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James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

2:04 P.M. EDT

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Hi, everybody.  Good afternoon.  Good afternoon. 

Okay.  I have a couple things at the top.  Please bear with me. 

So, on Saturday, a suspect shot and injured five individuals along Interstate 75 in Kentucky and is still at large.  We’re praying for those who were injured and wishing them a speedy recovery. 

The president was briefed over the weekend, and he urges residents to remain vigilant and listen to local officials as they continue to investigate.  The administration is in touch with state and local officials, and federal law enforcement is supporting the local investigation and efforts to apprehend the suspects.

Next, we are praying for the thousands of Americans under mandatory evacuations under orders out West.  Senior administration officials are monitoring the fires, including the Line fire in California and the Davis fire in Nevada, and are in close touch with state and local leaders to ensure they have the resources they need. 

Over 7,000 federal personnel are supporting local firefighting efforts across multiple states.  Residents in the affected areas should remain vigilant and heed the warnings of local officials, especially those who have been ordered to evacuate. 

President Biden and Vice President Harris believe that health care is a right, not a privilege, and that mental health care is health care, period.  But for millions of Americans, care for mental health and substance use conditions is still hard to find and hard to afford. 

Today, the Biden-Harris administration is taking a step forward, changing that by placing new requirements on health plans that will improve and strengthen access to mental health care for 175 million Americans with private health insurance. 

For the president, it’s simple.  If you have a mental health crisis, you should be able to access the care that you need the same way you acc- — access care for a broken bone or a heart attack. 

Addressing mental health crisis is a key priority for this president, for this administration.  And the steps being taken today will dramatically expand access to mental health care in America. 

And finally, later this afternoon, the president will — will be joined by elected officials and advocates to celebrate the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disability Act and mark Disability Pride Month.

One of the president’s first acts — acts as a U.S. senator was cosponsoring the Rehabilitation Act, which banned discrimination on the basis of disability by any entity funded by the federal government and paved the way for the Americans with Disability Act. 

Since taking office, President Biden and Vice President Harris have carried the same commitment to ensuring disabled Americans are treated with dignity, respect, and inclusion to live and thrive in their communities.

Under the president — under this administration, the Biden-Harris administration, Americans with disabilities have seen historic increases in employment and earnings, and the administration has taken significant steps to protect civil rights and promote full participation in society.  And that work will continue. 

With that, I will turn it over to my colleague, Admiral John Kirby, who is here to take some questions on the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s report released yesterday on the Afghanistan withdrawal.

With that, Admiral.

MR. KIRBY:  Thank you, Karine.

Good afternoon, everybody. 

Q    Good afternoon.

MR. KIRBY:  As you saw today, House Republicans released their investigation report into Afghanistan withdrawal.  This comes, of course, two years after their first report, and this one says little or nothing new.

We’ve already issued comment about the one-sided, partisan nature of this report, so I’m not going to belabor that right now, but I do think a brief rundown of actual facts is important. 

First, on the very day this administration took office, the Taliban was in the strongest position it had been in years, and the Afghan government the weakest.

The Trump administration cut a deal called the Doha Agreement that mandated a complete U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and, yes, that included Bagram Air Base by the end of May 2021.  That deal also released 5,000 Taliban fighters from prison — 5,000 fighters. 

In return, the Taliban agreed not to attack U.S. troops, which is a good thing because the former president reduced our presence in Afghanistan from about 14,000 down to 2,500.

As General Frank McKenzie, former commander of U.S. Central Command, said himself in testimony, the Doha — Doha deal had a, quote, “really pernicious effect,” unquote, on the Afghan government and military.

As we saw, it demoralized them and it disenfranchised them.  They knew right then and there that America was on its way out. 

Indeed, in October of 2020, then-President Trump ordered his military to rush the exit from Afghanistan and have everybody leave by Christmas of that year. 

President Biden, for his part, faced a stark choice when he came to office: abide by the flawed agreement and end America’s longest war or blow up the deal, extend the war, and see a much smaller contingent of American troops back in combat with the Taliban. 

He chose the former, and he was able to buy additional time to prepare for that withdrawal all the way into the summer, and we as a nation are safer for it. 

Any and every discussion about what happened in Afghanistan has to start right there.  Sadly, the report does not dwell on it. 

Now, there’s some other falsehoods — too many to mention, but a few do stand out, and I would like to tick them off if you don’t mind. 

One, there was, in fact, planning for evacuations — planning that started in the spring of 2021 and included all the requisite agencies.  In fact, the Department of Defense pre-positioned military units in the region so that once a decision had been reached to evacuate, they would be poised to respond in a timely fashion. 

Two, there was no fine-tuned assessment of how fast things would unfold in August of 2021.  It all moved a lot faster than anyone anticipated.  As the Taliban moved in, Afghan forces stopped fighting, and the Ghani government fled. 

As then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said, quote, “Nothing that I saw indicated a collapse of this army and this government in 11 days,” end quote. 

Two — or, I’m sorry, three, there was no point in securing Bagram Air Base for use during the evacuation.  Doing so would not only have required thousands of additional U.S. troops but also would have required a dangerous trek by evacuees over Taliban-controlled territory, making the evacuation even more difficult to execute than it already was.

Four, there was no handover of U.S. equipment to the Taliban.  That equipment had been provided to Afghan Security Forces, appropriately and with congressional approval, over the course of two decades of war.  That equipment was left by those Afghan forces when they surrendered or stopped fighting.

And five, there was no deception, lying, or lack of transparency by this administration either during or after the withdrawal.  We did the best we could every day to keep the American people informed of what was happening.  We conducted our own after-action reports and shared those, too, with the public.  And, as I mentioned, we cooperated extensively in this investigation and to contin- — and we continue to work with the War Commission.

Ending wars is more difficult than starting them.  President Biden knew that; he acknowledged that.  But it doesn’t mean that the decision to end this one was wrong or that the withdrawal wasn’t conducted as professionally and as bravely as was humanly possible given the circumstances.

It doesn’t mean we don’t grieve and mourn with the families of those whose lives were tragically taken during the withdrawal, especially at Abbey Gate on the 26th of August of that year.

And it doesn’t mean that we don’t still look with awe and admiration at the many thousands of men and women who waged this war over the course of 20 years — troops, diplomats, intelligence experts, contractors, and civilian employees from this and dozens of other nations.  They accomplished the mission for which they were sent to Afghanistan.  They helped make us a safer nation. 

Sadly, 2,461 of them did not make it home.  And many of those who did still struggle with the wounds of war, seen and unseen.  As the president has said, we owe them and their families a debt of gratitude that can never be fully repaid.

But now that the war is over, our nation can better focus on other pressing national security interests around the world.  We would do well in all this partisan rancor over the withdrawal to remember that.

I’ll take some questions.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Okay.  Go ahead, Selina.

Q    Thanks, Admiral.  It’s been reported that Iran has sent short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine.  Can you confirm that this transfer happened?  And how concerning is this?

MR. KIRBY:  I cannot confirm the reports that the transfer has happened.

But I would point you to what we have said in the past that — that any such provision of that kind of technology

would not only have a deleterious effect on the Ukrainians’ ability to continue to defend themselves — and certainly on the lives and livelihoods of Ukrainians — but could, depending on what the deal — how it’s consummated, have — have equally deleterious effects on the Middle East. 

An — an Iran that already has an improving ballistic-missile program, we — we could only assume, would — would want to stand to gain from some sort of partnership with Russia to improve their — their capabilities in the region.  And, of course, given all their destabilizing activities, that’s a dangerous outcome. 

Q    And is the White House prepared to increase pressure on Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire deal, potentially doing something similar as the United Kingdom in terms of withholding more weapons?

MR. KIRBY:  I can’t think of anything we haven’t put more pressure on ourselves than to try to get this deal.  And we still — I think I just drew on myself.  I think — I think

we — we know how urgent this is, and we’re working night and day to try to see if we can get a deal in place.  Hamas is the main obstacle to this right now. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Danny.

Q    Thanks, Karine.  Thanks, Admiral.  A couple of things.

Firstly, on Afghanistan.  So, are you — would you argue that the withdrawal is a success?  Or do you admit that there were failings involved in that?

MR. KIRBY:  We have — I’d point you to the after-action report, where I think we’ve been very clear about the planning efforts and the execution of the — of the plan.  No plan of any operation whatsoever ever goes exactly according to the dictates by which you laid it out. 

Clearly, there were moments of great violence and there were moments of — of mission execution that didn’t go exactly the way we wanted it to go.  I mean, I’m not — nobody has walked away from that.

But in the main, we were able to get 120-some — 120,000-some-odd folks out of there safely with an airplane taking off about once every hour.  And, again, we’ve laid it all out in our after-action report that the State Department did, that the Department of Defense did, that we did here. 

Q    And, sorry, just very briefly on — on the point about Keir Starmer’s visit and — and Gaza.  Is the president going to be pressing Prime Minister Starmer to perhaps reverse his decision on the arms sales?  Or — or, conversely, might he be seeking some advice about m- — you know, about how, you know, the U.S. might do that and (inaudible) —

MR. KIRBY:  We’re looking forward to the visit.  There’s an awful lot to discuss.  I think you can expect the prime minister and the president to talk about what’s going on in Ukraine, let’s talk about the Middle East, even in the Indo-Pacific. 

This isn’t about twisting arms or trying to change minds.  The British government has made their determination about arms provisions to — to Israel.  We respect that.  That’s for them to speak to. 

This is about how we move together as principal allies and — and good friends on a range of foreign policy issues.  And I think it’s fair to say that — that as part of this meeting on Friday, it will focus heavily on an extended agenda of foreign policy issues — expanded agenda. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Ed.

Q    Thanks, Karine.  Admiral, there have been requests — or there have been signals from congressional Republicans they’d like to continue this investigation into what happened in Afghanistan.  Has the White House received any more requests for people to testify?  Would they entertain them?

MR. KIRBY:  I’m not aware of any additional requests for more testimony. 

Q    Has anyone from the White House or the prior administration been invited to tomorrow’s Gold Medal ceremony for the families of the 13 service members who died?

MR. KIRBY:  There will be — there will be quite a few from the Department of Defense, both in terms of active-duty admirals and generals and civilian political appointees in high leadership positions that will be there.

Q    And on the — going back to, sort of, accountability and — and after-action.  Was anyone ever held accountable by the president directly for what happened with the withdrawal in Afghanistan?  And, if not, remind the audience why not. 

MR. KIRBY:  We have all held ourselves accountable for the progress of the withdrawal across the administration.  And it was a true interagency effort to get those 120,000 people out and to make sure we removed our diplomats and our military personnel safely. 

As I said, Ed, not everything went according to plan.  Nothing ever does.  And we mourn the loss of — of those 13 lives at Abbey Gate every single day here.  Their sacrifice doesn’t — doesn’t — is not forgotten.

But, again, we — we hold ourselves all accountable for that.

Q    One other part of the world, because there’s been some movement regarding Venezuela just in the last day.  The opposition candidate, Edmundo González, is now in Spain seeking — or expected to be granted political asylum. 

There’s been a lot written reporting in the last few days about what the administration may or may not be trying to do to get Maduro to leave by the end of the year before his next term would begin, even though U.S. and others don’t necessarily think he has. 

What is the latest on what the U.S. is trying to do, and would they ever help González come back to Venezuela?

MR. KIRBY:  I won’t get into hypotheticals one way or another about Mr. González and what his future might — might be.  He wouldn’t have had to seek political asylum if he wasn’t accused of trumped-up, ridiculous charges and — and forced in that manner to — to flee his own country.

What needs to happen next is Mr. Maduro needs to heed the call of the international community — and, quite frankly, the Venezuelan people — and release the data so that the whole world can see what the Venezuelan people — who they voted for and that their democratic aspirations are met.

We have, in the past — you’ve seen — levied sanctions against Mr. Maduro and his regime.  I don’t have any announcements today, but I can tell you we’re constantly looking at what our options could be going forward, depending on the decisions that Maduro makes.

Q    And does the White House anticipate any surge in illegal border crossings or attempts to do so because of the instability in Venezuela (inaudible)?

MR. KIRBY:  Haven’t seen that play out.  I mean, obviously we’re watching this as closely as we can.  As you well know, the numbers at the southern border have reduced and reduced significantly in the past months.  But have not seen any indications of the surge coming out of Venezuela.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Okay.  Go ahead.

Q    John, China said that they’ll be holding joint naval air drills with Russia starting this month.  What’s the level of concern from the administration that these two countries are — are cooperating?  Is this a sign of deepening cooperation?

MR. KIRBY:  I think it is, sure.  We’ve been watching this defense relationship grow and deepen over the last couple of years to include the — the exercise of their militaries in both the air, at sea, and even on the ground. 

So, we’ll watch it like we all — like we watch all exercises, but I don’t — look, these are two nations that don’t have a long history of working well together, certainly not militarily.  These are two nations that don’t necessarily fully trust one another in the region or beyond, arou- — around the world.

So, I see no reason for us to change our own military posture or deterrent posture as a result of this exercise.  This is a long-planned exercise.  It’s a part of their — their regimen.  So, we’ll watch it and — and monitor, but — but there’s no — you know, there’s no dramatic, imminent concern about it.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  All right.  Just a couple more.  Go ahead.

Q    Thank you, John.  Firstly, on China.  There are a raft of bills up for a vote in Congress this week that have to do with keeping China from accessing the Inflation Reduction Act funding, that limit their EV market, that try to counter their influence on culture. 

Are these things that the administration supports, and do we expect to see these carried through in — in the Harris administration?

MR. KIRBY:  Let’s see where it goes.  I don’t talk — I don’t like to talk about draft legislation one way or the other.

Q    Okay.  Well, let’s talk about Afghanistan, then.  Chairman McCaul drew a direct line and countered something you just said, which is he said, “They helped make us a safer nation.”  He believes that the withdrawal from Afghanistan —

(A reporter swats an insect in the room.)

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  (Inaudible), Jacqui.  (Laughs.)

Q    Do you need a minute?

He argues that the withdrawal from Afghanistan has, in fact, made the United States more susceptible to terrorism because of those prisoners released from Bagram. 

What can you say to the American people to assure them that this administration is trying to keep them safe?  And how safe are they?

MR. KIRBY:  Well, just go on CENTCOM’s website; look at the press releases that they send every time they take out a leader of ISIS or an al Qaeda leader. 

We have proven the case about over-the-horizon counterterrorism capability to a fare-thee-well.  Now that doesn’t mean we’re sitting back, resting fat, dumb, and happy.  That’s the kind of capability you have to keep working at and keep trying to improve.  And we are.

I think it’s also important to look at what else is going around the world.  You know who — who would have loved for us to be stuck in Afghanistan for another 20 years is President Putin, President Xi.  They would have loved that.  But now, because we’re not in a ground war in Afghanistan — a ground war for which the original mission had long since been accomplished — we’re able to focus on those more — those more modern and relevant threats to our national security posed by — by nation-states and non-nation-states around the world.

But as for counterterrorism capability, again, we have proven time and time again that we are able to monitor the threat and deal with the threat — sometimes in near real time, if need be.  Not taking it for granted, not saying we don’t always have to keep sharpening it, but, believe me, we’re focused on it.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  All right.  Just a couple more.  Go ahead.

Q    Administration officials have said that after the six hostages were killed earlier this month that Hamas changed the terms of the deal.  Did Hamas explicitly tell mediators that there are new terms, that they want more prisoners released?  And would you still characterize negotiations as on the verge of a ceasefire and hostage deal?

MR. KIRBY:  To your first question, yes, Hamas did change some of the terms of — of the exchange, and that has made it more difficult for us to get there.

I’m sorry.  And your second question was?

Q    Would you still characterize the deal as “on the verge”?

MR. KIRBY:  We still believe that, even for the — the new amendments that Hamas has made, that — that it’s still worth an effort to try to see if we can’t get back into a ceasefire negotiation.  But we’re not there right now.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Kelly.

Q    Sir, there’s a report that the president is convening his national security team on this issue today.  Obviously, it’s not on his public schedule.  Is there anything more you can say about who he’s bringing in or what he’s doing, or is this part of the ongoing conversation?

MR. KIRBY:  I think that was a little bit of a — a miscommunication, Kelly.  What — what was being referred to was his normal presidential daily briefing, where he’s presented with the intelligence of the day and has a chance to speak to some members of his national security team when he does that.  It was not a major NSC meeting.

Q    Thanks, John.  The American citizen killed in the West Bank on Friday, Aysenur Eygi.  Has the president had a chance to speak to her family at all?  And do you have any sense of where the investigation stands?  I know that you all had asked for the ball to get rolling on an investigation into her death.  Do you know if there are any updates on that?

MR. KIRBY:  He has not spoken to the family as of yet.  I don’t have a call to s- — to talk about today.  Obviously, we continue to mourn with — with her family, of course.

The Israelis have reached out, made sure that we knew that they were promptly investigating this.  As I understand it, from just before I came out here, they are moving swiftly on this investigation and will soon, we think, in coming days, be able to present their — their findings and conclusions.  We’ll obviously withhold our judgment until we see that.  We’ve called for a complete, thorough, swift, and transparent investigation.  We’ll — we’ll see — we’ll see what they learn. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Okay.  Final question.  Go ahead.

Q    Oh.  Hi.  Thank you.  Do you have any response to Russian drones violating NATO member states Latvia and Romania over the weekend?

MR. KIRBY:  I think you talk about reports that parts of drones, I think —

Q    Parts.

MR. KIRBY:  — have landed in Allied territory, if you will.  This is, unfortunately, not a new development, as it happened over the course of the war in Ukraine where missile fragments or drone fragments sometimes get caught up in the combat and the air combat and land in a neighboring nation. 

We watch that closely, as you might imagine.  We’re in close touch with our Allies and partners about that.  But — but it’s just — it just underscores the — the danger that Mr. Putin’s war in Ukraine has now caused to the whole European continent and the fact that the security landscape has changed — not is changing, not will change, but actually has changed — which is why we’re doing everything we can to make sure Ukraine can defend itself. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  All right.  Thank you so much, Admiral.

MR. KIRBY:  Thank you.

Q    Thanks, John.

MR. KIRBY:  Thank you, guys.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Okay.  All right.

Hi, Chris.  It’s been a while.  It actually has been a while.  Right?

Q    It actually has been.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  All right. 

Q    Question, first, on the war in Gaza.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    The UN secretary-general said the UN was willing to monitor any ceasefire deal.  Is that something the White House is interested in, perhaps taking them up on that offer? 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Say that one more time.

Q    The UN secretary-general said —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Oh.

Q    — the UN would monitor any ceasefire deal.  Is the White House interested in taking them up on that offer? 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Look, as you know, there is — and the admiral just spoke to this as well — we’re continuing to have those conversations.  We continue to want to make sure — right? — that we get these hostages home.  We want to make sure that we have an end to this war.  That’s what the president has said. 

And so, we are pursuing, certainly, all efforts — this is something that the president said — to secure a deal that would release, again, the hostages that are being held by Hamas. 

We cannot forget that the murder of the six hostages by Hamas and — has actually put us in a place where this is incredibly — even — the urgency is even more clear, right?  And the new demands they’ve made have called into questions — right? — Hamas’s readiness to do any deal at all and the sincerity of the negotiations.  And that’s what we see. 

So, even so, even though we’re hearing that, we want to continue to — to talk about the next steps with our co-mediators — this is Egypt and Qatar — and that’s what we’re doing.  That’s the focus. 

That’s what the president believes.  In order — the pa- — the best path forward is to get this hostage deal, and that’s what the president wants to see. 

Q    The vice president is preparing for a debate tomorrow night with Donald Trump.  Has the president spoken to the vice president about the upcoming debate?  And also, is he planning to watch it tomorrow night?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I can say — and I think I — I confirmed this last week in either a gaggle or at the briefing — which is that the president is going to watch the debate.  He’s looking forward to watching the debate. 

As — I’m not going to preview or — or confirm any conversations between the president and the vice president.  As you know, they speak often. 

The president is incredibly proud of the vice president.  I just don’t have anything to share beyond that.  But he will be watching.  We’ll be watching in — in New York tomorrow.

Q    Yeah, but is he wa- — what is he watching for?  I mean —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Oh, I’m — I’m not going to get into — into details.  But he’ll be watching.  He’ll be, obviously, supporting the vice president in her debate.  I just don’t have anything else to add to that. 

Thank you.

Go ahead.

Q    Thank you.  Can you confirm reports that the president is hoping to establish a U.S. sovereign wealth fund?  And do you have any estimated time of announcement for that?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I don’t have — certainly don’t have anything to — to announce from — from here.  But, look, the president has worked to unlock investments here at home and abroad that benefit our economic — our economy — right? — the economy and also our national security.  That is something that the president has worked to do for — in the past three and a half years. 

I just don’t have anything to announce at this time.

Go ahead.

Q    Thank you.  With Congress back today, can you just give us the broad White House view on the state of government funding negotiations?  And obviously, you issued the veto threat on the House Republicans’ proposal, but with that dead on arrival in the Senate —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, a couple of things.  I think the SAP — I think the SAP went out, so certainly would — would

direct you to that — that came out of the — this administration. 

But with the end of the fiscal year rapidly approaching, obviously, by the end of this — of this month in September, Congress needs to pass a short-term continuing resolution to provide more time to pass full-year funding bills. 

We urge Congress to do this quickly — to pass this quickly — to keep the government open.  It is really easy.  It’s like their number one job.  They know how to do this, to keep the government open, and provide that emergency funding for disaster needs — I just talked about that at the top, about the needs that we’re — we’re having just right now out West — as they have done on a bipartisan basis.

They’ve done this before many times in the past.  They need to get this done.

The proposal from House Republicans is not a solution.  It’s just not.  It contains a partisan poison bill [pill], would erode our national defense, undermine our competition with China, fail our veterans and seniors, abandon communities struck by disasters, and hurt programs that support small businesses while making healthy [wealthy] tax cheats pay what they owe.

So, House Republicans should stop wasting time — I’ve said this many times before — repeated at this podium — and to do their jobs for the American people by keeping the government open.  It is a simple job.  It’s their number-one job as Congress is to keep the government open.  And we believe it should be with a short-term CR.

Go ahead, Selina.

Q    On that point about government funding.  How is the White House engaging with the Hill on this?  And does the president have any plans to meet with congressional leaders in the coming days?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I’ll take your — the first question.  OMB, Leg Affairs Office are in close touch with House and Senate leadership on the need to pass a short-term CR to keep the government open.  And I laid out what it would do if we didn’t and what it would erode — example, for our national security, as we — we just had the National Security Council rep here. 

We’re coordinating with Democratic leadership on the best path forward for a short-term CR.  And so, this is something that, again, they need to do right away.  They — they’ve done it before — many times before in a bipartisan way.  It is their number-one job.  Again, OMB and our Leg Affairs Office.

And to your second question, the president speaks regularly with congressional leaders and gets updated regularly as well from his staff.  And Congress knows how to do this.  They do.  They know how to do this.  This is the most basic thing — most basic part of their job is to keep the government open.  So, they know this. 

They don’t need to hear from the — from the president on this directly.  They know this.  They know this, and they can do it in a bipartisan way, as they have in the past.

Q    And on the debate.  When’s the last time that President Biden spoke to Vice President Harris?  And do they plan to speak again before she takes this stage tomorrow night?  And just anything you could share about the advice or words of encouragement —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  (Laughs.)

Q    — or just what those conversations have been like?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I’m not going to — I’m not going to detail any private conversation that the president and the vice president has, whether it’s debate or not debate.  That’s not something that I’m going to do at all.  But I don’t — and I don’t have a readout of the last conversation that they’ve had. 

What I can say is that he’ll be watching.  He supports, obviously, the vice president; is very proud of her. 

And I just don’t have anything else to add.

Q    And will the president be watching with staff or his family tomorrow night?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  The president will definitely be watching.  I know I will.  I know you all will.  I don’t have anything beyond that.

Go ahead, Jacqui.

Q    Thank you, Karine. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Sure.

Q    Thirty-one percent of —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Good job on —

Q    Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  (Laughs.)

Q    It had wings, and now it’s dead.  (Laughter.)

Thirty-one percent of —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  (Inaudible.)  (Laughs.)

Q    I killed a bug, and you’re welcome.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  It was very dr- —

Q    Anyway.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  It was very dramatic.  (Laughs.)

Q    Someone had to do it.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I know, and the job was done.  The job was indeed done.

Q    Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  You got the job done, for sure.

Q    Thank you.

Thirty-one percent of registered voters said in a New York Times/Siena poll that they still need to learn more about Vice President Harris.  So, why is she spending so much time trying to define Trump and link him to Project 2025 rather than define herself?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I mean, look, those questions — obviously, those are campaign questions.  You would have to ask the campaign and that is for them to speak to. 

And what I will say is — what I can say is that as far as contrast, the contrast can’t be more clear — couldn’t be more clear.  If you think about four years ago, America was reeling.  It was reeling in a once-in-a-generation pandemic.  It was isolated from the world stor- — stage.  Crime was up.  The middle class was sidelined.  We saw an insurrection — an insurrection on January 6th in 2021 that the former president led. 

And so — and you think about today — where we are today: Three and a half years later, we have — we’re leading the strongest economy in the world.  You hear the comeback stories in places like Milwaukee to Dayton to Scranton, Pennsylvania.  And so, we are — we have done what people said we couldn’t do, which is turn the economy around, turn the country around, be a leader on the world stage. 

And I think it’s important for Americans to know and to be reminded where we were and where we are.

And look — and the president certainly agrees with her.  He agrees with her — you know, her — her leadership, her policy decisions.  He agrees with her when it comes to making sure that — you know, we need to make sure that we stop what MAGA- — MA- — MAGAnomics, right?  When you think about the $4,000 ta- — tax and — tax hike on working Americans. 

You mentioned Project 2025.  That’s something Republicans support.  Is a radical — radical idea — a rag- — radical policy agenda that’s going to — that’s going to do more harm to the American people —

Q    Trump has — Trump has repeatedly disavowed it, distanced himself from it.  I mean, you —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  And I said Republicans.  That’s something that Republicans support. 

Q    So, this is not anymore being cast as something that Trump embraces?  Let me just get that straight. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I mean, look, you’re — you — you asked me a couple things.  You asked me about the contrast, why she continues to make the contrast.  You have to talk to the campaign on what — on her strategy and how they’re moving forward. 

I laid out for you the contrast could not be more clear: where we were when we walked into this administration — when the president walked in to the administration; where we are today.  And that’s because of this leadership of this administration, the Biden-Harris administration.

Project ‘25 is something that Republicans — not going to speak to the president — the former president on this, but that Republicans are pushing.  It’s a radical idea. 

We’re talking about more radical abortion bans, cuts to law enforcement, cuts to education, repealing Affordable Care Act, re- — and repealing the Inflation Reduction Act, which, by the way, beats Big Pharma, which is something that — that many elected officials tried to do and couldn’t get done.  The Biden-Harris administration tried to get it done. 

That’s what I can speak to, and that’s just a reality.  That’s what’s in that agenda.  That’s what Republicans are pushing.  And that’s what I can lay out for you.

Q    Well, I know you’ll refer us to the campaign, but the campaign is not holding regular briefings.  They don’t have a forum — a Q&A forum like we have here.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Well, then, talk to them about that.

Q    And you’re the spokesperson for the Biden-Harris administration.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I can’t — I literally just — I just answered your question —

Q    Okay.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  — on why the contrast couldn’t be more clear. 

Q    I have one more.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I just answered your question about Project ‘25 and what it’s trying to do and what Republicans are supporting.  I just laid that out.

Q    I don’t think it was the question I asked, but I do appreciate the answer.  But —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  No, you asked me — you asked me why the — the vice president’s campaign — the Harris campaign —

Q    Yeah.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  — is not doing X, Y, and Z. 

I said to you, you’ve got to — you’ve got to talk to the — the vice president’s campaign.  And that is — there’s the Hatch Act.  I’ve got to be mindful to that.

Q    I understand.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  You know that.

Q    I understand.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  That is — I can’t answer that question, but —

Q    How about I try one different way?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  But I can talk to contrasts.  You asked me about contrasts, and I just laid it out.

Q    Thank you.  I appreciate that. 

Does President Biden define Vice President Harris as a progressive Democrat?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Look, the vice president has been a critical partner — a critical partner to this president.  All you’ve got to do is look at the record and what we have been able to do in the past three and a half years — the Biden-Harris administration has been able to do.  You think about the economy, you think about health care, and you think about these really important, generation-changing legislation that are now laws, obviously.

I just talked about beating Big Pharma.  That’s important.  That was the Inflation Reduction Act that only Democrats voted for.  Now Republicans want to repeal.  They want to take that away — take that away — taking away lowering costs for the American people.  And so — to be clear, lowering costs on medical care and — and pharmaceutical drugs and also energy bills, right?  That’s two really big part of the Inflation Reduction Act. 

The president — the president is not going to be labeling the vice president.  She has her policies that she — obviously that he’s in line with that they — that she has put forth in the past week or so.  He supports her.  He believes in her leadership.  And that’s what I can share with you.

Q    So, we are allowing for a contrast with Trump but not a contrast with other Democrats?  Because Senator Bernie Sanders, for instance —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — said that he still views her as a progressive Democrat.  He said she’s, in fact, not abandoning her ideals but making a pragmatic play toward the center to win the election. 

And that sends a chill down the spine of some people who might be in the middle or to the center-right —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — considering her and when she’s been trying to position herself —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — as a more moderate figure now than she was in 2020.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    Where — where does she stand exactly?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, first of all, the senator is going to speak for himself.  That’s for him to speak to.  I’m not going to get into a “I agree or disagree with him.” 

What I can tell you is this president believes in her leadership and believes in her bold policy agenda.  That is something that the president is in line with her on, right?  And we’re talking about strengthening the middle class.  That’s what we believe her pol- — her bold policy agenda continues to do, and that’s important. 

You hear the president talking about building a — building the economy from the bottom up, middle out, and strengthening the middle class.  We’re in line.  More oc- — economic opportunity — the president wants to see that. 

And we’re thinking — we’re talking about the tax cuts for working people, fighting corporate pricing gag- — gouging, lowering costs, having the wealthy pay their fair share.  We’re in line.  We’re in line with — with what the vice president is putting forth: her bold policy agenda to make sure that we do not leave people behind. 

I’m not going to stand here and label the vice president.  The senator has every right to say whatever he wants to say.  What I can say is the president agrees with her bold policy an- — agenda and — and her leadership. 

