Statements and Releases

Statement from President Joe Biden Marking Nowruz

Tue, 03/19/2024 - 18:23

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

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

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

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

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Statement from White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on S.B. 4

Tue, 03/19/2024 - 15:51

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

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Statement from President Joe Biden on Record Decrease in Crime in 2023

Tue, 03/19/2024 - 13:33

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

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

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

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Statement from President Joe Biden on Government Funding

Tue, 03/19/2024 - 09:30

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

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FACT SHEET: In Nevada, President Biden to Double Down on Plan to Lower Housing Costs and Increase Housing Supply for American Families

Tue, 03/19/2024 - 05:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Mortgage Relief Credit. President Biden is calling on Congress to pass a mortgage relief credit that would provide middle-class first-time homebuyers with a tax credit of $10,000 over two years. This is the equivalent of reducing the mortgage rate by more than 1.5 percentage points for two years on the median home, saving families $400 per month on their mortgage payments. It will help more than 3.5 million middle-class families purchase their first home over the next two years. The President’s plan also calls for a new credit to unlock inventory of affordable starter homes, while helping middle-class families move up the housing ladder and empty nesters right size. The President is calling on Congress to provide a one-year tax credit of up to $10,000 to middle-class families who sell their starter home, defined as homes below the area median home price in the county, to another owner-occupant. This proposal is estimated to help nearly 3 million families.
  • Down Payment Assistance for First-Generation Homeowners. The President continues to call on Congress to provide up to $25,000 in down payment assistance to first-generation homebuyers whose families haven’t benefited from the generational wealth building associated with homeownership. This proposal would help about 400,000 families purchase their first home.
  • Lowering Closing Costs. The Federal Housing Finance Agency has approved policies and pilots to reduce closing costs for homeowners, including a pilot to waive the requirement for lender’s title insurance on certain refinances. This would save thousands of homeowners up to $1500, and an average of $750, and the lower upfront fees will unlock substantial savings for homeowners as mortgage rates continue to fall and more homeowners are able to refinance. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will also pursue rulemaking and guidance to address anticompetitive closing costs imposed by lenders on homebuyers and homeowners.  These charges—which benefit the lender but not the borrower—can add thousands to the upfront costs of a mortgage. 
  • Promoting Competition in the Housing Market. In his State of the Union Address, the President discussed the importance of boosting competition and lowering housing costs, and the Department of Justice has made those goals a priority. Last week’s settlement reached by the National Association of Realtors is an important step toward boosting competition in the housing market. It could save as much as $10,000 on the median home sale. Now, the Administration is calling on realtors and lenders to offer more choices and lower costs, while promoting access to homeownership for first-time, low-income, and low-wealth homebuyers.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Readout of President Biden’s Call with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel

Mon, 03/18/2024 - 21:20

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

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Statement from President Joe Biden on the Volkswagen Plant in Tennessee

Mon, 03/18/2024 - 21:02

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

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Statement from Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on the Upcoming Trilateral Leaders’ Summit of the Philippines, Japan, and the United States

Mon, 03/18/2024 - 19:44

President Biden will host President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. of the Philippines and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio of Japan on April 11 at the White House for the first trilateral U.S.-Japan-Philippines leaders’ summit.  At the summit, the leaders will advance a trilateral partnership built on deep historical ties of friendship, robust and growing economic relations, a proud and resolute commitment to shared democratic values, and a shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific. The leaders will also reaffirm the ironclad alliances between the United States and the Philippines, and the United States and Japan. At the summit, the three leaders will discuss trilateral cooperation to promote inclusive economic growth and emerging technologies, advance clean energy supply chains and climate cooperation, and further peace and security in the Indo-Pacific and around the world. 

In addition, President Biden will host President Marcos for a meeting at the White House on April 11to review the historic momentum in U.S.-Philippines relations and discuss efforts to expand cooperation on economic security, clean energy, people-to-people ties, and human rights and democracy. The President will reaffirm the ironclad alliance between the United States and the Philippines and emphasize U.S. commitment to upholding international law and promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific. 

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FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Takes Historic Action to Ban Asbestos, Advancing Biden Cancer Moonshot

Mon, 03/18/2024 - 11:30

President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot is accelerating progress to prevent, detect, and treat cancer while boosting support for families facing cancer, including by undertaking an aggressive effort to protect families and workers from hazardous chemicals like known carcinogens. After more than three decades of inadequate protections, today the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a historic ban on ongoing uses of asbestos. This marks the first rule finalized under the nation’s updated chemical safety law, a milestone in the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to protect public health, advance environmental justice, and end cancer as we know it.

Asbestos is a potent carcinogen that causes tens of thousands of deaths in the United States each year and is linked to lung cancer, ovarian cancer, colorectal cancer, and more. The EPA’s new ban prohibits ongoing uses of chrysotile asbestos, the only known form of asbestos still used or imported in the United States. This action represents an important step to advance the Biden Cancer Moonshot goal of reducing the cancer death rate by at least half by 2047—preventing more than four million cancer deaths—and preventing cancer before it starts by protecting communities from known risks associated with asbestos exposure.

The Biden Cancer Moonshot is a core component of the President’s Unity Agenda, a set of priorities that Americans from every walk of life can support. Prohibiting the manufacture, processing, and distribution of asbestos is also part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic commitment to advancing environmental justice. Asbestos is used in facilities that are located disproportionately near communities with environmental justice concerns and also particularly affects workers.  

Since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, EPA and other federal agencies have been delivering on the promise to protect communities from the harmful effects of toxic substances, including carcinogens. The Administration is coordinating across the federal government to protect people from exposure to hazardous chemicals, including through guidance, regulatory actions, investments through President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda, and more.

Reducing exposure to toxic chemicals protects public health and advances President Biden’s commitment to ensuring all people can breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live in a healthy community. The Biden-Harris Administration has delivered on additional protections to protect communities from carcinogens, including:

  • Protecting communities and workers from toxic chemicals that cause long-recognized health risks, including cancer. In addition to today’s final rule on asbestos, EPA is advancing proposals to address cancer and other health risks from methylene chloride, carbon tetrachloride, perchloroethylene, and trichloroethylene, all of which are dangerous and sometimes fatal chemicals used in commercial and industrial settings. Additionally, EPA has proposed a rule to strengthen its process for conducting risk evaluations on toxic chemicals, including carcinogens, and this includes specific consideration of overburdened communities. EPA is moving expeditiously to finalize these rules and realize the new public health protections enabled by Congress under the 2016 amendments to the nation’s chemical safety law, the Toxic Substances Control Act.
  • Slashing emissions of ethylene oxide and other cancer-causing air pollution. Last week EPA issued a final rule that will significantly strengthen and update Clean Air Act standards for ethylene oxide (EtO) emitted into the air from commercial sterilizing facilities. EtO is a highly potent carcinogen that can be particularly harmful to children and communities that are already overburdened by pollution. The new rule will safeguard public health by cutting emissions of EtO from these facilities by over 90 percent. EPA is also working to advance research, and to strengthen standards to reduce toxic air pollution, including other cancer-causing pollutants, from chemical plants.
  • Combatting PFAS pollution in communities to address health and environmental risks. The Biden-Harris Administration has announced a government-wide plan to address and prevent PFAS contamination. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), often referred to as ‘forever chemicals,’ are human-made chemicals that have been widely used in many different consumer, commercial, and industrial products for decades. They break down very slowly over time in the environment and in people’s bodies, and have been found to have harmful health effects including cancer, low birthweight, and reduced immune responses. EPA has proposed new rules to strengthen protections for communities and drinking water supplies, helping to address disparities in access to a clean and safe environment. The Administration also launched a comprehensive effort to combat cancer risks associated with PFAS that, for many years, have been in the gear, equipment, and fire suppression agents used by firefighters. The Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs are leading efforts to measure blood PFAS levels in firefighters, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer to collect detailed data to better understand the link between workplace exposures and cancer among firefighters.

