Statements and Releases

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. met today with Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany at the Chancellery to discuss the longstanding U.S.-German relationship, grounded in our shared democratic values.  The two leaders coordinated on support for Ukraine in its self-defense against Russian aggression; efforts to counter antisemitism and other forms of hate at home and abroad; the Middle East; amongst other global issues.  President Biden expressed his appreciation for Chancellor Scholz’s leadership in increasing Germany’s investment in NATO’s collective defense and in securing the release of wrongfully detained Americans, along with other human rights activists and political dissidents from Russian prison, earlier this year. He also underscored the U.S. commitment to continue working together to address the challenges of today and tomorrow and deliver results for both our peoples.

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President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. met today with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany at Bellevue Palace to discuss the strong U.S.-German relationship, grounded in our shared democratic values.  The two leaders coordinated on support for Ukraine in its self-defense against Russian aggression; countering antisemitism and other forms of hate at home and abroad; efforts to de-escalate conflict in the Middle East and support the protection of civilians; amongst other global issues. President Biden acknowledged the timing of his visit ahead of the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and our countries’ shared commitment to freedom and democracy.  The President underscored the close U.S. diplomatic, economic, and military relationship with Germany.

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On the occasion of President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s visit to Germany, the United States reaffirms its commitment to deepening the close and historic bond between the two nations as Allies and friends.  For over 75 years, Germany has been a crucial partner in ensuring the stability, security, and prosperity of the transatlantic alliance.  In October 2023, President Biden welcomed President Steinmeier to Washington during German-American Day, underscoring the enduring people-to-people ties between our two countries, including the over 40 million Americans who claim German heritage and strengthen the diverse fabric of the United States.  In February 2024, President Biden welcomed Chancellor Olaf Scholz to the White House, where the two leaders reaffirmed their support for Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s war of aggression, discussed regional stability in the Middle East, and prepared for the NATO Summit in Washington.

During his visit to Germany, President Biden will underscore our mutual commitment to upholding democracy, combating antisemitism and hatred, and expanding collaboration to promote economic growth and technological innovation.  In addition, he will express gratitude to Germany for its role in hosting approximately 39,000 U.S. service members and its vital contributions to the security of NATO and the broader transatlantic community. 

The United States and Germany are partners in a wide range of new and continuing initiatives to address the most pressing challenges of our time, some of which are listed below.

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SECURITY AND DEFENSE

• The United States and Germany cooperate through several multilateral institutions including NATO, the G7, the OSCE, and the UN, to advance security, democracy, and the rule of law globally.
• As host to the largest U.S. troop presence in Europe and second largest globally, Germany continues to play a critical role as a platform for U.S. military force projection, including support for NATO’s eastern flank and training for Ukrainian soldiers. 
• Germany has been a key provider of military assistance to Ukraine in its defense against the Kremlin’s aggression.  Contributions include advanced weaponry such as Leopard 2 tanks, air defense systems (such as IRIS-T), artillery, and ammunition. Germany also supplies medical aid, vehicles, and training for Ukrainian forces, continuously adapting its support to Ukraine’s evolving needs in coordination with NATO allies.
• As announced by President Biden and Chancellor Scholz on July 10, 2024, the United States looks forward to beginning the episodic deployments of its Multi-Domain Task Force in Germany in 2026, as part of planning for enduring stationing of these conventional long-range fire capabilities in the future.
• Germany plays a key role in the U.S-Italy co-led G7+ Coordination Group for Ukraine Energy Security Support.  Germany has been a leading provider of financial assistance and critical components such as transformers and power generators to support the repair and strengthening of Ukraine’s energy sector in response to Russia’s continued brutal attacks on civilian infrastructure.
• Germany is a robust partner in the fight against terrorism and terrorism financing, in the Financial Action Task Force, and as part of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS (D-ISIS).  On September 30, State Secretary Tobias Lindner joined Secretary Blinken for the D-Isis Ministerial Meeting in Washington, D.C. 
• Germany will accede to Operation Olympic Defender, a U.S.-led multinational effort intended to strengthen nations’ abilities to deter hostile acts in space, strengthen deterrence against hostile actors, and reduce the spread of debris orbiting the earth. International partners currently include the UK, Canada, and Australia.

DEFENDING DEMOCRACY

• As the second-largest provider of assistance to Ukraine after the United States, Germany has provided $37.2 billion (€34 billion) in bilateral assistance since February 2022.  This includes humanitarian assistance, budgetary support, military equipment and training, and funding for Ukraine’s reconstruction.  Germany hosted an international reconstruction conference for Ukraine in Berlin in June 2024 which generated over €60 billion in commitments to Ukraine and emphasized the human dimension of post-war recovery.
• At the September 2024 United Nations General Assembly, the United States, in partnership with Germany and other international allies, reaffirmed its commitment to supporting democratic transitions as part of the Democracy Delivers Initiative, launched by USAID.  The initiative mobilized over $517 million to provide financial and technical assistance to countries undergoing democratic renewal, including Guatemala, Armenia, and Moldova, with the aim of strengthening global democratic resilience.
• Germany has increasingly recognized the importance of supporting Taiwan as a like-minded democratic partner.  Education Minister Stark-Watzinger’s visit to Taiwan in 2023 marked the first visit by a German minister to Taiwan in 26 years.  Two German warships recently transited the Taiwan Strait, a visible demonstration of Germany’s commitment to upholding international laws and norms and increasing engagement to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
• Germany was one of the first of twenty-one countries to endorse the U.S. government’s Framework to Counter Foreign State Information Manipulation, the U.S. Department of State’s key initiative to galvanize like-minded democracies to respond collectively to the threat posed by disinformation.  

ECONOMICS & TRADE

• Germany is the United States’ largest trading partner in Europe, with bilateral trade reaching over $324 billion in goods and services in 2023.  U.S. direct investment in Germany was $193.2 billion in 2023.  In total, German firms employ an estimated 923,600 people in the United States.  Germany is the fourth-largest source of foreign direct investment in the United States and the number one foreign investor in U.S. renewable energy projects.  Germany is currently the third-largest source of foreign direct investment in the United States, with investments worth more than $660 billion based on 2023 data.
• On September 24, 2024, the United States and Germany held the third round of the U.S.-Germany Economic Dialogue, building on the framework established in the 2021 Washington Declaration.  The talks focused on strengthening collaboration to increase economic security, including cooperation in sectors such as digital technologies and clean energy supply chains.  Both countries committed to enhancing supply chain resilience and advancing sustainability goals.
• Germany and the United States partner on several initiatives to advance women’s economic security around the world, including bolstering women’s participation in climate sectors through the Women in the Sustainable Economy Initiative, closing the gender digital divide through the Women in the Digital Economy Initiative, and supporting women to join the workforce by investing in efforts to close the global childcare gap through the Invest in Childcare Initiative.

COMBATTING ANTISEMITISM:

•  Germany is a global leader and vital partner in the fight against antisemitism and extremism.  Senior officials are unequivocal in condemning antisemitism and federal and state governments have robust strategies for tackling the problem.  In July 2024, Germany co-launched the Global Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism in Buenos Aires, an initiative led by U.S. Special Envoy Deborah Lipstadt.
• Launched in 2021, The U.S.-Germany Dialogue on Holocaust Issues, plays an essential role in combatting Holocaust distortion online and promoting accurate Holocaust education and commemoration.
• Germany and the United States cooperate on improving resolution to Nazi-confiscated art to ensure just and fair solutions for survivors and heirs, and salute Germany’s new art restitution policy.

EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGES

• The German-American Fulbright program is one of the largest and most varied of the Fulbright Programs worldwide, sponsoring over 40,000 Germans and Americans since its inception in 1952.
• Established in 2016 as a public-private partnership, each year the USA For You program brings youth from underserved German communities to the United States for a two-week homestay and community service experience.  The program promotes civic engagement and helps counter extremism and xenophobia by fostering cultural understanding.  In 2023, the German government launched a reciprocal Germany for You program, allowing American high school students to visit Germany for a similar exchange, further strengthening transatlantic ties.
• The Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX), jointly funded by the United States and German governments, supports the transatlantic relationship by fostering year-long academic, homestay, and community service opportunities for 700 American and German youth annually.  Since 1983, CBYX has promoted cross-cultural understanding, professional skills, and mutual awareness of each nation’s history, politics, and society.  With around 15,000 German and 14,000 American participants to date, the program strengthens ties and deepens the transatlantic partnership between the next generation of leaders.
• The German Bundestag-Bundesrat exchange (CBBSX) program is an annual two-way exchange between German Bundestag and Bundesrat staff and U.S. Congressional staff members.  It was initiated during the 1983 German-American Tricentennial celebration and first implemented in 1984.  Participants focus on the U.S. legislative process and U.S.-German relations; examining U.S. Congress and the U.S. political system.  In 2024 the IVLP brought 10 German Bundestag and Bundesrat staff members to the United States.  For the first time, CBBSX participants also engaged with state and local government.