Go ahead.

Q    Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Wait — wait, did I just — didn’t I just call on you?

Okay.  Let me just try and get other people.  (Laughs.) 

Go ahead, Gerren.

Q    Thanks, Karine.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Gerren.

Q    The Congressional Black Caucus today released its Corporate Accountability Report on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion that asks corporate organizations to reaffirm their commitments to DEI, update on racial equity investments, and work with the CBC to create legislative solutions that will help close the racial wealth gap.  Does the admin- — administration have a reaction to this report?  Have they engaged with the CBC or advised them about this report at all?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, it just came out.  We hadn’t had a chance to review the report.  But you know this is something that this p- — this administration believes: how diversity is our strength.  You hear the president say this, and that is something that the president believes.  And that is true whether it’s in schools, our military, our businesses.  It is important.

And it is true for our government, where he has assembled the most diverse presidential administration in history.  That is something that this president and this vice president has done. 

And just a couple of things.  In June, when senior White House officials — they were able to welcome business executive and civil rights leaders to the White House for a dis- — a discussion on ensuring how Americans have access to economic opportunities.  That wasn’t that long ago, just a couple of months ago.  And at that event, business leaders joined civil rights leaders and congressional staff to share best practices and actions that will protect and create pathways to opportunities. 

So, this is an administration that understands that it is important to not leave any communities behind.  And I think what we’ve been able to show these three and a half years: how those communities who have felt behind, like they were left behind, are now included in the process.  They’re included in our policies.  They’re included in our legislation.  They’re included in how we move forward, even in executive actions, right? 

And this is a president that takes that very seriously.  He also believes it’s important to have those different voices at the table, hence having a very diverse — the most diverse administration. 

And so, while we haven’t — we haven’t gone through the study, what we can say: We believe diversity is indeed our strength.  It is important to continue to do that work, and that’s what you’re going to see from this administration. 

Q    And one other topic.  CBC is also, as you know, hosting their Annual Legislative Conference this week, and the president is hosting a Black Excellence brunch on Friday. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    Was that intentionally planned for this week with CBC?  And was this event — was — what can you share about the president’s remarks that he will be giving?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.  So, not going to get ahead of his remarks.  The president is looking very much forward to holding that brunch here, the Black Excellence brunch here on the South Lawn on Friday, as you just said. 

But I — I could share a little bit, just more broadly.  You can expect the president to speak about the enormous contribution that Black Americans have made to this nation — you’ve heard the president say that before as well — and — and continuing our efforts, as I just stated moments ago, about making sure that there are opportunities for all Americans — for all Americans, including Black Americans. 

So, that is something that the president certainly, I think, will touch on, and he — you’ll cer- — you will hear more from him on Friday.

Q    Is the president or vice president attending the Phoenix Awards and giving remarks this year —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  We’ll have more to share —

Q    — like they did in previous years?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  — in a couple of days.  We’ll have more to share. 

Go ahead, sir.

Q    (Inaudible) one on ADA.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, sir.  Go ahead, sir.

Q    Yeah.  On mental health parity.  Enforcement has long been an issue, and, you know, many plans haven’t complied with requirements over the years.  Does the administration plan — plan to be more aggressive in terms of enforcement going forward on this?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Well, anything that might be the legalities of it, I’m just not going to get into hypotheticals.  It’s obviously an issue that’s very important to us.  It’s a great step forward when you — when we talk about the mental health parity.  And it is.  It’s a parity, right?  Health care — mental health should be health care. 

And so, we’re going to certainly continue to — to make sure that effort is a key part of this administration in the next four or five months. 

Any legal stuff, I’m just not going to get into hypotheticals or anything like that.  But this will continue to be a priority that I can continue to be very clear on.

Go ahead, Kelly O.

Q    How would you describe the way in which, in briefings and in other White House communications since July 21st, you reference the vice president more?  We hear now more “Biden-Harris administration,” when, if we look back, it would have been much more focused on just the president.  So, as you do that, how do you describe the importance of, you know, in this official way —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — talking about her and — and linking her to the accomplishments? 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Look, I think it is important for Americans to know that the vice president has played a very big role in the success of this administration over the last three and a half years.  And we have said this before, even before July 21st, how much of a partner she’s been — a critical partner.  It is not the first time that we’ve said it.  Maybe we’re saying it more, to your point. 

But we’ve been pretty consistent in saying that their partnership is important and how — how she has had even a critical role, if you think about some of these historic pieces of legislation, where she was the — you know, she was that vote — the vote that she made in the Senate — helped pass that legislation and turn it into law — the Inflation Reduction Act, for example. 

And so, you know, I — I think it is important to note how much of a key partner that she’s been, and that’s something that the president wants us to do.  He wants us to — to make clear to the American people that Vice President Harris has been here from day one, obviously, and has had a — a leadership role and will continue to do that. 

Q    And do you see that as a part of her introducing herself to the country, which is something her campaign has talked about —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — but, again, in this official lane —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  No, I get the official lane.  Look, I — I don’t want to get into murky — murky waters here by — by getting into her s- — her own strategy.  That is certainly something for — for her to speak to.  But we want to make sure that people understand, the American people understand that this continues to be a partnership.  This is a partnership.  And we’ve said that before.  We’ve said that throughout the last three and a half years. 

And — and, you know, the president respects her leadership.  He respects her bold policy ideas, as I was speaking to Jacqui about back and forth moments ago.  And he supports that.  And — and I think it’s important for the American people to be very — understand that, to be very clear.  And that’s one thing that we want to be very clear about from here.

Go ahead, in the back.

Q    The Office of Management and Budget has asked federal agencies to start thinking about the transition, that regardless of where we are in a couple months —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — and who wins, there’s going to be some kind of transition.  How are you all thinking about that?  How is the president thinking about that — especially given I know at the beginning of this administration, a frequent refrain from your office was, “We didn’t have a lot of help during the transition from” —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — “agencies within the government, people within the government.”  How are you all thinking about what you want that to look like?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, let me just state this first so that folks who are watching understand, because I know you all understand this.  What is happening right now is common.  It is not unusual.  It is something that every administration at this point, who are clearly coming to the end of their administration, have to do.  So, it’s a — a common process, nothing — nothing unusual there. 

I’m sure we will have more to share, to your question.  But, you know, the president — look, when it comes to the job that he has had for the, you know, last three and a half years, almost four years, he takes that very seriously. 

He takes everything that he does, everything that comes out of this administration, very seriously because it’s about the American people; it’s not about him.  And in order to have a — a successful government, he has to have that leadership to make sure it’s a successful government, right?  It doesn’t matter for him or whoever is next. 

So, I’m certain we’ll have more to share.  But, again, it’s not unusual.  The president — president is always going to do what’s right for the American people, and this is part of that.

Q    The last transition was — you’re talking about how it’s not unusual for government to start thinking about that.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    But the last transition was anything but usual. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah, I agree with you.  I’m not disagreeing.

Q    (Laughs.)  Not disputed.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  But that’s not going to be th- — what this president does. 

Q    Has he given any specific guidance?  Has your colleagues begun thinking about how you want to make it different?  I mean —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — four years ago —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  We’re —

Q    — was not normal —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  We’re — we’re —

Q    — for a lot reasons.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  You are exactly right.  I’m not disagreeing with you.  And we do not want to go back there.  Right?  We do not want that.  We do not want to repeat what we saw the last time around in the last administration.  It’s not — it should not be about someone’s personal agenda.  It should be about the American people. 

And I think if you’ve seen anything, especially these last pa- — past couple of months from this president, is that he cares.  He puts the American people first.  And that’s how — in your question, that’s what he’s going to do.  He’s going to do what’s right for the American people and how do we move forward in the way that we put them first.  That’s the best that I can answer that for you. 

Go ahead.

Q    Thank you. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  No — no problem.

Q    Hi, Karine.  Good to see you. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Good to see you.

Q    I’m wondering what the White House makes of former President Trump’s comments over the weekend, saying, “When I win, those people who cheated” in elections in 2020 and 2024 “will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”  Have you seen those comments?  Has the president seen those comments?  And what do you make of them?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Look, I can say I have not spoken to the president about those types of comments.  And, look — and I want to be careful because obviously he’s saying it as — in his campaign capacity.  But those — that type of rhetoric is dangerous.  This is not who we are as a country.  This is a democracy.  And — and so, that’s what the president believes.  That type of rhetori- — rhetoric is — coming from, you know, a former president is dangerous. 

I mean, we saw what happened on January 6 in 2021.  Two thousand people went to the Capitol.  You all — some of your colleagues reported on this.  Some of your colleagues were there.  Law enforcement members were attacked. 

It was a dark day in our country because our democracy was attacked.  And they went there because they were told that they should overturn an election — a free and fair election where dozens — dozens of Republican judges said that it was indeed a free and fair election. 

And so, that type of rhetoric is dangerous and unacceptable, and that is not what this president believes.

Q    Just a quick question —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah, sure.

Q    — on voters, in particular.  As the president makes some outreach to Black lawmakers, I wonder if he’s going to make some outreach to Black voters.  Specifically, th- — the campaigns — both campaigns are working to do that in states like Georgia —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — and perhaps some of that economic message is getting lost with some Black voters.  If you talk to them, they have a different picture of the Trump economy than they do the Biden economy, so to speak.  How is the president and the vice president going to talk directly to Black voters about the economic issues at hand?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I got to be careful, because you’re asking me about —

Q    Sure.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  — a strategic play, a campaign play, when you’re saying voters — Black voters, in particular, in your question here.  So, you would have to ask the campaign specifically on how they’re going to do that, what their outreach are going to — is going to be —

Q    But in terms of the record and (inaudible) —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  And I — and I hear the question.  So, I just want to — I just have to be really clear. 

Q    Sure.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  We respect Hatch Act.  We respect the law here.  So, I can’t speak to a strategy here.

But it is — what you have seen this president, this administration do — cabinet secretaries, this president, obviously, the vice president in her official ca- — capacity — is that we try to go out there, right?  We go out there.  We meet the American people where they are.  We talk about what this — what we have done in this administration over three and a half years.  We talk about how we’ve been able to rebuild the economy.  We talk about how we’re leading the economy in — in the world — right? — the strongest economy in the world. 

And it is not done by accident.  It was not by accident, right?  It is because the president — and Democrats in Congress, when we think about the American Rescue Plan, which helped turn things around, put checks in pockets — right? — were able to do that — put shots in arms — right? — so we can deal with a once-in-a-generation pandemic.  It was not easy, but we were able to get this done.

Now, do we understand that some Americans are not feeling that?  Yeah, we get that.  We understand.  That’s why the president is going to continue to talk about ways to lower cost.

You saw the president and the vice president recently, a couple of weeks ago — or just last week — no — no, a couple weeks ago — talk about how — you know, the drugs that are going to be lowered in cost because they were able to beat Big Pharma.  And so, now Medicare is able to do those negot- — that matters.  That matters to Americans.  So, we’re just going to have to continue to talk about it, let Americans know.

I can’t speak to the campaign strategy.  That’s something that they’ll — they’ll speak to.  But the president believes it’s also his job to communicate directly with the American people and to let them know what we’re doing: the economy, health care, climate change, even on the — on the world stage and how we’re being — and our leadership and how we’re leading in that way. 

And so, you know, it’s continued.  We’re going to continue to do that, be out there.

Go ahead.

Q    Recently, the U.S. identified the first case of H5N1 in a person that had no known animal contact.  And I wonder if that changes the posture of the White House’s pandemic office, or if there’s any updates as to how the administration is tackling this outbreak.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, look, we take all of this very, very seriously.  So, what we’re going to continue to do is continue to monitor and help states where it’s needed — right? — assist — assist where it’s needed. 

I don’t have an update for you, but obviously our number one priority when it comes to the pandemic office and also other — other White House offices and what we’re trying to do here is we want to make sure that American people feel safe in communities out there.  And so, we’re going to monitor it.

I don’t have an update for you at — here at this time.  But we take this very, very seriously. 

I think we’re going to start wrapping up. 

Go ahead. 

AIDE:  Time for (inaudible).

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Ed.

I know.

Q    Thanks, Karine.  I want to ask you about jobs.  So, the Biden-Harris administration —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Sorry. (Laughs.)

Q    Yeah.  (Laughs.)  The Biden-Harris administration has been touting manufacturing jobs —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah, yeah.

Q    — for the pa- — for past year.  But the last jobs report showed that manufacturing lost 24,000 jobs.  And the trend over the past three months has been a loss of 11,000 jobs per month on average in manufacturing.  So, why is it going the wrong direction?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, look, we pay attention, obviously, to all these reports. 

What we — what we also want to do — yes, we pay attention to reports, we pay attention to data, but we also want to make sure it’s taken into context.  And so, we can’t lose that as well. 

A couple of things.  You know, manufat- — manufacturing investment has hit all-time highs for six consecutive quarters.  That’s important.  Factory construction has more than doubled to an all-time high.  And it — also, it takes time for factories to build and — to be built and, also, manufacturing jobs to be created. 

And so, what we — what we created — but we’ve created over 1.6 million jobs in manufacturing and construction.  So, you’ve got to put this all into context. 

And we’ve seen businesses invest more than $900 billion in manufacturing and clean energy.  And a — one analyst said, and I quote them, “After years of inaction, America is now building factories at a rapid rate.”  And that is because of what we’ve been doing, which is investing in America. 

And there’s always more work to be done, and that’s one — something that you can see from this administration. 

Q    So — so, you need more time?  Is there a time frame as to when those jobs would materialize?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Loo- — I — I don’t have a time frame for you.  But what I can say is we got to take them all into context, right?  We do. 

Like, data is important; we pay attention to reports.  But we can’t miss what we’ve seen the last six months — right? — consecutive six months as well.  We can’t discount the investment that this administration has been able to make into manufacturing, right?  We can’t discount the 1.6 million jobs that have been created.  That is important. 

The $900 billion in investment — we can’t discount any of that, right?  That has to be put into the context as we’re looking at that — this particular question that you’re asking me about manufacturing jobs. 

All right, everybody.  Thank you so much. 

(Cross-talk.)

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Thank you so much.

2:58 P.M. EDT

The post Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby appeared first on The White House.

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

2:04 P.M. EDT

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Hi, everybody.  Good afternoon.  Good afternoon. 

Okay.  I have a couple things at the top.  Please bear with me. 

So, on Saturday, a suspect shot and injured five individuals along Interstate 75 in Kentucky and is still at large.  We’re praying for those who were injured and wishing them a speedy recovery. 

The president was briefed over the weekend, and he urges residents to remain vigilant and listen to local officials as they continue to investigate.  The administration is in touch with state and local officials, and federal law enforcement is supporting the local investigation and efforts to apprehend the suspects.

Next, we are praying for the thousands of Americans under mandatory evacuations under orders out West.  Senior administration officials are monitoring the fires, including the Line fire in California and the Davis fire in Nevada, and are in close touch with state and local leaders to ensure they have the resources they need. 

Over 7,000 federal personnel are supporting local firefighting efforts across multiple states.  Residents in the affected areas should remain vigilant and heed the warnings of local officials, especially those who have been ordered to evacuate. 

President Biden and Vice President Harris believe that health care is a right, not a privilege, and that mental health care is health care, period.  But for millions of Americans, care for mental health and substance use conditions is still hard to find and hard to afford. 

Today, the Biden-Harris administration is taking a step forward, changing that by placing new requirements on health plans that will improve and strengthen access to mental health care for 175 million Americans with private health insurance. 

For the president, it’s simple.  If you have a mental health crisis, you should be able to access the care that you need the same way you acc- — access care for a broken bone or a heart attack. 

Addressing mental health crisis is a key priority for this president, for this administration.  And the steps being taken today will dramatically expand access to mental health care in America. 

And finally, later this afternoon, the president will — will be joined by elected officials and advocates to celebrate the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disability Act and mark Disability Pride Month.

One of the president’s first acts — acts as a U.S. senator was cosponsoring the Rehabilitation Act, which banned discrimination on the basis of disability by any entity funded by the federal government and paved the way for the Americans with Disability Act. 

Since taking office, President Biden and Vice President Harris have carried the same commitment to ensuring disabled Americans are treated with dignity, respect, and inclusion to live and thrive in their communities.

Under the president — under this administration, the Biden-Harris administration, Americans with disabilities have seen historic increases in employment and earnings, and the administration has taken significant steps to protect civil rights and promote full participation in society.  And that work will continue. 

With that, I will turn it over to my colleague, Admiral John Kirby, who is here to take some questions on the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s report released yesterday on the Afghanistan withdrawal.

With that, Admiral.

MR. KIRBY:  Thank you, Karine.

Good afternoon, everybody. 

Q    Good afternoon.

MR. KIRBY:  As you saw today, House Republicans released their investigation report into Afghanistan withdrawal.  This comes, of course, two years after their first report, and this one says little or nothing new.

We’ve already issued comment about the one-sided, partisan nature of this report, so I’m not going to belabor that right now, but I do think a brief rundown of actual facts is important. 

First, on the very day this administration took office, the Taliban was in the strongest position it had been in years, and the Afghan government the weakest.

The Trump administration cut a deal called the Doha Agreement that mandated a complete U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and, yes, that included Bagram Air Base by the end of May 2021.  That deal also released 5,000 Taliban fighters from prison — 5,000 fighters. 

In return, the Taliban agreed not to attack U.S. troops, which is a good thing because the former president reduced our presence in Afghanistan from about 14,000 down to 2,500.

As General Frank McKenzie, former commander of U.S. Central Command, said himself in testimony, the Doha — Doha deal had a, quote, “really pernicious effect,” unquote, on the Afghan government and military.

As we saw, it demoralized them and it disenfranchised them.  They knew right then and there that America was on its way out. 

Indeed, in October of 2020, then-President Trump ordered his military to rush the exit from Afghanistan and have everybody leave by Christmas of that year. 

President Biden, for his part, faced a stark choice when he came to office: abide by the flawed agreement and end America’s longest war or blow up the deal, extend the war, and see a much smaller contingent of American troops back in combat with the Taliban. 

He chose the former, and he was able to buy additional time to prepare for that withdrawal all the way into the summer, and we as a nation are safer for it. 

Any and every discussion about what happened in Afghanistan has to start right there.  Sadly, the report does not dwell on it. 

Now, there’s some other falsehoods — too many to mention, but a few do stand out, and I would like to tick them off if you don’t mind. 

One, there was, in fact, planning for evacuations — planning that started in the spring of 2021 and included all the requisite agencies.  In fact, the Department of Defense pre-positioned military units in the region so that once a decision had been reached to evacuate, they would be poised to respond in a timely fashion. 

Two, there was no fine-tuned assessment of how fast things would unfold in August of 2021.  It all moved a lot faster than anyone anticipated.  As the Taliban moved in, Afghan forces stopped fighting, and the Ghani government fled. 

As then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said, quote, “Nothing that I saw indicated a collapse of this army and this government in 11 days,” end quote. 

Two — or, I’m sorry, three, there was no point in securing Bagram Air Base for use during the evacuation.  Doing so would not only have required thousands of additional U.S. troops but also would have required a dangerous trek by evacuees over Taliban-controlled territory, making the evacuation even more difficult to execute than it already was.

Four, there was no handover of U.S. equipment to the Taliban.  That equipment had been provided to Afghan Security Forces, appropriately and with congressional approval, over the course of two decades of war.  That equipment was left by those Afghan forces when they surrendered or stopped fighting.

And five, there was no deception, lying, or lack of transparency by this administration either during or after the withdrawal.  We did the best we could every day to keep the American people informed of what was happening.  We conducted our own after-action reports and shared those, too, with the public.  And, as I mentioned, we cooperated extensively in this investigation and to contin- — and we continue to work with the War Commission.

Ending wars is more difficult than starting them.  President Biden knew that; he acknowledged that.  But it doesn’t mean that the decision to end this one was wrong or that the withdrawal wasn’t conducted as professionally and as bravely as was humanly possible given the circumstances.

It doesn’t mean we don’t grieve and mourn with the families of those whose lives were tragically taken during the withdrawal, especially at Abbey Gate on the 26th of August of that year.

And it doesn’t mean that we don’t still look with awe and admiration at the many thousands of men and women who waged this war over the course of 20 years — troops, diplomats, intelligence experts, contractors, and civilian employees from this and dozens of other nations.  They accomplished the mission for which they were sent to Afghanistan.  They helped make us a safer nation. 

Sadly, 2,461 of them did not make it home.  And many of those who did still struggle with the wounds of war, seen and unseen.  As the president has said, we owe them and their families a debt of gratitude that can never be fully repaid.

But now that the war is over, our nation can better focus on other pressing national security interests around the world.  We would do well in all this partisan rancor over the withdrawal to remember that.

I’ll take some questions.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Okay.  Go ahead, Selina.

Q    Thanks, Admiral.  It’s been reported that Iran has sent short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine.  Can you confirm that this transfer happened?  And how concerning is this?

MR. KIRBY:  I cannot confirm the reports that the transfer has happened.

But I would point you to what we have said in the past that — that any such provision of that kind of technology

would not only have a deleterious effect on the Ukrainians’ ability to continue to defend themselves — and certainly on the lives and livelihoods of Ukrainians — but could, depending on what the deal — how it’s consummated, have — have equally deleterious effects on the Middle East. 

An — an Iran that already has an improving ballistic-missile program, we — we could only assume, would — would want to stand to gain from some sort of partnership with Russia to improve their — their capabilities in the region.  And, of course, given all their destabilizing activities, that’s a dangerous outcome. 

Q    And is the White House prepared to increase pressure on Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire deal, potentially doing something similar as the United Kingdom in terms of withholding more weapons?

MR. KIRBY:  I can’t think of anything we haven’t put more pressure on ourselves than to try to get this deal.  And we still — I think I just drew on myself.  I think — I think

we — we know how urgent this is, and we’re working night and day to try to see if we can get a deal in place.  Hamas is the main obstacle to this right now. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Danny.

Q    Thanks, Karine.  Thanks, Admiral.  A couple of things.

Firstly, on Afghanistan.  So, are you — would you argue that the withdrawal is a success?  Or do you admit that there were failings involved in that?

MR. KIRBY:  We have — I’d point you to the after-action report, where I think we’ve been very clear about the planning efforts and the execution of the — of the plan.  No plan of any operation whatsoever ever goes exactly according to the dictates by which you laid it out. 

Clearly, there were moments of great violence and there were moments of — of mission execution that didn’t go exactly the way we wanted it to go.  I mean, I’m not — nobody has walked away from that.

But in the main, we were able to get 120-some — 120,000-some-odd folks out of there safely with an airplane taking off about once every hour.  And, again, we’ve laid it all out in our after-action report that the State Department did, that the Department of Defense did, that we did here. 

Q    And, sorry, just very briefly on — on the point about Keir Starmer’s visit and — and Gaza.  Is the president going to be pressing Prime Minister Starmer to perhaps reverse his decision on the arms sales?  Or — or, conversely, might he be seeking some advice about m- — you know, about how, you know, the U.S. might do that and (inaudible) —

MR. KIRBY:  We’re looking forward to the visit.  There’s an awful lot to discuss.  I think you can expect the prime minister and the president to talk about what’s going on in Ukraine, let’s talk about the Middle East, even in the Indo-Pacific. 

This isn’t about twisting arms or trying to change minds.  The British government has made their determination about arms provisions to — to Israel.  We respect that.  That’s for them to speak to. 

This is about how we move together as principal allies and — and good friends on a range of foreign policy issues.  And I think it’s fair to say that — that as part of this meeting on Friday, it will focus heavily on an extended agenda of foreign policy issues — expanded agenda. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Ed.

Q    Thanks, Karine.  Admiral, there have been requests — or there have been signals from congressional Republicans they’d like to continue this investigation into what happened in Afghanistan.  Has the White House received any more requests for people to testify?  Would they entertain them?

MR. KIRBY:  I’m not aware of any additional requests for more testimony. 

Q    Has anyone from the White House or the prior administration been invited to tomorrow’s Gold Medal ceremony for the families of the 13 service members who died?

MR. KIRBY:  There will be — there will be quite a few from the Department of Defense, both in terms of active-duty admirals and generals and civilian political appointees in high leadership positions that will be there.

Q    And on the — going back to, sort of, accountability and — and after-action.  Was anyone ever held accountable by the president directly for what happened with the withdrawal in Afghanistan?  And, if not, remind the audience why not. 

MR. KIRBY:  We have all held ourselves accountable for the progress of the withdrawal across the administration.  And it was a true interagency effort to get those 120,000 people out and to make sure we removed our diplomats and our military personnel safely. 

As I said, Ed, not everything went according to plan.  Nothing ever does.  And we mourn the loss of — of those 13 lives at Abbey Gate every single day here.  Their sacrifice doesn’t — doesn’t — is not forgotten.

But, again, we — we hold ourselves all accountable for that.

Q    One other part of the world, because there’s been some movement regarding Venezuela just in the last day.  The opposition candidate, Edmundo González, is now in Spain seeking — or expected to be granted political asylum. 

There’s been a lot written reporting in the last few days about what the administration may or may not be trying to do to get Maduro to leave by the end of the year before his next term would begin, even though U.S. and others don’t necessarily think he has. 

What is the latest on what the U.S. is trying to do, and would they ever help González come back to Venezuela?

MR. KIRBY:  I won’t get into hypotheticals one way or another about Mr. González and what his future might — might be.  He wouldn’t have had to seek political asylum if he wasn’t accused of trumped-up, ridiculous charges and — and forced in that manner to — to flee his own country.

What needs to happen next is Mr. Maduro needs to heed the call of the international community — and, quite frankly, the Venezuelan people — and release the data so that the whole world can see what the Venezuelan people — who they voted for and that their democratic aspirations are met.

We have, in the past — you’ve seen — levied sanctions against Mr. Maduro and his regime.  I don’t have any announcements today, but I can tell you we’re constantly looking at what our options could be going forward, depending on the decisions that Maduro makes.

Q    And does the White House anticipate any surge in illegal border crossings or attempts to do so because of the instability in Venezuela (inaudible)?

MR. KIRBY:  Haven’t seen that play out.  I mean, obviously we’re watching this as closely as we can.  As you well know, the numbers at the southern border have reduced and reduced significantly in the past months.  But have not seen any indications of the surge coming out of Venezuela.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Okay.  Go ahead.

Q    John, China said that they’ll be holding joint naval air drills with Russia starting this month.  What’s the level of concern from the administration that these two countries are — are cooperating?  Is this a sign of deepening cooperation?

MR. KIRBY:  I think it is, sure.  We’ve been watching this defense relationship grow and deepen over the last couple of years to include the — the exercise of their militaries in both the air, at sea, and even on the ground. 

So, we’ll watch it like we all — like we watch all exercises, but I don’t — look, these are two nations that don’t have a long history of working well together, certainly not militarily.  These are two nations that don’t necessarily fully trust one another in the region or beyond, arou- — around the world.

So, I see no reason for us to change our own military posture or deterrent posture as a result of this exercise.  This is a long-planned exercise.  It’s a part of their — their regimen.  So, we’ll watch it and — and monitor, but — but there’s no — you know, there’s no dramatic, imminent concern about it.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  All right.  Just a couple more.  Go ahead.

Q    Thank you, John.  Firstly, on China.  There are a raft of bills up for a vote in Congress this week that have to do with keeping China from accessing the Inflation Reduction Act funding, that limit their EV market, that try to counter their influence on culture. 

Are these things that the administration supports, and do we expect to see these carried through in — in the Harris administration?

MR. KIRBY:  Let’s see where it goes.  I don’t talk — I don’t like to talk about draft legislation one way or the other.

Q    Okay.  Well, let’s talk about Afghanistan, then.  Chairman McCaul drew a direct line and countered something you just said, which is he said, “They helped make us a safer nation.”  He believes that the withdrawal from Afghanistan —

(A reporter swats an insect in the room.)

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  (Inaudible), Jacqui.  (Laughs.)

Q    Do you need a minute?

He argues that the withdrawal from Afghanistan has, in fact, made the United States more susceptible to terrorism because of those prisoners released from Bagram. 

What can you say to the American people to assure them that this administration is trying to keep them safe?  And how safe are they?

MR. KIRBY:  Well, just go on CENTCOM’s website; look at the press releases that they send every time they take out a leader of ISIS or an al Qaeda leader. 

We have proven the case about over-the-horizon counterterrorism capability to a fare-thee-well.  Now that doesn’t mean we’re sitting back, resting fat, dumb, and happy.  That’s the kind of capability you have to keep working at and keep trying to improve.  And we are.

I think it’s also important to look at what else is going around the world.  You know who — who would have loved for us to be stuck in Afghanistan for another 20 years is President Putin, President Xi.  They would have loved that.  But now, because we’re not in a ground war in Afghanistan — a ground war for which the original mission had long since been accomplished — we’re able to focus on those more — those more modern and relevant threats to our national security posed by — by nation-states and non-nation-states around the world.

But as for counterterrorism capability, again, we have proven time and time again that we are able to monitor the threat and deal with the threat — sometimes in near real time, if need be.  Not taking it for granted, not saying we don’t always have to keep sharpening it, but, believe me, we’re focused on it.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  All right.  Just a couple more.  Go ahead.

Q    Administration officials have said that after the six hostages were killed earlier this month that Hamas changed the terms of the deal.  Did Hamas explicitly tell mediators that there are new terms, that they want more prisoners released?  And would you still characterize negotiations as on the verge of a ceasefire and hostage deal?

MR. KIRBY:  To your first question, yes, Hamas did change some of the terms of — of the exchange, and that has made it more difficult for us to get there.

I’m sorry.  And your second question was?

Q    Would you still characterize the deal as “on the verge”?

MR. KIRBY:  We still believe that, even for the — the new amendments that Hamas has made, that — that it’s still worth an effort to try to see if we can’t get back into a ceasefire negotiation.  But we’re not there right now.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Kelly.

Q    Sir, there’s a report that the president is convening his national security team on this issue today.  Obviously, it’s not on his public schedule.  Is there anything more you can say about who he’s bringing in or what he’s doing, or is this part of the ongoing conversation?

MR. KIRBY:  I think that was a little bit of a — a miscommunication, Kelly.  What — what was being referred to was his normal presidential daily briefing, where he’s presented with the intelligence of the day and has a chance to speak to some members of his national security team when he does that.  It was not a major NSC meeting.