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Statement from Communications Director Kirsten Allen on the Visit of President Arévalo of Guatemala to the White House

Mon, 03/18/2024 - 07:00

Vice President Harris will welcome President Bernardo Arévalo of Guatemala to the White House on March 25. The visit underscores the United States’ commitment to supporting good governance and democracy in Guatemala, following President Arévalo’s inauguration in January 2024. The Vice President’s meeting with President Arévalo will strengthen the U.S.-Guatemala bilateral relationship and advance joint ongoing efforts to promote development, bolster democracy, and address the root causes of migration.  The Vice President and President Arévalo will discuss additional efforts to address the drivers of irregular migration from northern Central America while continuing the implementation of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Root Causes Strategy, including in the areas of: civilian security, good governance, human rights and labor protections, gender-based violence, and economic opportunity. During the visit of President Arévalo, the Vice President will convene leaders from government, the private sector, and civil society as part of Central America Forward, the public-private partnership that has mobilized more than $4.2 billion in commitments and continues generating private sector investments in northern Central America to create jobs and economic opportunities.
 

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FACT SHEET: President Biden Issues Executive Order and Announces New Actions to Advance Women’s Health Research and Innovation

Mon, 03/18/2024 - 05:00

In his State of the Union address, President Biden laid out his vision for transforming women’s health research and improving women’s lives all across America. The President called on Congress to make a bold, transformative investment of $12 billion in new funding for women’s health research. This investment would be used to create a Fund for Women’s Health Research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to advance a cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research agenda and to establish a new nationwide network of research centers of excellence and innovation in women’s health—which would serve as a national gold standard for women’s health research across the lifespan.

It is long past time to ensure women get the answers they need when it comes to their health—from cardiovascular disease to autoimmune diseases to menopause-related conditions. To pioneer the next generation of discoveries, the President and the First Lady launched the first-ever White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research, which aims to fundamentally change how we approach and fund women’s health research in the United States.

Today, President Biden is signing a new Executive Order that will direct the most comprehensive set of executive actions ever taken to expand and improve research on women’s health. These directives will ensure women’s health is integrated and prioritized across the federal research portfolio and budget, and will galvanize new research on a wide range of topics, including women’s midlife health.

The President and First Lady are also announcing more than twenty new actions and commitments by federal agencies, including through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). This includes the launch of a new NIH-wide effort that will direct key investments of $200 million in Fiscal Year 2025 to fund new, interdisciplinary women’s health research—a first step towards the transformative central Fund on Women’s Health that the President has called on Congress to invest in. These actions also build on the First Lady’s announcement last month of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Sprint for Women’s Health, which committed $100 million towards transformative research and development in women’s health.

Today, the President is issuing an Executive Order that will:

  • Integrate Women’s Health Across the Federal Research Portfolio. The Executive Order directs the Initiative’s constituent agencies to develop and strengthen research and data standards on women’s health across all relevant research and funding opportunities, with the goal of helping ensure that the Administration is better leveraging every dollar of federal funding for health research to improve women’s health. These actions will build on the NIH’s current policy to ensure that research it funds considers women’s health in the development of study design and in data collection and analysis. Agencies will take action to ensure women’s health is being considered at every step in the research process—from the applications that prospective grantees submit to the way that they report on grant implementation.
  • Prioritize Investments in Women’s Health Research. The Executive Order directs the Initiative’s constituent agencies to prioritize funding for women’s health research and encourage innovation in women’s health, including through ARPA-H and multi-agency initiatives such as the Small Business Innovation Research Program and the Small Business Technology Transfer Program. These entities are dedicated to high-impact research and innovation, including through the support of early-stage small businesses and entrepreneurs engaged in research and innovation. The Executive Order further directs HHS and NSF to study ways to leverage artificial intelligence to advance women’s health research. These additional investments—across a wide range of agencies—will support innovation and open new doors to breakthroughs in women’s health.
  • Galvanize New Research on Women’s Midlife Health.  To narrow research gaps on diseases and conditions associated with women’s midlife health or that are more likely to occur after menopause, such as rheumatoid arthritis, heart attack, and osteoporosis, the President is directing HHS to: expand data collection efforts related to women’s midlife health; launch a comprehensive research agenda that will guide future investments in menopause-related research; identify ways to improve management of menopause-related issues and the clinical care that women receive; and develop new resources to help women better understand their options for menopause-related symptoms prevention and treatment. The Executive Order also directs the DoD and VA to study and take steps to improve the treatment of, and research related to, menopause for Service women and women veterans.
  • Assess Unmet Needs to Support Women’s Health Research. The Executive Order directs the Office of Management and Budget and the Gender Policy Council to lead a robust effort to assess gaps in federal funding for women’s health research and identify changes—whether statutory, regulatory, or budgetary—that are needed to maximally support the broad scope of women’s health research across the federal government. Agencies will also be required to report annually on their investments in women’s health research, as well as progress towards their efforts to improve women’s health.

Today, agencies are also announcing new actions they are taking to promote women’s health research, as part of their ongoing efforts through the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research. Agencies are announcing actions to:

Prioritize and Increase Investments in Women’s Health Research

  • Launch an NIH-Cross Cutting Effort to Transform Women’s Health Throughout the Lifespan. NIH is launching an NIH-wide effort to close gaps in women’s health research across the lifespan. This effort—which will initially be supported by $200 million from NIH beginning in FY 2025—will allow NIH to catalyze interdisciplinary research, particularly on issues that cut across the traditional mandates of the institutes and centers at NIH. It will also allow NIH to launch ambitious, multi-faceted research projects such as research on the impact of perimenopause and menopause on heart health, brain health and bone health. In addition, the President’s FY25 Budget Request would double current funding for the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health to support new and existing initiatives that emphasize women’s health research.

This coordinated, NIH-wide effort will be co-chaired by the NIH Office of the Director, the Office of Research on Women’s Health, and the institute directors from the National Institute on Aging; the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; the National Institute on Drug Abuse; the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; the National Institute on Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.

