional $29 billion of private investment, which, as Natalie indicated, is the largest investment in rural electrification since 1936 and the New Deal. 

The impact of — of this investment cannot be overstated. 

Natalie referenced the 4,500 permanent jobs and the 16,000 construction jobs, all of which will have good middle-class wages associated with them.  But it’s also about clean energy: ten gigawatts of clean energy, 37- — over 3,700 megawatts of wind power, over 4,700 megawatts of solar power, nearly 800 and — over 800 megawatts of nuclear power, and 357 watts of hydropower. 

All of this is designed not only to provide more reliant elec- — electricity for those rural communities but will also result in a 43.7-million-ton annual reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as a result of the clean energy future the president envisioned. 

In addition to all of the — the clean energy, there will also be nearly 1,900 megawatts of battery storage, which means greater resiliency within the system. 

The president w- — specifically will have the opportunity to talk about the New ERA funding of the Dairyland Power Cooperative in Wisconsin.  This is a $573 million commitment that the USDA is making with the Inflation Reduction Act resources in the form of a grant of nearly $471 million and a loan of nearly $102 million. 

This is going to establish an opportunity for this particular cooperative to purchase — to — to finance eight power purchase agreements, four solar installations, four wind power installations across their service territory in Wisconsin.  This is an opportunity, over the next 10 years, to lower the costs of electricity for the customers of the Dairyland Cooperative by nearly 42 percent.

What is really interesting about this opportunity, in addition to the investment USDA is making, is that the — the cooperative will also put its own resources into this.  The total cost of the project will be a little over $2 billion.

In addition, as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, the — the cooperative will enter into a community benefit plan.  These benefit plans are designed to provide direct assistance and — and help to farmers who will benefit from this clean energy as well as connecting to employment opportunities.  You’ll see the opportunity for apprenticeships and training programs in order to build the workforce of the future.

The New ERA program, which is the program that USDA is providing these resources, has a companion program.  The New ERA program is available only to the RECs, rural electric cooperatives.  But the Powering Affordable Clean Energy program, the PACE program, is available to municipal utilities as well as RECs. 

And the USDA has already made 19 awards of $665 million in that program as well.  In addition, the USDA is also, as a result of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Investing in America effort of the Biden-Harris administration, we’ve invested in over 7,200 REAP grants.  About 4,500 of those REAP grants are being financed directly from Inflation Reduction Act resources.  This is allowing farmers and ranchers and producers and small-business owners to have an individual benefit of clean renewable energy. 

I think it’s important that — to — to point out that this is all a result of the funding that is being provided in the Inflation Reduction Act. 

There are some in Congress who are suggesting that we need to condense the timeframe in which these projects need to be completed and to — and to essentially take some resources away from the Inflation Reduction Act in order to reinvest in — in other farm bill programs.  Really deeply concerned about that, because you can see the power of the New ERA program and the PACE program and the opportunity for us to — over the course of the next several years, to make investments in rural job growth and in rural economic opportunity.

Excited about this opportunity, looking forward to the president’s visit, and I think it’s an opportunity, as well, to talk about the extraordinary investment that’s been made in rural America by the Biden-Harris administration as part of the president’s Investing in America initiative.

So, really, really important day.  I’m looking forward to it and excited about the opportunity that this presents for — for rural places.

With that, I’ll turn it back to Angelo for any questions.

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ:  Thank you, Secretary.  And thank you, Natalie. 

Now we will move to the question-and-answer portion of the call.  As a reminder, this will be on background and attributable to “senior administration officials.”  Please use the “raise hand” function on Zoom so that we may call on you.  When you are called on, please identify yourself and your outlet. 

Okay.  We will start with Rachel.  You should be unmuted now.

Q    Hi.  Thanks for taking my question.  I was wondering, do you guys know whether, you know, this power — this clean power would have otherwise been generated without this award?  And can you detail more about that?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Well, I’ll take a first stab at that but maybe ask [senior administration official], who’s on the call, to amplify. 

I think it’s fair to say that the extent and nature of the investment that’s being made is — would be unlikely to have occurred but for the significant investment that the USDA and the Biden-Harris administration is making in these projects. 

The fact that the Dairyland project, for example, is receiving a significant grant — a grant that basically funds $471 million of the project — would suggest that this is a — the impetus and this is the opportunity that we’ve created for a large — large-scale investment. 

There may very well have been other investments made by the Dairyland Power Cooperative, but I don’t think to the extent that they — that they are currently now prepared to do so with the help and assistance that USDA is providing.

[Senior administration official], you want to add anything to that?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  [Senior administration official] is exactly right.  What I’ve heard directly from Cooperative executives is that New ERA is transforming their business.  Dairyland CEO, for example, said they’re going to be a different organization after Thursday than they were before because of the transformative effect of New ERA.

There’s no doubt that while some of this might have occurred and there — these co-ops were making investments in clean energy, this is making sure that it’s of a different scale, and, importantly, it’s being done at a cost that is affordable for rural Americans.

Q    And so, when you talked about some of these being, you know, power purchase agreements, that’s not just purchasing power that already exists; that’s creating — that’s new wind turbines in the ground and new solar panels?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  To qualify for our funding, it has to be power that either was not built before or was not purchased by the particular co-op before.

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

Erik?

Q    Yeah, what’s full total timeframe for all of this to be built out fully to fully recognize the entire investment that’s being made here? 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  [Senior administration official], is it 2031?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Yes, sir.  Under the Inflation Reduction Act, everything has to be built and validated and dispersed by September 30th, 2031.

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

Q    Hi.  Thank you for taking this call.  How is the White House balancing these electrification and other projects with the IRA with the protests and lawsuits to mining the materials needed for this infrastructure, especially as projects encroach on culturally significant lands, especially for Tribes?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICAL:  So, I can — I can start there, Fatima, and our USDA colleagues may want to speak a bit more about the — the design of this particular program. 

I’m not sure which — what kinds of mining or other facilities that you have in mind.  But here, as elsewhere across the Investing in America agenda, USDA has built community benefits agreements into the design of this program, and so the co-ops that are being selected for these awards have done and will continue to do extensive community consultations in their service areas and in the project areas to ensure that these projects are being built according to high labor standards, that they are delivering benefits directly to communities, and, consistent with all federal projects that fall under NEPA permitting processes, that those public consultations and any Tribal consultations that are — that are required by the project service area are fully — fully pursued.

But, [senior administration official], I don’t know if there’s anything else you want to add about the community benefits agreement approach here.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  [Senior administration official] is right on.  We are making sure that each of these co-ops does extensive community engagement with the areas that are — that will be affected by the — by New ERA funding.  We expect that this funding will result in tremendous benefits beyond just the clean power.  That particularly applies to farmers seeing benefits and the job growth that Natalie mentioned earlier.  And part of that is a robust engagement of the people who are there. 

The last piece I’ll just say about this is that co-ops are owned by the members, so the people who live and work in rural America are the people who own the co-ops.  There’s no utility that’s more sensitive to what the people who live in its service territory are thinking about and worried about than co-ops, and that puts them a step ahead when it comes to this community engagement.

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

Q    Thank you.  Thank you for hosting this.  My two questions really are a little bit more about logistics.  First one is, will Secretary Vilsack be joining the president?  Will there be people available to comment tomorrow from the co-op? 

And when the president visited here two years ago, we were allowed to walk with him as he inspected some of the EV equipment that the city was investing in.  Is that part of the plan for tomorrow?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Well, I can assure you — this is Tom Vilsack. I can assure you that I’ll be there in Wisconsin with the President.

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ:  And, Sean, on some of your logistical questions, we’re happy to follow up with you on those.

Okay.  We will go to Larry next.  You should be unmuted now.

Larry?

Q    There we go.  I think it’s working now.

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ:  Yep.  There you go.

Q    Larry Lee at Brownfield Ag News. 

First of all, are all the grants going to cooperatives.  And secondly, the $471 million to Dairyland Power Co-Op, does that include bringing the Genoa nuclear plant back online or perhaps building a new reactor?  I believe [senior administration official] mentioned that might not be able to use it on stuff built before this, but there may be something else in the works.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  [Senior administration official], I’m going to let you answer the last part of Larry’s question, but it’s my understanding that the New ERA program is specifically designed and only available to rural electric cooperatives.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Yes, sir.  And then I just want to be clear about the total amount.  So, the $471 million that you mentioned, Larry, that’s just for the grants.  There’s another $101-plus million that is going for loan refinancing. 

The co-ops will see significant savings from these financings that they can then plow back into new clean energy.  Again, that makes the end result more affordable for these co-ops.  So, there is a tremendous advantage in both products.  And the total is $573 million just for Dairyland.

