Biden Bits: “Promotes Innovation”…

Biden Tweets Logo. Image by Lenny Ghoul.

President Biden’s public schedule for Friday 04/21/2023:

9:30 AMThe President receives the President’s Daily Briefing
Closed Press
10:00 AMIn-Town Pool Call Time
In-Town Pool
1:00 PM Press BriefingPress Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
2:15 PM
Remarks
The President delivers remarks about building healthy communities and announces new actions to advance environmental justice
Rose Garden

Press briefing scheduled for 1:00 p.m. D.C., time:


MAGA Republican(s) Tweets

From Thursday…

Remarks by President Biden on his Vision for the Economy (remarks posted on 04/20/2023. Remarks given on 04/19/2023).

The video clip is 41 seconds long.

But look at what he didn’t say. He didn’t tell you exactly how much he wants to cut. But the House leading Republican proposal will cut critical programs — so-called discretionary spending — by 22 percent.

That would mean cutting the number of people who administer Social Security and Medicare, meaning longer wait times; higher costs for childcare — significantly higher — preschool, college; higher costs for housing and especially for older Americans, people with disabilities, families with children, veterans. Thirty million fewer veterans outpatient visits, leaving our brave warriors to get checkups and mental health services and treatment and subsidies dis- — and substance disorders out in the cold. Tens of thousands of people suffering from opioid ep — the epidemic would be denied treatment they need for recovery.

White House.gov. Remarks posted on 04/20/2023. Remarks given on 04/19/2023.

From Friday…

The video clip is 22 seconds long.

Massive cuts in programs you count on, massive benefit protected for those at the top. A lot of — you know, all the tax cuts go to the top, none to the bottom. The threat of defaulting on America’s debt for the first time in 230 years. We’ve never, ever defaulted on a debt. And it would destroy this economy.

And who do you think it will hurt the most? You — hardworking people. The middle class. The neighborhoods I got raised in. Not the super-wealthy or the powerful, but working folks. And that’s what I want to talk about today.

White House.gov. Remarks posted on 04/20/2023. Remarks given on 04/19/2023.

Climate Change/Economy Tweets

From Thursday…

Prior to his meeting with President Gustavo Petro of Colombia, President Biden offered remarks; at the 2023 Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate. The YouTube of those remarks is 13 minutes and 16 seconds long.

Before their bilateral meeting the leaders held a pool spray from the Oval Office. The YouTube is 9 minutes and 42 seconds long. Their full remarks can be found here.

The White House posted the following joint-statement:

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. of the United States and President Gustavo Petro Urrego of the Republic of Colombia met today to advance bilateral cooperation on issues of mutual interest, including climate change, clean energy transition, migration, drug trafficking, and peace. We reaffirmed the strategic importance of the U.S.-Colombia partnership based on principles of friendship, mutual respect, cultural ties, and a shared commitment to democracy and human rights.
 
President Biden and President Petro committed to work together to address the challenges of our countries and the region, protect and improve the lives of our citizens, and uphold democratic principles. The United States and Colombia are seeking to adapt their engagement strategies to reflect this new moment in our shared history. The leaders instructed their teams to continue developing new road maps towards progress, so we can respond quickly and effectively to shared challenges.

White House.gov. 04/20/2023.

Combating Climate Change

President Biden and President Petro expressed unwavering commitment to combat the climate crisis, a real threat facing the world, that imposes a collective responsibility demanding immediate action to overcome it and thus protect life on the planet. President Biden applauded President Petro’s commitment to protect the Amazon and Colombia’s ambitious goal of achieving net-zero deforestation by 2030. The leaders expressed their commitment to work toward an ambitious and productive United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) and to work in other international organizations to achieve concrete results that prioritize life and nature. The Amazon is the world’s main natural carbon sink and it is essential to the reduction of emissions worldwide. The United States is the largest international supporter of climate action in Colombia with $87 million in environmental programming provided during the last two years and the President’s $45 million Fiscal Year 2024 budget request to Congress. With Colombia’s announcement to allocate US$200 million during the next twenty years to save and protect the Amazon, the United States and Colombia we committed to work with the international community to mobilize greater climate financing for that purpose.

White House.gov. 04/20/2023.

Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity

President Biden and President Petro discussed the importance of promoting economic and social opportunity in the region as a shared interest. They reaffirmed our commitment to strengthening economic cooperation through the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity, in line with mutual priorities to create good jobs across the Western Hemisphere and promote labor rights, environmental sustainability, and economic inclusion.

As part of that effort, the United States and Colombia will work together to promote regional integration. The leaders pledged to establish a working group to advance electrical interconnection in the Americas to help reduce the cost of energy, promote the growth of a regional market for renewable energy, and reduce energy dependence on fossil sources.