Q    Thanks, John.  The American citizen killed in the West Bank on Friday, Aysenur Eygi.  Has the president had a chance to speak to her family at all?  And do you have any sense of where the investigation stands?  I know that you all had asked for the ball to get rolling on an investigation into her death.  Do you know if there are any updates on that?

MR. KIRBY:  He has not spoken to the family as of yet.  I don’t have a call to s- — to talk about today.  Obviously, we continue to mourn with — with her family, of course.

The Israelis have reached out, made sure that we knew that they were promptly investigating this.  As I understand it, from just before I came out here, they are moving swiftly on this investigation and will soon, we think, in coming days, be able to present their — their findings and conclusions.  We’ll obviously withhold our judgment until we see that.  We’ve called for a complete, thorough, swift, and transparent investigation.  We’ll — we’ll see — we’ll see what they learn. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Okay.  Final question.  Go ahead.

Q    Oh.  Hi.  Thank you.  Do you have any response to Russian drones violating NATO member states Latvia and Romania over the weekend?

MR. KIRBY:  I think you talk about reports that parts of drones, I think —

Q    Parts.

MR. KIRBY:  — have landed in Allied territory, if you will.  This is, unfortunately, not a new development, as it happened over the course of the war in Ukraine where missile fragments or drone fragments sometimes get caught up in the combat and the air combat and land in a neighboring nation. 

We watch that closely, as you might imagine.  We’re in close touch with our Allies and partners about that.  But — but it’s just — it just underscores the — the danger that Mr. Putin’s war in Ukraine has now caused to the whole European continent and the fact that the security landscape has changed — not is changing, not will change, but actually has changed — which is why we’re doing everything we can to make sure Ukraine can defend itself. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  All right.  Thank you so much, Admiral.

MR. KIRBY:  Thank you.

Q    Thanks, John.

MR. KIRBY:  Thank you, guys.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Okay.  All right.

Hi, Chris.  It’s been a while.  It actually has been a while.  Right?

Q    It actually has been.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  All right. 

Q    Question, first, on the war in Gaza.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    The UN secretary-general said the UN was willing to monitor any ceasefire deal.  Is that something the White House is interested in, perhaps taking them up on that offer? 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Say that one more time.

Q    The UN secretary-general said —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Oh.

Q    — the UN would monitor any ceasefire deal.  Is the White House interested in taking them up on that offer? 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Look, as you know, there is — and the admiral just spoke to this as well — we’re continuing to have those conversations.  We continue to want to make sure — right? — that we get these hostages home.  We want to make sure that we have an end to this war.  That’s what the president has said. 

And so, we are pursuing, certainly, all efforts — this is something that the president said — to secure a deal that would release, again, the hostages that are being held by Hamas. 

We cannot forget that the murder of the six hostages by Hamas and — has actually put us in a place where this is incredibly — even — the urgency is even more clear, right?  And the new demands they’ve made have called into questions — right? — Hamas’s readiness to do any deal at all and the sincerity of the negotiations.  And that’s what we see. 

So, even so, even though we’re hearing that, we want to continue to — to talk about the next steps with our co-mediators — this is Egypt and Qatar — and that’s what we’re doing.  That’s the focus. 

That’s what the president believes.  In order — the pa- — the best path forward is to get this hostage deal, and that’s what the president wants to see. 

Q    The vice president is preparing for a debate tomorrow night with Donald Trump.  Has the president spoken to the vice president about the upcoming debate?  And also, is he planning to watch it tomorrow night?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I can say — and I think I — I confirmed this last week in either a gaggle or at the briefing — which is that the president is going to watch the debate.  He’s looking forward to watching the debate. 

As — I’m not going to preview or — or confirm any conversations between the president and the vice president.  As you know, they speak often. 

The president is incredibly proud of the vice president.  I just don’t have anything to share beyond that.  But he will be watching.  We’ll be watching in — in New York tomorrow.

Q    Yeah, but is he wa- — what is he watching for?  I mean —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Oh, I’m — I’m not going to get into — into details.  But he’ll be watching.  He’ll be, obviously, supporting the vice president in her debate.  I just don’t have anything else to add to that. 

Thank you.

Go ahead.

Q    Thank you.  Can you confirm reports that the president is hoping to establish a U.S. sovereign wealth fund?  And do you have any estimated time of announcement for that?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I don’t have — certainly don’t have anything to — to announce from — from here.  But, look, the president has worked to unlock investments here at home and abroad that benefit our economic — our economy — right? — the economy and also our national security.  That is something that the president has worked to do for — in the past three and a half years. 

I just don’t have anything to announce at this time.

Go ahead.

Q    Thank you.  With Congress back today, can you just give us the broad White House view on the state of government funding negotiations?  And obviously, you issued the veto threat on the House Republicans’ proposal, but with that dead on arrival in the Senate —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, a couple of things.  I think the SAP — I think the SAP went out, so certainly would — would

direct you to that — that came out of the — this administration. 

But with the end of the fiscal year rapidly approaching, obviously, by the end of this — of this month in September, Congress needs to pass a short-term continuing resolution to provide more time to pass full-year funding bills. 

We urge Congress to do this quickly — to pass this quickly — to keep the government open.  It is really easy.  It’s like their number one job.  They know how to do this, to keep the government open, and provide that emergency funding for disaster needs — I just talked about that at the top, about the needs that we’re — we’re having just right now out West — as they have done on a bipartisan basis.

They’ve done this before many times in the past.  They need to get this done.

The proposal from House Republicans is not a solution.  It’s just not.  It contains a partisan poison bill [pill], would erode our national defense, undermine our competition with China, fail our veterans and seniors, abandon communities struck by disasters, and hurt programs that support small businesses while making healthy [wealthy] tax cheats pay what they owe.

So, House Republicans should stop wasting time — I’ve said this many times before — repeated at this podium — and to do their jobs for the American people by keeping the government open.  It is a simple job.  It’s their number-one job as Congress is to keep the government open.  And we believe it should be with a short-term CR.

Go ahead, Selina.

Q    On that point about government funding.  How is the White House engaging with the Hill on this?  And does the president have any plans to meet with congressional leaders in the coming days?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I’ll take your — the first question.  OMB, Leg Affairs Office are in close touch with House and Senate leadership on the need to pass a short-term CR to keep the government open.  And I laid out what it would do if we didn’t and what it would erode — example, for our national security, as we — we just had the National Security Council rep here. 

We’re coordinating with Democratic leadership on the best path forward for a short-term CR.  And so, this is something that, again, they need to do right away.  They — they’ve done it before — many times before in a bipartisan way.  It is their number-one job.  Again, OMB and our Leg Affairs Office.

And to your second question, the president speaks regularly with congressional leaders and gets updated regularly as well from his staff.  And Congress knows how to do this.  They do.  They know how to do this.  This is the most basic thing — most basic part of their job is to keep the government open.  So, they know this. 

They don’t need to hear from the — from the president on this directly.  They know this.  They know this, and they can do it in a bipartisan way, as they have in the past.

Q    And on the debate.  When’s the last time that President Biden spoke to Vice President Harris?  And do they plan to speak again before she takes this stage tomorrow night?  And just anything you could share about the advice or words of encouragement —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  (Laughs.)

Q    — or just what those conversations have been like?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I’m not going to — I’m not going to detail any private conversation that the president and the vice president has, whether it’s debate or not debate.  That’s not something that I’m going to do at all.  But I don’t — and I don’t have a readout of the last conversation that they’ve had. 

What I can say is that he’ll be watching.  He supports, obviously, the vice president; is very proud of her. 

And I just don’t have anything else to add.

Q    And will the president be watching with staff or his family tomorrow night?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  The president will definitely be watching.  I know I will.  I know you all will.  I don’t have anything beyond that.

Go ahead, Jacqui.

Q    Thank you, Karine. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Sure.

Q    Thirty-one percent of —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Good job on —

Q    Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  (Laughs.)

Q    It had wings, and now it’s dead.  (Laughter.)

Thirty-one percent of —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  (Inaudible.)  (Laughs.)

Q    I killed a bug, and you’re welcome.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  It was very dr- —

Q    Anyway.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  It was very dramatic.  (Laughs.)

Q    Someone had to do it.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I know, and the job was done.  The job was indeed done.

Q    Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  You got the job done, for sure.

Q    Thank you.

Thirty-one percent of registered voters said in a New York Times/Siena poll that they still need to learn more about Vice President Harris.  So, why is she spending so much time trying to define Trump and link him to Project 2025 rather than define herself?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I mean, look, those questions — obviously, those are campaign questions.  You would have to ask the campaign and that is for them to speak to. 

And what I will say is — what I can say is that as far as contrast, the contrast can’t be more clear — couldn’t be more clear.  If you think about four years ago, America was reeling.  It was reeling in a once-in-a-generation pandemic.  It was isolated from the world stor- — stage.  Crime was up.  The middle class was sidelined.  We saw an insurrection — an insurrection on January 6th in 2021 that the former president led. 

And so — and you think about today — where we are today: Three and a half years later, we have — we’re leading the strongest economy in the world.  You hear the comeback stories in places like Milwaukee to Dayton to Scranton, Pennsylvania.  And so, we are — we have done what people said we couldn’t do, which is turn the economy around, turn the country around, be a leader on the world stage. 

And I think it’s important for Americans to know and to be reminded where we were and where we are.

And look — and the president certainly agrees with her.  He agrees with her — you know, her — her leadership, her policy decisions.  He agrees with her when it comes to making sure that — you know, we need to make sure that we stop what MAGA- — MA- — MAGAnomics, right?  When you think about the $4,000 ta- — tax and — tax hike on working Americans. 

You mentioned Project 2025.  That’s something Republicans support.  Is a radical — radical idea — a rag- — radical policy agenda that’s going to — that’s going to do more harm to the American people —

Q    Trump has — Trump has repeatedly disavowed it, distanced himself from it.  I mean, you —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  And I said Republicans.  That’s something that Republicans support. 

Q    So, this is not anymore being cast as something that Trump embraces?  Let me just get that straight. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I mean, look, you’re — you — you asked me a couple things.  You asked me about the contrast, why she continues to make the contrast.  You have to talk to the campaign on what — on her strategy and how they’re moving forward. 

I laid out for you the contrast could not be more clear: where we were when we walked into this administration — when the president walked in to the administration; where we are today.  And that’s because of this leadership of this administration, the Biden-Harris administration.

Project ‘25 is something that Republicans — not going to speak to the president — the former president on this, but that Republicans are pushing.  It’s a radical idea. 

We’re talking about more radical abortion bans, cuts to law enforcement, cuts to education, repealing Affordable Care Act, re- — and repealing the Inflation Reduction Act, which, by the way, beats Big Pharma, which is something that — that many elected officials tried to do and couldn’t get done.  The Biden-Harris administration tried to get it done. 

That’s what I can speak to, and that’s just a reality.  That’s what’s in that agenda.  That’s what Republicans are pushing.  And that’s what I can lay out for you.

Q    Well, I know you’ll refer us to the campaign, but the campaign is not holding regular briefings.  They don’t have a forum — a Q&A forum like we have here.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Well, then, talk to them about that.

Q    And you’re the spokesperson for the Biden-Harris administration.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I can’t — I literally just — I just answered your question —

Q    Okay.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  — on why the contrast couldn’t be more clear. 

Q    I have one more.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I just answered your question about Project ‘25 and what it’s trying to do and what Republicans are supporting.  I just laid that out.

Q    I don’t think it was the question I asked, but I do appreciate the answer.  But —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  No, you asked me — you asked me why the — the vice president’s campaign — the Harris campaign —

Q    Yeah.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  — is not doing X, Y, and Z. 

I said to you, you’ve got to — you’ve got to talk to the — the vice president’s campaign.  And that is — there’s the Hatch Act.  I’ve got to be mindful to that.

Q    I understand.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  You know that.

Q    I understand.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  That is — I can’t answer that question, but —

Q    How about I try one different way?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  But I can talk to contrasts.  You asked me about contrasts, and I just laid it out.

Q    Thank you.  I appreciate that. 

Does President Biden define Vice President Harris as a progressive Democrat?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Look, the vice president has been a critical partner — a critical partner to this president.  All you’ve got to do is look at the record and what we have been able to do in the past three and a half years — the Biden-Harris administration has been able to do.  You think about the economy, you think about health care, and you think about these really important, generation-changing legislation that are now laws, obviously.

I just talked about beating Big Pharma.  That’s important.  That was the Inflation Reduction Act that only Democrats voted for.  Now Republicans want to repeal.  They want to take that away — take that away — taking away lowering costs for the American people.  And so — to be clear, lowering costs on medical care and — and pharmaceutical drugs and also energy bills, right?  That’s two really big part of the Inflation Reduction Act. 

The president — the president is not going to be labeling the vice president.  She has her policies that she — obviously that he’s in line with that they — that she has put forth in the past week or so.  He supports her.  He believes in her leadership.  And that’s what I can share with you.

Q    So, we are allowing for a contrast with Trump but not a contrast with other Democrats?  Because Senator Bernie Sanders, for instance —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — said that he still views her as a progressive Democrat.  He said she’s, in fact, not abandoning her ideals but making a pragmatic play toward the center to win the election. 

And that sends a chill down the spine of some people who might be in the middle or to the center-right —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — considering her and when she’s been trying to position herself —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — as a more moderate figure now than she was in 2020.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    Where — where does she stand exactly?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, first of all, the senator is going to speak for himself.  That’s for him to speak to.  I’m not going to get into a “I agree or disagree with him.” 

What I can tell you is this president believes in her leadership and believes in her bold policy agenda.  That is something that the president is in line with her on, right?  And we’re talking about strengthening the middle class.  That’s what we believe her pol- — her bold policy agenda continues to do, and that’s important. 

You hear the president talking about building a — building the economy from the bottom up, middle out, and strengthening the middle class.  We’re in line.  More oc- — economic opportunity — the president wants to see that. 

And we’re thinking — we’re talking about the tax cuts for working people, fighting corporate pricing gag- — gouging, lowering costs, having the wealthy pay their fair share.  We’re in line.  We’re in line with — with what the vice president is putting forth: her bold policy agenda to make sure that we do not leave people behind. 

I’m not going to stand here and label the vice president.  The senator has every right to say whatever he wants to say.  What I can say is the president agrees with her bold policy an- — agenda and — and her leadership. 

Go ahead.

Q    Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Wait — wait, did I just — didn’t I just call on you?

Okay.  Let me just try and get other people.  (Laughs.) 

Go ahead, Gerren.

Q    Thanks, Karine.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Gerren.

Q    The Congressional Black Caucus today released its Corporate Accountability Report on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion that asks corporate organizations to reaffirm their commitments to DEI, update on racial equity investments, and work with the CBC to create legislative solutions that will help close the racial wealth gap.  Does the admin- — administration have a reaction to this report?  Have they engaged with the CBC or advised them about this report at all?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, it just came out.  We hadn’t had a chance to review the report.  But you know this is something that this p- — this administration believes: how diversity is our strength.  You hear the president say this, and that is something that the president believes.  And that is true whether it’s in schools, our military, our businesses.  It is important.

And it is true for our government, where he has assembled the most diverse presidential administration in history.  That is something that this president and this vice president has done. 

And just a couple of things.  In June, when senior White House officials — they were able to welcome business executive and civil rights leaders to the White House for a dis- — a discussion on ensuring how Americans have access to economic opportunities.  That wasn’t that long ago, just a couple of months ago.  And at that event, business leaders joined civil rights leaders and congressional staff to share best practices and actions that will protect and create pathways to opportunities. 

So, this is an administration that understands that it is important to not leave any communities behind.  And I think what we’ve been able to show these three and a half years: how those communities who have felt behind, like they were left behind, are now included in the process.  They’re included in our policies.  They’re included in our legislation.  They’re included in how we move forward, even in executive actions, right? 

And this is a president that takes that very seriously.  He also believes it’s important to have those different voices at the table, hence having a very diverse — the most diverse administration. 

And so, while we haven’t — we haven’t gone through the study, what we can say: We believe diversity is indeed our strength.  It is important to continue to do that work, and that’s what you’re going to see from this administration. 

Q    And one other topic.  CBC is also, as you know, hosting their Annual Legislative Conference this week, and the president is hosting a Black Excellence brunch on Friday. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    Was that intentionally planned for this week with CBC?  And was this event — was — what can you share about the president’s remarks that he will be giving?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.  So, not going to get ahead of his remarks.  The president is looking very much forward to holding that brunch here, the Black Excellence brunch here on the South Lawn on Friday, as you just said. 

But I — I could share a little bit, just more broadly.  You can expect the president to speak about the enormous contribution that Black Americans have made to this nation — you’ve heard the president say that before as well — and — and continuing our efforts, as I just stated moments ago, about making sure that there are opportunities for all Americans — for all Americans, including Black Americans. 

So, that is something that the president certainly, I think, will touch on, and he — you’ll cer- — you will hear more from him on Friday.

Q    Is the president or vice president attending the Phoenix Awards and giving remarks this year —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  We’ll have more to share —

Q    — like they did in previous years?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  — in a couple of days.  We’ll have more to share. 

Go ahead, sir.

Q    (Inaudible) one on ADA.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, sir.  Go ahead, sir.

Q    Yeah.  On mental health parity.  Enforcement has long been an issue, and, you know, many plans haven’t complied with requirements over the years.  Does the administration plan — plan to be more aggressive in terms of enforcement going forward on this?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Well, anything that might be the legalities of it, I’m just not going to get into hypotheticals.  It’s obviously an issue that’s very important to us.  It’s a great step forward when you — when we talk about the mental health parity.  And it is.  It’s a parity, right?  Health care — mental health should be health care. 

And so, we’re going to certainly continue to — to make sure that effort is a key part of this administration in the next four or five months. 

Any legal stuff, I’m just not going to get into hypotheticals or anything like that.  But this will continue to be a priority that I can continue to be very clear on.

Go ahead, Kelly O.

Q    How would you describe the way in which, in briefings and in other White House communications since July 21st, you reference the vice president more?  We hear now more “Biden-Harris administration,” when, if we look back, it would have been much more focused on just the president.  So, as you do that, how do you describe the importance of, you know, in this official way —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — talking about her and — and linking her to the accomplishments? 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Look, I think it is important for Americans to know that the vice president has played a very big role in the success of this administration over the last three and a half years.  And we have said this before, even before July 21st, how much of a partner she’s been — a critical partner.  It is not the first time that we’ve said it.  Maybe we’re saying it more, to your point. 

But we’ve been pretty consistent in saying that their partnership is important and how — how she has had even a critical role, if you think about some of these historic pieces of legislation, where she was the — you know, she was that vote — the vote that she made in the Senate — helped pass that legislation and turn it into law — the Inflation Reduction Act, for example. 

And so, you know, I — I think it is important to note how much of a key partner that she’s been, and that’s something that the president wants us to do.  He wants us to — to make clear to the American people that Vice President Harris has been here from day one, obviously, and has had a — a leadership role and will continue to do that. 

Q    And do you see that as a part of her introducing herself to the country, which is something her campaign has talked about —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — but, again, in this official lane —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  No, I get the official lane.  Look, I — I don’t want to get into murky — murky waters here by — by getting into her s- — her own strategy.  That is certainly something for — for her to speak to.  But we want to make sure that people understand, the American people understand that this continues to be a partnership.  This is a partnership.  And we’ve said that before.  We’ve said that throughout the last three and a half years. 

And — and, you know, the president respects her leadership.  He respects her bold policy ideas, as I was speaking to Jacqui about back and forth moments ago.  And he supports that.  And — and I think it’s important for the American people to be very — understand that, to be very clear.  And that’s one thing that we want to be very clear about from here.

Go ahead, in the back.

Q    The Office of Management and Budget has asked federal agencies to start thinking about the transition, that regardless of where we are in a couple months —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — and who wins, there’s going to be some kind of transition.  How are you all thinking about that?  How is the president thinking about that — especially given I know at the beginning of this administration, a frequent refrain from your office was, “We didn’t have a lot of help during the transition from” —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — “agencies within the government, people within the government.”  How are you all thinking about what you want that to look like?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, let me just state this first so that folks who are watching understand, because I know you all understand this.  What is happening right now is common.  It is not unusual.  It is something that every administration at this point, who are clearly coming to the end of their administration, have to do.  So, it’s a — a common process, nothing — nothing unusual there. 

I’m sure we will have more to share, to your question.  But, you know, the president — look, when it comes to the job that he has had for the, you know, last three and a half years, almost four years, he takes that very seriously. 

He takes everything that he does, everything that comes out of this administration, very seriously because it’s about the American people; it’s not about him.  And in order to have a — a successful government, he has to have that leadership to make sure it’s a successful government, right?  It doesn’t matter for him or whoever is next. 

So, I’m certain we’ll have more to share.  But, again, it’s not unusual.  The president — president is always going to do what’s right for the American people, and this is part of that.

Q    The last transition was — you’re talking about how it’s not unusual for government to start thinking about that.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    But the last transition was anything but usual. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah, I agree with you.  I’m not disagreeing.

Q    (Laughs.)  Not disputed.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  But that’s not going to be th- — what this president does. 

Q    Has he given any specific guidance?  Has your colleagues begun thinking about how you want to make it different?  I mean —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — four years ago —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  We’re —

Q    — was not normal —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  We’re — we’re —

Q    — for a lot reasons.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  You are exactly right.  I’m not disagreeing with you.  And we do not want to go back there.  Right?  We do not want that.  We do not want to repeat what we saw the last time around in the last administration.  It’s not — it should not be about someone’s personal agenda.  It should be about the American people. 

And I think if you’ve seen anything, especially these last pa- — past couple of months from this president, is that he cares.  He puts the American people first.  And that’s how — in your question, that’s what he’s going to do.  He’s going to do what’s right for the American people and how do we move forward in the way that we put them first.  That’s the best that I can answer that for you. 

Go ahead.

Q    Thank you. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  No — no problem.

Q    Hi, Karine.  Good to see you. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Good to see you.

Q    I’m wondering what the White House makes of former President Trump’s comments over the weekend, saying, “When I win, those people who cheated” in elections in 2020 and 2024 “will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”  Have you seen those comments?  Has the president seen those comments?  And what do you make of them?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Look, I can say I have not spoken to the president about those types of comments.  And, look — and I want to be careful because obviously he’s saying it as — in his campaign capacity.  But those — that type of rhetoric is dangerous.  This is not who we are as a country.  This is a democracy.  And — and so, that’s what the president believes.  That type of rhetori- — rhetoric is — coming from, you know, a former president is dangerous. 

I mean, we saw what happened on January 6 in 2021.  Two thousand people went to the Capitol.  You all — some of your colleagues reported on this.  Some of your colleagues were there.  Law enforcement members were attacked. 

It was a dark day in our country because our democracy was attacked.  And they went there because they were told that they should overturn an election — a free and fair election where dozens — dozens of Republican judges said that it was indeed a free and fair election. 

And so, that type of rhetoric is dangerous and unacceptable, and that is not what this president believes.

Q    Just a quick question —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah, sure.

Q    — on voters, in particular.  As the president makes some outreach to Black lawmakers, I wonder if he’s going to make some outreach to Black voters.  Specifically, th- — the campaigns — both campaigns are working to do that in states like Georgia —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    — and perhaps some of that economic message is getting lost with some Black voters.  If you talk to them, they have a different picture of the Trump economy than they do the Biden economy, so to speak.  How is the president and the vice president going to talk directly to Black voters about the economic issues at hand?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I got to be careful, because you’re asking me about —

Q    Sure.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  — a strategic play, a campaign play, when you’re saying voters — Black voters, in particular, in your question here.  So, you would have to ask the campaign specifically on how they’re going to do that, what their outreach are going to — is going to be —

Q    But in terms of the record and (inaudible) —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  And I — and I hear the question.  So, I just want to — I just have to be really clear. 

Q    Sure.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  We respect Hatch Act.  We respect the law here.  So, I can’t speak to a strategy here.

But it is — what you have seen this president, this administration do — cabinet secretaries, this president, obviously, the vice president in her official ca- — capacity — is that we try to go out there, right?  We go out there.  We meet the American people where they are.  We talk about what this — what we have done in this administration over three and a half years.  We talk about how we’ve been able to rebuild the economy.  We talk about how we’re leading the economy in — in the world — right? — the strongest economy in the world. 

And it is not done by accident.  It was not by accident, right?  It is because the president — and Democrats in Congress, when we think about the American Rescue Plan, which helped turn things around, put checks in pockets — right? — were able to do that — put shots in arms — right? — so we can deal with a once-in-a-generation pandemic.  It was not easy, but we were able to get this done.

Now, do we understand that some Americans are not feeling that?  Yeah, we get that.  We understand.  That’s why the president is going to continue to talk about ways to lower cost.

You saw the president and the vice president recently, a couple of weeks ago — or just last week — no — no, a couple weeks ago — talk about how — you know, the drugs that are going to be lowered in cost because they were able to beat Big Pharma.  And so, now Medicare is able to do those negot- — that matters.  That matters to Americans.  So, we’re just going to have to continue to talk about it, let Americans know.

I can’t speak to the campaign strategy.  That’s something that they’ll — they’ll speak to.  But the president believes it’s also his job to communicate directly with the American people and to let them know what we’re doing: the economy, health care, climate change, even on the — on the world stage and how we’re being — and our leadership and how we’re leading in that way. 

And so, you know, it’s continued.  We’re going to continue to do that, be out there.

Go ahead.

Q    Recently, the U.S. identified the first case of H5N1 in a person that had no known animal contact.  And I wonder if that changes the posture of the White House’s pandemic office, or if there’s any updates as to how the administration is tackling this outbreak.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, look, we take all of this very, very seriously.  So, what we’re going to continue to do is continue to monitor and help states where it’s needed — right? — assist — assist where it’s needed. 

I don’t have an update for you, but obviously our number one priority when it comes to the pandemic office and also other — other White House offices and what we’re trying to do here is we want to make sure that American people feel safe in communities out there.  And so, we’re going to monitor it.

I don’t have an update for you at — here at this time.  But we take this very, very seriously. 

I think we’re going to start wrapping up. 

Go ahead. 

AIDE:  Time for (inaudible).

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Ed.

I know.

Q    Thanks, Karine.  I want to ask you about jobs.  So, the Biden-Harris administration —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Sorry. (Laughs.)

Q    Yeah.  (Laughs.)  The Biden-Harris administration has been touting manufacturing jobs —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah, yeah.

Q    — for the pa- — for past year.  But the last jobs report showed that manufacturing lost 24,000 jobs.  And the trend over the past three months has been a loss of 11,000 jobs per month on average in manufacturing.  So, why is it going the wrong direction?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, look, we pay attention, obviously, to all these reports. 

What we — what we also want to do — yes, we pay attention to reports, we pay attention to data, but we also want to make sure it’s taken into context.  And so, we can’t lose that as well. 

A couple of things.  You know, manufat- — manufacturing investment has hit all-time highs for six consecutive quarters.  That’s important.  Factory construction has more than doubled to an all-time high.  And it — also, it takes time for factories to build and — to be built and, also, manufacturing jobs to be created. 

And so, what we — what we created — but we’ve created over 1.6 million jobs in manufacturing and construction.  So, you’ve got to put this all into context. 

And we’ve seen businesses invest more than $900 billion in manufacturing and clean energy.  And a — one analyst said, and I quote them, “After years of inaction, America is now building factories at a rapid rate.”  And that is because of what we’ve been doing, which is investing in America. 

And there’s always more work to be done, and that’s one — something that you can see from this administration. 

Q    So — so, you need more time?  Is there a time frame as to when those jobs would materialize?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Loo- — I — I don’t have a time frame for you.  But what I can say is we got to take them all into context, right?  We do. 

Like, data is important; we pay attention to reports.  But we can’t miss what we’ve seen the last six months — right? — consecutive six months as well.  We can’t discount the investment that this administration has been able to make into manufacturing, right?  We can’t discount the 1.6 million jobs that have been created.  That is important. 

The $900 billion in investment — we can’t discount any of that, right?  That has to be put into the context as we’re looking at that — this particular question that you’re asking me about manufacturing jobs. 

All right, everybody.  Thank you so much. 

(Cross-talk.)

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Thank you so much.

2:58 P.M. EDT

The post Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby appeared first on The White House.

WASHINGTON – Today, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to serve as key leaders in his administration:

• Ben Cardin, to be a Representative of the United States of America to the Seventy-ninth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations
• Dan Sullivan, to be a Representative of the United States of America to the Seventy-ninth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations
• Tanya Leigh Flores, to be a Representative of the United States of America to the Seventy-ninth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations
• Michael Trager, to be a Representative of the United States of America to the Seventy-ninth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations
• Adam Gamoran, to be Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, Department of Education

Additionally, President Biden announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to serve as Republican members of boards and commissions that are required, by statute, to include bipartisan membership.

• Lanhee J. Chen, to be a Member (Republican) of the Amtrak Board of Directors
• Gordon Hartogensis, to be a Governor (Republican) of the United States Postal Service Board of Governors

Ben Cardin, to be Representative of the United States to the 79th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations

Born and raised in Baltimore, Senator Ben Cardin has dedicated his life to public service. He is an outspoken champion for human rights and has been a national leader on foreign policy, tax policy and the environment while representing the people of Maryland in the U.S. Senate, and before that in the House of Representatives. He is a former Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates. Currently serving as Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Cardin has worked across party lines to further U.S. national security and to ensure that democracy, anti-corruption, transparency, good governance and respect for civil and human rights are integrated into American actions at home and abroad.

Senator Cardin is the lead author of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights and Accountability Act, which gives the United States the power to deny travel and banking privileges to individuals worldwide who commit gross violations of human rights against rights defenders and dissidents, and leaders who commit acts of significant corruption. He also is the author of the recently reauthorized Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act, which in 2018 codified into law the prevention of atrocities as a national security interest. 

Senator Cardin also serves on the Environment and Public Works, Finance and Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committees. He is a strident defender of the Chesapeake Bay and the environment. He has led multiple, bipartisan delegations to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, dating back to the Paris Accords. He has taken the lead on reviving the Equal Rights Amendment, believes health care is a right of all Americans, and fights for resources to fix our crumbling water infrastructure.

Dan Sullivan, to be Representative of the United States to the 79th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations 

Dan Sullivan was sworn in as Alaska’s eighth United States Senator on January 6, 2015. Senator Sullivan serves on four Senate committees vital to Alaska: Armed Services, Environment and Public Works Committee, Veterans’ Affairs, and Commerce, Science and Transportation.  

