Biden Bits: “Had a Candid, Constructive Conversation”…

September 21, 2023 12:00 pm EDT Tiff Biden Tweets (Open Thread) Comments Off on Biden Bits: “Had a Candid, Constructive Conversation”…
Biden Tweets Logo. Image by Lenny Ghoul.

It’s Thursday…

President Biden’s public schedule for 09/21/2023:

9:00 AM
Presidential Daily Briefing		The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
Closed Press
10:00 AMIn-Town Pool Call Time
In-Town Pool
3:00 PM
Welcome to the White House		The President and The First Lady welcome President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Mrs. Olena Zelenska of Ukraine to the White House
South Portico Open Press
3:25 PMOfficial ScheduleThe President holds a bilateral meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine
Oval Office In-House Pool Spray
4:00 PM
Bilateral Meeting		The President holds an expanded bilateral meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine
East Room In-House Pool Spray
7:10 PM
Leaves the White House		The President departs the White House en route to the Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC
South Grounds

Added to the schedule:

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Jake Sullivan @1:00 p.m. D.C., time…


President Biden Holds an Expanded Bilateral Meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine@4:45 p.m. D.C., time…


UN General Assembly Tweets

From Wednesday…

The YouTube is 15 minutes and 11 seconds long. Their full remarks can be found here.

Readout of President Joe Biden’s Meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel:

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. met today in New York with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to discuss a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues of mutual concern.  The President wished the Prime Minister and the people of Israel a happy new year during the Jewish high holidays.  President Biden reaffirmed the unbreakable bond between the two countries, which is based on the bedrock of shared democratic values, and the United States’ iron-clad commitment to Israel’s security.  During the meeting, the two leaders reiterated their commitment to ensuring Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon, as well as ongoing close cooperation between Israel and the United States to counter all threats posed by Iran and its proxies.  They also consulted on progress toward establishing a more integrated, prosperous, and peaceful Middle East region, including through efforts to deepen and expand normalization with countries in the region.  The two leaders welcomed the historic announcement made at the G20 to develop the India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) through the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Israel, and discussed how the project can benefit the entire Middle East region with investment and new forms of collaboration across two continents.  The two leaders and their teams welcomed the likely convening soon of a ministerial meeting in the Negev format to further advance regional integration initiatives, as well as deepening the ongoing U.S.-Israeli Tech Dialogue.

With regard to ongoing tension and violence in the West Bank, the President emphasized the need to take immediate measures to improve the security and economic situation, maintain the viability of a two-state solution, and promote a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.  To that end, President Biden called on all parties to fulfill their commitments made during meetings held earlier this year in Aqaba, Jordan and Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to include refraining from further unilateral measures.  The two leaders and their teams agreed to consult with regional partners with the aim of convening a meeting soon in this important Aqaba/Sharm format.  The President also reiterated his concern about any fundamental changes to Israel’s democratic system, absent the broadest possible consensus.  Finally, President Biden invited Prime Minister Netanyahu to Washington D.C. before the end of the year to continue direct collaboration on this broad range of issues.

White House.gov. 09/20/2023.

Remarks by President Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel Before Bilateral Meeting | New York, NY; there is no White House YouTube.

Joint U.S.-Brazil Statement on the Partnership for Workers’ Rights

Our Administrations affirm our mutual commitment to workers’ rights and promotion of decent work. 

Working people built our countries – from our most basic infrastructure and critical services, to educating our youth and caring for our elders, to our most advanced technologies. Workers and their trade unions have fought for protections in the workplace, fairness in the economy, and democracy in our societies—they are at the heart of the dynamic economies and the healthy, sustainable world we seek to build for our children.  In the face of complex global challenges, from climate change to rising poverty levels and economic inequality, we must put workers at the center of our policy solutions.  We must stand with workers and empower them to drive the innovation we urgently need to secure our futures.

