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From Day One, President Biden identified the Indo-Pacific as the critical region for the future of the United States and the world. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the United States has reinvested in and reinvigorated our leadership in this region and, as a result, our position there is stronger now than ever before. Together with our allies and partners, we have built a shared foundation for the Indo-Pacific–one that is free, open, connected, prosperous, secure, and resilient.

1. An Indo-Pacific that is Free and Open

We are promoting a free and open region where individuals can thrive in transparent societies and nations can make sovereign political choices free from coercion.  We are addressing regional issues openly, upholding international law and norms, and facilitating the free movement of goods, services, ideas, and people by:

• Ensuring seas, skies, and other shared domains are lawfully governed: The Department of Defense (DoD) continues to uphold freedom of navigation and overflight in the Indo-Pacific in accordance with international law. Over the past four years, DoD has challenged over a dozen excessive maritime claims as part of the global freedom of navigation operations (FON) Program. The U.S. military, alongside allies and partners, has participated in numerous bilateral and multilateral maritime exercises to strengthen regional and international cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific, including in the South China Sea.

• Investing in democratic institutions, a free press, and a vibrant civil society:  In 2024, we co-hosted the third Summit for Democracy with the Republic of Korea (ROK) to champion our democratic values of transparency, accountable governance, advancing technology for democracy and support for the rule of law.  We continue to promote accountability for human rights abuses in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and Burma. We have continued to rally global attention to these human rights abuses at the United Nations and in other multi-lateral fora.

• Supporting journalistic integrity and countering foreign information manipulation and interference:  To bolster civil society and safeguard communities, we have signed bilateral memoranda with Japan, the ROK, and Australia to combat foreign state information manipulation.  We also built the capacity of media outlets across the Indo-Pacific to increase journalistic integrity, improve access to information, and reduce vulnerability to foreign interference. 

• Addressing the Humanitarian Crisis in Burma: As a leading contributor of humanitarian assistance, we provided $1.8 billion in life saving assistance in Burma and the region, including more than $1.2 billion in response to the Rohingya crisis.  We have sanctioned 91 individuals and 50 entities since the 2021 coup to deny the military regime income and pressure it to return to the path of democracy.

1. An Indo-Pacific that is Connected

Over the past four years, this Administration has built, in cooperation with our partners and allies, a new, enduring Indo-Pacific architecture that is better equipped to meet the profound challenges and capitalize on the momentous opportunities this region presents. We have built collective capacity within and beyond the region by:

• Elevating and strengthening our bilateral relationships:  We upgraded our bilateral relationships with Vietnam and Indonesia to Comprehensive Strategic Partnerships. President Biden hosted State or Official Visits with the leaders of Australia, India, Japan, and the ROK at the White House. We affirmed commitments with the ROK to deepen defense and security ties, expand economic cooperation, and increase digital and technology collaboration. We inaugurated a new era of U.S.-Australia strategic cooperation, adding climate and clean energy as the third pillar of our Alliance. The U.S. and Japan launched over 70 initiatives at the April 2024 State Visit as part of our drive to transform our bilateral relationship into a truly global partnership. The U.S. and India launched a transformational initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) to deepen our strategic technology partnership and defense industrial cooperation. And we achieved unprecedented defense, economic, and technology cooperation with our ally the Philippines.

• Delivering through the Quad:  In 2021, President Biden elevated the Quad – a grouping of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States – to the Leader-level. Since then, Leaders have met six times, including at four Leaders’ Summits. Our four countries have achieved an unprecedented degree of strategic alignment and advanced concrete projects across the Indo-Pacific in priority areas: maritime domain awareness, cybersecurity and technology, quality infrastructure, health security, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

• Deepening U.S.-Japan-ROK trilateral cooperation:  At the Trilateral Leaders’ Summit at Camp David in August 2023, we achieved a historic breakthrough that ushered in a previously unimaginable level of cooperation between the United States, Japan, and the ROK, and drove deeper trilateral cooperation in every domain. We committed to consult on regional challenges, provocations, and threats affecting our collective interests and security; accelerated information sharing, including the real-time sharing of missile warning data and data on potential supply chain disruptions; institutionalized defense cooperation through the annual FREEDOM EDGE exercise; and established a new cyber working group.

• Enhancing trilateral cooperation with Japan and the Philippines:  In April 2024, President Biden hosted the first-ever U.S.-Japan-Philippines Leaders’ Summit, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with our Philippine allies in the face of unlawful and destabilizing PRC provocations in the South China Sea. Since then, we have coordinated investment in strategic sectors and promoted dynamic growth in the Philippines, cooperated on critical technologies, and strengthened maritime law enforcement and security coordination and interoperability.

• Expanding our Diplomatic Presence:  We opened U.S. embassies in Vanuatu, Tonga, Maldives, and Solomon Islands, we intend to open new consulates in India in 2025, and we established diplomatic relations with the Cook Islands and Niue. We opened Department of Commerce Commercial Service offices in Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji. We re-established a USAID mission in Fiji and elevated USAID’s presence in Papua New Guinea to a Country Representative Office.

• Deepening cooperation with our Pacific partners:  UnderPresident Biden, we hosted two historic Pacific Islands Forum Summits at the White House, designated the first-ever U.S. Envoy to the Pacific Islands Forum, and launched the first-ever U.S.-Pacific Partnership Strategy. We launched the Partners in the Blue Pacific initiative in 2022 to work with partners and bring new resources to deliver results in support of Pacific priorities. Our defense posture in the Pacific Islands countries continues to be critical for U.S. military logistics, sustainment, and power projection. In the last few years, we expanded the National Guard State Partnership Program to Pacific Island countries and signed important new defense agreements with Papua New Guinea and Fiji. We returned the Peace Corps to Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu. In partnership with the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau, we continue to strengthen the Compacts of Free Association and have extended $7.1 billion in economic assistance over the next 20 years.

• Strengthening our relationships in the Indian Ocean Region:  We brought the U.S.-India relationship to new heights, including through Prime Minister Modi’s State Visit to Washington and President Biden’s visit to New Delhi for the G-20 Leaders’ Summit. We deepened cooperation with India on semiconductor and critical minerals supply chains, and launched an Innovation Handshake to strengthen our startup and entrepreneurial ecosystems.  We strengthened partnerships in the Indian Ocean Region, working with partners and organizations like the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) on climate adaptation, sustainable blue economies, and maritime security. Additionally, the United States recently launched the Young South Asian Leaders Initiative, which will link young leaders throughout South Asia and promote innovation through local and regional grants.

• Reaffirming our support for ASEAN:  We support a strong and independent ASEAN and its central role within the region.  Over the course of the administration, we held five U.S.-ASEAN Summits, including a historic U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit in Washington, DC, in May 2022.  That same year, the United States elevated its relationship with ASEAN to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. We have already successfully implemented 99% of the 2022-2025 ASEAN-U.S. Plan of Action goals; established through a public-private partnership the U.S.-ASEAN Center in Washington, DC; extended the U.S.-ASEAN Regional Development Cooperation Agreement to 2029; and launched the new five-year ASEAN USAID Partnership Program. Continuing a tradition of close defense cooperation with ASEAN, we launched the new Emerging Leaders Defense Program to support rising defense leaders across the region, commenced planning for the second ASEAN-U.S. Maritime Exercise, and expanded training and support for climate resilience efforts.We have reinvigorated youth leadership in the region through fellowships, training programs, and educational exchanges. Through the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative, we have equipped more than 150,000 participants with knowledge and skills to solve regional and global challenges. In FY 2023 alone, the United States also supported soft and life skills training for more than 68,000 youth across the region.

• Reinvigorating our partnership in the Mekong sub-region:  Through sustained engagement with partner countries under the Mekong-U.S. Partnership (MUSP), we convened in July 2024 the first ever in-person MUSP Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, and adopted the MUSP Plan of Action 2024-2026, which captures the contributions that the MUSP has made towards the equitable, sustainable, and inclusive development of the Mekong sub-region over the last years, and sets the course for continued cooperation.

1. An Indo-Pacific that is Prosperous

In collaboration with our regional partners, we are fostering private investment, enhancing economic competitiveness, and addressing the region’s infrastructure gap to drive greater economic prosperity by:

• Demonstrating leadership in the region through Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC):  We continued to deepen our economic ties with key regional partners and advance a more innovative, interconnected, and inclusive economic agenda for the region by hosting APEC in 2023. In addition to promoting U.S. economic policy priorities, we announced over $50 billion of U.S. private sector investment into APEC economies to drive inclusive, sustainable, and resilient growth throughout the region, while advancing U.S. competitiveness and incentivizing private sector investment from the region. Since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, companies based in the Asia-Pacific invested almost $200 billion into the United States and supported tens of thousands of jobs for American workers.

• Launching the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF):  Along with 13 partners in the Indo-Pacific, we established a new grouping to shape regional collaboration on contemporary economic challenges to ensure that the Indo-Pacific remains a dynamic marketplace where businesses can invest, grow, and thrive. Through a combination of innovative agreements and cross-cutting initiatives, IPEF partners are fostering trade ties, strengthening supply chain resilience, facilitating public and private investments in infrastructure, and promoting a fair and predictable business environment for our companies.

• Expanding Investment in Regional Infrastructure:  We invested billions in regional infrastructure, including in ports, energy, rail, and digital.  We launched the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI) Luzon Economic Corridor with the Philippines and Japan to improve regional transportation, energy, and digital connectivity in the Philippines. We supported Pacific island countries by funding over $37 million in undersea cables projects–providing communications connections to populations for the first time–and collaborated with partners like Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and Taiwan, and mobilized the U.S. private sector, to secure further funding. We are also providing capacity building support to South Asia’s busiest transshipment hub as well as supporting sustainable and resilient port infrastructure development across the Indo-Pacific through the Quad Ports of the Future Partnership.
• Promoting Resilient and Secure Connectivity: The United States promoted resilient, secure, and trustworthy telecommunications across the region, focusing on 5G vendor diversification, Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) technology, and undersea cable infrastructure. In India, USAID teamed up with Qualcomm to introduce Open RAN technology. The United States is promoting Open RAN workforce development opportunities through the Asia Open RAN Academy in the Philippines. In Indonesia, we are supporting the deployment of Open RAN technology to provide connectivity to 1,621 unserved rural villages. In addition, we, alongside Quad partners, deployed the first Open RAN technology in the Pacific, in Palau, and elevated undersea cable protections throughout the region through the Quad Partnership for Cable Connectivity and Resilience.