As for the nuclear plant, Dairyland is building — is buying power from four new solar projects and four new wind projects.  Their particular plan does not involve any new nuclear.

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

Q    Can you hear me?

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ:  Yes.

Q    Hi.  This is Kelsey Reichmann from Courthouse News.

A lot of the administration’s efforts with clean energy have been challenged at the Supreme Court, and, in particular, there’s a challenge to the power plant rules for lowering emissions.  And some of the industry groups claim that adopting these new emission standards would impact the energy grid because they would have to close down plants and they wouldn’t be able to adjust to the rules.  So, I guess I’m wondering how these investments address those problems and if they do.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I can — I can take that, or at least start, and if [senior administration official] wants to add.

This is an entirely voluntary initiative.  The co-ops were invited to submit letters of interest that detailed what they wanted their future to look like with regard to clean energy.  So, there’s — there was no regulatory piece to this whatsoever. 

These are co-ops who understand that the clean energy is going to make their systems more reliable and more resilient to extreme weather.  The — by ensuring that we are helping with upfront costs, that keeps the entire — all the projects more affordable.  And we know that each of the 16 selectees are excited for wh- — for this opportunity.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  That’s right, [senior administration official]. 

And all I’ll just add there is that, you know, this is part — you know, a major program under the president’s Inflation Reduction Act, under the Investing in America agenda, which is putting money directly into communities to help build the clean energy projects that they want to build to achieve all of those goals that [senior administration official] has in mind.

This is a — you know, this is a program that was authorized and appropriated by Congress as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, and we’re very excited about tomorrow’s milestone. 

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ:  Thank you.  We have time for one more question.  And we will go to Hope.  You should be unmuted now. 

Q    Thank you.  Hope Kirwan with Wisconsin Public Radio.  I’m wondering if there is something about this project in Westby that, you know, caused the president to want to highlight this project out of all the 16.  You know, is there — there something about this project in Wisconsin that represents, you know, kind of the goals of the Investing in America agenda? 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Well, I’m happy to take a initial stab on this. 

You know, I think this is a project that in which all aspects of the Inflation Reduction Act are sort of underscored.  The notion that not only are you going to essentially leverage private investment, not only are you going to create clean energy that will make the systems providing energy to rural Wisconsin more reliable and more resilient, but you’re also providing an opportunity where it’s expected that costs will be lower over time than they would have otherwise been because of the source of this energy.  And you also have the benefit of the community benefit agreements and arrangements. 

This project, I think, is exemplary of the 16 projects that are being awarded.  And this is just the beginning.  There will be additional awards in the New ERA program.  And, of course, we — I mentioned that — the PACE program as well. 

And this is also, I think, an opportunity to point out that when you combine this investment with the REAP investments to farmers and ranchers and producers who are capable of producing their own electricity, reducing their costs, but also potentially producing some excess that there opens up the opportunity in the future for farmers to work collaboratively together with their RECs, which could (audio drops) another revenue stream for farmers, which is extremely important. 

So, this particular project sort of brings everything to a head, and the good relationship that the Dairyland has with the unions that will probably be responsible for some of the jobs that will be created in this project. 

I just recently visited the pipefitters training s- — school in Wisconsin.  They’re excited about the opportunities that the Inflation Reduction Act is providing for new jobs.  They’re seeing an increase in apprenticeships.  They’re seeing an increased interest on the part of folks to be pipefitters and steamfitters.  And so, this is a project that will also create really good-paying jobs in Wisconsin and in rural places.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  If I can just add to what [senior administration official] just said, he’s exactly right.  This is representative of what New ERA is going to do all around the country. 

It — the baseline for Dairyland is that they now emit about 4.6 million tons of greenhouse gasses.  By the time that these programs have come to fruition and they’ve completed these projects, that number is going to be down to about 1.4 million tons.  What that is is about a 70 percent decrease in their carbon emissions, an incredible amount.  And New ERA funding will be responsible for about 85 percent of that.

On top of that, as you all know from the press release, Dairyland is — expects that about — their rates will be about 42 percent lower than they otherwise would have been as a result of the New ERA funding once this is complete, and that is representative of what we are seeing all around the country when it comes to the recipients of these New ERA funds.

The Inflation Reduction Act is transforming this entire industry.  It’s an industry that is purely owned by and for rural America.  When we invest in that, we are literally putting equity into rural America.  And as [senior administration official] notes, these projects are indicative of what’s going to happen in the other 15 awardees and then eventually to the other funding that we will be announcing as the time goes on.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  And if I could just add — this is [senior administration official] — just to pick up on what [senior administration official] said — you know, the president will go to — this week, he will have gone to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. 

And this is, as I mentioned earlier, part of the big push we’re doing to make sure the president is in communities, meeting with folks who are benefiting from his Investing in America agenda — that’s urban communities, that’s rural communities, and otherwise — to just demonstrate the tangible impacts that this agenda is already having across the country.  And I think Wisconsin and Dairyland is a great example of that.

MR. FERNÁNDEZ HERNÁNDEZ:  Thank you, [senior administration official], and thank you, everyone.  Thank you for joining us.  This will end our press call. 

As a reminder, the contents of this call and the materials that you will receive over email will be embargoed until 5:00 a.m. Eastern tomorrow.

Thank you for joining us.

12:32 P.M. EDT

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Today, President Biden will travel to Westby, Wisconsin to announce $7.3 billion for clean, affordable, reliable electricity for rural America, funded by his Inflation Reduction Act – this is part of his series designed to demonstrate how the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda is improving the lives of Americans across the country and planting the seeds of a better future for decades to come. The investment announced today is the largest investment in rural electrification since the New Deal and is part of the President’s Investing in America agenda, which is lowering costs, creating jobs and bringing new opportunity to communities and families across the country.

The President will announce the first round of rural electric cooperatives selected and the first award for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Empowering Rural America (New ERA) program, funded through the Inflation Reduction Act. This program helps rural electric cooperatives transition to clean, affordable, and reliable energy and distribute that power to communities, businesses, farms, and families across Rural America. These investments will lower energy costs by up to hundreds of dollars per year for millions of homes and businesses, tackle the climate crisis by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and create thousands of jobs and new economic opportunities in rural America.

President Biden to Announce $7.3 Billion from the New ERA Program

Today, USDA announced that 16 rural electric cooperatives are being selected to receive up to $7.3 billion in clean energy financing that will deliver clean, more affordable and more resilient electricity to approximately 5 million rural co-op members representing 20 percent of rural households, farms, businesses and schools. These 16 cooperatives will benefit rural residents across 23 states, serving farmers, small businesses, and rural communities in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

These first 16 co-ops will leverage $7.3 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act into a total investment of more than $29 billion in rural communities across the nation. Thanks to the New ERA program, co-ops will build or purchase over 10 gigawatts of clean energy and make enabling investments in areas including transmission, substation upgrades, and distributed energy resource management software that will lower energy costs for rural Americans and enhance grid performance, resiliency, and reliability.

This financing will reduce electricity bills for rural families and businesses, who for too long have faced higher energy costs than the rest of the country due to the challenges of providing electricity in rural and remote areas. The New ERA program is helping rural cooperatives overcome barriers to upgrading infrastructure and investing in newer, lower cost electricity projects.

These New ERA investments will support more than 4,500 permanent jobs and over 16,000 construction jobs. They will also prevent at least 43.7 million tons of greenhouse gas pollution annually, equivalent to removing pollution from more than 10 million gas-powered cars every year.

In Wisconsin, Dairyland Power Cooperative is receiving the first New ERA award of nearly $573 million, which they will leverage for a total project investment of $2.1 billion. Dairyland plans to procure 1,080 megawatts of renewable energy through eight wind and solar power purchase agreements, four solar installations, and four wind power installations across rural portions of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois. Dairyland estimates that electric rates for their members will be 42% lower over 10 years than they would have been without New ERA funding.

President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda is Lowering Costs, Making the Largest Investment in Rural Electrification Since the New Deal

The Inflation Reduction Act invests nearly $13 billion in rural electrification across multiple programs—the largest investment in rural electrification since the New Deal. In addition to today’s New ERA announcement:

• The Powering Affordable Clean Energy (PACE) program, created by the Inflation Reduction Act, funds new clean energy projects and energy storage in rural America. The program provides low-interest loans with up to 60% loan forgiveness to renewable energy developers, rural electric cooperatives and other rural energy providers for renewable energy storage and projects that use wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal and biomass. By using renewable energy, PACE projects will make it more affordable for people to heat their homes, run their businesses and power cars, schools, hospitals and more. To date, USDA has announced more than $665 million of investments selected to proceed under the PACE program.