Senator Sullivan has been able to pass numerous bills and amendments related to rebuilding and modernizing our country’s military, expanding responsible resource development, reining in federal overreach, spurring economic development, expanding benefits for veterans, and helping those who are most vulnerable, including survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence.  

Prior to his election to the Senate, Sullivan served as Alaska’s Attorney General and Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources—where he focused on growing Alaska’s economy and pushing back against federal government overreach. Senator Sullivan served in the George W. Bush administration as the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy, and Business under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and as a Director in the International Economics Directorate of the National Security Council staff at the White House.  

He served for 30 years in the United States Marine Corps, retiring on February 1, 2024 as a Colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve. He also serves as Chairman of the International Republican Institute (IRI).  

Senator Sullivan holds a B.A. in Economics from Harvard University and a joint Law and Master of Science degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. He and his wife, Julie Fate Sullivan, were married in 1994 in Julie’s hometown of Fairbanks, Alaska. They have three daughters. 

Tanya Leigh Flores, to be Representative of the United States to the 79th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations

Tanya Leigh Flores is a communications and operations strategist who has worked with Fortune 50 corporations, federal, state, and local governments, and non-profit organizations. She has previously served in various roles in support of the Biden-Harris Administration, including spousal program operations for the Department of State for the 2022 Summit of Americas in Los Angeles as well as an advisor to the Department of Homeland Security on leadership planning for the 2023 North America Leaders’ Summit in Mexico City and the 2023 Munich Security Conference. 

Flores was Chief Operating Officer for the 59th Presidential Inaugural Committee, where she managed a diverse portfolio of divisions, including financial and event operations, security, credentialing, human resources, and COVID-19 safety. During the 2020 election cycle, she served as Director of Scheduling and Advance for the Biden-Harris campaign. In 2021, Flores was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom as Deputy Director of the California Film Commission where she oversaw operations, outreach, and legislative efforts in support of filming in the State of California. Flores served in a senior role on the LA28 Bid Committee, helping to obtain the award of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which are to be hosted by the city of Los Angeles in 2028. She has traveled as head of advance delegations for the Bidens since 2011. 

Flores holds MBA degrees from both Columbia Business School and UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and a B.A. from the University of Maryland. A native Texan, she lives in Los Angeles with her partner, Michael Dundas.

Michael Trager, to be Representative of the United States to the 79th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations 

Michael Trager has spent time in both government and the private sector. In 2022, Trager was appointed by President Biden to the U.S. Department of State’s Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, where he continues to serve as Vice Chair and on the Executive Committee. The Board supervises the global Fulbright Program, which is led by the U.S. government in partnership with more than 160 countries to promote worldwide mutual understanding and provide for a more secure and peaceful world. The Program is a primary facilitator of international educational exchange, cultural diplomacy, and soft power.

Previously, Trager had been a Washington lawyer for 35 years and a U.S. government attorney prior to entering private practice. He was the founding Co-Chair of the Securities Enforcement and Litigation Practice at the international law firm of Arnold & Porter, and he held that position for approximately two decades as well as other firmwide leadership roles while a senior partner. In private practice, he represented clients in governmental and regulatory investigations and matters, and he was recognized and ranked nationally as a leading lawyer in his field.

At the beginning of his career, Trager served in the Division of Enforcement of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the Washington Headquarters. He earned a B.A. from Wesleyan University and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law. While at Wesleyan, he studied abroad at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He resides in Washington, D.C. and is married to Mariella Trager. They have two adult children. 

Adam Gamoran, to be Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, Department of Education

Adam Gamoran is President of the William T. Grant Foundation, a charitable organization that supports research to improve the lives of young people. Previously, he held the John D. MacArthur Chair in Sociology and Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he spent three decades engaged in research on educational inequality and school reform. He has lectured at universities across the United States and worldwide, and his writing has appeared in books, journals, magazines, blog posts, and other media. In 2021-2022, he led a committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that produced a report on The Future of Education Research at IES. For his research contributions, he has been honored by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, the American Educational Research Association, and the Sociology of Education Section of the American Sociological Association. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member and former vice president of the National Academy of Education, and he was twice appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the National Board for Education Sciences. 

Lanhee J. Chen, to be a Member (Republican) of the Amtrak Board of Directors

Lanhee J. Chen is the David and Diane Steffy Fellow in American Public Policy Studies at the Hoover Institution and Director of Domestic Policy Studies and Lecturer in the Public Policy Program at Stanford University. Chen has spent his career in business, government, as well as academia, and was a candidate in 2022 for California State Controller, the state’s chief fiscal officer. Chen is a member of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Governance Committee at El Camino Health in Northern California, and previously served as Board Chair. He is also a Partner at the Brunswick Group, a global critical issues advisory firm, where he is co-lead of the U.S. Public Affairs, Policy and Regulatory practice. Chen is also an adviser to or serves on the boards of several private companies and nonprofit organizations. Previously, he was an operating partner at NewRoad Capital Partners, a private equity firm. 

From 2014 to 2018, Chen was appointed by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as a member of the Social Security Advisory Board. He also served in the George W. Bush Administration as a senior official at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Chen has been a policy adviser to four U.S. presidential campaigns, including as Policy Director to Senator Mitt Romney during his 2012 bid for the presidency.

Chen earned his PhD and A.M. in Political Science from Harvard University; his J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School; and his A.B. magna cum laude in Government from Harvard College.

Gordon Hartogensis, to be a Governor (Republican) of the United States Postal Service Board of Governors

Gordon Hartogensis is an entrepreneur, investor, and government official who recently completed a five-year term as the Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) from 2019-2024.

Hartogensis left an early career on Wall Street in 1993 to build a startup software company called Petrolsoft Corporation – a supply chain and logistics company that was later acquired by Aspen Technology. He served in a leadership role at Aspen until June 2002.

Shortly after his departure from Aspen Technology, he founded Auric Technology, a customer relationship management software company. In 2011, Auric was sold to Telnorm. Following his departure from Auric, he was an angel investor and advisor to several technology startups in cybersecurity, immunotherapy, streaming video, fintech, and artificial intelligence.

Hartogensis grew up in Maryland where he attended Montgomery County public schools. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University and an M.S. in Technology Management from Columbia University.

Hartogensis and his wife Grace reside in Connecticut.

# # #  

The post President Biden Announces Key Nominees appeared first on The White House.

WASHINGTON – Today, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to serve as key leaders in his administration:

• Ben Cardin, to be a Representative of the United States of America to the Seventy-ninth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations
• Dan Sullivan, to be a Representative of the United States of America to the Seventy-ninth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations
• Tanya Leigh Flores, to be a Representative of the United States of America to the Seventy-ninth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations
• Michael Trager, to be a Representative of the United States of America to the Seventy-ninth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations
• Adam Gamoran, to be Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, Department of Education

Additionally, President Biden announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to serve as Republican members of boards and commissions that are required, by statute, to include bipartisan membership.

• Lanhee J. Chen, to be a Member (Republican) of the Amtrak Board of Directors
• Gordon Hartogensis, to be a Governor (Republican) of the United States Postal Service Board of Governors

Ben Cardin, to be Representative of the United States to the 79th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations

Born and raised in Baltimore, Senator Ben Cardin has dedicated his life to public service. He is an outspoken champion for human rights and has been a national leader on foreign policy, tax policy and the environment while representing the people of Maryland in the U.S. Senate, and before that in the House of Representatives. He is a former Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates. Currently serving as Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Cardin has worked across party lines to further U.S. national security and to ensure that democracy, anti-corruption, transparency, good governance and respect for civil and human rights are integrated into American actions at home and abroad.

Senator Cardin is the lead author of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights and Accountability Act, which gives the United States the power to deny travel and banking privileges to individuals worldwide who commit gross violations of human rights against rights defenders and dissidents, and leaders who commit acts of significant corruption. He also is the author of the recently reauthorized Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act, which in 2018 codified into law the prevention of atrocities as a national security interest. 

Senator Cardin also serves on the Environment and Public Works, Finance and Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committees. He is a strident defender of the Chesapeake Bay and the environment. He has led multiple, bipartisan delegations to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, dating back to the Paris Accords. He has taken the lead on reviving the Equal Rights Amendment, believes health care is a right of all Americans, and fights for resources to fix our crumbling water infrastructure.

Dan Sullivan, to be Representative of the United States to the 79th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations 

Dan Sullivan was sworn in as Alaska’s eighth United States Senator on January 6, 2015. Senator Sullivan serves on four Senate committees vital to Alaska: Armed Services, Environment and Public Works Committee, Veterans’ Affairs, and Commerce, Science and Transportation.  

Senator Sullivan has been able to pass numerous bills and amendments related to rebuilding and modernizing our country’s military, expanding responsible resource development, reining in federal overreach, spurring economic development, expanding benefits for veterans, and helping those who are most vulnerable, including survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence.  

Prior to his election to the Senate, Sullivan served as Alaska’s Attorney General and Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources—where he focused on growing Alaska’s economy and pushing back against federal government overreach. Senator Sullivan served in the George W. Bush administration as the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy, and Business under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and as a Director in the International Economics Directorate of the National Security Council staff at the White House.  

He served for 30 years in the United States Marine Corps, retiring on February 1, 2024 as a Colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve. He also serves as Chairman of the International Republican Institute (IRI).  

Senator Sullivan holds a B.A. in Economics from Harvard University and a joint Law and Master of Science degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. He and his wife, Julie Fate Sullivan, were married in 1994 in Julie’s hometown of Fairbanks, Alaska. They have three daughters. 

Tanya Leigh Flores, to be Representative of the United States to the 79th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations

Tanya Leigh Flores is a communications and operations strategist who has worked with Fortune 50 corporations, federal, state, and local governments, and non-profit organizations. She has previously served in various roles in support of the Biden-Harris Administration, including spousal program operations for the Department of State for the 2022 Summit of Americas in Los Angeles as well as an advisor to the Department of Homeland Security on leadership planning for the 2023 North America Leaders’ Summit in Mexico City and the 2023 Munich Security Conference. 

Flores was Chief Operating Officer for the 59th Presidential Inaugural Committee, where she managed a diverse portfolio of divisions, including financial and event operations, security, credentialing, human resources, and COVID-19 safety. During the 2020 election cycle, she served as Director of Scheduling and Advance for the Biden-Harris campaign. In 2021, Flores was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom as Deputy Director of the California Film Commission where she oversaw operations, outreach, and legislative efforts in support of filming in the State of California. Flores served in a senior role on the LA28 Bid Committee, helping to obtain the award of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which are to be hosted by the city of Los Angeles in 2028. She has traveled as head of advance delegations for the Bidens since 2011. 

Flores holds MBA degrees from both Columbia Business School and UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and a B.A. from the University of Maryland. A native Texan, she lives in Los Angeles with her partner, Michael Dundas.

Michael Trager, to be Representative of the United States to the 79th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations 

Michael Trager has spent time in both government and the private sector. In 2022, Trager was appointed by President Biden to the U.S. Department of State’s Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, where he continues to serve as Vice Chair and on the Executive Committee. The Board supervises the global Fulbright Program, which is led by the U.S. government in partnership with more than 160 countries to promote worldwide mutual understanding and provide for a more secure and peaceful world. The Program is a primary facilitator of international educational exchange, cultural diplomacy, and soft power.

Previously, Trager had been a Washington lawyer for 35 years and a U.S. government attorney prior to entering private practice. He was the founding Co-Chair of the Securities Enforcement and Litigation Practice at the international law firm of Arnold & Porter, and he held that position for approximately two decades as well as other firmwide leadership roles while a senior partner. In private practice, he represented clients in governmental and regulatory investigations and matters, and he was recognized and ranked nationally as a leading lawyer in his field.

At the beginning of his career, Trager served in the Division of Enforcement of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the Washington Headquarters. He earned a B.A. from Wesleyan University and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law. While at Wesleyan, he studied abroad at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He resides in Washington, D.C. and is married to Mariella Trager. They have two adult children. 

Adam Gamoran, to be Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, Department of Education

Adam Gamoran is President of the William T. Grant Foundation, a charitable organization that supports research to improve the lives of young people. Previously, he held the John D. MacArthur Chair in Sociology and Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he spent three decades engaged in research on educational inequality and school reform. He has lectured at universities across the United States and worldwide, and his writing has appeared in books, journals, magazines, blog posts, and other media. In 2021-2022, he led a committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that produced a report on The Future of Education Research at IES. For his research contributions, he has been honored by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, the American Educational Research Association, and the Sociology of Education Section of the American Sociological Association. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member and former vice president of the National Academy of Education, and he was twice appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the National Board for Education Sciences. 

Lanhee J. Chen, to be a Member (Republican) of the Amtrak Board of Directors

Lanhee J. Chen is the David and Diane Steffy Fellow in American Public Policy Studies at the Hoover Institution and Director of Domestic Policy Studies and Lecturer in the Public Policy Program at Stanford University. Chen has spent his career in business, government, as well as academia, and was a candidate in 2022 for California State Controller, the state’s chief fiscal officer. Chen is a member of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Governance Committee at El Camino Health in Northern California, and previously served as Board Chair. He is also a Partner at the Brunswick Group, a global critical issues advisory firm, where he is co-lead of the U.S. Public Affairs, Policy and Regulatory practice. Chen is also an adviser to or serves on the boards of several private companies and nonprofit organizations. Previously, he was an operating partner at NewRoad Capital Partners, a private equity firm. 

From 2014 to 2018, Chen was appointed by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as a member of the Social Security Advisory Board. He also served in the George W. Bush Administration as a senior official at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Chen has been a policy adviser to four U.S. presidential campaigns, including as Policy Director to Senator Mitt Romney during his 2012 bid for the presidency.

Chen earned his PhD and A.M. in Political Science from Harvard University; his J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School; and his A.B. magna cum laude in Government from Harvard College.

Gordon Hartogensis, to be a Governor (Republican) of the United States Postal Service Board of Governors

Gordon Hartogensis is an entrepreneur, investor, and government official who recently completed a five-year term as the Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) from 2019-2024.

Hartogensis left an early career on Wall Street in 1993 to build a startup software company called Petrolsoft Corporation – a supply chain and logistics company that was later acquired by Aspen Technology. He served in a leadership role at Aspen until June 2002.

Shortly after his departure from Aspen Technology, he founded Auric Technology, a customer relationship management software company. In 2011, Auric was sold to Telnorm. Following his departure from Auric, he was an angel investor and advisor to several technology startups in cybersecurity, immunotherapy, streaming video, fintech, and artificial intelligence.

Hartogensis grew up in Maryland where he attended Montgomery County public schools. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University and an M.S. in Technology Management from Columbia University.

Hartogensis and his wife Grace reside in Connecticut.

# # #  

The post President Biden Announces Key Nominees appeared first on The White House.

Instead of working across the aisle to do their most basic job and deliver for the American people by keeping the government open and providing emergency funding for disasters, House Republicans are yet again wasting time with extreme policies and a potentially harmful long-term continuing resolution (CR).

The House Republicans’ long-term CR abdicates their responsibility to the American people. It would erode our national defense, impede our efforts to outcompete China, fail our veterans and seniors, abandon communities struck by disasters, and undermine programs that support small businesses while making wealthy tax cheats pay what they owe. Finally, it would move us closer to devastating across-the-board cuts to education and Head Start programs; our veterans, the military, and border agents; food assistance for mothers, babies, and low-income families; food and air safety; and more.

House Republicans’ long-term CR fails to provide necessary resources for our defense, our veterans, and our seniors. Both the Administration and bipartisan appropriators in the Senate have put forward FY25 proposals that address pressing needs for the Department of Defense (DoD), Veterans Affairs (VA), Social Security Administration (SSA), and other federal agencies that would have insufficient funds if kept at their current FY24 levels. For example:

• Operating under a six-month CR erodes the U.S. military advantage, undermines the United States in our competition with China, degrades readiness, and fails to support our troops. Under a CR for an extended period, DoD lacks the authority to undertake new start efforts or production rate increases for investment programs, which are critical to our innovation and modernization goals. It signals to our allies and adversaries that the United States is not committed to our National Security priorities.

• Absent fully addressing a shortfall in funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care, VA would be forced to make difficult tradeoffs in its efforts to preserve quality veteran care. VA would need to undertake reductions in overall staffing levels that may impact access to care for veterans across clinical programs. Veteran experience may be impacted across many different functional areas, including medical care scheduling and coordination, connecting homeless veterans to permanent housing, caregiver support, and other programs. VA may need to scale-back outreach efforts to veterans, which VA has been conducting at unprecedented levels to inform veterans of new benefits and health care enrollment opportunities under the bipartisan PACT Act.

• Agencies like the Social Security Administration would be required to operate at deeply insufficient levels. For example, SSA would be at its lowest staffing levels in more than 50 years, likely requiring it to reduce the hours field offices are open and extending wait times for seniors and people with disabilities.

House Republicans’ long-term CR would abandon communities impacted by disasters. A six-month CR would mean that communities waiting on much-needed disaster assistance would need to keep waiting, months after the President has requested supplemental funding to help them. It would hurt small businesses and families trying to recover from recent disasters.

For example:

• The Small Business Administration’s Disaster Loan Program is likely to exhaust available assistance funding early in the new fiscal year, crippling the agency’s ability to provide much-needed help to small businesses working to rebuild after recent disasters, including Hurricanes Beryl and Debby.

• A delay would also prevent numerous communities impacted by disasters in over 20 states and territories declared in calendar years 2023 and 2024 from receiving Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funding, which is urgently needed to address housing, economic development and other long-term recovery needs.

• The cost to fix highways and bridges that have been damaged by disasters in 38 States and three territories currently exceeds available Federal Highway Administration-Emergency Relief funds. A six-month appropriations delay would delay completion of many of these critical projects. Supplemental appropriations are necessary to address this backlog.

House Republicans’ long-term CR would undermine programs that support small businesses and make wealthy tax cheats pay what they owe. House Republicans’ CR would make it harder for the IRS to continue its efforts using Inflation Reduction Act funding to ensure that the wealthy pay the taxes they owe. It would also hurt small businesses by continuing cuts to the State Small Business Credit Initiative that would prevent states across the country from receiving funds that provide capital and technical assistance to small businesses and entrepreneurs nationwide.

House Republicans’ long-term CR puts us closer to across-the-board cuts to programs Americans count on. A six-month CR would last until the end of March—only 30 days before the sequester deadline from the Fiscal Responsibility Act that would trigger across-the-board cuts if full-year bills are not passed. That short window next year would create a much higher risk that those cuts go into effect, resulting in devastating cuts to education and Head Start programs; our veterans, the military, and border agents; food assistance for mothers, babies, and low-income families; food and air safety; and more.

# # #

The post FACT SHEET: Congressional Republicans are Wasting Time Instead of Delivering for the American People Yet Again appeared first on The White House.

President Biden and Vice President Harris announce historic final rule that will ensure mental health care coverage for 175 million Americans is on par with their physical health care coverage

President Biden and Vice President Harris believe that health care is a right, not a privilege, and that mental health care is health care – period. But for millions of Americans, care for mental health and substance use conditions is still hard to find and hard to afford. Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is taking a step toward changing that, by placing new requirements on health plans that will improve and strengthen access to mental health care for 175 million Americans with private health insurance.
 
Statement from the President: “Mental health care is health care. But for far too many Americans, critical care and treatments are out of reach. Today, my Administration is taking action to address our nation’s mental health crisis by ensuring mental health coverage will be covered at the same level as other health care for Americans. There is no reason that breaking your arm should be treated differently than having a mental health condition. The steps my Administration is taking today will dramatically expand access to mental health care in America.”
 
Statement from the Vice President: “President Biden and I are committed to ensuring that every person in our country has the mental health care they need to thrive. That is why we made the largest investment in youth mental health in history and are transforming how mental health is understood, perceived, and treated for all Americans. Today, we are building on this lifesaving and lifechanging work by announcing the finalization of a historic rule that will expand mental health care across our nation so more of our loved ones, neighbors, coworkers, and classmates receive the care they deserve. As someone who has spent my entire career fighting to improve the health and well-being of all Americans, I will never stop working to ensure that health care is a right – not just a privilege for those who can afford it.”
 
For over 15 years, robust access to mental health care has been a bipartisan priority. Thanks to the 2008 enactment of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), which was further strengthened in 2020 on a bipartisan basis, health plans that cover mental health and substance use care benefits must do so at the same level as physical health care benefits. But despite this landmark law, too many Americans still struggle to find and afford the care they need. In 2020, less than half of all adults with mental illness received treatment.  For children, the numbers are even worse: nearly 70 percent of our kids who seek care for mental health or substance use cannot get it. That’s in part because insurers too often make it difficult to access mental health treatment, causing millions of consumers to have high out-of-pocket costs because they go out-of-network, or defer care altogether. One study shows that insured people are nearly four times as likely go out-of-network and pay higher fees for mental health care than for physical health care. And the problem is getting worse: in recent years, the gap between usage of out-of-network care for mental health and substance use disorder benefits versus physical health benefits increased 85 percent. 
 
Today’s final rule strengthens consumer protections by reinforcing MHPAEA’s fundamental purpose that all Americans should have the same access to mental health and substance use benefits as they do physical health benefits. And it will help lower families’ health care costs by making it easier to access mental health and substance use care and getting rid of barriers that keep people from getting the care they need, when they need it, for a price they can afford.  Specifically, the final rule will:

• Require health plans to make changes when they are providing inadequate access to mental health and substance use care. In 2020, Congress made changes to MHPAEA that require health plans to conduct meaningful comparative analyses to make sure that they are not making it harder for individuals to access mental health and substance use benefits than it is to access medical benefits.  Today’s new requirements make it clear that health plans need to evaluate their provider networks, how much they pay out-of-network providers, and how often they require – and deny – prior authorizations. The outcomes of these evaluations will show plans where they are failing to meet the law’s requirements, and where they will need to make changes to come into compliance, like adding more mental health and substance use professionals to their networks or reducing red tape for providers to deliver care.
  
• Make it clear what health plans can and cannot do. Health plans cannot use more restrictive prior authorization, or other medical management techniques, or narrower networks to make it harder for people to access mental health and substance use disorder benefits than their medical benefits. Health plans also have to use similar factors in setting out-of-network payment rates for mental health and substance use disorder providers as they do for medical providers.
  
• Close existing loopholes. When MHPAEA was first enacted, it did not require non-federal governmental health plans, like those offered to state and local government employees, to comply with its requirements. Today’s final rule closes that loophole, and now requires more than 200 additional health plans to comply with MHPAEA, providing critical protections to 120,000 consumers. 

Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration, these new requirements will help more people get the mental health and substance use care they need while also making sure that mental health and substance use care professionals are paid fairly, likely incentivizing more people to join the mental health workforce.  In addition to today’s final rule, the Department of Health and Human Services is also releasing new tools for states to ensure compliance with MHPAEA’s critical protections for the millions of Medicaid beneficiaries enrolled in private Medicaid health plans.

 
# # #

The post FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Lowers Mental Health Care Costs by Improving Access to Mental Health and Substance Use Care appeared first on The White House.

Instead of working across the aisle to do their most basic job and deliver for the American people by keeping the government open and providing emergency funding for disasters, House Republicans are yet again wasting time with extreme policies and a potentially harmful long-term continuing resolution (CR).

The House Republicans’ long-term CR abdicates their responsibility to the American people. It would erode our national defense, impede our efforts to outcompete China, fail our veterans and seniors, abandon communities struck by disasters, and undermine programs that support small businesses while making wealthy tax cheats pay what they owe. Finally, it would move us closer to devastating across-the-board cuts to education and Head Start programs; our veterans, the military, and border agents; food assistance for mothers, babies, and low-income families; food and air safety; and more.

House Republicans’ long-term CR fails to provide necessary resources for our defense, our veterans, and our seniors. Both the Administration and bipartisan appropriators in the Senate have put forward FY25 proposals that address pressing needs for the Department of Defense (DoD), Veterans Affairs (VA), Social Security Administration (SSA), and other federal agencies that would have insufficient funds if kept at their current FY24 levels. For example:

• Operating under a six-month CR erodes the U.S. military advantage, undermines the United States in our competition with China, degrades readiness, and fails to support our troops. Under a CR for an extended period, DoD lacks the authority to undertake new start efforts or production rate increases for investment programs, which are critical to our innovation and modernization goals. It signals to our allies and adversaries that the United States is not committed to our National Security priorities.

• Absent fully addressing a shortfall in funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care, VA would be forced to make difficult tradeoffs in its efforts to preserve quality veteran care. VA would need to undertake reductions in overall staffing levels that may impact access to care for veterans across clinical programs. Veteran experience may be impacted across many different functional areas, including medical care scheduling and coordination, connecting homeless veterans to permanent housing, caregiver support, and other programs. VA may need to scale-back outreach efforts to veterans, which VA has been conducting at unprecedented levels to inform veterans of new benefits and health care enrollment opportunities under the bipartisan PACT Act.

• Agencies like the Social Security Administration would be required to operate at deeply insufficient levels. For example, SSA would be at its lowest staffing levels in more than 50 years, likely requiring it to reduce the hours field offices are open and extending wait times for seniors and people with disabilities.

House Republicans’ long-term CR would abandon communities impacted by disasters. A six-month CR would mean that communities waiting on much-needed disaster assistance would need to keep waiting, months after the President has requested supplemental funding to help them. It would hurt small businesses and families trying to recover from recent disasters.

For example:

• The Small Business Administration’s Disaster Loan Program is likely to exhaust available assistance funding early in the new fiscal year, crippling the agency’s ability to provide much-needed help to small businesses working to rebuild after recent disasters, including Hurricanes Beryl and Debby.

• A delay would also prevent numerous communities impacted by disasters in over 20 states and territories declared in calendar years 2023 and 2024 from receiving Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funding, which is urgently needed to address housing, economic development and other long-term recovery needs.

• The cost to fix highways and bridges that have been damaged by disasters in 38 States and three territories currently exceeds available Federal Highway Administration-Emergency Relief funds. A six-month appropriations delay would delay completion of many of these critical projects. Supplemental appropriations are necessary to address this backlog.

House Republicans’ long-term CR would undermine programs that support small businesses and make wealthy tax cheats pay what they owe. House Republicans’ CR would make it harder for the IRS to continue its efforts using Inflation Reduction Act funding to ensure that the wealthy pay the taxes they owe. It would also hurt small businesses by continuing cuts to the State Small Business Credit Initiative that would prevent states across the country from receiving funds that provide capital and technical assistance to small businesses and entrepreneurs nationwide.

House Republicans’ long-term CR puts us closer to across-the-board cuts to programs Americans count on. A six-month CR would last until the end of March—only 30 days before the sequester deadline from the Fiscal Responsibility Act that would trigger across-the-board cuts if full-year bills are not passed. That short window next year would create a much higher risk that those cuts go into effect, resulting in devastating cuts to education and Head Start programs; our veterans, the military, and border agents; food assistance for mothers, babies, and low-income families; food and air safety; and more.

# # #

The post FACT SHEET: Congressional Republicans are Wasting Time Instead of Delivering for the American People Yet Again appeared first on The White House.

President Biden and Vice President Harris announce historic final rule that will ensure mental health care coverage for 175 million Americans is on par with their physical health care coverage

President Biden and Vice President Harris believe that health care is a right, not a privilege, and that mental health care is health care – period. But for millions of Americans, care for mental health and substance use conditions is still hard to find and hard to afford. Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is taking a step toward changing that, by placing new requirements on health plans that will improve and strengthen access to mental health care for 175 million Americans with private health insurance.
 
Statement from the President: “Mental health care is health care. But for far too many Americans, critical care and treatments are out of reach. Today, my Administration is taking action to address our nation’s mental health crisis by ensuring mental health coverage will be covered at the same level as other health care for Americans. There is no reason that breaking your arm should be treated differently than having a mental health condition. The steps my Administration is taking today will dramatically expand access to mental health care in America.”
 
Statement from the Vice President: “President Biden and I are committed to ensuring that every person in our country has the mental health care they need to thrive. That is why we made the largest investment in youth mental health in history and are transforming how mental health is understood, perceived, and treated for all Americans. Today, we are building on this lifesaving and lifechanging work by announcing the finalization of a historic rule that will expand mental health care across our nation so more of our loved ones, neighbors, coworkers, and classmates receive the care they deserve. As someone who has spent my entire career fighting to improve the health and well-being of all Americans, I will never stop working to ensure that health care is a right – not just a privilege for those who can afford it.”
 
For over 15 years, robust access to mental health care has been a bipartisan priority. Thanks to the 2008 enactment of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), which was further strengthened in 2020 on a bipartisan basis, health plans that cover mental health and substance use care benefits must do so at the same level as physical health care benefits. But despite this landmark law, too many Americans still struggle to find and afford the care they need. In 2020, less than half of all adults with mental illness received treatment.  For children, the numbers are even worse: nearly 70 percent of our kids who seek care for mental health or substance use cannot get it. That’s in part because insurers too often make it difficult to access mental health treatment, causing millions of consumers to have high out-of-pocket costs because they go out-of-network, or defer care altogether. One study shows that insured people are nearly four times as likely go out-of-network and pay higher fees for mental health care than for physical health care. And the problem is getting worse: in recent years, the gap between usage of out-of-network care for mental health and substance use disorder benefits versus physical health benefits increased 85 percent. 
 
Today’s final rule strengthens consumer protections by reinforcing MHPAEA’s fundamental purpose that all Americans should have the same access to mental health and substance use benefits as they do physical health benefits. And it will help lower families’ health care costs by making it easier to access mental health and substance use care and getting rid of barriers that keep people from getting the care they need, when they need it, for a price they can afford.  Specifically, the final rule will:

• Require health plans to make changes when they are providing inadequate access to mental health and substance use care. In 2020, Congress made changes to MHPAEA that require health plans to conduct meaningful comparative analyses to make sure that they are not making it harder for individuals to access mental health and substance use benefits than it is to access medical benefits.  Today’s new requirements make it clear that health plans need to evaluate their provider networks, how much they pay out-of-network providers, and how often they require – and deny – prior authorizations. The outcomes of these evaluations will show plans where they are failing to meet the law’s requirements, and where they will need to make changes to come into compliance, like adding more mental health and substance use professionals to their networks or reducing red tape for providers to deliver care.
  
