Statements and Releases

One year ago today, during Lunar New Year celebrations in Monterey Park, California, 11 innocent people were killed in a heinous act of gun violence that struck at the heart and soul of one of the largest Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities in our nation. In mere moments, friends and families gathering together in joy and hope were devastated by a senseless, horrific mass shooting. Two days later, this tragedy was compounded by another. As we mourned with the community of Monterey Park, we learned a gunman killed seven people in Half Moon Bay, California. Jill and I continue to pray for the families of the victims and many others traumatized by these attacks.

These shootings shocked the conscience of our nation. In the weeks that followed at my State of the Union address, Jill and I were honored to host Brandon Tsay, who heroically disarmed the Monterey Park shooter and prevented further bloodshed. I also traveled to Monterey Park, where I spent hours meeting with families who lost loved ones, and announced an Executive Order containing new actions to crack down on the epidemic of gun violence tearing our country apart. We launched the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, and my administration is implementing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act—the most meaningful gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years—which strengthens background checks, expands the use of red flag laws, improves access to mental health services for students dealing with the trauma of gun violence, and more. 

In the wake of the tragic shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay, California has also taken action, passing more than 20 new gun safety laws and investing in proven solutions like gun violence intervention programs. Other states should follow their lead.

Importantly, we also need Congress to do its part. It’s long past time we banned assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, ended immunity from liability for gun manufacturers, passed a national red flag law, enacted universal background checks, and required safe storage of guns. We cannot tackle the gun violence epidemic in America while Republicans in Congress sit on their hands. 

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Yesterday, Lael Brainard, Assistant to the President and National Economic Advisor convened a meeting with stakeholders to discuss the Administration’s support for AI policy that promotes fair, open, and competitive markets and that creates opportunities for small businesses and new entrants.  

In the meeting, participants discussed the risks of concentration across the AI ecosystem and ways to support competition as AI systems continue to develop and become more widely used across the economy. This included a focus on the challenges participants raised about the high levels of concentration in the production of critical inputs including semiconductors, computing power, cloud storage, talent, and data. Participants also covered how open-source models and more tailored AI applications may shape the competitive landscape. Participants raised concerns about the risks of collusive behavior and highlighted the need to scrutinize partnerships and investments across the industry.

Participants also addressed the possible harms from lack of competition in AI including with respect to prices, quality, innovation, privacy. They also addressed how the rise of AI will affect competition law and policy in the coming years, including ways in which it may exacerbate existing challenges such as price-fixing and self-preferencing. Finally, the discussion turned to steps the Administration and others can take to promote competition and ensure that the benefits of AI are more broadly available. This includes support for publicly-funded research initiatives, effective use of procurement tools, and other steps.

The Biden-Harris Administration has made clear that promoting competition and innovation is a central part of AI policy. President Biden’s Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence calls on agencies “to promote competition in AI and related technologies, as well as in other markets” as they develop policies and regulations. The President’s Executive Order also supports small businesses commercializing AI products and directs a pilot of the National AI Research Resource (NAIRR) to provide federally-supported computing power, data, and other resources to AI researchers and smaller companies. The Administration is also committed to a whole-of-government approach to promote competition and protect consumers as laid out in President Biden’s Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy. This includes the application of competition policy and antitrust laws “to meet the challenges posed by new industries and technologies” as they develop.

Representatives from the White House National Economic Council, National Security Council, Domestic Policy Council, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Council of Economic Advisers and from the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice attended the listening session. Outside participants in today’s meeting included:

• Nidhi Hegde, American Economic Liberties Project
• Sacha Haworth, Tech Oversight Project
• Chris Hughes, Economic Security Project & The New School
• Taylor Jo Isenberg, Economic Security Project
• Samir Jain, Center for Democracy and Technology
• Amba Kak, AI Now Institute
• Barry Lynn, Open Markets Institute
• Tejas Narechania, UC Berkeley School of Law
• Emily Peterson-Cassin, Demand Progress
• David Segal, Yelp
• Ganesh Sitaraman, Vanderbilt Law School
• Charlotte Slaiman, Public Knowledge
• Matt Stoller, American Economic Liberties Project
• Maurice Stucke, University of Tennessee College of Law

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Yesterday, Assistant to the President and Director of the Gender Policy Council Jennifer Klein, Senior Advisor for Gender-Based Violence Catherine Powell, and Director of the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women Rosie Hidalgo met with survivors of stalking to hear their experiences and recommendations for ways the Biden-Harris Administration can continue to support survivors of gender-based violence, including stalking. The roundtable was held during National Stalking Awareness Month, which was galvanized by the murder of Peggy Klinke twenty years ago yesterday.

In their lifetimes, one in three women and one in six men will be affected by stalking. Stalking is increasingly facilitated by technology and takes place both online and offline. It can disrupt victims’ lives, forcing them to miss work or move from their homes, and it can severely impact physical and mental health.

Participants discussed the Administration’s commitment to ending and addressing gender-based violence and stalking wherever it occurs, including through implementation of the first U.S. National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence and the ongoing work of the White House Task Force to Address Online Harassment and Abuse. Biden-Harris Administration leaders emphasized the courageous leadership of survivors and advocates in the anti-stalking field. Survivors, advocates, and Administration officials discussed current needs in the anti-stalking field and strategies to improve support for survivors of stalking, including methods to increase access to training, resources, justice, and safety.

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President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. today announced the designation of a Presidential Delegation to attend the Inauguration of His Excellency Joseph Boakai on Monday, January 22, 2024, in Monrovia, Liberia. 

The Honorable Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, will lead the delegation.