• The Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), which was expanded through the Inflation Reduction Act, provides grant and loan financing to agricultural producers and rural small businesses for renewable energy systems – like solar panels – or to make energy efficiency improvements. During the Biden Administration, REAP has invested $2.2 billion across over 7,600 projects across the country. 

These investments in rural electrification will help build new electricity generation projects and meet growing demand, which will help power the manufacturing renaissance driven by the Investing in America agenda.

President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda is Ensuring a Brighter Future for Wisconsin Communities and Families

Today’s announcement builds on historic progress all around Wisconsin thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda. Since the President and Vice President took office, the Administration has announced $7.2 billion in federal funding, which has catalyzed an additional $5.1 billion in private sector commitments to invest in manufacturing and clean energy across the state. The Investing in America agenda is rebuilding roads and bridges using Made in America materials and American workers. It is bringing back jobs in industries that spent decades outsourcing. And it’s reaching communities in every corner of the state, including those that have too often been left behind.

At the beginning of his term, President Biden traveled to La Crosse, Wisconsin – just down the road from Westby – to sell Americans on his plans for a better future. Now, three years later, the President has delivered on the vision he outlined laying the groundwork for a better future for all Wisconsinites for decades into the future:

• The President talked about the need to repair roads and bridges to enhance safety and to save time and money for Americans. Since then, the Administration has announced over $4 billion for transportation investments for over 350 specific projects, including the construction of three new roundabouts on US 14 and South Avenue, and the County Highway M bridge over the La Crosse River being replaced right now in West Salem.
• The President talked about the need to eradicate lead pipes. Since then, we’ve announced $9 billion nationwide, including over $200 million in Wisconsin, to replace lead pipes. That funding is already accelerating efforts in cities like Milwaukee, which is now on track to replace all lead pipes within 10 years instead of 60 years thanks to funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. We also issued a proposed rulemaking to achieve 100% Lead Pipe Replacement nationwide within a decade.
• The President talked about the need to expand high-speed internet so that kids can do their homework from home, and farmers can grow their business with easy access to internet. Since then, 72,000 additional homes and small businesses have been connected (nearly 30% of the total unserved in the state) and the state has been awarded $1.6 billion for high-speed internet to finish the job and connect all remaining unserved homes and small businesses by 2030.
• The President talked about the need to address dangerous chemicals, known as PFAS or “forever chemicals”—that plagued communities like La Crosse’s French Island. Since then, President Biden created the first-ever National Standard to Address PFAS in Drinking Water and through his Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has made $9 billion available nationwide to address PFAS and other emerging contaminants.
• The President talked about the need to bring good paying jobs to rural communities so that families can build wealth and opportunity in rural hometowns and their children don’t have to leave to get a job. Since then, we’ve expanded the Rural Partners Network to better deliver federal resources to five community networks in rural Wisconsin. By hiring federal staff from within the communities to work with local leaders, over $320 million of federal investments are now helping to build strong and vibrant rural economies.
• The President talked about the need for investments to propel America into the future and bringing economic opportunity to every region of the country. Since then, the Biden-Harris Administration has designated 31 Tech Hubs across the country, including the Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub, which received $49 million to position Wisconsin as a global leader in personalized medicine while expanding support to workers and entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities.

The progress in Wisconsin is just one example of the progress being made across every state in the nation. For more information about the progress of the President’s Investing in America Agenda, please visit invest.gov. 

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Jill and I are mourning the deaths of those whose lives were cut short due to more senseless gun violence and thinking of all of the survivors whose lives are forever changed. What should have been a joyous back-to-school season in Winder, Georgia, has now turned into another horrific reminder of how gun violence continues to tear our communities apart. Students across the country are learning how to duck and cover instead of how to read and write. We cannot continue to accept this as normal. 

We are closely coordinating with officials at the federal, state and local level, and are grateful for the first responders who brought the suspect into custody and prevented further loss of life.

Ending this gun violence epidemic is personal to me. It’s why I signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act – the most meaningful gun safety bill in decades – and have announced dozens of gun safety executive actions. I also established the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, overseen by Vice President Harris. We’ve made significant progress, but this crisis requires even more.

After decades of inaction, Republicans in Congress must finally say ‘enough is enough’ and work with Democrats to pass common-sense gun safety legislation. We must ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines once again, require safe storage of firearms, enact universal background checks, and end immunity for gun manufacturers. These measures will not bring those who were tragically killed today back, but it will help prevent more tragic gun violence from ripping more families apart.

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The Biden-Harris Administration believes that public education is the bedrock of our democracy and the foundation of opportunity in our country—and that every young person should have the chance to learn, grow, and pursue their dreams. Since Day One, the Biden-Harris Administration has focused on improving academic achievement, increasing student attendance and engagement, and building communities where all students feel they belong and can thrive. That’s why the Biden-Harris Administration made the single-largest investment in K-12 education in history—and it is delivering results, including student achievement gains. A Harvard and Stanford study, for example, for example, examined outcomes in districts that received large amounts of federal COVID-19 relief funding, which ranged from approximately $4,000 to more than $13,000 per student, and found that these investments will pay for itself in increased earnings for students who benefit, with particularly large impacts for students in schools with high rates of poverty. These investments not only improve academic achievement, but other student outcomes. Another economic study shows that a 10% increase in per student spending each year for all 12 years of public school leads to about 7% higher wages in adulthood, with more pronounced effects for students from low-income backgrounds.
 
As students across the country head back to school, the Biden-Harris Administration is working to make sure America’s schools have the resources and supports they need to continue their important progress. Working together, at the federal, state, and local level, we must all double-down on strengthening reading and math skills; increasing student attendance and engagement; providing afterschool and expanded learning programs; and increasing access to intensive tutoring. We must also provide teachers and school leaders with evidence-based preparation, development, coaching, and resources to support student academic success and literacy and math and their overall well-being, which is foundational to that success.
 
As part of our ongoing commitment to support student success, today we are announcing the following Administration actions:

• Awarding $149 million to support states in implementing evidence-based reading interventions, including efforts to ensure every child is reading fluently by third grade. The U.S. Department of Education’s Comprehensive Literacy State Development grant program supports states in creating comprehensive literacy programs and providing professional development to advance literacy skills, including pre-literacy skills, reading, and writing, for children and youth, focusing on underserved students, including students from low-income backgrounds, English learners, and children with disabilities. For example, Ohio will partner with state colleges and universities to better prepare educators to deliver evidence-based literacy instruction, and Montana will use funds to expand reading instructional skills for educators in rural communities.
  
• Awarding $30 million to support comprehensive assessment systems that inform teaching and support learning. The U.S. Department of Education’s Competitive Grants for State Assessments program supports high-quality state assessment systems that measure student achievement and progress using multiple measures and gives insight into student learning, helping to inform instruction and support student achievement. For example, Nebraska will use funds to support English Learners by making assessment data more usable and actionable for educators as they design instruction.
  
• Issuing new school improvement guidance focused on evidence-based practices to support students and educators and accelerate academic achievement. To further support states and districts in their efforts to increase student success, the U.S. Department of Education is issuing school improvement guidance to support effective implementation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The guidance provides examples of evidence-based approaches to support teaching and learning and drive student achievement. This includes addressing chronic absenteeism (for example, through early warning systems and improved family engagement, like home visits and effective parent communication such as texting), and providing high-quality tutoring (in small groups, 2-3 times per week by a well-prepared tutor, during the school day, and aligned with classroom instruction), and afterschool, expanded, and summer learning programs. This draft guidance is open for public comment until October 4, 2024. The Department will consider this community input and issue updated guidance by the end of the year.
  
• Releasing a new resource for educators on evidence-based strategies for increasing student literacy and math achievement. The Institute of Education Sciences is releasing a resource for educators on instructional strategies for increasing student success in literacy and math. Each resource includes concrete practices that can be used by teachers from early grades to high school, and provides links to additional resources that can support learning at home. 
  
• To support states, districts, schools, and families in addressing chronic absenteeism and increase student engagement, the Administration is:
  
• Calling on Governors and state education leaders to create statewide student data systems that provide chronic absenteeism-related data for all schools that are actionable, help target interventions, and drive improvement. The Administration encourages all state leaders to ensure that every school district in their state has the real-time data they need to identify and reduce chronic absenteeism and improve student success. States including Alabama, Connecticut, Indiana, and Rhode Island have developed innovative statewide student information systems to help increase student attendance. At a minimum, state systems are encouraged to provide:
  • to the public, up-to-date rates of chronic absenteeism and whether rates are declining or increasing;
  • to educators, real-time, school-level data that enables them to identify the root causes of chronic absenteeism, select the appropriate interventions, target resources, and measure effectiveness; and
  • to parents and families, real-time information on their child’s attendance.
    
