It’s Thursday…
President Biden’s public schedule for 06/13/2024:
| 2:20 AM | Out-of-Town Pool Call Time [8:20 am Local] Hotel Masseria San Domenico, Savelletri, Italy Out-of-Town Pool |
| 3:00 AM Presidential Daily Brief | The President receives the President’s Daily Brief [9:00 am Local] Hotel Masseria San Domenico, Savelletri, Italy Closed Press |
| 4:40 AM | The President departs en route to Borgo Egnazia [10:40 am Local] Hotel Masseria San Domenico, Savelletri, Italy Out-of-Town Pool |
| 4:50 AM | The President arrives to Borgo Egnazia and participates in an official greet with Prime Minister Meloni of Italy [10:50 am Local] Borgo Egnazia, Savelletri, Italy Out-of-Town Pool |
| 5:00 AM | The President participates in a group photo with G7 leaders [11:00 am Local] Borgo Egnazia, Savelletri, Italy Out-of-Town Pool |
| 5:15 AM | The President participates in Working Session I of the G7 Summit [11:15 am Local] Borgo Egnazia, Savelletri, Italy Out-of-Town Pool Spray |
| 6:45 AM | The President participates in Working Session II of the G7 Summit [12:45 pm Local] Borgo Egnazia, Savelletri, Italy Closed Press |
| 8:15 AM | The President participates in Working Session III A of the G7 Summit [2:15 pm Local] Borgo Egnazia, Savelletri, Italy Out-of-Town Pool Spray |
| 9:15 AM | The President participates in Working Session III B of the G7 Summit [3:15 pm Local] Borgo Egnazia, Savelletri, Italy Closed Press |
| 11:00 AM | The President participates in a Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment Event [5:00 pm Local] Borgo Egnazia, Savelletri, Italy Out-of-Town Pool |
| 12:05 PM | The President views a skydiving demonstration and participates in a group photo with G7 leaders [6:05 pm Local] Borgo Egnazia, Savelletri, Italy Out-of-Town Pool |
| 1:45 PM | The President signs a bilateral security agreement with Ukraine and holds a joint press conference with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine [7:45 pm Local] Borgo Egnazia, Savelletri, Italy Pre-Credentialed Media and Out-of-Town Pool |
President Biden Participates in a Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment Event @11:00 a.m. D.C., time:
President Biden Holds a Joint Press Conference with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine @1:45 p.m. D.C., time:
From the White House…
06/11/2024:
06/12/2024:
Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan En Route Brindisi, Italy; the YouTube is 1 hour and 9 minutes long.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan:
Hey, guys. How are you?
So, the President is looking forward to seeing his fellow G7 leaders as well as the leaders of a number of guest countries over the course of the next couple of days.
As you guys have all seen, it’s going to be an action-packed schedule. And we did a background briefing on this yesterday, so you got a good laydown of what the agenda looks like and the main issues.
Before I talk about a couple of specific issues relevant to the G7, I just wanted to make a couple of comments about the ongoing effort to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal.
So, we’re continuing to work for a ceasefire along the lines of the May 27th Israeli proposal, as outlined in President Biden’s speech on May 31st. The proposal has been endorsed by the G7, by countries around the world. It was then supported this week by a U.N. Security Council resolution.
Hamas has now submitted a response to that proposal, and we have now reviewed its contents. Many of the proposed changes are minor and not unanticipated. Others differ more substantively from what was outlined in the U.N. Security Council resolution.
The United States will now work with the mediators, specifically Egypt and Qatar, to bridge final gaps consistent with the President’s May 31st speech and with the contents of the U.N. Security Council resolution.
Our aim is to bring this process to a conclusion. Our view is that the time for haggling is over. It’s time for a ceasefire to begin and for the hostages to come home.
And I know, as I said before, that you’ve already gotten a preview, so I’m not going to go into details on individual sessions.
I did want to take some time before turning to your questions to discuss what will be a big focus for us on the first day on the ground.
Tomorrow, President Biden and President Zelenskyy will sit down to discuss our strong support for Ukraine now and into the future.
Following that meeting, the leaders will sign a bilateral security agreement making clear our support will last long into the future and pledging continued cooperation, particularly in the defense and security space.
You all will recall that in July of ‘23, just under a year ago, at the Vilnius Summit, President Biden organized the G7 around a joint declaration of support for Ukraine that highlighted our commitment to pursue these security agreements.
