It’s Monday aka the 1st of November…
For Monday, November 1st, 2021, President Biden has departed Rome, Italy, en route Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Since he is still overseas…
President Biden; has tweeted 2 times and retweeted 1 time so far for Monday.
The White House issued the following statement:
Health care should be a right — not a privilege — for all Americans. Today, with the beginning of the open enrollment period on HealthCare.gov, we can continue delivering on that fundamental promise.
Starting today and running through January 15th, 2022, Americans across the country can gain the peace of mind that comes from having quality, affordable health coverage. Signing up is easy — simply go to HealthCare.gov and select the plan that works best for you and your family.
This year, thanks to the American Rescue Plan, coverage is more affordable and accessible than ever. Americans purchasing coverage through the Affordable Care Act have seen their premiums decrease to historic lows — a drop of $67 a month on average, saving families over $800 annually. In fact, four in five customers can find quality coverage for less than $10 a month. If you don’t receive insurance through your employer, there are a range of quality, affordable coverage options available to you.
I ran for President promising to protect and build on the historic foundation of the Affordable Care Act, and my Administration has worked tirelessly to uphold that commitment. During the six months in which we opened Healthcare.gov for special enrollment earlier this year, nearly three million more Americans gained access to health coverage. To maintain that momentum and reach as many Americans as possible, the Department of Health and Human Services is quadrupling the number of staff that help families navigate their coverage options, and reaching people in half a dozen additional languages. We won’t rest as long as there are still Americans out there who have to lie awake at night, staring at the ceiling, wondering what will happen to them if they or a loved one gets sick.
Thanks to the Build Back Better Framework I announced last week, we are now poised to realize the largest expansion of affordable health care since the passage of the Affordable Care Act more than a decade ago. This transformational investment will reduce premiums for more than nine million Americans, deliver health coverage to four million uninsured people in states that have failed to expand Medicaid, and expand Medicare to help older Americans access affordable hearing care.
I urge everyone to visit HealthCare.gov today to renew their coverage or shop for a plan. And I urge Congress to send the Build Back Better framework to my desk right away, so that we can deliver peace of mind and a more secure future to millions of American families.
White House.gov. 11/01/2021.
The White House published an on-the-record-press call with Climate Envoy John Kerry and National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy to preview the upcoming COP26.
His one retweet for Monday:
When Biden Bits was published on Friday, President Biden tweeted 1 time. He added 5 tweets and 1 retweet giving him a Friday Tweeting Total of 6 tweets and 1 retweet.
The White House published the following readout:
President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. met today with Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy to affirm the strength of the U.S.-Italy bilateral relationship and thank the Prime Minister for his personal leadership of the G20 during a year of overlapping global challenges. Both leaders recognized the historic achievement of a global minimum tax, building resilience against future pandemics, and the commitment to rapidly decarbonize how we produce electricity. President Biden thanked Prime Minister Draghi for all Italy has done to support the people of Afghanistan, including by convening an extraordinary G20 session to address counter-terrorism efforts and humanitarian aid, and by temporarily housing over 4,000 Afghans en route to the United States last August. The leaders discussed challenges to security in the Mediterranean Sea region and reaffirmed the importance of NATO’s efforts to deter and defend against threats from every strategic direction. The leaders also reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to the bilateral relationship and to the Transatlantic bond, including through NATO. They emphasized the importance of the U.S.-EU partnership, including ongoing work to ensure the rules governing the 21st century economy are based in shared democratic values.
White House.gov. 10/29/2021.
I didn’t find a readout of the meeting, but I did find remarks before the bilateral meeting.
I also found the below joint-statement from October 30th; by the President of France Emmanuel Macron, Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland Boris Johnson, and President of the United States Joseph R. Biden, Jr. on Iran:
We, the President of France, Chancellor of Germany, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and President of the United States, met in Rome today to discuss the risks posed to international security by Iran’s escalating nuclear program. We expressed our determination to ensure that Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon and shared our grave and growing concern that, while Iran halted negotiations on a return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) since June, it has accelerated the pace of provocative nuclear steps, such as the production of highly enriched uranium and enriched uranium metal. Iran has no credible civilian need for either measure, but both are important to nuclear weapons programs.