• Calling on industry vendors that provide student information systems to improve the availability and utility of student attendance data. This includes making attendance data available to states and districts at no additional cost; not charging districts to access, securely export, or display their own data; and adopting industry aligned data standards or practices for student attendance data that allows for interoperability between the modules that states and districts use, between vendors, and between districts that may use different data systems.
  
• To support these efforts, this year, the Department of Education will issue a resource for state leaders highlighting different state approaches to creating and implementing data systems to address chronic absenteeism along with recommendations for states and local leaders. The guide will also include information on how federal funding can be used to support these efforts. 
  
• Founding the Student Attendance and Engagement Solutions Network, part of the National Partnership for Student Success (NPSS), a partnership among the U.S. Department of Education, AmeriCorps, and the Johns Hopkins University Everyone Graduates Center. The Network supports school districts and states in their efforts to reduce chronic absenteeism, increase student engagement, and enhance prevention strategies for the 2024-25 academic year and beyond. To date, almost 200 school districts across 43 states and eight state education agencies, in total representing more than 11,000 schools and 7.2 million students, have joined the network to learn from each other about how to improve attendance and engagement. The Network is open for districts and states to join. More information on the network and how to join can be found here.
  
• Releasing a joint resource by the U.S. Departments of Education and Transportation highlighting ways to provide safe, reliable transit options to get young people to and from school and support everyday student attendance. Many students miss school because of transportation issues, especially in vulnerable communities. To address this issue, transit agencies, school districts, and local and state government leaders can work together to improve transit options for families, including through offering free or reduced transit fares, expanding safe routes to school, and creating a “walking or bike bus”. This resource includes strategies to support students and families in getting to and from school at low or no cost, and federal funding available to support these efforts through the Departments of Education and Transportation.
  
• Releasing, this month, a joint resource for parents by the U.S. Departments of Education and Agriculture on how healthy school meals support regular attendance. This resource provides information that schools can use in engaging parents and caregivers on how school meals bolster everyday student attendance and support healthy growth and development and how to access programs.
  
• Launching the “Attendance Champions Challenge” to hear directly from young people on creative solutions to address chronic absenteeism. The Challenge, hosted on challenge.gov, will encourage state and local leaders to directly engage young people (ages 13-19) in sharing barriers to regular school attendance and proposing viable, creative solutions to support their attendance and engagement. The Challenge is open until November 29th and more information can be found at this website.
  
• Providing parents with resources on navigating whether to send kids to school when they are experiencing health symptoms. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and external organizations are releasing resources on how to support consistent school attendance, while also preventing spread of illness.

In addition to these actions by the Administration, a number of organizations have taken action to tackle absenteeism, as previewed during the White House Every Day Counts Summit. These actions include a messaging toolkit for states, districts, and educators based on new research around effectively communicating with parents to increase student attendance, developed by the Ad Council Research Institute (ACRI), with support from Overdeck Family Foundation, available on September 10th. Information on additional actions by organizations is available here.

These resources build on the previous Administration actions to promote academic achievement and student success, including:

• Securing $130 billion for the largest-ever investment in public education through state and district funding in the American Rescue Plan (ARP). ARP has been used to help schools safely reopen, and address the academic, mental health, and other needs of students. ARP funding has put more teachers in our classrooms and more support staff in our schools; expanded high-dosage tutoring; led to record expansion of summer and after-school programs; improved HVAC systems; and increased access to a wide range of student supports. The most recent data shows that states and districts have allocated more than $70 billion to activities that address students’ academic, social, and emotional needs, including tutoring, afterschool, and summer learning, and research is showing that these investments are working. 
  
• Enabling states to continue investing pandemic relief funds into academic achievement efforts in the 2024-25 school year and focus remaining resources on improving outcomes. The Department issued a letter, Frequently Asked Questions, and a template to support States and provide a critical pathway to continue to use ARP dollars in the 2024-2025 school year, including on evidence-based academic and other student supports. 
  
• Fully enforcing the ARP maintenance of equity provisions to ensure that States maintain their own levels of education spending, especially for communities with high rates of poverty. Under the Department’s robust implementation of these fiscal equity provisions, 48 States, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia safeguarded funding in communities with high rates of poverty and drove almost $800 million to under-resourced schools.

[i] The White House does not endorse any nonfederal entity, product, service, or publication. Links to websites and resources outside the U.S. Federal Government are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by the White House of any of the products, services or opinions of the corporation or organization or individual. The White House bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links. Contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.

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Earlier today, Russian missiles struck a military training facility and a hospital in Ukraine—killing more than 50 people and injuring dozens more. I condemn this deplorable attack in the strongest possible terms.

This assault is a tragic reminder of Putin’s ongoing and outrageous attempts to break the will of a free people. But for two and a half years, the people of Ukraine have stood unbowed. And the United States will continue stand with them—including providing the air defense systems and capabilities they need to protect their country. 

Make no mistake: Russia will not prevail in this war. The people of Ukraine will prevail. And on this tragic day, and every day, the United States stands with them.

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Today, President Biden and Vice President Harris met in the White House Situation Room with the U.S. hostage deal negotiation team following the murder of American Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages by Hamas. President Biden expressed his devastation and outrage at the murder, and reaffirmed the importance of holding Hamas’s leaders accountable.  

During the meeting, President Biden and Vice President Harris received an update from the U.S. negotiation team on the status of the bridging proposal outlined by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt. They discussed next steps in the ongoing effort to secure the release of hostages, including continuing consultations with co-mediators Qatar and Egypt.

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On October 7, Hersh Goldberg-Polin—an American citizen—was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists. He was just 23 years old, attending a music festival with friends. We now know he was murdered by Hamas. His body was recovered today in the tunnels under Rafah, along with five other hostages.

Doug and my prayers are with Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, Hersh’s parents, and with everyone who knew and loved Hersh. When I met with Jon and Rachel earlier this year, I told them: You are not alone. That remains true as they mourn this terrible loss. Americans and people around the world will pray for Jon, Rachel, and their family and send them love and strength. As is said in the Jewish tradition, may Hersh’s memory be a blessing.

Hamas is an evil terrorist organization. With these murders, Hamas has even more American blood on its hands. I strongly condemn Hamas’ continued brutality, and so must the entire world. From its massacre of 1,200 people to sexual violence, taking of hostages, and these murders, Hamas’ depravity is evident and horrifying. The threat Hamas poses to the people of Israel—and American citizens in Israel—must be eliminated and Hamas cannot control Gaza. The Palestinian people too have suffered under Hamas’ rule for nearly two decades.

As Vice President, I have no higher priority than the safety of American citizens, wherever they are in the world. President Biden and I will never waver in our commitment to free the Americans and all those held hostage in Gaza.

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Earlier today, in a tunnel under the city of Rafah, Israeli forces recovered six bodies of hostages held by Hamas. We have now confirmed that one of the hostages killed by these vicious Hamas terrorists was an American citizen, Hersh Goldberg-Polin.

I am devastated and outraged. Hersh was among the innocents brutally attacked while attending a music festival for peace in Israel on October 7. He lost his arm helping friends and strangers during Hamas’ savage massacre.  He had just turned 23. He planned to travel the world. I have gotten to know his parents, Jon and Rachel. They have been courageous, wise, and steadfast, even as they have endured the unimaginable. They have been relentless and irrepressible champions of their son and of all the hostages held in unconscionable conditions. I admire them and grieve with them more deeply than words can express.  I know all Americans tonight will have them in their prayers, just as Jill and I will.  I have worked tirelessly to bring their beloved Hersh safely to them and am heartbroken by the news of his death. It is as tragic as it is reprehensible. Make no mistake, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. And we will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages.

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National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan convened a meeting at the White House today with French Diplomatic Counselor to the President Emmanuel Bonne, German Chancellery Foreign and Security Policy Advisor Jens Ploetner, British National Security Advisor Tim Barrow and Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak to discuss our strong and steadfast support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression.  Mr. Sullivan conveyed the United States’ unwavering support for Ukraine, and partners discussed the steps we are taking to strengthenUkrainian forces on the battlefield, including through the provision of artillery, air defense, and other critical capabilities. 