SCIENCE, ENVIRONMENT, SPACE, & TECHNOLOGY

• On January 10, 2024, the United States and Germany held a U.S.-Germany Critical and Emerging Technology Track 1.5 Dialogue to share strategic objectives, outlooks, and lessons learned in technological innovation. The two countries agreed to convene the first of an ongoing AI Dialogue to discuss approaches to AI governance, infrastructure and innovation, and applications of AI for good. They intend to hold the first session of this dialogue in early 2025.

• Furthering their commitment to monitoring the effects of climate change, the United States and Germany have partnered on space collaboration through NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO) mission, which monitors Earth’s water movement by tracking shifts in gravity.  This mission provides critical data for managing water resources, monitoring sea levels, and understanding climate change impacts on a global scale.
• The U.S.-Germany scientific partnership was further strengthened throughfunding from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for Collaborative Research in Computational Neuroscience (CRCNS) program, which advances cutting-edge research in brain function and computational neuroscience.  This initiative supports interdisciplinary approaches to understanding neural systems.
• On September 14, 2023, the United States and Germany held the inaugural U.S.-Germany Space Dialogue, advancing collaboration in space exploration, satellite technology, and space security.  This dialogue promotes joint efforts in planetary science, climate monitoring, and managing space debris, while advancing international norms for responsible space operations.

CLIMATE & ENERGY

• In July 2021, the United States and Germany launched the U.S.-Germany Climate and Energy Partnership to deepen collaboration on the policies and sustainable technologies needed to accelerate the global net-zero future.  Notable outcomes of the Partnership include the first U.S.-Germany Climate and Energy Summit held in Pittsburgh September 2022, and the U.S.-German Clean Hydrogen Conference held in Berlin October 2023.
• Beyond our strong bilateral partnership, the United States and Germany are also intensifying our cooperation to accelerate the clean energy transition and promote clean economic growth in emerging and developing economies.  This includes leveraging and scaling-up our collective technical, policy, and financial support to catalyze investments in clean energy manufacturing and industrial decarbonization in developing countries, leveraging key international platforms such as the Climate Club and Clean Technology Fund.

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT

• The United States participated in the International Humanitarian Conference on Sudan, hosted by France, Germany, and the European Commission on April 15, 2024, to address the vital need for greater humanitarian assistance for the Sudanese people.
• The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Germany’s Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) are strengthening their partnership through a Strategic Development Dialogue.  This initiative focuses on joint efforts to tackle global challenges in climate change, food security, gender equality, health, and G7 development priorities.
• The United States and Germany have worked closely across multiple presidencies of the G7 Food Security Working Group to support efforts to achieve long-term food and nutrition security.  As most recently affirmed in the Apulia G7 Leaders’ Communiqué, both countries have committed to promoting and supporting multi-stakeholder programs to build climate resilience in our food systems.  These programs include the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils, launched by the United States in partnership with the African Union and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

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President Biden spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel to congratulate him on the mission conducted in Gaza that killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu also discussed how to use this moment to bring the hostages home and to bring the war to a close with Israel’s security assured and Hamas never again able to control Gaza. They agreed to remain in close contact over the coming days both directly and through their national security teams.

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Early this morning, Israeli authorities informed my national security team that a mission they conducted in Gaza likely killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.  DNA tests have now confirmed that Sinwar is dead.  This is a good day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world. 

As the leader of the terrorist group Hamas, Sinwar was responsible for the deaths of thousands of Israelis, Palestinians, Americans, and citizens from over 30 countries.  He was the mastermind of the October 7th massacres, rapes, and kidnappings.  It was on his orders that Hamas terrorists invaded Israel to intentionally – and with unspeakable savagery – kill and massacre civilians, a Holocaust survivor, children in front of their parents, and parents in front of their children. 

Over 1,200 people were killed on that day, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, including 46 Americans.  More than 250 were taken hostage, with 101 still missing. That number includes seven Americans, four of whom are believed to still be alive and held by Hamas terrorists.  Sinwar is the man most responsible for this, and for so much of what followed.  

Shortly after the October 7 massacres, I directed Special Operations personnel and our intelligence professionals to work side-by-side with their Israeli counterparts to help locate and track Sinwar and other Hamas leaders hiding in Gaza. 

With our intelligence help, the IDF relentlessly pursued Hamas’s leaders, flushing them out of their hiding places and forcing them onto the run.  There has rarely been a military campaign like this, with Hamas leaders living and moving through hundreds of miles of tunnels, organized in multiple stories underground, determined to protect themselves with no care for the civilians suffering above ground.  Today, however, proves once again that no terrorists anywhere in the world can escape justice, no matter how long it takes.

To my Israeli friends, this is no doubt a day of relief and reminiscence, similar to the scenes witnessed throughout the United States after President Obama ordered the raid to kill Osama Bin Laden in 2011.

Israel has had every right to eliminate the leadership and military structure of Hamas. Hamas is no longer capable of carrying out another October 7.

I will be speaking soon with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders to congratulate them, to discuss the pathway for bringing the hostages home to their families, and for ending this war once and for all, which has caused so much devastation to innocent people.  

There is now the opportunity for a “day after” in Gaza without Hamas in power, and for a political settlement that provides a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.  Yahya Sinwar was an insurmountable obstacle to achieving all of those goals. That obstacle no longer exists. But much work remains before us.

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Higher education should be a pathway to economic opportunity – not a lifetime of debt. That is why I have fought to make education more affordable and reduce the burden of student debt throughout my career.

When President Biden and I took office, only 7,000 people had ever been approved for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Today, I am proud to say that a record one million teachers, nurses, first responders, social workers, and other public service workers have received student debt cancellation. As I travel our nation, I meet many of these public servants who say they now have more money in their pocket to put towards buying a home, renting an apartment, getting a car, starting a family, and saving up for the future.

Our Administration has forgiven over $170 billion in student debt for nearly five million people throughout the country — more than any Administration in history. And while Republican elected officials do everything in their power to block millions of their own constituents from receiving this much needed economic relief, I will continue our work to lower costs, make higher education more affordable, and relieve the burden of student debt. I am fully committed to doing what is necessary to build an economy that works for every American.

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Today, President Biden announced an additional $4.5 billion in student debt cancellation for over 60,000 borrowers through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, bringing the number of public service workers who have had their student loans cancelled to over 1 million people during the Biden-Harris Administration. Before President Biden and Vice President Harris took office, only 7,000 borrowers had ever received forgiveness through PSLF. Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration’s significant improvements to the PSLF program, over 1 million teachers, firefighters, law enforcement officials, nurses, servicemembers, and other public service workers who have dedicated their lives to serving their communities are getting the student debt relief they are entitled to under the law. Last week, President Biden met with a kindergarten teacher who has been paying her loans for 12 years and let her know that she is one of the 1 million people approved for PSLF under his Administration, and over $46,000 of her loans are being cancelled. In total, the Biden-Harris Administration has approved $175 billion in student debt relief for nearly 5 million borrowers through various actions.

From Day One of their Administration, President Biden and Vice President Harris vowed to fix the student loan system and make sure higher education is a ticket to the middle class – not a barrier to opportunity. Already, the Biden-Harris Administration has delivered life-changing relief to students and families. While Republican elected officials try every which way to block millions of their own constituents from receiving student debt relief – even proposing to get rid of the PSLF program altogether – President Biden and Vice President Harris are fighting to provide borrowers student debt relief and making higher education affordable.

Delivering Life-Changing Relief to Over 1 Million Public Servants

In 2007, Congress enacted bipartisan legislation creating PSLF to recognize the critical role public servants play in our communities and support them in their service. Under PSLF, people who dedicate at least 10 years of their careers to giving back to their communities – like teachers, firefighters, law enforcement officials, nurses, and servicemembers – can get relief on their student loans. However, the program was poorly implemented. Many public servants found out that they had spent years in the wrong student loan repayment plan or did not take out the right type of loan and were therefore ineligible for PSLF and denied forgiveness. Before the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, only 7,000 people had ever received forgiveness through PSLF and the rejection rate, in part due to administrative errors and difficult processes, was as high as 98% in some years. Public servants were also being told that, because they didn’t file the right forms years ago, there was nothing for them to do but keep paying their loans longer than the program requires.

Thanks to President Biden and Vice President Harris’ leadership, the Biden-Harris Administration has significantly improved the PSLF program to help more borrowers than ever before. This includes establishing and implementing new regulations to help borrowers earn more credit toward PSLF, simplifying criteria to help borrowers certify employment, creating fairer eligibility criteria, and providing borrowers the opportunity to apply for reconsideration of previous denials. The Biden-Harris Administration launched the Limited PSLF Waiver, providing public service workers affected by the pandemic with the opportunity to get PSLF credit for prior payments on their federal student loans regardless of repayment plan or loan type. To simplify the application process for borrowers, the Biden-Harris Administration made it so borrowers and employers can complete the entire PSLF application and submit required forms online, made it easier for borrowers to find qualifying employers and get necessary signatures verifying employment, and recently, announced new steps to allow borrowers to manage all aspects of their PSLF journey on StudentAid.gov.