• Make it clear what health plans can and cannot do. Health plans cannot use more restrictive prior authorization, or other medical management techniques, or narrower networks to make it harder for people to access mental health and substance use disorder benefits than their medical benefits. Health plans also have to use similar factors in setting out-of-network payment rates for mental health and substance use disorder providers as they do for medical providers.
  
• Close existing loopholes. When MHPAEA was first enacted, it did not require non-federal governmental health plans, like those offered to state and local government employees, to comply with its requirements. Today’s final rule closes that loophole, and now requires more than 200 additional health plans to comply with MHPAEA, providing critical protections to 120,000 consumers. 

Thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration, these new requirements will help more people get the mental health and substance use care they need while also making sure that mental health and substance use care professionals are paid fairly, likely incentivizing more people to join the mental health workforce.  In addition to today’s final rule, the Department of Health and Human Services is also releasing new tools for states to ensure compliance with MHPAEA’s critical protections for the millions of Medicaid beneficiaries enrolled in private Medicaid health plans.

 
# # #

The post FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Lowers Mental Health Care Costs by Improving Access to Mental Health and Substance Use Care appeared first on The White House.

Penzeys Spices
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Q    Madam Vice President, what do you think of the Cheneys’ endorsement, ma’am?  Liz Cheney and Dick Cheney have endorsed you.  What do you think about that?

 THE VICE PRESIDENT:  I’m — I’m — actually, I’m honored to have their endorsement.  And I think that what — they both, as leaders who are well-respected, are making an important statement that it’s okay and — if not important to put country above party.  And I’m honored to have their support, and I think it’s an important statement right now. 

A lot of what I think is happening — and I was just talking with some folks here in Pittsburgh about it — is that people are exhausted about the division and — and the attempts to kind of divide us as Americans.

And them stepping up to make this public statement, I think, is courageous, but also, for people like the folks I was just talking with, it really reenforces for them that we love our country, and we have more in common than what separates us.  So —

 Q    Are you — are you ready to debate Donald Trump?

 AIDE:  All right.  Thank you, press.

(Cross-talk.)

 Q    Are you ready to face Donald Trump this week?

  THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Yes, I am.  Yes.

 Q    Best part of debate prep for you?  What’s your favorite part?

  THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Being at this spice store.  I finally got out of the debate prep to look at these spices.  Best part of debate prep so far.  (Laughs.)

 Q    But your main message to Trump in the debate.  What’s the one thing you want to really get — get across to him?

 THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, there is a lot.  But look, it’s time to turn the page on the divisiveness.  It’s time to bring our country together to chart a new way forward.

                              END

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Penzeys Spices
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Q    Madam Vice President, what do you think of the Cheneys’ endorsement, ma’am?  Liz Cheney and Dick Cheney have endorsed you.  What do you think about that?

 THE VICE PRESIDENT:  I’m — I’m — actually, I’m honored to have their endorsement.  And I think that what — they both, as leaders who are well-respected, are making an important statement that it’s okay and — if not important to put country above party.  And I’m honored to have their support, and I think it’s an important statement right now. 

A lot of what I think is happening — and I was just talking with some folks here in Pittsburgh about it — is that people are exhausted about the division and — and the attempts to kind of divide us as Americans.

And them stepping up to make this public statement, I think, is courageous, but also, for people like the folks I was just talking with, it really reenforces for them that we love our country, and we have more in common than what separates us.  So —

 Q    Are you — are you ready to debate Donald Trump?

 AIDE:  All right.  Thank you, press.

(Cross-talk.)

 Q    Are you ready to face Donald Trump this week?

  THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Yes, I am.  Yes.

 Q    Best part of debate prep for you?  What’s your favorite part?

  THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Being at this spice store.  I finally got out of the debate prep to look at these spices.  Best part of debate prep so far.  (Laughs.)

 Q    But your main message to Trump in the debate.  What’s the one thing you want to really get — get across to him?

 THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, there is a lot.  But look, it’s time to turn the page on the divisiveness.  It’s time to bring our country together to chart a new way forward.

                              END

The post Remarks by Vice President Harris in Press Gaggle| Pittsburgh, PA appeared first on The White House.

     By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: 

     Section 1.  Policy.  The Federal Government has made significant strides in implementing the Investing in America agenda, a historic set of recently enacted laws aimed at rebuilding American infrastructure, bringing back American manufacturing, and catalyzing a clean energy economy.  That agenda has been furthered by Executive Order 14082 of September 12, 2022 (Implementation of the Energy and Infrastructure Provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022), and Executive Order 14080 of August 25, 2022 (Implementation of the CHIPS Act of 2022).  As implementation of the Investing in America agenda continues, it is essential that it supports the creation of well-paying jobs, especially union jobs, that improve opportunities for millions of Americans.

     Investing in American workers is critical to growing the economy equitably and resiliently, increasing our Nation’s competitiveness, and ensuring our Nation’s economic security.  Workers understand the value of a good job that provides economic security for them and their families.  Many companies also recognize that providing good-quality jobs while promoting workers’ free and fair choice to join a union makes those companies employers of choice, creating a clear competitive advantage.

     The Federal Government has long promoted high labor standards to ensure fair competition, stability, and efficiency on federally assisted projects.  The use of high labor standards on federally assisted projects, such as the use of prevailing wages, project labor agreements, and equal employment opportunity policies, dates back almost a century.  These tools ensure timely and economical completion of projects, provide a reliable source of highly skilled workers, support equitable workforce development, and improve worker health and safety on the job, while also improving outcomes for the communities in which projects are located.  But these tools can and should be employed to a greater extent than they have been in the past.

     For instance, providing incentives for federally assisted projects with high labor standards — including those using collective bargaining agreements, project labor agreements, and certain community benefits agreements — drives efficient project completion while also supporting high-quality jobs, worker safety, and broader investment in communities.  Ensuring that workers on federally assisted projects are paid competitive and equitable wages will enhance worker productivity, generate higher-quality work, and reduce turnover, providing value for taxpayers.  Promoting inclusivity, with equal opportunity for all qualified workers, will help ensure that federally assisted projects have the workforce needed to implement the Investing in America agenda.

     Therefore, it is the policy of my Administration to promote the creation of equitable workforce development pathways for workers to obtain good jobs that pay family-sustaining wages, provide critical benefits, prevent workplace discrimination, ensure worker safety, and allow workers a free and fair chance to join a union.

     Sec. 2.  Definitions.  For purposes of this order:

     (a)  The term “implementing agencies” means the Department of the Interior, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Labor, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Energy, the Department of Education, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
     (b)  The term “community benefits agreement” means an agreement signed by a developer and one or more community benefit groups — coalitions that are composed of neighborhood associations, faith-based organizations, unions, environmental groups, or other stakeholders — that identifies the community benefits a developer agrees to deliver in return for community support of the project.
     (c)  The term “Federal financial assistance” means funds obtained from the Federal Government or borrowed on the credit of the Federal Government pursuant to grants (whether formula or discretionary), loans, or rebates, or projects undertaken pursuant to any Federal program involving such grants, loans, or rebates.
     (d)  The term “Investing in America agenda” means the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2); the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58); division A of Public Law 117-167, known as the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) Act of 2022; and Public Law 117-169, commonly referred to as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
     (e)  The term “pre-apprenticeship program” has the meaning given to that term in 29 C.F.R. 30.2.
     (f)  The term “pre-award processes” means the negotiations, interactions, and other communications between an implementing agency and an applicant after proposal submission and prior to award.
     (g)  The term “project labor agreement” means a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement with one or more labor organizations that establishes the terms and conditions of employment for a specific construction project and is an agreement described in 29 U.S.C. 158(f). 
     (h)  The term “registered apprenticeship” means an industry-driven career pathway through which employers can develop and prepare their future workforces and individuals can obtain paid training; work experience; progressive wage increases; classroom instruction; and a portable, nationally recognized credential.  A registered apprenticeship must meet the requirements for registration as set forth in 29 C.F.R. parts 29 and 30.
     (i)  The term “underserved communities” refers to those populations as well as geographic communities that have been systematically denied the opportunity to participate fully in aspects of economic, social, and civic life, as defined in section 2 of Executive Order 13985 of January 20, 2021 (Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government), section 6 of Executive Order 14020 of March 8, 2021 (Establishment of the White House Gender Policy Council), and section 10 of Executive Order 14091 of February 16, 2023 (Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government), and additionally includes formerly incarcerated individuals.
     (j)  The term “public workforce system” has the meaning given to the term “workforce development system” in 29 U.S.C. 3102(67).

     Sec. 3.  Implementation Priorities.  In selecting projects for receiving Federal financial assistance from the Investing in America agenda, implementing agencies shall consider actions that, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law:

     (a)  Prioritize projects for selection that provide a clear plan for efficient project delivery by promoting positive labor-management relations.  Examples of instruments and policies that implementing agencies could consider encouraging applicants to adopt, as appropriate, may include:  project labor agreements, community benefits agreements, collective bargaining agreements, agreements intended to ensure the uninterrupted delivery of services, agreements designed to facilitate first collective bargaining agreements, voluntary union recognition, and neutrality by the employer with respect to union organizing.
     (b)  Prioritize projects that enhance worker productivity by promoting family-sustaining wages.  Examples of policies that implementing agencies could consider encouraging applicants to adopt, as appropriate, may include:  payment of wages tied to a particular metric — such as wages not less than prevailing wages, the upper quartile of industry pay, or union pattern wage scales — including for workers in the care workforce, that is, individuals working in the fields of child care and long-term care; policies to promote equal pay and eliminate discriminatory pay practices, such as transparency measures; and other policies aligned with the Good Jobs Principles established by the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor on June 21, 2022.
     (c)  Prioritize projects that supply critical benefits that promote economic security for workers, such as paid leave (including paid sick, family, and medical leave); health care; retirement benefits; and child, dependent, and elder care. 
     (d)  Prioritize projects that promote and expand access to, and put in place policies that combat discrimination that limits employment in, high-quality jobs for workers from underserved communities.  Examples of policies that implementing agencies could consider encouraging applicants to adopt, as appropriate, may include:  workforce plans that contain strategies for recruiting, hiring, and retaining workers from underserved and local communities; policies that help prevent workplace discrimination and harassment, including through reporting structures and ongoing training; and participation in programs designed to support compliance with existing equal employment opportunity obligations under Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 1965 (Equal Employment Opportunity), as amended, section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Public Law 93-112), the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1972 (Public Law 92–540), as amended, and their implementing regulations.
     (e)  Prioritize projects that strengthen workforce development by expanding worker access to high-quality training and portable credentials that lead to good jobs.  Examples of policies that implementing agencies could consider encouraging applicants to adopt, as appropriate, may include:  the use of joint labor-management partnerships that invest in union-affiliated training programs, registered apprenticeships, and pre-apprenticeship programs that matriculate to registered apprenticeships; partnerships with organizations that deliver training such as community colleges, career and technical education programs, disability service organizations, the public workforce system, and the American Climate Corps; and the provision of supportive services necessary to complete training such as child care and transportation assistance.
     (f)  Prioritize projects that promote and protect worker health and safety through policies that encourage supplemental safety training, worker and union participation in the design and implementation of workplace safety and health management systems, and disclosure of occupational safety and health violations.

      Sec. 4.  Implementation Approach.  (a)  Implementing agencies shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, consider the following strategies in connection with their Federal financial assistance programs to promote the implementation priorities identified in section 3 of this order:

          (i)    including application evaluation criteria or selection factors that prioritize applicants that adopt or provide a specific plan to adopt those priorities;
          (ii)   publishing best practice guides and other guidance to applicants to promote and implement those priorities, including guides on what types of Federal financial assistance can be used for workforce development, such as supportive services;
          (iii)  engaging with applicants, where appropriate, during pre-award processes to ensure that applicants understand the benefits of those priorities for key programs and projects;
          (iv)   collecting relevant data to demonstrate funding recipients’ progress, including by:
(A)  requesting in funding notices or through other appropriate mechanisms that applicants address a series of “yes” or “no” questions regarding the implementation of those priorities to ensure transparency of labor practices and commitments;
(B)  using existing compliance practices (such as the collection of certified payrolls when applicable) to collect detailed data on job quality, equity, and worker empowerment; and
(C)  requesting reporting on key metrics and encouraging voluntary public reporting of additional relevant metrics developed by the implementing agency;
          (v)    promoting compliance with Federal law and commitments made by applicants, including, as appropriate, referring alleged violations of law to other executive departments and agencies for a determination of whether circumstances warrant the issuance of financial penalties or collection of relief for workers harmed, withholding further Federal financial assistance pending correction of a deficiency, recovery of some or all Federal funds, or debarment; and
          (vi)   supporting program staff and developing implementing agency expertise, including by consulting the Department of Labor and implementing agency labor advisors, to train program staff on how to implement those priorities and ensure that staff have the expertise needed to support the creation of good jobs through each phase of project delivery on federally assisted projects.
     (b)  Implementing agencies shall carry out their responsibilities under this order consistent with their responsibilities under the Justice40 Initiative set forth in Executive Order 14008 of January 27, 2021 (Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad).

     Sec. 5.  Investing in Good Jobs Task Force.  (a)  There is established within the Executive Office of the President the Investing in Good Jobs Task Force (Task Force).  The function of the Task Force is to coordinate policy development that supports efficient project delivery while also driving the creation of high-quality jobs and to otherwise support the effective implementation of this order.  The Task Force shall be co-chaired by the Secretary of Labor and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director of the National Economic Council or their designees.

     (b)  In addition to the Co-Chairs, the Task Force shall consist of the following members or their designees:
          (i)     the Secretary of the Interior;
          (ii)    the Secretary of Agriculture;
          (iii)   the Secretary of Commerce;
          (iv)    the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;
          (v)     the Secretary of Transportation;
          (vi)    the Secretary of Energy;
          (vii)   the Secretary of Education;
          (viii)  the Secretary of Homeland Security;
          (ix)    the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency;
          (x)     the Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor;
          (xi)    the Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy;
          (xii)   the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality;
          (xiii)  the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers;
          (xiv)   the Assistant to the President and Director of the Domestic Policy Council;
          (xv)    the Assistant to the President and Director of the Gender Policy Council; and
          (xvi)   the heads of other executive departments, agencies, and offices as the Co-Chairs may from time to time invite to participate.
     (c)  The Task Force shall assist implementing agencies in promoting the implementation priorities identified in section 3 of this order.  To do so, the Task Force shall:
          (i)    share and, as appropriate, develop best practices related to promoting adoption of the implementation priorities identified in section 3 of this order, and provide technical assistance to implementing agencies in implementing these best practices;
          (ii)   support implementing agencies as they develop expertise in promoting efficient project delivery while also driving the creation of high-quality jobs; and
          (iii)  engage in other appropriate activities as determined by the Task Force, consistent with applicable law, to support effective implementation of this order.

     Sec. 6.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
          (i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
          (ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
     (c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

                              JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.


THE WHITE HOUSE,
    September 6, 2024.

The post Executive Order on Investing in America and Investing in American Workers appeared first on The White House.

     By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: 

     Section 1.  Policy.  The Federal Government has made significant strides in implementing the Investing in America agenda, a historic set of recently enacted laws aimed at rebuilding American infrastructure, bringing back American manufacturing, and catalyzing a clean energy economy.  That agenda has been furthered by Executive Order 14082 of September 12, 2022 (Implementation of the Energy and Infrastructure Provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022), and Executive Order 14080 of August 25, 2022 (Implementation of the CHIPS Act of 2022).  As implementation of the Investing in America agenda continues, it is essential that it supports the creation of well-paying jobs, especially union jobs, that improve opportunities for millions of Americans.

     Investing in American workers is critical to growing the economy equitably and resiliently, increasing our Nation’s competitiveness, and ensuring our Nation’s economic security.  Workers understand the value of a good job that provides economic security for them and their families.  Many companies also recognize that providing good-quality jobs while promoting workers’ free and fair choice to join a union makes those companies employers of choice, creating a clear competitive advantage.

     The Federal Government has long promoted high labor standards to ensure fair competition, stability, and efficiency on federally assisted projects.  The use of high labor standards on federally assisted projects, such as the use of prevailing wages, project labor agreements, and equal employment opportunity policies, dates back almost a century.  These tools ensure timely and economical completion of projects, provide a reliable source of highly skilled workers, support equitable workforce development, and improve worker health and safety on the job, while also improving outcomes for the communities in which projects are located.  But these tools can and should be employed to a greater extent than they have been in the past.

     For instance, providing incentives for federally assisted projects with high labor standards — including those using collective bargaining agreements, project labor agreements, and certain community benefits agreements — drives efficient project completion while also supporting high-quality jobs, worker safety, and broader investment in communities.  Ensuring that workers on federally assisted projects are paid competitive and equitable wages will enhance worker productivity, generate higher-quality work, and reduce turnover, providing value for taxpayers.  Promoting inclusivity, with equal opportunity for all qualified workers, will help ensure that federally assisted projects have the workforce needed to implement the Investing in America agenda.

     Therefore, it is the policy of my Administration to promote the creation of equitable workforce development pathways for workers to obtain good jobs that pay family-sustaining wages, provide critical benefits, prevent workplace discrimination, ensure worker safety, and allow workers a free and fair chance to join a union.

     Sec. 2.  Definitions.  For purposes of this order:

     (a)  The term “implementing agencies” means the Department of the Interior, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Labor, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Energy, the Department of Education, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
     (b)  The term “community benefits agreement” means an agreement signed by a developer and one or more community benefit groups — coalitions that are composed of neighborhood associations, faith-based organizations, unions, environmental groups, or other stakeholders — that identifies the community benefits a developer agrees to deliver in return for community support of the project.
     (c)  The term “Federal financial assistance” means funds obtained from the Federal Government or borrowed on the credit of the Federal Government pursuant to grants (whether formula or discretionary), loans, or rebates, or projects undertaken pursuant to any Federal program involving such grants, loans, or rebates.
     (d)  The term “Investing in America agenda” means the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2); the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58); division A of Public Law 117-167, known as the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) Act of 2022; and Public Law 117-169, commonly referred to as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
     (e)  The term “pre-apprenticeship program” has the meaning given to that term in 29 C.F.R. 30.2.
     (f)  The term “pre-award processes” means the negotiations, interactions, and other communications between an implementing agency and an applicant after proposal submission and prior to award.
     (g)  The term “project labor agreement” means a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement with one or more labor organizations that establishes the terms and conditions of employment for a specific construction project and is an agreement described in 29 U.S.C. 158(f). 
     (h)  The term “registered apprenticeship” means an industry-driven career pathway through which employers can develop and prepare their future workforces and individuals can obtain paid training; work experience; progressive wage increases; classroom instruction; and a portable, nationally recognized credential.  A registered apprenticeship must meet the requirements for registration as set forth in 29 C.F.R. parts 29 and 30.
     (i)  The term “underserved communities” refers to those populations as well as geographic communities that have been systematically denied the opportunity to participate fully in aspects of economic, social, and civic life, as defined in section 2 of Executive Order 13985 of January 20, 2021 (Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government), section 6 of Executive Order 14020 of March 8, 2021 (Establishment of the White House Gender Policy Council), and section 10 of Executive Order 14091 of February 16, 2023 (Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government), and additionally includes formerly incarcerated individuals.
     (j)  The term “public workforce system” has the meaning given to the term “workforce development system” in 29 U.S.C. 3102(67).

     Sec. 3.  Implementation Priorities.  In selecting projects for receiving Federal financial assistance from the Investing in America agenda, implementing agencies shall consider actions that, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law:

     (a)  Prioritize projects for selection that provide a clear plan for efficient project delivery by promoting positive labor-management relations.  Examples of instruments and policies that implementing agencies could consider encouraging applicants to adopt, as appropriate, may include:  project labor agreements, community benefits agreements, collective bargaining agreements, agreements intended to ensure the uninterrupted delivery of services, agreements designed to facilitate first collective bargaining agreements, voluntary union recognition, and neutrality by the employer with respect to union organizing.
     (b)  Prioritize projects that enhance worker productivity by promoting family-sustaining wages.  Examples of policies that implementing agencies could consider encouraging applicants to adopt, as appropriate, may include:  payment of wages tied to a particular metric — such as wages not less than prevailing wages, the upper quartile of industry pay, or union pattern wage scales — including for workers in the care workforce, that is, individuals working in the fields of child care and long-term care; policies to promote equal pay and eliminate discriminatory pay practices, such as transparency measures; and other policies aligned with the Good Jobs Principles established by the Department of Commerce and the Department of Labor on June 21, 2022.
     (c)  Prioritize projects that supply critical benefits that promote economic security for workers, such as paid leave (including paid sick, family, and medical leave); health care; retirement benefits; and child, dependent, and elder care. 
     (d)  Prioritize projects that promote and expand access to, and put in place policies that combat discrimination that limits employment in, high-quality jobs for workers from underserved communities.  Examples of policies that implementing agencies could consider encouraging applicants to adopt, as appropriate, may include:  workforce plans that contain strategies for recruiting, hiring, and retaining workers from underserved and local communities; policies that help prevent workplace discrimination and harassment, including through reporting structures and ongoing training; and participation in programs designed to support compliance with existing equal employment opportunity obligations under Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 1965 (Equal Employment Opportunity), as amended, section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Public Law 93-112), the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1972 (Public Law 92–540), as amended, and their implementing regulations.
     (e)  Prioritize projects that strengthen workforce development by expanding worker access to high-quality training and portable credentials that lead to good jobs.  Examples of policies that implementing agencies could consider encouraging applicants to adopt, as appropriate, may include:  the use of joint labor-management partnerships that invest in union-affiliated training programs, registered apprenticeships, and pre-apprenticeship programs that matriculate to registered apprenticeships; partnerships with organizations that deliver training such as community colleges, career and technical education programs, disability service organizations, the public workforce system, and the American Climate Corps; and the provision of supportive services necessary to complete training such as child care and transportation assistance.
     (f)  Prioritize projects that promote and protect worker health and safety through policies that encourage supplemental safety training, worker and union participation in the design and implementation of workplace safety and health management systems, and disclosure of occupational safety and health violations.

      Sec. 4.  Implementation Approach.  (a)  Implementing agencies shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, consider the following strategies in connection with their Federal financial assistance programs to promote the implementation priorities identified in section 3 of this order:

          (i)    including application evaluation criteria or selection factors that prioritize applicants that adopt or provide a specific plan to adopt those priorities;
          (ii)   publishing best practice guides and other guidance to applicants to promote and implement those priorities, including guides on what types of Federal financial assistance can be used for workforce development, such as supportive services;
          (iii)  engaging with applicants, where appropriate, during pre-award processes to ensure that applicants understand the benefits of those priorities for key programs and projects;
          (iv)   collecting relevant data to demonstrate funding recipients’ progress, including by:
(A)  requesting in funding notices or through other appropriate mechanisms that applicants address a series of “yes” or “no” questions regarding the implementation of those priorities to ensure transparency of labor practices and commitments;
(B)  using existing compliance practices (such as the collection of certified payrolls when applicable) to collect detailed data on job quality, equity, and worker empowerment; and
(C)  requesting reporting on key metrics and encouraging voluntary public reporting of additional relevant metrics developed by the implementing agency;
          (v)    promoting compliance with Federal law and commitments made by applicants, including, as appropriate, referring alleged violations of law to other executive departments and agencies for a determination of whether circumstances warrant the issuance of financial penalties or collection of relief for workers harmed, withholding further Federal financial assistance pending correction of a deficiency, recovery of some or all Federal funds, or debarment; and
          (vi)   supporting program staff and developing implementing agency expertise, including by consulting the Department of Labor and implementing agency labor advisors, to train program staff on how to implement those priorities and ensure that staff have the expertise needed to support the creation of good jobs through each phase of project delivery on federally assisted projects.
     (b)  Implementing agencies shall carry out their responsibilities under this order consistent with their responsibilities under the Justice40 Initiative set forth in Executive Order 14008 of January 27, 2021 (Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad).

     Sec. 5.  Investing in Good Jobs Task Force.  (a)  There is established within the Executive Office of the President the Investing in Good Jobs Task Force (Task Force).  The function of the Task Force is to coordinate policy development that supports efficient project delivery while also driving the creation of high-quality jobs and to otherwise support the effective implementation of this order.  The Task Force shall be co-chaired by the Secretary of Labor and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director of the National Economic Council or their designees.

     (b)  In addition to the Co-Chairs, the Task Force shall consist of the following members or their designees:
          (i)     the Secretary of the Interior;
          (ii)    the Secretary of Agriculture;
          (iii)   the Secretary of Commerce;
          (iv)    the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;
          (v)     the Secretary of Transportation;
          (vi)    the Secretary of Energy;
          (vii)   the Secretary of Education;
          (viii)  the Secretary of Homeland Security;
          (ix)    the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency;
          (x)     the Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor;
          (xi)    the Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy;
          (xii)   the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality;
          (xiii)  the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers;
          (xiv)   the Assistant to the President and Director of the Domestic Policy Council;
          (xv)    the Assistant to the President and Director of the Gender Policy Council; and
          (xvi)   the heads of other executive departments, agencies, and offices as the Co-Chairs may from time to time invite to participate.
     (c)  The Task Force shall assist implementing agencies in promoting the implementation priorities identified in section 3 of this order.  To do so, the Task Force shall:
          (i)    share and, as appropriate, develop best practices related to promoting adoption of the implementation priorities identified in section 3 of this order, and provide technical assistance to implementing agencies in implementing these best practices;
          (ii)   support implementing agencies as they develop expertise in promoting efficient project delivery while also driving the creation of high-quality jobs; and
          (iii)  engage in other appropriate activities as determined by the Task Force, consistent with applicable law, to support effective implementation of this order.

     Sec. 6.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
          (i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
          (ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
     (c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

                              JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.


THE WHITE HOUSE,
    September 6, 2024.

The post Executive Order on Investing in America and Investing in American Workers appeared first on The White House.

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

• Troy Coronado, to be a Member of the Board of Visitors to the U.S. Military Academy
• Manuel A. Chinea, to be a Member of the Community Development Advisory Board
• Janie Simms Hipp, to be a Member of the Community Development Advisory Board
• Mark Alan Kaufman, to be a Member of the Community Development Advisory Board
• Susan Chapman Plumb, to be a Member of the Community Development Advisory Board
• Damon Y. Smith, to be a Member of the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States
• Justin Driver, to be a Member of the Permanent Committee for the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise
• Kamana‘opono M. Crabbe, to be a Commissioner of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders
• Sameera Fazili, to be a Commissioner of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders
• Krystal Ka‘ai, to be a Commissioner of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders
• Vida Lin, to be a Commissioner of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders
• Emmanuel Jenkins, to be a Member of the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities
• Charles P. Riley, to be a Member of the Route 66 Centennial Commission

Additionally, President Biden announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to serve as members of boards and commissions that, based on statute or longstanding practice, include candidates recommended by Congressional Republican leadership.

• Edgar Gluck, to be a Member of the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad
• Andrew G. Biggs, to be a Member of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico
• Cameron McKenzie, to be a Member of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico
• John Earl Nixon, to be a Member of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico

The Board of Visitors to the U.S. Military Academy

The Board of Visitors to the U.S. Military Academy provides independent advice and recommendations to the President on matters related to morale, discipline, curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs, academic methods, and any other matters relating to the Academy that the Board decides to consider. The Board consists of six members appointed by the President for terms of three years.

Troy Coronado, to be a Member of the Board of Visitors to the U.S. Military Academy

Troy Coronado, rising from the rank of private to colonel, has 30 years of distinguished military service in the U.S. Army. In 1987, he enlisted in the Infantry at Fort Benning, Georgia. While working as a drill corporal, he was selected to attend the Officer Candidate School, and upon graduation, was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Armor Branch. His first assignment was platoon leader in Schweinfurt, Germany.

In 2006, Coronado completed a combat tour in Afghanistan, working as an embedded team trainer, as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Following his return to the U.S., his assignments included the Pentagon, Fort Knox, Kentucky, and the National Guard Bureau Joint Staff. In 2014, he returned to Afghanistan as the Joint Command Inspector General. From there he was assigned to the Warrior Transition Brigade at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland until his retirement in 2017.

Coronado’s military awards include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation, Army Commendation, Army Achievement, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, NATO Medal, and the Combat Action Badge. He is a member of the Army Infantry Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame and a recipient of the American Latino Veterans Association Valor Award. Coronado and his wife, Lisa, have been married for 35 years and have three daughters and two grandchildren. He now lives back in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas.

Community Development Advisory Board, Department of the Treasury 

The Community Development Advisory Board serves to advise the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund within the Department of the Treasury. The Community Development Advisory Board’s mission is to promote access to capital to underserved communities. The CDFI Fund, in partnership with the Board, partners with and invests in local lenders and financial service providers around the country. Since inception, the CDFI Fund has awarded more than $5.2 billion dollars to its partners. 

Manuel A. Chinea, to be a Member of the Community Development Advisory Board 

Manuel Chinea is the Chief Operating Officer of Popular Bank, a leading financial institution with operations in Puerto Rico, the mainland U.S. and the Virgin Islands. Prior to joining Popular Bank, Chinea served as Executive Vice President and Chief for Retail Operations at Certus Bank. For over two decades, Chinea has been an active member and officer of several marketing, credit, treasury management and nonprofit organizations. Chinea has been an active leader in the treasury management and nonprofit space, as he currently serves as a board member of Junior Achievement of New York and is a current Treasurer and former board Chair of the Hispanic Federation. Chinea holds a B.S. in finance from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and an MBA from the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business.  

Janie Simms Hipp, to be a Member of the Community Development Advisory Board 

Janie Hipp is the President and CEO of Native Agriculture Financial Services, a lending institution focused on economic development for tribal communities. Prior to this, Hipp was nominated by President Biden and confirmed by the Senate to serve as the General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture. She is the first enrolled tribal citizen to hold that role, as a member of the Chickasaw Nation. Hipp has worked in agricultural law and economic development for nearly 40 years, including serving as the CEO of the Native American Agriculture Fund and as a senior advisor to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and Director of the USDA Office of Tribal Relations. Hipp holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in social work from the University of Oklahoma, a J.D. from Oklahoma City University’s School of Law and a LLM in agricultural law from the University of Arkansas School of Law. 