They discussed our efforts to continue to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses and harden Ukraine’s energy grid amid Russia’s renewed aerial attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as well as the investments the United States and our allies are making in Ukraine’s defense industrial base to support its long term security. In addition, the group conferred on efforts to generate support for a just and lasting peace based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity following the Ukraine Peace Summit in Switzerland.

Following the meeting, National Security Advisor Sullivan met with Mr. Yermak to discuss the ironclad partnership between the United States and Ukraine, including through support for Ukraine’s military and Ukraine’s economic reconstruction.

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Dear Mr. Speaker:   (Dear Madam President:)

I am transmitting an alternative plan for pay adjustments for civilian Federal employees covered by the General Schedule and certain other pay systems in January 2025.

Title 5, United States Code, authorizes me to implement alternative plans for pay adjustments for civilian Federal employees covered by the General Schedule and certain other pay systems if, because of “national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare,” I view the increases that would otherwise take effect as inappropriate.

Accordingly, I have determined that it is appropriate to exercise my authority to set alternative pay adjustments for 2025 pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 5303(b) and 5 U.S.C. 5304a.

Specifically, I have determined that for 2025, the across-the-board base pay increase will be 1.7 percent and locality pay increases will average 0.3 percent, resulting in an overall average increase of 2.0 percent for civilian Federal employees, consistent with the assumption in my 2025 Budget.

We must attract, recruit, and retain a skilled workforce with fair compensation in order to keep our Government running, deliver services, and meet our Nation’s challenges today and tomorrow.  This alternative pay plan decision will continue to allow the Federal Government to employ a well‑qualified Federal workforce on behalf of the American people, acknowledging wage growth in the labor market and fiscal constraints.

The adjustment described above shall take effect on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after January 1, 2025.

                             Sincerely,

                             JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

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Today’s report shows we are making real progress, with inflation falling to 2.5%—continuing at the lowest level in more than three years. Wages are growing more than prices, giving people an extra $1,400 in income since the pandemic. But there is more work to do.

Prices are still too high, and Vice President Harris and I are fighting to lower costs by building 3 million new homes and expanding our prescription drug caps to all Americans. We’re also lowering costs by investing in record energy production. Prices at the pump are almost 50 cents lower than a year ago—the lowest Labor Day gas prices in three years.

Congressional Republicans have a different approach. They want to give massive tax cuts to billionaires and big corporations while raising taxes on hardworking Americans by almost $4,000. Experts agree that their plans would “reignite” inflation—undoing our work to lower costs and grow the middle class. We won’t let them.

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National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met on August 29 with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China. The meeting was part of ongoing efforts to maintain channels of communication and responsibly manage the relationship between the United States and the PRC.  The two sides discussed further implementation of the commitments President Biden and President Xi made at the November 2023 Woodside Summit, including on counternarcotics, military-to-military communications, and AI safety and risk. They also discussed cross-Strait issues, Russia’s war against Ukraine, and the South China Sea. Both sides welcomed ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication, including planning for a call between President Biden and President Xi in the coming weeks.

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President Biden has been clear that the government can and must deliver more projects, more quickly. Through his Investing in America Agenda, he is delivering on that promise by accelerating project reviews while protecting communities and our environment.

To date, the Biden-Harris Administration has deployed more than $560 billion in federal investments for over 68,000 projects across the nation, and the President has taken action to accelerate these projects by devoting long overdue resources to permitting and environmental reviews.

The Biden-Harris Administration has taken historic steps to accelerate and improve the federal permitting process so that Americans across the country can benefit from the promise of the Investing in America agenda – including lowering energy costs for families and creating hundreds of thousands of good-paying and union jobs. The Administration has taken a three-prong approach. First, investing $1 billion through the Inflation Reduction Act funds to hire experts and invest in new technologies to expedite reviews. Second, passing the first reforms to modernize the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the first time in 50 years and finalizing the Bipartisan Permitting Reform Implementation Rule to accelerate the federal environmental review process. And third, using executive authorities, wherever possible, to improve permitting and environmental review processes.

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing two new actions that will help build more projects, more quickly.

• The Bureau of Land Management is announcing a roadmap to support expanded solar energy production by making renewable energy siting and permitting on America’s public lands more efficient. This action will help expedite reviews of solar projects by steering them to areas with high solar potential and low wildlife and land conflicts, and ease burdens on solar developers. The Bureau of Land Management will make over 31 million acres of public lands across eleven western states available for solar development, helping to deliver clean power to millions of homes.

• The Environmental Protection Agency is announcing the conditional approval of a new rule which will allow for new offsets to create clean air credits in Maricopa County. Companies with vehicle fleets can now generate credits by replacing or retrofitting diesel-burning vehicles with electric vehicles. Manufacturers or other new emitters can then purchase those credits to balance out their future emissions. This will allow the county, which is now a center of semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S., to continue to build semiconductor fabs essential to our nation’s future and ensure that residents continue to have clean air.

Delivering Results

The Administration’s actions to reform federal permitting have already delivered real results. New data from the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and federal agencies demonstrates that the Biden-Harris Administration is delivering more projects, more quickly while being responsible stewards of the environment and protecting communities.

The Biden-Harris Administration has cut 6 months off the median time it takes for agencies to complete environmental impact statements, the most comprehensive form of environmental review, representing 16% in time savings compared to the previous Administration and we are continuing to make more improvements.

Data indicates that there are similar results across a number of key sectors:

• Clean Energy & Transmission: The Department of Energy has cut environmental review timelines by half for environmental impact statements compared to the prior Administration. In addition, DOE has completed 15% more environmental reviews compared to the previous Administration.  In addition, the Department of Energy has started implementing the Coordinated Interagency Authorization and Permits (CITAP) program which is expected to cut review times in half for transmission projects.
• Transportation: The Department of Transportation (DOT) has cut the average time it takes to complete an environmental assessment by more than one third. DOT has also completed 20% more reviews compared to the prior Administration for projects requiring environmental assessments or environmental impact statements.
• Offshore wind: Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has completed environmental reviews for the nation’s first 10 commercial-scale offshore wind projects; before President Biden took office there were zero complete. Because of the Administration’s progress on permitting the nation’s first offshore wind projects and leasing new areas, the total U.S. offshore wind project pipeline now exceeds 80 gigawatts, enough to power more than 26 million homes if fully developed.
• Onshore renewable energy: Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the Department of the Interior has permitted more than twice as many clean energy projects on public lands than it did under the prior Administration. Together, these projects are expected to help power more than 12 million homes across the country.
• Broadband: Across the federal government, agencies are processing more than twice as many permits for high-speed internet projects on federal lands and property as they did under the prior Administration. NTIA has established and adopted a total of 36 new categorical exclusions to streamline processes, including for historic preservation and threatened and endangered species compliance for broadband.

Additionally, for projects with minimal environmental impacts, the Biden-Harris Administration has expanded use of the fastest form of environmental review – categorical exclusions. Since the start of the Administration, over 15 federal agencies have developed, expanded, or adopted 125 categorical exclusions for projects with insignificant environmental impact in key sectors such as EV charging, broadband, semiconductor manufacturing, clean energy, and transmission. This includes new categorical exclusions adopted using new permitting efficiencies passed by Congress in the Fiscal Responsibility Act.  

Federal agencies are using categorical exclusions to review the vast majority of project decisions, including 99% of federal highway decisions. This is an increase from the last time similar data was analyzed by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which found that just 96% of Federal Highway Administration projects were processed by categorical exclusions. Other agencies are also utilizing categorical exclusions for the vast majority of projects including 99% of Department of Energy decisions, and 98% of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) projects decisions.

New Executive Actions to Accelerate Permitting

The Biden-Harris Administration has taken a number of steps in recent weeks to improve federal permitting processes to help advance projects critical to the President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda.

Streamlining Historic Preservation Reviews: Earlier this month, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) proposed a Program Comment to accelerate historic preservation reviews for millions of clean energy, transportation, housing, and building projects over the next two decades. This action builds on steps that ACHP announced earlier this year to accelerate historic preservation reviews for broadband projects.

Accelerating Transmission Projects: The Biden-Harris Administration has started to implement the new Coordinated Interagency Transmission Authorizations and Permits (CITAP) program which will help accelerate permitting for transmission projects to bring reviews down to a two-year timeline – twice as fast as the historical average of four years. A recent study of 33 projects found that had CITAP been in place from 2010 through 2020, it could have saved the equivalent of approximately 66 years in federal permitting time. The Department of Energy (DOE) recently opened the portal for transmission developers and project sponsors to apply for the CITAP program. In addition, the Department of Energy recently announced $371 million for 20 projects across 16 states to accelerate the siting and permitting of high-voltage interstate transmission projects and support community infrastructure projects.