  • Invest in Research on a Wide Range of Women’s Health Issues. The bipartisan Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP), led out of DoD, funds research on women’s health encompassing a range of diseases and conditions that affect women uniquely, disproportionately, or differently from men. While the programs and topic areas directed by Congress differ each year, CDMRP has consistently funded research to advance women’s health since its creation in 1993. In Fiscal Year 2022, DoD implemented nearly $490 million in CDMRP investments towards women’s health research projects ranging from breast and ovarian cancer to lupus to orthotics and prosthetics in women.  In Fiscal Year 2023, DoD anticipates implementing approximately $500 million in CDMRP funding for women’s health research, including in endometriosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and chronic fatigue.
  • Call for New Proposals on Emerging Women’s Health Issues. Today, NSF is calling for new research and education proposals to advance discoveries and innovations related to women’s health. To promote multidisciplinary solutions to women’s health disparities, NSF invites applications that would improve women’s health through a wide range of disciplines—from computational research to engineering biomechanics. This is the first time that NSF has broadly called for novel and transformative research that is focused entirely on women’s health topics, and proposals will be considered on an ongoing basis.
  • Increase Research on How Environmental Factors Affect Women’s Health. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is updating its grant solicitations and contracts to ensure that applicants prioritize, as appropriate, the consideration of women’s exposures and health outcomes. These changes will help ensure that women’s health is better accounted for across EPA’s research portfolio and increase our knowledge of women’s environmental health—from endocrine disruption to toxic exposure.
  • Create a Dedicated, One-Stop Shop for NIH Funding Opportunities on Women’s Health. Researchers are often unaware of existing opportunities to apply for federal funding. To help close this gap, NIH is issuing a new Notice of Special Interest that identifies current, open funding opportunities related to women’s health research across a wide range of health conditions and all Institutes, Centers, and Offices. The NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health will build on this new Notice by creating a dedicated one-stop shop on open funding opportunities related to women’s health research. This will make it easier for researchers and institutions to find and apply for funding—instead of having to search across each of NIH’s 27 institutes for funding opportunities.

Foster Innovation and Discovery in Women’s Health

  • Accelerate Transformative Research and Development in Women’s Health. ARPA-H’s Sprint for Women’s Health launched in February 2024 commits $100 million to transformative research and development in women’s health. ARPA-H is soliciting ideas for novel groundbreaking research and development to address women’s health, as well as opportunities to accelerate and scale tools, products, and platforms with the potential for commercialization to improve women’s health outcomes.
  • Support Private Sector Innovation Through Additional Federal Investments in Women’s Health Research. The NIH’s competitive Small Business Innovation Research Program and the Small Business Technology Transfer Program is committing to further increasing—by 50 percent—its investments in supporting innovators and early-stage small businesses engaged in research and development on women’s health. These programs will solicit new proposals on promising women’s health innovation and make evidence-based investments that bridge the gap between performance of basic science and commercialization of resulting innovations. This commitment for additional funds builds on the investments the Administration has already made to increase innovation in women’s health through small businesses, including by increasing investments by sevenfold between Fiscal Year 2021 and Fiscal Year 2023.
  • Advance Initiatives to Protect and Promote the Health of Women. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeks to advance efforts to help address gaps in research and availability of products for diseases and conditions that primarily impact women, or for which scientific considerations may be different for women, and is committed to research and regulatory initiatives that facilitate the development of safe and effective medical products for women. FDA also plans to issue guidance for industry that relates to the inclusion of women in clinical trials and conduct outreach to stakeholders to discuss opportunities to advance women’s health across the lifespan. And FDA’s Office of Women’s Health will update FDA’s framework for women’s health research and seek to fund research with an emphasis on bridging gaps in knowledge on important women’s health topics, including sex differences and conditions that uniquely or disproportionately impact women.
  • Use Biomarkers to Improve the Health of Women Through Early Detection and Treatment of Conditions, such as Endometriosis. NIH will launch a new initiative dedicated to research on biomarker discovery and validation to help improve our ability to prevent, diagnose, and treat conditions that affect women uniquely, including endometriosis. This NIH initiative will accelerate our ability to identify new pathways for diagnosis and treatment by encouraging multi-sector collaboration and synergistic research that will speed the transfer of knowledge from bench to bedside.
  • Leverage Engineering Research to Improve Women’s Health. The NSF Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA) is convening national experts to identify high-impact research opportunities in engineering that can improve women’s health. ERVA’s Transforming Women’s Health Outcomes Through Engineering visioning event will be held in June 2024, and will bring together experts from across engineering—including those in microfluidics, computational modeling, artificial intelligence/imaging, and diagnostic technologies and devices—to evaluate the landscape for new applications in women’s health. Following this event, ERVA will issue a report and roadmap on critical areas where engineering research can impact women’s health across the lifespan.
  • Drive Engineering Innovations in Women’s Health Discovery. NSF awardees at Texas A&M University will hold a conference in summer 2024 to collectively identify challenges and opportunities in improving women’s health through engineering. Biomedical engineers and scientists will explore and identify how various types of engineering tools, including biomechanics and immuno-engineering, can be applied to women’s health and spark promising new research directions.

Expand and Leverage Data Collection and Analysis Related to Women’s Health

  • Help Standardize Data to Support Research on Women’s Health. NIH is launching an effort to identify and develop new common data elements related to women’s health that will help researchers share and combine datasets, promote interoperability, and improve the accuracy of datasets when it comes to women’s health. NIH will initiate this process by convening data and scientific experts across the federal government to solicit feedback on the need to develop new NIH-endorsed common data elements—which are widely used in both research and clinical settings. By advancing new tools to capture more data about women’s health, NIH will give researchers and clinicians the tools they need to enable more meaningful data collection, analysis, and reporting and comprehensively improve our knowledge of women’s health.
  • Reflect Women’s Health Needs in National Coverage Determinations. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will strengthen its review process, including through Coverage with Evidence Development guidance, to ensure that new medical services and technologies work well in women, as applicable, before being covered nationally through the Medicare program. This will help ensure that Medicare funds are used for treatments with a sufficient evidence base to show that they actually work in women, who make up more than half of the Medicare population.
  • Leverage Data and Quality Measures to Advance Women’s Health Research. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) are building on existing datasets to improve the collection, analysis, and reporting of information on women’s health. The CDC is expanding the collection of key quality measures across a woman’s lifespan, including to understand the link between pregnancy and post-partum hypertension and heart disease, and plans to release the Million Hearts Hypertension in Pregnancy Change Package. This resource will feature a menu of evidence-informed strategies by which clinicians can change care processes. Each strategy includes tested tools and resources to support related clinical quality improvement. HRSA is modernizing its Uniform Data System in ways that will improve the ability to assess how women are being served through HRSA-funded health centers. By improving the ability to analyze data on key clinical quality measures, CDC and HRSA can help close gaps in women’s health care access and identify new opportunities for high-impact research.  