Members of the Presidential Delegation:

Ms. Catherine Rodriguez, Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., U.S. Embassy Monrovia

The Honorable Stephen K. Benjamin, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the President and Director of the Office of Public Engagement, The White House

The Honorable Isobel Coleman, Deputy Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development

The Honorable Judd Devermont, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs, National Security Council, The White House

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President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. spoke this morning with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.  The President and Prime Minister discussed ongoing efforts to secure the release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas.  The President and the Prime Minister reviewed the situation in Gaza and the shift to targeted operations that will enable the flow of increasing amounts of humanitarian assistance while keeping the military pressure on Hamas and its leaders.  The President welcomed the decision from the Government of Israel to permit the shipment of flour for the Palestinian people directly through Ashdod port while our teams separately work on options for more direct maritime delivery of assistance into Gaza.  The President also discussed the recent progress in ensuring the Palestinian Authority’s revenues are available to pay salaries, including for the Palestinian Security Forces in the West Bank.  The President discussed Israel’s responsibility even as it maintains military pressure on Hamas and its leaders to reduce civilian harm and protect the innocent.  The President also discussed his vision for a more durable peace and security for Israel fully integrated within the region and a two state-solution with Israel’s security guaranteed. 

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Today, my Administration approved debt cancellation for another 74,000 student loan borrowers across the country, bringing the total number of people who have gotten their debt cancelled under my Administration to over 3.7 million Americans through various actions. 

Of the 74,000 borrowers approved for relief today, nearly 44,000 of them are teachers, nurses, firefighters and other individuals who earned forgiveness after 10 years of public service, and close to 30,000 of them are people who have been in repayment for at least 20 years but never got the relief they earned through income-driven repayment plans. My Administration is able to deliver relief to these borrowers – and millions more – because of fixes we made to broken student loan programs that were preventing borrowers from getting relief they were entitled to under the law.

Today’s announcement comes on top of all we’ve been able to achieve for students and student loan borrowers in the past few years.  This includes: achieving the largest increases in Pell Grants in over a decade to help families who earn less than roughly $60,000 a year; fixing the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program so that borrowers who go into public service get the debt relief they’re entitled to under the law; and creating the most generous Income-Driven Repayment plan in history – the SAVE plan.  Borrowers can go to studentaid.gov to apply. And, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision on our student debt relief plan, we are continuing to pursue an alternative path to deliver student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible.

From Day One of my Administration, I vowed to improve the student loan system so that a higher education provides Americans with opportunity and prosperity – not unmanageable burdens of student loan debt.  I won’t back down from using every tool at our disposal to get student loan borrowers the relief they need to reach their dreams. 

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Since President Biden took office, EV sales have more than quadrupled – with over four and a half million EVs on the road

As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda and Bidenomics, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing new actions to lower the cost of electric vehicles (EVs) for Americans and build a convenient, reliable, Made-in-America EV charging network. Thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the Biden-Harris Administration is already delivering major progress to electrify the great American road trip. Since the President took office, EV sales have more than quadrupled, with more than four and a half million EVs on the road. EV ownership is more affordable than ever before, with prices down over 20% from one year ago. The number of publicly available charging ports has also grown by over 70 percent, with 170,000 publicly available EV chargers across the country, putting us on track to deploy 500,000 chargers by 2026 – achieving the President’s goal four years early.

To continue building on this unprecedented progress, today, the Department of Treasury and the Department of Energy are releasing intended definitions for eligible census tracts that will confirm thatthe Inflation Reduction Act’s 30C EV charging tax credit is available to approximately two-thirds of Americans. This tax credit provides up to 30% off the cost of the charger to individuals and businesses in low-income communities and non-urban areas, making it more affordable to install EV charging infrastructure and increasing access to EV charging in underserved communities.

In addition, the Departments of Transportation and Energy are announcing $325 million in new investments this week across three programs to increase the reliability and resilience of publicly accessible chargers, advance EV technologies, and support workforce development for EV charging deployment and maintenance. This new funding for EV chargers will repair and replace existing, non-operational chargers across the country; reduce costs for deploying charging in underserved communities; and cut battery costs. These investments follow the $623 million in awards announced last week to deploy public charging in communities and fill gaps in the national network.

The Administration’s historic investments in EV technologies are also spurring private companies to invest alongside the federal government in EV charging. More than $25 billion of investment in the U.S. EV charging network has been announced to date, including more than $10 billion from the private sector. And under President Biden’s leadership, the U.S. EV charging manufacturing footprint has grown from almost nothing to a robust and thriving sector. Just three years ago, there was almost no U.S.-based production of fast chargers, but since President Biden took office, at least 40 U.S.-based EV charger factories have been announced or opened. These facilities now have the capacity to produce more than a million chargers each year—including 60,000 fast chargers.

The Biden-Harris Administration is making it easier and cheaper for Americans to ride and drive electric – and to ensure that the EV future benefits American workers and families. But Republicans in Congress are trying to thwart this progress by passing a measure that would eliminate the federal government’s strong domestic manufacturing standards for EV chargers. The President has pledged to veto this resolution, which would hurt American workers, undermine domestic manufacturing, and benefit competitor nations like the People’s Republic of China.

Announcements made today and recently are the latest proof that while Republicans in Congress try to undermine historic progress, President Biden is delivering for Americans and the country. See below for more about how the Biden-Harris Administration is building an EV charging network that benefits communities everywhere:

• Lowering Costs for Installing EV Chargers: Today, the Department of Treasury is releasing a notice of intent to propose regulations related to the 30C tax credit, re-enacted by the Inflation Reduction Act, which plays an important role in lowering costs for EV owners and encouraging EV adoption. The tax credit provides up to 30% off the cost of the charger to individuals and businesses in eligible census tracts. Today’s announcement proposes definitions for eligible census tracts that will clarify eligibility of the tax credit to approximately two-thirds of the U.S. population – focusing on those in low-income communities and non-urban areas. Alongside Treasury’s guidance, the Department of Energy (DOE) is releasing a mapping tool to help households and businesses quickly identify whether they are eligible for the tax credit under the proposed regulations.
  
• Strengthening the Foundation for the EV Charging Industry: Today, the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation announced over $46 million in awards through their Ride and Drive Electric program to continue building a convenient, affordable, reliable, and equitable EV charging network that benefits diverse American workers. As part of the awards, for example, Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc., is receiving funding to recruit and prepare people from all backgrounds – including underrepresented minorities and women – for electrical apprenticeships, and train diverse IBEW Local 48 electricians with Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program (EVITP) certification, while the Research Foundation for SUNY at the University of Buffalo is receiving funding to develop a resiliency plan for New Jersey Transit electrification.
  