Thanks to these improvements, as of today, over 1 million public service workers have been approved for debt cancellation through PSLF. The Department of Education today also released new state-by-state data showing how many borrowers have had their loans approved for cancellation under PSLF in each state under the Biden-Harris Administration.

Economic Benefits of Student Debt Relief for Public Service Workers

Today, the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) published a new analysis underscoring that the Biden-Harris Administration’s student debt policies not only benefit borrowers, but also the entire economy.

The CEA highlights that PSLF has the potential to deliver considerable benefits to those who receive it – including the ability to buy a home, start a business, and improve overall financial health. In addition, the CEA analysis shows how the PSLF program strengthens the public sector by making it more feasible for students with postsecondary debt to pursue and remain in public service careers that are essential to our economy and communities.

Despite these benefits to the U.S. economy and hard-working Americans, Republican elected officials have tried to stop the Biden-Harris Administration every step of the way, and have even attempted to end PSLF altogether, which would block millions of dedicated public servants from receiving the student debt relief they have earned. President Biden and Vice President Harris will not stop fighting for our nation’s dedicated public servants.

Encouraging Public Servants to Take Advantage of the PSLF Program

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is also announcing a series of new steps to encourage public servants across the nation to take advantage of the PSLF program.

A number of public sector unions, including the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), National Education Association (NEA), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), are amplifying today’s announcement through member-to-member outreach, social media campaigns, and more, and are encouraging people to sign up for PSLF:

• AFT will be encouraging its members to sign up for student debt clinics to help members get on track with PSLF, with a goal of reaching another 500 teachers and nurses by the end of the year. This is on top of the 34,000 members AFT has reached since starting their student debt clinic series.
• NEA will continue to help its members with the NEA Student Debt Navigator, a tool that provides 1-on-1 support for NEA’s members who need additional support with their PSLF application, or any other federal program related to student loans. Since the launch of the Student Debt Navigator, over 48,000 NEA members have signed up to receive support.
• To celebrate this milestone, AFSCME will launch a new interactive map on its website, detailing PSLF forgiveness across the country based on Department of Education data. Additionally, AFSCME will update its online resources to facilitate applications for PSLF and create a social media toolkit its members can use to promote PSLF and forgiveness on their own social media platforms.
• To encourage people to take advantage of the PSLF program, the Department of Education will send emails from President Biden to public servants who have received PSLF, encouraging them to share their stories to raise awareness about the benefits of the program. The Biden-Harris Administration will also share information about PSLF with federal employees to encourage more people to enroll in PSLF.
• The Department of Education is reaching out to governors and mayors across the country to encourage state and local public service workers to take advantage of the PSLF program.

These new steps are in addition to previous actions by the Administration including working with over 15 major federal agencies to develop PSLF agency action plans. In implementing these plans, federal agencies have encouraged thousands of additional federal employees to take advantage of the PSLF program through extensive social media campaigns, principal-level engagement, engagement with stakeholder groups, press, and mass email communications.

Building On an Unparalleled Record of Student Debt Relief

Today’s announcement is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s broader set of actions to reduce the burden of student debt and ensure that student loans are not a barrier to educational and economic opportunity for students and families. President Biden and Vice President Harris secured a $900 increase to the maximum Pell Grant award – the largest increase in more than a decade.  Since taking office, the Biden-Harris Administration has approved through various actions $175 billion in student debt relief for nearly 5 million Americans, each of whom have been approved for an average of roughly $35,000 in student debt cancellation. These actions have benefitted borrowers in every state, territory, and congressional district in the United States.

This approved relief includes:

• $74 billion for over 1 million borrowers through the PSLF program.
• $56.5 billion for more than 1.4 million borrowers through Income-Driven Repayment, including the Saving on a Valuable Education SAVE plan. This includes administrative adjustments to income-driven repayment that brought borrowers closer to forgiveness and addressed longstanding problems due to past inaccuracies and the misuse of forbearance by loan servicers.
• $28.7 billion for more than 1.6 million borrowers who were cheated by their schools, saw their institutions precipitously close, or are covered by related court settlements.
• $16.2 billion for nearly 572,000 borrowers with a total and permanent disability.

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Today, my Administration is approving another $4.7 billion in student debt cancellation for over 60,000 public service workers – bringing the total number of Americans who have had their debt cancelled under Public Service Loan Forgiveness during my Administration to over 1 million people.

Public service workers – teachers, nurses, firefighters, and more – are the bedrocks of our communities and our country. They dedicate their careers to giving back to others, and were given the promise of student debt forgiveness after 10 years of public service and 10 years of payments under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. But for too long, the government failed to live up to its commitments, and only 7,000 people had ever received forgiveness under Public Service Loan Forgiveness before Vice President Harris and I took office.

We vowed to fix that, and because of actions from our Administration, now over 1 million public service workers have gotten the relief they are entitled to under the law.

Today’s announcement comes on top of the significant progress we’ve made for students and borrowers over the past three years. That includes approving debt cancellation for nearly 5 million Americans across all our various debt relief actions; providing the largest increases to the maximum Pell Grant award in over a decade; fixing Income-Driven Repayment so borrowers get the relief they earned; and holding colleges accountable for taking advantage of students and families.

From day one of my Administration, I promised to fight to ensure higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity. I will never stop working to make higher education affordable – no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us.

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Today, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. declared that a major disaster exists in the State of Alaska and ordered Federal assistance to supplement state, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by flooding from August 5 to August 6, 2024.

The President’s action makes Federal funding available to affected individuals in the City and Borough of Juneau.

Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

Federal funding is also available to state, tribal, and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the flooding in the City and Borough of Juneau.

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

Mr. Lance E. Davis of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been appointed to coordinate Federal recovery operations in the affected areas. 

Additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.

Residents and business owners who sustained losses in the designated areas can begin applying for assistance at www.DisasterAssistance.gov, by calling 800-621-FEMA (3362), or by using the FEMA App. Anyone using a relay service, such as video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone service or others, can give FEMA the number for that service. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION MEDIA SHOULD CONTACT THE FEMA NEWS DESK AT (202) 646-3272 OR FEMA-NEWS-DESK@FEMA.DHS.GOV.

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Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer traveled to Port-au-Prince, Haiti on October 16 to meet with senior Haitian officials, and leadership of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission and the Haitian National Police (HNP) to drive progress on security and governance efforts. Mr. Finer was joined by a senior U.S. delegation from the Department of State, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the National Security Council.  During separate meetings with members of the Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) and Prime Minister Garry Conille, Mr. Finer expressed condolences for the tragic loss of innocent life in the recent gang-led massacre in Pont-Sondé and reiterated the U.S. commitment to support Haitian-led efforts to restore security and pave the way toward free and fair elections.  Mr. Finer also commended the TPC for the transition of the presidency to President Leslie Voltaire on October 7, while noting that all Haitian officials must continue to put country over party and deliver on their promise to work for all Haitians.

In his meeting with MSS and HNP leadership, Mr. Finer underscored our continued commitment to rally international support and provide the tools necessary to restore security and rule of law in Haiti.  To ensure that the MSS has the resources that it requires, the United States is by far the largest contributor to support the MSS mission to date.  Following the Haitian government’s request to the UN Security Council to authorize a UN peacekeeping mission to take over from the MSS at an appropriate time, Mr. Finer reassured Haitian officials of U.S. support for such a transition.

The United States remains the largest contributor of humanitarian aid to the Haitian people through our UN and NGO partners, while also supporting the renewal of the HOPE/HELP trade preferences program as soon as possible to spur greater economic prosperity in Haiti.

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President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. spoke today with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine to discuss U.S. support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression. President Biden updated President Zelenskyy on his efforts to surge security assistance to Ukraine over the remainder of his term in office. Today, the President announced a $425 million security assistance package for Ukraine that includes additional air defense capability, air-to-ground munitions, armored vehicles, and critical munitions to meet Ukraine’s urgent needs. In the coming months, the United States will provide Ukraine with a range of additional capabilities, including hundreds of air defense interceptors, dozens of tactical air defense systems, additional artillery systems, significant quantities of ammunition, hundreds of armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, and thousands of additional armored vehicles, all of which will help to equip Ukraine’s armed forces. President Zelenskyy updated President Biden on his plan to achieve victory over Russia, and the two leaders tasked their teams to engage in further consultations on next steps.

The leaders committed to intensify security assistance planning alongside international partners in order to ensure that Ukraine has the equipment it needs to prevail. As part of this effort, in November 2024, President Biden will host a virtual leader-level meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, where the leaders will coordinate with international partners on additional assistance for Ukraine.

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President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. will travel to Germany from October 17-18, where he will meet with German leaders to further strengthen the close bond the United States and Germany share as Allies and friends and coordinate on geopolitical priorities, including Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression and events in the Middle East.  The President will also reaffirm our shared commitment to democracy and countering antisemitism and hatred; advance cooperation on the economy, trade, and technology; and strengthen our Euro-Atlantic alliances and partnerships.
  