Similarly, President Biden and President Petro committed to take measures to accelerate the clean energy transition, decarbonize our economies, and promote renewable energy sources that will allow us to lay the foundations for an inclusive and fair economy.

White House.gov. 04/20/2023.

Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection

President Biden thanked President Petro for Colombia’s leadership and example in addressing irregular migration in the Americas. The leaders highlighted the importance of the Los Angeles Declaration as a comprehensive framework for moving forward with concrete solutions, and recognize the changes in demographic trends that explain why certain countries in our hemisphere are significant draws of labor migration. They also underscored our joint commitment to counter human smuggling in the Darien.

White House.gov. 04/20/2023.

Democratic Governance

As the two oldest democracies in the hemisphere, the United States and Colombia recommitted to shared democratic values, including justice and the rule of law, free speech, free assembly, a free press, freedom of religion, and the inherent human rights of all individuals. The leaders affirmed the need to provide for the inclusive participation of the whole of society, the strengthening of institutions and justice, the promotion of women’s equality, and the inclusion of historically-excluded ethnic groups such as Afro-Colombians and Indigenous peoples. To that effect, President Biden and President Petro condemned all forms of authoritarianism and aggression in the world, including Russia’s violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity contrary to international law, while reiterating the urgent call for a stable and lasting peace. They expressed our shared commitment to support and contribute to the resolution of the situation in Venezuela.

White House.gov. 04/20/2023.

Promotion of Peace

President Biden reiterated his support for President Petro’s peace efforts, and for rural and agricultural development in Colombia, as essential to effectively advance the implementation of the 2016 Peace Agreement in its international accompaniment of the accord’s Ethnic Chapter.

White House.gov. 04/20/2023.

Holistic Counternarcotics Strategy

President Biden and President Petro committed to a holistic approach to address the harmful impacts of drug use and drug trafficking on both our peoples’ health, safety, the environment, the economy, rule of law, and the strength and transparency of democratic institutions. Under the principle of shared responsibility, we will redouble our efforts in terms of demand reduction through science-based prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery support. Likewise, the leaders instructed their teams to intensify and expand bilateral cooperation in intelligence and interdiction to dismantle the networks, pursue the true owners and enablers of drug trafficking in their jurisdictions, and counter illicit finance.
 
President Biden expressed the willingness and commitment of the United States to cooperate with Colombia’s efforts to transform coca-growing territories, to overcome the conditions of vulnerability of rural, Indigenous, and Afro-Colombian communities, allowing for their true insertion in the sustainable development of the country and enhancing their fundamental role in caring for the environment and biodiversity.

White House.gov. 04/20/2023.

This morning the White House posted the following fact-sheet; President Biden Signs Executive Order to Revitalize Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All (04/21/2023):

President Biden and Vice President Harris believe that every person has a right to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live in a healthy community – now and into the future. During his first week in office, President Biden launched the most ambitious environmental justice agenda in our nation’s history. To continue delivering on that vision, today the President will sign an executive order further embedding environmental justice into the work of federal agencies to achieve real, measurable progress that communities can count on.

The Executive Order is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s whole-of-government effort to confront longstanding environmental injustices and inequities. For far too long, communities across our country have faced persistent environmental injustice through toxic pollution, underinvestment in infrastructure and critical services, and other disproportionate environmental harms often due to a legacy of racial discrimination including redlining. These communities with environmental justice concerns face even greater burdens due to climate change.

With this action, the President is working to ensure that all people – regardless of race, background, income, ability, Tribal affiliation, or zip code – can benefit from the vital safeguards enshrined in our nation’s foundational environmental and civil rights laws. That means cleaner air and water, reduced risk for asthma, cancer, and other health burdens, and better access to green space, safe and affordable housing, and clean transportation.

For President Biden, protecting our planet starts with ensuring everyone lives in a safe and healthy environment. Throughout Earth Week, President Biden, Vice President Harris, and other Cabinet-level officials are holding events and announcing commitments focused on how the President’s Investing in America agenda is creating good-paying clean energy jobs, lowering costs, meeting our climate goals, advancing environmental justice and conservation, and strengthening communities that for too long were left behind or left out.

