It’s Friday.
Given Russian invasion of Ukraine; I will once again be doing the article set-up just a tad different.
The YouTube video is 22 minutes and 37 seconds long. His full remarks can be found here.
Today, I am authorizing additional strong sanctions and new limitations on what can be exported to Russia. This will impose severe costs on the Russian economy — both immediately and over time.
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 24, 2022
With today’s actions, we have now sanctioned Russian banks that hold around $1 trillion in assets.
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 24, 2022
We cut off Russia’s largest bank — and we are also fully blocking four more major banks.
That means every asset they have in America will be frozen.
As promised, we’re also adding names to the list of Russian elites and their family members that we are sanctioning.
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 24, 2022
These are people who personally gain from the Kremlin’s policies — and they should share in the pain.
On Tuesday, we stopped the Russian government from raising money from U.S. or European investors.
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 24, 2022
Now, we will apply the same restriction to Russia’s largest state-owned enterprises — companies with estimated assets of $1.4 trillion.
Some of the most powerful impacts of our actions will come over time as we squeeze Russia’s access to finance and technology for strategic sectors of its economy.
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 24, 2022
Along with our Allies and partners, we estimate we will cut off more than half of Russia’s high-tech imports.
It will strike a blow to their ability to continue to modernize their military.
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 24, 2022
It will degrade their aerospace industry.
It will hurt their ability to build ships.
It will be a major hit to Putin’s long-term strategic ambitions.
And we are prepared to do more.
President Biden: Today, I’m authorizing additional strong sanctions and new limitations on what can be exported to Russia.
President Biden: In today’s actions, we have now sanctioned Russian banks that together hold around $1 trillion in assets. We’ve cut off Russia’s largest bank — a bank that holds more than one third of Russia’s banking assets by itself — cut it off from the U.S. financial system. And today, we’re also blocking four more major banks. That means every asset they have in America will be frozen. This includes V.T.B., the second-largest bank in Russia, which has $250 billion in assets. As promised, we’re also adding names to the list of Russian elites and their family members that are sanctioning — that we’re sanctioning as well. As I said on Tuesday, these are people who personally gain from the Kremlin’s policies and they should share in the pain. We will keep up this drumbeat of those designations against corrupt billionaires in the days ahead. On Tuesday, we stopped the Russian government from raising money from U.S. or European investors. Now, we’re going to apply the same restrictions to Russia’s largest state-owned enterprises — companies with assets that exceed $1.4 trillion. Some of the most powerful impacts of our actions will come over time as we squeeze Russia’s access to finance and technology for strategic sectors of its economy and degrade its industrial capacity for years to come. Between our actions and those of our Allies and partners, we estimate that we’ll cut off more than half of Russia’s high-tech imports. It will strike a blow to their ability to continue to modernize their military. It’ll degrade their aerospace industry, including their space program. It will hurt their ability to build ships, reducing their ability to compete economically. And it will be a major hit to Putin’s long-term strategic ambitions.
President Biden: I just spoke with the G7 leaders this morning, and we are in full and total agreement. We will limit Russia’s ability to do business in Dollars, Euros, Pounds, and Yen to be part of the global economy. We will limit their ability to do that. We are going to stunt the ability to finance and grow Rus- — the Russian military.
President Biden: We’ve already seen the impact of our actions on Russia’s currency, the Ruble, which early today hit its weakest level ever — ever in history. And the Russian stock market plunged today. The Russian government’s borrowing rate spiked by over 15 percent.
President Biden: But this aggression cannot go unanswered. If it did, the consequences for America would be much worse. America stands up to bullies. We stand up for freedom. This is who we are.
The video is 1 minute and 9 seconds long.
President Biden: Sorry to keep you waiting. Good afternoon. The Russian military has begun a brutal assault on the people of Ukraine without provocation, without justification, without necessity. This is a premeditated attack. Vladimir Putin has been planning this for months, as I’ve been — as we’ve been saying all along. He moved more than 175,000 troops, military equipment into positions along the Ukrainian border.
President Biden: He rejected every good-faith effort the United States and our Allies and partners made to address our mutual security concerns through dialogue to avoid needless conflict and avert human suffering. For weeks — for weeks, we have been warning that this would happen. And now it’s unfolding largely as we predicted.
President Biden: We’ve been transparent with the world. We’ve shared declassified evidence about Russia’s plans and cyberattacks and false pretexts so that there can be no confusion or cover-up about what Putin was doing. Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences.
President Biden: As we respond, my administration is using the tools — every tool at our disposal to protect American families and businesses from rising prices at the gas pump. You know, we’re taking active steps to bring down the costs. And American oil and gas companies should not — should not exploit this moment to hike their prices to raise profits.
The video is 1 minute and 29 seconds long.
President Biden: Today, I’m authorizing additional strong sanctions and new limitations on what can be exported to Russia. This is going to impose severe costs on the Russian economy, both immediately and over time. We have purposefully designed these sanctions to maximize the long-term impact on Russia and to minimize the impact on the United States and our Allies. And I want to be clear: The United States is not doing this alone. For months, we’ve been building a coalition of partners representing well more than half of the global economy. Twenty-seven members of the European Union, including France, Germany, Italy — as well as the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and many others — to amplify the joint impact of our response. I just spoke with the G7 leaders this morning, and we are in full and total agreement. We will limit Russia’s ability to do business in Dollars, Euros, Pounds, and Yen to be part of the global economy. We will limit their ability to do that. We are going to stunt the ability to finance and grow Rus- — the Russian military. We’re going to impose major — and we’re going to impair their ability to compete in a high-tech 21st century economy. We’ve already seen the impact of our actions on Russia’s currency, the Ruble, which early today hit its weakest level ever — ever in history. And the Russian stock market plunged today. The Russian government’s borrowing rate spiked by over 15 percent.