The first week of December, President Biden will also separately travel to Luanda, Angola, where he will celebrate the transformation of the U.S.-Angola relationship, recognize Angola’s role as a strategic partner and regional leader, and discuss increased collaboration on security, health, and economic partnerships—including the G7’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment support for the Lobito Corridor—that deliver for both our peoples. 

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The Biden-Harris Administration continues its response and recovery efforts across the Southeast and Appalachia following Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Nearly 8,000 Federal personnel remain on the ground working side-by-side with State and local officials to help survivors with recovery and rebuilding.

As part of our commitment to remaining with impacted communities as long as it takes, under President Biden’s direction, the Administration has already approved more than $1.8 billion in assistance for hurricane recovery efforts.

This includes assistance for individuals – including funding for temporary housing, essential needs like food, water, baby formula, and other emergency supplies – as well as public assistance to states for costs related to debris removal, life-saving emergency protective measures, and restoring public infrastructure, including roads, bridges, schools, and courthouses.

In North Carolina, where the Administration continues to surge resources, more than $100 million in assistance has been approved for more than 77,000 survivors.

This funding supplements additional investments announced by President Biden during his visit to Florida this weekend, where he awarded more than $600 million from the Department of Energy to six projects across the Southeast to enhance the reliability and resilience of the electric grid in the face of more extreme weather events.

Specific funding for impacted communities includes:

For those affected by Hurricane Helene, FEMA has approved over $911 million, which includes $581 million in assistance for individuals and affected communities and over $330 million for public assistance costs like debris removal and other activities to save lives, protect public health and safety, prevent damage to public and private property, and restore public infrastructure.

For individual assistance related to Hurricane Helene, specific funding approved includes:

• Florida: More than $213 million for 71,000 survivors
• South Carolina: More than $132 million for 146,000 survivors
• Georgia: More than $119 million for 118,000 survivors
• North Carolina: More than $100 million for 77,000 survivors
• Tennessee: More than $11.8 million for 2,400 survivors
• Virginia: More than $4.7 million for 1,500 survivors

For those affected by Hurricane Milton, FEMA has already approved over $620 million, which thus far includes $16 million in assistance for individuals and affected communities and over $604 million in public assistance.  

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has offered over $48 million in tentatively approved disaster loan funding to survivors of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The SBA also has hundreds of staff working on the ground supporting communities in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia in 48 disaster recovery centers, as well as in loan processing and customer service centers. 

Disaster Recovery Centers open throughout impacted states:

Additional Disaster Recovery Centers are opening throughout the affected communities to provide survivors with in-person assistance. These centers serve as “one stop shops,” offering help with applications for FEMA assistance, information on available resources from other Federal agencies, and guidance on navigating the recovery process. Disaster Survivor Assistance Teams remain on the ground in neighborhoods in all affected states helping survivors apply for assistance and connecting them with additional state, local, federal and voluntary resources.

Survivors can visit Disaster Recovery Centers in the following cities/towns:

Florida:

• Twelve Disaster Recovery Centers are open in Bradenton, Branford, Glen Saint Mary, Homosassa, Lake City, Largo, Live Oak, Madison, Perry, Sarasota, and Tampa, and more will open in the coming days and weeks. DRCs will support survivors impacted by both Helene and Milton. In addition, 120 Disaster Survivor Assistance Team members are going into neighborhoods to connect with survivors.

North Carolina:

• Six Disaster Recovery Centers are open in Asheville, Bakersville, Boone, Lenoir, Marion and Sylva. FEMA expects to open up to ten more Disaster Recovery Centers in impacted communities in the coming days. More than 1,200 FEMA staff are on the ground, and 379 Disaster Survivor Assistance Team members are going into neighborhoods to connect with survivors.

Georgia:

• Four Disaster Recovery Centers are open in Valdosta, Douglas, Sandersville and Augusta. 152 Disaster Survivor Assistance Team members are going into neighborhoods to connect with survivors.

South Carolina:

• Six Disaster Recovery Centers are open in Anderson, Greenville, Barnwell, Batesburg, Easley, and North Augusta. 92 Disaster Survivor Assistance Team members are going into neighborhoods to connect with survivors.

Tennessee:

• One Disaster Recovery Center is open in Erwin. 48 Disaster Survivor Assistance Team members are going into neighborhoods to connect with survivors.

Virginia:

• Four Disaster Recovery Centers are open in Damascus, Dublin, Independence, and Tazewell. 57 Disaster Survivor Assistance Team members are going into neighborhoods to connect with survivors.

Additional assistance to agriculture producers includes:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that people in parts of Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee recovering from Tropical Storm Helene may be eligible for food assistance through the USDA’s Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP). Approximately 982,930 households in Georgia, 152,572 households in North Carolina and 54,692 households in Tennessee are estimated to be eligible for this relief to help with grocery expenses. Through this program, which USDA makes available through states in the aftermath of disasters, people who may not be eligible for SNAP in normal circumstances can participate if they meet specific criteria, including disaster income limits and qualifying disaster-related expenses.

USDA also announced additional assistance to help agriculture producers impacted by Hurricane Helene in the recovery process. Producers will receive over $233 million in indemnities for losses from Hurricane Helene. These payments will directly help farmers and rural communities recover.

Currently, Hurricane Helene estimated indemnities by state include:

• Georgia: $207.7 million 
• Florida: $12.8 million
• Alabama: $5.0 million 
• North Carolina: $4.1 million 
• South Carolina: $4.1 million
• Virginia: $61,000

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Corruption poses a grave and enduring threat to U.S. national interests and those of our partners. When officials abuse their entrusted power for personal or political gain, the interests of authoritarians and corrupt actors win – at the expense of citizens, honest businesses, and healthy societies. As the Biden-Harris Administration took office, this longstanding challenge had metastasized. In some countries, oligarchs were teaming up with foreign kleptocrats to warp policy and procurement decisions in exchange for kickbacks – with no accountability. Corrupt officials were laundering stolen assets through the U.S. and global financial systems, while local investigators were ill-equipped to follow the money. Reformers in countries saddled with corruption had scarce public resources to actually address development needs. The Biden-Harris Administration tacked these challenges starting Day One, to ensure democracy delivers and corrupt actors are held to account.

The first National Security Study Memorandum of the Biden-Harris Administration established countering corruption as a “core U.S. national security interest,” leading to the issuance in December 2021 of the first United States Strategy on Countering Corruption. Since then, the United States has taken action at home and around the world to curb illicit finance, hold corrupt actors accountable, forge multilateral partnerships, and equip frontline leaders to take on transnational corruption. The result has been historic progress in protecting the U.S. financial system from money-laundering, including in the residential real estate sector, while enhancing corporate transparency. This Administration has mobilized record levels of foreign assistance dedicated to anti-corruption, including $339 million in Fiscal Year 2023 alone – almost double the yearly average during the previous four years. This new assistance has unlocked support for anti-corruption institutions, leveled the playing field for law-abiding businesses, enabled journalists to team up across borders, and more. Expanded law enforcement cooperation and capacity-building have generated convictions of corrupt actors as well as the seizure, forfeiture, and return of criminal proceeds, while new anti-corruption offices at the Department of State (State) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) energized diplomatic and stakeholder engagement. The United States imposed sanctions on more than 500 individuals and entities for corruption and related activities, and established – for the first time in any jurisdiction globally – a new visa restriction for those who enable corrupt activity.

U.S. progress on anti-corruption has produced concrete benefits for the American people and stakeholders around the world – enhancing prosperity, economic security, safety, and democracy, as outlined below. To bolster and sustain this work, the U.S. government has also modernized its approach to addressing corruption as a cross-cutting priority. Today, Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics Daleep Singh will highlight the benefits of this work to American businesses and workers at a White House anti-corruption roundtable with leaders from 15 major U.S. companies.