Our G7 partners have done so. Another 25 countries have actually signed on to that joint declaration. Many of them have also done these security agreements.
So, we announced last year that each country would essentially commit to negotiate a long-term bilateral security arrangement with Ukraine. At this point, 15 countries have signed their agreements, and I’m pleased to share that our negotiations with Ukraine have concluded and we’ll sign this agreement tomorrow.
Our goal here is straightforward. We want to demonstrate that the U.S. supports the people of Ukraine, that we stand with them, and that we’ll continue to help address their security needs not just tomorrow but out into the future.
In the agreement, which we will share with all of you later this week, we outline a clear vision of work with our allies and partners, with Ukraine in order to continue to strengthen Ukraine’s credible defense and deterrence capability. Any lasting peace in Ukraine has to be underwritten by Ukraine’s own ability to defend itself and deter future aggression.
And by signing this, we’ll also be sending Russia a signal of our resolve. If Vladimir Putin thinks that he can outlast the coalition supporting Ukraine, he’s wrong. He just cannot wait us out, and this agreement will show our resolve and continued commitment.
Through this commitment, we’re also securing commit- — through this agreement, we’re also securing commitments from Ukraine on reforms and on end-use monitoring for weapons we provide.
And in deepening cooperation with Ukraine, our government will benefit from Ukraine’s insights and experience, its battlefield innovations, and its lessons learned from the front.
Our view is that Ukraine’s security is central to Europe’s security and therefore central to America’s security.
So, this agreement, together with the mutually reinforcing security agreements from a broad and powerful network of countries, provides a pathway to a stable, independent, democratic, and secure Ukraine.
You’ll hear more about this tomorrow, but I want to share two final notes.
First, we’re explicit in the agreement that we intend to work with Congress over the coming months to find a path to sustainable resources for Ukraine. And finally, this agreement covers the kind of support that Ukraine has sought as it bravely defends its freedom.
They have asked for our weapons and assistance as they fight to defend their territory. They have not asked our forces to join the fight. So, this agreement does not include any commitment to using our own forces to defend Ukraine. It is a pledge that we will ensure Ukraine can defend itself today and deter future aggression as well, as the President said last year.
Finally — and thank you for bearing with me — today, we’ve announced sweeping new measures to intensify the pressure on Russia. These actions will ratchet up the risk that foreign financial institutions take by dealing with Russia’s war economy.
The Department of Treasury is making clear that foreign banks risk being sanctioned for dealing with any entity or individual blocked under our Russia sanctions, including designated Russian banks.
Treasury and Commerce are also issuing complimentary prohibitions to restrict the ability of Russia’s defense industrial base to take advantage of access to certain U.S. software or IT services. And Commerce is announcing steps to more aggressively target transhipment to Russia of U.S.-branded items, regardless of where those items are produced, and a new measure to crackdown on diversion through shell companies.
We’re imposing around 300 new sanctions and Entity List additions of specific companies or individuals. And the targets for those include Russian financial infrastructure, including major non-bank entities that help Russia finance its war effort and evade sanctions; entities and individuals across multiple evasion and foreign procurement networks, like networks that support Russia’s UAV production, gold laundering, and procurement of sensitive items like anti-UAV equipment, machine tools, industrial materials, and micro- — microelectronics.
The foreign targets include more than two dozen PRC entities and individuals and additional targets across multiple other third countries in multiple regions — in East Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Central Asia, and the Caribbean.Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan En Route Brindisi, Italy; the YouTube is 1 hour and 9 minutes long. 06/12/2024.
They include Russia domestic war economy targets, including entities across the defense and related materiel transportation and technology sectors. They include future energy, metals, and mining revenue generation targets and areas such as future LNG projects, future coal and oil projects, and gold smuggling.
And we’re also targeting additional Russian elites, including those involved in the deportation and so-called reeducation of Ukrainian children.
Altogether, these actions heighten the risk for financial institutions dealing with Russia’s war economy, close down avenues for evasion while diminishing Russia’s ability to benefit from access to foreign technology, equipment, software, and I- — IT services.
And you’ll see from the President tomorrow that our commitment to Ukraine will continue and we will show our resolve through the specific actions we are taking and through close coordination with all of our partners.