• Increasing EV Charging Reliability and Accessibility: Yesterday, the Department of Transportation announced nearly $149 million in grants to repair or replace existing but non-operational EV chargers. This announcement is critical to ensure the reliability of the existing network of EV chargers, and will put nearly 4,500 EV charging ports back online.
  
• Advancing EV Technologies Through Research and Development: Yesterday, the Department of Energy announced over $131 million in funding for research, development, and technology integration projects for zero-emission vehicles and mobility; and for an advanced battery R&D consortium. This funding builds on the $32 million announced by DOE for the same program earlier this month. Projects include reducing costs such as permitting and utility interconnection to improve EV charging infrastructure in underserved communities, providing consumer information on EVs and EV charging, and developing batteries that use low-cost, abundant materials. 
  
• Opening Federally Funded EV Charging Stations Across the Country: States are accelerating progress on deploying EV chargers using federal formula funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s NEVI (National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure) program. To date, nearly $2.4 billion has been made available through the NEVI program. Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania have all brought NEVI-funded chargers online in the last several weeks. States like Maine and Vermont will soon follow, having recently broken ground on their own NEVI-funded sites. 
  
• Delivering Grants to School Districts to Purchase Clean Buses: Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $1 billion for the purchase of over 2,700 clean school buses in 280 school districts across 37 states. To date, EPA’s Clean School Bus Program has awarded nearly $2 billion and funded approximately 5,000 electric and low-emission school buses across the country.
  
• Deploying Chargers in Communities to Fill Gaps in the National Network: Also last week, the Department of Transportation announced $623 million in Charging and Fueling Infrastructure grants to help build out an EV charging network across the U.S. Half of this funding is going to 36 projects in communities that will invest in EV charging and hydrogen fueling infrastructure in urban and rural communities in convenient locations like schools, parks, libraries, multi-family housing, and more. These chargers are especially critical for people who live in multifamily homes and don’t have access to home charging options. The other half is going to 11 projects along corridors to fill gaps in the national charging and alternative fueling network.
  
• Making EVs More Affordable at the Dealer: On average, EVs are now 20 percent cheaper than they were one year ago. As of January 1st, Americans can get up to $7,500 off the sticker price of many of the new electric vehicles eligible for the Inflation Reduction Act’s 30D New Clean Vehicle Tax Credit, and up to $4,000 off the price of a used EV for vehicles eligible for the 25E Used Clean Vehicle Credit. Already, over 9,500 dealers across the country have registered with IRS Energy Credits Online, most of which also registered to provide this tax credit at the point of sale.

Additionally, as a result of the Biden-Harris Administration’s leadership, more than a dozen private companies have announced major commitments to expand EV charging. See a list of commitments here.

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We will never forget the 19 children and two teachers who were killed in their classrooms during a senseless mass shooting carried out with a weapon of war. In the days and months since they lost their lives and 17 others were injured, the families in Uvalde have channeled their anguish into advocacy – demanding accountability, justice, and action to change the unacceptable fact that gun violence is the leading cause of death for children in our nation.

With their help, President Biden and I fought to pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years. Working with gun safety organizers and advocates including young leaders across the country, we have also taken more executive action to reduce gun violence than any other Administration in history. This includes establishing the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. But we know more must be done.

Today’s devastating report by the Justice Department makes it clear that there were multiple failures in Uvalde that hold urgent lessons for our nation, and our Administration remains committed to ensuring that communities have the resources and support they need to respond more effectively.

As we do so, I am continuing to call on Congress and state legislators throughout America to have the courage to act by banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, passing red flag laws, and making background checks universal. These commonsense solutions will save lives and ensure that fewer children, families, and communities experience the trauma and pain that Uvalde has suffered.    

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WASHINGTON – Today, President Biden announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to serve in key roles:

• Doreen Patricia Greenwald, Member, Federal Salary Council
• Juan A. Sabater, Member, Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico
• Timothy D. Murray, Member, National Museum and Library Services Board
• Gregory C. Simon, Member, President’s Commission on White House Fellowships
• Daniel Mathews, Member, Public Buildings Reform Board

Federal Salary Council

The Federal Salary Council is an advisory board that provides recommendations on the federal employee locality pay program to the President’s Pay Agent. These recommendations include the establishment or modification of pay localities, the coverage of salary surveys used to set locality pay, the process for making pay comparisons, and the level of comparability payments that should be made. The council consists of a total of nine seats: three seats are meant to be filled by experts in pay policy and six seats are reserved for representatives of federal government employee organizations.

Doreen Patricia Greenwald, Member, Federal Salary Council

Doreen Patricia Greenwald was elected National President of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) in August 2023. As the NTEU’s top elected official, she is the spokesperson for the union representing NTEU on issues important to union members and federal employees. Greenwald was a frontline federal employee for 35 years. She previously served as the Special Assistant to the National NTEU President and was elected National Executive Vice President in 2022. Greenwald spent her federal career at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), where she worked as a revenue officer and served for 14 years as President of NTEU Chapter 1, IRS Wisconsin.

Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico

The Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico was created under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act of 2016. The Board consists of seven members appointed by the President and one ex officio member designated by the Governor of Puerto Rico. The Board is tasked with working with the people and government of Puerto Rico to create the necessary foundation for economic growth and to restore opportunity to the people of Puerto Rico.

Juan A. Sabater, Member, Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico

Juan A. Sabater is a Partner and Co-President of Valor Equity Partners, a growth focused private equity firm with approximately $16 billion in assets under management and recognized for the operational support it provides to the companies in which it invests. He is a member of all Valor Investment Committees. Sabater currently serves on the boards of directors of Harmony Biosciences, Addepar, and Premise Data, and as a board observer for Dataminr and BlueVoyant, all companies in which Valor is an investor. Prior to Valor, Sabater was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs in the firm’s Investment Banking Division. Following Goldman Sachs, Sabater partnered with a law school friend to grow and scale Augeo Affinity Marketing. Together with his business partner, Sabater grew Augeo into a leading private company in the engagement and loyalty industry. Augeo today works with many Fortune 500 companies in the U.S. and internationally, managing programs reaching millions of employees and consumers globally. In 2014, Augeo partnered with the Obama-Biden Administration to create GamePlan4me.com, aimed at encouraging young people to obtain healthcare, with athletes articulating why healthcare is important. Sabater currently is Co-Chair of the Board of Augeo. 