1. An Indo-Pacific that is Stable and Secure

In pursuit of regional peace, security, and stability, we have reinvested in our defense presence and capabilities, integrated our efforts with partners and modernized our alliances, and collectively deterred aggression and coercion by:

• Launching the Australia – United Kingdom – United States (AUKUS) Enhanced Security Partnership:  We are delivering on a generational opportunity to support Australia’s acquisition of a conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine capability and are engaged with Australia and the United Kingdom in developing advanced capabilities to address current and future security challenges. In addition to the core partners, we are consulting with Japan, Canada, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea on possible collaboration on AUKUS Pillar II advanced capability projects.

• Providing an unprecedented $2 billion in supplemental Foreign Military Financing (FMF) to the Indo-Pacific:  We are demonstrating the United States’ commitment to enhancing our allies’ and partners’ capacity to address external threats and meet emerging challenges. This included working with Congress to allocate an unprecedented $500 million in FMF from the National Security Supplemental to enhance the capability of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard to fulfill their territorial defense mission and contribute to regional security.  We also allocated a record level of FMF to support the Papua New Guinea Defence Force, gave new support to Vietnam, and made substantial contributions to the maritime security of states across the Indian Ocean region.

• Supporting Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities:  Consistent with the United States’ longstanding one China policy, we have used a range of security assistance authorities and resources to provide Taiwan defensive arms and services necessary to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability, commensurate with the threat it faces.  This support includes the first-ever use of Foreign Military Financing and Presidential Drawdown Authority for Taiwan, as well as International Military Education and Training.  This assistance is an important part of our efforts to maintain cross-Strait peace and stability.

• Modernizing our alliances: The U.S.-Japan Alliance is stronger than ever before. Over the past four years, we have modernized our alliance command and control frameworks, strengthened training and exercises, and established a new bilateral forum to advance co-production, co-development, and co-sustainment. We strengthened the U.S.-Philippines alliance by signing the first-ever Bilateral Defense Guidelines to enhance military cooperation across all domains, expanding the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) to include four new sites, supporting the Philippines’ military modernization, and investing $128 million in EDCA infrastructure through the President’s FY25 Budget Request.  We also created the Nuclear Consultative Group with the Republic of Korea to deepen and enhance our extended deterrence cooperation in the face of threats from the DPRK. Additionally, cooperation in cyberspace and emerging technology has become an integral feature in all of our alliances to support our joint network defenses and interoperability.

• Enhancing Maritime Security:  We worked with our allies and partners to enhance the rules-based maritime order in the Indo-Pacific and protection of sea lanes, including through the Maritime Security Consortium—the first ever initiative bringing together defense industry, U.S. government leaders, and Southeast Asian decision makers to transform maritime security in Southeast Asia—the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA), expanded Coast Guard exchanges, and capacity building efforts across the region. In December 2023, we established a dedicated Indo-Pacific Support Cutter in Honolulu, HI to promote maritime governance, establish persistent U.S. presence, and conduct meaningful engagements in the region. U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane embarked shipriders and worked alongside 12 Pacific island countries to enhance maritime domain awareness and combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and other illicit activities. We secured $200 million for two additional U.S. Coast Guard Fast Response Cutters to support the Indo-Pacific, which will add capacity to complete further-reaching deployments.

• Forging deeper ties between NATO and its Indo-Pacific Partners (IPP):  The United States has championed NATO deepening its relationships with Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and the ROK, recognizing the prosperity and security of the two regions are inextricably linked. The IPP attended the past three NATO Summits and at the most recent Washington Summit, NATO and the IPP pledged to cooperate on flagship projects focused on cybersecurity, countering disinformation, emerging technology, and supporting Ukraine. The NATO-IPP partnership demonstrated its indispensable importance in November when an ROK delegation briefed Allies and other IPP countries on DPRK’s deepening support for Russia on the eve of the entry of DPRK forces into battle against Ukraine.

• An Indo-Pacific that is Resilient

The United States has collaborated with Indo-Pacific partners to enhance resilience against transnational threats that effect all of our countries, including climate change, natural disasters, and infectious disease threats by:

• Addressing the climate crisis:  We are supporting ASEAN member states in developing and implementing ambitious nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the U.S.-ASEAN Climate Solutions Hub.  Through the Interagency Climate Ambition Program, we provided long-term embedded advisors to the Philippines, Fiji, and Vietnam to support partner countries’ climate priorities. We also supported Pacific island countries through the funding of humanitarian warehousing, an ocean and fisheries research vessel, the Pacific Resilience Facility, marine spatial planning, a Resilience and Adaptation Fellowship, and the Climate Action Champions Network to support disaster resilience, community resilience, and climate leadership in the Pacific and South Asia.

• Strengthening disaster and climate resilient infrastructure: We are supporting Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) India’s climate change initiative to help foster disaster and climate resilient infrastructure worldwide. Together, we launched the Global Infrastructure Risk Model and Resilience Index, enabling countries to predict disaster impacts and strengthen infrastructure resilience.

• Deepening Coordination on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief: Following Super Typhoon Man-Yi, Tropical Storm Kristine, and Tropical Storm Julian, USAID provided over $6 million in life saving assistance, and DoD worked with our Philippine allies to deliver humanitarian relief prepositioned at EDCA sites, along with 50 tons of other assistance, to affected communities across the Philippines. We worked with ourQuad partners on coordinated responses to Typhoon Yagi and the devastating landslides in Papua New Guinea, providing $5 million in humanitarian assistance for the landslide disaster relief efforts.

• Boosting Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response:  We enhanced coordination with Quad partners to scale up COVID-19 response efforts, donating more than 400 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Indo-Pacific countries and almost 800 million vaccines doses globally, expanding vaccine production capacity, and addressing a range of health security priorities in the region. We also launched the Quad Cancer Moonshot, an over $150 million public-private investment to prevent, detect, and treat cancer across the Indo-Pacific. Additionally, the U.S. government is partnering with more than ten countries in the Indo-Pacific region to strengthen their ability to prevent and control health security threats at their source.

• Deepening our cooperation on clean energy research and development:  We collaborated with Indo-Pacific partners to establish diverse, secure, and reliable supply chains for critical minerals and clean energy.  We launched the multilateral Just Energy Transition Partnerships with Indonesia and Vietnam and signed Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Technology “123” Agreements with both the Philippines and Singapore to address energy needs.  We also launched the Renewable Energy Technology Action Platform (RETAP) under the U.S.-India Strategic Clean Energy Partnership aimed at developing action roadmaps for technology development, deployment, and commercialization ofhydrogen, long duration energy storage, offshore wind, and geothermal energy.

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The post The United States’ Enduring Commitment to the Indo-Pacific Region appeared first on The White House.

Washington National Cathedral
Washington, D.C.

11:31 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Leaders of the clergy.  Distinguished guests.  Most importantly, the Carter family. 

In April 2021, Jill and I visited Jimmy and Rosalynn on a warm spring day down in Plains, Georgia.  We wanted to see them.

Rosalynn met us at the front door with her signature smile.  Together, we entered a home that they had shared for almost 77 years of marriage — an unassuming red-brick ranch home that reflects their modesty more than any trappings of power. 

We walked in the living room, where Jimmy greeted us like family.  That day, just the four of us sat in the living room and shared memories that spanned almost six decades.  A deep friendship that started in 1974. 

I was a 31-year-old senator, and I was the first senator outside of Georgia — maybe the first senator — to endorse his candidacy for president.  It was an endorsement based on what I believe is Jimmy Carter’s enduring attribute: character.  Character.  Character. 

Because of that — character, I believe, is destiny — destiny in our lives and, quite frankly, destiny in the life of the nation. 

It’s an accumulation of a million things built on character that leads to a good life and a decent country — a life of purpose, a life of meaning. 

Now, how do we find that good life?  What does it look like?  What does it take to build character?  Do the ends justify the means?

Jimmy Carter’s friendship taught me — and, through his life, taught me that strength of character is more than title or the power we hold.  It’s the strength to understand that everyone should be treated with dignity, respect — that everyone — and I mean everyone deserves an even shot — not a guarantee, but just a shot.

You know, we have an obligation to give hate no safe harbor and to stand up to what my dad used to say is the greatest sin of all: the abuse of power. 

Now, it’s not about being perfect because none of us are perfect.  We’re all fallible.  But it’s about asking ourselves: Are we striving to do things — the right things?  What values — what are the values that animate our spirit?  Do we operate from fear or hope, ego or generosity?  Do we show grace?  Do we keep the faith when it’s most tested? 

For keeping the faith with the best of humankind and the best of America is a story, in my view, from my perspective, of Jimmy Carter’s life.  A story of a man — to state the obvious, you’ve heard today some great, great eulogies — who came from a house without running water or electricity and rose to the pinnacle of power.  A story of a man who was at once driven and devoted to making real the words of his Savior and the ideals of this nation.  A story of a man who never let the tides of politics divert him from his mission to serve and shape the world.

The man had character.  Jimmy held a deep Christian faith in God and that his candidacy spoke and wrote about.  Faith as a substance of things hoped for and evidence of the things not seen.  Faith founded on commandments of Scripture: Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy mind and all thy soul and love thy neighbor as thyself.  Easy to say, but very, very difficult to do.

In his life — in this life, any walk of faith can be difficult.  It can be lonely.  But it requires action to be the doers of the world. 

But in that commandment lies the essence, in my view, found in the Gospel, found in many faith traditions, and found in the very idea of America.  Because the very journey of our nation is a walk of sheer faith to do the work, to be the country we say we are, to be the country we say we want to be.  A nation where all are created equal in the image of God and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives.

We’ve never fully lived up to that idea of America.  But we’ve never walked away from it either, because of patriots like Jimmy Carter. 

Throughout his life, he showed us what it means to be a practitioner of good works and a good and faithful servant of God and of the people. 

And today, many think he was from a bygone era.  But in reality, he saw well into the future. 

A white Southern Baptist who led on civil rights.

A decorated Navy veteran who brokered peace.

A brilliant nuclear engineer who led on nuclear nonproliferation.