Strengthen Coordination, Infrastructure, and Training to Support Women’s Health Research

  • Launch New Joint Collaborative to Improve Women’s Health Research for Service Members and Veterans. DoD and VA are launching a new Women’s Health Research collaborative to explore opportunities that further promote joint efforts to advance women’s health research and improve evidence-based care for Service members and veterans. The collaborative will increase coordination with the goal of helping improve care across the lifespan for women in the military and women veterans. The Departments will further advance research on key women’s health issues and develop a roadmap to close pressing research gaps, including those specifically affecting Service women and women veterans.
  • Coordinate Research to Advance the Health of Women in the Military. DoD will invest $10 million, contingent on available funds, in the Military Women’s Health Research Partnership. This Partnership is led by the Uniformed Services University and advances and coordinates women’s health research across the Department. The Partnership is supporting research in a wide range of health issues affecting women in the military, including cancers, mental and behavioral health, and the unique health care needs of Active Duty Service Women. In addition, the Uniformed Services University established a dedicated Director of Military Women’s Health Research Program, a role that is responsible for identifying research gaps, fostering collaboration, and coordinating and aligning a unified approach to address the evolving needs of Active Duty Service Women.
  • Support EPA-Wide Research and Dissemination of Data on Women’s Health. EPA is establishing a Women’s Health Community of Practice to coordinate research and data dissemination. EPA also plans to direct the Board of Scientific Counselors to identify ways to advance EPA’s research with specific consideration of the intersection of environmental factors and women’s health, including maternal health.
  • Expand Fellowship Training in Women’s Health Research. CDC, in collaboration with the CDC Foundation and American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, is expanding training in women’s health research and public health surveillance to OBGYNs, nurses and advanced practice nurses. Through fellowships and public health experiences with CDC, these clinicians will gain public health research skills to improve the health of women and children exposed to or affected by infectious diseases, mental health and substance use disorders. CDC will invite early career clinicians to train in public health and policy to become future leaders in women’s health research.

Improve Women’s Health Across the Lifespan

  • Create a Comprehensive Research Agenda on Menopause. To help women get the answers they need about menopause, NIH will launch its first-ever Pathways to Prevention series on menopause and the treatment of menopausal symptoms. Pathways to Prevention is an independent, evidence-based process to synthesize the current state of the evidence, identify gaps in existing research, and develop a roadmap that can be used to help guide the field forward. The report, once completed, will help guide innovation and investments in menopause-related research and care across the federal government and research community.
  • Improve Primary Care and Preventive Services for Women. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) will issue a Notice of Intent to publish a funding opportunity announcement for research to advance the science of primary care, which will include a focus on women’s health. Through this funding opportunity, AHRQ will build evidence about key elements of primary care that influence patient outcomes and advance health equity—focusing on women of color—such as care coordination, continuity of care, comprehensiveness of care, person-centered care, and trust. The results from the funding opportunity will shed light on vital targets for improvements in the delivery of primary healthcare across a woman’s lifespan, including women’s health preventive services, prevention and management of multiple chronic diseases, perinatal care, transition from pediatric to adult care, sexual and reproductive health, and care of older adults.
  • Promote the Health of American Indian and Alaska Native Women. The Indian Health Service is launching a series of engagements, including focus groups, to better understand tribal beliefs related to menopause in American Indian and Alaska Native Women. This series will inform new opportunities to expand culturally informed patient care and research as well as the development of new resources and educational materials.
  • Connect Research to Real-World Outcomes to Improve Women’s Mental and Behavioral Health. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is supporting a range of health care providers to address the unique needs of women with or at risk for mental health and substance use disorders. Building on its current efforts to provide technical assistance through various initiatives, SAMHSA intends, contingent on available funds, to launch a new comprehensive Women’s Behavioral Health Technical Assistance Center. This center will identify and improve the implementation of best practices in women’s behavioral health across the life span; identify and fill critical gaps in knowledge of and resources for women’s behavioral health; and provide learning opportunities, training, and technical assistance for healthcare providers.
  • Support Research on Maternal Health Outcomes. USDA will fund research to help recognize early warning signs of maternal morbidity and mortality in recipients of Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and anticipates awarding up to $5 million in Fiscal Year 2023 to support maternal health research through WIC. In addition, research being conducted through the Agricultural Research Service’s Human Nutrition Research Centers is focusing on women’s health across the lifespan, including the nutritional needs of pregnant and breastfeeding women and older adults.

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Joint Statement on Efforts to Counter the Proliferation and Misuse of Commercial Spyware

Mon, 03/18/2024 - 05:00

At the third Summit for Democracy on March 18, 2024, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Poland, and Republic of Korea joined this first-of-its-kind international commitment to work collectively to counter the proliferation and misuse of commercial spyware. This joint statement, which was originally announced at the second Summit for Democracy on March 30, 2023, has been updated to reflect these additional countries.

We, the governments of Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Republic of Ireland, Republic of Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, recognize the threat posed by the misuse of commercial spyware and the need for strict domestic and international controls on the proliferation and use of such technology. 

Commercial spyware has been misused across the world by authoritarian regimes and in democracies.  Too often, such powerful and invasive tools have been used to target and intimidate perceived opponents and facilitate efforts to curb dissent; limit freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, or association; enable human rights violations and abuses or suppression of civil liberties; or track or target individuals without proper legal authorization, safeguards, or oversight.  The misuse of these tools presents significant and growing risks to our national security, including to the safety and security of our government personnel, information, and information systems.

We therefore share a fundamental national security and foreign policy interest in countering and preventing the proliferation of commercial spyware that has been or risks being misused for such purposes, in light of our core interests in protecting individuals and organizations at risk around the world; defending activists, dissidents, and journalists against threats to their freedom and dignity; promoting respect for human rights; and upholding democratic principles and the rule of law.  We are committed, where applicable and subject to national legal frameworks, to implementing the Guiding Principles on Government Use of Surveillance Technologies and the Code of Conduct developed within the Export Controls and Human Rights Initiative. 

To advance these interests, we are partnering to counter the misuse of commercial spyware and commit to:

  • working within our respective systems to establish robust guardrails and procedures to ensure that any commercial spyware use by our governments is consistent with respect for universal human rights, the rule of law, and civil rights and civil liberties;
  • preventing the export of software, technology, and equipment to end-users who are likely to use them for malicious cyber activity, including unauthorized intrusion into information systems, in accordance with our respective legal, regulatory, and policy approaches and appropriate existing export control regimes;
  • robust information sharing on commercial spyware proliferation and misuse, including to better identify and track these tools;      
  • working closely with industry partners and civil society groups to inform our approach, help raise awareness, and set appropriate standards, while also continuing to support innovation; and  
  • engaging additional partner governments around the world, as well as other appropriate stakeholders, to better align our policies and export control authorities to mitigate collectively the misuse of commercial spyware and drive reform in this industry, including by encouraging industry and investment firms to follow the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. 

Our efforts will allow us to work collectively for the first time as we develop and implement policies to discourage the misuse of commercial spyware and encourage the development and implementation of responsible use principles that are consistent with respect for universal human rights, the rule of law, and civil rights and civil liberties.