Mark Alan Kaufman, to be a Member of the Community Development Advisory Board 

Mark Kaufman is the President of the Neighborhood Impact Investment Fund, a community development financial institution dedicated to investing in inclusive growth for historically undercapitalized areas of Baltimore, MD. Kaufman has nearly 40 years of experience in government and the private sector working on community finance and development. His public service includes his tenure as Counselor to Treasury Deputy Secretary Sarah Bloom Raskin in the Obama-Biden Administration and as Commissioner of the Maryland Division of Financial Regulation. In the private sector, he served as the President of City First Bank, a DC-based community development financial institution, and as Managing Director of Investment Banking at CIBC World Markets. Kaufman holds a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Brown University, as well as a MPA and MBA from Columbia University. 

Susan Chapman Plumb, to be a Member of the Community Development Advisory Board 

Susan Chapman Plumb is the CEO and board chair of Local Bank and is a board member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Local Bank, previously known as the Bank of Cherokee County, was one of the first Native-owned CDFIs certified by the Treasury Department. Plumb began her career as an attorney, and has since worked in banking in Cherokee County for the last 20 years. Plumb is active in her community, serving on the boards of the Tahlequah Hospital Foundation and the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. She holds a B.A. in journalism from the University of Oklahoma and a J.D. from the University of Tulsa.  

Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States

The Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) is an independent federal agency charged with convening expert representatives from the public and private sectors to recommend improvements to administrative process and procedure. ACUS initiatives promote efficiency, participation, and fairness in the promulgation of federal regulations and in the administration of federal programs. The 10-member ACUS Council is composed of government officials and private citizens.

Damon Y. Smith, to be a Member of the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States

Damon Y. Smith serves as the General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). As General Counsel, Smith is responsible for leading the agency’s litigation and enforcement efforts, serving as the Designated Agency Ethics Official, and assisting the Secretary in the development of HUD programs and policies. Smith joined the Biden-Harris Administration as Principal Deputy General Counsel. Prior to that, he was Senior Director of Advocacy and Counsel at the Credit Union National Association and a Partner at Jenner and Block LLP in Washington, D.C. where he provided counsel to companies facing complex compliance, government regulation, and enforcement matters.

Smith previously served as Principal Deputy and Acting General Counsel at HUD during the Obama-Biden Administration. Before his government service, he taught property and local government law as an Associate Professor at Rutgers-Camden Law School and a Visiting Professor at the American University Washington College of Law. He began his legal career as a real estate Associate at Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C. and worked prior to law school as an urban planner in East St. Louis, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri. Smith is a graduate of Harvard Law School and holds a B.A. in English and a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Permanent Committee for the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise

The Permanent Committee for the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise was established by Congress in 1955 after the late Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. bequeathed a portion of his estate to the United States in 1935. Congress used the gift to establish the Committee, which is charged with documenting and disseminating the history of the United States Supreme Court. The Committee’s principal purpose is to continue to publish the multi-volume work documenting the history of the Court. The Committee is composed of the Librarian of Congress and four additional members appointed by the President.

Justin Driver, to be a Member of the Permanent Committee for the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise

Justin Driver is the Robert R. Slaughter Professor of Law at Yale Law School, where he primarily teaches and writes in the fields of constitutional law, constitutional theory, and education law. He is the author of The Schoolhouse Gate: Public Education, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for the American Mind, which was selected as a Washington Post Notable Book of the Year and an Editors’ Choice of The New York Times Book Review. The Schoolhouse Gate also received the Steven S. Goldberg Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Education Law, and was a finalist for the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award and Phi Beta Kappa’s Ralph Waldo Emerson Book Award. A recipient of the American Society for Legal History’s William Nelson Cromwell Article Prize, Driver is an elected member of the American Law Institute and of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. In 2021, President Biden appointed Driver to serve on the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States. He is a graduate of Brown, Oxford, Duke, and Harvard Law School. After graduating from Harvard, Driver clerked for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (Ret.) and Justice Stephen Breyer (Ret.).

President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders

The President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders advises the President on ways the public, private, and non-profit sectors can work together to advance equity and opportunity for every Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community. The Commission is also charged with advising the President on policies to address anti-Asian xenophobia and violence, ways to build capacity in AANHPI communities through federal grantmaking, and policies to address the intersectional barriers that AANHPI women, LGBTQ+ people, and people with disabilities face. The Commission includes civic leaders from across the country and reflects the rich diversity of AANHPI communities across the United States. The Commission consists of 25 members appointed by the President.

Kamana‘opono M. Crabbe, to be a Commissioner of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders

Dr. Kamana‘opono M. Crabbe serves as a seasoned spokesperson and representative for the Native Hawaiian community on Native Hawaiian rights, social inequities, community health and resilience, and current social, cultural, educational, economic, and political issues affecting Native Hawaiians, Hawai‘i, and the Pacific. He sits on several high-level policy and governing boards, including the Hawai‘i Executive Collaborative Leadership Committee and the Asian American Foundation Advisory Council.

In 2010, he joined the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) as its Research Director, and was appointed as Chief Executive Officer in March 2012. As OHA’s Ka Pouhana, the main post of the hale, he grounded the organization in Kūkulu Hou – his vision to reestablish and rebuild the mana of kānaka maoli, Native Hawaiians. He later served as the Ka Pouhana-CEO for the Kohala Institute at ‘Iole, where he led the organization on a new vision to “be a world leader in sustainable thinking through a model 21st century ahupua‘a, where land is chief, and man is steward.”

Currently, Crabbe serves as the Executive Counselor for the Asian Pacific Islander Health Forum, a national health policy advocacy organization based out of Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, California. He also serves as a Senior Executive for the Hawai‘i Executive Collaborative and is the Project Lead-Executive for the Rediscovering Hawai‘i’s Soul initiative.

Crabbe has received numerous cultural distinctions and formal awards recognizing his executive leadership and accomplishments. He serves his community as a ho‘oponopono practitioner, skilled chanter and orator, and ‘aha ‘awa ceremony and protocol expert. In 2006, he established the non-profit organization, ‘Aha Kāne: Foundation for the Advancement of Native Hawaiian Males. He earned his doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and served countless families, youth, and communities as a licensed clinical psychologist for over 12 years.

Sameera Fazili, to be a Commissioner of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders

Sameera Fazili is an economic policy expert with over 20 years of leadership experience across the public, private, and non-profit sectors. She previously served as Deputy Assistant to President Biden and Deputy Director of the White House’s National Economic Council. In that role, she led the Administration’s work on industrial policy, supply chains, and regional economic development, including the response to numerous supply chain crises. She currently runs her own advisory business, focused on clean energy transition, global supply chain resilience, and economic equity issues, and is a senior fellow in industrial policy and trade at the Roosevelt Institute. She serves on the boards of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Atlanta, the Paideia School, and the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, and was previously a board member with the Inner-City Muslim Action Network, helping launch their Atlanta, Georgia office. Her career has included work at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and Yale Law School, where she helped launch Connecticut’s first community development bank. A graduate of Yale Law School and Harvard College, she lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Krystal Ka‘ai, to be a Commissioner of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders

Krystal Ka‘ai is a dedicated public servant with over 14 years of experience working to advance equity for underserved communities. In 2021, she was appointed by President Biden as the first Native Hawaiian in history to serve as the Executive Director of the White House Initiative and the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. In this role, she oversees the Biden-Harris Administration’s whole-of-government strategy to advance equity, justice, and opportunity for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities, including coordinating interagency policy development and external outreach to local, state, and federal stakeholders across the country. Prior to joining the Administration, she served as the Executive Director of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), a bicameral caucus comprised of over 80 Members of Congress who advocate for the needs and concerns of AA and NHPI communities at the federal level. Her public service career also includes prior roles with the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, the State of Hawai‘i Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation.

Vida Lin, to be a Commissioner of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders

Vida Lin has dedicated 30 years to empowering Nevada’s Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community by taking decisive action where she saw the greatest need. As the Founder and President of the Asian Community Development Council, Lin transformed her vision into reality by establishing Nevada’s first Asian food pantry, hosting vaccination clinics, offering free citizenship assistance, and opening the Healthy Asians and Pacific Islanders (HAPI) Medical Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Lin’s journey began in San Francisco, California where she ran a small family business and later transitioned to the insurance industry to protect families after a personal tragedy. During her successful 20-year career as an insurance broker, Lin’s passion for helping the underserved drove her to advise and serve as a board member for numerous charities and causes. Her unwavering commitment to civic engagement and advocacy was recognized with the Bank of America “Neighborhood Builders: Racial Equality Award” in 2022, and the City of Las Vegas honored her with “Vida Lin Day” on January 18, 2023. Lin’s legacy is defined by her relentless pursuit of uplifting and empowering the next generation of leaders.

President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities

The President’s Committee on People with Intellectual Disabilities serves as a federal advisor to the President and the Secretary of Health and Human Services on matters relating to persons with intellectual disabilities. The Committee has 21 members who serve two-year terms. Individuals appointed to this Committee reflect the diversity of America and include people with intellectual disabilities and their family members, researchers, service providers and other professionals, community and business representatives, and systems advocates.

Emmanuel Jenkins, to be a Member of the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities

Emmanuel Jenkins, the driving force behind the non-profit We Stand 4 Something, is a beacon of support for individuals with disabilities and their families, spreading positivity and hope. In Delaware, he serves as the Community Relations Officer for the Delaware Developmental Disabilities Council and serves as the Chair of the Delaware Employment First Oversight Commission and Vice Chair of the Delaware Developmental Disabilities Services Advisory Committee. An alumnus of the Partners in Policymaking program since 2014, Jenkins’ unwavering dedication to advocacy is further evidenced by his recent roles on the Advisory Committee for the Self-Advocacy Resource and Technical Assistance Center and as Chair of the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities (NACDD) Self-Advocacy Committee. He also serves on the NACDD Board and chairs its communications working group. In academia, Jenkins is a distinguished Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Faculty Member at the University of Delaware. Jenkins has been married since 2009 and is father to an 18-year-old. With over two decades as a motivational speaker, Emmanuel envisions a future where his tireless advocacy can reach new heights, embodying resilience, determination, and the belief in standing for something greater.

Route 66 Centennial Commission

The Route 66 Centennial Commission was established by Congress in 2020 to study and make recommendations on activities that would be fitting and proper to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the Mother Road of the United States, Route 66, in 2026. The Commission studies activities including potential ceremonies and celebrations, the production and publication of media or other materials, and the issuance of commemorative items.

Charles P. Riley, to be a Member of the Route 66 Centennial Commission

Charles P. Riley is a citizen of the Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico and has a made public service his career. He served the Pueblo as a Tribal Council member for 13 years and as a Tribal Sheriff for one year. Riley holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of New Mexico and worked for private engineering and surveying firms for 10 years, before joining the Bureau of Indian Affairs. At the Bureau of Indian Affairs, he held the positions of Regional Road Engineer, Designated Engineer, and Mescalero Agency Superintendent. Riley ended his government career working for the Bureau of Indian Education. He retired from public service after 25 years and is currently working for the Pueblo as the Director of Community Development.

As the Director of Community Development, Riley oversees the planning, design, and construction of roads on Pueblo of Acoma lands. His office has been awarded grants to plan and design 13 miles of roads and three bridges. His office is currently helping other departments with the development of a new Education Resource Center and Senior Center complex. The Pueblo’s future projects include a reservation-wide pedestrian/bike trail system, and the designation of a Tribal Scenic Byway that will lead to the historic Acoma village known as “Sky City,” that will begin and end on historic Route 66.

Riley has been married for 39 years, and has three daughters and four grandchildren

Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad

The Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad was established in 1985 to ensure that sites important to populations impacted by Nazism, communism, and the Cold War would be preserved for future generations. The Commission’s mission is to identify, protect, and preserve cemeteries, monuments, and historic buildings in Eastern and Central Europe that are associated with U.S. heritage. The work recognizes that the population of the United States is mostly comprised of immigrants and their descendants, and that the United States has an interest in the preservation of sites in other countries related to the heritage of these Americans.

Edgar Gluck, to be a Member of the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad

Rabbi Edgar Gluck was born in Hamburg, Germany on June 14th, 1936. A Holocaust survivor, he immigrated to the U.S. at the age of two. He attended the Chasan Sofer Rabbinical Academy and Beth Medrash Elyon Academy of higher studies and research where he earned an Advanced Rabbinical Degree of “Rabbi and Judge.” One of his areas of post-rabbinical specialization has been the identity and dignity of the dead, and he has worked tirelessly to identify and restore grave sites and reclaim cemeteries and areas of mass graves worldwide for the last six decades. Gluck has also been active with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in the city of New York, where he currently holds the position of Chaplain to the Chief Medical Examiner.

In 1971, he co-founded Hatzoloh, the largest volunteer ambulance corps in the country. Gluck is Chairman of the in-patient Board of Maimonides Medical Center, one of the largest metropolitan hospitals in New York City, and has been appointed as Chief Rabbi of Galicia, Poland. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan awarded him with a Commendation for his Exemplary Community Service and he continues to serve the needs of the community, both in the U.S. and abroad.

Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico

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

Andrew G. Biggs, to be a Member of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico

Andrew G. Biggs is a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Biggs previously was the Principal Deputy Commissioner of the Social Security Administration and in 2005 served as an Associate Director of the White House National Economic Council. In 2013, the Society of Actuaries appointed Biggs Co-Vice Chair of its Blue Ribbon Panel on Public Pension Funding. In 2016, Biggs was appointed by President Obama to the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, to which he was reappointed by President Trump in 2020. Biggs holds a B.A. from Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland, an MSc from Cambridge University and the University of London, and a PhD from the London School of Economics.

Cameron McKenzie, to be a Member of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico

Cameron McKenzie is an accomplished investment banker, investor, and entrepreneur with a strong background in mergers and acquisitions, capital raises, business valuation, management consulting, restructuring, and corporate financial advisory services. Over his career, he has worked on numerous transactions across industries such as energy, healthcare, and real estate.

After working for the consulting firm of former U.S. Ambassador Hans H. Hertell, McKenzie founded McKenzie & Associates in 2015. His firm provides investment banking and corporate advisory services to small and middle-market companies throughout the Americas. In addition, he is an investor in several small businesses that collectively employ over 200 people.

McKenzie’s impact extends beyond business; he served as President and Chairman of the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce from 2022 to 2023 and was appointed Honorary Consul of Japan in Puerto Rico that same year. In 2023, McKenzie became the first Puerto Rican to join the International Chamber of Commerce executive board in Paris, France. Additionally, he serves on the board of the Baldwin School of Puerto Rico and as an executive board member of Grupo 21.

McKenzie holds an MBA and a B.S. from Babson College and numerous financial certifications and regulatory licenses. Recognized as a leader in the financial sector, McKenzie has received several accolades, including being named among the “40 under 40” by the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts in 2019. McKenzie and his wife, Stephania Gonzalez, are blessed with three children: Annabel, Leonardo, and Nicholas.

John Earl Nixon, to be a Member of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico

John Earl Nixon serves as a Senior Vice President at Acentra Health, an innovative healthcare technology company. In his role, he is focused on government relations, corporate strategy, and client management.

Nixon was Chief Administrative and Financial Officer of the University of Utah from 2014 to 2019. He served as Michigan’s Budget Director from 2011 to 2014 in Governor Rick Snyder’s Administration, where he led a department of 2,700 employees overseeing the state’s $52 billion budget, and statewide government technology and administrative functions. During his tenure, Michigan eliminated a perpetual $1.5 billion deficit, reduced the state’s long-term liabilities by $20 billion, and received a credit rating upgrade. Nixon is also the former state budget director for Utah, having served for Governors Jon Huntsman and Gary Herbert. 

He is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a B.S. in Corporate Finance from Brigham Young University and an MBA with an emphasis in Information Technology from the University of Utah. Nixon was named Public Official of the Year in 2012 by Governing magazine, which cited his role in Michigan’s economic turnaround. He was also one of Government Technology Magazine’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers in 2012. In 2010, he served as President of the National Association of State Budget Officers. In 2008, he was named Chief Financial Officer of the Year for the public sector by Utah Business Magazine. He lives in Bountiful, Utah with his wife, DeAnn. They have six children, two of whom are married.

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The post President Biden Announces Key Appointments to Boards and Commissions appeared first on The White House.

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

• Troy Coronado, to be a Member of the Board of Visitors to the U.S. Military Academy
• Manuel A. Chinea, to be a Member of the Community Development Advisory Board
• Janie Simms Hipp, to be a Member of the Community Development Advisory Board
• Mark Alan Kaufman, to be a Member of the Community Development Advisory Board
• Susan Chapman Plumb, to be a Member of the Community Development Advisory Board
• Damon Y. Smith, to be a Member of the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States
• Justin Driver, to be a Member of the Permanent Committee for the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise
• Kamana‘opono M. Crabbe, to be a Commissioner of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders
• Sameera Fazili, to be a Commissioner of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders
• Krystal Ka‘ai, to be a Commissioner of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders
• Vida Lin, to be a Commissioner of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders
• Emmanuel Jenkins, to be a Member of the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities
• Charles P. Riley, to be a Member of the Route 66 Centennial Commission

Additionally, President Biden announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to serve as members of boards and commissions that, based on statute or longstanding practice, include candidates recommended by Congressional Republican leadership.

• Edgar Gluck, to be a Member of the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad
• Andrew G. Biggs, to be a Member of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico
• Cameron McKenzie, to be a Member of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico
• John Earl Nixon, to be a Member of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico

The Board of Visitors to the U.S. Military Academy

The Board of Visitors to the U.S. Military Academy provides independent advice and recommendations to the President on matters related to morale, discipline, curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs, academic methods, and any other matters relating to the Academy that the Board decides to consider. The Board consists of six members appointed by the President for terms of three years.

Troy Coronado, to be a Member of the Board of Visitors to the U.S. Military Academy

Troy Coronado, rising from the rank of private to colonel, has 30 years of distinguished military service in the U.S. Army. In 1987, he enlisted in the Infantry at Fort Benning, Georgia. While working as a drill corporal, he was selected to attend the Officer Candidate School, and upon graduation, was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Armor Branch. His first assignment was platoon leader in Schweinfurt, Germany.

In 2006, Coronado completed a combat tour in Afghanistan, working as an embedded team trainer, as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Following his return to the U.S., his assignments included the Pentagon, Fort Knox, Kentucky, and the National Guard Bureau Joint Staff. In 2014, he returned to Afghanistan as the Joint Command Inspector General. From there he was assigned to the Warrior Transition Brigade at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland until his retirement in 2017.

Coronado’s military awards include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation, Army Commendation, Army Achievement, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, NATO Medal, and the Combat Action Badge. He is a member of the Army Infantry Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame and a recipient of the American Latino Veterans Association Valor Award. Coronado and his wife, Lisa, have been married for 35 years and have three daughters and two grandchildren. He now lives back in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas.

Community Development Advisory Board, Department of the Treasury 

The Community Development Advisory Board serves to advise the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund within the Department of the Treasury. The Community Development Advisory Board’s mission is to promote access to capital to underserved communities. The CDFI Fund, in partnership with the Board, partners with and invests in local lenders and financial service providers around the country. Since inception, the CDFI Fund has awarded more than $5.2 billion dollars to its partners. 

Manuel A. Chinea, to be a Member of the Community Development Advisory Board 

Manuel Chinea is the Chief Operating Officer of Popular Bank, a leading financial institution with operations in Puerto Rico, the mainland U.S. and the Virgin Islands. Prior to joining Popular Bank, Chinea served as Executive Vice President and Chief for Retail Operations at Certus Bank. For over two decades, Chinea has been an active member and officer of several marketing, credit, treasury management and nonprofit organizations. Chinea has been an active leader in the treasury management and nonprofit space, as he currently serves as a board member of Junior Achievement of New York and is a current Treasurer and former board Chair of the Hispanic Federation. Chinea holds a B.S. in finance from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and an MBA from the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business.  

Janie Simms Hipp, to be a Member of the Community Development Advisory Board 

Janie Hipp is the President and CEO of Native Agriculture Financial Services, a lending institution focused on economic development for tribal communities. Prior to this, Hipp was nominated by President Biden and confirmed by the Senate to serve as the General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture. She is the first enrolled tribal citizen to hold that role, as a member of the Chickasaw Nation. Hipp has worked in agricultural law and economic development for nearly 40 years, including serving as the CEO of the Native American Agriculture Fund and as a senior advisor to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and Director of the USDA Office of Tribal Relations. Hipp holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in social work from the University of Oklahoma, a J.D. from Oklahoma City University’s School of Law and a LLM in agricultural law from the University of Arkansas School of Law. 

Mark Alan Kaufman, to be a Member of the Community Development Advisory Board 

Mark Kaufman is the President of the Neighborhood Impact Investment Fund, a community development financial institution dedicated to investing in inclusive growth for historically undercapitalized areas of Baltimore, MD. Kaufman has nearly 40 years of experience in government and the private sector working on community finance and development. His public service includes his tenure as Counselor to Treasury Deputy Secretary Sarah Bloom Raskin in the Obama-Biden Administration and as Commissioner of the Maryland Division of Financial Regulation. In the private sector, he served as the President of City First Bank, a DC-based community development financial institution, and as Managing Director of Investment Banking at CIBC World Markets. Kaufman holds a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Brown University, as well as a MPA and MBA from Columbia University. 

Susan Chapman Plumb, to be a Member of the Community Development Advisory Board 

Susan Chapman Plumb is the CEO and board chair of Local Bank and is a board member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Local Bank, previously known as the Bank of Cherokee County, was one of the first Native-owned CDFIs certified by the Treasury Department. Plumb began her career as an attorney, and has since worked in banking in Cherokee County for the last 20 years. Plumb is active in her community, serving on the boards of the Tahlequah Hospital Foundation and the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. She holds a B.A. in journalism from the University of Oklahoma and a J.D. from the University of Tulsa.  

Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States

The Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) is an independent federal agency charged with convening expert representatives from the public and private sectors to recommend improvements to administrative process and procedure. ACUS initiatives promote efficiency, participation, and fairness in the promulgation of federal regulations and in the administration of federal programs. The 10-member ACUS Council is composed of government officials and private citizens.

Damon Y. Smith, to be a Member of the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States

Damon Y. Smith serves as the General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). As General Counsel, Smith is responsible for leading the agency’s litigation and enforcement efforts, serving as the Designated Agency Ethics Official, and assisting the Secretary in the development of HUD programs and policies. Smith joined the Biden-Harris Administration as Principal Deputy General Counsel. Prior to that, he was Senior Director of Advocacy and Counsel at the Credit Union National Association and a Partner at Jenner and Block LLP in Washington, D.C. where he provided counsel to companies facing complex compliance, government regulation, and enforcement matters.

Smith previously served as Principal Deputy and Acting General Counsel at HUD during the Obama-Biden Administration. Before his government service, he taught property and local government law as an Associate Professor at Rutgers-Camden Law School and a Visiting Professor at the American University Washington College of Law. He began his legal career as a real estate Associate at Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C. and worked prior to law school as an urban planner in East St. Louis, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri. Smith is a graduate of Harvard Law School and holds a B.A. in English and a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Permanent Committee for the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise

The Permanent Committee for the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise was established by Congress in 1955 after the late Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. bequeathed a portion of his estate to the United States in 1935. Congress used the gift to establish the Committee, which is charged with documenting and disseminating the history of the United States Supreme Court. The Committee’s principal purpose is to continue to publish the multi-volume work documenting the history of the Court. The Committee is composed of the Librarian of Congress and four additional members appointed by the President.

Justin Driver, to be a Member of the Permanent Committee for the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise

Justin Driver is the Robert R. Slaughter Professor of Law at Yale Law School, where he primarily teaches and writes in the fields of constitutional law, constitutional theory, and education law. He is the author of The Schoolhouse Gate: Public Education, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for the American Mind, which was selected as a Washington Post Notable Book of the Year and an Editors’ Choice of The New York Times Book Review. The Schoolhouse Gate also received the Steven S. Goldberg Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Education Law, and was a finalist for the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award and Phi Beta Kappa’s Ralph Waldo Emerson Book Award. A recipient of the American Society for Legal History’s William Nelson Cromwell Article Prize, Driver is an elected member of the American Law Institute and of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. In 2021, President Biden appointed Driver to serve on the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States. He is a graduate of Brown, Oxford, Duke, and Harvard Law School. After graduating from Harvard, Driver clerked for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (Ret.) and Justice Stephen Breyer (Ret.).

President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders

The President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders advises the President on ways the public, private, and non-profit sectors can work together to advance equity and opportunity for every Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community. The Commission is also charged with advising the President on policies to address anti-Asian xenophobia and violence, ways to build capacity in AANHPI communities through federal grantmaking, and policies to address the intersectional barriers that AANHPI women, LGBTQ+ people, and people with disabilities face. The Commission includes civic leaders from across the country and reflects the rich diversity of AANHPI communities across the United States. The Commission consists of 25 members appointed by the President.

Kamana‘opono M. Crabbe, to be a Commissioner of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders

Dr. Kamana‘opono M. Crabbe serves as a seasoned spokesperson and representative for the Native Hawaiian community on Native Hawaiian rights, social inequities, community health and resilience, and current social, cultural, educational, economic, and political issues affecting Native Hawaiians, Hawai‘i, and the Pacific. He sits on several high-level policy and governing boards, including the Hawai‘i Executive Collaborative Leadership Committee and the Asian American Foundation Advisory Council.

In 2010, he joined the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) as its Research Director, and was appointed as Chief Executive Officer in March 2012. As OHA’s Ka Pouhana, the main post of the hale, he grounded the organization in Kūkulu Hou – his vision to reestablish and rebuild the mana of kānaka maoli, Native Hawaiians. He later served as the Ka Pouhana-CEO for the Kohala Institute at ‘Iole, where he led the organization on a new vision to “be a world leader in sustainable thinking through a model 21st century ahupua‘a, where land is chief, and man is steward.”

Currently, Crabbe serves as the Executive Counselor for the Asian Pacific Islander Health Forum, a national health policy advocacy organization based out of Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, California. He also serves as a Senior Executive for the Hawai‘i Executive Collaborative and is the Project Lead-Executive for the Rediscovering Hawai‘i’s Soul initiative.

Crabbe has received numerous cultural distinctions and formal awards recognizing his executive leadership and accomplishments. He serves his community as a ho‘oponopono practitioner, skilled chanter and orator, and ‘aha ‘awa ceremony and protocol expert. In 2006, he established the non-profit organization, ‘Aha Kāne: Foundation for the Advancement of Native Hawaiian Males. He earned his doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and served countless families, youth, and communities as a licensed clinical psychologist for over 12 years.

Sameera Fazili, to be a Commissioner of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders

Sameera Fazili is an economic policy expert with over 20 years of leadership experience across the public, private, and non-profit sectors. She previously served as Deputy Assistant to President Biden and Deputy Director of the White House’s National Economic Council. In that role, she led the Administration’s work on industrial policy, supply chains, and regional economic development, including the response to numerous supply chain crises. She currently runs her own advisory business, focused on clean energy transition, global supply chain resilience, and economic equity issues, and is a senior fellow in industrial policy and trade at the Roosevelt Institute. She serves on the boards of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Atlanta, the Paideia School, and the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, and was previously a board member with the Inner-City Muslim Action Network, helping launch their Atlanta, Georgia office. Her career has included work at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and Yale Law School, where she helped launch Connecticut’s first community development bank. A graduate of Yale Law School and Harvard College, she lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Krystal Ka‘ai, to be a Commissioner of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders

Krystal Ka‘ai is a dedicated public servant with over 14 years of experience working to advance equity for underserved communities. In 2021, she was appointed by President Biden as the first Native Hawaiian in history to serve as the Executive Director of the White House Initiative and the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. In this role, she oversees the Biden-Harris Administration’s whole-of-government strategy to advance equity, justice, and opportunity for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities, including coordinating interagency policy development and external outreach to local, state, and federal stakeholders across the country. Prior to joining the Administration, she served as the Executive Director of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), a bicameral caucus comprised of over 80 Members of Congress who advocate for the needs and concerns of AA and NHPI communities at the federal level. Her public service career also includes prior roles with the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, the State of Hawai‘i Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation.

Vida Lin, to be a Commissioner of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders

Vida Lin has dedicated 30 years to empowering Nevada’s Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community by taking decisive action where she saw the greatest need. As the Founder and President of the Asian Community Development Council, Lin transformed her vision into reality by establishing Nevada’s first Asian food pantry, hosting vaccination clinics, offering free citizenship assistance, and opening the Healthy Asians and Pacific Islanders (HAPI) Medical Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Lin’s journey began in San Francisco, California where she ran a small family business and later transitioned to the insurance industry to protect families after a personal tragedy. During her successful 20-year career as an insurance broker, Lin’s passion for helping the underserved drove her to advise and serve as a board member for numerous charities and causes. Her unwavering commitment to civic engagement and advocacy was recognized with the Bank of America “Neighborhood Builders: Racial Equality Award” in 2022, and the City of Las Vegas honored her with “Vida Lin Day” on January 18, 2023. Lin’s legacy is defined by her relentless pursuit of uplifting and empowering the next generation of leaders.

President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities

The President’s Committee on People with Intellectual Disabilities serves as a federal advisor to the President and the Secretary of Health and Human Services on matters relating to persons with intellectual disabilities. The Committee has 21 members who serve two-year terms. Individuals appointed to this Committee reflect the diversity of America and include people with intellectual disabilities and their family members, researchers, service providers and other professionals, community and business representatives, and systems advocates.

Emmanuel Jenkins, to be a Member of the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities

Emmanuel Jenkins, the driving force behind the non-profit We Stand 4 Something, is a beacon of support for individuals with disabilities and their families, spreading positivity and hope. In Delaware, he serves as the Community Relations Officer for the Delaware Developmental Disabilities Council and serves as the Chair of the Delaware Employment First Oversight Commission and Vice Chair of the Delaware Developmental Disabilities Services Advisory Committee. An alumnus of the Partners in Policymaking program since 2014, Jenkins’ unwavering dedication to advocacy is further evidenced by his recent roles on the Advisory Committee for the Self-Advocacy Resource and Technical Assistance Center and as Chair of the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities (NACDD) Self-Advocacy Committee. He also serves on the NACDD Board and chairs its communications working group. In academia, Jenkins is a distinguished Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Faculty Member at the University of Delaware. Jenkins has been married since 2009 and is father to an 18-year-old. With over two decades as a motivational speaker, Emmanuel envisions a future where his tireless advocacy can reach new heights, embodying resilience, determination, and the belief in standing for something greater.