President Biden: The next few weeks and months will be hard on the people of Ukraine. Putin has unleashed a great pain on them. But the Ukrainian people have known 30 years of independence, and they have repeatedly shown that they will not tolerate anyone who tries to take their country backwards.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has once again asked Putin to hold talks to end the fighting. Allegedly the Kremlin has said they are open to these talks…
I’ve only found Bloomberg saying this, but I’m paywalled so I can’t read the article itself…
For Friday, February 25th, 2022, President Biden had a virtual meeting with fellow NATO Heads of State and Government to discuss the security situation in and around Ukraine. President Biden has also received his daily brief.
President Biden has tweeted 1 time so far for Friday…
Today, President Biden will announce his intent to nominate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Currently a judge on U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Judge Jackson is one of the nation’s brightest legal minds. If confirmed, she will be the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
Since Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement, President Biden has conducted a rigorous process to identify his replacement. President Biden sought a candidate with exceptional credentials, unimpeachable character, and unwavering dedication to the rule of law. He also sought a nominee—much like Justice Breyer—who is wise, pragmatic, and has a deep understanding of the Constitution as an enduring charter of liberty. And the President sought an individual who is committed to equal justice under the law and who understands the profound impact that the Supreme Court’s decisions have on the lives of the American people.
As the longtime Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the President took seriously the Constitution’s requirement that he make this appointment “by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate,” seeking the advice of Senators in both parties. He studied the histories and case records of candidates, consulted legal experts, and met with candidates.
A former clerk for Justice Breyer, Judge Jackson has broad experience across the legal profession – as a federal appellate judge, a federal district court judge, a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, an attorney in private practice, and as a federal public defender. Judge Jackson has been confirmed by the Senate with votes from Republicans as well as Democrats three times.
Judge Jackson is an exceptionally qualified nominee as well as an historic nominee, and the Senate should move forward with a fair and timely hearing and confirmation.Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson
Judge Jackson has devoted the majority of her career to serving the public—as a U.S. Sentencing Commission lawyer and commissioner; as a federal public defender; and as a federal judge. Judge Jackson currently serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. From 2013 to 2021, she served as a United States District Judge for the District of Columbia. She has been confirmed by the Senate on a bipartisan basis three times – twice as judge and once to serve on the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
Judge Jackson was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Miami, Florida. Her parents attended segregated primary schools in the South, then attended Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Both started their careers as public school teachers and became leaders and administrators in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. When Judge Jackson told her high school guidance counselor she wanted to attended Harvard, the guidance counselor warned that Judge Jackson should not to set her sights “so high.” That didn’t stop Judge Jackson. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College, then attended Harvard Law School, where she graduated cum laude and was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.After law school, Judge Jackson served in Justice Breyer’s chambers as a law clerk. Judge Jackson served as a federal public defender from 2005 to 2007, representing defendants on appeal who did not have the means to pay for a lawyer. If confirmed, she would be the first former federal public defender to serve on the Supreme Court.
Prior to serving as a judge, Judge Jackson followed in the footsteps of her mentor Justice Breyer by working on the U.S. Sentencing Commission—an important body, bipartisan by design, that President Biden fought to create as a member of the U.S. Senate. Her work there focused on reducing unwarranted sentencing disparities and ensuring that federal sentences were just and proportionate.
Judge Jackson lives with her husband, Patrick, who serves as Chief of the Division of General Surgery at Georgetown University Hospital, and two daughters, in Washington, D.C.
White House.gov. 02/25/2022.
In June of 2021 Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed to replace the vacancy left by AG Garland on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit; the vote to confirm Judge Jackson was 53 yea’s, 44 nay’s and 3 Senators did not vote.
In light of his announcement the White House has revised his schedule.
President Biden’s announcement regarding the announcement he already made are scheduled for 2:00 p.m. D.C., time.
The daily press briefing is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. D.C., time. The press briefing will now be at 3:00 p.m. D.C., time…
P.S.,
The State of the Union address is on Tuesday, March 1st, 2022.
From the White House blog:
Where can I watch the State of the Union livestream?
To watch the State of the Union speech live, visit WH.gov/sotu. Tune into the official social media streams of the White House for President Biden’s State of the Union address.
YouTube: President Biden’s First State of the Union
Twitter: @WhiteHouse or @POTUS
Facebook: White House on FacebookThe White House feed will include ASL interpretation for accessibility.
White House.gov. 02/25/2022.
When does the State of the Union start?
The President will address a Joint Session of Congress at the United States Capitol on Tuesday, March 1, 2022 at 9 PM EST.
Is this President Biden’s first State of the Union?
It will be President Biden’s first State of the Union speech, and his second address to a joint session of Congress.
There will be a live feed; the White House feed typically shares graphs and such, so, there will be other feed’s provided as well.