Advancing economic opportunity abroad

• Improving the business enabling environment: U.S. assistance advanced governments’ capacity to prevent, detect, investigate, and prosecute corruption, while encouraging anti-bribery compliance. State expanded its Fiscal Transparency Innovation Fund – to help willing partners improve budget transparency – while holding countries to account for progress in its Fiscal Transparency Report. In the past two years alone, a newly expanded State-Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) program facilitated U.S. collaboration with foreign counterparts on more than 50 transnational corruption and money laundering cases with a U.S. nexus. In coordination with State, experienced legal advisors from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) assisted foreign justice partners around the world in investigating and prosecuting corruption and money laundering cases, and recovering assets. And DOJ’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, in partnership with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, has recovered more than $1.7 billion and returned or assisted in returning more than $1.6 billion for the benefit of the people harmed by the corruption.
• Enforcing our bans on foreign bribery and money-laundering – and pressing other countries to do the same: To enable honest companies to compete overseas, the United States upheld its commitments under the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention by enforcing its foreign bribery and related laws and working with partners to monitor other countries’ progress in implementing the Convention, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2024. Since the start of the Administration, DOJ has imposed more than $3.5 billion in total monetary sanctions under the Foreign Corruption Practices Act (FCPA) in 16 corporate resolutions, and announced charges against more than 70 individuals. For instance, this April the former Comptroller General of Ecuador was convicted of money laundering relating to his receipt of over $10 million in bribes from, among others, the Brazil-based construction conglomerate Odebrecht S.A. The Securities and Exchange Commission continued civil enforcement of the FCPA, with approximately $1 billion in total monetary sanctions in 22 corporate resolutions, spanning conduct in 24 countries, since the start of the Administration. DOJ is also enforcing the recently enacted Foreign Extortion Prevention Act, which criminalizes demands for bribes by foreign officials from U.S. companies and others. In addition, this August DOJ announced a new Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program to uncover and prosecute corporate crime – with a particular focus on foreign and domestic corruption, as well as violations by financial institutions of their obligations to take steps to detect and deter money laundering.
• Seizing windows of opportunity: U.S. assistance has become more agile via the establishment of USAID’s Anti-Corruption Response Fund (providing flexible support to countries experiencing new opportunities or backsliding), the State-DOJ Global Anti-Corruption Rapid Response Fund (providing assistance and case mentoring to foreign partners on short notice), and USAID’s Democracy Delivers initiative (which has marshalled $500 million in funding from the United States and others to help reformers deliver, including on their anti-corruption commitments). These innovations, informed by USAID’s Dekleptification Guide, are enabling the U.S. government to more nimbly pivot toward environments where local momentum can be bolstered by outside assistance.
• Bolstering integrity in high-risk sectors: In April 2024, the United States and its partners launched the Blue Dot Network – a mechanism to certify infrastructure projects that have met global standards for quality and sustainability, including transparency in procurement and provisions to limit opportunities for corruption. The United States also supported the launch of PROTECT, a collective action project to address corruption risk in the supply chain for critical minerals.
• Strengthening corruption safeguards in the Indo-Pacific: In June, the United States and thirteen other partners held a signing ceremony, after concluding eight rounds of negotiations in record time, for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Fair Economy Agreement. The Agreement aims to create a more transparent, predictable trade and investment environment across IPEF partners’ markets, including through binding obligations to prevent and combat corruption. The Department of Commerce (Commerce) and State are accelerating implementation by offering new anti-corruption technical assistance to IPEF partners, including workshops on procurement corruption.
• Dialoguing with the private sector: In 2021, State launched the Galvanizing the Private Sector as Partners in Combatting Corruption initiative, which connects companies and governments to strengthen business integrity and encourage governance reform. Commerce’s International Trade Administration organized the 2024 forum of the Business Ethics for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Small and Medium Enterprises Initiative – the world’s largest public-private partnership on ethical business conduct – at which stakeholders formalized policy recommendations on business integrity in public procurement.

Protecting the U.S. financial system from abuse

• Expanding corporate transparency: To deter kleptocrats and criminals from laundering money through anonymous shell companies, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) operationalized a new filing system for certain companies operating in the United States to report their beneficial owners – the real people who own or control them – pursuant to the bipartisan Corporate Transparency Act. Treasury held hundreds of outreach events across all states and territories, reaching thousands of stakeholders, to enable companies to quickly and easily comply with this reporting requirement.
• Closing loopholes for money-laundering: Treasury finalized rules to close two major loopholes in the U.S. financial system: (1) to increase transparency in the U.S. residential real estate sector, to ensure that law-abiding homebuyers are not disadvantaged by individuals laundering their ill-gotten gains, and (2) to safeguard the investment adviser industry from illicit finance. Treasury also proposed a rule to modernize financial institutions’ anti-money-laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) programs, to make them more effective and risk-based. Together, these rulemakings represent historic advances for the U.S. AML/CFT regime, in line with international standards, that will help the United States urge other countries to undertake similar reforms to curb illicit finance. The Biden-Harris Administration has also called on Congress to close even more loopholes that facilitate money-laundering by passing the ENABLERS Act.
• Blocking assets and denying entry to corrupt actors: Since the start of the Administration, Treasury has designated more than 500 individuals and entities for corruption and related activities, across six continents. That includes blocking the assets of 20 individuals and 48 companies in Fiscal Year 2024 for corruption in Afghanistan, Guatemala, Guyana, Paraguay, Western Balkans, and Zimbabwe. In tandem, State publicly issued corruption-related visa restrictions for 76 foreign officials and family members in Fiscal Year 2024, and 292 over the course of the Administration. These actions have protected the U.S. financial system from corrupt actors and promoted accountability in domestic jurisdictions. For example, just one week after the U.S. issuance of a public visa restriction on former Director of Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) Intelligence Services Osman Mehmedagic for significant corruption, he was arrested by BiH authorities for abuse of office.
• Taking aim at enablers of corruption: In December 2023, President Biden issued an historic Presidential Proclamation establishing a visa restriction for those who facilitate and enable significant corruption and their immediate family members. This new visa restriction complements existing commitments to use sanction and law enforcement capabilities to target private enablers of public corruption. Earlier this year, the FBI and DOJ secured a guilty plea and a criminal penalty of $661 million from Gunvor – one of the largest commodities trading firms in the world – for facilitating bribery of Ecuadorian officials and laundering those bribes through U.S. banks. In addition, USAID launched new activities to incentivize integrity within professions that serve as gatekeepers to the international financial system.
• Upholding international standards: The United States has helped lead efforts to expand anti-corruption work at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), including improving assessment tools, mitigating risks associated with “golden passport” programs, and highlighting how non-financial sectors can be abused by corrupt actors.

Keeping America and our partners safe

• Addressing corruption risk in the security sector: Security sector corruption can divert essential supplies, empower malign actors, threaten the safety of U.S. service members, and undermine U.S. military missions writ large. In the past year, the Department of Defense (DOD) incorporated corruption risk into its security cooperation planning – subjecting certain proposals to further scrutiny and identifying risk mitigation measures as needed. State also created new resources to weigh corruption risk as part of security sector assistance decision-making. In addition, State’s Global Defense Reform Program and DOD’s institutional capacity building programs advanced more transparent, accountable, and professional defense institutions. DOD continued running a training course on combatting corruption for partner military commanders and civilian leaders.
• Tackling organized crime and corruption: Transnational criminal organizations often rely on corruption to enable their criminal activities and evade accountability – which fuels narcotrafficking into the United States, human smuggling, cybercrimes, and more. The U.S. government is deploying anti-corruption tools to target criminal networks and their financial enablers, in line with the 2023 White House Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime.
• Standing up to Russia’s aggression: The United States has adapted to address the wartime needs of Ukraine’s anti-corruption stakeholders, as they close off a key vector for Russian dominance and advance Ukraine’s democratic future. In 2023, Ukrainian anti-corruption investigators and prosecutors achieved an 80 percent increase in prosecutions and a 50 percent increase in convictions, plus opened cases against high-ranking officials including the former head of the Ukrainian Supreme Court.  With U.S. support, Ukraine has advanced significant reforms on asset disclosure, launched a whistleblower portal, strengthened the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, and enhanced transparency and integrity in reconstruction.
• Securing a greener future: The United States has integrated an anti-corruption lens across sectors, with particular emphasis on addressing corruption vulnerabilities that threaten a secure, just energy transition for all. This includes USAID support to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), increased mining transparency in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, and innovations that address transnational corruption in green energy mineral supply chains across 15 countries.
• Protecting global health: Corruption curtails the ability of states to respond to pandemics and undercuts access to basic healthcare. USAID is tackling this challenge by releasing cutting-edge guidance on anti-corruption in the health sector and launching integrated programming. For example, in Liberia the United States is working with the government to curb theft of pharmaceuticals through civil society monitoring, law enforcement trainings, and public awareness campaigns.
• Addressing the root causes of migration: Combating corruption is a core component of improving conditions in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras – so people do not feel compelled to leave their homes, in line with the U.S. Strategy for Addressing the Root Causes of Migration in Central America. Recent U.S. actions have included training up to 27,000 justice sector stakeholders in those countries to more effectively address corruption.