Route 66 Centennial Commission

The Route 66 Centennial Commission was established by Congress in 2020 to study and make recommendations on activities that would be fitting and proper to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the Mother Road of the United States, Route 66, in 2026. The Commission studies activities including potential ceremonies and celebrations, the production and publication of media or other materials, and the issuance of commemorative items.

Charles P. Riley, to be a Member of the Route 66 Centennial Commission

Charles P. Riley is a citizen of the Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico and has a made public service his career. He served the Pueblo as a Tribal Council member for 13 years and as a Tribal Sheriff for one year. Riley holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of New Mexico and worked for private engineering and surveying firms for 10 years, before joining the Bureau of Indian Affairs. At the Bureau of Indian Affairs, he held the positions of Regional Road Engineer, Designated Engineer, and Mescalero Agency Superintendent. Riley ended his government career working for the Bureau of Indian Education. He retired from public service after 25 years and is currently working for the Pueblo as the Director of Community Development.

As the Director of Community Development, Riley oversees the planning, design, and construction of roads on Pueblo of Acoma lands. His office has been awarded grants to plan and design 13 miles of roads and three bridges. His office is currently helping other departments with the development of a new Education Resource Center and Senior Center complex. The Pueblo’s future projects include a reservation-wide pedestrian/bike trail system, and the designation of a Tribal Scenic Byway that will lead to the historic Acoma village known as “Sky City,” that will begin and end on historic Route 66.

Riley has been married for 39 years, and has three daughters and four grandchildren

Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad

The Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad was established in 1985 to ensure that sites important to populations impacted by Nazism, communism, and the Cold War would be preserved for future generations. The Commission’s mission is to identify, protect, and preserve cemeteries, monuments, and historic buildings in Eastern and Central Europe that are associated with U.S. heritage. The work recognizes that the population of the United States is mostly comprised of immigrants and their descendants, and that the United States has an interest in the preservation of sites in other countries related to the heritage of these Americans.

Edgar Gluck, to be a Member of the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad

Rabbi Edgar Gluck was born in Hamburg, Germany on June 14th, 1936. A Holocaust survivor, he immigrated to the U.S. at the age of two. He attended the Chasan Sofer Rabbinical Academy and Beth Medrash Elyon Academy of higher studies and research where he earned an Advanced Rabbinical Degree of “Rabbi and Judge.” One of his areas of post-rabbinical specialization has been the identity and dignity of the dead, and he has worked tirelessly to identify and restore grave sites and reclaim cemeteries and areas of mass graves worldwide for the last six decades. Gluck has also been active with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in the city of New York, where he currently holds the position of Chaplain to the Chief Medical Examiner.

In 1971, he co-founded Hatzoloh, the largest volunteer ambulance corps in the country. Gluck is Chairman of the in-patient Board of Maimonides Medical Center, one of the largest metropolitan hospitals in New York City, and has been appointed as Chief Rabbi of Galicia, Poland. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan awarded him with a Commendation for his Exemplary Community Service and he continues to serve the needs of the community, both in the U.S. and abroad.

Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico

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

Andrew G. Biggs, to be a Member of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico

Andrew G. Biggs is a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Biggs previously was the Principal Deputy Commissioner of the Social Security Administration and in 2005 served as an Associate Director of the White House National Economic Council. In 2013, the Society of Actuaries appointed Biggs Co-Vice Chair of its Blue Ribbon Panel on Public Pension Funding. In 2016, Biggs was appointed by President Obama to the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, to which he was reappointed by President Trump in 2020. Biggs holds a B.A. from Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland, an MSc from Cambridge University and the University of London, and a PhD from the London School of Economics.

Cameron McKenzie, to be a Member of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico

Cameron McKenzie is an accomplished investment banker, investor, and entrepreneur with a strong background in mergers and acquisitions, capital raises, business valuation, management consulting, restructuring, and corporate financial advisory services. Over his career, he has worked on numerous transactions across industries such as energy, healthcare, and real estate.

After working for the consulting firm of former U.S. Ambassador Hans H. Hertell, McKenzie founded McKenzie & Associates in 2015. His firm provides investment banking and corporate advisory services to small and middle-market companies throughout the Americas. In addition, he is an investor in several small businesses that collectively employ over 200 people.

McKenzie’s impact extends beyond business; he served as President and Chairman of the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce from 2022 to 2023 and was appointed Honorary Consul of Japan in Puerto Rico that same year. In 2023, McKenzie became the first Puerto Rican to join the International Chamber of Commerce executive board in Paris, France. Additionally, he serves on the board of the Baldwin School of Puerto Rico and as an executive board member of Grupo 21.

McKenzie holds an MBA and a B.S. from Babson College and numerous financial certifications and regulatory licenses. Recognized as a leader in the financial sector, McKenzie has received several accolades, including being named among the “40 under 40” by the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts in 2019. McKenzie and his wife, Stephania Gonzalez, are blessed with three children: Annabel, Leonardo, and Nicholas.

John Earl Nixon, to be a Member of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico

John Earl Nixon serves as a Senior Vice President at Acentra Health, an innovative healthcare technology company. In his role, he is focused on government relations, corporate strategy, and client management.

Nixon was Chief Administrative and Financial Officer of the University of Utah from 2014 to 2019. He served as Michigan’s Budget Director from 2011 to 2014 in Governor Rick Snyder’s Administration, where he led a department of 2,700 employees overseeing the state’s $52 billion budget, and statewide government technology and administrative functions. During his tenure, Michigan eliminated a perpetual $1.5 billion deficit, reduced the state’s long-term liabilities by $20 billion, and received a credit rating upgrade. Nixon is also the former state budget director for Utah, having served for Governors Jon Huntsman and Gary Herbert. 

He is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a B.S. in Corporate Finance from Brigham Young University and an MBA with an emphasis in Information Technology from the University of Utah. Nixon was named Public Official of the Year in 2012 by Governing magazine, which cited his role in Michigan’s economic turnaround. He was also one of Government Technology Magazine’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers in 2012. In 2010, he served as President of the National Association of State Budget Officers. In 2008, he was named Chief Financial Officer of the Year for the public sector by Utah Business Magazine. He lives in Bountiful, Utah with his wife, DeAnn. They have six children, two of whom are married.

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     For so many Americans, grandparents are the first people they look to for comfort, love, and guidance. Grandparents carry family wisdom, share their stories, and are the core of their families. On National Grandparents Day, we give thanks to grandparents and recognize their continuing contributions to our Nation.

     Throughout my life, I have carried the values my grandparents instilled in me — but, above all, I have carried in my heart their memories and unconditional love.  Like grandparents across the country, they taught me to be resilient no matter what life may hand you, to take care of everyone, and to leave no one behind.  Now that the First Lady and I are grandparents, we work to do the same.  Our grandchildren are blessings — they are the love of our lives and the life of our love. 

     Across the country, grandparents are not only providing their guidance, but they are also stepping up when their families need them most, especially to care for grandchildren.  They help out with everyday tasks for their grandkids — whether it is driving them to school, packing lunches, or babysitting.  Over 2.7 million grandparents are primary caregivers, creating a stable and warm home so that their grandkids can thrive.  And with hearts that always have more to give, they offer advice and keep family traditions alive.
 
     Just as our grandparents have always taken care of us, my Administration is working to take care of them.  That work begins by ensuring they have access to the health care they need.  I signed the Inflation Reduction Act to lower costs of medications by giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices.  The Inflation Reduction Act also capped the cost of insulin for people on Medicare at $35 per month, lowering it from as much as $400 per month.  In line with our efforts to control costs, beginning in 2025, out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for seniors and people with disabilities on Medicare will be capped at $2,000 per year. 

     At the same time, my Administration is supporting the grandparents doing the critical work of caring for their grandchildren.  At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, my American Rescue Plan delivered $145 million to fund counseling, training, and relief for grandparents and others acting as caregivers.  Further, my Administration’s National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers includes the unique role of grandparents who are raising grandchildren.  To that end, we finalized a rule that ensures kinship foster parents, including grandparents, receive the same resources to care for their grandkids as other foster homes while giving their grandkids a home they know and love.  We are also taking action across the Federal Government to support the health, well-being, and financial security of family caregivers and providing more care options for families supporting people with disabilities. 

     For grandparents who are looking to share their experience and wisdom, the AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent Program provides opportunities for seniors to mentor young people in their neighborhoods. 

     On National Grandparents Day, we celebrate the contributions of grandparents across the country, whose love is the glue of so many families.  Today, may we reflect on our greatest memories with our grandparents and express our gratitude for the lasting impact they have made on each one of us and the very soul of our Nation.

     NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 8, 2024, as National Grandparents Day.  I call upon all Americans to celebrate the important role that grandparents play in the lives of their families and the children and grandchildren they love.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.
 
 

                              JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

The post A Proclamation on National Grandparents Day, 2024 appeared first on The White House.

     For so many Americans, grandparents are the first people they look to for comfort, love, and guidance. Grandparents carry family wisdom, share their stories, and are the core of their families. On National Grandparents Day, we give thanks to grandparents and recognize their continuing contributions to our Nation.

     Throughout my life, I have carried the values my grandparents instilled in me — but, above all, I have carried in my heart their memories and unconditional love.  Like grandparents across the country, they taught me to be resilient no matter what life may hand you, to take care of everyone, and to leave no one behind.  Now that the First Lady and I are grandparents, we work to do the same.  Our grandchildren are blessings — they are the love of our lives and the life of our love. 

     Across the country, grandparents are not only providing their guidance, but they are also stepping up when their families need them most, especially to care for grandchildren.  They help out with everyday tasks for their grandkids — whether it is driving them to school, packing lunches, or babysitting.  Over 2.7 million grandparents are primary caregivers, creating a stable and warm home so that their grandkids can thrive.  And with hearts that always have more to give, they offer advice and keep family traditions alive.
 
     Just as our grandparents have always taken care of us, my Administration is working to take care of them.  That work begins by ensuring they have access to the health care they need.  I signed the Inflation Reduction Act to lower costs of medications by giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices.  The Inflation Reduction Act also capped the cost of insulin for people on Medicare at $35 per month, lowering it from as much as $400 per month.  In line with our efforts to control costs, beginning in 2025, out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for seniors and people with disabilities on Medicare will be capped at $2,000 per year. 

     At the same time, my Administration is supporting the grandparents doing the critical work of caring for their grandchildren.  At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, my American Rescue Plan delivered $145 million to fund counseling, training, and relief for grandparents and others acting as caregivers.  Further, my Administration’s National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers includes the unique role of grandparents who are raising grandchildren.  To that end, we finalized a rule that ensures kinship foster parents, including grandparents, receive the same resources to care for their grandkids as other foster homes while giving their grandkids a home they know and love.  We are also taking action across the Federal Government to support the health, well-being, and financial security of family caregivers and providing more care options for families supporting people with disabilities. 

     For grandparents who are looking to share their experience and wisdom, the AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent Program provides opportunities for seniors to mentor young people in their neighborhoods. 

     On National Grandparents Day, we celebrate the contributions of grandparents across the country, whose love is the glue of so many families.  Today, may we reflect on our greatest memories with our grandparents and express our gratitude for the lasting impact they have made on each one of us and the very soul of our Nation.

     NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 8, 2024, as National Grandparents Day.  I call upon all Americans to celebrate the important role that grandparents play in the lives of their families and the children and grandchildren they love.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.
 
 

                              JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

The post A Proclamation on National Grandparents Day, 2024 appeared first on The White House.

     Education is a ticket to a better life, and for more than 4.7 million Hispanic and Latino students, Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) make it possible.  The over 500 HSIs across our country are home to over half of Hispanic and Latino college students.  During National Hispanic-Serving Institutions Week, we celebrate these critical postsecondary institutions, which empower our students to pursue the full limits of their talent and ambition.

     HSIs are engines of opportunity, success, and upward mobility.  They serve Dreamers, first-generation college students, and many who come from low-income and underserved communities.  HSIs empower their students, no matter the students’ backgrounds, to obtain their degrees and begin building a more secure, prosperous future for themselves and their families. 

     My Administration is committed to giving HSIs the resources they need to support the students they serve.  That is why we invested over $15 billion in HSIs, including $11 billion through the American Rescue Plan — the largest investment in Hispanic and Latino college students in our Nation’s history.  I also established the first-ever White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity through Hispanic-Serving Institutions, which will support HSIs in building their capacity to provide a high-quality education, identify opportunities for these institutions to participate in Federal programs, and help to ensure HSIs can continue to be engines of educational opportunity and economic mobility.

     We are also working to make college more affordable for every American and to relieve the crushing burden of student loan debt.  We have approved the cancellation of nearly $170 billion in student loan debt for nearly 5 million people through various actions.  We repaired the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF), giving more breathing room to teachers, nurses, law enforcement officials, first responders, and other public servants.  My Administration has already provided relief to 946,000 borrowers through PSLF — before I took office, only 7,000 public servants had received debt relief through this program.  We secured a $900 increase to the maximum Pell Grant award — the largest increase in over a decade — lowering the cost of higher education for underserved students.  We are also taking steps to help borrowers manage their payments through income-driven repayment and get access to benefits through fixes to public service loan forgiveness, borrower defense, and other key types of discharges.  And earlier this year, I laid out my Administration’s new plans that would provide debt relief for more than 30 million Americans when combined with everything we have done so far.

     The promise of America is big enough for everyone to succeed — we just have to make sure we keep the doors of opportunity open.  This week, may we celebrate the more than 500 HSIs, which support our Latino students, put new possibilities within their reach, and give them a fair shot at the American Dream.

     NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 9 through September 15, 2024, as National Hispanic-Serving Institutions Week.  I call on public officials, educators, and all the people of the United States to observe this week with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities that acknowledge the many ways these institutions and their graduates contribute to our country.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.
 
 

                              JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR. 

The post A Proclamation on National Hispanic-Serving Institutions Week, 2024 appeared first on The White House.

     Education is a ticket to a better life, and for more than 4.7 million Hispanic and Latino students, Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) make it possible.  The over 500 HSIs across our country are home to over half of Hispanic and Latino college students.  During National Hispanic-Serving Institutions Week, we celebrate these critical postsecondary institutions, which empower our students to pursue the full limits of their talent and ambition.

     HSIs are engines of opportunity, success, and upward mobility.  They serve Dreamers, first-generation college students, and many who come from low-income and underserved communities.  HSIs empower their students, no matter the students’ backgrounds, to obtain their degrees and begin building a more secure, prosperous future for themselves and their families. 

     My Administration is committed to giving HSIs the resources they need to support the students they serve.  That is why we invested over $15 billion in HSIs, including $11 billion through the American Rescue Plan — the largest investment in Hispanic and Latino college students in our Nation’s history.  I also established the first-ever White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity through Hispanic-Serving Institutions, which will support HSIs in building their capacity to provide a high-quality education, identify opportunities for these institutions to participate in Federal programs, and help to ensure HSIs can continue to be engines of educational opportunity and economic mobility.

     We are also working to make college more affordable for every American and to relieve the crushing burden of student loan debt.  We have approved the cancellation of nearly $170 billion in student loan debt for nearly 5 million people through various actions.  We repaired the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF), giving more breathing room to teachers, nurses, law enforcement officials, first responders, and other public servants.  My Administration has already provided relief to 946,000 borrowers through PSLF — before I took office, only 7,000 public servants had received debt relief through this program.  We secured a $900 increase to the maximum Pell Grant award — the largest increase in over a decade — lowering the cost of higher education for underserved students.  We are also taking steps to help borrowers manage their payments through income-driven repayment and get access to benefits through fixes to public service loan forgiveness, borrower defense, and other key types of discharges.  And earlier this year, I laid out my Administration’s new plans that would provide debt relief for more than 30 million Americans when combined with everything we have done so far.

     The promise of America is big enough for everyone to succeed — we just have to make sure we keep the doors of opportunity open.  This week, may we celebrate the more than 500 HSIs, which support our Latino students, put new possibilities within their reach, and give them a fair shot at the American Dream.

     NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 9 through September 15, 2024, as National Hispanic-Serving Institutions Week.  I call on public officials, educators, and all the people of the United States to observe this week with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities that acknowledge the many ways these institutions and their graduates contribute to our country.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.
 
 

                              JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR. 

The post A Proclamation on National Hispanic-Serving Institutions Week, 2024 appeared first on The White House.

UA Local 190 Training Center
Ann Arbor, Michigan

3:49 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody!  (Applause.)  By the way — by the way, I want you to know —

AUDIENCE:  Thank you, Joe!  Thank you, Joe!  Thank you, Joe!

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.

AUDIENCE:  Thank you, Joe!  Thank you, Joe!  Thank you, Joe!

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, th- — thank — thank you.

AUDIENCE:  Thank you, Joe!  Thank you, Joe!  Thank you, Joe!

THE PRESIDENT:  I want to thank the Coasties.  You know, the Coast Guard, they’re deployed more places around the world than any other branch, and you play with a good outfit, pal.  (Applause.)

MR. ESCOBEDO:  (Laughs.)  Yes, sir.  Thank you so much. 

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.

MR. ESCOBEDO:  Thank you.  I appreciate it, sir.  Thank you so much.  Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Ann Arbor!  (Applause.)

Thanks for that introduction.  You know, going from the Coast Guard to the Plumbers and Pipefitters is a good move — (laughter) — because they know how to ba- — both know how to —

Sit down, if you have seats.  (Laughter.) 

I said that about eight months ago.  I said, “Sit down.”  They didn’t have any seats.  And they said, “See, he’s too damn old.”  (Laughter.)

Look, your general president, Mark McManus, where — where — Mark, you’re sitting behind me somewhere, isn’t he?  See, he didn’t run, did he?

MR. MCMANUS:  Right over here!

THE PRESIDENT:  All right.  I just wa- — (applause) — I was teasing.

And Local 190 president, Dan — you’re sitting next to him?  Where is Dan?

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  There he goes.  (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT:  Danny, you’re allowed to be up with us, you know, man?  I — you’re trying to avoid us.  I get it.  (Laughter.)

Look, Plumbers and Pipefitters have been with me since the beginning.  For my whole career, I’ve either been too young or too old — never in between.  (Laughter.)  I got elected when I was 29 years old in a right-to-work state called Delaware that we changed.  And guess what?  Plumbers and Pipefitters are the fourth union to ever endorse me when I was a 29-year-old kid running for the Senate.  (Applause.)

Mark flew over from Washington with me on Air Force One, along with the great national labor leaders:

Brent Booker of the Laborers.  Brent, tha- — (applause). 

Sean McGarvey, Building Trades.  (Applause.) 

Gwen Mills, UNITE HERE.  (Applause.)  There you are.  Well, by the way, we talk- — we were talking about — Gwen and I, on the plane; she flew out with me — you know, I’ve heard the word — my dad used the word, more than any other adjective, “dignity.”  All these workers bust their neck.  They provide our ability to sleep and walk and work and do anything.  And they deserve to be treated with dignity.  And that’s exactly what she’s doing.  (Applause.)

And Kenny Cooper, IBEW.  (Applause.)  Oh, I tell you what, man, Kenny was the first one to stand up for me in 2020.  He came out and he said he was going to be for me.  And he brought his union along, and it changed everything.  Kenny, you’re not only a great labor leader, you’re a good personal friend.  Thank you.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  (Applause.)

Not that it matters to you, but it mattered a hell of a lot to me, the first union to ever endorse me as a 29-year-old kid — when I got elected, I wasn’t old enough to be sworn in; I had to wait 17 days to be eligible.  (Laughter.)  But guess what?  This guy was a — up with an outfit called United Steelworkers — (applause) — the first union to endorse me — the first union.  (Applause.)

I remember when they brought me to see I. W. Abel, who was then president.  And I could see him looking at the local rep from Delaware; he was going, “Are you sure about this kid?”  (Laughter.)  And you did it, man.  Thank you.  And we’re going to make sure Steelworkers are the steel backbone of this country for a long, long time to come.  (Applause.)

Folks, what a great way to cap off a Labor Day week — to be a proud union state of Michigan.  Michigan, Michigan, Michigan.  (Applause.)  I mean it.

It’s always great to be with a dear friend, Debbie Dingell, who’s a great, great personal friend.  (Applause.)  Debbie — when you’re in a fight, you want Debbie on your side.  And thank God she’s been on mine.  Thank you, Debbie.  (Applause.)

We’re joined by other members and great Congress dele- — Haley, who has been there and one of the most enthusiastic people I know.  Haley, stand up.  Stand up, kid.  (Applause.) 

And Shri, who is doing an incredible job.  Where is Shri?  Shri’s out there somewhere.  There h- — there he is.  Come on.  (Applause.)  Stand up, man.  Because, otherwise, they’ll think your son is a congressman.  (Applause.)  

There are also two members of my cabinet here today: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg — (applause) — and Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su.  (Applause.) 

You know, when Marty — (pronounced in an accent) — left — you know Marty?  (Pronounced in an accent.)  Used to be Labor Secretary?  Marty — (pronounced in an accent) — he’s a — I tell you, he’s in a comfortable place.  He’s with guys running around smashing each other with hockey sticks.  (Laughter.) 

But I tell you what, I think we’ve changed the Labor Department.  They are — they understand the word “labor” means “union.”  (Applause.)  They make this administration the most pro-union administration in the history of the United States of America, period.  (Applause.)  That’s why we’re growing.  It is. 

Look, a lot of politicians have a trouble saying the word “union.”  It ain’t “worker”; it’s “union” — union.  (Applause.)  Kamala and I know how to say the word and back to th- — look, we know a simple truth: Wall Street did not build America; the middle class built America. 

When I started saying this years ago, the press looked at me like I was nuts.  But guess what?  I may be nuts, but I’m right.  (Laughter.)

Not only did the middle class build America, you built the middle class.  (Applause.)  That’s a fact.  Labor and unions built the middle class.

When I was vice president, then I became president, I got a little heat because I was so, quote, “pro-union.”  In fact, I asked the Treasury Department to do a study, and it shows that when union workers do well, every worker in America does better.  Everybody does better.  (Applause.) 

And, by the way, it’s the biggest reason why our economy is the strongest economy in the entire damn world.  And that’s not hyperbole; that’s a fact.  (Applause.)

It’ll all come down to something my dad taught me, and I mean this sincerely.  My dad ran an automobile agency in his last 20 years.  And he’d come home for dinner before he went back and shut things down.  Didn’t own it; he was a manager.  And he’d always — we — our dinner table was a place we had conversation and, incidentally, ate. 

And my dad had an expression.  He’d say, “Joey, a job” — and I mean — give you my word to this.  He’d say, “A job is about a lot more than a paycheck.  It’s about your dignity.  It’s about your place in your community.  It’s about being able to look your child in the eye and say, ‘Honey, it’s going to be okay,’ and mean it.”  (Applause.)  I mean it.  It’s not a joke.

The guys on the other team don’t know what the hell it’s all about.  They don’t understand the word “dignity.”

A good job, a job you can raise your family on, a job you can get l- — without losing — leaving your hometown, and without a college degree.  I don’t know how many times I’ve traveled across this country as a senator for 374 years.  (Laughter.)  Actually, on- — I’m only 40, but I was there 36 years.  (Laughter.) 

But, look, I’m serious.  As I travel the country, how many times did I hear — and all the rest of you here, labor people working in other parts of the country — where, “Mom, Dad, I can’t stay.  There’s no jobs for me here.  You got a job, Mom and Dad, but there’s no place for me.”  How many times did people have to say that and move?  Look at how many communities have been abandoned, left behind, whether they are red or blue, Democrat or Republican. 

A good union job — a good job in a union is building a future worthy of your dreams. 

My vision has always been — and I mean this sincerely, since I was a young senator — to grow our economy from the middle out and the bottom up instead of the top down.  Not a whole lot ever trickled down on my dad’s kitchen table.  Not a whole lot ever had. 

We put workers first.  We invest in all of America and all Americans.  When we do that, we do well. 

Everybody in America deserves one thing: a fighting chance.  Just a chance; no guarantee — a chance, a fighting chance.  (Applause.) 

And that’s why Kamala and I are so proud of our record: the greatest job creation record of any single presidential term in American history, because of you. 

Earlier today, we learned the economy created another 142,000 jobs last month.  (Applause.)  That’s 42 straight months in a row, every single month, increasing jobs to a total of 16 million new jobs since we took office.  (Applause.)  In fact — and they told us we couldn’t do it.  Over 1.6 million jobs in construction and manufacturing.  (Applause.)

Where in the hell is it written that America can’t lead the world again in manufacturing?  We are leading the world in manufacturing and we’ll continue to.  (Applause.)

Unemployment is down.  Wages are up.  Inflation is way down and continues to come down.  I predict it’s going to come down this month a little more.  And just last year, we added 250 [250,000] new energy jobs, clean energy jobs growing twice as fast as any other sector in the economy — clean energy. 

I know that other team doesn’t think there’s any such thing as global warming.  Well, I’d like to put the other — that other nominee for president, the former president — I’d like to put him in the middle of Arizona for a while.  (Laughter.) 

Clean energy workers are joining unions at the highest level in history, double — double any other portion of the workforce.  (Applause.)  I’ve said it before: When I think “climate,” I think jobs — good-paying, union jobs.  (Applause.)

I tried for years, and one of the first things I did when I was — became president was protecting the pensions of 1 million union workers and retirees — (applause) — when I signed the Butch Lewis Act — Butch Lewis.  So far, over 62,000 workers and retirees across Michigan are benefiting from that signing. 

Before we acted, workers faced cuts in their pension.  Now they’re not only restoring the full amount of the pensions, but they’re getting back pay as well.  (Applause.) 

Where I come from, my family — we’re making them whole again. 

It’s a big deal, but let’s be clear.  Every Democrat in the Michigan delegation voted to protect those pensions, led by Debbie and others.  (Applause.)  But hear me now: Every single Republican in your delegation voted against protecting those pensions. 

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE PRESIDENT:  Every single one.  No, I’m serious.  Not a joke.  Every one.

I’ve been around a long time in politics.  It used to be Democrats and Repub- — we’d argue like hell, but we’d work out compromises.  But every one.

And Vice President Harris had to cast the tiebreaking vote in the United States Senate to make this pension bill real.  Folks — (applause).

I’ve been talking about it a while, but we followed up with another big deal, as Barack used to kid me about.  I call it “Investing in America” agenda.  It’s a simple proposition that includes our law, rebuilding America’s infrastructure, and fixing, as your governor says, “the damn roads.”  (Applause.)

My predecessor, who is seeking office again, promised “Infrastructure Week” every week in the four years he was president, and he never built a damn thing.  Not one thing.  (Applause.)  Not a joke.  Not one.

Well, Kamala and I have made sure Michigan received so far — so far ten billion nine hundred million dollars — (applause) — for 2,000 projects so far: roads, bridges, removing lead pipes from homes and schools, clean drinking water, delivering affordable high-speed Internet to every Michigander.  And the number is still growing.  We’re just getting started.

That bill I got passed, and s- — said they — “Biden couldn’t do it,” guess what?  A trillion three hundred billion dollars over 10 years.  (Applause.)  And we reduced the budget at the same time.  (Applause.)

And guess what?  With your support, I signed an executive order to make sure that the most — the most — the largest federal construction projects that are being built in America are built with project labor agreements.  You all know what that is.  (Applause.)

But for — but for folks at home who don’t know what a project labor agreement is, it’s the contractor, the subcontractor, and the unions put in place the conditions for the construction before it begins — before it begins.  And these agreements make sure construction is top-notch, on time, on task, and on budget.  (Applause.)

It’s a big deal for big projects, like Soo Locks in Upper — in the Upper Peninsula that your two great senators, Debbie and Gary Peters, were instrumental in delivering. 

We’re investing $693 million to build better locks, accommodate bigger shipping vessels, carry more products to market, get them there cheaper.  And throughout the Great Lakes, it’s already created hundreds of jobs — hundreds of union jobs with more to come. 

But here’s another big deal.  “Buy American” has been the law of the land since the ‘30s when the Republicans at the time, under Roosevelt, were trying to break unions and allow the companies to come in and crush them — prevent them happening.  They passed laws relating to union movements and how they could be — how — how they could not be interfered with.

Well, but it also had a provision in it no one paid much attention to — that every penny a president is authorized to spend on any project that the Congress gives the money for has to go to doing two things: hiring an American worker and using American product.  Only time you could do — not use an American product or an American worker is when there was not one available or they didn’t have the particular product.

Well, guess what?  Guess what?  It was honored in the — in the alternative.  Only about 20 percent of all the money we spent went to hiring union labor — or excuse me, forget union — hiring American labor and hiring — using American products.

Past administrations, including my predecessor, failed to buy American.  You know why?  They went overseas for cheaper labor.  They supported companies sending — no, I’m not joking.  Think about it.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Bullshit!

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, you said it better than I can.  (Laughter.) 

But here’s the deal.  They did.  They sent it overseas because labor was cheaper and they’d import the product.  Not anymore.  Not on my watch.  (Applause.)  Not on Kamala’s watch, either.  We buy American. 

And we’re making sure federal trojects [projects] building American roads, bridges, highways will be made with American projects, built by American workers, creating a good living and American jobs.  (Applause.) 

In fact, I’m requiring many of these kinds of projects to pay Davis-Bacon prevailing wage, increasing pay — (applause) — increasing pay for 1 million workers over time.  And many of these jobs don’t require a college degree. 

In fact, Kamala and I expanded registered apprenticeships.

Remember when the companies said, “We’ll take care of the apprenticeship program”?  As they say in Sou- — “You done good with that, didn’t you?”  (Laughter.)

Registered apprenticeships, resulting in the hiring over — just since we did it — remember all the heat we got for doing it?  Well, guess what?  Hiring over 1 million apprentices since I — we came into office — 1 million just since we came into office.  (Applause.) 

A lot of folks who aren’t in the industry don’t realize that apprenticeship is like earning a — a college degree.  For real.  Some of you apprentices have to journeymen — have to be journeymen for four to five years.  You get paid to learn a trade.  And you’re the single best workers in the world — not a joke — like Andrew and his fellow plumbers and pipefitters.  Not a joke.  It’s not a joke.

You know, when I — we invented the computer chip, about the size of the little t- — tip of my little finger, which we — we invented it.  We modernized it.  We did all the work.  And guess what?  Other teams started to export them overseas because labor was cheaper to build them — make them.