Today, the United States and Brazil announce the launch of our joint global initiative to elevate the central and critical role that working people play in a sustainable, democratic, equitable, and peaceful world.  We already share an understanding and commitment to tackling critical issues of economic inequality, safeguarding workers’ rights, addressing discrimination in all its forms, and ensuring a just and clean energy transition.  Promoting decent work is foundational to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. We are also concerned with and attentive to the effects of the digitalization of our economies and the professional use of artificial intelligence on the world of work.

With this new initiative, we intend to expand our ambition and strengthen our partnership to address five of the most urgent challenges facing working people around the globe: (1)  protecting workers’ rights as defined in the International Labour Organization’s core conventions, empowering workers, and ending worker exploitation, including forced labor and child labor; (2) promoting safe, healthy, and decent work, and accountability in public and private investment; (3) advancing worker-centered approaches to the clean energy transition; (4) harnessing technology and digital transitions for the benefit of all; and (5) tackling workplace discrimination, particularly for women, LGBTQI+ persons, and marginalized racial and ethnic groups, embracing and promoting diversity in and access to the world of work.  We intend to work collaboratively across our governments and with our union partners to advance these urgent issues over the next year, envisioning a common agenda to discuss with other countries in the G20 and in the COP 28, COP 30, and beyond.

We welcome the support and participation of labor leaders from our countries and global organizations, as well as the leadership of the International Labour Organization, and we hope other partners and allies join this effort.  Together, we can create a sustainable economy based on shared prosperity and respect for workers’ dignity and rights.

White House.gov. 09/20/2023.

FACT SHEET: The United States and Brazil Launch First Joint Global Initiative to Advance Rights of Working People Around the World

Today, Presidents Biden and Lula launched the Partnership for Worker’s Rights, the first joint U.S.-Brazil global initiative to advance the rights of working people around the world. Through the Partnership for Workers’ Rights, President Biden will join forces with President Lula to champion an agenda for fairness and sustainability in the global economy, and ensure that economic growth leaves no one behind.

This initiative builds on many years of successful collaboration between the United States and Brazil to promote racial equality and justice, protect the environment and tackle the climate crisis, strengthen democracy, and to advance workers’ rights through bilateral labor dialogues.

With this new initiative, the United States intends to strengthen and expand the existing bilateral cooperation on these issues between our two countries, and work closely with U.S. and Brazilian labor stakeholders and the International Labour Organization, to address some of the most salient challenges facing working people around the world.

To advance our shared objectives, the United States, Brazil, and partners intend to pursue joint activities aimed at:

White House.gov. 09/20/2023.
  • Increasing workers’ awareness of their rights and empowering workers to claim their rights;
  • Elevating the central role of workers in ensuring that the clean energy transition provides meaningful opportunities and good jobs for all;
  • In close collaboration with our global partners, establishing an agenda centered on lifting up the importance of workers at multilateral institutions like the G20, COP 28, and COP 30;
  • Supporting and coordinating labor-related technical cooperation programs;
  • Pursuing new efforts to empower workers and protect labor rights in the gig and platform economy;
  • Engaging private sector partners on innovative approaches to creating decent work in key supply chains and addressing discrimination in the world of work.

This new partnership advances the Biden-Harris Administration’s enduring commitment to workers’ rights and good jobs.  The Administration has made labor rights and empowerment central to its efforts to create an economy that works for working people, and has made historic investments in America and in American workers. To date, the Administration has:

White House.gov. 09/20/2023.
  • Established a White House Task Force to mobilize the federal government’s policies, programs, and practices to empower workers to organize and successfully bargain with their employers;
  • Issued a proposed rule extending overtime pay to as many as 3.6 million workers;
  • Protected the pensions of millions of union workers;
  • Created nearly 13.5 million new jobs – including 800,000 manufacturing jobs. 

President Biden also welcomed Brazil’s membership in the Multilateral Partnership on Worker Organizing, Empowerment, and Rights (M-POWER), launched in 2022 as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Presidential Initiative on Democratic Renewal, and looks forward to continuing to engage in this important effort to elevate the role of workers and worker organization in strengthening democracy.