The final thing I will just note is that discussions continue on the ground in Puglia on unlocking the proceeds of the Russian sovereign assets. We consider those discussions constructive, productive, driving forward.
I don’t have anything to announce to you today, but I believe that we are making good progress in generating an outcome in which those proceeds from those frozen assets can be put to good use.
And with that —
I omitted the Q&A; there will be more on the G7 summit and his meeting with Ukraine President Zelenskyy in tomorrow’s Biden’s Bits.
Consumer Price Index Tweet
From Wednesday…
Prices are still too high, but today’s report shows welcome progress on lowering inflation, which was zero on a monthly basis in May.
— President Biden (@POTUS) June 12, 2024
Now, I’m fighting to lower costs even more by increasing rental assistance and building 2 million new homes; taking on Big Pharma to lower…
Show more =’s Now, I’m fighting to lower costs even more by increasing rental assistance and building 2 million new homes; taking on Big Pharma to lower prescription drug prices; calling on grocery chains making record profits to lower prices; and investing in affordable clean energy while record energy production helps lower gas prices in the near term.
Statement from President Joe Biden on the May Consumer Price Index:
Prices are still too high, but today’s report shows welcome progress on lowering inflation, which was zero on a monthly basis in May and is down nearly two-thirds from its peak. Core inflation is at its lowest level since April 2021, grocery prices have fallen for four months in a row, and gas prices are below $3.50 on average across the country. Wages are rising faster than prices, and unemployment has remained at or below 4% for the longest stretch in 50 years.
Statement from President Joe Biden on the May Consumer Price Index. 06/12/2024.
I know many families are feeling squeezed by the cost of living, which is still too high. That is why I am fighting to lower costs for hardworking Americans by increasing rental assistance and building 2 million new homes; taking on Big Pharma to lower prescription drug prices; calling on grocery chains making record profits to lower grocery prices; and investing in affordable clean energy while record energy production is lowering gas prices now. Republicans have a different approach, one that cuts taxes for the wealthy and large corporations, allows special interest like Big Pharma and Big Oil to keep prices high, and “supercharges” inflation by imposing across-the-board tariffs. They’re fighting for billionaires on Park Avenue—I’m fighting for families like the ones I grew up with in Scranton.
BLS.gov: The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) was unchanged in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, after rising 0.3 percent in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 3.3 percent before seasonal adjustment.
Everytown’s Gun Sense University Tweets
From Wednesday…
I know many people who have been impacted by gun violence are tired and frustrated.
— President Biden (@POTUS) June 12, 2024
You wonder, “Are we ever going to make the full progress we need to make?” But we cannot give up trying – for all the lives lost and all those we can still save.
We will get there. pic.twitter.com/fnfBsKXhZM
Remarks by President Biden at Everytown’s Gun Sense University; the YouTube is 23 minutes and 6 seconds long.
Let me close with this. I know many people here have been impacted by gun violence and are tired and frustrated. (Applause.) No — no, I — I know. I’ve been to too many — I’ve — I’ve literally spoken with well over a thousand families at these events that I’ve attended for mass shootings. And the look in their eyes — you can almost — you can almost feel that black hole they feel in the center of their chest, like they’re being sucked in, there’s no way out. And if they have remaining children, you look at the children and they wonder, “Mommy, Daddy, how about me?”
And I know you may wonder: Are we ever going to make full progress that we need to make? I’m here to tell you we have no choice. We cannot give up trying for all the l- — lives lost and all those who still there to save. We’re going to get there.
Remarks by President Biden at Everytown’s Gun Sense University; the YouTube is 23 minutes and 6 seconds long.
It’s time we increase funding for law enforcement agencies to solve crimes faster.
— President Biden (@POTUS) June 12, 2024
It’s time we establish universal background checks, require safe storage, and end immunity for the gun lobby.
It’s time to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines like we did before.
It’s time we increase funding for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and Explosives and other law enforcement agencies as well — (applause) — to solve the crimes faster.
[snip]
And, by the way, it’s time we establish universal background checks — (applause) — and, by the way — and require the safe storage of firearms. We should hold — (applause) — we should hold families responsible if they don’t provide those locks on those guns. We — if, in fact — because three of these major crime scenes I’ve visited were ones where the mother or father left open — left the stuff out on the desk, left it out on a table, and the kid came and used it.