Sabater serves on the boards of academic, arts, charitable, and professional organizations, including The Frick Collection, Girls Who Code, Lenox Hill Neighborhood House (where he serves as Chair), and the National Association of Investment Companies. He also served as Co-Chair of the Board of The Hewitt School, an independent girls’ school in New York City, and on the board of the New America Alliance. He was one of the founding board members of My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, an initiative addressing the opportunity gaps faced by young men of color and now part of the Obama Foundation. Sabater was appointed by President Biden to the Board of Visitors to the U.S. Military Academy. In Puerto Rico, Sabater serves on the board of Endeavor Puerto Rico, which aims to transform the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Puerto Rico by integrating founders into a global community, and served on the boards of Invest Puerto Rico and Foundation for Puerto Rico. Sabater was also a founding member of Private Equity for Puerto Rico, which raised funds in 2017 for hurricane relief following Hurricane Maria. Sabater holds an A.B. in History from Princeton University, studied history at the University of Oxford, Mansfield College, and holds a J.D. from Stanford Law School. He is formerly an officer in the United States Army Reserve. Sabater, who was born in Puerto Rico and lived his childhood on the island, resides with his wife and three daughters in New York City. 

National Museum and Library Services Board
The National Museum and Library Services Board advises the Institute of Museum and Library Services on general policies with respect to the duties, powers, and authority of the agency relating to museum, library, and information services, as well as the annual selection of National Medals recipients.

Timothy D. Murray, Member, National Museum and Library Services Board

Timothy D. Murray served as a Special Collections Librarian for over forty years. He has worked in the Special Collections departments of the University of Buffalo, Washington University in St. Louis, and the University of Delaware. He served as Head of Special Collections at Delaware from 1987 to 2022. A specialist in 20th century literary collections, Murray has curated exhibitions, written, taught, and lectured on figures such as Samuel Beckett, Paul Bowles, Kay Boyle, Ernest Hemingway, Abraham Lincoln, Hugh MacDiarmid, Ishmael Reed, and Tennessee Williams. From 2008 to 2009 he served as the University of Delaware’s representative on the Delaware Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.

Murray has been active and held leadership positions in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the American Library Association and the Society of American Archivists. In 2011, he was inducted as a fellow of the Society of American Archivists. In his award statement he was celebrated for his work as a mentor to students and young librarians, his expertise as an archivist and Special Collections librarian, and for his ability and willingness to bridge the gap between archives and librarianship.

President’s Commission on White House Fellowships

The President’s Commission on White House Fellowships is composed of outstanding citizens who reflect the diversity and strength of America while representing a broad range of backgrounds, experiences, and professions. Commissioners are responsible for recommending a group of candidates to the President for selection as White House Fellows, a prestigious program for leadership and public service that provides young Americans experience working at the highest levels of the federal government.

Gregory C. Simon, Member, President’s Commission on White House Fellowships

Gregory Simon began his government service as General Counsel and then Staff Director of the House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on investigations and Oversight. He served as the Legislative Director for then-Senator Al Gore (D-TN) and was commissioned by President Clinton to be Vice President Gore’s Chief Domestic Policy Advisor. He next served in the White House as the Executive Director of the White House Cancer Moonshot Task Force, under then-Vice President Biden. After leaving office in 2017, Vice President Biden and Dr. Biden asked Simon to launch and serve as the President of the Biden Cancer Initiative, an independent nonprofit organization.

Outside of his government service, Simon started Simon Strategies, LLC, an international consulting firm in science and technology policy. He launched two non-profits, FasterCures and the Melanoma Research Alliance. FasterCures is an organization devoted to speeding the pace of medical research in all diseases, and the Melanoma Research Alliance is the largest non-profit funder of melanoma research worldwide, which co-funded the work of Dr. James Allison who won the Nobel Prize in 2018.

Simon was born in Blytheville, Arkansas and received his B.A. from the University of Arkansas and his law degree from the University of Washington. He is married to Margo L. Reid and has two children, Kallile S. Simon and Michael Reid Simon, and two grandchildren, Charlie Walsh Simon and Jack Burns Simon.

Public Buildings Reform Board

The Public Buildings Reform Board was established under the Federal Assets Sale & Transfer Act of 2016 as an independent agency to identify opportunities for the Federal government to significantly reduce its inventory of civilian real property and thereby reduce costs.

Daniel Mathews, Member, Public Buildings Reform Board

Daniel Mathews is currently President of Mathews Associates LLC, where he advises companies on a variety of real estate issues. Mathews also serves on the Industry Advisory Group of the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations, where he and other noted industry professionals advise the State Department on how to provide the most effective facilities for United States diplomacy abroad. In addition, Mathews is a board member of both the Federal Real Property Association and the National Federal Development Association.

Mathews has extensive experience with federal real estate issues and served as Commissioner of the U.S. General Services Administration’s Public Buildings Service, where he led the 375 million square foot civilian real estate portfolio of the federal government, over 5,000 employees, and a $12 billion budget. Prior to that, he was the Staff Director of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management. He worked on several major legislative initiatives involving public buildings, emergency management, and transportation, including most recently the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act of 2016, which established the Public Buildings Reform Board. Mathews graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in government and philosophy. He is married with two daughters and resides in Alexandria, Virginia.

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National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met today with Nigerian National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu about bilateral security cooperation, efforts to counter terrorism in West Africa, and the importance of respect for human rights, strengthening democratic institutions, and good governance across the continent.  Mr. Sullivan reiterated President Biden’s commitment to Africa and underscored the strength of the U.S.-Nigerian relationship, including welcoming Nigeria’s strong leadership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).  Mr. Sullivan also raised areas where the United States and Nigeria share interests, particularly in supporting peace and stability in countries that have recently experienced political transitions. Both decided to maintain close coordination and continue to deepen our partnership to advance shared interests.