Expanding Categorial Exclusions: In recent weeks, the U.S. Forest Service adopted 10 categorical exclusions that will accelerate its review of broadband projects. Data from the U.S. Forest Service indicates that these categorical exclusions will help streamline reviews for 100 broadband projects by 2027, thereby saving over $24 million in staff time per year and lead to a total reduction of over 20 years in processing time. In April the Bureau of Land Management adopted categorical exclusions to accelerate review of geothermal projects. And, earlier this month, the Department of Transportation announced a new categorical exclusion to help expedite reviews of projects dedicated to fixing older, leak-prone natural gas pipelines.

Modernizing NEPA Technology: Last month CEQ released new recommendations for using technology to modernize environmental reviews. In a new report to Congress CEQ evaluates permitting processes, include an analysis of 16 different agency technology tools and initiatives being advanced to improve the environmental review and permitting process.

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National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met on August 29 with General Zhang Youxia, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission in Beijing, China. Mr. Sullivan stressed that both countries have a responsibility to prevent competition from veering into conflict or confrontation. The two sides reaffirmed the importance of regular military-to-military communications as part of efforts to maintain high-level diplomacy and open lines of communication, as directed by President Biden and President Xi at the November 2023 Woodside Summit. Mr. Sullivan and Vice Chairman Zhang recognized the progress in sustained, regular military-military communications over the past ten months and planned to hold a theater commander telephone call in the near future. Mr. Sullivan also raised the importance of cross-Strait peace and stability, the U.S. commitment to freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, concerns about PRC support for Russia’s defense industrial base, the need to avoid miscalculation and escalation in cyber space, and ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza.

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National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met on August 27-28 with Chinese Communist Party Politburo Member, Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi outside Beijing, China.  This meeting was part of ongoing efforts to maintain channels of communication and responsibly manage the relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), as discussed by President Biden and President Xi at the November 2023 Woodside Summit.  

The two sides held candid, substantive, and constructive discussions on a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues.  They discussed progress and next steps on implementation of the Woodside Summit commitments, including counternarcotics, military-to-military communications, and AI safety and risk.  Both sides welcomed ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication, including planning for a leader-level call in the coming weeks.  They noted the importance of regular, ongoing military-to-military communications and planned to hold a theater commander telephone call in the near future.  Mr. Sullivan and Director Wang discussed next steps to reduce the flow of illicit synthetic drugs, continue repatriation of undocumented migrants, and law enforcement cooperation.  They underscored the importance of concrete steps to tackle the climate crisis and welcomed further discussions during Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy John Podesta’s upcoming travel to China. 

Mr. Sullivan emphasized that the United States will continue to take necessary actions to prevent advanced U.S. technologies from being used to undermine our national security, without unduly limiting trade or investment.  He also raised continued concerns about the PRC’s unfair trade policies and non-market economic practices.  Mr. Sullivan reiterated that it remains a top priority to resolve the cases of American citizens who are wrongfully detained or subject to exit bans in China.  He also underscored the long-standing U.S. commitment to universal human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Mr. Sullivan underscored the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.  He emphasized concerns about the PRC’s support for Russia’s defense industrial base and its impact on European and transatlantic security.  Mr. Sullivan reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to defending its Indo-Pacific allies and expressed concern about the PRC’s destabilizing actions against lawful Philippine maritime operations in the South China Sea.  The two sides also discussed shared concerns about the DPRK, Burma, and the Middle East.

Mr. Sullivan and Director Wang noted the importance of this strategic channel of communication over the past eighteen months and committed to maintaining high-level diplomacy and working level consultations on an ongoing basis.

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Since coming into office, the Biden-Harris administration has worked tirelessly to broaden and deepen its engagement with Pacific island countries as a priority of U.S. foreign policy. As a Pacific nation, the United States has a clear and abiding interest in partnering with its Pacific neighbors to advance a shared agenda: addressing the climate crisis, maintaining peaceful waterways and upholding freedom of navigation, promoting development and economic growth, and deepening people-to-people ties. The United States has and will continue to advance our shared priorities in a careful, consultative manner that centers the Pacific Islands Forum as the region’s institution of choice, including at the 53rd Pacific Island Forum Leaders Meeting taking place in Tonga this week. And we will seek to engage other friends of the Pacific through groupings like the Partners in the Blue Pacific and the Quad to ensure engagement with the region is conducted in a way that best meets Pacific needs, as identified in guiding documents like the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent and the Boe Declaration.

Over the last three and a half years, the Biden-Harris administration has hosted two historic Pacific Islands Forum Summits at the White House; opened three new embassies in Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu; released the first ever U.S.-Pacific Partnership Strategy; and announced plans, working with Congress, to provide over $8 billion in new funding for the Pacific Islands. The United States recognized Cook Islands and Niue as sovereign and independent states and established diplomatic relationships with them; expanded USAID offices in Papua New Guinea and Fiji; returned the Peace Corps to Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu; and increased the availability of U.S. consular services to enable easier travel. We have surged Coast Guard resources to help Pacific island countries safeguard their maritime territories against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; launched National Guard State Partnership Programs with Samoa and Papua New Guinea; and tended to tens of thousands of medical patients during missions by the hospital ship USNS Mercy. And we have worked to uplift the economies of the Pacific by launching a $50 million microfinance facility for micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs); co-hosting a Pacific Banking Forum with Australia; investing in secure and resilient internet infrastructure throughout the region; and recruiting a delegation of U.S. companies to explore business opportunities at a seminar in Suva.

Our commitment to the Pacific is steadfast and future-oriented. The long-term investments we are making in our presence and our partnerships in this region are evidence of our intent to build lasting relationships with our Pacific partners, which we will accomplish with whole-of-government, bipartisan support. And we will continue to center our engagement on Pacific-identified needs, via new programs, initiatives, and funding like those laid out below. Highlights of these, subject to Congressional requirements, include: providing an additional $20 million toward the development of the PIF’s Pacific Resilience Facility; identifying four Pacific institutions to receive up to $50 million from our MSME microfinancing facility; opening a consular window to provide in-person visa services at our Embassy in Tonga; holding a trade promotion and capacity building seminar in the region; and launching a new five–year program to boost Pacific island countries’ access to climate finance.

Enhancing Pacific Islands’ Climate Resilience

There is no greater challenge facing the Pacific Islands in the 21st century than the threat posed by climate change. It is critical that the world, particularly all major economies, accelerate cuts in greenhouse gas emissions on a trajectory consistent with keeping 1.5 degrees within reach.  Recognizing that climate impacts like sea-level rise are already underway, we must also advance adaptation efforts. The United States has heard the calls from Pacific leaders and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat to support adaptation and resilience for local populations, and is proud to support Pacific-led initiatives, including the Pacific Resilience Facility.

• Additional Support for the Pacific Resilience Facility (PRF):  The Department of State, pending Congressional notification and completion of domestic procedures, intends to provide an additional $20 million to the PIF’s Pacific Resilience Facility to support the facility’s development of its core operational procedures and project preparation for an initial set of facility grants.

• Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project: The Department of State intends to provide $2.65 million for the Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project to support a land reclamation project that will increase the nation’s land area by 21 hectares with support from Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand.

• Accelerating Climate Finance for a More Resilient Climate Future:  USAID is launching two new complementary climate finance activities that will work hand in hand to bolster the region’s climate resilience.  The first is Climate Ready 2.0, a new five-year effort to partner with Pacific island countries and regional institutions to improve access to and management of climate finance from a variety of sources (e.g., multi-donor trust funds, bilateral donors, philanthropies, and the private sector) needed to fund their adaptation priorities and solutions.  This new activity will build on years of successful collaboration with local partners and the private sector, which has helped Pacific island countries mobilize over half a billion dollars from international climate funds.  The second is a new line of effort through the USAID Climate Finance Development Accelerator to catalyze new partnerships with the private sector and identify finance to scale up successful local solutions and approaches in Fiji and Papua New Guinea.  It will also strengthen the capacity of Pacific civil society organizations to improve climate resilience through community-driven projects.

• Strengthening Disaster Preparedness: USAID is providing over $3.6 million to bolster local, provincial, and national disaster preparedness throughout the Pacific region. This funding will support a new partnership with the Pacific Community (SPC) to enhance emergency management systems and coordination, extend USAID’s long-standing partnership with the World Food Program to strengthen logistics and the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster, and expand humanitarian partners’ efforts to train emergency responders. USAID’s three-pronged approach—to enhance emergency response systems, improve disaster preparedness, and strengthen first-responder capabilities—promotes self-reliance, enabling partner countries to lessen the impacts of natural hazards and respond more effectively to disasters.