These steps have only been made more alarming by Iran’s simultaneously decreased cooperation and transparency with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). We agreed that continued Iranian nuclear advances and obstacles to the IAEA’s work will jeopardize the possibility of a return to the JCPOA.
The current situation underscores the importance of a negotiated solution that provides for the return of Iran and the U.S. to full compliance with the JCPOA and provides the basis for continued diplomatic engagement to resolve remaining points of contention – both our concerns and Iran’s. In this spirit, we welcome President Biden’s clearly demonstrated commitment to return the U.S. to full compliance with the JCPOA and to stay in full compliance, so long as Iran does the same.
We are convinced that it is possible to quickly reach and implement an understanding on return to full compliance and to ensure for the long term that Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes.
Return to JCPOA compliance will provide sanctions lifting with long-lasting implications for Iran’s economic growth. This will only be possible if Iran changes course. We call upon President Raisi to seize this opportunity and return to a good faith effort to conclude our negotiations as a matter of urgency. That is the only sure way to avoid a dangerous escalation, which is not in any country’s interest.
We welcome our Gulf partners’ regional diplomatic efforts to deescalate tensions and note that return to the JCPOA would result both in sanctions lifting allowing for enhanced regional partnerships and a reduced risk of a nuclear crisis that would derail regional diplomacy. We also affirm our shared determination to address broader security concerns raised by Iran’s actions in the region.
We are committed to continuing to work closely with the Russian Federation, the People’s Republic of China, and the European Union High Representative, as Coordinator, in resolving this critical issue.
White House.gov. 10/30/2021.
He issued two tweets in a row regarding the Build Back Better Framework…
Prior to embarking on his overseas trip on Thursday, President Biden announced that there was a Build Back Better Framework. The below YouTube is 22 minutes and 43 seconds long. His full remarks can be found here.
President Biden: If you look at the history of the journey of this nation, what becomes crystal clear is this — I’ll say it again: Given half a chance, the American people have never, ever, ever, ever let the country down. So, let’s get this done. God bless you all. And may God protect our troops. And I’ll see you in Italy and in Scotland. Thank you.
President Biden: As I said before, these plans are fiscally responsible. They are fully paid for. They don’t add a single penny to the deficit. And they don’t raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 a year. In fact, they reduce the deficit. Here’s how:
There will be more information on the above down the thread…
Saturday President Biden tweeted 6 times.
On the 29th of October the White House published a background press call by Senior Administration Officials to preview the upcoming G20 visit:
[Sinp]
In June — you know, there were several steps that proceeded this historic agreement. In June, the President rallied G7 leaders to endorse a strong global minimum tax. In early October, more than 130 countries agreed to it. And now, tomorrow, we’re on track for leaders representing more than 80 percent of the world’s GDP — allies and competitors alike — to formally endorse the deal.
White House.gov. 10/29/2021.
The White House published the following fact sheet on October 31st, 2021: United States Advances Shared Interests with G20 World Leaders and Delivers for the American People
For the first time ever, G20 Leaders agree to establish a historic Global Minimum Corporate Tax
At the G20 Summit in Rome, President Biden coordinated with fellow Leaders on shared interests, including the climate crisis, global health and pandemic preparedness, and the global economic recovery, using the power of diplomacy to address key issues that matter to the American people. Together with the European Union, we achieved a major breakthrough arrangement to negotiate the world’s first carbon-based sectoral arrangement on steel and aluminum, protecting and creating American jobs and lowering costs for families while fighting the climate crisis.