Defending democracy by rooting out corruption

• Tackling electoral corruption: When candidates can be bankrolled by foreign adversaries and institutions captured by kleptocrats, citizens lose faith in their governments—or even in democracy itself. In response, USAID has launched new programs to bolster electoral integrity, strengthen independent media, and increase the transparency of political finance in high-risk locations.
• Lifting up civil society and independent media: The U.S. government has substantially expanded support to frontline activists and journalists, including through the Global Anti-Corruption Consortium. In addition, a new State Department initiative is training hundreds of journalists in transnational corruption investigations, while USAID’s new investigative journalist networks in Asia and Southern Africa are building capacity to track corruption across sectors and across borders. The Secretary of State established a new award for Anti-Corruption Champions, which has honored dozens of courageous civil society leaders and embattled reformers. In 2022, the United States also hosted the largest regular gathering of civil society activists fighting corruption – the International Anti-Corruption Conference – in Washington, DC, with keynote remarks from APNSA Jake Sullivan.
• Protecting sovereignty: Authoritarian actors like Russia and the PRC use bribery to interfere in the policy, procurement, debt, and electoral processes of other countries – undermining both sovereignty and democracy. The United States is standing up to this tactic by building the resilience of frontline actors to detect and deflect foreign-backed strategic corruption, educating partners about the kleptocrats’ playbook, harnessing sanction tools to deter threats, and increasing collaboration between practitioners working on anti-corruption and those addressing foreign malign influence – both within the USG and with likeminded partners. For example, in June the United States joined with Canada and the UK to expose Russia’s use of corruption and covert financing, among other tactics, to undermine democratic processes in Moldova.
• Restoring trust in American democracy: The Biden-Harris Administration has established the strongest ethics standards of any U.S. presidency. On his first day in office, the President signed an Executive Order requiring administration officials to take a stringent ethics pledge, which extends lobbying bans, limits shadow lobbying, and makes ethics waivers more transparent. The Administration also restored longstanding democratic norms by protecting DOJ cases from political interference, releasing the President’s and Vice-President’s taxes, and voluntarily disclosing White House visitor logs. And in the last year, the Office of Government Ethics finalized rules updating the standards for ethical conduct and legal expense funds for executive branch employees.
• Protecting American democracy from malign finance: Just as we defend democracy around the world, the U.S. government is working to keep American democracy safe from foreign adversaries. Actions to curb money laundering in the United States can help reduce the ability of foreign and domestic actors to make illegal campaign contributions and evade U.S. election laws. President Biden has called on Congress to go even further by passing the DISCLOSE Act, which would curb the ability of foreign entities and special interests to use dark money loopholes to influence our elections.
• Revitalizing participation in the Open Government Partnership (OGP): The United States rejoined the Steering Committee of OGP – a platform for civil society and governments to forge joint commitments and learn from each other– and provided assistance for OGP’s work on anti-corruption. Domestically, the United States has turbocharged OGP implementation by creating the U.S. Open Government Secretariat at the General Services Administration, an Open Government Federal Advisory Committee, an Interagency Community of Practice – spanning federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, and engaged with hundreds of stakeholders to exchange lessons and expand transparency, accountability, and public participation. The United States also launched the first-ever Request for Information to feed into the 6th U.S. OGP National Action Plan and announced development of a toolkit to help federal agencies more meaningfully engage with the public.

Modernizing and coordinating U.S. government efforts to fight corruption

• Institutionalizing anti-corruption as an enduring priority: Over the past four years, Departments and Agencies have made substantial organizational improvements to elevate corruption concerns. For example:
  • The State Department’s new Office of the Coordinator on Global Anti-Corruption leads the integration of anti-corruption priorities into bilateral and other policy processes, conducts targeted diplomatic engagements, and drives strategic planning, including through the Department’s senior-level Anti-Corruption Policy Board. In the past year, the Office jumpstarted implementation of the Combating Global Corruption Act and completed an analysis of anti-corruption assistance to inform future State Department decision-making.
  • USAID’s new Anti-Corruption Center, within the newly established Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance, serves as a hub of technical expertise and thought leadership – driving the integration of corruption considerations across USAID’s portfolio, supporting USAID Missions in developing localized approaches, managing a suite of programming focused on transnational corruption, and using its convening power and policy insights to forge strategic partnerships. Since 2022, USAID has released its first-ever Anti-Corruption Policy, which outlines a cross-sectoral approach to constraining opportunities for corruption, raising the costs of corruption, and incentivizing integrity – plus a host of tools to drive uptake across USAID.
  • FBI’s International Corruption Unit expanded an agreement with the State Department to deploy six regional anti-corruption advisors to strategic locations around the world, where they organize regional working groups with local law enforcement officials, provide case-base mentorship, and facilitate coordination with the International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre.

Expanded interagency capacity has been complemented by the National Security Council’s establishment of a dedicated Director for Anti-Corruption position, for the first time, to ensure whole-of-government coordination and advance anti-corruption within key policy processes.

• Leading in multilateral fora: The United States has regained its leadership role in the international bodies that shape anti-corruption norms globally and can sustain momentum across time. In particular, the United States stepped into the presidency of the UN Convention against Corruption Conference of States Parties (UNCAC COSP), proudly hosting in December 2023 thousands of stakeholders in Atlanta, Georgia, led by the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield. As part of its commitment to championing the role of non-governmental actors in the fight against corruption, the United States facilitated record civil society participation in UNCAC working group meetings, hosted the first UNCAC Private Sector Forum, and supported inclusive implementation of UNCAC commitments in Latin America, East Africa, and Southeast Asia. The United States also participated in several peer reviews of our own anti-corruption practices over the last three years, and proudly made these results public. Alongside these multilateral fora, we convened the Global Forum on Asset Recovery action series to accelerate practitioner cooperation across the United States, Algeria, Honduras, Iraq, Moldova, Nigeria, Seychelles, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and Zambia.
• Understanding corruption dynamics: The Intelligence Community developed and disseminated new resources to bolster intelligence prioritization, collection and analysis on corrupt actors and their networks. USAID commissioned research on topics like countering corruption through social and behavioral change and State initiated an interagency anti-corruption learning agenda and a small grants program to support it.
• Deepening external partnerships: The United States convened a series of coordination meetings with other bilateral donors and philanthropies in order to harmonize our anti-corruption approaches and galvanized anti-corruption resources across the donor community through the Integrity for Development campaign. USAID’s Countering Transnational Corruption Grand Challenge for Development brought together technologists, businesses, activists, and others to collaboratively address concrete corruption challenges.

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Dear Mr. Speaker:   (Dear Madam President:)     (Dear Minority Leader Jeffries:)   (Dear Majority Leader Schumer:)
(Dear Minority Leader McConnell:)
 
I write to apprise you of developments in Israel and the United States Government’s response to them.
 
On October 1, 2024, Iran launched over 200 ballistic missiles at Israel.  Consistent with our longstanding commitment to Israel’s security and our public indication of our continuing efforts to protect Israel from Iranian and Iranian-aligned threats, I am reporting to you the posture of United States military forces to aid in Israel’s defense against these attacks and any further such attacks.  The outstanding performance of our service members across the Middle East, working in strong support of Israeli forces, contributed to a historic defense of Israel against Iranian threats, much like our shared success on April 13, 2024.  Our shared success on October 1 included downing dozens of incoming Iranian weapons before they could harm civilians in Israel.
 
In recent months, we have adjusted the United States military posture to improve United States force protection and increase support for the defense of Israel.  These adjustments include extension of the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, along with its destroyer escorts and carrier air wing that is equipped with F-35C Lightning II Fifth Generation Fighters, to replace the previously extended USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group.  We also have deployed additional destroyers, including some that are ballistic missile defense-capable; the guided missile submarine USS Georgia, the USS Wasp Amphibious Ready Group/Marine Expeditionary Unit, multiple fighter and attack squadrons of Fourth and Fifth Generation Fighters including F-22, F-15E, and F-16, as well as A-10 Attack aircraft; and other forces.
 
United States forces will remain postured in the region to serve important national interests, including the protection of United States persons and property from attacks by Iran and Iranian-aligned militias, and to continue to support the defense of Israel, to which our commitment remains ironclad.  In this context, I directed the deployment to Israel of a ballistic missile defense system and United States service members capable of operating it to defend against any further ballistic missile attacks while this defensive posture is deemed warranted.
 
I directed this action consistent with my responsibility to protect United States persons and interests abroad and in furtherance of United States national security and foreign policy interests, pursuant to my constitutional authority as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive and to conduct United States foreign relations.
 
                               Sincerely,
 
 
 
                               JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

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

• Michael Guest, to be a Member of the Commission on Reform and Modernization of the Department of State
• Pamela Spratlen, to be a Member of the Commission on Reform and Modernization of the Department of State
• Caroline Tess, to be a Member of the Commission on Reform and Modernization of the Department of State
• Ricardo Zuniga, to be a Member of the Commission on Reform and Modernization of the Department of State
• Kimberly Stegmaier, to be a Member of the National Cancer Advisory Board
• Joan Ferrini-Mundy, to be a Member of the National Science Board
• Yolanda Gil, to be a Member of the National Science Board
• Juan Gilbert, to be a Member of the National Science Board
• Jeffrey A. Isaacson, to be a Member of the National Science Board
• Willie E. May, to be a Member of the National Science Board
• Alondra Nelson, to be a Member of the National Science Board
• Sarah O’Donnell, to be a Member of the National Science Board
• Ryan Panchadsaram, to be a Member of the National Science Board

Commission on Reform and Modernization of the Department of State

The Commission on Reform and Modernization of the Department of State, established by Congress, will advise the President and Congress on changes the Department of State can undertake to respond to modern challenges to diplomacy in the 21st century. The Commission’s recommendations will aim to improve the Department’s structural organization, revamp training requirements for personnel, and improve facilities and embassies around the world. These appointees will join 12 other individuals appointed to the Commission by Members of Congress.