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Readout of President Joe Biden’s Meeting with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar of Ireland

Fri, 03/15/2024 - 17:45

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. welcomed Taoiseach Leo Varadkar of Ireland to the White House today to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and continue their close coordination on shared priorities. A longstanding tradition, the leaders’ annual meeting was an opportunity to discuss a range of issues. They reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine as it defends against Russia’s continued aggression. President Biden commended Ireland’s support to over 100,000 Ukrainians who have sought refuge in Ireland. They reaffirmed their commitment to Israel’s right to self-defense consistent with international law, underscored the urgent need to significantly increase deliveries of life-saving humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza, discussed the crucial need to prevent regional escalation, and emphasized their shared view that a two-state solution remains the viable path to lasting peace.  The leaders also highlighted growing economic and people-to-people ties between the United States and Ireland, building on our strong historic connections. They welcomed the restoration of Northern Ireland’s Executive and Assembly, reaffirming the critical role these institutions play in preserving the gains of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. They looked forward to continuing to build a vibrant future for U.S.-Irish relations.

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Readout of White House Convening with Regional Commissions on Supporting an Economic Comeback in Communities Across the Country

Fri, 03/15/2024 - 12:10

This week, National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard convened White House officials and the Federal Co-Chairs of six Regional Commissions: the Appalachian Regional Commission, Denali Commission, Delta Regional Authority, Northern Border Regional Commission, Southeast Crescent Regional Commission, and Southwest Border Regional Commission. Participants discussed the importance of Regional Commissions to President Biden’s commitment to investing in all of America and all Americans; helping rural and distressed communities make a comeback — which the President spoke about in his State of the Union address.

Structured as federal-state partnerships dedicated to different regions of the country, Regional Commissions make place-based investments in technical assistance, capacity building, economic development, workforce, and infrastructure. Thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the six Regional Commissions received over $1 billion in additional funding to help local economies and distressed communities attract historic public and private investments in manufacturing, infrastructure, and clean energy.

Federal Co-Chairs discussed priorities and success stories in their regions. To date, Regional Commissions have used Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to support more than 300 projects in 19 states. For example: the Delta Regional Authority funded infrastructure projects to support a $5.6 billion investment by Ford in a new electric truck and battery plant in West Tennessee; the Denali Commission provided technical assistance to an Alaska Native Tribal consortium to help secure over $90 million in federal grants for broadband projects in remote communities; the Northern Border Regional Commission awarded a $3 million grant to construct and expand child care facilities in Lewis County, New York; and the Appalachian Regional Commission expanded its ARISE program to build capacity across multi-state regional partnerships. The Southeast Crescent Regional Commission also launched its inaugural $20 million State Economic and Infrastructure Development grant program.

Meeting participants included:

Lael Brainard, National Economic Advisor

Gayle Manchin, Federal Co-Chair, Appalachian Regional Commission

Jocelyn Fenton, Interim Federal Co-Chair, Denali Commission

Corey Wiggins, Federal Co-Chair, Delta Regional Authority

Chris Saunders, Federal Co-Chair, Northern Border Regional Commission

Jennifer Clyburn Reed, Federal Co-Chair, Southeast Crescent Regional Commission

Juan Sanchez, Federal Co-Chair, Southwest Border Regional Commission

Samantha Silverberg, Deputy Assistant to the President for Infrastructure Implementation

Heather Boushey, Member of the Council of Economic Advisers & Chief Economist of the Investing in America Cabinet

Alex Jacquez, Special Assistant to the President for Economic Development & Industrial Strategy

Brian Anderson, Executive Director of the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization, Department of Energy

Vaishant Sharma, Senior Policy Advisor, National Economic Council

Ishan Sharma, Senior Advisor, Office of Science and Technology Policy

John McAuliff, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of Clean Energy Innovation & Implementation

Anna Duffy, Policy Advisor, National Economic Council

Jordan Arnold, Policy Advisor, Infrastructure Implementation Team

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Readout of White House Summer Learning Convening

Fri, 03/15/2024 - 09:15

This week, Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden and U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Cindy Marten hosted a Summer Learning Convening at the White House as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Improving Student Achievement Agenda focused on improving academic performance for every child in schools through the adoption of three evidence-based strategies: (1) increasing student attendance; (2) providing high-dosage tutoring; and (3) increasing summer learning and extended or afterschool learning time.
 
This convening provided an opportunity to hear from representatives from the National League of Cities, Tuscaloosa, AL and Rochester, NY on their collaborative efforts to increase access to high-quality summer learning programs as a key strategy to increase student achievement. The Tuscaloosa City Schools Summer Program is an early champion of summer learning heading into its fourth year with 19 programs that serve 3,000 students. The Rochester City School District worked with community partners to establish 30 summer programs, such as a program at St. John Fisher University which provided learning support to over 5,000 students.
 
This convening comes on the heels of the Biden-Harris Administration Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request, which proposes $8 billion in new mandatory funding for Academic Acceleration and Achievement Grants to support student success across States and districts and the Department of Education’s recently launched Engage Every Student Recognition program to spotlight high quality summer learning and afterschool programs across the nation that are improving academic and other outcomes for children and youth.
 
Participants in the convening included:

  • Neera Tanden, Assistant to the President and Director of the Domestic Policy Council
  • Cindy Marten, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education
  • Simeon Banister, President & CEO, Rochester Area Community Foundation
  • Dr. Elfreda Massie, Director of Education and Expanded Learning at the National League of Cities
  • Dr. Andrew Maxey, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Tuscaloosa City Schools
  • Dr. Carmine Peluso, Superintendent Rochester City School, NY
  • Liliana Ruiz, Director of Special Projects, Office of the Mayor of Rochester NY
  • Dr. Daniela Susnara, Director of Planning and Assessment for Community Engagement in the University of Alabama’s Center for Community-Based Partnerships
  • Kim Turner, President & CEO, Boys and Girls Club, West Alabama

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FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Takes New Action to Crack Down on Junk Fees in Higher Education

Fri, 03/15/2024 - 09:00

Reforms would save students and borrowers billions in unnecessary fees and improve the college and loan repayment experience.

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing new steps to crack down on hidden junk fees as part of President Biden’s agenda to lower costs for students and families paying for college. Junk fees are hidden costs or surprise fees that companies and institutions include on customer or student bills, increasing their costs. 

Each year, students—including Federal student loan borrowers—incur billions in fees or additional unseen costs for unused meal account funds, using a college-sponsored credit card or banking account, paying for textbooks, or simply taking out a loan to pay for school. Additionally, students aren’t always provided clear and upfront opportunities to avoid fees for services they do not want. Obscured costs and misleading practices aren’t just frustrating—they cost millions of students and borrowers money.

The fees targeted in today’s announcement may be imposed multiple times during the college or graduate school experience. 

For example, when students first take out their federal student loans to go to college, they incur a “loan origination” fee that ranges from 1 percent for undergraduate loans to 4 percent for graduate and parent loans. This can tack on hundreds or thousands of dollars onto their debts.