Throughout the G20 President Biden stressed the need for balanced, well-supplied, and competitive global energy markets to underpin an inclusive economic recovery that supports working families at home and abroad. Leaders committed to guaranteeing just and orderly energy transitions of our energy systems that ensure affordability, including for the most vulnerable households and businesses as we recover from the global pandemic. They expressed their intent to explore among other things, paths to enhanced energy security and markets stability.
President Biden met with Leaders from France, Germany, and the United Kingdom to discuss the risks posed to international security by Iran’s escalating nuclear program, and hosted a supply chain summit with 14 countries and the European Union to discuss how we collectively tackle the immediate supply chain challenges from this unprecedented economic recovery and build long-term supply chain reliance for the future. President Biden also held bilateral meetings on the margins of the G20 with Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore.
After the Summit, the G20 Leaders came to a consensus across a host of issues, including:
White House.gov. 10/31/2021.
Bullet points:
- Historic Global Minimum Tax: G20 Leaders representing 80% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) endorsed the establishment of a historic Global Minimum Tax (GMT) to end the race to the bottom, ensure giant corporations pay their fair share no matter where they are located, help prevent the offshoring of good American jobs, and invest in our people at home. One recent independent study found that this agreement to establish a 15% GMT—up from 0% today—would lead to at least $60 billion in revenue per year in the United States alone. Today’s announcement is a testament to American diplomacy and leadership.
- COVID-19 Pandemic and Health Security: The Leaders came together in support of the COVID-19 response and global vaccination targets. The Leaders also decide to take next steps toward the design and establishment of an inclusive, sustained, and adequate financing facility to improve global health security and bolster pandemic preparedness around the world. The Leaders agreed to establish a G20 Finance and Health Task Force to enhance global cooperation to detect and response to emerging health threats. The G20 Leaders also came out in support of a global ambition to channel $100 billion worth of reallocation of special drawing rights (SDRs) to help the world’s most vulnerable countries and restructuring debts for low-income countries on a case by case basis – a major step towards global economic recovery. The Leaders also supported efforts to shorten the cycle for the development of safe and effective vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics from 300 to 100 days (following the identification of such threats) and work to make them equitably and widely available. This work follows calls for more urgent action and continued focus from the United States following the President’s Global COVID-19 Summit.
- Climate Change: G20 Leaders came out in support of ending public finance for new unabated coal power generation abroad, to contribute to keeping a 1.5 degrees Celsius limit on global temperature rise with reach. They stressed the importance of fully meeting, as soon as possible, the developed country collective goal of mobilizing $100B per year to help developing countries in the face of climate change. After a four-year absence of U.S. federal leadership, President Biden’s commitment to climate finance, alongside strong new pledges from other donors, are fundamental to achieving this goal no later than 2023. This is a decisive decade for climate action and the President will continue to rally the world to tackle the climate crisis together.
- Anticorruption and Ransomware: The Leaders also lifted up the global fight against corruption as a shared priority, which includes transparency for beneficial ownership and real estate, and they committed to fight any new and sophisticated forms of corruption. The Leaders recognized the need for international cooperation to counter ransomware and other forms of cybercrime. Just this month, the Biden Administrationheld a meeting with more than 30 countries to accelerate cooperation to counter ransomware, including to improve collective resilience, address the misuse of virtual currency to launder ransom payments, and investigate and prosecute cyber criminals. This work builds on U.S. international efforts to promote cybersecurity, including our commitment to work with G7 partners to address criminal ransomware networks, our support for updating NATO cyber policy for the first time in seven years, and our continuing efforts to work with allies and partners to attribute malicious cyber activity, as evidenced by the broad international support we garnered in our attributions for SolarWinds and Hafnium malicious cyber activity.
Leaders also committed to achieving food security and adequate nutrition, particularly in famine-stricken parts of the world where armed conflicts have exacerbated these problems—such as Ethiopia. Leaders will continue to enhance concrete measures to advance gender equality in national policies. President Biden issued the first-ever national gender strategy to advance the full participation of all people – including women and girls – in the United States and around the world.
White House.gov. 10/31/2021.
The video is 30 seconds long.