Well, we ended up with a situation where I decided I was going to go start off — I went to — people thought — even some of my staff thought I was crazy.  I said, “I’m going to South Korea, and I’m going to talk to them about it,” because they were making a whole hell of a lot of these computer chips.

And I met with Samsung.  They ended up investing over $20 billion — $15 billion in the United States to build the fabs, the — first, to construct the facility.  A lot of work there.  A lot of prevailing wage that went for — for construction work.  And then the so-called fabs, they’re about as big as a football field.  Not a joke.  And they — in fact, where you actually make the computers.  You don’t need a college degree, and the average salary is over $102,000 a year. 

Well, guess what?  (Applause.)  So, I asked Samsung why were they coming to the Un- — by the way, it’s well over $50 billion being invested from — coming from abroad.  I said, “Why are you coming back to the United States?”  Said, “Simple reason.”  Not a joke.  It’s from the pre- — the chairman of the board of Samsung.  “Because you have the most qualified workers in the world.”  (Applause.)  No joke.  That’s real.  Not a joke.  “And it’s the safest place in the world for me to invest my money.”

But here’s the deal, guys.  We’re not going to see it for a little bit because it takes time to build those factories.  None of them are open yet.  But there are going to be millions of people working in those factories. 

And guess what?  Once that starts, they’re going to create entire communities around them.  When you build a factory that has 500,000 people working in that factory and they’re making good money, guess what?  You end up building drugstores, movie theaters, supermarkets.  You end up building communities around it.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Small businesses.

THE PRESIDENT:  Small bu- — no, I really mean it.  And, by the way, 50 percent of all the business in America is small business — small business.  (Applause.)

So, look — and Kamala and I have come in — we always believed that the National Labor Relations Board should be pro-labor.  (Applause.)  Well, that’s why one of the most significant things we’ve done is appointing a National Relabor- — National Labor Relations board members who actually believe in unions and the right to negotiate.  (Applause.)

Look what’s changed.  When Trump was president, he appointed union busters — union busters in that organization that’s designed to promote unions.

And, by the way, you think he has any damn idea what we do?

AUDIENCE:  No!

THE PRESIDENT:  No, no.  I — I’m not being a wise guy.  I mean, I wonder whether he has any notion — any notion what a hard day’s work is.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  No!

THE PRESIDENT:  I mean, all he did was lose his father’s money.  (Laughter.)  And then get in trouble and have to owe a lot of the other people money.  (Laughter.)  And then borrow a lot of money and give tax cuts to the super wealthy and end up with the largest debt any president has left behind in four years. 

He has an incredible record.  (Laughter.)  An incredible record.

Oh, you think I’m kidding?  Look at the numbers, man.  (Laughter.)

And, by the way, he — (laughs) — he and a guy who was maybe the worst Republican president ever, before him, ended up with — he’s the only one, other than that Republican president, who when he came to office had more jobs than when he left office — lost jobs. 

Look, Kamala and I are focused on what Michigan is known for as well: the auto industry.  I got through — I got through school my dad managing an automobile dealership.  That’s how I got through school. 

I was proud to be the first president to walk the picket line and to do it with the UAW — (applause) — walk the picket line with UAW workers here in Michigan.  (Applause.)  And Kamala walked it as well. 

But Trump — Trump would much rather cross the picket line than walk one. 

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE PRESIDENT:  Look, UAW’s historic wage increases have led to virtually every automaker across the country to raise wages as well. 

They’re not only unions with recent hardworking success.  From the SEIU to the writers and actors, dockworkers, health care workers, baristas, warehouse workers, and so many more, we’ve made a lot of progress, but we still have more to do.  That’s why we’re here today.

In a few minutes, I’m going to sign another groundbreaking executive order.  It’s called for — it’s called the “Good Jobs” executive order.  For the first time in our history, the official policy of a presidential administration is to specify a clear list of higher labor standards for jobs created through my Investing in America agenda. 

And here’s why my — what my executive order will do.  For jobs created using federal dollars, Good Jobs executive order will call on the federal agency to protect the workers — the power of the workers to encourage the free and fair choice to join a union.  (Applause.) 

My executive order goes on to call on federal agencies to include high labor standards in grants that we give, prioritizing projects that pay wages you can raise a family on and provide benefits like childcare. 

Right now, Davis-Bacon prevailing — prevailing wage only applies to construction jobs, and construction jobs are booming.  My executive order, though, promotes federal polices to raise wages beyond construction, all across the manufacturing sector, because manufacturing is booming.  (Applause.)

My executive order will also strengthen the pipeline to good jobs.  It’ll promote policies to create more registered apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, and other job training programs that don’t require a college degree, that put young people on a pathway to getting the skills for good-paying union jobs.  (Applause.)

And, finally, my Good Jobs execut- — executive order will level the playing field for underserved communities, ensure everyone — everyone gets a fair shot at a job.  That means elevating the best practices to prevent discrimination and bias in hiring, protect the safety of workers.  It all matters. 

Kamala and I are going to hold federal agencies accountable by creating a task force led by the Secretary of Labor and by the Director of the National Labor — the National Economic Council to make sure we fully implement this new job order — Create — create jobs executive order, excuse me.  

The ideas are co- — are just pai- — common sense.  Economists have long believed that these good-job standards produce more opportunities and better outcomes for workers and more predictable outcomes for businesses as well.  It turned out to be a win-win situation for everyone, including business. 

In fact, presidents in both parties have recognized this.  Prevailing wage laws date back to President Hoover.  Registered apprenticeships date back to Franklin Roosevelt. 

But too many presidents, like my predecessor, have looked the other way as companies trample on the rights of workers while cashing in their big government checks.  But not anymore.  (Applause.)

With today’s executive order, Kamala and I are setting a policy across the board to — in the support of good-jobs standards.  And from this point onwards, any president who disagrees with that is going to have to say so out loud, say it to your face, and repeal that order, and I want to see them try to do it.  (Applause.)

Let me close with this.  In 2020, I said one of the reasons I was running was to rebuild the backbone of America: the middle class.  Nearly four years later, we’ve done just that.  In thousands of cities and towns across the country, we’re seeing the great American comeback story. 

My predecessor believes America is a failing nation.  He’s a failing president and a failing man.  He’s wrong.  America isn’t failing; we’re winning.  (Applause.) 

We’re the indispen- — we are the indispensable nation in the world.  We’re the nation of dreamers and doers that led to the greatest advancements in human history over the last 200 years.  That’s who we are.

But my predecessor doesn’t get it.  He refused to visit an American cemetery in France that I was just near because, according to his own chief of staff, a four-star Marine general, Trump said those servicemen buried there are “suckers” and “losers.”

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE PRESIDENT:  My son died because of a year in Iraq.  I’m just happy — and I mean this from the bottom of my heart — I’m glad I wasn’t there, because I think I would have done something.  No, I think you would have too.  They’re heroes. 

He’s the sucker.  He’s the loser with the way he talks about it.  (Applause.)

AUDIENCE:  Thank you, Joe!  Thank you, Joe!  Thank you, Joe! 

THE PRESIDENT:  I’m sorry — I’m sorry to get emotional about that, but I — but I miss him.  He was the attorney general of the state of Delaware and volunteered to go f- — anyway.

Our servicemen and veterans are heroes.  And you, the American worker, are heroes in this comeback story.  You’re the reason for the comeback story.

Because of you, all those who came before, we’re the only nation that’s always emerged, every single time — check it out — always emerged in American history — we’ve always come out of a crisis stronger than we went in — stronger than we went in. 

Because of you — and I mean it from the bottom of my heart — I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future.  We just have to remember who we are.  We’re the United States of America.  (Applause.)  There is nothing — nothing, nothing, nothing — beyond our capacity when we work together and when we fight — when we fight.

I’m now going to go over and sign that Good Jobs executive order.  And keep it going, guys.  You’re saving the country. 

God bless you all.  And God bless America.  (Applause.)

(The executive order is signed.)

Hey, guys.  Every time I’d walk out of my Grandfather Finnegan’s house up in Scranton, Pennsylvania — true story — he’d yell, “Joey, keep the faith.”  My Grandmother Finnegan would come out and say, “No, Joey, spread it.”  (Applause.) 

Spread the faith, guys.  Let’s go.  

4:23 P.M. EDT

The post Remarks by President Biden on the Investing in America Agenda | Ann Arbor, MI appeared first on The White House.

UA Local 190 Training Center
Ann Arbor, Michigan

3:49 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody!  (Applause.)  By the way — by the way, I want you to know —

AUDIENCE:  Thank you, Joe!  Thank you, Joe!  Thank you, Joe!

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.

AUDIENCE:  Thank you, Joe!  Thank you, Joe!  Thank you, Joe!

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, th- — thank — thank you.

AUDIENCE:  Thank you, Joe!  Thank you, Joe!  Thank you, Joe!

THE PRESIDENT:  I want to thank the Coasties.  You know, the Coast Guard, they’re deployed more places around the world than any other branch, and you play with a good outfit, pal.  (Applause.)

MR. ESCOBEDO:  (Laughs.)  Yes, sir.  Thank you so much. 

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.

MR. ESCOBEDO:  Thank you.  I appreciate it, sir.  Thank you so much.  Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Ann Arbor!  (Applause.)

Thanks for that introduction.  You know, going from the Coast Guard to the Plumbers and Pipefitters is a good move — (laughter) — because they know how to ba- — both know how to —

Sit down, if you have seats.  (Laughter.) 

I said that about eight months ago.  I said, “Sit down.”  They didn’t have any seats.  And they said, “See, he’s too damn old.”  (Laughter.)

Look, your general president, Mark McManus, where — where — Mark, you’re sitting behind me somewhere, isn’t he?  See, he didn’t run, did he?

MR. MCMANUS:  Right over here!

THE PRESIDENT:  All right.  I just wa- — (applause) — I was teasing.

And Local 190 president, Dan — you’re sitting next to him?  Where is Dan?

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  There he goes.  (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT:  Danny, you’re allowed to be up with us, you know, man?  I — you’re trying to avoid us.  I get it.  (Laughter.)

Look, Plumbers and Pipefitters have been with me since the beginning.  For my whole career, I’ve either been too young or too old — never in between.  (Laughter.)  I got elected when I was 29 years old in a right-to-work state called Delaware that we changed.  And guess what?  Plumbers and Pipefitters are the fourth union to ever endorse me when I was a 29-year-old kid running for the Senate.  (Applause.)

Mark flew over from Washington with me on Air Force One, along with the great national labor leaders:

Brent Booker of the Laborers.  Brent, tha- — (applause). 

Sean McGarvey, Building Trades.  (Applause.) 

Gwen Mills, UNITE HERE.  (Applause.)  There you are.  Well, by the way, we talk- — we were talking about — Gwen and I, on the plane; she flew out with me — you know, I’ve heard the word — my dad used the word, more than any other adjective, “dignity.”  All these workers bust their neck.  They provide our ability to sleep and walk and work and do anything.  And they deserve to be treated with dignity.  And that’s exactly what she’s doing.  (Applause.)

And Kenny Cooper, IBEW.  (Applause.)  Oh, I tell you what, man, Kenny was the first one to stand up for me in 2020.  He came out and he said he was going to be for me.  And he brought his union along, and it changed everything.  Kenny, you’re not only a great labor leader, you’re a good personal friend.  Thank you.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  (Applause.)

Not that it matters to you, but it mattered a hell of a lot to me, the first union to ever endorse me as a 29-year-old kid — when I got elected, I wasn’t old enough to be sworn in; I had to wait 17 days to be eligible.  (Laughter.)  But guess what?  This guy was a — up with an outfit called United Steelworkers — (applause) — the first union to endorse me — the first union.  (Applause.)

I remember when they brought me to see I. W. Abel, who was then president.  And I could see him looking at the local rep from Delaware; he was going, “Are you sure about this kid?”  (Laughter.)  And you did it, man.  Thank you.  And we’re going to make sure Steelworkers are the steel backbone of this country for a long, long time to come.  (Applause.)

Folks, what a great way to cap off a Labor Day week — to be a proud union state of Michigan.  Michigan, Michigan, Michigan.  (Applause.)  I mean it.

It’s always great to be with a dear friend, Debbie Dingell, who’s a great, great personal friend.  (Applause.)  Debbie — when you’re in a fight, you want Debbie on your side.  And thank God she’s been on mine.  Thank you, Debbie.  (Applause.)

We’re joined by other members and great Congress dele- — Haley, who has been there and one of the most enthusiastic people I know.  Haley, stand up.  Stand up, kid.  (Applause.) 

And Shri, who is doing an incredible job.  Where is Shri?  Shri’s out there somewhere.  There h- — there he is.  Come on.  (Applause.)  Stand up, man.  Because, otherwise, they’ll think your son is a congressman.  (Applause.)  

There are also two members of my cabinet here today: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg — (applause) — and Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su.  (Applause.) 

You know, when Marty — (pronounced in an accent) — left — you know Marty?  (Pronounced in an accent.)  Used to be Labor Secretary?  Marty — (pronounced in an accent) — he’s a — I tell you, he’s in a comfortable place.  He’s with guys running around smashing each other with hockey sticks.  (Laughter.) 

But I tell you what, I think we’ve changed the Labor Department.  They are — they understand the word “labor” means “union.”  (Applause.)  They make this administration the most pro-union administration in the history of the United States of America, period.  (Applause.)  That’s why we’re growing.  It is. 

Look, a lot of politicians have a trouble saying the word “union.”  It ain’t “worker”; it’s “union” — union.  (Applause.)  Kamala and I know how to say the word and back to th- — look, we know a simple truth: Wall Street did not build America; the middle class built America. 

When I started saying this years ago, the press looked at me like I was nuts.  But guess what?  I may be nuts, but I’m right.  (Laughter.)

Not only did the middle class build America, you built the middle class.  (Applause.)  That’s a fact.  Labor and unions built the middle class.

When I was vice president, then I became president, I got a little heat because I was so, quote, “pro-union.”  In fact, I asked the Treasury Department to do a study, and it shows that when union workers do well, every worker in America does better.  Everybody does better.  (Applause.) 

And, by the way, it’s the biggest reason why our economy is the strongest economy in the entire damn world.  And that’s not hyperbole; that’s a fact.  (Applause.)

It’ll all come down to something my dad taught me, and I mean this sincerely.  My dad ran an automobile agency in his last 20 years.  And he’d come home for dinner before he went back and shut things down.  Didn’t own it; he was a manager.  And he’d always — we — our dinner table was a place we had conversation and, incidentally, ate. 

And my dad had an expression.  He’d say, “Joey, a job” — and I mean — give you my word to this.  He’d say, “A job is about a lot more than a paycheck.  It’s about your dignity.  It’s about your place in your community.  It’s about being able to look your child in the eye and say, ‘Honey, it’s going to be okay,’ and mean it.”  (Applause.)  I mean it.  It’s not a joke.

The guys on the other team don’t know what the hell it’s all about.  They don’t understand the word “dignity.”

A good job, a job you can raise your family on, a job you can get l- — without losing — leaving your hometown, and without a college degree.  I don’t know how many times I’ve traveled across this country as a senator for 374 years.  (Laughter.)  Actually, on- — I’m only 40, but I was there 36 years.  (Laughter.) 

But, look, I’m serious.  As I travel the country, how many times did I hear — and all the rest of you here, labor people working in other parts of the country — where, “Mom, Dad, I can’t stay.  There’s no jobs for me here.  You got a job, Mom and Dad, but there’s no place for me.”  How many times did people have to say that and move?  Look at how many communities have been abandoned, left behind, whether they are red or blue, Democrat or Republican. 

A good union job — a good job in a union is building a future worthy of your dreams. 

My vision has always been — and I mean this sincerely, since I was a young senator — to grow our economy from the middle out and the bottom up instead of the top down.  Not a whole lot ever trickled down on my dad’s kitchen table.  Not a whole lot ever had. 

We put workers first.  We invest in all of America and all Americans.  When we do that, we do well. 

Everybody in America deserves one thing: a fighting chance.  Just a chance; no guarantee — a chance, a fighting chance.  (Applause.) 

And that’s why Kamala and I are so proud of our record: the greatest job creation record of any single presidential term in American history, because of you. 

Earlier today, we learned the economy created another 142,000 jobs last month.  (Applause.)  That’s 42 straight months in a row, every single month, increasing jobs to a total of 16 million new jobs since we took office.  (Applause.)  In fact — and they told us we couldn’t do it.  Over 1.6 million jobs in construction and manufacturing.  (Applause.)

Where in the hell is it written that America can’t lead the world again in manufacturing?  We are leading the world in manufacturing and we’ll continue to.  (Applause.)

Unemployment is down.  Wages are up.  Inflation is way down and continues to come down.  I predict it’s going to come down this month a little more.  And just last year, we added 250 [250,000] new energy jobs, clean energy jobs growing twice as fast as any other sector in the economy — clean energy. 

I know that other team doesn’t think there’s any such thing as global warming.  Well, I’d like to put the other — that other nominee for president, the former president — I’d like to put him in the middle of Arizona for a while.  (Laughter.) 

Clean energy workers are joining unions at the highest level in history, double — double any other portion of the workforce.  (Applause.)  I’ve said it before: When I think “climate,” I think jobs — good-paying, union jobs.  (Applause.)

I tried for years, and one of the first things I did when I was — became president was protecting the pensions of 1 million union workers and retirees — (applause) — when I signed the Butch Lewis Act — Butch Lewis.  So far, over 62,000 workers and retirees across Michigan are benefiting from that signing. 

Before we acted, workers faced cuts in their pension.  Now they’re not only restoring the full amount of the pensions, but they’re getting back pay as well.  (Applause.) 

Where I come from, my family — we’re making them whole again. 

It’s a big deal, but let’s be clear.  Every Democrat in the Michigan delegation voted to protect those pensions, led by Debbie and others.  (Applause.)  But hear me now: Every single Republican in your delegation voted against protecting those pensions. 

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE PRESIDENT:  Every single one.  No, I’m serious.  Not a joke.  Every one.

I’ve been around a long time in politics.  It used to be Democrats and Repub- — we’d argue like hell, but we’d work out compromises.  But every one.

And Vice President Harris had to cast the tiebreaking vote in the United States Senate to make this pension bill real.  Folks — (applause).

I’ve been talking about it a while, but we followed up with another big deal, as Barack used to kid me about.  I call it “Investing in America” agenda.  It’s a simple proposition that includes our law, rebuilding America’s infrastructure, and fixing, as your governor says, “the damn roads.”  (Applause.)

My predecessor, who is seeking office again, promised “Infrastructure Week” every week in the four years he was president, and he never built a damn thing.  Not one thing.  (Applause.)  Not a joke.  Not one.

Well, Kamala and I have made sure Michigan received so far — so far ten billion nine hundred million dollars — (applause) — for 2,000 projects so far: roads, bridges, removing lead pipes from homes and schools, clean drinking water, delivering affordable high-speed Internet to every Michigander.  And the number is still growing.  We’re just getting started.

That bill I got passed, and s- — said they — “Biden couldn’t do it,” guess what?  A trillion three hundred billion dollars over 10 years.  (Applause.)  And we reduced the budget at the same time.  (Applause.)

And guess what?  With your support, I signed an executive order to make sure that the most — the most — the largest federal construction projects that are being built in America are built with project labor agreements.  You all know what that is.  (Applause.)

But for — but for folks at home who don’t know what a project labor agreement is, it’s the contractor, the subcontractor, and the unions put in place the conditions for the construction before it begins — before it begins.  And these agreements make sure construction is top-notch, on time, on task, and on budget.  (Applause.)

It’s a big deal for big projects, like Soo Locks in Upper — in the Upper Peninsula that your two great senators, Debbie and Gary Peters, were instrumental in delivering. 

We’re investing $693 million to build better locks, accommodate bigger shipping vessels, carry more products to market, get them there cheaper.  And throughout the Great Lakes, it’s already created hundreds of jobs — hundreds of union jobs with more to come. 

But here’s another big deal.  “Buy American” has been the law of the land since the ‘30s when the Republicans at the time, under Roosevelt, were trying to break unions and allow the companies to come in and crush them — prevent them happening.  They passed laws relating to union movements and how they could be — how — how they could not be interfered with.

Well, but it also had a provision in it no one paid much attention to — that every penny a president is authorized to spend on any project that the Congress gives the money for has to go to doing two things: hiring an American worker and using American product.  Only time you could do — not use an American product or an American worker is when there was not one available or they didn’t have the particular product.

Well, guess what?  Guess what?  It was honored in the — in the alternative.  Only about 20 percent of all the money we spent went to hiring union labor — or excuse me, forget union — hiring American labor and hiring — using American products.

Past administrations, including my predecessor, failed to buy American.  You know why?  They went overseas for cheaper labor.  They supported companies sending — no, I’m not joking.  Think about it.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Bullshit!

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, you said it better than I can.  (Laughter.) 

But here’s the deal.  They did.  They sent it overseas because labor was cheaper and they’d import the product.  Not anymore.  Not on my watch.  (Applause.)  Not on Kamala’s watch, either.  We buy American. 

And we’re making sure federal trojects [projects] building American roads, bridges, highways will be made with American projects, built by American workers, creating a good living and American jobs.  (Applause.) 

In fact, I’m requiring many of these kinds of projects to pay Davis-Bacon prevailing wage, increasing pay — (applause) — increasing pay for 1 million workers over time.  And many of these jobs don’t require a college degree. 

In fact, Kamala and I expanded registered apprenticeships.

Remember when the companies said, “We’ll take care of the apprenticeship program”?  As they say in Sou- — “You done good with that, didn’t you?”  (Laughter.)

Registered apprenticeships, resulting in the hiring over — just since we did it — remember all the heat we got for doing it?  Well, guess what?  Hiring over 1 million apprentices since I — we came into office — 1 million just since we came into office.  (Applause.) 

A lot of folks who aren’t in the industry don’t realize that apprenticeship is like earning a — a college degree.  For real.  Some of you apprentices have to journeymen — have to be journeymen for four to five years.  You get paid to learn a trade.  And you’re the single best workers in the world — not a joke — like Andrew and his fellow plumbers and pipefitters.  Not a joke.  It’s not a joke.

You know, when I — we invented the computer chip, about the size of the little t- — tip of my little finger, which we — we invented it.  We modernized it.  We did all the work.  And guess what?  Other teams started to export them overseas because labor was cheaper to build them — make them.

Well, we ended up with a situation where I decided I was going to go start off — I went to — people thought — even some of my staff thought I was crazy.  I said, “I’m going to South Korea, and I’m going to talk to them about it,” because they were making a whole hell of a lot of these computer chips.

And I met with Samsung.  They ended up investing over $20 billion — $15 billion in the United States to build the fabs, the — first, to construct the facility.  A lot of work there.  A lot of prevailing wage that went for — for construction work.  And then the so-called fabs, they’re about as big as a football field.  Not a joke.  And they — in fact, where you actually make the computers.  You don’t need a college degree, and the average salary is over $102,000 a year. 

Well, guess what?  (Applause.)  So, I asked Samsung why were they coming to the Un- — by the way, it’s well over $50 billion being invested from — coming from abroad.  I said, “Why are you coming back to the United States?”  Said, “Simple reason.”  Not a joke.  It’s from the pre- — the chairman of the board of Samsung.  “Because you have the most qualified workers in the world.”  (Applause.)  No joke.  That’s real.  Not a joke.  “And it’s the safest place in the world for me to invest my money.”

But here’s the deal, guys.  We’re not going to see it for a little bit because it takes time to build those factories.  None of them are open yet.  But there are going to be millions of people working in those factories. 

And guess what?  Once that starts, they’re going to create entire communities around them.  When you build a factory that has 500,000 people working in that factory and they’re making good money, guess what?  You end up building drugstores, movie theaters, supermarkets.  You end up building communities around it.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Small businesses.

THE PRESIDENT:  Small bu- — no, I really mean it.  And, by the way, 50 percent of all the business in America is small business — small business.  (Applause.)

So, look — and Kamala and I have come in — we always believed that the National Labor Relations Board should be pro-labor.  (Applause.)  Well, that’s why one of the most significant things we’ve done is appointing a National Relabor- — National Labor Relations board members who actually believe in unions and the right to negotiate.  (Applause.)

Look what’s changed.  When Trump was president, he appointed union busters — union busters in that organization that’s designed to promote unions.

And, by the way, you think he has any damn idea what we do?

AUDIENCE:  No!

THE PRESIDENT:  No, no.  I — I’m not being a wise guy.  I mean, I wonder whether he has any notion — any notion what a hard day’s work is.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  No!

THE PRESIDENT:  I mean, all he did was lose his father’s money.  (Laughter.)  And then get in trouble and have to owe a lot of the other people money.  (Laughter.)  And then borrow a lot of money and give tax cuts to the super wealthy and end up with the largest debt any president has left behind in four years. 

He has an incredible record.  (Laughter.)  An incredible record.

Oh, you think I’m kidding?  Look at the numbers, man.  (Laughter.)

And, by the way, he — (laughs) — he and a guy who was maybe the worst Republican president ever, before him, ended up with — he’s the only one, other than that Republican president, who when he came to office had more jobs than when he left office — lost jobs. 

Look, Kamala and I are focused on what Michigan is known for as well: the auto industry.  I got through — I got through school my dad managing an automobile dealership.  That’s how I got through school. 

I was proud to be the first president to walk the picket line and to do it with the UAW — (applause) — walk the picket line with UAW workers here in Michigan.  (Applause.)  And Kamala walked it as well. 

But Trump — Trump would much rather cross the picket line than walk one. 

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE PRESIDENT:  Look, UAW’s historic wage increases have led to virtually every automaker across the country to raise wages as well. 

They’re not only unions with recent hardworking success.  From the SEIU to the writers and actors, dockworkers, health care workers, baristas, warehouse workers, and so many more, we’ve made a lot of progress, but we still have more to do.  That’s why we’re here today.

In a few minutes, I’m going to sign another groundbreaking executive order.  It’s called for — it’s called the “Good Jobs” executive order.  For the first time in our history, the official policy of a presidential administration is to specify a clear list of higher labor standards for jobs created through my Investing in America agenda. 

And here’s why my — what my executive order will do.  For jobs created using federal dollars, Good Jobs executive order will call on the federal agency to protect the workers — the power of the workers to encourage the free and fair choice to join a union.  (Applause.) 

My executive order goes on to call on federal agencies to include high labor standards in grants that we give, prioritizing projects that pay wages you can raise a family on and provide benefits like childcare. 

Right now, Davis-Bacon prevailing — prevailing wage only applies to construction jobs, and construction jobs are booming.  My executive order, though, promotes federal polices to raise wages beyond construction, all across the manufacturing sector, because manufacturing is booming.  (Applause.)

My executive order will also strengthen the pipeline to good jobs.  It’ll promote policies to create more registered apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, and other job training programs that don’t require a college degree, that put young people on a pathway to getting the skills for good-paying union jobs.  (Applause.)

And, finally, my Good Jobs execut- — executive order will level the playing field for underserved communities, ensure everyone — everyone gets a fair shot at a job.  That means elevating the best practices to prevent discrimination and bias in hiring, protect the safety of workers.  It all matters. 

Kamala and I are going to hold federal agencies accountable by creating a task force led by the Secretary of Labor and by the Director of the National Labor — the National Economic Council to make sure we fully implement this new job order — Create — create jobs executive order, excuse me.  

The ideas are co- — are just pai- — common sense.  Economists have long believed that these good-job standards produce more opportunities and better outcomes for workers and more predictable outcomes for businesses as well.  It turned out to be a win-win situation for everyone, including business. 

In fact, presidents in both parties have recognized this.  Prevailing wage laws date back to President Hoover.  Registered apprenticeships date back to Franklin Roosevelt. 

But too many presidents, like my predecessor, have looked the other way as companies trample on the rights of workers while cashing in their big government checks.  But not anymore.  (Applause.)

With today’s executive order, Kamala and I are setting a policy across the board to — in the support of good-jobs standards.  And from this point onwards, any president who disagrees with that is going to have to say so out loud, say it to your face, and repeal that order, and I want to see them try to do it.  (Applause.)

Let me close with this.  In 2020, I said one of the reasons I was running was to rebuild the backbone of America: the middle class.  Nearly four years later, we’ve done just that.  In thousands of cities and towns across the country, we’re seeing the great American comeback story. 

My predecessor believes America is a failing nation.  He’s a failing president and a failing man.  He’s wrong.  America isn’t failing; we’re winning.  (Applause.) 

We’re the indispen- — we are the indispensable nation in the world.  We’re the nation of dreamers and doers that led to the greatest advancements in human history over the last 200 years.  That’s who we are.

But my predecessor doesn’t get it.  He refused to visit an American cemetery in France that I was just near because, according to his own chief of staff, a four-star Marine general, Trump said those servicemen buried there are “suckers” and “losers.”

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE PRESIDENT:  My son died because of a year in Iraq.  I’m just happy — and I mean this from the bottom of my heart — I’m glad I wasn’t there, because I think I would have done something.  No, I think you would have too.  They’re heroes. 

He’s the sucker.  He’s the loser with the way he talks about it.  (Applause.)

AUDIENCE:  Thank you, Joe!  Thank you, Joe!  Thank you, Joe! 

THE PRESIDENT:  I’m sorry — I’m sorry to get emotional about that, but I — but I miss him.  He was the attorney general of the state of Delaware and volunteered to go f- — anyway.

Our servicemen and veterans are heroes.  And you, the American worker, are heroes in this comeback story.  You’re the reason for the comeback story.

Because of you, all those who came before, we’re the only nation that’s always emerged, every single time — check it out — always emerged in American history — we’ve always come out of a crisis stronger than we went in — stronger than we went in. 

Because of you — and I mean it from the bottom of my heart — I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future.  We just have to remember who we are.  We’re the United States of America.  (Applause.)  There is nothing — nothing, nothing, nothing — beyond our capacity when we work together and when we fight — when we fight.

I’m now going to go over and sign that Good Jobs executive order.  And keep it going, guys.  You’re saving the country. 

God bless you all.  And God bless America.  (Applause.)

(The executive order is signed.)

Hey, guys.  Every time I’d walk out of my Grandfather Finnegan’s house up in Scranton, Pennsylvania — true story — he’d yell, “Joey, keep the faith.”  My Grandmother Finnegan would come out and say, “No, Joey, spread it.”  (Applause.) 

Spread the faith, guys.  Let’s go.  

4:23 P.M. EDT

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