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In May 2022, Jill and I traveled to Uvalde to grieve 21 students and educators senselessly and tragically gunned down at Robb Elementary School.  Twenty-one souls stolen from us in a place where they are supposed to feel safe—their classroom.

Following this tragedy, my administration conducted a review to determine lessons learned from the response that day and best practices to ensure a swifter and more effective response to future active shooter incidents. Today’s report makes clear several things: that there was a failure to establish a clear command and control structure, that law enforcement should have quickly deemed this incident an active shooter situation and responded accordingly, and that clearer and more detailed plans in the school district were required to prepare for the possibility that this could occur. There were multiple points of failure that hold lessons for the future, and my team will work with the Justice Department and Department of Education to implement policy changes necessary to help communities respond more effectively in the future.

No community should ever have to go through what the Uvalde community suffered. After the Uvalde shooting, the families of the victims turned their pain into purpose and pushed for the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most significant gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years, which I signed into law. And I continue to take historic executive action, including the establishment of the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention.

Congress must now pass commonsense gun safety laws to ensure that mass shootings like this one don’t happen in the first place.  We need universal background checks, we need a national red flag law, and we must ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. The families of Uvalde – and all American communities — deserve nothing less.

The longer we wait to take action, the more communities like Uvalde will continue to suffer due to this epidemic of gun violence. 

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Today, President Biden will travel to the Raleigh-Durham area to announce $82 million in new investments from the American Rescue Plan’s (ARP) Capital Projects Fund to connect an additional 16,000 North Carolina homes and businesses to high-speed internet as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda. Overall, the Biden-Harris Administration is investing over $3 billion in North Carolina to lower costs for families and connect everyone in the state to affordable, reliable high-speed internet through the American Rescue Plan and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. These investments are creating thousands of good-paying manufacturing and construction jobs in places like North Carolina to produce Made-in-America fiber-optic cable that will build out internet infrastructure across the country. And, because of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Affordable Connectivity Program, 885,000 households in North Carolina are saving money on their internet bills every month.

High-speed internet is no longer a luxury—it is necessary for Americans to participate equally in school, access health care, do their jobs, and stay connected with family and friends. Yet more than 7 million households and small businesses across the country are in areas where there is no high-speed internet infrastructure, and millions more struggle with limited, unreliable, or unaffordable internet options. With $90 billion from President Biden’s American Rescue Plan and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, President Biden and Vice President Harris are closing that digital divide. Through the Affordable Connectivity Program, the Biden-Harris Administration has helped over 22 million Americans save $30-$75 per month on their internet bills. The Administration has called on Congress to extend funding for this bipartisan program, so that millions of families can continue to access affordable high-speed internet.

In North Carolina, President Biden will highlight how the over $3 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and American Rescue Plan funding is helping North Carolina:

• Connect well over 300,000 more homes and businesses to high-speed internet by the end of 2026 through $1 billion in American Rescue Plan funding. Construction on these American Rescue Plan funded projects is beginning or has begun in 90% of North Carolina counties. This includes over $700 million that North Carolina invested in high-speed internet and connectivity through the American Rescue Plan’s State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund. 
• Finish the job by connecting all remaining homes, small businesses, schools, healthcare facilities, and libraries to high-speed internet by the end of 2029 using $1.5 billion in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s BEAD Program.
• Help 885,000 North Carolina households—about 1 in 5 households in the state—save up to $30/month on their monthly internet bills through the Affordable Connectivity Program. Already, North Carolina families have saved a total of $442 million on their internet bills.
• Spur private sector investment in fiber manufacturing: Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic high-speed internet investments and Made-in-America policies that require fiber-optic cable to be manufactured in the United States, CommScope and Corning are investing nearly $550 million combined to build American-made fiber-optic cable, adding hundreds of new jobs in Catawba County. North Carolina is home to two of the largest fiber plants in the world, and is known as the Fiber Capital of America. As a result of these and other investments, Hickory, North Carolina is now producing 40% of the country’s fiber-optic cable.

President Biden will also discuss key progress his Administration has made to meet his goal of connecting every American to high-speed internet by 2030, including:

• Thanks to the Administration’s historic high-speed internet investments and Made-in-America policies, network equipment manufacturers have invested nearly $1 billion across 11 states to expand manufacturing facilities capacity so that fiber optic cable and network electronics get made here in the United States by American workers.
• By the end of December 2023, every state and territory had developed a roadmap for how they will use their share of the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to connect every home and business in their state or territory to affordable, reliable high-speed internet access.
• Through the Affordable Connectivity Program, enacted under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, over 22 million households are saving over $600 million each month on their internet bills.

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We, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor Akiba Takeo, and Director of National Security Hojin Chang, congratulate the University of Tokyo, Seoul National University, and the University of Chicago for signing a new trilateral quantum partnership that will train a quantum workforce and strengthen our collective competitiveness in the new global economy.  

At Camp David, the leaders of the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea committed to demonstrate to the people of our respective nations the tangible benefits of trilateral cooperation. Today’s signing is one more step towards fulfilling this collective commitment.  It also follows the December signing of a Trilateral Framework encouraging scientific cooperation among our national laboratories.  United by common purpose, we will harness the power of our leading academic institutions to light a new way forward.

The United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea are global leaders in research and development investment.  Innovative partnerships like this one position our three countries to embrace a transitional moment where cutting-edge scientific research and technology are yielding new industries and modernizing old ones.  We wish these universities great success in this new quantum endeavor.

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Today, President Biden convened Congressional Leadership and the Chairs and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Intelligence, Armed Services, and Appropriations Committees, and the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs Committees to discuss the urgent need for Congress to continue supporting Ukraine as part of the global coalition we have built. In the meeting, President Biden underscored the importance of Congress ensuring Ukraine has the resources it needs—including air defense and artillery capabilities—to defend itself against Russia’s brutal invasion. The President discussed the strategic consequences of inaction for Ukraine, the United States, and the world. He was clear: Congress’s continued failure to act endangers the United States’ national security, the NATO Alliance, and the rest of the free world. The President called on Congress to quickly provide additional funding to support Ukraine and send a strong signal of U.S. resolve. The President also made clear that we must act now to address the challenges at the border. He said he is encouraged by the progress being made in the bipartisan negotiations happening in the Senate. He expressed his commitment to reaching a bipartisan agreement on border policy and the need for additional resources at the border. The President called on Congress to swiftly pass his full national security supplemental.

