Biden Bits: “Come Hell or High Water”…

May 22, 2024 12:00 pm EDT Tiff Biden Tweets (Open Thread) Comments Off on Biden Bits: “Come Hell or High Water”…
Biden Tweets Logo. Image by Lenny Ghoul.

It’s Wednesday…

President Biden’s public schedule for 05/22/2024:

10:00 AMThe President receives the President’s Daily BriefThe White HouseClosed Press
1:00 PM
Press Briefing		Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre
4:00 PMThe President welcomes President William Ruto of the Republic of Kenya to the White House
4:30 PM
In house pool spray; video will be posted after the event		The President participates in an engagement with President William Ruto of Kenya and CEOs and other Business Leaders

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

Kenya State Dinner Media Preview @2:30 p.m. D.C., time:


PACT Act Tweets

From Tuesday…

FACT SHEET: President Biden to Announce 1 Million PACT Act Claims Approved, Benefits Delivered to Veterans in all 50 States and U.S. Territories:

President Biden signed the landmark bipartisan Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act into law in August 2022, enacting the most significant expansion of benefits and services for toxic exposed veterans in more than 30 years.  Named in honor of Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson, a decorated combat medic who died from a rare form of lung cancer, this historic legislation is delivering timely benefits and services to veterans—across all generations—who have been impacted by toxic exposures while serving our country.

Thanks to this transformational law, the President will announce that more than 1 million PACT Act related claims have now been granted.  More than 888,000 veterans and survivors across all 50 states and U.S. territories are now receiving new service-connected disability benefits.
 
President Biden believes that our nation has a sacred obligation to properly prepare and equip the troops we send into harm’s way – and to care for them and their families when they return home. Sometimes military service can result in increased health risks for our veterans, and some injuries and illnesses like asthma, cancer, and others can take years to manifest. These realities can make it difficult for veterans to establish a direct connection between their service and disabilities resulting from military environmental exposures such as burn pits – a necessary step to ensure they receive the disability benefits and health care they earned. The PACT Act eliminated these barriers and ensures veterans get the care and services they deserve.

President Biden has made clear that supporting our veterans is a commitment that unites all Americans – Democrats, Republicans, and Independents — and it’s why he made supporting our veterans a core element of his Unity Agenda. Under President Biden’s leadership, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has processed claims at the fastest rate in history, and is delivering health care to more veterans than ever before. Today, to mark a key milestone in this effort, the President will join veterans and their families at the Westwood Park YMCA in Nashua, New Hampshire to discuss how the historic PACT Act has delivered lifesaving health care and benefits to more than 888,000 veterans and survivors.

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration will also release new national and state-by-state data on PACT Act claims granted. 
 
The Administration has helped veterans in every state and territory receive the services and care they deserve by:

FACT SHEET: President Biden to Announce 1 Million PACT Act Claims Approved, Benefits Delivered to Veterans in all 50 States and U.S. Territories. 05/21/2024.
  • Screening veterans for toxic exposures: More than 5.4 million veterans have received free screenings for toxic exposures from VA under the PACT Act – a critical step to catching and treating potentially life-threatening health conditions as early as possible.
  • Delivering benefits to veterans and their survivors: Since enactment, VA has delivered more than $5.7 billion in earned PACT Act-related benefits to veterans and their survivors. VA is delivering these benefits to veterans at the fastest rate in history, processing 1.57 million total claims thus far in this fiscal year – 28% more year-to-date than the previous all-time record. In total, VA has processed 1,327,228 PACT Act claims since August 10, 2022.
  • Prioritizing veterans with cancer: As a part of President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot, VA has prioritized claims processing for veterans with cancer – delivering nearly $637 million in PACT Act benefits to veterans with cancer. VA also prioritizes claims for veterans with terminal illnesses and veterans experiencing homelessness.
  • Spreading the word to veterans and their survivors: Thanks to the PACT Act outreach campaign, veterans and survivors are applying for their earned benefits at record rates. Since August 2022, veterans and survivors have submitted 4.17 million total claims. This includes 1,655,810 PACT Act-specific claims applications.
  • Increasing VA’s capacity to serve veterans: Thanks to new PACT Act authorities, VA has been able to expand its workforce in order to serve veterans as quickly and effectively as possible. In total, both the Veterans Health Administration and the Veterans Benefits administration have achieved their highest growth rates in 20 years.
  • Eliminating benefits delays for veterans: Instead of phasing in conditions over several years (as outlined in the legislation), the Biden-Harris Administration decided to make all conditions in the PACT Act presumptive for benefits as of August 10, 2022, the day the bill was signed into law. This decision expedited the timeline for veterans to receive their earned care and benefits by several years.
  • Accelerating health care eligibility for veterans: As of March 2024, VA opened up eligibility for toxic exposed veterans to enroll in VA Health Care without first having to prove a service-connected disability and regardless of their deployment location, nearly ten years earlier than called for in the PACT Act. Thanks to new PACT Act eligibility, more than 145,000 veterans have newly enrolled in VA Health Care since August 10, 2022.