A hardworking farmer who championed conservation and clean energy.

And a president who redefined the relationship with the vice president.

Jimmy and I often talked about our dear friend Walter Mondale, whom we all miss very much.  Together, they formed a model partnership of collaboration and trust, as both were men of character.

And as we all know, Jimmy Carter also established a model post-presidency by making a powerful difference as a private citizen in America and, I might add, as you all know, around the world.

Through it all, he showed us how character and faith start with ourselves and then flows to others.  At our best, we share the better parts of ourselves: joy, solidarity, love, commitment — not for reward but in reverence for the incredible gift of life we’ve all been granted.

To make every minute of our time here on Earth count, that’s the definition of a good life — a life Jimmy Carter lived during his 100 years.

To young people, to anyone in search of meaning and purpose, study the power of Jimmy Carter’s example.

I miss him, but I take solace in knowing that he and his beloved Rosalynn are reunited again.

And to the entire Carter family, thank you — and I mean this sincerely — for sharing them both with America and the world.  We love you all. 

Jill and I will cherish our visits with them, including that last one in their home.  We saw Jimmy as he always was: at peace, with a life fully lived.  A good life of purpose and meaning, of character, driven by destiny and filled with the power of faith, hope, and love.  I’ll say it again: faith, hope and love.

As he returned to Plains, Georgia, for his final resting place, we can say goodbye.  In the words of the prophet Micah, who Jimmy so admired until his final breath, Jimmy Carter did justly, loved mercy, walked humbly.

May God bless a great American and a dear friend and a good man.  May he rise up — be raised up on eagle’s wings and bear you on the breath of dawn and make you to shine like the sun and hold you in the palm of his hand. 

God bless you, Jimmy Carter.

11:42 A.M. EST

The post Remarks by President Biden at a Memorial Service for Former President Jimmy Carter appeared first on The White House.

Washington National Cathedral
Washington, D.C.

11:31 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Leaders of the clergy.  Distinguished guests.  Most importantly, the Carter family. 

In April 2021, Jill and I visited Jimmy and Rosalynn on a warm spring day down in Plains, Georgia.  We wanted to see them.

Rosalynn met us at the front door with her signature smile.  Together, we entered a home that they had shared for almost 77 years of marriage — an unassuming red-brick ranch home that reflects their modesty more than any trappings of power. 

We walked in the living room, where Jimmy greeted us like family.  That day, just the four of us sat in the living room and shared memories that spanned almost six decades.  A deep friendship that started in 1974. 

I was a 31-year-old senator, and I was the first senator outside of Georgia — maybe the first senator — to endorse his candidacy for president.  It was an endorsement based on what I believe is Jimmy Carter’s enduring attribute: character.  Character.  Character. 

Because of that — character, I believe, is destiny — destiny in our lives and, quite frankly, destiny in the life of the nation. 

It’s an accumulation of a million things built on character that leads to a good life and a decent country — a life of purpose, a life of meaning. 

Now, how do we find that good life?  What does it look like?  What does it take to build character?  Do the ends justify the means?

Jimmy Carter’s friendship taught me — and, through his life, taught me that strength of character is more than title or the power we hold.  It’s the strength to understand that everyone should be treated with dignity, respect — that everyone — and I mean everyone deserves an even shot — not a guarantee, but just a shot.

You know, we have an obligation to give hate no safe harbor and to stand up to what my dad used to say is the greatest sin of all: the abuse of power. 

Now, it’s not about being perfect because none of us are perfect.  We’re all fallible.  But it’s about asking ourselves: Are we striving to do things — the right things?  What values — what are the values that animate our spirit?  Do we operate from fear or hope, ego or generosity?  Do we show grace?  Do we keep the faith when it’s most tested? 

For keeping the faith with the best of humankind and the best of America is a story, in my view, from my perspective, of Jimmy Carter’s life.  A story of a man — to state the obvious, you’ve heard today some great, great eulogies — who came from a house without running water or electricity and rose to the pinnacle of power.  A story of a man who was at once driven and devoted to making real the words of his Savior and the ideals of this nation.  A story of a man who never let the tides of politics divert him from his mission to serve and shape the world.

The man had character.  Jimmy held a deep Christian faith in God and that his candidacy spoke and wrote about.  Faith as a substance of things hoped for and evidence of the things not seen.  Faith founded on commandments of Scripture: Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy mind and all thy soul and love thy neighbor as thyself.  Easy to say, but very, very difficult to do.

In his life — in this life, any walk of faith can be difficult.  It can be lonely.  But it requires action to be the doers of the world. 

But in that commandment lies the essence, in my view, found in the Gospel, found in many faith traditions, and found in the very idea of America.  Because the very journey of our nation is a walk of sheer faith to do the work, to be the country we say we are, to be the country we say we want to be.  A nation where all are created equal in the image of God and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives.

We’ve never fully lived up to that idea of America.  But we’ve never walked away from it either, because of patriots like Jimmy Carter. 

Throughout his life, he showed us what it means to be a practitioner of good works and a good and faithful servant of God and of the people. 

And today, many think he was from a bygone era.  But in reality, he saw well into the future. 

A white Southern Baptist who led on civil rights.

A decorated Navy veteran who brokered peace.

A brilliant nuclear engineer who led on nuclear nonproliferation.

A hardworking farmer who championed conservation and clean energy.

And a president who redefined the relationship with the vice president.

Jimmy and I often talked about our dear friend Walter Mondale, whom we all miss very much.  Together, they formed a model partnership of collaboration and trust, as both were men of character.

And as we all know, Jimmy Carter also established a model post-presidency by making a powerful difference as a private citizen in America and, I might add, as you all know, around the world.

Through it all, he showed us how character and faith start with ourselves and then flows to others.  At our best, we share the better parts of ourselves: joy, solidarity, love, commitment — not for reward but in reverence for the incredible gift of life we’ve all been granted.

To make every minute of our time here on Earth count, that’s the definition of a good life — a life Jimmy Carter lived during his 100 years.

To young people, to anyone in search of meaning and purpose, study the power of Jimmy Carter’s example.

I miss him, but I take solace in knowing that he and his beloved Rosalynn are reunited again.

And to the entire Carter family, thank you — and I mean this sincerely — for sharing them both with America and the world.  We love you all. 

Jill and I will cherish our visits with them, including that last one in their home.  We saw Jimmy as he always was: at peace, with a life fully lived.  A good life of purpose and meaning, of character, driven by destiny and filled with the power of faith, hope, and love.  I’ll say it again: faith, hope and love.

As he returned to Plains, Georgia, for his final resting place, we can say goodbye.  In the words of the prophet Micah, who Jimmy so admired until his final breath, Jimmy Carter did justly, loved mercy, walked humbly.

May God bless a great American and a dear friend and a good man.  May he rise up — be raised up on eagle’s wings and bear you on the breath of dawn and make you to shine like the sun and hold you in the palm of his hand. 

God bless you, Jimmy Carter.

11:42 A.M. EST

The post Remarks by President Biden at a Memorial Service for Former President Jimmy Carter appeared first on The White House.

In addition, federal agencies awarded a record $183 billion in federal contracting opportunities to small businesses and $78billion to small disadvantaged businesses in 2024.  

Since President Biden and Vice President Harris took office, American entrepreneurs have filed a record 21 million new business applications. The Biden-Harris Administration has overseen for the fastest rate new business applications on record with entrepreneurs filing an average of over 440,000 applications every month, a rate over 90% faster than pre-pandemic averages. This historic wave of entrepreneurships is happening in communities across the country—with the most new business applications in any Presidential administration on record.

Further, federal agencies made record awards to small businesses and small disadvantaged businesses in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024. The federal government is the world’s largest purchaser of goods and services, giving it a critical role in creating opportunities for entrepreneurs. In FY24, federal agencies awarded a record $183 billion in federal contracts to small businesses—representing 28.78% of all eligible federal contracting dollars. These federal contract awards enable small business growth, supporting more than one million jobs in manufacturing, construction, defense, and other core industries. Federal agencies also awarded a record $78 billion to small disadvantaged businesses.

Small business are the engines of our economy and the heart and soul of our communities. They powered our economic recovery and make our economy the strongest in the world. They account for more than 40 percent of GDP, create around two-thirds of new jobs, and employ nearly half of all private sector workers. The Biden-Harris Administration has stood firmly behind small businesses, powering the small business boom by:

• Oversaw historic increases in business ownership and new business creation among underserved communities. Business ownership has doubled among Black households and hit a 30-year high for Hispanic households; new business creation rates hit a 30-year high for Asian Americans; and women own a higher share of businesses than before the pandemic.
• Supporting small business through the COVID-19 pandemic. The Biden-Harris Administration made significant investments to keep small business afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Small Business Administration (SBA) provided over $450 billion in total emergency relief to more than 6 million small businesses.  The Biden-Harris Administration made reforms to the Paycheck Protection Program that, compared to the first rounds of the program under the previous Administration, increased loans to small businesses in low to moderate income communities by 67%, rural small businesses by 40%, and businesses with less than 20 employees by 35%.  Further, through the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, the SBA provided more than 100,000 restaurants, bars, and other eligible small businesses a total of over $28 billion, including $18 billion to underserved restaurant owners. Finally, the American Rescue Plan’s State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund enabled states and localities to support small business through the pandemic with $5 billion in these funds supporting small business assistance programs.
• Backing record levels of lending through the Small Business Administration. In FY2024, the SBA backed an historic $56 billion in capital to small businesses and disaster impacted communities, providing over 100,000 financings in the forms of loans, investments, and surety bond guarantees to small businesses. The SBA tripled its lending to Black-owned business, doubled lending to Latino-owned and women-owned small businesses, and significantly increased lending to businesses owned by Native, Veteran, and rural entrepreneurs compared to FY20. The SBA also prioritized increasing access to small dollar loans, doubling the number of loans under $150,000.
• Investing in small businesses by funding hands-on assistance to help entrepreneurs successfully access capital and grow and scale their businesses. Federal agencies provided extensive hands-on support to ensure small businesses could fully benefit from federal programs and access broader markets. Building on established SBA programs—offered through Regional Field Offices, Small Business Development Centers, Veteran’s Business Outreach Centers, Women’s Business Centers, and SCORE mentoring—the American Rescue Plan made the largest-ever federal investment in small business navigator services through the Small Business Community Navigators Pilot Program. This initiative provided training to over 350,000 entrepreneurs and one-on-one counseling to more than 33,000 small business owners. Additionally, the plan included the largest federal investment in small business incubators and accelerators via the Minority Business Development Agency’s Capital Readiness Program. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law built on this success by making the MBDA permanent and expanding the agency, allowing MBDA to increase their programs and outreach to underserved businesses. Through Treasury’s SSBCI technical assistance grants and Small Business Opportunity Program awards, the Federal government is partnering with local and non-profit organizations to ensure entrepreneurs receive the support they need, no matter where they live.
• Lowering costs for small businesses through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The IRA saved small business owners money in a number of areas. The IRA allowed small businesses to deduct up to $1.00 per square foot of their business for making high energy efficiency upgrades, created a tax credit to cover 30% of the cost of switching to solar power, and lowered health care costs that burden small business owner’s budgets by capping the cost of insulin for seniors at $35 a month and the cost f out-of-pocket prescription drugs costs for seniors at $2,000 , and preserving the American Rescue Plan’s premium tax credit supports for the Affordable Care Act—saving millions of small business owners and self-employed workers an average of $700 per year on their health insurance premiums.
• Expanding access to capital across the country through the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). Through SSBCI, the American Rescue Plan is providing nearly $10 billion to support small business loan and venture capital programs run by states, territories, and Tribal governments. By the end of 2023, SSBCI funding had already spurred $3.1 billion in public and private financing for small businesses, including $1.2 billion in venture capital financing. The program is expected to assist up to 200 investment funds throughout its duration. SSBCI places a strong emphasis on underserved and very small businesses; as of December 2023, 75% of supported transactions benefited underserved businesses, while 78% supported businesses with fewer than 10 employees.
• Expanded and reformed the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program to expand access to equity capital.  SBICs are SBA-licensed privately managed investment funds that make debt and equity investments in small businesses using SBA-guaranteed funds.  Over the course of the Biden-Harris Administration, SBICs deployed over $30 billion in financing to more than 3,100 U.S. small businesses and startups, with more than 28 percent of SBIC financings going to underserved small businesses, including women-owned, minority-owned, and veteran-owned small businesses and small businesses located in low median income areas (LMIs).  Additionally, the Biden-Harris Administration expanded the SBIC program to include new types of licenses tailored to align with long duration equity investment in earlier stage and capital-intensive industries or enable a fund of funds model to invest equity in new and emerging funds – particularly funds serving underserved small businesses and startups.  Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the number of jobs supported by underserved small businesses financed by SBICs are estimated to have increased by 75 percent to 350,000 between fiscal year 2020 and fiscal year 2023.

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In addition, federal agencies awarded a record $183 billion in federal contracting opportunities to small businesses and $78billion to small disadvantaged businesses in 2024.  

Since President Biden and Vice President Harris took office, American entrepreneurs have filed a record 21 million new business applications. The Biden-Harris Administration has overseen for the fastest rate new business applications on record with entrepreneurs filing an average of over 440,000 applications every month, a rate over 90% faster than pre-pandemic averages. This historic wave of entrepreneurships is happening in communities across the country—with the most new business applications in any Presidential administration on record.

Further, federal agencies made record awards to small businesses and small disadvantaged businesses in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024. The federal government is the world’s largest purchaser of goods and services, giving it a critical role in creating opportunities for entrepreneurs. In FY24, federal agencies awarded a record $183 billion in federal contracts to small businesses—representing 28.78% of all eligible federal contracting dollars. These federal contract awards enable small business growth, supporting more than one million jobs in manufacturing, construction, defense, and other core industries. Federal agencies also awarded a record $78 billion to small disadvantaged businesses.

Small business are the engines of our economy and the heart and soul of our communities. They powered our economic recovery and make our economy the strongest in the world. They account for more than 40 percent of GDP, create around two-thirds of new jobs, and employ nearly half of all private sector workers. The Biden-Harris Administration has stood firmly behind small businesses, powering the small business boom by:

• Oversaw historic increases in business ownership and new business creation among underserved communities. Business ownership has doubled among Black households and hit a 30-year high for Hispanic households; new business creation rates hit a 30-year high for Asian Americans; and women own a higher share of businesses than before the pandemic.
• Supporting small business through the COVID-19 pandemic. The Biden-Harris Administration made significant investments to keep small business afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Small Business Administration (SBA) provided over $450 billion in total emergency relief to more than 6 million small businesses.  The Biden-Harris Administration made reforms to the Paycheck Protection Program that, compared to the first rounds of the program under the previous Administration, increased loans to small businesses in low to moderate income communities by 67%, rural small businesses by 40%, and businesses with less than 20 employees by 35%.  Further, through the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, the SBA provided more than 100,000 restaurants, bars, and other eligible small businesses a total of over $28 billion, including $18 billion to underserved restaurant owners. Finally, the American Rescue Plan’s State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund enabled states and localities to support small business through the pandemic with $5 billion in these funds supporting small business assistance programs.
• Backing record levels of lending through the Small Business Administration. In FY2024, the SBA backed an historic $56 billion in capital to small businesses and disaster impacted communities, providing over 100,000 financings in the forms of loans, investments, and surety bond guarantees to small businesses. The SBA tripled its lending to Black-owned business, doubled lending to Latino-owned and women-owned small businesses, and significantly increased lending to businesses owned by Native, Veteran, and rural entrepreneurs compared to FY20. The SBA also prioritized increasing access to small dollar loans, doubling the number of loans under $150,000.
• Investing in small businesses by funding hands-on assistance to help entrepreneurs successfully access capital and grow and scale their businesses. Federal agencies provided extensive hands-on support to ensure small businesses could fully benefit from federal programs and access broader markets. Building on established SBA programs—offered through Regional Field Offices, Small Business Development Centers, Veteran’s Business Outreach Centers, Women’s Business Centers, and SCORE mentoring—the American Rescue Plan made the largest-ever federal investment in small business navigator services through the Small Business Community Navigators Pilot Program. This initiative provided training to over 350,000 entrepreneurs and one-on-one counseling to more than 33,000 small business owners. Additionally, the plan included the largest federal investment in small business incubators and accelerators via the Minority Business Development Agency’s Capital Readiness Program. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law built on this success by making the MBDA permanent and expanding the agency, allowing MBDA to increase their programs and outreach to underserved businesses. Through Treasury’s SSBCI technical assistance grants and Small Business Opportunity Program awards, the Federal government is partnering with local and non-profit organizations to ensure entrepreneurs receive the support they need, no matter where they live.
• Lowering costs for small businesses through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The IRA saved small business owners money in a number of areas. The IRA allowed small businesses to deduct up to $1.00 per square foot of their business for making high energy efficiency upgrades, created a tax credit to cover 30% of the cost of switching to solar power, and lowered health care costs that burden small business owner’s budgets by capping the cost of insulin for seniors at $35 a month and the cost f out-of-pocket prescription drugs costs for seniors at $2,000 , and preserving the American Rescue Plan’s premium tax credit supports for the Affordable Care Act—saving millions of small business owners and self-employed workers an average of $700 per year on their health insurance premiums.
• Expanding access to capital across the country through the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). Through SSBCI, the American Rescue Plan is providing nearly $10 billion to support small business loan and venture capital programs run by states, territories, and Tribal governments. By the end of 2023, SSBCI funding had already spurred $3.1 billion in public and private financing for small businesses, including $1.2 billion in venture capital financing. The program is expected to assist up to 200 investment funds throughout its duration. SSBCI places a strong emphasis on underserved and very small businesses; as of December 2023, 75% of supported transactions benefited underserved businesses, while 78% supported businesses with fewer than 10 employees.
• Expanded and reformed the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program to expand access to equity capital.  SBICs are SBA-licensed privately managed investment funds that make debt and equity investments in small businesses using SBA-guaranteed funds.  Over the course of the Biden-Harris Administration, SBICs deployed over $30 billion in financing to more than 3,100 U.S. small businesses and startups, with more than 28 percent of SBIC financings going to underserved small businesses, including women-owned, minority-owned, and veteran-owned small businesses and small businesses located in low median income areas (LMIs).  Additionally, the Biden-Harris Administration expanded the SBIC program to include new types of licenses tailored to align with long duration equity investment in earlier stage and capital-intensive industries or enable a fund of funds model to invest equity in new and emerging funds – particularly funds serving underserved small businesses and startups.  Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the number of jobs supported by underserved small businesses financed by SBICs are estimated to have increased by 75 percent to 350,000 between fiscal year 2020 and fiscal year 2023.

###

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Starting a small business is an act of hope and confidence in the economy. During my Administration, American entrepreneurs took the first step in this journey in record numbers, filing 21 million new business applications – more than during any other Presidential Administration on record. Over the last four years, we’ve seen the strongest four years for new business applications on record.

My Administration has empowered this unprecedented wave of entrepreneurship by significantly expanding access to capital and by making historic investments in infrastructure, manufacturing, and clean energy that are benefiting small businesses in communities across the country. And today, the Small Business Administration announced that the federal government built on this support by awarding $183 billion in federal contracts to small businesses and $78 billion to small disadvantaged businesses in Fiscal Year 2024 – both record totals.

Small businesses powered our economic recovery and will continue to make our economy the strongest in the world.

###

The post Statement From President Biden on a Record 21 Million New Business Applications appeared first on The White House.

Starting a small business is an act of hope and confidence in the economy. During my Administration, American entrepreneurs took the first step in this journey in record numbers, filing 21 million new business applications – more than during any other Presidential Administration on record. Over the last four years, we’ve seen the strongest four years for new business applications on record.

My Administration has empowered this unprecedented wave of entrepreneurship by significantly expanding access to capital and by making historic investments in infrastructure, manufacturing, and clean energy that are benefiting small businesses in communities across the country. And today, the Small Business Administration announced that the federal government built on this support by awarding $183 billion in federal contracts to small businesses and $78 billion to small disadvantaged businesses in Fiscal Year 2024 – both record totals.

Small businesses powered our economic recovery and will continue to make our economy the strongest in the world.

###

The post Statement From President Biden on a Record 21 Million New Business Applications appeared first on The White House.