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The Biden-Harris Administration is announcing today its Improving Student Achievement Agenda for 2024, which is focused on proven strategies that will accelerate academic performance for every child in school. There is nothing more important to our future than ensuring children are equipped to compete in the 21st century. That’s why the Administration is laying out an agenda for academic achievement for every school in the country, using all of its tools—including accountability, reporting, grants, and technical assistance—to intensify its drive for adoption of three evidence-based strategies that improve student learning: (1) increasing student attendance; (2) providing high-dosage tutoring; and (3) increasing summer learning and extended or afterschool learning time.

School closures launched during the previous administration set students back. President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, the largest one-time education investment in our history, helped schools reopen and regain ground faster. From the start, this Administration has been laser focused on working with school districts to invest these funds to help students recover from the effects of the pandemic through proven strategies like high-dosage tutoring and expanded summer learning.  Through the new announcements today, the Department is using every tool in its toolbox so that States and districts achieve greater adoption of these three proven strategies and accelerate academic progress nationwide. These strategies complement the Administration’s continued focus on improving mental health in schools, supporting America’s teachers and other school staff, and strengthening core instruction through the Raise the Bar: Lead the World initiative.

The Strategies and the Evidence[1]:

The Administration is urging States, districts, and schools to adopt three strategies that work to increase effective time on task, based on the evidence:

Increasing attendance: Following the school closures that began in 2020 during the previous administration, chronic absenteeism emerged as a serious challenge. Across the country, the rate of chronic absenteeism reached about 31% in 2021-2022 because of COVID-19. We cannot and will not accept that as a new normal. Students who are chronically absent are much less likely to read at grade level and to graduate high school. According to the Council of Economic Advisers, absenteeism can account for up to 27% and 45% of the test score declines in math and reading, respectively. Low-cost informational interventions, like sending texts to parents about their children’s missed school, can reduce absenteeism by up to 17%. Research also shows that targeted parent and family engagement—such as home visits, the adoption of early warning intervention systems, and the effective use of data and family engagement to identify why a student is absent and what tailored strategy will address the cause—can significantly increase student attendance. Reducing absenteeism can have a major impact on student performance.

Providing high-dosage tutoring: Well-designed and well-implemented tutoring programs can significantly accelerate student learning, including enabling a child to gain as much as 1.5 years of achievement in math. Research shows that to achieve these results, tutoring programs should: (1) provide at least three 30-minute sessions per week; (2) occur in small groups (e.g., 1-4 students); (3) occur during the school day, which helps support consistent participation; (4) use well-trained tutors (e.g., paraprofessionals, teaching candidates, retired teachers, AmeriCorps members, teachers, and others); and (5) aligned with an evidence-based, structured curriculum. School systems across the country, including in Chicago, Baltimore, and Greensboro, have leveraged American Rescue Plan funding to scale strategies with promising evidence of positive impact as the Department of Education has longpromoted. When implemented well, high-dosage tutoring can reduce burdens on teachers and complement other school-based activities such as building educator capacity through the use of math and literacy coaches, which research shows can improve student achievement, and professional development to support data-driven instruction.

Increasing summer learning and extended or afterschool learning time: One study found that when students consistently participate in high-quality afterschool enrichment programs, it adds about four months of student learning to the academic year. Another analysis of 30 schools found that when the school day’s instructional time is extended from 6 ½ to 8 hours for students in low-income areas, test scores improve between 11 to 24%. Summer programs lasting five weeks with at least three hours of academic instruction per day add about two months of learning in math and one month of learning in reading, according to a meta-analysis. The use of data on student participation and program quality helps these programs succeed, and their success enables teachers to deliver instruction more effectively during the regular school day. Close to half of school districts have invested American Rescue Plan funds in expanded summer learning, which has been shown to improve students’ math scores.

Today, we are announcing the following Administration actions and commitments:

1. Publishing States’ specific actions to increase student attendance, expand high-dosage tutoring, and provide summer and extended or afterschool learning time. The pandemic caused significant declines in student achievement—across the country and around the world. Since then, leaders at the State, local, and school levels have undertaken historic efforts to get students back on track, fueled by landmark investments in the American Rescue Plan (ARP). Meeting and exceeding pre-pandemic achievement levels will require additional bold actions by States, districts, and communities. The Administration urges States and districts to make specific, quantifiable commitments to double down on their investments in these evidence-based strategies, such as the model commitments in the table below. This Spring, the Administration will highlight actions from States, districts, education non-profit and philanthropic organizations, , and others on:

StrategyModel State CommitmentReducing Absenteeism# parents reached with letters, texts, or calls to encourage consistent attendance# home visits and other evidence-based interventions for studentsHigh-Dosage Tutoring# tutors delivering and # and % of students receiving evidence-based tutoring between January and June 2024# tutors delivering and # and % of students receiving evidence-based tutoring in 2024-2025 school yearSummer Learning and Extended or Afterschool Learning Time# weeks of evidence-based summer learning and enrichment for # and % of students# days of extended school day or year for # and % of students# days of afterschool programs for # and % of students

1. Using Data and School Improvement Requirements under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to Advance the Improving Student Success Agenda. To complement these State and local actions, the Department of Education will work with States to improve school performance by:

• Conducting additional monitoring so that States more effectively implement evidence-based responses to challenges. Under ESEA, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act, States must use a portion of Title I funds to support schools designated for improvement through evidence-based strategies that address specific, identified needs of each school. The Department will engage States to strengthen implementation of these key ESEA requirements. For example, where States are implementing tutoring, the Department will examine whether they are doing so in the most effective form and provide guidance to support improvements.

Tracking progress in closing pandemic gaps. The Department is urging States to identify the local educational agencies (LEAs) with the greatest gaps between latest achievement levels and achievement levels before the pandemic, including gaps at the student group level. States should direct additional school improvement resources to those LEAs and prioritize them for support in order to eliminate gaps as quickly as possible, targeting acceleration efforts like high-dosage tutoring and summer, extended, and afterschool learning time in LEAs and schools with the greatest need.