These historic efforts to address military toxic exposures build on the Biden-Harris Administration’s recent work to support our nation’s veterans, including:

FACT SHEET: President Biden to Announce 1 Million PACT Act Claims Approved, Benefits Delivered to Veterans in all 50 States and U.S. Territories. 05/21/2024.
  • Ending veteran homelessness. No one should be homeless in this country, especially not those who served it. That’s why President Biden is proposing a guaranteed voucher for extremely low-income veterans, a population at especially high risk of homelessness. Last year, VA found permanent housing for over 46,000 veterans, expanded access to health care for homeless Veterans, expanded access to legal assistance for homeless Veterans, helped more than 145,000 Veterans and their families retain their homes or otherwise avoid foreclosure, and awarded more than $1 billion in grant funding to help homeless Veterans. These efforts are leading to results: from 2020 to 2023, there was a nearly 5 percent decline in veteran homelessness. And, tomorrow, Dallas will announce that it has effectively ended veteran homelessness.
  • Securing jobs for our veterans. Roughly 200,000 service members transition from the military each year and the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to providing them and their spouses the support they need to find good paying jobs. This includes helping connect veterans to registered apprentice programs, so they can transfer the skills they learned in the military.
  • Removing barriers to mental health care. Next week, VA will take action to remove all cost-sharing for the first three behavioral health visits for veterans enrolled in VA health care, helping to ensure that all those in need can get the care they need. This action builds on VA’s new policy allowing eligible veterans and certain former service members in acute suicidal crisis to go to any VA or non-VA health care facility for no-cost emergency health care – over 50,000 veterans and service members have used this benefit since it launched in 2023. VA is doing everything it can, including expanding mental health screenings, increasing access to legal and financial support, and hiring more mental health professionals, to help veterans get the help they need. For veterans and family members who may be experiencing a crisis, the Veterans Crisis Line is available 24/7 by dialing 988 and then pressing 1.
  • Supporting veterans and caregivers. Last year, President Biden signed an Executive Order directing the VA to cut red tape and give veterans who need assistance at home more flexibility to pick their own caregivers. As part of those actions, VA also launched a pilot program, known as the Virtual Psychotherapy Program for Caregivers, to provide mental health counseling services to family caregivers caring for our nation’s heroes. The program successfully completed its pilot phase and is now a permanent program. Since October 2023, the program has provided over 4,937 psychotherapy sessions to family caregivers. And, last year, President Biden signed an Executive Order calling for the most comprehensive set of administrative actions in our nation’s history to support the economic security of military and veteran spouses, caregivers, and survivors.

If you are a veteran, visit www.va.gov/PACT or go to your local VA hospital to see if you are eligible for PACT Act benefits and services.

For a state-by-state breakdown of PACT Act data, click here.

FACT SHEET: President Biden to Announce 1 Million PACT Act Claims Approved, Benefits Delivered to Veterans in all 50 States and U.S. Territories. 05/21/2024.

Remarks by President Biden on the PACT Act | Nashua, NH; the YouTube is 17 minutes and 41 seconds long.

My son Beau was one of those veterans.  So, this is personal to me and my family and to his family and his children so — and so many of yours.  So, I took office; I — I determined that, come hell or high water, we were going to protect the heroes who protect our nation. 

