It’s Thursday…
President Biden’s public schedule for 07/27/2023:
| 9:00 AM Presidential Daily Brief | The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing The White House Closed Press |
| 10:00 AM | In-Town Pool Call Time The White House In-Town Pool |
| 11:45 AM Remarks | The President announces additional actions to protect communities from extreme heat South Court Auditorium Pre-Credentialed Media & Pooled for TV |
| 1:30 PM Press Briefing | Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre James S. Brady Press Briefing Room |
| 3:00 PM Bilateral Meeting | The President holds a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy Oval Office In-House Pool Spray |
| 7:05 PM Leaves the White House | The President departs the White House en route to the National Archives Building South Grounds In-Town Travel Pool |
| 7:10 PM Arrives at the National Archives Building | The President arrives at the National Archives Building National Archives Research Center In-Town Travel Pool |
| 7:30 PM Remarks | The President delivers remarks at the Truman Civil Rights Symposium National Archives Research Center Open Press |
| 8:15 PM Departs National Archives Building | The President departs the National Archives Building en route to the White House National Archives Research Center In-Town Travel Pool |
| 8:20 PM Arrives at the White House | The President arrives at the White House South Grounds In-Town Travel Pool |
From the White House…
President Biden Asks the Department of Labor to Issue First-Ever Hazard Alert for Heat and Announces New Investments to Protect Communities
Millions of Americans are currently experiencing the effects of extreme heat, which is growing in intensity, frequency, and duration due to the climate crisis.
Today, President Biden will convene Mayor Kate Gallego of Phoenix, Arizona, and Mayor Ron Nirenberg of San Antonio, Texas, to hear from them directly about how their communities are being impacted by extreme heat and to discuss the steps the Biden-Harris Administration is taking to protect communities like theirs. The President will also announce new measures to protect workers and communities across the country from the impacts of extreme heat.
White House.gov. 07/27/2023.
- President Biden has asked the Department of Labor (DOL) to issue the first-ever Hazard Alert for heat, and DOL will also ramp up enforcement to protect workers from extreme heat. For years, heat has been the number one cause of weather-related deaths in America. And workers, including farmworkers, farmers, firefighters, and construction workers, are disproportionately impacted by extreme heat. Since 2011, more than 400 workers have died due to environmental heat exposure, and thousands more are hospitalized every year. The Hazard Alert will reaffirm that workers have heat-related protections under federal law. As part of the alert, the Department of Labor will provide information on what employers can and should be doing now to protect their workers, help ensure employees are aware of their rights, including protections against retaliation, and highlight the steps the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is currently taking to protect workers.
Additionally, the Department of Labor will ramp up enforcement of heat-safety violations, increasing inspections in high-risk industries like construction and agriculture, while OSHA continues to develop a national standard for workplace heat-safety rules.
White House.gov. 07/27/2023.
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is investing up to $7 million from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to improve our nation’s weather forecasts. In partnership with universities and other institutions, NOAA will establish a new Data Assimilation Consortium focused on developing better weather-prediction capabilities and maximizing the value provided by NOAA’s global observing system. These improved forecasts will allow communities to better prepare for extreme weather events, including long periods of extreme heat. As the climate crisis contributes to worsening extreme weather events affecting Americans nationwide, this investment will give Americans the information and tools they need to stay safe.
- The Department of the Interior is investing $152 million from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to expand water storage and enhance climate resilience in California, Colorado, and Washington. This investment will help increase water storage capacity and lay conveyance pipeline to deliver reliable and safe drinking water and build resiliency for communities most impacted by drought. In the wake of severe drought conditions throughout the West, the Administration is making coordinated investments through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act to modernize essential water infrastructure, invest in new water recycling and desalination projects and expand access to clean drinking water for communities that have long-dealt with contaminated water supplies.
Today’s announcements build on numerous actions that the Biden-Harris Administration has taken to bolster heat response and resilience nationwide, including providing billions of dollars through the Department of Housing and Urban Development to communities to make buildings more energy efficient and to open cooling centers to keep residents safe.