• Encouraging States to strengthen accountability for addressing chronic absenteeism. To improve student achievement, States and schools need to improve student attendance. The Department will call on States to:
  • Adopt chronic absenteeism as an indicator in their Statewide accountability and improvement system under ESSA, if they have not done so already. States can use data from this indicator to drive improvement for student attendance, engagement, and persistence.
  • Adopt a strong, consistent definition of chronic absenteeism (e.g., missing at least 10 percent of school days) that captures all students struggling with attendance and better enables comparisons across schools, student groups, and States.
  • Apply the chronic absenteeism indicator to all school types: elementary, middle, and high schools with K-12 grade configurations.
  • Ensure schools are looking at all student groups who are chronically absent to receive supports that are specifically tailored to meet those students’ needs (e.g., outreach in appropriate languages to families of chronically absent English learners).
  • Increase parental engagement and adopt early warning intervention systems and other evidence-based practices to increase attendance.
    
• Issuing new school improvement guidance focused on evidence-based practices to accelerate academic achievement. To further support States and schools, the Department will issue guidance on implementing ESEA’s school improvement requirements, focused on evidence-based approaches to drive student achievement like addressing chronic absenteeism, and providing high-dosage tutoring, and summer, and extended or afterschool learning. The Department is asking educators, researchers, policymakers, community-based organizations, and others to share evidence-based strategies and resources by submitting them to the Department’s Best Practices Clearinghouse. The Clearinghouse already includes examples of effective approaches to improving student achievement that States, districts, and schools can adopt. The Department will also seek public comment on the school improvement guidance before finalizing.
  
• Providing technical assistance to States on academic achievement through the Department’s Comprehensive Centers, Regional Education Labs, and other partners. While ESEA focuses on schools with the greatest challenges, all schools have areas for improvement. The Department will use all the tools at its disposal to support school improvement; for example, by working with States to pair schools and districts with faster rates of recovery with schools and districts struggling more as part of a professional learning community.

1. Enabling States to Continue Spending Pandemic Relief Funds on Academic Achievement into the 2024-25 School Year and Directing Resources to Support Stronger Outcomes. The Department has issued a letter, Frequently Asked Questions, and template to support States and provide a critical pathway to continue to use ARP dollars in the 2024-2025 school year on academic supports like high-dosage tutoring. Additionally, the Department is:

• Advising States to use other Federal funding, including Title I and Title IV funding under ESEA, to support tutoring, afterschool and summer programs, and activities to increase student attendance – including through valuable programs like 21st Century Community Learning Centers; and
  
• Fully enforcing the maintenance of effort and maintenance of equity provisions in ARP to ensure that States and districts maintain their own levels of education spending, including in schools and districts with high rates of poverty. To date, under the Department’s robust implementation of these provisions, 43 States increased education spending, post-pandemic compared to pre-pandemic, and 47 States safeguarded funding in high-poverty communities and drove approximately $600 million to high-needs schools.

1. Using Grant Programs to Support the Student Achievement Agenda. Pending appropriations, the Department plans to run several competitions in 2024 that support academic achievement through priorities for evidence-based instructional approaches and supports to increase student attendance, engagement, and academic achievement. Across several grant programs, funds may be used to support academic success strategies including high-dosage tutoring; extended, afterschool and summer learning time; ongoing support for educators, such as math and literacy coaching; increased access to rigorous coursework and content across K–12; identifying student and family needs and the community resources and partnerships available to meet those needs; strategies to reengage and support students who have become disengaged from learning; and other evidence-based strategies. While notices inviting applications are still under development, and while appropriations for 2024 are not yet settled, grants such as the Education Innovation and Research program, the Comprehensive Literacy State Development program, and the Comprehensive Centers program could provide hundreds of millions of dollars to further support academic achievement efforts in the years ahead.
   
2. Releasing an Additional Academic Success Resource. To support these action items and state and district planning, today the Department is releasing this resource to support further implementation of academic achievement strategies including evidence for these strategies, components necessary for effective implementation, specific next steps that State and district leaders can take, and examples of States and districts already doing this work.
   
3. Building on the National Partnership for Student Success (NPSS), including calling on colleges and universities to use at least 15% of their federal work study funds for college students employed in NPSS roles. The Administration’s NPSS initiative has expanded collaboration and helped get additional caring adults in student support roles. Last year alone, an additional 187,000 people provided tutoring, mentoring, and other supports in public schools compared to the previous school year, according to estimates by the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University. The Administration is encouraging States, universities, and colleges to start their own initiatives or scale up existing efforts. Colleges and universities should set a goal to use at least 15 percent of their federal work study funds to compensate college students employed in NPSS roles. College students can work in schools and directly with students to provide critical supports while also learning more about education as a future profession. For schools and districts looking for more people-powered supports, the NPSS Support Hub based at the Johns Hopkins Everyone Graduates Center released today this list of key resources to help accelerate learning, reduce chronic absenteeism, and improve student well-being and mental health.

Today, several philanthropic and national organizations are announcing commitments to support academic achievement. The Administration will continue to work with these kinds of organizations to further build on these commitments. Read about the commitments from the organizations below here:

• Afterschool Alliance
• Attendance Works
• AT&T
• Boys & Girls Clubs of America
• Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
• National PTA  
• National Summer Learning Association
• Overdeck Family Foundation
• Parent Teacher Home Visits
• Wallace Foundation
• YMCA
• Zearn

This agenda builds on the actions of the Administration to promote school success. The Administration has made historic investments to reopen schools and help students gain ground since the pandemic. These investments include:

• Securing $130 billion for the largest-ever investment in public education in history through direct State and district funding in the American Rescue Plan. COVID-19 created unprecedented challenges for kids. To support the immediate response and the long-term recovery work our students need, the President secured $130 billion through the American Rescue Plan to help schools safely reopen, stay open, and address the academic and mental health needs of students. American Rescue Plan funding has put more teachers in our classrooms and more counselors, social workers, and other staff in our schools; is providing high-dosage tutoring; supporting record expansion of summer and after-school programming; supporting HVAC improvements within school buildings to address air quality and environmental and safety needs in aging school buildings; and providing a wide range of student supports.
  