• Launching the Pacific Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (PACS):  The Department of State, working with Congress, and Australia each plan to provide $1.3 million to launch PACS to build a more climate-resilient food system in Pacific island countries, in partnership with the Pacific Community and New Zealand.  An expansion of the U.S.-catalyzed global Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) movement, PACS will support Pacific efforts like the Unlocking Blue Pacific Prosperity (UBPP) initiative to increase targeted investments in diverse, nutritious, and climate-adapted crops grown in healthy soils and sustainably managed landscapes.

• Climate-Smart Agriculture: Working with Congress, USAID intends to provide $2 million to support a new initiative with other partners to support climate-smart agriculture in the Pacific and increase the availability of nutritious, safe, and affordable foods. USAID will also seek partnerships with key regional institutions and initiatives like UBPP as well as private-sector stakeholders to leverage their expertise and resources to promote supply chain diversification.

• Partnership with the Philippines to Enhance Pacific Disaster Readiness:  USAID is supporting a collaborative humanitarian learning initiative through the International Organization for Migration that promotes engagement between disaster response authorities in the Philippines and select Pacific island countries to share best practices, strategies, and identify and address gaps in disaster preparedness and response. 

• Peace Corps Climate Adaptation and Resilience: Peace Corps Tonga has received their initial cohort of Climate Adaptation and Resilience Volunteers, who will be working with Village Emergency Management Committees and other local leaders to support adaptation, resilience, and Disaster Risk Reduction activities. In addition, Peace Corps Samoa is designing another Climate Adaptation and Resilience project in collaboration with Samoa’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, with the first cohort of Volunteers projected to arrive in July 2025.

• Vanuatu Weather Forecasting and Early Warning System Modernization: A United States Trade Development Agency (USTDA) grant of over $1.6 million for the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geohazards Department is funding technical assistance and a pilot project to support the modernization of early warning systems and weather forecasting capabilities in Vanuatu.  The activity will assess the economic and technical feasibility of deploying an innovative weather intelligence platform to support climate adaptation, disaster preparedness, and modernization of weather forecasting services.  

Advancing the U.S.-Pacific Partnership

The strength of our continued engagement in the Pacific Islands is undergirded by the dynamism of our growing official diplomatic presence in the region and the depth of our development cooperation across the region.

• Embassy opening: A new U.S. Embassy in Port Vila opened on July 19, in a ceremony presided over by U.S. Ambassador Yastishock and ni-Vanuatu Deputy Prime Minister Seremaiah. 

• Return of the Peace Corps to Vanuatu: Peace Corps Volunteers returned to Vanuatu in July, following the rehabilitation of a Peace Corps-supported Intensive Care Unit in Vanuatu’s main hospital.

• Provision of In-Country Visa Services in Tonga: U.S. Embassy Nuku’alofa recently constructed the first formal U.S. consular window in the Kingdom of Tonga.  This window will significantly reduce the costs to Tongans associated with applying for U.S. visas, and the two-way travel enabled by these services will foster the growing relationship between our countries and enrich the connection between Tongan-Americans and their families in Tonga.

• Palau Hospital Feasibility Study: The United States is committed to supporting the development of resilient and secure infrastructure to address the priority needs of our Pacific Island partners, including in the healthcare sector.  Following a scoping mission to Palau this past July, the Department of State and the USTDA, working with Congress, are exploring support for a feasibility study to examine options for a new hospital in Palau this fall.

• Tuvalu Domestic Biogas Systems Project:  The Department of State plans to provide $1 million for the expansion of the Pacific Community’s (SPC) biogas project in Tuvalu to increase access to clean and renewable domestic energy sources with support from Taiwan.

• Papua New Guinea Drone Healthcare Distribution Center Feasibility Study and Pilot Project: The USTDA grant to Applus+ PNG Ltd. will evaluate the technical feasibility of establishing a drone delivery service and related centers to distribute pharmaceuticals and other medical supplies to remote areas of Papua New Guinea. The study will be carried out by Zipline International Inc. (San Francisco, CA), the designer, manufacturer, and operator of unmanned aerial vehicle/drone distribution centers in seven countries. If the study indicates project viability, Zipline intends todevelop a pilot distribution and drone launch center in Papua New Guinea.

• New Ambassador Self-Help Small Grants Program:  USAID and the Department of State are working together to set up a five-year Ambassador’s Self-Help Small Grants Program that will provide targeted funding for small-scale projects and increase the flexibility of U.S. funding resources across the Pacific. The program will support community-led initiatives, filling a gap by providing more accessible resources for small projects that address local needs. The first application window opened on August 15 for projects focused on climate adaptation.

• Advancing a Democratic and Resilient Blue Pacific Continent:  USAID, working with Congress, plans to invest more than $4.5 million in new development assistance to foster good governance, support free and fair elections, elevate women’s political participation, and enhance climate resilience, including catalyzing finance. This funding will expand ongoing activities like Promoting Just, Engaged, Civic-minded and Transparent (PROJECT) Governance as well as support new activities. In addition, USAID is working with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) to provide funding to support the inclusion of civil society and non-state actors as a part of the Implementation Plan for the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent. 

• Removal of Storm-Damaged Fuel Tanks in Niue: The Department of State is committed to working with Congress on plans to provide funding for the removal of the storm-damaged fuel tanks in Niue. Removing the fuel tanks will kickstart opportunities for broader redevelopment of the Alofi wharf and provide a platform to build deeper cooperation on international port and maritime security.

• New Office Space to Support USAID’s Expanding Presence: USAID is securing larger office space in Fiji and Papua New Guinea to accommodate a growing staff presence.  USAID is currently operating from U.S. Embassy Suva and U.S. Embassy Port Moresby, which has limited space.  This is a significant step in deepening USAID’s long-term investment and partnerships in the Pacific. The new office spaces will allow for USAID to build lasting relationships with Pacific governments, civil society, the private sector, and communities, prioritize locally-hired expertise, and implement more effective and informed development programs.

• Pacific Quality Infrastructure Principles: The U.S. government is proud to announce U.S. endorsement of the PIF’s Pacific Quality Infrastructure Principles, which aim to improve the integrity of decision-making for infrastructure investments to maximize positive impacts in the Pacific. The principles aim to ensure that infrastructure financing and development generates local employment and benefits, integrates social and environmental considerations, strengthens climate resilience, and is economically efficient.

Deepening People-to-People Links Between the United States and Pacific Islands

We continue to look for new and innovative ways to foster the vital connections formed between the American people and the people in the Pacific Islands. Our exchange programs, university partnerships, and sports diplomacy initiatives have kindled new friendships across cultures, and our ongoing “7 for 70” initiative to establish seven new sister cities pairings between U.S. and Pacific island cities saw its first official partnership signed between Rarotonga and Honolulu in June and three new letters of intent signed in June and July.

• Youth Ambassadors Program in EAP: Beginning in 2025, the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) will launch the Youth Ambassadors Program for the East Asia and the Pacific region, which will include bringing approximately seven secondary school students (ages 15-17) and one adult mentor from Pacific island countries to the United States for a month-long program. The participants will stay with American host families and examine civic education, leadership development, respect for diversity, and community engagement. Upon their return home, participants will design and implement projects that serve their communities, using skills and knowledge from the exchange.

• Academy of Women Entrepreneurs:  The Academy of Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) gives enterprising women the knowledge, networks, and access they need to launch and grow successful businesses. The Department of State is funding a robust slate of AWE cohorts throughout the Pacific Islands. Approximately 400 women will participate in the program in 2024 and 2025, including expanded program offerings in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Samoa, the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, and cohorts for Pacific Islands diasporas in New Zealand. This expansion of the program is a significant increase in our investment in the people of the Pacific Islands.

• Expanding USAID’s Minority Serving Institutions Partnerships Initiative to the Pacific:  USAID signed a MOU with the University of Guam to diversify USAID’s strategic partnerships and programing approach in the Pacific Islands. This marks the seventh such MOU under USAID’s Minority Serving Institutions Partnerships Initiative, the first in the Pacific region, and the first with an Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Serving Institution. The partnership willharness University of Guam’s extensive research capacity, including on climate and water, as well as geographical and cultural expertise, to contribute to the development and sustainability of several islands across the Pacific. This MOU also strengthens ties with U.S. territories and celebrates the importance of improving access and opportunities for all U.S. citizens, not just those in the continental United States. In the coming months, USAID and University of Guam partners will collaboratively determine the activities that will advance the shared goals of the MOU.