Michael Guest, to be a Member of the Commission on Reform and Modernization of the Department of State

Michael Guest retired from the Department of State in 2007 following 26 years as a career member of the U.S Foreign Service. In Washington, Guest held a number of leadership positions focused on State Department management issues, including Deputy Executive Secretary, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs, and Dean of the Leadership and Management School. His overseas tours of duty included service as Ambassador to Romania and Deputy Chief of Mission in the Czech Republic. Across his career, Guest received nine Department of State professional achievement awards, including the Charles E. Cobb Award for Initiative and Success in Trade Development and the Christian A. Herter Award for Constructive Senior-Level Policy Dissent. Post-retirement, Guest returned briefly to diplomatic service in 2010 to lead the U.S. Delegation to the Human Rights Review Conference of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, held in Warsaw, Poland. He also served two terms as a presidential appointee on the National Security Education Board and on the Department of State Agency Review Team for the presidential transitions of both President-elect Obama and President-elect Biden. Guest currently is a consultant to MidEuropa, a leading private equity investor with deep roots in Central Europe. He and his husband, Alexander Nevarez, reside in Miami, Florida.

Pamela Spratlen, to be a Member of the Commission on Reform and Modernization of the Department of State

Pamela L. Spratlen is an advisor, public speaker, and former diplomat who served for nearly three decades (1990-2019) as a career member of the U.S. Foreign Service. Her tours spanned from Latin America to Western Europe to Russia and Central Asia, and she served as U.S. Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic and to the Republic of Uzbekistan. She was lauded for her many efforts to improve diplomatic relations, strengthen human rights, and reinforce regional security. In Washington, she served as Country Director for Western Europe and for Central Asia, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, and in the Office of the Inspector General. Spratlen returned to the Department in 2021 to coordinate a special project on employee health incidents that had raised national security concerns. She now serves as a member and leader on non-profit organization boards that address foreign affairs issues, including the American Academy of Diplomacy and the Association of Black American Ambassadors. She chairs the Board of Trustees of the Eurasia Foundation, as well as the Una Chapman Cox (UCC) Foundation Policy Council that advises UCC Foundation trustees on grants to support innovation at the Department of State. Spratlen is also an advisor to and supporter of programs intended to expand diversity across foreign affairs agencies. Spratlen was born in Columbus, Ohio and grew up in California and Washington state. She now lives in Northern Virginia.

Caroline Tess, to be a Member of the Commission on Reform and Modernization of the Department of State

Caroline Tess is the Executive Director of National Security Action, an organization dedicated to advancing American global leadership. She is also a real estate investor, adjunct professor, board member, and mom. In 2020, she served on the Biden-Harris Transition, where she led the team responsible for the confirmation of national security cabinet secretaries. A recognized leader on national security, Congress, and Latin America policy, Tess served as Special Assistant to President Obama and Senior Director for Legislative Affairs at the National Security Council. In addition to her time at the White House, Tess served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Department of State and as a Senior Advisor at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. She previously worked on Capitol Hill for more than seven years, serving on the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, as well as Senator Harry Reid’s leadership staff and in the office of Senator Bill Nelson. Tess received her M.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and her B.A. in Latin American Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.

Ricardo Zuniga, to be a Member of the Commission on Reform and Modernization of the Department of State

Ricardo Zuniga is a founding partner of Dinámica Americas, a strategic advisory firm. He previously served as a career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service for 30 years across multiple roles, including Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S. Special Envoy for the Northern Triangle, and U.S. Consul General in São Paulo, Brazil. Zuniga was detailed from the Department of State to serve as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National Security Council from 2012 to 2015, advising President Obama, Vice President Biden, and other senior officials on developments in the Americas. Prior to that role, he served overseas tours in Mexico, Portugal, Cuba, Spain, and Brazil and worked in Washington, D.C. in the Bureau of African Affairs and in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Zuniga currently is a member of the Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board, the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Latin America Program Advisory Board and Brazil Institute Advisory Council, and the board of the Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas. Zuniga received a B.A. in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia. He is married and has two daughters.

National Cancer Advisory Board

The National Cancer Advisory Board plays an important role in guiding the Director of the National Cancer Institute in setting the course for the national cancer research program. The National Cancer Advisory Board will complement the Cancer Moonshot, which President Biden reignited to end cancer as we know it – including by making sure his Administration is investing in research and development that will help advance breakthroughs to prevent, detect, and treat diseases like cancer.

Kimberly Stegmaier, to be a Member of the National Cancer Advisory Board

Kimberly Stegmaier, MD, Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and the Ted Williams Investigator at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, has pioneered the development and application of innovative genomic approaches to identify new therapies for childhood cancer. Her lab has discovered novel technologies, concepts, and targets with translational impact. Stegmaier is the Vice Chair for Pediatric Oncology Research, Co-Director of the Pediatric Hematologic Malignancy Program, and provides clinical care in pediatric oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children’s Hospital. Stegmaier is an Institute Member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT where she serves on the Cancer Program’s Scientific Advisory Committee, and she is a Board Member of the American Association for Cancer Research. Stegmaier is the recipient of numerous awards, such as the Joanne Levy, MD, Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement from the American Society of Hematology, a Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) Innovative Research Grant, an E. Mead Johnson Award for Research in Pediatrics, and an NCI Outstanding Investigator R35 Award. She was elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. Her deep commitment to training the next generation of researchers has been recognized with the A. Clifford Barger Excellence in Mentoring Award from Harvard Medical School and the Casty Family Achievement in Mentoring Award from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Stegmaier received her undergraduate degree from Duke University, medical degree from Harvard Medical School, and trained in Pediatrics and Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

National Science Board

The National Science Board and the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) jointly pursue the goals and function of the NSF, including the duty to “recommend and encourage the pursuit of national policies for the promotion of research and education in science and engineering.” The Board establishes the policies of NSF within the framework of applicable national policies set forth by the President and the Congress. In this capacity, the Board identifies issues that are critical to NSF’s future, approves NSF’s strategic budget directions and the annual budget submission to the Office of Management and Budget, and approves new major programs and awards. The Board also serves as an independent body of advisors to both the President and the Congress on policy matters related to science and engineering and education in science and engineering. In addition to major reports, the Board also publishes occasional policy papers or statements on issues of importance to U.S. science and engineering. The Board is made up of 24 members appointed by the President and the NSF Director, who serves as an ex officio member. Members serve six-year terms.

Joan Ferrini-Mundy, to be a Member of the National Science Board

Joan Ferrini-Mundy is the 21st President of the University of Maine (UMaine) and its regional campus, the University of Maine at Machias, and the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation for the University of Maine System. 

During her six years as President, Ferrini-Mundy has introduced changes and efforts to position UMaine as a leader in advancing Maine’s workforce and economy, with focus on inclusion, learner success, and the integration of learning and research. In early 2022, UMaine achieved R1 Carnegie classification under her leadership. Ferrini-Mundy is Co-Principal Investigator of a transformative and historic $320 million grant from the Harold Alfond Foundation to improve student experiences and educational opportunities of the people of Maine and beyond. She has overseen extensive capital improvement, including completion of the Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center, new facilities for soccer and field hockey, and an on-campus hotel developed through a public-private partnership.

Ferrini-Mundy is an active leader nationally and in Maine. She was appointed to the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science by President Biden, serves on the National Academies Board on Higher Education and the Workforce, and is Chair-elect of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities’ Council of Presidents. She continues her leadership in mathematics education as past Chair of the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences and a member of the Transforming Post-Secondary Education in Mathematics board. In Maine, she chairs the Maine Innovation Economy Advisory Board and serves on the boards of the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce, Maine & Co., and Maine Public. 

Yolanda Gil, to be a Member of the National Science Board

Yolanda Gil received her bachelor’s degree from the Polytechnic University of Madrid in Spain in 1985, and her PhD in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University in 1992. She then joined the University of Southern California (USC) and is currently Fellow and Senior Director for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Science Strategy at the Information Sciences Institute, Director of AI and Data Science Initiatives in the Viterbi School of Engineering, and Research Professor in Computer Science and in Spatial Sciences. She is Director of Data Science Programs with over 1,200 students and has created ten joint interdisciplinary degrees across USC schools.

Her research focuses on AI for science including semantic workflows and knowledge capture, provenance and trust, task-centered collaboration, reproducibility, and automated discovery. She has published over 250 peer-reviewed articles and has received best paper conference awards and journal recognitions for interdisciplinary research in AI for climate, neuroscience, and health. In 2019, Gil co-chaired the Computing Research Association/Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence 20-Year Artificial Intelligence Research Roadmap for the U.S. with key strategic recommendations based on extensive community engagement.

She is a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Cognitive Science Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She is also a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence and served as its 24th President. In 2022, she became the first computer scientist to receive the M. Lee Allison Award for Outstanding Contributions to Geoinformatics and Data Science from the Geological Society of America.

Juan Gilbert, to be a Member of the National Science Board

Juan Gilbert is the Andrew Banks Family Preeminence Endowed Professor, University of Florida Distinguished Professor, and Chair of the Computer & Information Science & Engineering Department at the University of Florida where he leads the Computing for Social Good Lab. His research projects are at the intersection of people, technology, and society. He has research projects in election security/usability/accessibility, advanced learning technologies, usability and accessibility, human-centered AI/machine learning, and ethnocomputing/culturally relevant computing. He is a Fellow of the Association of Computing Machinery, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the American Association of the Advancement of Science, and the National Academy of Inventors. He was also named a laureate of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by President Biden. He received his M.S. and PhD degrees in Computer Science from the University of Cincinnati and his B.S. in Systems Analysis from Miami University in Ohio.