[snip]

And today, I’m proud to announce the VA just granted its one-millionth — one-millionth PACT Act claim. One million. (Applause.) A major milestone, providing $5.7 million [billion] in benefits to 890,000 veterans and their families so far in hand, including 3,000 here in New Hampshire.

Remarks by President Biden on the PACT Act | Nashua, NH. 05/21/2024.

I’m asking everyone to help spread the word.  As a — go to VA.gov/PACT — P-A-C-T — and apply for VA healthcare, get screened for toxic exposure, and file a claim.  Or go to your VA or veterans’ organization for help.  They have staff from the VA here today to help sign you up if you need that help. 

Remarks by President Biden on the PACT Act | Nashua, NH. 05/21/2024.

Service Employees International Union Welcomes a New President Tweet

From Tuesday…

Remarks by Vice President Harris at the Service Employees International Union Quadrennial Convention; the YouTube is 24 minutes and 31 seconds long.

Artificial Intelligence Tweet

From Tuesday…

Show more =’s I commit to do everything in my power to promote and demand safe, secure, trustworthy, and responsible innovation – that includes the use of AI-generated audio. I ask that AI companies join me in that commitment.

via GIPHY

Student Loan Forgiveness Tweet

From Wednesday…

Statement from President Joe Biden on $7.7 Billion in Student Debt Cancellation for 160,000 Borrowers:

Today, my Administration is canceling student debt for 160,000 more people, bringing the total number of Americans who have benefitted from our debt relief actions to 4.75 million. Each of those borrowers has received an average of over $35,000 in debt cancellation. These 160,000 additional borrowers are people enrolled in my Administration’s SAVE Plan; are public service workers like teachers, nurses, or law enforcement officials; or are borrowers who were approved for relief because of fixes we made to Income-Driven Repayment. 

Today’s announcement comes on top of the significant progress we’ve made for students and borrowers over the past three years. That includes providing the largest increases to the maximum Pell Grant in over a decade; fixing Public Service Loan Forgiveness so teachers, nurses, police officers, and other public service workers get the relief they are entitled to under the law; and holding colleges accountable for taking advantage of students and families. And last month, I laid out my Administration’s new plans that would cancel student debt for more than 30 million Americans when combined with everything we’ve done so far. 

From day one of my Administration, I promised to fight to ensure higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity. I will never stop working to cancel student debt – no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us.

Statement from President Joe Biden on $7.7 Billion in Student Debt Cancellation for 160,000 Borrowers. 05/22/2024.

From the Department of Education

05/21/2024:

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Additional $7.7 Billion in Approved Student Debt Relief for 160,000 Borrowers

The Biden-Harris Administration announced today the approval of $7.7 billion in additional student loan debt relief for 160,500 borrowers. These discharges are for three categories of borrowers: those receiving Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF); those who signed up for President Biden’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan and who are eligible for its shortened time-to-forgiveness benefit; and those receiving forgiveness on income-driven repayment (IDR) as a result of fixes made by the Administration. This action comes as more than 8 million borrowers have been helped by the SAVE Plan. That includes 4.6 million with a $0 monthly payment.

Today’s announcement brings the total loan forgiveness approved by the Biden-Harris Administration to $167 billion for 4.75 million Americans. Thanks to this Administration’s efforts more than one out of every 10 federal student loan borrowers has now been approved for some debt relief. This action builds on President Biden and his Administration’s efforts to provide debt relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible.

“The Biden-Harris Administration remains persistent about our efforts to bring student debt relief to millions more across the country, and this announcement proves it,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “One out of every 10 federal student loan borrowers approved for debt relief means one out of every 10 borrowers now has financial breathing room and a burden lifted.”

Recently, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) also announced an update on the timing of the payment count adjustment. This administrative fix ensures borrowers get credit for progress borrowers made toward IDR forgiveness and PSLF. Borrowers who would benefit from consolidating now have until June 30, 2024 to apply to consolidate. Borrowers can find out more about the payment count adjustment here.