Upon taking office, the Biden-Harris Administration spearheaded a dedicated effort to address anomalous health incidents reported by our colleagues. We convened departments and agencies across the U.S. Government to develop new policies to expand access to and improve medical care for affected personnel, ensure incidents could be reported freely and without stigma, and provide benefits to eligible employees under statutes passed by Congress, including the HAVANA Act which President Biden signed into law. We also tasked the Intelligence Community to examine the causes or causes of these incidents and directed intensive research by our leading laboratories, informed by experts in and outside of government. 

Our focus on these priorities remains unwavering and must continue. Today’s updated Intelligence Community Assessment, which is the product of ongoing analytic efforts and includes a shift in key judgements by some intelligence components, only reinforces why it is vital that the U.S. Government continue critical research, investigate credible incidents, and strengthen efforts to provide timely care and long-term clinical follow-up.

We will be briefing the incoming Administration on the full scope of ongoing work that should continue, as well as additional areas of focus recommended by the Intelligence Community experts panel, which found that a subset of anomalous health incidents cannot be easily explained by known environmental or medical conditions and that pulsed electromagnetic or acoustic energy remains a plausible explanation in certain cases.  As with other health challenges faced by U.S. personnel that took years to diagnose, sustained clinical, research, and investigative work is necessary to clarify what caused the symptoms our colleagues have reported, develop effective medical interventions, and prevent future incidents. Our brave colleagues and their families, who suffered real and sometimes serious injuries, deserve no less. 

###

The post Statement from NSC Spokesperson Sean Savett on Anomalous Health Incidents appeared first on The White House.

Upon taking office, the Biden-Harris Administration spearheaded a dedicated effort to address anomalous health incidents reported by our colleagues. We convened departments and agencies across the U.S. Government to develop new policies to expand access to and improve medical care for affected personnel, ensure incidents could be reported freely and without stigma, and provide benefits to eligible employees under statutes passed by Congress, including the HAVANA Act which President Biden signed into law. We also tasked the Intelligence Community to examine the causes or causes of these incidents and directed intensive research by our leading laboratories, informed by experts in and outside of government. 

Our focus on these priorities remains unwavering and must continue. Today’s updated Intelligence Community Assessment, which is the product of ongoing analytic efforts and includes a shift in key judgements by some intelligence components, only reinforces why it is vital that the U.S. Government continue critical research, investigate credible incidents, and strengthen efforts to provide timely care and long-term clinical follow-up.

We will be briefing the incoming Administration on the full scope of ongoing work that should continue, as well as additional areas of focus recommended by the Intelligence Community experts panel, which found that a subset of anomalous health incidents cannot be easily explained by known environmental or medical conditions and that pulsed electromagnetic or acoustic energy remains a plausible explanation in certain cases.  As with other health challenges faced by U.S. personnel that took years to diagnose, sustained clinical, research, and investigative work is necessary to clarify what caused the symptoms our colleagues have reported, develop effective medical interventions, and prevent future incidents. Our brave colleagues and their families, who suffered real and sometimes serious injuries, deserve no less. 

###

The post Statement from NSC Spokesperson Sean Savett on Anomalous Health Incidents appeared first on The White House.

Today, the United States imposed the most significant sanctions yet on Russia’s energy sector, by far the largest source of revenue for Putin’s war.  These sanctions will hit hard across every key node of Russia’s oil production and distribution chain, including against two of the four largest Russian oil producers, dozens of oilfield service providers, traders of Russian oil across the world, over 150 vessels moving seaborne Russian oil, and an oil terminal that knowingly received sanctioned oil from sanctioned vessels.  The U.S. Department of the Treasury also announced it will rescind a provision that previously exempted the intermediation of energy payments from our sanctions on Russian banks.  These measures will collectively drain billions of dollars per month from the Kremlin’s war chest and, in doing so, intensify the costs and risks for Moscow to continue its senseless war.

Some will ask why we waiting for the end of the Administration to introduce sanctions on Russian oil. It’s a fair question. The answer is this: for sanctions to be successful, they must be sustainable. That doesn’t mean they should be costless – sanctions never are – but to succeed they must impact the target more than they damage the U.S. and global economy. Until recently, we were constrained by tight supply in global energy markets, which meant that reducing Russia’s oil exports to the world would likely push up Putin’s export revenues while raising prices at the gas pump for families in the United States and across the world.  That’s why we unveiled a novel “price cap” in December 2022 to limit the price that Russia receives for its oil sales while keeping steady the global supply of energy.  Oil markets are now in a fundamentally better place. Forecasters expect the global supply of energy to exceed global demand through this year, with ample capacity within and outside of OPEC+ to increase production if necessary.  Since the start of Russia’s war, benchmark oil prices have fallen almost $35 per barrel and average U.S. gasoline prices have dropped from roughly $4 to just over $3 per gallon. The moment was ripe for us to adjust our strategy, and the President took action.  

Today’s actions build on recent steps that reinforce an economic trajectory along which Russia will face hard choices. Last November, President Biden levied our harshest financial sanctions against more than 50 Russian banks, including Gazprombank, the Kremlin’s key financial conduit to the global energy market. Nearly all of Russia’s biggest banks with major connections abroad are now sanctioned by the United States.  The impact was immediate and broad-based: Russia’s currency, the ruble, sank to its weakest level since the first weeks of the invasion, alongside a spike in borrowing costs that may unleash a wave of corporate bankruptcies and default.  Landing a direct hit on the Russian energy sector will aggravate pressures on Russia’s wartime economy that have already pushed up inflation to almost 10 percent, and which the Russian central bank has failed to stem with strict capital controls and record-high interest rates over 20 percent.

Looking ahead, Russia’s economic outlook is bleak. Sanctions have sapped the most essential sources of Russia’s economic vitality. But don’t take our word for it. More than a thousand multinational companies have quit Russia. More than a million of Russia’s own people have fled. It has been shut out of global financial markets. It has been cut off from cutting-edge technology. Most of its largest energy customers are gone.  With less capital, less technology, and less talent, the endgame facing Moscow is further descent into a smaller, weaker, and isolated pariah state.

As the costs on Russia intensify, we’ve also taken recent action to reduce Ukraine’s vulnerabilities.  This includes backstopping Ukraine with economic support – and not just from our taxpayers, but also by making Russia pay. Shortly after Russia’s invasion in 2022, G7 leaders acted in lockstep to immobilize over $300 billion of Russian central bank assets held in our respective jurisdictions.  Last June, President Biden and G7 leaders committed to issue $50 billion in loans for Ukraine that will be paid back by the interest earned on the frozen Russian assets.  It was an historic step: never before has a multilateral coalition frozen the assets of an aggressor country, and then harnessed the value to fund the aggrieved party fighting for its freedom – all while respecting the rule of law and maintaining solidarity.  Last December, the United States finalized its $20 billion share of the G7 loans.  Separately, we’ve announced a surge of military assistance to Ukraine through January 20, including hundreds of thousands of additional artillery rounds, thousands of additional rockets, and hundreds of additional armored vehicles. This will serve to exacerbate dilemmas for Putin as he faces mounting casualties – over 600,000 since the start of this tragic war – for minimal battlefield gains. 

Taken together, the ultimate aim of our efforts is to provide Ukraine the leverage it needs to negotiate a just and lasting end to the war. Today’s actions leave a solid foundation upon which the incoming administration can build, while putting a clear choice to Russia: either continue to absorb the escalating costs of a tragic and unnecessary war, or take steps to chart a different course. 

###

The post Statement from Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council Daleep Singh on Today’s Sanctions Actions appeared first on The White House.

Today, the United States imposed the most significant sanctions yet on Russia’s energy sector, by far the largest source of revenue for Putin’s war.  These sanctions will hit hard across every key node of Russia’s oil production and distribution chain, including against two of the four largest Russian oil producers, dozens of oilfield service providers, traders of Russian oil across the world, over 150 vessels moving seaborne Russian oil, and an oil terminal that knowingly received sanctioned oil from sanctioned vessels.  The U.S. Department of the Treasury also announced it will rescind a provision that previously exempted the intermediation of energy payments from our sanctions on Russian banks.  These measures will collectively drain billions of dollars per month from the Kremlin’s war chest and, in doing so, intensify the costs and risks for Moscow to continue its senseless war.

Some will ask why we waiting for the end of the Administration to introduce sanctions on Russian oil. It’s a fair question. The answer is this: for sanctions to be successful, they must be sustainable. That doesn’t mean they should be costless – sanctions never are – but to succeed they must impact the target more than they damage the U.S. and global economy. Until recently, we were constrained by tight supply in global energy markets, which meant that reducing Russia’s oil exports to the world would likely push up Putin’s export revenues while raising prices at the gas pump for families in the United States and across the world.  That’s why we unveiled a novel “price cap” in December 2022 to limit the price that Russia receives for its oil sales while keeping steady the global supply of energy.  Oil markets are now in a fundamentally better place. Forecasters expect the global supply of energy to exceed global demand through this year, with ample capacity within and outside of OPEC+ to increase production if necessary.  Since the start of Russia’s war, benchmark oil prices have fallen almost $35 per barrel and average U.S. gasoline prices have dropped from roughly $4 to just over $3 per gallon. The moment was ripe for us to adjust our strategy, and the President took action.  

Today’s actions build on recent steps that reinforce an economic trajectory along which Russia will face hard choices. Last November, President Biden levied our harshest financial sanctions against more than 50 Russian banks, including Gazprombank, the Kremlin’s key financial conduit to the global energy market. Nearly all of Russia’s biggest banks with major connections abroad are now sanctioned by the United States.  The impact was immediate and broad-based: Russia’s currency, the ruble, sank to its weakest level since the first weeks of the invasion, alongside a spike in borrowing costs that may unleash a wave of corporate bankruptcies and default.  Landing a direct hit on the Russian energy sector will aggravate pressures on Russia’s wartime economy that have already pushed up inflation to almost 10 percent, and which the Russian central bank has failed to stem with strict capital controls and record-high interest rates over 20 percent.

Looking ahead, Russia’s economic outlook is bleak. Sanctions have sapped the most essential sources of Russia’s economic vitality. But don’t take our word for it. More than a thousand multinational companies have quit Russia. More than a million of Russia’s own people have fled. It has been shut out of global financial markets. It has been cut off from cutting-edge technology. Most of its largest energy customers are gone.  With less capital, less technology, and less talent, the endgame facing Moscow is further descent into a smaller, weaker, and isolated pariah state.

