Statements and Releases

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Advancing Technology for Democracy:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Supporting Free and Independent Media

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

Fighting Corruption

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

Bolstering Human Rights and Democratic Reformers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Strengthening Local Economies

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

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

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

Building on Historic Progress Under the CHIPS and Science Act

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Protecting communities and workers from toxic chemicals that cause long-recognized health risks, including cancer. In addition to today’s final rule on asbestos, EPA is advancing proposals to address cancer and other health risks from methylene chloride, carbon tetrachloride, perchloroethylene, and trichloroethylene, all of which are dangerous and sometimes fatal chemicals used in commercial and industrial settings. Additionally, EPA has proposed a rule to strengthen its process for conducting risk evaluations on toxic chemicals, including carcinogens, and this includes specific consideration of overburdened communities. EPA is moving expeditiously to finalize these rules and realize the new public health protections enabled by Congress under the 2016 amendments to the nation’s chemical safety law, the Toxic Substances Control Act.

• Slashing emissions of ethylene oxide and other cancer-causing air pollution. Last week EPA issued a final rule that will significantly strengthen and update Clean Air Act standards for ethylene oxide (EtO) emitted into the air from commercial sterilizing facilities. EtO is a highly potent carcinogen that can be particularly harmful to children and communities that are already overburdened by pollution. The new rule will safeguard public health by cutting emissions of EtO from these facilities by over 90 percent. EPA is also working to advance research, and to strengthen standards to reduce toxic air pollution, including other cancer-causing pollutants, from chemical plants.

• Combatting PFAS pollution in communities to address health and environmental risks. The Biden-Harris Administration has announced a government-wide plan to address and prevent PFAS contamination. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), often referred to as ‘forever chemicals,’ are human-made chemicals that have been widely used in many different consumer, commercial, and industrial products for decades. They break down very slowly over time in the environment and in people’s bodies, and have been found to have harmful health effects including cancer, low birthweight, and reduced immune responses. EPA has proposed new rules to strengthen protections for communities and drinking water supplies, helping to address disparities in access to a clean and safe environment. The Administration also launched a comprehensive effort to combat cancer risks associated with PFAS that, for many years, have been in the gear, equipment, and fire suppression agents used by firefighters. The Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs are leading efforts to measure blood PFAS levels in firefighters, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched the National Firefighter Registry for Cancer to collect detailed data to better understand the link between workplace exposures and cancer among firefighters.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Prioritize and Increase Investments in Women’s Health Research

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

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

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

Foster Innovation and Discovery in Women’s Health

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

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

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

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

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

Improve Women’s Health Across the Lifespan

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

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

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

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

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

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

• working within our respective systems to establish robust guardrails and procedures to ensure that any commercial spyware use by our governments is consistent with respect for universal human rights, the rule of law, and civil rights and civil liberties;

• preventing the export of software, technology, and equipment to end-users who are likely to use them for malicious cyber activity, including unauthorized intrusion into information systems, in accordance with our respective legal, regulatory, and policy approaches and appropriate existing export control regimes;

• robust information sharing on commercial spyware proliferation and misuse, including to better identify and track these tools;      

• working closely with industry partners and civil society groups to inform our approach, help raise awareness, and set appropriate standards, while also continuing to support innovation; and  

• engaging additional partner governments around the world, as well as other appropriate stakeholders, to better align our policies and export control authorities to mitigate collectively the misuse of commercial spyware and drive reform in this industry, including by encouraging industry and investment firms to follow the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. 

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

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

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

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

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

Meeting participants included:

Lael Brainard, National Economic Advisor

Gayle Manchin, Federal Co-Chair, Appalachian Regional Commission

Jocelyn Fenton, Interim Federal Co-Chair, Denali Commission

Corey Wiggins, Federal Co-Chair, Delta Regional Authority

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

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

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

Samantha Silverberg, Deputy Assistant to the President for Infrastructure Implementation

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

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

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

Vaishant Sharma, Senior Policy Advisor, National Economic Council

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

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

Anna Duffy, Policy Advisor, National Economic Council

Jordan Arnold, Policy Advisor, Infrastructure Implementation Team

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Eliminating the Student Loan Origination Fees: The President’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Proposal calls on Congress to end student loan origination fees.  According to the Office of Management and Budget, approximately 7 million undergraduate, graduate, and parent borrowers pay origination fees of 1 to 4 percent of the total amount each federal student loan is charged to every borrower who takes out federal money to help get an education. These fees are a relic of an era when the government compensated private lenders to issue these loans.  Today, this fee is nothing more than a tax imposed on students by the government, costing consumers more than $1 billion annually. Adding insult to injury, these fees are added to loan balances and subject to interest for the life of the loan.  A typical teacher or nurse taking out federal loans for undergraduate and graduate degrees will pay $1,000 or more over the life of their loan because of these fees. Parents often fare even worse, with the average parent borrower paying out an additional $2800 or more because of these fees. The Biden-Harris Administration is calling on Congress to pass the President’s 2025 Budget proposal and eliminate it.

• Putting an End to College Banking Junk Fees:  The Department of Education (ED) is undergoing negotiated rulemaking to clarify that college banking products that provide students access to their financial aid cannot include harmful fees.  A recent report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) highlighted how banks are imposing millions in high and unusual fees on more than 650,000 student account holders with college banking accounts, with account holders at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, for-profit colleges, and Hispanic-servicing institutions paying higher-than-average fees. The report found that these junk fees no longer reflect prevailing market practices as more banks have phased them out – contributing to the $5.5 billion decrease in overdraft and bounced check fees for all consumers since 2019.  To address the problem, the Department is formally considering regulations that would prohibit entities that contract with institutions of higher education for the disbursement of Title IV funds from charging particular fees that harm students, such as insufficient funds fees or maintenance and closure fees.  These changes, if proposed and finalized, would be included under ED’s cash management regulations, which are currently in rulemaking.
• Eliminating Automatic Charges for Textbooks: The Department is undergoing negotiated rulemaking to reduce costs incurred by students in addition to tuition in higher education by ending the practice of automatic billing on tuition for textbooks. Under the draft proposal, students would now need to authorize a charge on their tuition bill for course materials. Competitive markets provide consumers choice and value, but automatic charges for textbooks and course materials leave students with little ability to meaningfully shop around for better prices or to utilize free and open-source textbooks. These changes, if proposed and finalized, would provide students with real choice and the ability to use the best textbooks at the most affordable price.
• Stopping Colleges from Pocketing Students’ Leftover Meal Plan Dollars: The Department is formally considering regulations to require institutions of higher education to return any unused funds from Federal financial aid recipients’ meal plans back to students. Students are often required to purchase meal plans from institutions, and institutions can credit financial aid funds toward meal plan expenses that can be used like cash to also cover expenses at campus grocery stores and food courts, often referred to as “flex dollars.” At the end of a term, institutions can take any remaining funds without returning unused funds. This can create a financial penalty for students as they either lose the money they are entitled to, or are forced to spend remaining funds at the end of the term on items they might not otherwise feel they need.

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

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

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

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