Additionally, many colleges directly offer students financial products through affiliated banks, like student banking accounts and credit cards. Students trust and rely on their schools’ offering of these products; in some cases, these products help students receive student aid. However, reports have found that these products often assess high and unusual fees that are more costly than widely available options and can erode the purchasing power of students’ financial aid. 

Colleges are also currently allowed to automatically charge students for textbooks if the charge meets certain criteria. Students are often unaware of this hidden cost or their ability to decline the charge, preventing them from shopping around for a better price. Further, some colleges keep unspent student meal plan credit balances, instead of providing students with a refund.

The actions announced today are part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s strategy to lower costs and make higher education more affordable and accessible for students by creating more transparent and student-friendly policies. These actions include:  

  • Eliminating the Student Loan Origination Fees: The President’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Proposal calls on Congress to end student loan origination fees.  According to the Office of Management and Budget, approximately 7 million undergraduate, graduate, and parent borrowers pay origination fees of 1 to 4 percent of the total amount each federal student loan is charged to every borrower who takes out federal money to help get an education. These fees are a relic of an era when the government compensated private lenders to issue these loans.  Today, this fee is nothing more than a tax imposed on students by the government, costing consumers more than $1 billion annually. Adding insult to injury, these fees are added to loan balances and subject to interest for the life of the loan.  A typical teacher or nurse taking out federal loans for undergraduate and graduate degrees will pay $1,000 or more over the life of their loan because of these fees. Parents often fare even worse, with the average parent borrower paying out an additional $2800 or more because of these fees. The Biden-Harris Administration is calling on Congress to pass the President’s 2025 Budget proposal and eliminate it.
  • Putting an End to College Banking Junk Fees:  The Department of Education (ED) is undergoing negotiated rulemaking to clarify that college banking products that provide students access to their financial aid cannot include harmful fees.  A recent report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) highlighted how banks are imposing millions in high and unusual fees on more than 650,000 student account holders with college banking accounts, with account holders at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, for-profit colleges, and Hispanic-servicing institutions paying higher-than-average fees. The report found that these junk fees no longer reflect prevailing market practices as more banks have phased them out – contributing to the $5.5 billion decrease in overdraft and bounced check fees for all consumers since 2019.  To address the problem, the Department is formally considering regulations that would prohibit entities that contract with institutions of higher education for the disbursement of Title IV funds from charging particular fees that harm students, such as insufficient funds fees or maintenance and closure fees.  These changes, if proposed and finalized, would be included under ED’s cash management regulations, which are currently in rulemaking.
  • Eliminating Automatic Charges for Textbooks: The Department is undergoing negotiated rulemaking to reduce costs incurred by students in addition to tuition in higher education by ending the practice of automatic billing on tuition for textbooks. Under the draft proposal, students would now need to authorize a charge on their tuition bill for course materials. Competitive markets provide consumers choice and value, but automatic charges for textbooks and course materials leave students with little ability to meaningfully shop around for better prices or to utilize free and open-source textbooks. These changes, if proposed and finalized, would provide students with real choice and the ability to use the best textbooks at the most affordable price.
  • Stopping Colleges from Pocketing Students’ Leftover Meal Plan Dollars: The Department is formally considering regulations to require institutions of higher education to return any unused funds from Federal financial aid recipients’ meal plans back to students. Students are often required to purchase meal plans from institutions, and institutions can credit financial aid funds toward meal plan expenses that can be used like cash to also cover expenses at campus grocery stores and food courts, often referred to as “flex dollars.” At the end of a term, institutions can take any remaining funds without returning unused funds. This can create a financial penalty for students as they either lose the money they are entitled to, or are forced to spend remaining funds at the end of the term on items they might not otherwise feel they need.

These actions build upon important steps to increase transparency and improve the experience for students through final regulations issued in late 2023 that go into effect on July 1, 2024. Recently finalized student- and borrower-friendly policies include:

  • Increasing College Cost Transparency: The Department issued final regulations to require that institutions provide the most detailed information ever about the cost of college, including costs that students and families are likely to pay out-of-pocket, before students enroll in a college and accept financial aid. The Department is also requiring that institutions provide adequate financial aid communications and counseling to students. This will help to increase cost transparency and decision-making for students and families. Under this rule, institutions of higher education may have their participation in Federal student aid programs limited, suspended, or terminated if they fail to administer their programs consistently with these new rules.
  • Preventing Schools from Withholding Student’s Transcripts: Recently issued final regulations also restrict colleges from withholding course credits paid for with Federal money. Previously, institutions of higher education could withhold transcripts from students until their accounts were fully paid. Withholding transcripts can keep students from transferring to another institution, enrolling in another program upon graduation, and securing a job. Under the Department’s new rule, colleges will no longer be allowed to withhold transcripts over unpaid debts if the student paid for some of their courses with Federal student loans or other Federal financial aid.
  • Holding Schools Accountable as Lenders. CFPB clearly communicated to institutions that when they act as lenders by offering tuition payment plans and other credit to students, they will be held accountable if they violate federal consumer financial protection laws. A recent CFPB report found some colleges charging late fees over $200, using troubling debt collection practices including transcript withholding, removal from campus meal plans, and providing unclear and inconsistent product disclosures.
  • Reducing the price of textbooks by investing in freely available textbooks. The Department’s Open Textbooks Pilot Program provides grants for institutions to create and use their own free textbooks and other open-source course materials. In fiscal year 2021 through 2023, the Department awarded slightly under $30 million to 17 grantees for this purpose. The total federal investment in the Open Textbooks Pilot Program through 2023 is $47 million. The President’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Proposal calls for funding the Open Textbooks Pilot Program.
  • Establishing the most effective safeguards ever against unaffordable debt or insufficient earnings for postsecondary students. This includes landmark regulations finalized in fall 2023 to hold for-profit colleges and career education programs accountable for failure to deliver for students. Approximately 700,000 students a year will now be protected from career training programs that leave graduates with high debts, low earnings, and poor career prospects.
  • Establishing a new framework holding student loan servicers accountable. The Department has returned student loan borrowers to repayment following the pandemic-era pause on payments and has worked to ensure borrowers are not harmed by servicer errors in doing so, including by errors identified in a recent report released by the CFPB.

These actions build upon the Administration’s efforts to protect students and borrowers. The Biden-Harris Administration will continue its efforts to make higher education more affordable and accessible, as well as to eliminate hidden, surprise, and junk fees and put cash back in the pockets of Americans.

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Statement from President Joe Biden on the International Day to Combat Islamophobia

Fri, 03/15/2024 - 07:00

Five years ago today, a gunman fired upon worshippers at the Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Center in Christchurch, New Zealand—murdering 51 people, wounding 40 others, and forever shattering families in one of the deadliest mass shootings in history. Today, on the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, we remember these innocent souls who were stolen from us while peacefully praying.
 
We recognize the violence and hate that Muslims worldwide too often face because of their religious beliefs—and the ugly resurgence of Islamophobia in the wake of the devastating war in Gaza. And, we rededicate ourselves to building a world where people of all faiths and all backgrounds are free to live without fear of persecution.
 