President Biden: You are the most significant warrior for peace I’ve ever met. And with your permission, I’d like to be able to give you a coin. It has the U.S. seal on the front. I know my son would want me to give this to you because on the back of it, I have the state of Delaware and the 261st unit my son served with.
The Build Back Better Framework Saturday tweet…
President Biden: These are not about left versus right, or moderate versus progressive, or anything else that pits Americans against one another. This is about competitiveness versus complacency. Competitiveness versus complacency. It’s about expanding opportunity, not opportunity denied. It’s about leading the world or letting the world pass us by.
President Biden tweeted 3 times and retweeted 1 time for Sunday.
From the link shared by President Biden:
President Biden announces new domestic steps to continue building supply chain resilience
President Biden has made resilient supply chains a top priority of his Administration since Day One. Today, the President is holding a Summit on Global Supply Chain Resilience with the European Union and 14 like-minded countries to foster greater international cooperation on near-term supply chain disruptions and chart a course to strengthen and diversify the entire supply chain ecosystem over the long term—from raw materials, intermediate and finished goods, manufacturing, to shipping, logistics, warehousing, and distribution. The President’s Summit builds on recent Biden-Harris Administration actions including the expansion of port operating hours on the U.S. west coast, the launching of an Early Warning System for potential disruptions in semiconductor manufacturing, including in Asia, and this week’s Department of Energy announcement establishing Li-Bridge — a new public-private alliance committed to accelerating development of a robust and secure domestic supply chain for lithium-based batteries. Today’s announcements build on the Biden-Harris Administration’s ongoing work under Executive Order (E.O.) 14017 to build resilient supply chains that the President issued in February.Joining the President at the Summit are Leaders and representatives from Australia, Canada, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the European Union, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Italy, Republic of Korea, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, and the United Kingdom. They will discuss how we tackle the immediate supply chain challenges from this unprecedented economic recovery and build long-term supply chain reliance for the future.
Today, the President also announced new domestic steps he will take to continue building supply chain resilience:
White House.gov. 10/31/2021.
Bullet points:
- Streamlined U.S. Stockpiling Efforts: The President will issue an Executive Order to streamline U.S. stockpiling efforts by delegating authority to the Department of Defense to make material releases from the National Defense Stockpile—allowing a speedier response to material shortfalls within the defense industrial base. This follows through on a recommendation made in Executive Order 14017 on America’s Supply Chains 100-day Report. The President will call for countries around the world to redouble their efforts to address shortfalls—especially those with national security concerns.
- Increased Funding for Trade Facilitation Activities to Cut Red Tape: The President announced increased funding for two important initiatives to promote international supply chain resilience among U.S. partners and allies. First, the State Department will allot additional funding to provide technical assistance to Mexico and Central America counterparts to alleviate supply chain disruptions and bottlenecks. Second, earlier this week at the U.S.-ASEAN Summit, the President announced millions in funding for new U.S.-ASEAN initiatives, which includes funding to link the ASEAN Single Window, a customs facilitation program, with the U.S. Single Window System. Both of these initiatives will improve and simplify customs and clearance procedures, reducing delays and encouraging sustainable and efficient supply chains.
- Future Multi-Stakeholder Summit: Recognizing that supply chains have many stakeholders—from private companies to workers and labor organizations to indigenous communities to academic institutions—Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo will hold a multi-stakeholder summit next year along with their foreign counterparts. The summit will be a follow-on dialogue to establish next steps among these parties to build greater global supply chain resilience.
President Biden offered at the Global Summit on Supply Chain Resilience. The YouTube is 6 minutes and 48 seconds long. His full remarks can be found here.
President Biden: Ending the pandemic is the ultimate key to unlocking the disruptions we’re all contending with. But we have to take action now, together with our partners in the private sector, to reduce the backlogs that we’re facing. And then, we have to prevent this from happening again in the future.