As the costs on Russia intensify, we’ve also taken recent action to reduce Ukraine’s vulnerabilities.  This includes backstopping Ukraine with economic support – and not just from our taxpayers, but also by making Russia pay. Shortly after Russia’s invasion in 2022, G7 leaders acted in lockstep to immobilize over $300 billion of Russian central bank assets held in our respective jurisdictions.  Last June, President Biden and G7 leaders committed to issue $50 billion in loans for Ukraine that will be paid back by the interest earned on the frozen Russian assets.  It was an historic step: never before has a multilateral coalition frozen the assets of an aggressor country, and then harnessed the value to fund the aggrieved party fighting for its freedom – all while respecting the rule of law and maintaining solidarity.  Last December, the United States finalized its $20 billion share of the G7 loans.  Separately, we’ve announced a surge of military assistance to Ukraine through January 20, including hundreds of thousands of additional artillery rounds, thousands of additional rockets, and hundreds of additional armored vehicles. This will serve to exacerbate dilemmas for Putin as he faces mounting casualties – over 600,000 since the start of this tragic war – for minimal battlefield gains. 

Taken together, the ultimate aim of our efforts is to provide Ukraine the leverage it needs to negotiate a just and lasting end to the war. Today’s actions leave a solid foundation upon which the incoming administration can build, while putting a clear choice to Russia: either continue to absorb the escalating costs of a tragic and unnecessary war, or take steps to chart a different course. 

###

The post Statement from Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council Daleep Singh on Today’s Sanctions Actions appeared first on The White House.

With today’s report of 256,000 new jobs in December, we have created over 16.6 million jobs over the course of my administration and this is the only administration in history to have created jobs every single month. Although I inherited the worst economic crisis in decades with unemployment above 6% when I took office, we’ve had the lowest average unemployment rate of any administration in 50 years with unemployment at 4.1% as I leave. Although forecasts were projecting it would take years to achieve a full recovery, we have had the strongest growth and employment creation of any advanced country, brought inflation back down, and achieved the soft landing that few thought was possible. My administration has achieved record high employment rates for working age women and the lowest black-white unemployment gap on record. Incomes are up almost $4,000 more than prices.

There is more to do to lower costs, but we’ve taken action to lower prescription drug prices, health insurance premiums, utility bills, and gas prices that will pay dividends for years to come. This has been a hard-fought recovery, but we’ve made progress for working families, showing what can be accomplished when we build from the middle out and bottom up.

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The post Statement from President Joe Biden on the December 2024 Jobs Report appeared first on The White House.

With today’s report of 256,000 new jobs in December, we have created over 16.6 million jobs over the course of my administration and this is the only administration in history to have created jobs every single month. Although I inherited the worst economic crisis in decades with unemployment above 6% when I took office, we’ve had the lowest average unemployment rate of any administration in 50 years with unemployment at 4.1% as I leave. Although forecasts were projecting it would take years to achieve a full recovery, we have had the strongest growth and employment creation of any advanced country, brought inflation back down, and achieved the soft landing that few thought was possible. My administration has achieved record high employment rates for working age women and the lowest black-white unemployment gap on record. Incomes are up almost $4,000 more than prices.

There is more to do to lower costs, but we’ve taken action to lower prescription drug prices, health insurance premiums, utility bills, and gas prices that will pay dividends for years to come. This has been a hard-fought recovery, but we’ve made progress for working families, showing what can be accomplished when we build from the middle out and bottom up.

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The post Statement from President Joe Biden on the December 2024 Jobs Report appeared first on The White House.

From the first day in office, the Biden-Harris Administration has been committed to supporting the recovery and modernization of Puerto Rico’s energy infrastructure. From unlocking billions of dollars in disaster funding, to enacting historic investments under the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts are increasing Puerto Ricans’ access to reliable energy, improving the island’s grid infrastructure, and boosting the local energy sector workforce with good-paying jobs, all while ensuring that the needs of Puerto Rico’s most vulnerable communities are supported in this recovery.

Putting Long-Awaited Disaster Recovery Funds to Work

The Biden Administration has taken historic action to accelerate the reconstruction of Puerto Rico’s grid following the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017 by unlocking billions of dollars in disaster recovery funds, which had been held back between 2017 and 2020 through unfair and unnecessary restrictions. Since 2021, the Biden-Harris Administration has worked closely with the Puerto Rico government to streamline and accelerate recovery spending, resulting in critical projects that are bolstering the reliability and resilience of Puerto Rico’s grid.

To date, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has obligated over $6 billion out of $9.5 billion approved for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) through the Hurricane Maria Public Assistance Program. Obligated funds are supporting nearly 200 projects to improve the reliability and resilience of Puerto Rico’s grid including an initiative to replace 1.5 million meters with smart technology to enable faster detection of energy service interruptions, and the deployment of 430 megawatts (MW) of 4-hour battery storage systems to enhance grid stability and reduce reliance on more expensive backup power. Through the Public Assistance program, FEMA also financed the acquisition of 14 generators for temporary use with a capacity to produce about 340 MW to address urgent generation shortfalls and provide stability while critical repairs to existing generation plants are completed.

FEMA has also made an additional $7.6 billion available through the Hurricane Maria Hazard Mitigation Program for projects designed to make the grid more resilient to future disasters. This includes funding for a state-of-the-art microgrid system for the island municipalities of Vieques and Culebra to minimize the impact of future power outages, improving the quality of life for over 9,000 residents. The microgrid, which will be able to function independently from the main grid, includes a 12.5 MW solar-based system for Vieques and another 3 MW system for Culebra. 

Since 2021, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has authorized the use of over $2.8 billion in Community Development Block Grants for Disaster Recovery and Mitigation to address the energy needs of the most impacted areas and to low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities. Of this, a total of $500 million is being used for the Energy Grid Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Cost Share Program, which provides a significant contribution to PREPA’s cost-share requirement for FEMA Public Assistance funding. The remaining $2.3 billion is actively supporting the deployment of over 600 MW of new rooftop solar capacity in underserved areas. For example, programs like Community Energy and Water Resilience Installations, New Energy, Solar Incentive, andCommunity Installationsare providing financial support for solar systems with battery backup to an estimated 20,000 LMI residents. The Agro-Energy Stability Program provide grants to eligible farmers for the design, acquisition, and installation of renewable solar energy projects to cover up to 100% of their annual energy consumption needs. The Electrical Power Reliability and Resilience Program will fund strategic and competitive projects that enhance Puerto Rico’s power grid infrastructure, particularly by incorporating renewable energy technologies to ensure the grid’s reliability and resilience, such as a microgrid for the Centro Médico Hospital in San Juan to ensure that critical medical services continue operating even during power outages.

Improving Access to Reliable Energy through President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda

President Biden’s Investing in America agenda—including historic legislation such as the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and Inflation Reduction Act—is delivering results for communities in every corner of the United States, and Puerto Rico is no exception.

Puerto Rico was still recovering from the devastation of Hurricanes Irma and Maria when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. The American Rescue Plan delivered aid for the short- and long-term economic impacts caused by COVID-19, including $20 million for theEnergy Incentive Program to assist businesses in the development of low-cost solar and battery storage systems. The program provided up to $25,000 to small and medium business, helping offset operating costs and allowing them to stay open during power outages.

The Inflation Reduction Act is the most ambitious investment in combating the climate crisis in world history. Since its enactment on August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act has enabled the following achievements for Puerto Rico:

• Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act’s elective pay provisions, clean energy tax credits are available to local entities in Puerto Rico for the first time. Through the new elective pay mechanism, nonprofits, government agencies, and other tax-exempt entities in Puerto Rico can now receive a payment equal to the full value of tax credits for building qualifying clean energy projects.
• Through the Solar for All grant program, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded $156 million to the Puerto Rico Office of Management and Budget to develop long-lasting solar programs that enable low-income and disadvantaged communities to benefit from reliable solar power. The grant is projected to support the deployment of 34 MW of residential solar capacity and impact 14,000 households.
• EPA’s Community Change Grants Program is providing nearly $52 million across three local organizations to fund energy projects in several communities in Puerto Rico to enhance residential- and community-level resilience.
• The Inter-American University of Puerto Rico received a $10 million grant from EPA to establish a Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center to support communities in accessing federal funding for energy and environmental justice.
• The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) has leveraged the Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program to finance solar energy and battery storage facilities in Puerto Rico. To date, LPO has announced a loan guarantee of $861.3 million forProject Marahu, and a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $584.5 million for Convergent. Together these projects represent 300 MW of solar generation and 565.5 MW of reliable battery storage.
• LPO is also enabling access to residential rooftop solar and battery storage through a $3 billion partial loan guarantee to Sunnova Energy Corporation’s Project Hestia. Up to 20% of systems will be installed in Puerto Rico, representing up to 23,000 customers.
• DOE has allocated $85 million to Puerto Rico’s Department of Economic Development and Commerce through the Home Energy Rebates Program to incentivize appliance replacements and home improvements that can lower energy bills for homeowners.
• Under the Inflation Reduction Act, new possibilities for offshore wind are opening up along the coasts of Puerto Rico, allowing the Department of the Interior to explore wind lease sales in prime areas.

Finally, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides additional funding to support Puerto Rico’s grid modernization and resilience. DOE’s Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants Program provides non-competitive funding to states, territories and Indian tribes to improve the resilience of their electric grids. Puerto Rico has received $11 million to date, administered by the Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience, to expand the use of virtual power plants and microgrids for improved energy resilience. An additional $3.4 million will be awarded in 2025. DOE is also administering $5.6 million in Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grantsin Puerto Rico, including $1.9 million to the Department of Economic Development and Commerce and $3.7 million to 33 municipalities to support a broad set of initiatives to reduce energy use, reduce fossil fuel emissions, and improve energy efficiency. DOE also provided a $1 million grant for the Puerto Rico Green Energy Trust to establish an energy efficiency revolving loan fund that provides loans and grants for energy efficiency audits, upgrades, and retrofits to low- and moderate-income residents. DOE is awarding $37 million to boost Puerto Rico’s Weatherization Assistance Program—a 30-fold increase to Puerto Rico’s annual appropriations—to reduce energy costs for an estimated 6,000 low-income households by increasing the energy efficiency of their homes and/or deploying rooftop solar and battery storage systems.