The United States looks forward to working with Brazil to bring additional stakeholders and global partners to create inclusive, sustainable, and broadly shared prosperity for workers at home and abroad. 

White House.gov. 09/20/2023.

Readout of President Biden’s Meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. met with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil today on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. The two leaders discussed the launch of the Partnership for Workers’ Rights, the first joint U.S.-Brazil global initiative to advance the rights of working people around the world, including how our two countries will continue to work closely together to successfully implement it and ways to elevate labor priorities in multilateral forums.

President Biden and President Lula noted the importance of the restoration of democracy in Venezuela, and President Biden reiterated the United States’ support for the people of Venezuela and outlined our vision of a step-by-step approach where concrete actions toward restoring Venezuelan democracy, leading to free and fair elections, are met by corresponding sanctions relief by the United States.

The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to cooperation on climate, and discussed the importance of continuing to support Haiti as it deals with a humanitarian and security crisis. President Biden urged President Lula to support a Multinational Security Support mission to Haiti. During the meeting, President Biden expressed concern about the global effects of Russia’s war against Ukraine, particularly on food and energy security, especially on the poorest nations on the planet, and voiced support for the return of Russia to the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

White House.gov. 09/20/2023.

Remarks by President Biden and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil Before Bilateral Meeting | New York, NY; there is no White House YouTube.

From Thursday…

Show more =’s that delivers just and lasting peace.

From the White House…

FACT SHEET: U.S. Action on Global Development (09/20/2023).


American Climate Corps Tweets

From Wednesday…

It’s a link to White House.gov/Climate Corps form to receive information on how to join.

The video is 50 seconds long. It’s a campaign tweet.

From the White House…

FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Advances Offshore Wind Transmission, Strengthens Regional Supply Chain Buildout, and Drives Innovation (09/21/2023).


Voting Right Tweet

From Wednesday…

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (D) issued the following press release on Tuesday:

Today, as part of the Shapiro Administration’s commitment to ensuring free, fair, and secure elections, Governor Josh Shapiro announced that Pennsylvania has implemented automatic voter registration (AVR) for eligible Commonwealth residents obtaining driver licenses and ID cards at Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) driver and photo license centers. By implementing AVR, Pennsylvania joins a group of 23 states with leaders from both parties – including Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Georgia, Virginia, and West Virginia – who have taken this step to promote election security and save taxpayers time and money.

Starting today, Commonwealth residents who are obtaining new or renewed driver licenses and ID cards and are eligible to vote will be automatically taken through the voter registration application process unless they opt out of doing so. Previously, eligible voters were required to take additional steps to opt into the voter registration process. Today’s changes also increase access to voter registration by adding instructions in five more languages, for a total of 31 languages.

“Pennsylvania is the birthplace of our democracy, and as Governor, I’m committed to ensuring free and fair elections that allow every eligible voter to make their voice heard,” said Governor Josh Shapiro. “Automatic voter registration is a commonsense step to ensure election security and save Pennsylvanians time and tax dollars. Residents of our Commonwealth already provide proof of identity, residency, age, and citizenship at the DMV – all the information required to register to vote — so it makes good sense to streamline that process with voter registration. My Administration will keep taking innovative actions like this one to make government work better and more efficiently for all Pennsylvanians.”

Pennsylvanians have been able to apply to register to vote during these visits at PennDOT centers since the 1993 passage of the National Voter Registration Act, which includes what is known as the motor voter law.

“Registering eligible Commonwealth residents to vote during their visits to driver and photo license centers is a commonsense action,” Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said. “The voter is already in a state government facility with their identification documentation in hand, and they will have their picture taken and sign their name electronically. Having all of that happen at the same time means the verification process is extremely secure and makes the registration process more efficient.” 