The new Executive Order, Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All, will:

White House.gov. 04/21/2023.
  • Deepen the Biden-Harris Administration’s whole-of-government commitment to environmental justice. The new Executive Order makes clear that the pursuit of environmental justice is a duty of all executive branch agencies and should be incorporated into their missions. It also affirms that environmental justice is central to the implementation of our bedrock civil rights and environmental laws.
  • Better protect overburdened communities from pollution and environmental harms. The Executive Order directs agencies to consider measures to address and prevent disproportionate and adverse environmental and health impacts on communities, including the cumulative impacts of pollution and other burdens like climate change. Additionally, it requires agencies to notify nearby communities in the event of a release of toxic substances from a federal facility, and to hold a public meeting to share information on resulting health risks and necessary precautions.
  • Strengthen engagement with communities and mobilize federal agencies to confront existing and legacy barriers and injustices. Communities with environmental justice concerns have long experienced exclusion and other significant barriers to having a voice in federal decision-making. The Executive Order recognizes this reality and that racism is a fundamental driver of environmental injustice. It directs agencies to actively facilitate meaningful public participation and just treatment of all people in agency decision-making. The Executive Order also underscores the vital importance of Tribal consultation and coordination, including to strengthen nation-to-nation relationships on issues involving environmental justice.
  • Promote the latest science, data, and research, including on cumulative impacts. The Executive Order directs agencies to identify and address gaps in science, data, and research related to environmental justice, to advance the analysis of cumulative impacts, and to make information on environmental and health concerns more publicly accessible to communities. To address the need for a coordinated strategy for identifying and filling environmental justice data and research gaps, the Executive Order establishes a new Environmental Justice Subcommittee within the National Science and Technology Council, led by the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
  • Expand interagency coordination and launch a new Office of Environmental Justice within the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Building on Executive Order 14008, the Executive Order adds agencies to the White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council to further a whole-of-government strategy to address current and historic environmental injustice. The Executive Order also establishes the White House Office of Environmental Justice, led by the Federal Chief Environmental Justice Officer, and tasks it with coordinating the implementation of environmental justice policy across the federal government, ensuring that federal efforts can evolve alongside our understanding of environmental justice.
  • Increase accountability and transparency in federal environmental justice policy. The Executive Order charges federal agencies with conducting new assessments of their environmental justice efforts and developing, implementing, and periodically updating an environmental justice strategic plan. These Environmental Justice Strategic Plans and Assessments will be submitted to the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and made public on a regular basis, including through the Environmental Justice Scorecard, a new government-wide assessment of federal agencies’ efforts to advance environmental justice.
  • Honor and build on the foundation of ongoing environmental justice work. Under the Executive Order, agencies will continue their efforts to advance environmental justice in ways that complement and deepen prior work. The Executive Order uses the term “disproportionate and adverse” as a simpler, modernized version of the phrase “disproportionately high and adverse” used in Executive Order 12898. Those phrases have the same meaning, but removing the word “high” eliminates potential misunderstanding that agencies should only be considering large disproportionate effects.

This action follows through on President Biden’s promise to modernize and improve how the federal government confronts environmental injustice to address the needs of present and future generations – a promise he made following meaningful engagement with communities with environmental justice concerns and solidified in Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad. The Executive Order reflects the values, goals, and recommendations of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC), an expert body of leaders, researchers, practitioners, and community members. In line with the WHEJAC’s recommendations, the Executive Order outlines an ambitious approach to environmental justice that is informed by scientific research, high-quality data, and meaningful engagement with communities. It also reaffirms that the federal government must continue to be transparent and accountable for its actions.

The Executive Order builds on and supplements the foundational efforts of Executive Order 12898, signed by President Bill Clinton nearly 30 years ago. For the first time in our nation’s history, Executive Order 12898 recognized and sought to address what community members and leaders had been saying for decades: harmful pollution disproportionally impacts low-income communities and communities of color, among other vulnerable communities.

In addition to the Executive Order, today the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing other new steps to further the President’s historic commitment to environmental justice:

White House.gov. 04/21/2023.
  • Publishing the first-ever Environmental Justice Scorecard. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), CEQ, and the U.S. Digital Service are publishing Phase One of the Environmental Justice Scorecard, the first government-wide assessment of federal agencies’ efforts to advance environmental justice. The first version of the Scorecard establishes a baseline for tracking the federal government’s efforts through 24 agencies to secure environmental justice, including to advance the Justice40 Initiative. Over time, it will show how the Administration’s actions are making meaningful changes in communities. The Scorecard incorporates recommendations from the WHEJAC and feedback from the public, environmental justice stakeholders, and experts.
  • Launching the White House Campaign for Environmental Justice. The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring that people are seeing and experiencing the impacts of the President’s environmental justice agenda in their communities. To strengthen partnerships with communities that have been left behind for too long, the Administration is announcing the White House Campaign for Environmental Justice. The campaign, which is being kicked off today at the launch of the 21st Urban Waters Federal Partnership in Raleigh, North Carolina, will redouble the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to meet people where they are and better focus agency resources and attention on the needs of marginalized and overburdened communities.
  • Announcing new Justice40 covered programs. Through the Justice40 Initiative, the Biden-Harris Administration is reshaping hundreds of federal programs to ensure that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities. Today three additional agencies, the Department of Commerce, the National Science Foundation, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), announced their Justice40 covered programs. Now nearly 470 programs across nineteen federal agencies are covered under the President’s Justice40 Initiative.
  • Taking new steps to combat plastic pollution in communities. The Biden-Harris Administration recognizes that the plastic pollution crisis is an environmental justice issue, with disadvantaged communities in the U.S. and globally bearing social, economic, and public health burdens across the entire lifecycle of plastics. Today the Environmental Protection Agency is releasing a draft National Strategy on Preventing Plastic Pollution to combat the disparate impacts on communities affected by plastic from production to waste. The White House is also announcing a new Interagency Policy Committee (IPC) on Plastic Pollution and a Circular Economy. The IPC will coordinate federal efforts on plastic pollution, prioritizing public health, economic development, and equity to ensure that the benefits of acting on plastic pollution – including jobs, minimized exposure to harmful chemicals, and clean communities – are available to all.