Improving Energy Affordability and Resilience for Puerto Rico’s Most Vulnerable Residents

With $1 billion from the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, DOE established the Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund  to drive key investments in resilient and renewable energy infrastructure for vulnerable communities in Puerto Rico.  Since its inception on February 21, 2023, DOE has launched several key initiatives:

• Programa Acceso Solar:  This $450 million initiative is providing solar and battery storage systems to low-income households with residents who rely on electricity and battery-powered medical devices, or otherwise reside in areas that experience frequent power outages. These solar and battery systems are designed to provide reliable electricity even during power outages. Beneficiaries of this program can receive their systems with zero upfront costs, as well as education and support on how to use and maintain them. DOE is partnering with a network of community-based organizations known as Solar Ambassadors to identify, engage, and assist with intake processing of qualifying households. To help ensure these vulnerable households can best use their solar and battery systems and exercise their consumer rights, DOE also selected two organizations—Hispanic Federation Inc. and the Institute for Building Technology and Safety—to lead education, training, and consumer protection initiatives. Programa Acceso Solar will bring energy resilience to up to 20,000 households and contribute approximately 100 MW of renewable capacity to Puerto Rico’s grid.
• Community-Sponsored Installations: Four non-profits and cooperatives—Barrio Eléctrico, Environmental Defense Fund, Let’s Share the Sun Foundation, and Solar United Neighbors, Inc.— were collectively awarded $40 million to deploy up to 2,000 residential solar and storage systems in their communities, representing 10 MW of renewable capacity. These community-sponsored installations are underway in communities across Puerto Rico—from Isabela and Adjuntas to Salinas and Culebra—to benefit qualifying low-income households. 
• Programa de Comunidades Resilientes: A $365 million initiative to provide funding for solar and battery storage installations across two types of vital infrastructure serving low- and middle-income populations: community healthcare facilities, as well as community centers and other common areas in public housing and privately owned subsidized multi-family properties. Four teams with an existing presence in Puerto Rico will coordinate the deployment of projects across facilities or properties in partnership with local stakeholders. Programa de Comunidades Resilientes will deploy up to 400 systems representing 60 MW of renewable capacity across facilities that serve an estimated 430,000 Puerto Ricans.

Empowering Local Communities

The Biden-Harris Administration is focused on ensuring that Puerto Rico’s energy future is equitable, inclusive, and fosters innovation. Through programs that encourage diversity, local energy solutions, and workforce development, the administration is empowering communities to lead the transition to renewable energy.

DOE launched a series of prize competitions, competitive solicitations, and technical assistance programs with low barriers to entry to foster community-led innovation and entrepreneurship in underserved areas of Puerto Rico:

• Local electric cooperative Cooperativa Hidroeléctrica de la Montaña and partners Fundación Borincana and Pecan Street received $200,000 through the Inclusive Energy Innovation Prizeto collect household energy usage data to design tailored microgrids for rural villages in the central mountains of Puerto Rico.
• The Cooperativa Hidroeléctrica de la Montaña also received $50,000 from the Community Power Accelerator and technical assistance through the Communities LEAP Programto further support the design and implementation of resilient microgrids in rural areas.
• Three communities in Puerto Rico (La Margarita in Salinas, Comunidad Toro Negro in Ciales, and Playa de Ponce in Ponce) are receiving technical and financial assistance through theEnergy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project to develop sustainable, clean energy infrastructure tailored to their specific needs.
• La Margarita also received $205,000 through the Community Clean Energy Coalition Prize to develop community-driven clean energy projects that help improve energy access, reduce costs, and increase resilience.
• The DOE Office of Energy Justice and Equity created a $1 millionPuerto Rico Grid Resilience Hubs Program to fund solar and storage installations in 10 community centers to serve as resilience hubs in areas that experience long and frequent outages.
• DOE is also supporting development of the next-generation energy workforce through the Clean Energy Innovator Fellowship, which provides clean energy professionals, entrepreneurs, and innovators with resources, mentorship, and funding. DOE has sponsored four fellows at key energy entities including LUMA Energy and the Cooperativa Hidroeléctrica de la Montaña to advance their projects and contribute to Puerto Rico’s energy transformation.
• Finally, DOE is supporting clean energy entrepreneurship in Puerto Rico through theEnergy Program for Innovation Clusters, which awarded $1 million to incubator Parallel18, an organization under the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust, to support a clean energy initiative called Project Switch. Project Switch will help professors and students develop and commercialize clean energy technologies, boosting innovation and economic growth.

Since 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has made significant investments to address the energy needs of rural business and communities in Puerto Rico. Through the Rural Energy for America Program, USDA has invested $24,656,109 million in grants to help 137 agricultural producers and rural small business owners in Puerto Rico make energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy investments to lower energy costs, generate new income, strengthen their operations, and recover quickly when disasters strike. The most recent round of nearly $5.5 million in grants will support 21 projects, representing approximately 5 MW of renewable capacity. USDAhas also awarded nearly $18 million to 24 projects in Puerto Rico through theCommunity Facilities Programto develop or improve essential public services and facilities in rural communities. For example, Educational Services Corpus Christi Corp was awarded a grant of $67,000 for solar panels and battery backup equipment to reduce the school operating expenses and increase energy sustainability.

The Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to Puerto Rico is marked by an unprecedented interagency approach to support a transition to a more modern, reliable, and sustainable energy system. Billions of dollars in federal disaster recovery funding are being used towards grid improvements that will significantly reduce service interruptions and improve the ability to withstand future storms. Through federal funding, tax incentives, and community-driven initiatives, Puerto Rico is making significant progress toward its renewable energy goals: collectively, the actions of the Biden-Harris Administration are directly supporting the addition of over 1,000 MW of new renewable energy capacity—nearly double the current amount—and another 1,000 MW of new battery storage capacity to serve hundreds of thousands of households. This whole-of-government strategy represents a major step toward ensuring a more secure and sustainable energy future for the people of Puerto Rico, improving their quality of life and fostering economic growth.

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From the first day in office, the Biden-Harris Administration has been committed to supporting the recovery and modernization of Puerto Rico’s energy infrastructure. From unlocking billions of dollars in disaster funding, to enacting historic investments under the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts are increasing Puerto Ricans’ access to reliable energy, improving the island’s grid infrastructure, and boosting the local energy sector workforce with good-paying jobs, all while ensuring that the needs of Puerto Rico’s most vulnerable communities are supported in this recovery.

Putting Long-Awaited Disaster Recovery Funds to Work

The Biden Administration has taken historic action to accelerate the reconstruction of Puerto Rico’s grid following the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017 by unlocking billions of dollars in disaster recovery funds, which had been held back between 2017 and 2020 through unfair and unnecessary restrictions. Since 2021, the Biden-Harris Administration has worked closely with the Puerto Rico government to streamline and accelerate recovery spending, resulting in critical projects that are bolstering the reliability and resilience of Puerto Rico’s grid.

To date, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has obligated over $6 billion out of $9.5 billion approved for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) through the Hurricane Maria Public Assistance Program. Obligated funds are supporting nearly 200 projects to improve the reliability and resilience of Puerto Rico’s grid including an initiative to replace 1.5 million meters with smart technology to enable faster detection of energy service interruptions, and the deployment of 430 megawatts (MW) of 4-hour battery storage systems to enhance grid stability and reduce reliance on more expensive backup power. Through the Public Assistance program, FEMA also financed the acquisition of 14 generators for temporary use with a capacity to produce about 340 MW to address urgent generation shortfalls and provide stability while critical repairs to existing generation plants are completed.

FEMA has also made an additional $7.6 billion available through the Hurricane Maria Hazard Mitigation Program for projects designed to make the grid more resilient to future disasters. This includes funding for a state-of-the-art microgrid system for the island municipalities of Vieques and Culebra to minimize the impact of future power outages, improving the quality of life for over 9,000 residents. The microgrid, which will be able to function independently from the main grid, includes a 12.5 MW solar-based system for Vieques and another 3 MW system for Culebra. 

Since 2021, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has authorized the use of over $2.8 billion in Community Development Block Grants for Disaster Recovery and Mitigation to address the energy needs of the most impacted areas and to low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities. Of this, a total of $500 million is being used for the Energy Grid Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Cost Share Program, which provides a significant contribution to PREPA’s cost-share requirement for FEMA Public Assistance funding. The remaining $2.3 billion is actively supporting the deployment of over 600 MW of new rooftop solar capacity in underserved areas. For example, programs like Community Energy and Water Resilience Installations, New Energy, Solar Incentive, andCommunity Installationsare providing financial support for solar systems with battery backup to an estimated 20,000 LMI residents. The Agro-Energy Stability Program provide grants to eligible farmers for the design, acquisition, and installation of renewable solar energy projects to cover up to 100% of their annual energy consumption needs. The Electrical Power Reliability and Resilience Program will fund strategic and competitive projects that enhance Puerto Rico’s power grid infrastructure, particularly by incorporating renewable energy technologies to ensure the grid’s reliability and resilience, such as a microgrid for the Centro Médico Hospital in San Juan to ensure that critical medical services continue operating even during power outages.

Improving Access to Reliable Energy through President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda

President Biden’s Investing in America agenda—including historic legislation such as the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and Inflation Reduction Act—is delivering results for communities in every corner of the United States, and Puerto Rico is no exception.

Puerto Rico was still recovering from the devastation of Hurricanes Irma and Maria when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. The American Rescue Plan delivered aid for the short- and long-term economic impacts caused by COVID-19, including $20 million for theEnergy Incentive Program to assist businesses in the development of low-cost solar and battery storage systems. The program provided up to $25,000 to small and medium business, helping offset operating costs and allowing them to stay open during power outages.