“At PennDOT, we’re proud of our role in the voter registration process,” said PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll. “These latest enhancements are a great example of how, through constant collaboration with the Department of State, we work to make this process as efficient as possible for eligible Pennsylvania residents.”

In other states, automatic voter registration has been shown to streamline the registration process for military families, who tend to move more often than other Americans. Automatically updating their voter registration information during their PennDOT visits will ensure that these families can continue to participate in the democracy they work so hard to defend.

AVR also reduces paper application processing burdens on county elections professionals. Electronic registrations recorded during driver’s license center interactions are more secure and take a fraction of the time to process.

For local election officials, receiving automatic updates when residents obtain new identification – which residents often do when they change their name or address – will enhance efforts continuously underway to maintain the accuracy of Pennsylvania’s voter rolls.

County election offices are often inundated with voter registrations and status updates during presidential and midterm election years and receive very few changes during municipal election years. With this new automated process, election officials’ important work maintaining our voter rolls should be greatly streamlined and improved over the four-year election cycle.

Multiple studies – including a 2019 Brennan Center for Justice study and a 2021 study by the Public Policy Institute of California – have also found that automatic voter registration in other states has produced marked increases in the number of eligible voters added to the voter rolls and has produced appreciable increases in voter turnout.

As of December 2022, approximately 8.7 million Pennsylvanians were registered to vote; according to U.S. Census estimates, more than 10.3 million Commonwealth residents are eligible to register.

To be eligible to register to vote, applicants must:

Governor.PA.gov. 09/19/2023.
  • Be a U.S. citizen for at least 30 days before the next election,
  • Be a resident of Pennsylvania and their election district for at least 30 days before the next election, and
  • Be at least 18 years old on the date of the next election.

Student Debt Relief Tweet

From Wednesday…

His full statement:

On Day One of my Administration, I promised to fight for hardworking families and to fix problems in the student loan system that have been failing borrowers for too long. As part of that effort, my Administration has approved over $117 billion in debt relief to over 3.4 million borrowers, including over $14 billion in relief for 1.1 million borrowers whose colleges took advantage of them or closed abruptly.
 
Today, my Administration approved another $37 million in debt cancellation for over 1,200 borrowers who were deceived by the University of Phoenix. These borrowers were cheated into believing that by attending the University of Phoenix they would have promising career prospects at Fortune 500 companies – yet those benefits and opportunities never existed.  
 
My Administration won’t stand for colleges taking advantage of hardworking students and borrowers. As long as I am President, we will never stop fighting to deliver relief to borrowers who are entitled to it – like those who attended University of Phoenix – and we will hold colleges accountable for misleading and cheating their students.  
 
Today’s actions come on top of all we’ve been able to achieve for students and student loan borrowers in the past few years.  This includes: achieving the largest increases in Pell Grants in over a decade; fixing the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program so that borrowers who go into public service get the debt relief they’re entitled to under the law; and creating the most generous Income-Driven Repayment plan in history, called SAVE. And, we’re not done. As I announced earlier this year in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision on our student debt relief plan, we will continue to pursue an alternative path to deliver student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible. We will use every tool at our disposal to get student loan borrowers the relief they need to reach their dreams. 

White House.gov. 09/20/2023.

ED.gov announced on Wednesday:

The Biden-Harris Administration today announced the approval of nearly $37 million in borrower defense to repayment discharges for more than 1,200 students who enrolled at the University of Phoenix (Phoenix) between Sept. 21, 2012, and Dec. 31, 2014, and applied for relief. The U.S. Department of Education (Department) found that a national ad campaign from Phoenix misled prospective students by falsely representing that its partnerships with thousands of corporations, including Fortune 500 companies, would benefit students by, for example, giving them hiring preferences at those companies. In fact, Phoenix’s corporate partnerships provided no such benefits to students. The approved applications are from borrowers who enrolled in Phoenix during the covered time period and filed borrower defense applications that made allegations corroborated by this finding. Today’s announcement brings the total amount of debt cancellation approved by the Biden-Harris Administration to more than $117 billion – including $14.8 billion in relief for 1.1 million borrowers whose colleges took advantage of them or closed abruptly.