• Increased funding and targeting of federal grants to better support academic recovery including:
  
  • $90 million in new awards in 2023 to strengthen math, literacy, and science instruction through the Education Innovation and Research program;
  • An additional $120 million in Full-Service Community Schools grants since coming into office to improve students’ mental health and well-being and their academic success;
  • $48 million in 2023 in new funding for evidence-based literacy interventions through the Comprehensive Literacy State Development grants and Innovative Approaches to Literacy grants;
  • More than $1 billion each year in funding for extended-day programming and enriching afterschool programming through 21st Century Community Learning Centers; and
  • More than $2 billion in funding for school-based mental health professionals and services, including through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
  • $18.4 billion for Title I, $1.9 billion more than when the Administration took office, to help schools in low-income communities provide their students with the academic opportunities and support they need to succeed. 
  • $14.2 billion for IDEA State Grants, $1.3 billion more than when the Administration took office, to provide special education services to over 7 million students with disabilities and support their academic success.
    
• Through the Engage Every Student Initiative, nearly 500 entities (including State networks, school districts, cities, and community-based organizations) have committed to expanding access to afterschool and summer learning programs for all students and we encourage other entities to build on these commitments.

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

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Over the past months, Yemen-based Houthi militants have engaged in unprecedented attacks against United States military forces and international maritime vessels operating in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. These attacks fit the textbook definition of terrorism.  They have endangered U.S. personnel, civilian mariners, and our partners, jeopardized global trade, and threatened freedom of navigation. The United States and the international community have been united in our response and in condemning these attacks in the strongest terms.
 
Today, in response to these continuing threats and attacks, the United States announced the designation of Ansarallah, also known as the Houthis, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.  This designation is an important tool to impede terrorist funding to the Houthis, further restrict their access to financial markets, and hold them accountable for their actions.  If the Houthis cease their attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the United States will immediately reevaluate this designation.
 
The designation will take effect 30 days from now, to allow us to ensure robust humanitarian carve outs are in place so our action targets the Houthis and not the people of Yemen. We are rolling out unprecedented carve outs and licenses to help prevent adverse impacts on the Yemeni people.  The people of Yemen should not pay the price for the actions of the Houthis.   We are sending a clear message: commercial shipments into Yemeni ports on which the Yemeni people rely for food, medicine and fuel should continue and are not covered by our sanctions.  This is in addition to the carveouts we include in all sanctions programs for food, medicine, and humanitarian assistance.
 
As President Biden has said, the United States will not hesitate to take further actions to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce.

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When companies sneak hidden junk fees into families’ bills, it can take hundreds of dollars a month out of their pockets and make it harder to make ends meet. That might not matter to the wealthy, but it’s real money to hardworking families—and it’s just plain wrong. This is about the companies that rip off hardworking Americans simply because they can.
 
That’s why today, my Administration took new actions to tackle these hidden fees by proposing a rule that would end excessive overdraft fees. For too long, some banks have charged exorbitant overdraft fees—sometimes $30 or more—that often hit the most vulnerable Americans the hardest, all while banks pad their bottom lines. Banks call it a service—I call it exploitation. Today’s proposal would cut the average overdraft fee by more than half, saving the typical American family that pays these fees $150 a year. That would add up to save families $3.5 billion every year. Unfortunately, some Republicans in Congress continue to defend these exploitative fees.
 
This is just one part of my Administration’s broader plan to lower costs for hardworking families. We’re going to continue doing everything in our power to bring down costs and grow our economy from the middle out and bottom up, while standing up to extreme Republican attempts to provide more giveaways to the wealthy and big corporations and undermine competition.
 

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Building on the June 10, 2021 New Atlantic Charter and the June 8, 2023 Atlantic Declaration on Economic Security, the U.S. National Security Council and the UK Cabinet Office announced a new Strategic Dialogue on Biological Security during a launch event today.  

Underpinned by the UK Biological Security Strategy and the U.S. National Biodefense Strategy, this Strategic Dialogue reflects a shared ambition to bolster future heath and economic resilience against a growing and diverse spectrum of biological threats.

The Strategic Dialogue reaffirms both nations’ commitment to increase collaboration in the following ways:

• Develop a shared understanding of research and development (R&D) needs at the onset of new disease outbreaks, allowing for improved responsiveness by shaping global R&D efforts and supporting early technology assessments.
• Adopt a One Health approach to biosurveillance and biological threat detection, in support of international efforts to develop stronger and more interconnected global surveillance capabilities.
• Pursue the development of new tools and methodologies for microbial forensics and attribution.
• Promote responsible innovation in the biotechnology, health, and life sciences sectors, shaping global norms and standards on biosafety and biosecurity while simultaneously protecting burgeoning bio-economies.
• Facilitate the development of next-generation vaccines and therapeutics, in line with the 100-Days Mission vision supported by G7 leaders in Carbis Bay in 2021 and reaffirmed at the 2023 G7 Summit in Hiroshima.
• Strengthen coordination of efforts to counter biological threats, including developing joint measures to address Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention compliance.

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President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. spoke today with Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany. The leaders coordinated on their countries’ ongoing steadfast support to Ukraine in the face of Russia’s war of aggression. They also reaffirmed their support for Israel’s right to self-defense and discussed the imperative of protecting civilians in Gaza against harm, and ensuring the free flow of life-saving humanitarian aid to people in need. 

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National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with Prime Minister Masrour Barzani of Iraq’s Kurdistan region today in Davos, Switzerland.  Sullivan strongly condemned Iran’s reckless ballistic missile attacks the previous day in the capital city of the Kurdistan region, Erbil, and offered condolences for the tragic deaths of four civilians in these attacks, including an infant less than one year old.  Sullivan and Barzani also discussed the importance of resuming oil exports and maintaining financial flows from federal Iraq to the Kurdistan region in support of the region’s stability and livelihoods.  Sullivan expressed appreciation for the Kurdistan region’s strong partnership with the United States and reaffirmed U.S. support.

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