The Inflation Reduction Act is the most ambitious investment in combating the climate crisis in world history. Since its enactment on August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act has enabled the following achievements for Puerto Rico:

• Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act’s elective pay provisions, clean energy tax credits are available to local entities in Puerto Rico for the first time. Through the new elective pay mechanism, nonprofits, government agencies, and other tax-exempt entities in Puerto Rico can now receive a payment equal to the full value of tax credits for building qualifying clean energy projects.
• Through the Solar for All grant program, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded $156 million to the Puerto Rico Office of Management and Budget to develop long-lasting solar programs that enable low-income and disadvantaged communities to benefit from reliable solar power. The grant is projected to support the deployment of 34 MW of residential solar capacity and impact 14,000 households.
• EPA’s Community Change Grants Program is providing nearly $52 million across three local organizations to fund energy projects in several communities in Puerto Rico to enhance residential- and community-level resilience.
• The Inter-American University of Puerto Rico received a $10 million grant from EPA to establish a Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Center to support communities in accessing federal funding for energy and environmental justice.
• The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) has leveraged the Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program to finance solar energy and battery storage facilities in Puerto Rico. To date, LPO has announced a loan guarantee of $861.3 million forProject Marahu, and a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $584.5 million for Convergent. Together these projects represent 300 MW of solar generation and 565.5 MW of reliable battery storage.
• LPO is also enabling access to residential rooftop solar and battery storage through a $3 billion partial loan guarantee to Sunnova Energy Corporation’s Project Hestia. Up to 20% of systems will be installed in Puerto Rico, representing up to 23,000 customers.
• DOE has allocated $85 million to Puerto Rico’s Department of Economic Development and Commerce through the Home Energy Rebates Program to incentivize appliance replacements and home improvements that can lower energy bills for homeowners.
• Under the Inflation Reduction Act, new possibilities for offshore wind are opening up along the coasts of Puerto Rico, allowing the Department of the Interior to explore wind lease sales in prime areas.

Finally, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides additional funding to support Puerto Rico’s grid modernization and resilience. DOE’s Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants Program provides non-competitive funding to states, territories and Indian tribes to improve the resilience of their electric grids. Puerto Rico has received $11 million to date, administered by the Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience, to expand the use of virtual power plants and microgrids for improved energy resilience. An additional $3.4 million will be awarded in 2025. DOE is also administering $5.6 million in Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grantsin Puerto Rico, including $1.9 million to the Department of Economic Development and Commerce and $3.7 million to 33 municipalities to support a broad set of initiatives to reduce energy use, reduce fossil fuel emissions, and improve energy efficiency. DOE also provided a $1 million grant for the Puerto Rico Green Energy Trust to establish an energy efficiency revolving loan fund that provides loans and grants for energy efficiency audits, upgrades, and retrofits to low- and moderate-income residents. DOE is awarding $37 million to boost Puerto Rico’s Weatherization Assistance Program—a 30-fold increase to Puerto Rico’s annual appropriations—to reduce energy costs for an estimated 6,000 low-income households by increasing the energy efficiency of their homes and/or deploying rooftop solar and battery storage systems.

Improving Energy Affordability and Resilience for Puerto Rico’s Most Vulnerable Residents

With $1 billion from the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, DOE established the Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund  to drive key investments in resilient and renewable energy infrastructure for vulnerable communities in Puerto Rico.  Since its inception on February 21, 2023, DOE has launched several key initiatives:

• Programa Acceso Solar:  This $450 million initiative is providing solar and battery storage systems to low-income households with residents who rely on electricity and battery-powered medical devices, or otherwise reside in areas that experience frequent power outages. These solar and battery systems are designed to provide reliable electricity even during power outages. Beneficiaries of this program can receive their systems with zero upfront costs, as well as education and support on how to use and maintain them. DOE is partnering with a network of community-based organizations known as Solar Ambassadors to identify, engage, and assist with intake processing of qualifying households. To help ensure these vulnerable households can best use their solar and battery systems and exercise their consumer rights, DOE also selected two organizations—Hispanic Federation Inc. and the Institute for Building Technology and Safety—to lead education, training, and consumer protection initiatives. Programa Acceso Solar will bring energy resilience to up to 20,000 households and contribute approximately 100 MW of renewable capacity to Puerto Rico’s grid.
• Community-Sponsored Installations: Four non-profits and cooperatives—Barrio Eléctrico, Environmental Defense Fund, Let’s Share the Sun Foundation, and Solar United Neighbors, Inc.— were collectively awarded $40 million to deploy up to 2,000 residential solar and storage systems in their communities, representing 10 MW of renewable capacity. These community-sponsored installations are underway in communities across Puerto Rico—from Isabela and Adjuntas to Salinas and Culebra—to benefit qualifying low-income households. 
• Programa de Comunidades Resilientes: A $365 million initiative to provide funding for solar and battery storage installations across two types of vital infrastructure serving low- and middle-income populations: community healthcare facilities, as well as community centers and other common areas in public housing and privately owned subsidized multi-family properties. Four teams with an existing presence in Puerto Rico will coordinate the deployment of projects across facilities or properties in partnership with local stakeholders. Programa de Comunidades Resilientes will deploy up to 400 systems representing 60 MW of renewable capacity across facilities that serve an estimated 430,000 Puerto Ricans.

Empowering Local Communities

The Biden-Harris Administration is focused on ensuring that Puerto Rico’s energy future is equitable, inclusive, and fosters innovation. Through programs that encourage diversity, local energy solutions, and workforce development, the administration is empowering communities to lead the transition to renewable energy.

DOE launched a series of prize competitions, competitive solicitations, and technical assistance programs with low barriers to entry to foster community-led innovation and entrepreneurship in underserved areas of Puerto Rico:

• Local electric cooperative Cooperativa Hidroeléctrica de la Montaña and partners Fundación Borincana and Pecan Street received $200,000 through the Inclusive Energy Innovation Prizeto collect household energy usage data to design tailored microgrids for rural villages in the central mountains of Puerto Rico.
• The Cooperativa Hidroeléctrica de la Montaña also received $50,000 from the Community Power Accelerator and technical assistance through the Communities LEAP Programto further support the design and implementation of resilient microgrids in rural areas.
• Three communities in Puerto Rico (La Margarita in Salinas, Comunidad Toro Negro in Ciales, and Playa de Ponce in Ponce) are receiving technical and financial assistance through theEnergy Transitions Initiative Partnership Project to develop sustainable, clean energy infrastructure tailored to their specific needs.
• La Margarita also received $205,000 through the Community Clean Energy Coalition Prize to develop community-driven clean energy projects that help improve energy access, reduce costs, and increase resilience.
• The DOE Office of Energy Justice and Equity created a $1 millionPuerto Rico Grid Resilience Hubs Program to fund solar and storage installations in 10 community centers to serve as resilience hubs in areas that experience long and frequent outages.
• DOE is also supporting development of the next-generation energy workforce through the Clean Energy Innovator Fellowship, which provides clean energy professionals, entrepreneurs, and innovators with resources, mentorship, and funding. DOE has sponsored four fellows at key energy entities including LUMA Energy and the Cooperativa Hidroeléctrica de la Montaña to advance their projects and contribute to Puerto Rico’s energy transformation.
• Finally, DOE is supporting clean energy entrepreneurship in Puerto Rico through theEnergy Program for Innovation Clusters, which awarded $1 million to incubator Parallel18, an organization under the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust, to support a clean energy initiative called Project Switch. Project Switch will help professors and students develop and commercialize clean energy technologies, boosting innovation and economic growth.

Since 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has made significant investments to address the energy needs of rural business and communities in Puerto Rico. Through the Rural Energy for America Program, USDA has invested $24,656,109 million in grants to help 137 agricultural producers and rural small business owners in Puerto Rico make energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy investments to lower energy costs, generate new income, strengthen their operations, and recover quickly when disasters strike. The most recent round of nearly $5.5 million in grants will support 21 projects, representing approximately 5 MW of renewable capacity. USDAhas also awarded nearly $18 million to 24 projects in Puerto Rico through theCommunity Facilities Programto develop or improve essential public services and facilities in rural communities. For example, Educational Services Corpus Christi Corp was awarded a grant of $67,000 for solar panels and battery backup equipment to reduce the school operating expenses and increase energy sustainability.

The Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to Puerto Rico is marked by an unprecedented interagency approach to support a transition to a more modern, reliable, and sustainable energy system. Billions of dollars in federal disaster recovery funding are being used towards grid improvements that will significantly reduce service interruptions and improve the ability to withstand future storms. Through federal funding, tax incentives, and community-driven initiatives, Puerto Rico is making significant progress toward its renewable energy goals: collectively, the actions of the Biden-Harris Administration are directly supporting the addition of over 1,000 MW of new renewable energy capacity—nearly double the current amount—and another 1,000 MW of new battery storage capacity to serve hundreds of thousands of households. This whole-of-government strategy represents a major step toward ensuring a more secure and sustainable energy future for the people of Puerto Rico, improving their quality of life and fostering economic growth.

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On Monday, January 13, President Biden will deliver a foreign policy address at the State Department on the work of his Administration to strengthen America and lead the world.

Additional details to follow.

The post President Joe Biden to Deliver Foreign Policy Address appeared first on The White House.

On Monday, January 13, President Biden will deliver a foreign policy address at the State Department on the work of his Administration to strengthen America and lead the world.

Additional details to follow.

The post President Joe Biden to Deliver Foreign Policy Address appeared first on The White House.

In response to the historic wildfires in Los Angeles, the Vice President has made the decision to cancel her and the Second Gentleman’s upcoming trip to Singapore, Bahrain, and Germany. She will remain in the United States to support the federal response in California.

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In response to the historic wildfires in Los Angeles, the Vice President has made the decision to cancel her and the Second Gentleman’s upcoming trip to Singapore, Bahrain, and Germany. She will remain in the United States to support the federal response in California.

# # #

The post Statement by Press Secretary Ernesto Apreza on the Vice President’s Travel appeared first on The White House.

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. spoke today with President Joseph Aoun of Lebanon to congratulate him on his election victory. The Presidents agreed that the time is now to fully implement the cessation of hostilities announced on November 26, 2024, and for Lebanon and its people to recover and rebuild. President Biden pledged to continue U.S. support for Lebanon’s security forces, and for Lebanon’s recovery and reconstruction as President Aoun works with the United States and Lebanon’s true friends in the international community towards a Lebanon that is once again secure, sovereign, and prosperous.  President Biden assured President Aoun that he has full confidence President Aoun is the right leader to guide Lebanon through this moment of challenges and opportunities for his country.

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