• Student Exchange and University Partnerships: In October 2024, the U.S.-Pacific Institute for Rising Leaders Fellowship, announced by the White House at the first-ever U.S.-Pacific Island Country Summit in September 2022, will bring the second cohort of the Fellowship from Pacific island countries and territories to the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington for a three-week program focusing on strengthening leadership, decision-making, and communication skills. The first cohort of the Fellowship visited Washington D.C. and New York in October 2023 and engaged with academic experts and senior U.S. policymakers to explore some of the most pressing issues in the Pacific region, with a focus on maritime topics, public health, and climate resilience. In addition, in June 2024, the PNG University of Technology and Charleston Southern University signed a MOU to promote exchanges and cooperation, and the University of Papua New Guinea and California State University, Long Beach committed to sign an MOU to promote further cooperation.  

• Global STEM Development Scholarship Program: In 2024, the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs launched the Global STEM Development Scholarship Program, which will support exchanges for approximately 10 exchange visitors from Pacific island countries. Visitors will participate in STEM research, training, and teaching, with a focus on mitigating and combatting climate change. 

• Preserving Cultural Heritage:  The Department of State will support a pilot phase of the Australian Museum’s Pasifika Tauhi project to develop a network of collaboration among museums in 15 Pacific nations and in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.  The project seeks to build capacity for cultural preservation and recovery due to the effects of climate change on cultural heritage in the Pacific.  The pilot phase involves Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, and Tonga as well as scoping to establish this museum-to-museum network.

Upholding Pacific-Centered Peace and Security

For decades, the United States has worked with Pacific Island partners to promote peace, stability, and security across the breadth of the region through support to those partners’ defense and police services. Calling on the unique capabilities of the U.S. military and federal law enforcement offices, we have enhanced the capacity and capability of Pacific island countries’ governments to uphold their domestic laws and counter illegal fishing, narcotics trafficking, and organized crime within their jurisdictions. We work with Pacific island countries’ governments and through regional organizations, including the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police, to deliver appropriate trainings and equipment to confront the security issues that people in the Pacific Islands care most about, including the security implications of climate change.

• Supporting Pacific Resilience through Defense Operational Resilience International Cooperation: The U.S. Department of Defense is committed to supporting the resilience of our Pacific partners. The Defense Operational Resilience International Cooperation (DORIC) pilot program is an enabling program for the U.S. Department of Defense to support defense-related environmental and operational energy engagements with partner national security forces.

To date, the DORIC pilot program has enabled engagement with partners primarily through field trainings and exercises, studies and assessments, classroom education and workshops, and a variety of data tools surveying wide-ranging resilience hazards. For instance, Indo-Pacific Command’s annual Indo-Pacific Environmental Security Forum, which most recently took place in Fiji and focused on national resilience and humanitarian assistance through environmental security, will be supported by DORIC in FY2025. Other upcoming activities include: 

•          U.S. Indo-Pacific Command plans to provide diver training and equipment to the Tuvalu Police Force to respond to underwater unexploded ordnance threats through specialized scuba diver trainings and equipment provisions within the next year. 

•          U.S. Indo-Pacific Command plans to host a field exercise, training, and workshop for marine oil spills, clean-up, and response with Pacific partners within the next year.

• Strengthening the Rule of Law: The United States intends to provide, working with Congress, $3 million to strengthen the justice sector, support good governance, and promote resilience to corruption across the Pacific Islands. To support the region’s formal commitment to anti-corruption, the Teieniwa Vision Pasifika (TVP) would deploy a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT) Resident Legal Advisor to embed with the Pacific Islands Law Officers Network (PILON) Secretariat. With funding from the Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), this experienced U.S. federal prosecutor intends to work with Pacific island countries to deliver justice sector workshops, legislative reform guidance, and case-based mentoring of justice sector actors across the Pacific Islands. TVP will also utilize DOJ subject matter experts to engage in rapid response, short-term technical assistance activities designed to enhance the specific capabilities and skills of prosecutors, judges, and other justice sector stakeholders in the Pacific Islands.

• Nurturing Future Leaders in the Security Sector: Working with Congress, the United States intends to launch a $3.5 million, State Department INL-funded Pacific Partners’ Leadership in Security (PPLS) Fellowship, which would work with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) over three years to bring mid- to executive-level criminal justice and civilian security professionals annually from the Pacific Islands for leadership development at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS) in Honolulu in support of the PIFS’ regional security priorities. Their fellowship would culminate in a Washington, D.C. capstone program of professional immersion and exchange facilitated by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

• National Security Policy Development in the Pacific Islands: Sustaining Progress in an Evolving Security Context: Consistent with Boe Declaration and 2050 Strategy for a Blue Pacific Continentpriorities, a workshop focused on strengthening implementation and improvement of national security policy arrangements, funded by the Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs and collaboratively developed by the Pacific Islands Forum and Daniel K. Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies, will be held  November 17-20, 2024, in Suva, Fiji.

Economy, Trade and Investment

The United States is committed to working with Pacific island countries’ governments, likeminded partners, and the private sector to empower and support Pacific economic resilience by enhancing international investment in the region, encouraging environments conducive to business growth, and create new opportunities for Pacific businesses.

• Delivering on the Economic Assistance Agreement related to the South Pacific Tuna Treaty: The Department of State is working with Congress to provide the first $60 million under the new 10-year, $600 million agreement to promote economic development in the Pacific Islands and support fisheries management, development, and sustainability.

• Continuing to Expand DFC’s Investment: The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) remains committed to advancing private sector investment opportunities in the Pacific Islands. Since launching the up to $50 million Microfinance Facility for MSMEs across the Pacific Islands during the US-PIF Summit in 2023, DFC and USAID have identified four target institutions to receive a combination of debt and guarantee products to advance climate resilience and women’s economic empowerment across the region.  Additionally, DFC, in partnership with USAID and the Australia Infrastructure Finance Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP), hopes to announce a new private sector investment in the fishery sector in the Republic of the Marshall Islands in the coming months.

• Building Pacific Island Trade and Investment Capacities: The Department of State and Department of Commerce, in coordination with the PIF and key U.S. government agencies, plan to provide $450,000 in fundingto hold a trade promotion and capacity building seminar in the region to help Pacific island countries’ trade and economic development officials attract high-quality foreign direct investment into their economies and strengthen their commercial and regulatory environments to make their economies more competitive in global markets.

• Advisory services to support the Papua New Guinea Ministry of Petroleum: The Department of State and USAID will work with Congress to provide up to $1.4 million for technical assistance and advisory services to support the government of Papua New Guinea’s navigation of the ongoing fuel crisis. With funding from State’s Transaction Advisory Fund (TAF), State and USAID will provide financial modeling and valuations of Puma’s energy assets; advise on potential financial structures; and provide technical assistance related to the impact of Papua New Guinea’s foreign exchange and debt situation on future acquisitions.  Additional technical assistance and advisory services focused on attracting high-quality commercial and energy investments as well as helping the Department of Petroleum and Energy convert to a Statutory Authority will deploy in early 2025, supporting Papua New Guinea’s long-term energy security and needs.

• Digital Connectivity:  To enhance digital connectivity and support secure, sustainable, and resilient telecommunications infrastructure investment in the Pacific Islands, the United States is supporting undersea cable connectivity in the Pacific along with Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, and Japan. The initiative has now grown to $90 million in donor supported funding. 

• Aviation Connectivity:  Commercial air connectivity is vital to the members of the Pacific Islands Forum, their people, and their economies. To promote better commercial air connectivity and facilitate increased passenger and cargo flights between, among, and beyond the United States and the Pacific region, the United States – led by the Department of State, in consultation with the Departments of Transportation and Commerce – welcomes more members from the PIF to become Open Skies partners through bilateral or existing multilateral air transport agreements. Currently, 8 of 18 PIF members (Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu) have either an outdated or no agreement with the United States.  The United States recently finalized negotiations on an Open Skies Agreement with Fiji and is in negotiations with Samoa to finalize another Open Skies Agreement soon.  Following the PIF Leaders Meeting, an interagency team is prepared to conduct additional outreach to interested partners to initiate further discussions and possible future negotiations.

Aviation Safety: To advance aviation safety and ensure the sustainability of crucial infrastructure in the Pacific Islands, the Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will support the Pacific Aviation Safety Office (PASO)—a member of the Council of Regional Organizations of the Pacific (CROP) and backed by the PIF. The goal is to strengthen PASO to become an Enhanced Regional Safety and Security Oversight Organization, in line with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) recommendations. To achieve this, the FAA, with MITRE, will conduct a Needs and Analysis Action Plan to evaluate PASO’s current technical and organizational capabilities, with the study expected to be.

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