Since day one, President Biden has taken historic action to address the climate crisis, which includes securing more than $50 billion through his Investing in America agenda to help Americans in every single state become more resilient to climate impacts like heat waves. The Biden-Harris Administration has continued to deliver on the most ambitious climate agenda in American history—an agenda that is lowering energy costs for hardworking families, bolstering America’s energy security, creating thousands of good-paying jobs, and strengthening community-driven climate resilience across the country.
Meanwhile, many Republicans in Congress continue to deny the very existence of climate change, peddle conspiracy theories, and remain committed to repealing the President’s Inflation Reduction Act – the biggest climate protection bill ever – which would undermine the health and safety of their own constituents.
White House.gov. 07/27/2023.
President Biden’s remarks on extreme heat…
Economy/Inflation/Inflation Reduction Act/”Bidenomics” Tweets
From Wednesday…
From Thursday…
From Thursday…
From the Council of Economic Advisers…
The Advance Estimate of Second Quarter Real GDP
Real Gross Domestic Product, or real GDP, is a measure of the inflation-adjusted size of the U.S. economy. Real GDP grew at an annual rate of 2.4 percent in the second quarter of this year, according to the first or “advance” estimate released today. That is a strong pace, well above market expectations of 1.8 percent. Growth in Q2 was driven primarily by consumer spending and business investment, both of which contributed about a percentage point to the growth rate. Importantly, inflation slowed more than expected in the report. This suggests that in the second quarter, the U.S. economy expanded at a healthy clip while price pressures abated somewhat.
GDP is the sum of consumer spending, business investment, government spending, and net exports (exports minus imports). Consumer spending, which amounts to just under 70 percent of nominal GDP, grew by 1.6 percent in real annualized terms last quarter, and has been a consistent source of growth in this expansion, boosted in part by the strong U.S. labor market. Real compensation was up 2.7 percent in the second quarter, a function of rising wages and solid job growth. This combination of a strong labor market and rising real compensation is closely correlated with positive consumer spending growth and increased GDP.
Business investment, up 7.7 percent in real annualized terms, contributed just under 1 percentage point to the 2.4 percent growth rate. While business investment represents a much smaller share of nominal GDP than consumer spending (13 percent vs. 68 percent), investment is important because it drives future growth, jobs, and higher household incomes. A noteworthy aspect of the current business investment outlook is investments in manufacturing facilities, some of which is supported by recent legislation, including the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS). In fact, today’s report shows that about 0.4 percentage point of real Q2 GDP growth came from investment in private manufactured structures, the largest such contribution since 1981.
As Figure 1 shows, investment in manufacturing structures has been on an upward trend in recent quarters, supporting both President Biden’s manufacturing agenda and his view that public investment can attract private investment. If this trend persists, it bodes well for future employment opportunities, and could portend an increase in domestic production in areas supported by CHIPS and IRA, such as microchips and clean energy products including electric vehicles and batteries.
White House.gov. 07/27/2023.
It is worth noting that various measures of inflation in this report both slowed and came in below expectations. The overall GDP price index rose 2.2 percent annualized, its lowest increase since the second quarter of 2020 and 0.8 percentage point below expectations. The closely watched core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index rose 3.8 percent annualized, down by more than a percentage point from Q1’s 4.9 percent rate and 0.2 percentage point below expectations, though still at an elevated rate relative to its prepandemic pace.
The CEA is careful to not over-interpret any one month’s or one quarter’s data. GDP reports also go through numerous revisions as the advance estimates are refined. But today’s report still gives us insights into how the American economy is performing. The advance estimate of GDP for the second quarter of 2023 showed the U.S. economy is expanding at a strong and better-than-expected clip. The growth came largely from consumer spending supported by our solid labor market as well as business investment, partly reflecting construction of new domestic manufacturing structures. Importantly, this activity occurred as inflation continued to slow.
White House.gov. 07/27/2023.