The debt relief announced today is broken down into the following categories:

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Additional $7.7 Billion in Approved Student Debt Relief for 160,000 Borrowers. 05/21/2024.
  • $5.2 billion for 66,900 borrowers through fixes to PSLF: The Administration has now approved $68 billion in forgiveness for more than 942,000 borrowers through PSLF.
  • $613 million for 54,300 borrowers through the SAVE Plan: This relief will go to borrowers enrolled in the SAVE Plan who had smaller loans for their postsecondary studies. Borrowers can receive relief after at least 10 years of payments if they originally borrowed $12,000 or less. Each additional $1,000 in borrowing adds 12 more months until forgiveness. All borrowers on the SAVE Plan receive forgiveness after 20 or 25 years, depending on whether they have loans for graduate school. The benefit is based upon the original principal balance of all Federal loans borrowed to attend school, not what a borrower currently owes or the amount of an individual loan. Today’s announcement brings total relief approved under the SAVE Plan to $5.5 billion for 414,000 borrowers.
  • $1.9 billion for 39,200 borrowers through administrative adjustments to IDR payment counts. These adjustments have brought borrowers closer to forgiveness and address longstanding concerns with the misuse of forbearance by loan servicers. Including today’s announcement, the Biden-Harris Administration has now approved $51.0 billion in IDR relief for more than 1 million borrowers.

“Another 160,000 borrowers and their families will get some much-needed relief thanks to the continued efforts the Biden-Harris Administration to fix the broken student loan system,” said U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal. “We congratulate those borrowers on their due forgiveness and we will continue to work to deliver relief to others.” 

As discussed in a recent report by the Council of Economic Advisers, the relief provided by these discharges and other actions taken by the Administration could boost short-term consumption and have positive effects on borrower mental health, financial security, and outcomes such as homeownership and entrepreneurship.

Borrowers have already begun receiving emails informing them of their approvals. Their relief will be processed in the following weeks.

New Plans to Deliver Debt Relief to Tens of Millions of Americans

In April, the Biden-Harris Administration released initial details of a new set of plans that would provide student debt relief for tens of millions of borrowers across the country. The plans would bring the total number of borrowers eligible for student debt relief to over 30 million, including borrowers who have already been approved for debt cancellation by the Biden-Harris Administration over the past three years. The plans for new student debt relief regulations announced by President Biden are the next step in a regulatory process that began last summer to provide debt relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible under the Higher Education Act. The proposals would permit the following types of waivers:

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Additional $7.7 Billion in Approved Student Debt Relief for 160,000 Borrowers. 05/21/2024.
  • Waiving accrued and capitalized interest for millions of borrowers;
  • Automatically discharging debt for borrowers not enrolled in but otherwise eligible for loan forgiveness under the SAVE Plan, closed school discharge, or other forgiveness programs;
  • Eliminating student debt for borrowers who entered repayment 20 or more years ago;
  • Helping borrowers who enrolled in low-financial-value programs or institutions; and
  • Assisting borrowers who experience hardship in paying.

Public comments on the first set of plans closed on May 17. The Department is in the process of carefully reviewing comments. Our goal is to publish a final rule that results in delivering relief this fall.

A Strong Track Record of Borrower Assistance

The Biden-Harris Administration has taken many steps to reduce the burden of student debt and ensure that student loans are not a barrier to opportunity for students and families. The Administration secured a $900 increase to the maximum Pell Grant — the largest increase in a decade — and finalized new rules to protect borrowers from career programs that leave graduates with unaffordable debts or insufficient earnings.

Beyond the relief under IDR, the SAVE Plan, and PSLF, the Biden-Harris Administration has also approved:

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Additional $7.7 Billion in Approved Student Debt Relief for 160,000 Borrowers. 05/21/2024.
  • $28.7 billion for more than 1.6 million borrowers who were cheated by their schools, saw their institutions precipitously close, or are covered by related court settlements.
  • $14.1 billion for more than 548,000 borrowers with a total and permanent disability

The updated state-by-state breakdown of borrowers approved for forgiveness under IDR and the SAVE Plan, including today’s announcement, can be found here.

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Additional $7.7 Billion in Approved Student Debt Relief for 160,000 Borrowers. 05/21/2024.

“New” from the White House…

05/20/2024:

05/21/2024:

  • A Proclamation on National Maritime Day, 2024; NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 22, 2024, as National Maritime Day.  I call upon all Americans to observe this day and to celebrate the United States Merchant Marine and maritime industry with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

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About Tiff 3036 Articles
Member of the Free Press who is politically homeless and a political junkie.