That includes right here at home. I’ve said it many times: Islamophobia has no place in our nation. Yet Muslims in the United States frequently endure baseless fearmongering, blatant discrimination, harassment, and violence in the course of their everyday lives. Today, Jill and I remember Wadea al-Fayoume, a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy brutally killed in his own home last fall—a crushing loss for his family and community, and a devastating reminder of how all Americans must unequivocally stand up against hate.
 
That’s why, in 2022, my Administration established an interagency policy committee to counter Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Related Forms of Bias and Discrimination. We are also currently drafting the first-ever National Strategy to Combat Islamophobia and Related Forms of Bias and Discrimination. The goal of this strategy is to mobilize a whole-of-society effort to counter all forms of hate, discrimination, and bias against Muslim, Sikh, South Asian, and Arab American communities and to raise awareness about their heritage and invaluable contributions to our country. We are also strengthening the security of mosques and other places of worship, and working to prevent and prosecute hate crimes against vulnerable communities. And my Administration continues to implement the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism amidst the serious increase in Antisemitism and to advance the White House Initiative on Hate-Motivated Violence. Put simply, we are taking concrete steps to make real for all Americans the promise of America: that we are all created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives.  We have never fully lived up to that promise, but we have never walked away from it either, and for as long as I’m President, we never will.
 
Today, as millions continue to observe the holy month of Ramadan, Jill and I extend our best wishes to Muslims everywhere and continue to keep them in our prayers. And, we reaffirm our commitment to do all we can to put an end to the vicious hate of Islamophobia—here at home and around the world.

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Statement by NSC Spokesperson Adrienne Watson on the appointment today of Dr. Mohammed Mustafa as Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority

Thu, 03/14/2024 - 20:19

We welcome the appointment today of Dr. Mohammed Mustafa as Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, and we urge the formation of a reform cabinet as soon as possible.  The United States will be looking for this new government to deliver on policies and implementation of credible and far-reaching reforms. A reformed Palestinian Authority is essential to delivering results for the Palestinian people and establishing the conditions for stability in both the West Bank and Gaza. 

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Remarks by Vice President Harris and Doctor Sarah Traxler During the Nationwide “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” Tour | St. Paul, MN

Thu, 03/14/2024 - 18:11

Planned Parenthood
St. Paul, Minnesota

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon, everyone.  I first want to thank the governor, Tim Walz, for your leadership both for this beautiful state, but nationally you’ve been a great friend and advisor to the President and me.  And thank you for all of that.

GOVERNOR WALZ: Thank you.

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Congresswoman — I mean, just an extraordinary leader.  She is strong, she is powerful, she is committed, and always working on behalf of the people of the state.  And I thank you, and thank you for traveling with me to be here today. 

REPRESENTATIVE MCCOLLUM:  It was an honor.

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And, Mayor, thank you, as well.  We shared a lot of stories about your leadership.  And I know that you have a lot of support here in the city for the work that you have done.  Thank you for that.

So, many of you have asked why am I here at this at — this facility, in particular.  And I will tell you, it is because, right now in our country, we are facing a very serious health crisis.  And the crisis is affecting many, many people in our country, most of whom are, frankly, silently suffering after the United States Supreme Court took a constitutional right that had been recognized from the people of America, from the women of America.

In states around our country, extremists have proposed and passed laws that have denied women access to reproductive healthcare.  And the stories abound. 

I have heard stories of — and have met with women who had miscarriages in — in toilets.  Women who were being denied emergency care because the healthcare providers there, at an emergency room, were afraid that because of the laws in their state, that they could be criminalized, sent to prison for providing healthcare.

So, I’m here at this healthcare clinic to uplift the work that is happening in Minnesota as an example of what true leadership looks like, which is to understand it is only right and fair that people have access to the healthcare they need and that they have access to healthcare in an environment where they are treated with dignity and respect. 

And please do understand that when we talk about a clinic such as this, it is absolutely about healthcare and reproductive healthcare.  So, everyone get ready for the language: uterus.  (Laughter.)  That part of the body needs a lot of medical care from time to time.  (Laughter.)

Issues like fibroids — we can handle this — breast cancer screenings, contraceptive care — that is the kind of work that happens here, in addition, of course, to abortion care.

So, to have laws in states that have caused clinics like this to shut down so that women have no access within any reasonable distance of where they live to get this vital care that is necessary to address their health needs and concerns.

So, again, I say thank you to the governor, the congresswoman, the mayor, and the doctor and all those who work here, and the staff. 

This work includes having people here who go out and talk to young people — our young people in high schools.  And sadly, in so many places around our country, Sex Ed is a thing of the past, which leaves our young people to learn about their bodies and reproductive systems on social media — often with a profound amount of misinformation, which leaves them confused about what is happening to their own bodies.

The work that happens here is about providing assistance to women who do not live in the state of Minnesota, because, sadly, this state exists in a neighborhood where laws have been passed to deny people reproductive healthcare.  And so, women have to travel here. 

You know, the majority of women who receive an abortion are mothers.  God help her that she’s got affordable childcare.  If she is working, God help her she’s got paid family leave so she can figure out how is she going to get to the place that will provide her the care she needs. 

Well, the work that happens in a clinic like this includes answering those questions for someone who might be in great distress, letting her know what is available to her in terms of transportation, in terms of housing or a hotel, what is available to her in terms of assistance for her childcare needs.

So, I’ll close with this.  In this environment, these attacks against an individual’s right to make decisions about their own body are outrageous and, in many instances, just plain old immoral. 

How dare these elected leaders believe they are in a better position to tell women what they need, to tell women what is in their best interest.  We have to be a nation that trusts women.  (Applause.)

And with that, I will introduce this extraordinary healthcare provider.  And, Doctor, please. 

DR. TRAXLER:  Thank you.  Thank you so much. 

I have to use my notes, folks.  (Laughter.)  I’m not used to doing this. 

So, good afternoon, everyone.

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon.

DR. TRAXLER:  I’m Sarah Traxler.  I’m the Chief Medical Officer here at Planned Parenthood North Central States.  I’m a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist with a subspecialty in complex family planning, and I also have my masters of science in health policy. 

I am a proud abortion provider.  And I’m honored that Vice President Kamala Harris has visited our clinic today.  It’s a historic moment and one that demonstrates how critically important access to reproductive healthcare is to people and their families across the country.

So, thank you so much —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.

DR. TRAXLER:  — for being here today.

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.

DR. TRAXLER:  Thank you.

After the Dobbs decision a year and a half ago, Minnesota has become a bastion of access for abortion care.  But abortion rights are not only a Minnesota issue; it is a national issue. 

Our Planned Parenthood has seen a 25 percent increase in abortions here in Minnesota since Roe was overturned.  We’ve seen nearly 100 percent increase in patients coming here from outside of our state. 

This is not by accident.  Surrounding states have been limiting and banning abortion, while Minnesota, with the help of our governor, has been increasing access. 