“The University of Phoenix brazenly deceived prospective students with false ads to get them to enroll,” said Federal Student Aid Chief Operating Officer Richard Cordray. “Students who trusted the school and wanted to better their lives through education ended up with mounds of debt and useless degrees. Today’s announcement builds on the FTC’s work to provide relief to those affected by Phoenix’s misconduct and delivers on the Biden-Harris Administration’s mission to support student loan borrowers.”

The Department reviewed evidence obtained by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in its multi-year investigation into Phoenix that was ultimately resolved through a $191 million action in 2019, as well as evidence obtained from Phoenix during the Department’s fact-finding process. The evidence obtained by FTC included internal emails, policies, and procedures; recorded phone calls with prospective Phoenix students; and draft and final advertisements.

“Students deceived by the University of Phoenix deserve strong relief, and today’s action is an important step forward,” said Director of FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection Samuel Levine. “We will continue to work with our state and federal partners to protect students.”

Based on the evidence, the Department found that Phoenix’s substantial misrepresentations included the following:

Ed.gov. 09/20/2023.
  • During its “Let’s Get to Work” national advertisement campaign, which began on Sept. 21, 2012, as well as in-recruitment calls and meetings, Phoenix misled borrowers about their employment prospects by misrepresenting the nature of Phoenix’s relationships with renowned and high-profile companies, including Microsoft, Adobe, AT&T, and the American Red Cross.
  • Phoenix represented that its relationship with these companies created unique job opportunities for Phoenix students, which was not true.
  • The school told borrowers that a Phoenix degree would help “get your foot in a few thousand doors” and that its corporate partners were “looking specifically at University of Phoenix students for hire instead of any other school,” which also was not true.

Phoenix did not have partnerships with companies to provide hiring preferences for its students. In fact, the school’s relationship with corporate partners did not result in any benefits to impacted Phoenix students. Corporate partners let Phoenix display their insignias and names in a career database portal, which gave the false impression that Phoenix offered unique job opportunities, when in reality all the jobs posted were available to the general public. Phoenix management was aware that the corporate relationships the school claimed to have did not exist. One senior vice president at Phoenix described one of the advertisements in question as “smoke & mirrors.” Another conceded to other company executives that the “Let’s Get to Work” ad campaign lacked factual support and needed improvement. Despite these concerns, Phoenix continued to falsely advertise its “connection” and “partnership” with corporate employers for more than two years, until December 2014.

The evidence demonstrated that Phoenix promised borrowers unique employment opportunities or connections to high-profile employers, but those promises were empty. Phoenix borrowers reasonably relied on these substantial misrepresentations to their detriment. Therefore, the Department determined that it is appropriate to grant complete relief on federal student loans for Phoenix borrowers who enrolled within the eligible period based on Phoenix’s hiring partner misrepresentations.

Today’s announcement continues to demonstrate the importance for students and taxpayers of a strong partnership between the Department and other Federal agencies, like the FTC. The Department thanks the FTC for supporting this work to provide relief to students who were harmed, which built on the FTC’s success in obtaining a significant settlement from Phoenix in 2019.

The Department will notify affected borrowers by early October that their applications have been approved. These borrowers will see any remaining loan balances zeroed out and credit trade lines deleted. Any payments they made to the Department on their related Federal student loans will be refunded. The Department also intends to initiate a recoupment proceeding against Phoenix to seek repayment of the liabilities associated with these approved claims at a later date.

Borrowers who may qualify for relief because they have been affected by this finding can visit StudentAid.gov/borrower-defense to learn how to apply for borrower defense.

Ed.gov. 09/20/2023.

I got some real life appointments this am. We will pick up the rest of Thursday’s tweets tomorrow…

This is an Open Thread.

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About Tiff 2559 Articles
Member of the Free Press who is politically homeless and a political junkie.