Their tweets:
The first tweet appears in the blog posted at the White House…
President Biden’s full statement:
The economy is growing and we’re lowering costs for families. That’s Bidenomics at work. Today’s report shows that the economy grew at a 2.4 percent annual rate in the second quarter while inflation fell significantly. Private business investment was strong and investment in manufacturing facilities contributed more to growth than it has in 40 years, consistent with my Investing in America agenda. The economy’s continued growth builds on what was already the strongest pandemic recovery and lowest inflation of any G-7 country. This progress wasn’t inevitable or accidental—it is Bidenomics in action, growing the economy from the middle out and bottom up, not the top down. And hard-working Americans are seeing the results: Our unemployment rate remains near record lows, inflation has fallen by two thirds, real wages are higher than they were before the pandemic, and we’ve seen more than half a trillion dollars in private sector investment commitments in clean energy and manufacturing. My economic plan is working—and we’re just getting started.
White House.gov. 07/27/2023.
Americans with Disabilities Act Tweet
From Wednesday…
The video clip is 25 seconds long. The voice-over is taken from “Remarks by President Biden on the Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act“, on 09/28/2022. The YouTube of the event from the Rose Garden is 18 minutes and 17 seconds long.
The White House video creators have mashed his remarks from two paragraphs only…
President Biden:
For our country, the ADA is a testament to the character of our people, to the country. *It’s proof we can work together and keep moving closer to realizing the promise of America for all Americans* — for all Americans. And it’s proof of the power of our example — an American law that is a global model, inspiring 180 other nations to pass similar disability laws.
[snip]
America simply wasn’t built for all Americans. But we changed that. And now, for one in four Americans living with a disability in America, we changed the law. You know, it’s the key to equality, opportunity, and independence.
White House.gov. 09/28/2022.
*B&W text ends the video clip*
Mental Health Tweets
From Wednesday…
Remarks by President Biden on Expanding Access to Mental Health Care (07/26/2023):
President Biden:
This builds on the work we’ve done over the past two years with the expanded Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics.
[snip]
These clinics provide a range of services, including crisis support available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. And they serve anyone who needs care regardless of their ability to pay.
There are now 500 of these clinics in 46 states. We’ve added more than 140 during my administration. And we’re going to keep increasing the number because you need more than the 500.
Improving our mental health system means addressing the three Cs: coverage, care, and causes.
Today, we took a big step on coverage. Now we need to keep expanding care — for example, by increasing access to telemedicine; expanding our mental health workshop — workforce — doctors, therapists, and counselors. Expanding it.
We need to address prevention and the root cause of the pain and trauma that a lot of people are feeling, like loneliness and isolation, social media and online bullying, gun violence.
[snip]
Talk to parents and teachers. Talk to the school nurses and counselors. Talk to young people. They’ll tell you there’s a serious youth mental health crisis happening right now in this country. We must fulfill the promise of true mental health parity for all Americans now. Now. (Applause.)
White House.gov. 07/26/2023.
PACT Act Tweet
From Wednesday…
The video clip is 1 minute and 41 seconds long.
President Biden:
I’ve long said we have many obligations as a nation. We have only one truly sacred obligation, to prepare and equip those we send in harm’s way and to care for them and their families when they come home. Too many of our nation’s bravest women and men came home sick and were left without answers or the help they needed.
Not anymore.
Last year, I signed the Bipartisan PACT Act into law to ensure that veterans affected by burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances get the care and benefits they deserve.
You may be eligible for PACT Act benefits if you served during Vietnam, the Gulf War, or after 9/11. Or if you’re a surviving family member of one of those heroes.
These benefits and services from the PACT Act can be lifesaving. Let me say it again–They can be lifesaving.
For veterans exposed to toxic substances, the PACT Act means quicker access to VA health care and health care benefits. For survivors the PACT Act is a lifeline. Surviving spouses and dependents will be eligible for a monthly stipend, tuition benefits to help cover cost of college, gain access to life insurance, home loan assistance, and health care.
If you apply or submit your intent to apply by August 9th, your benefits may be retroactive to the date when I signed this law last year.
So don’t wait. Apply today for the health care and benefits you’ve earned and if you were denied before, please reapply. It’s free–it’s easy–all you have to do is visit: VA.gov/PACT. So don’t wait. Don’t wait. Apply today.
@POTUS Twitter. 07/26/2023.
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