From the link shared by President Biden:
Arrangement Will Remove European Union tariffs and lower costs for American families
Arrangement will counter flood of cheap steel by other countries, including the People’s Republic of China (PRC), that harms our industries and our workers
Today, the United States and the European Union announced their commitment to negotiate the world’s first carbon-based sectoral arrangement on steel and aluminum trade by 2024. This announcement delivers a major win in the fight to address the climate crisis while protecting our workers and industry, and enabling them to compete in the global marketplace. The President believes that climate action must mean good jobs – and today’s announcement demonstrates that we can work with our partners and allies to both reduce emissions, and protect and create good-paying union jobs at home.
The United States and the European Union also used the strength of their partnership to come to an interim arrangement for trade in the steel and aluminum sectors that modifies tariffs on European Union steel and aluminum providers, addresses global overcapacity, and toughens enforcement mechanisms to prevent leakage of Chinese steel and aluminum into the U.S. market. As a result of the arrangement, the Europe Union will remove its tariffs on a wide range of products, protecting American jobs, reducing costs for middle-class families, and maintaining U.S. export competitiveness.
Together, the United States and European Union will work to restrict access to their markets for dirty steel and limit access to countries that dump steel in our markets, contributing to worldwide over-supply. This arrangement will be open to any interested country that wishes to join and meets criteria for restoring market orientation and reducing trade in high-carbon steel and aluminum products.
This arrangement will:
White House.gov. 10/31/2021.
Bullet points:
- Be a global first in the fight against climate change and countering distortive economic practices that harm our interests. Never have two global partners aligned their trade policies to confront the threats of climate change and global market distortions, ensuring that trade works to solve the challenges of the 21st century. The deal demonstrates President Biden’s commitment to putting U.S. workers and communities at the center of our trade agenda.
- Protect American jobs and industry and provide them with an advantage. American-made steel and aluminum is produced with far fewer emissions than dirtier alternatives made in the PRC and elsewhere. To date, American steel companies and workers have received no benefit for their low-carbon production. Low-carbon steel across all production types —and the workers who make it—will be incentivized and rewarded going forward.
- Results in lower prices for American consumers and families by providing relief for American manufacturers who rely on readily accessible, affordable steel and aluminum to make their products. Steel and aluminum are essential components of many manufactured goods, including automobiles, household appliances, building materials, and more.
- Demonstrate the climate ambition and global leadership of the Biden-Harris Administration. Steel and aluminum production are two of the most carbon-intensive industrial sectors, accounting for roughly 10 percent of all carbon emissions —comparable to the total emissions of India. A carbon-based sectoral arrangement will drive investment in green steel production in the United States, Europe, and around the world, ensuring a competitive U.S. steel industry for decades to come.
- Showcase the strength of the U.S.-EU relationship. The United States and European Union pledged at the U.S.-EU Summit in June to use the size of their collective economies to update the rules of the 21st century. Today’s announcement delivers on that promise and builds on the successful resolution of the 17-year Boeing-Airbus dispute and the creation of the US-EU Trade & Technology Council.
On Sunday President Biden held a press conference. The YouTube is 26 minutes and 22 seconds long. His full remarks can be found here.
President Biden: And finally, today I was proud to announce, together with our close part- — EU partners, another critical win for both American workers and the climate agenda. The United States and the European Union have agreed to negotiate the world’s first trade agreement based on how much carbon is in a product, as we negotiated the steel and aluminum tariffs that were in place. We made agreement and, I might add, strong support of the U.S. steelworkers back home. And I want to thank them. I want to thank Tom Conway, who I spoke to today, president of the United Steelworkers, for his partnership in arriving at this deal. The deal will immediately remove a point of significant tension with our friends in the European Union. And it rejects the false idea that we cannot grow an economy and support American workers while tackling the climate crisis at the same time. We’re talking about a lot — a lot during the G20, the COP26. But we also know tackling the climate crisis has been a all-hands-on-deck effort. American workers are a critical part of the solution.
This is an Open Thread.