Since Roe was overturned, I’ve cared for patients from everywhere, from nearby states like South Dakota and North Dakota and Wisconsin, but from far-away states like Texas, Alabama, Wyoming, Florida, Oklahoma, Missouri, and the list goes on. 

I’ve seen patients who’ve flown from places like Louisiana only to have me tell her that her complex pregnancy condition would keep her from having her abortion here with me, forcing her to continue a dangerous pregnancy because hospital-based care was not available to her in her home state. 

Traveling to access essential healthcare can be intimidating and overwhelming.  It is not an easy thing to do, as we have all pretended that it is. 

Like the experience of our patient who traveled from a small rural town and became lost in downtown Minneapolis with a dead cell phone after her flight landed.  We were able to get her a Lyft driver, our patient navigators, and she described that Lyft driver as a savior for her.  And like our patient who drove hundreds and hundreds of miles through blizzard conditions just to get her abortion. 

Our new abortion landscape is difficult, it is dangerous, and it is putting my patients and healthcare providers at severe risk.  I’ve talked to my colleagues practicing in states where abortion is now illegal, and they are unnecessarily struggling with decisions around providing ethical, proper medical care and conflicting with the law.  This should never happen.

Thankfully, providing abortion care has gotten less complicated in Minnesota.  Here, I’m trusted as a provider and an expert to work with my patients to provide the best care possible. 

To know that I’m trusted to do my job is a comfort to me, but it should be the standard everywhere.  Private medical decisions should be made between patients and their doctors without interference from politicians or the protesters standing outside on the street in front of our clinic today.

You know, I didn’t always feel this way.  I came to understand bodily autonomy after a long history of being anti-abortion and having a very distorted point of view about abortion care.  It wasn’t until a friend told me her abortion story that I came to see the light. 

After hearing her, knowing her history, I knew that an abortion was the right choice for her, for her life, for her future and nobody else’s.  And it dawned on me.  If she is making the right decision for her life, then there are countless other people who are making the right decision for their lives.  And no one should be interfering in that.

From my — from that point on, my awakening into understanding bodily autonomy and freedom grew to the point that I am today.

Everyone should have the right to access healthcare.  Your ZIP Code shouldn’t dictate the care that you can access.  Your race, your socioeconomic status — none of that should determine it.

So, in 2024 and beyond, we will keep fighting, we will keep working until we live in a world where everyone can access the care they decide is best for their futures and their bodies and in their own community.

Thank you.  (Applause.)

AIDE:  We’re going to take a couple of questions, and we’re — we’re going to start with Rochelle from the Star Tribune.

Q    Hi, Madam Vice President.  Why do you think it took so long for a sitting president or vice president to visit an abortion provider?  And, also, how concerned are you about the 20 percent who voted uncommitted in the Minnesota presidential primary?

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, I’ll tell you, the reason I’m here is because this is a healthcare crisis.  And I think that of the many stories that we can tell — excuse me.  (Coughs.)

Of the many stories that we need to tell about what has happened after the Dobbs decision, one of them is that part of this healthcare crisis is the clinics like this that have had to shut down and what that has meant to leave no options with any reasonable geographic area for so many women who need this essential care.

And, again, it runs the gamut of reproductive healthcare.  So, yes, it is abortion care.  It is also, as I mentioned earlier, essential and critical reproductive healthcare like paps, like breast cancer screenings, things of that nature.

So, I’m here to highlight that of the many, I believe, potentially intended consequences of the Dobbs decision, one of them has been for healthcare providers such as this in the states that have banned or outlawed access to reproductive care — clinics like this to shut down.  And it’s a travesty.  It’s a travesty.

Q    Madam Vice President, can I —

AIDE:  We’re going to go to our next question, Madam Vice President.  Darlene, right to your left, with the AP.

Q    Hi.  Thank you.  We were not able to go with you on the tour, obviously.  Can you give us a sense of what you saw back there —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Yeah.

Q    — and also what you learned by coming here today?

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, what I saw were, I don’t know, maybe two dozen healthcare workers who really care —
really care about their patients and who understand that in the healthcare delivery system, regardless of your gender or your healthcare need, I think we should all expect and certainly we all desire that you will be treated with dignity and you’ll be treated in an environment where you feel safe.  And by that, I mean safe to be free from judgment, to be in an environment where you are actually and really listened to, where your needs and your expression of your needs are taken seriously.

And walking through this clinic, that’s what I saw are people who have dedicated their lives to the profession of providing healthcare in a safe place that gives people dignity.
And I think we should all want that for each other.

AIDE:  Thank you, Vice President.  We’ll going to Nick at the New York Times.

Q    Madam Vice President, what do you see as your role on this issue, given that the administration has run up to the limit of what it can do to protect abortion rights and Congress is unlikely to pass a bill codifying them?

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, Congress will pass that bill when we win back the House.  (Applause.)  And so, I am sure of that.

And I think that the — the point — one of the points that must be made on this issue, as we attempt to uplift the real stories and the real consequences of the Dobbs decision is to remind people elections matter.  Elections matter. 

What happened here in Minnesota, with the reelection of the governor and the turning of the state legislature is what has led to ensuring that these fundamental rights are intact and are protected.  Elections matter.

And let me be very clear about this.  When it comes to national elections and who sits in the United States Congress on this, there’s a fundamental point on this issue that I think most people agree with, which is that one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling women what to do with their body.  If she chooses, she will consult with — with her priest, her pastor, her rabbi, her imam.  But it’s not for the government to tell her what she can and cannot do with her own body.

Q    And so, what do you see as your role on this issue?

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  My role is to do what I just did, which is to articulate exactly these points and to continue to articulate them and to organize folks around what I know is an issue that is impacting more people than you’ll ever really know, who, as I said earlier, are silently suffering.

And so, we who have the ability to have a bouquet of microphones in front of us, as I do, I take on then the responsibility of uplifting these stories and reminding people — with some belief, by the way, when I do it, that the vast majority of Americans do have empathy and that, even if they don’t agree that this would be the best decision for them,
would agree that other people should not be suffering the way they are.

AIDE:  Thank you, Vice President.  We have one more question right here from Patricia —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Yes.

AIDE:  — at Bloomberg.

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Yes.  Hi.

Q    Madam Vice President, Roe was always an imperfect vessel.  What exactly would you like to see replace it?  What form should it take?  What should the scope of it be?

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  What we want is to put back in place the protections that the Supreme Court took away, which is to codify, put into law the protections of Roe v. Wade.  That’s what we want.

AIDE:  Madam Vice President, thank you so much. 

                               END           

The post Remarks by Vice President Harris and Doctor Sarah Traxler During the Nationwide “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” Tour | St. Paul, MN appeared first on The White House.

Statement from President Biden on US Steel

Thu, 03/14/2024 - 16:00

It is important that we maintain strong American steel companies powered by American steel workers. I told our steel workers I have their backs, and I meant it. U.S. Steel has been an iconic American steel company for more than a century, and it is vital for it to remain an American steel company that is domestically owned and operated.

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

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