Today’s announcements build on more than two years of progress under President Biden’s leadership to advance environmental justice. That progress includes:

White House.gov. 04/21/2023.
  • Delivering on the Justice40 Initiative. Through President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, the Administration is delivering 40 percent of the overall benefits of federal climate, clean energy, affordable and sustainable housing, clean water, and other investments to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized and overburdened by pollution. In total, hundreds of federal programs are being reimagined and transformed to meet the Justice40 goal. Agencies are using the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool to identify disadvantaged communities.
  • Strengthening enforcement of environmental laws. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is implementing a comprehensive environmental justice enforcement strategy to enhance civil and criminal enforcement of environmental violations in communities overburdened by pollution. Examples of DOJ’s enforcement work include a complaint filed and interim solution reached for the court to appoint a third party to manage and stabilize the City of Jackson, Mississippi’s public drinking water system, an environmental justice investigation into the City of Houston’s operations, policies and practices related to illegal dumping, and an environmental justice investigation into the wastewater disposal and infectious disease and outbreaks programs of the Alabama Department of Public Health and the Health Department of Lowndes County, Alabama. 
  • Respecting and elevating Indigenous Knowledge. The Biden-Harris Administration has formally recognized Indigenous Knowledge as one of the many important bodies of knowledge that contributes to the scientific, technical, social, and economic advancements of the United States and our collective understanding of the natural world. The White House engaged more than a thousand individuals, organizations, and Tribal Nations to develop guidance on elevating Indigenous Knowledge in federal research, policy, and decision-making.
  • Strengthening our regulatory system for the 21st century. Earlier this month, the Biden-Harris Administration rolled out new efforts to promote equitable and meaningful participation in the regulatory process, and OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs proposed new guidance to help agencies better account for the full range of benefits and costs of their regulatory actions. These new steps will produce a more efficient, effective regulatory review process that will help improve people’s lives – from protecting children from harmful toxins to growing our economy.

For more on the Biden-Harris Administration’s work to advance environmental justice, visit https://www.whitehouse.gov/environmentaljustice/.

White House.gov. 04/21/2023.

President Biden’s remarks are scheduled for 2:15 p.m. D.C., time:


Random Tweet

From Friday…

His full statement:

Jill and I extend our best wishes to Muslim communities across the country and around the world as you celebrate Eid al-Fitr and conclude the holy month of Ramadan.

With the sighting of the crescent moon, Eid al-Fitr is a festive celebration where Muslims feast after the holy month of fasting, decorate their homes, give gifts to loved ones, wear new clothes, and visit family and friends. I am moved by the generosity that is shown from families that can provide food and give charity to those in need through Zakat-al-Fitr.

Eid al-Fitr marks the completion of a holy month dedicated to devotion, charity, and reflection—a time when we also remember Muslim communities around the world that are enduring conflict, poverty, hunger, and disease, and those that are displaced from their homes. As we celebrate our blessings this Eid, let us also recommit ourselves to the timeless work of building peace and standing up for the rights and dignity of all people. My Administration is also committed to addressing all forms of hate, including Islamophobia. This is why I established an interagency task force with senior government officials to tackle this and related challenges and encourage every American to build a more inclusive nation.

We are proud to celebrate Eid al-Fitr at the White House again this year to honor inspiring Muslim Americans who are making contributions across our country. They are in laboratories and on factory floors, working to create and manufacture cutting edge technologies and initiatives to build a future made in America. They are artists and caregivers, adding to the beautiful mosaic of our nation’s creativity and compassion. They are teachers and firefighters and community members, pioneering efforts to build greater understanding and unity across our country. They are athletes, journalists, comedians, academics, proud members of our military—and so many other parts of what makes up America’s fabric.

To all celebrating, Jill and I wish you and your loved ones a happy and blessed Eid al-Fitr. Eid Mubarak!

White House.gov. 04/21/2023.

This is an Open Thread.



Have a great weekend everyone!

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About Tiff 2520 Articles
Member of the Free Press who is politically homeless and a political junkie.

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