Jeffrey A. Isaacson, to be a Member of the National Science Board

Jeffrey A. Isaacson is President and Chief Executive Officer of Universities Space Research Association (USRA), which operates in partnership with over 120 research universities worldwide in the areas of science, technology, workforce development, and facility management. Prior to joining USRA, he held executive positions at Sandia National Laboratories, RAND Corporation, and Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. Isaacson served 25 years in the U.S. Navy Reserve, retiring as Captain. He is a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and a former member of the Army Science Board. He earned degrees at Columbia University, Princeton University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received his PhD in Physics.

Willie E. May, to be a Member of the National Science Board

Willie E. May currently serves as Vice President for Research and Economic Development at Morgan State University, a public historically black research university. Previously, he served as the Senate-confirmed Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology, charged with overseeing the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Technical Information Service. May began his career as a research chemist at NIST. His research in trace organic analytical chemistry and the physico-chemical properties of organic compounds is documented in over 100 peer-reviewed publications. He has delivered more than 250 invited lectures globally.

In addition to his responsibilities at Morgan State University, May is President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; serves on advisory boards for Consumer Reports, the University of Maryland, College Park’s College of Computer, Math, and Natural Sciences, and Google’s Public Sector Research Technology Board. In the recent past, he served as Vice President of the International Committee on Weights and Measures (CIPM) and President of the CIPM’s Consultative Committee for Chemistry and Biology.

May earned his B.S. in Chemistry from Knoxville College and PhD in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Maryland, College Park. His accolades include honorary doctorates from Wake Forest University and the University of Alabama, Huntsville, multiple awards from the American Chemical Society, and recognition as the federal government’s “Top Chemist” by Chemical and Engineering News in 2015. He is an Honorary Fellow of the American Chemical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Alondra Nelson, to be a Member of the National Science Board

Alondra Nelson is the Harold F. Linder Professor in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study and leads the Science, Technology, and Social Values Lab. Past-president of the Social Science Research Council, she was previously the inaugural Dean of Social Science and Professor of Sociology at Columbia University. Nelson began her academic career on the faculty of Yale University and received its Poorvu Award for interdisciplinary teaching excellence.

Nelson was Deputy Assistant to President Biden as well as serving as Principal Deputy Director for Science and Society and performing the duties of the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In recognition of her public service tenure, Nelson was named to Nature’s global list of “Ten People Who Shaped Science.” In 2023, she was named to the TIME100 list of the most influential people in the field of artificial intelligence and appointed to the United Nations High-Level Advisory Board on AI.

A distinguished sociologist of science and technology, Nelson is the author of acclaimed books, essays, and articles. She has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Political and Social Science, the American Philosophical Society, the National Academy of Medicine, and the Council on Foreign Relations. Nelson received a bachelor’s degree in anthropology, magna cum laude, from the University of California at San Diego, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She received her PhD in American Studies from New York University.

Sarah O’Donnell, to be a Member of the National Science Board

Sarah O’Donnell works for the MITRE Corporation and serves as the Chief Engineer for Naval Programs at the National Security Engineering Center (NSEC) Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC). MITRE is a not-for-profit organization that operates FFRDCs for the U.S. government. She specializes in providing technical options to resolve complex, emergent mission problems to achieve strategic advantage against adversaries to mitigate risk for the U.S., its allies, and partner operations. Previously, she served as the Program Director for NSEC’s Special Operations Forces program and was responsible for leading technical problem solving, strategic planning, and innovative research. In this capacity, she developed and led initiatives that provided solutions for programs operating at the seams of the intelligence, military, and civilian communities and at the convergence of armed forces, foreign relations, war, and national defense authorities.

Prior to her work leading national security programs, O’Donnell led experimental and theoretical work in condensed matter physics related to nanostructured electronic materials including collaborative experimental work on novel optical switching and the improvement of quantum energy conversion for power and energy prototypes. She authored numerous open literature and specialized works, holds a U.S. patent in the nanotechnology field, and received awards for her contributions to engineering and applied science. Early in her career, she worked as a mechanical engineer at Orbital Sciences Corporation in the Advanced Programs Group, focusing on thermal protection systems and hypersonic sensing. O’Donnell holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.S. in Engineering Physics from the University of Virginia.

Ryan Panchadsaram, to be a Member of the National Science Board

Ryan Panchadsaram is an engineer and investor dedicated to building the industries of the future. He has held senior positions in both business and government and has served on the boards of companies and non-profits across the healthcare, climate, and technology sectors. At Kleiner Perkins, he is the technical advisor to the Chair, John Doerr, and together they invest in groundbreaking technologies such as fusion energy, synthetic biology, and AI. Panchadsaram and Doerr co-authored Speed & Scale: An Action Plan for Solving Our Climate Crisis Now and collaborated on the number one bestseller Measure What Matters.

During the Obama-Biden Administration, Panchadsaram served as a Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the United States in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where he championed entrepreneurship, innovation, and open data. He played a key role in leading the turnaround of HealthCare.gov, which provided healthcare coverage to over 21 million Americans. Following this, he helped launch the United States Digital Service, a White House unit that recruits top technologists to serve in government. Earlier in his career, Panchadsaram held roles at Microsoft and Salesforce.

He received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from the University of California, Berkeley.

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When I took office, I promised to be the most pro-union, pro-worker President in history. I have kept that promise. Today’s data from the National Labor Relations Board shows the number of workers filing for union representation has doubled since the start of my Administration—the first administration in five decades to have an increase in union petitions. I am proud to have secured the NLRB’s first budget increase in almost a decade, and I will continue fighting for more funding so the Board can empower workers on the job.

After the previous administration sided with big corporations to undermine workers—from blocking overtime pay protections to making it harder to organize—my Administration has supported workers, including restoring and extending overtime pay protections to 4 million workers, holding employers accountable for union-busting, and calling on Congress to pass the PRO Act. Because when unions do well, all workers do well and the entire economy benefits.

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Lilly Ledbetter was a tireless leader in the fight for equal rights. 

After finding out that she had been systematically underpaid for nearly two decades compared to her male colleagues, Lilly became an advocate for equal pay. Her efforts contributed to the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which strengthened protections against pay discrimination, and which was the first bill signed into law during the Obama-Biden Administration.

I have always believed when we lift up the economic status of women, we lift up the economic status of families and communities – and all of society benefits. That’s why I co-sponsored the Paycheck Fairness Act in the United States Senate, a bill that Lilly was a powerful supporter of, and which would further increase pay transparency. And that’s why I continue to fight for the Paycheck Fairness Act – to honor Lilly’s legacy, and continue building a more fair and equitable future for women, and all Americans.

Lilly’s advocacy has improved the lives of millions, and will inspire generations to come. Doug and I send our condolences and prayers to the Ledbetter family.
 

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One year ago, Wadee Alfayoumi, a six-year-old Palestinian American Muslim child, was stabbed to death at home. His mother, Hanan Shaheen, was stabbed 12 times in the same senseless attack. 

There is no place for hate in America. Our nation’s founding principles tell us that every person should have the freedom to live safe from violence, hate, and bigotry – and no American, of any background, should be made to feel unsafe in our nation. That includes Muslim and Arab Americans, who have been a vital part of the American story since our founding days. As I told Wadee’s mother, Hanan, when I spoke with her, I condemn the heinous attack against her family, and all forms of hate and bigotry against Muslim and Arab Americans.

Over the past year, we have seen a rise in Islamophobic and anti-Arab incidents in America, such as bullying, online harassment, and hate crimes. These hate-fueled attacks are unacceptable, and stand against our fundamental values. President Biden and I have made taking on hate a national priority, and we will continue to do everything in our power to combat hate in all its forms, and against any community. We must be unequivocal: in America, no one should be made to fight hate alone.

Today and every day, Doug and I hold Wadee’s memory in our thoughts. And we recommit to doing all we can to continue building a country where all people can live safe from hate, bigotry, and violence.

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Lilly Ledbetter was a fearless leader and advocate for equal pay. Her fight began on the factory floor and reached the Supreme Court and Congress, and she never stopped fighting for all Americans to be paid what they deserve. Before she was a household name, Lilly was like so many other women in the workforce: she worked hard, with dignity, only to find out she was being paid less than a man for the same work.

Because of Lilly’s tireless efforts, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act—a critical step forward in the fight to close the gender and racial wage gaps—became the first bill signed in the Obama-Biden Administration. It was an honor to stand with Lilly as the bill that bears her name was made law.

Lilly’s decades of relentless advocacy inspired us all and have brought us closer to living up to our Nation’s core values of equality and fairness. Vice President Harris and I remain committed to building on Lilly’s legacy and to strengthening equal pay protections for all workers.

Jill and I send our love and condolences to Lilly’s family and all of the women she empowered and continues to inspire.

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