*And, by the way, this is the most important: The only industry in America that has immunity are gun dealers. We got to end it — (applause) — end it now. No, I mean it.
[snip]
Folks, we’re not stopping there. It’s time, once again, to do what I did when I was a senator: ban assault weapons. (Applause.) I mean it.
Remarks by President Biden at Everytown’s Gun Sense University; the YouTube is 23 minutes and 6 seconds long.
*Gun makers can be sued. They do not have a special immunity against being sued.*
Small Businesses Tweet
From Wednesday…
Folks, we just learned that over 18 million new business applications have been filed since I took office.
— President Biden (@POTUS) June 12, 2024
That’s the three strongest years on record, and we’re on track for a fourth.
Statement from President Joe Biden on a Record 18 Million Small Business Applications
Today, my Administration announced over 18 million new business applications since I took office, each one an act of hope and confidence. We’ve had the three strongest years for new businesses on record and the small business boom that has powered our economic comeback continues. Since the pandemic, Black business ownership has more than doubled, Hispanic business ownership is up 40 percent, and women own a record share of businesses.
This didn’t happen by accident. My Administration is supporting this unprecedented wave of entrepreneurship with historic investments in small businesses and communities across the country. Every Republican in Congress voted against vital American Rescue Plan relief that helped 100,000 restaurants and bars and 225,000 child care programs stay open, and a State Small Business Credit Initiative that is helping businesses launch across the country. And the Congressional Republican agenda would undercut small businesses by repealing our investments in infrastructure and manufacturing, slashing Small Business Administration funding by almost a third, and putting big corporations and billionaires first by cutting their taxes and protecting their loopholes. I’m fighting for Scranton and main street—not Park Avenue and Wall Street.
Statement from President Joe Biden on a Record 18 Million Small Business Applications. 06/12/2024.
Remembering the Pulse Nightclub Shooting Tweet
From Wednesday…
Eight years since the shooting at Pulse, I mourn the 49 souls stolen from us in the deadliest attack on the LGBTQI+ community in our history.
— President Biden (@POTUS) June 12, 2024
It’s on us to create a world where LGBTQI+ folks are safe – and where we do more than just remember victims of gun violence, but act.
WESH 2 News reported yesterday:
The city of Orlando invited the community to a ceremony to remember and honor the 49 people eight years after the Pulse nightclub shooting.
The event is held every year on June 12 to honor the victims, their families, survivors, first responders, trauma teams, and all those impacted by the Pulse tragedy.
On June 12, 2016, 49 people were killed after a man opened fire at Pulse nightclub — marking one of the worst mass shootings in America and the deadliest attack on the LGBTQ+ community.
WESH 2 News. 06/12/2024.
They shared a link to the full ceremony; To watch the full ceremony, click here. To watch in Spanish, click here.
Port of Baltimore Reopens Tweet
From Wednesday…
I said we’d move heaven and earth to reopen the Port of Baltimore following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge.
— President Biden (@POTUS) June 12, 2024
And today, thanks to the work of our Unified Command, the Port is fully open for business.
Baltimore can count on us to stand by them until the bridge is… pic.twitter.com/sSEX3MFQyX
Show more =’s Baltimore can count on us to stand by them until the bridge is rebuilt.
WJZ CBS News Baltimore; Port of Baltimore reopens Wednesday after $100M cleanup of collapsed Key Bridge (06/12/2024):
From the White House…
05/29/2024:
- Readout of President Biden’s Meeting on Federal and State Response to the Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse in Baltimore; the meeting was held on 05/28/2024
06/01/2024:
06/12/2024:
“New” from the White House…
06/12/2024:
- Remarks by Vice President Harris in a Moderated Conversation with Michael Ealy and Bakari Sellers on the Nationwide Economic Opportunity Tour; the YouTube is 56 minutes and 48 seconds long.
06/13/2024:
This is Howard’s wife, Amy Nathan. I am heartbroken to share my brilliant and extraordinary husband passed away late last night surrounded by those he loved most, his family. He valiantly battled pancreatic cancer for 2 years. He couldn’t have been adored more. The world was a… pic.twitter.com/nHgDiybsK0
— howardfineman (@howardfineman) June 12, 2024
Show more =’s The world was a better place because he lived in it and wrote about it.
Howard Fineman was 75 years-old.
