President Biden’s public schedule for 08/16/2024:
| 10:00 AM Official Schedule | The President receives the President’s Daily Brief Closed Press |
| 11:15 AM Official Schedule | The President is joined by civil rights leaders, community members, and elected officials to sign a proclamation to designate the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument Oval Office In-House Pool Spray |
| 12:50 PM Pool Call Time | Out-of-Town Pool Call Time Joint Base Andrews Overhang Out-of-Town Pool |
| 2:00 PM Official Schedule | The President departs the White House en route to Camp David South Lawn Open Press |
| 2:35 PM Official Schedule | The President arrives at Camp David Camp David Closed Press |
PBS News:
FACT SHEET: President Biden Designates Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument
Today, during the 116th anniversary of the Springfield Race Riot, which occurred August 14-16, 1908, President Biden will sign a proclamation establishing the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument in Springfield, Illinois. The new national monument will tell the story of a horrific attack by a white mob on a Black community that was representative of the racism, intimidation, and violence that Black Americans experienced across the country. National outrage at the attack – which occurred just blocks away from President Abraham Lincoln’s home – spurred action on civil rights, including the creation of the organization now known as the NAACP.
By establishing the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument, President Biden is recognizing the significance of these events and the broader history of Black community resilience in the face of violent oppression. At a time when some are working to rewrite history and erase painful moments in our past, President Biden and Vice President Harris are committed to protecting places that help tell a more complete story of our nation’s history, including by recognizing difficult moments that have been ignored or obscured for far too long.
The Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument will also showcase the power of individual Americans who came together across racial lines and took action in the face of injustice. Following the riot, national leaders gathered to work together for civil rights, which led to the creation of the NAACP and helped turn the Springfield 1908 Race Riot’s legacy from one of tragedy alone to an event that led to enduring progress and change for communities nationwide.
Today’s designation furthers the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to advancing civil rights and racial justice, including through President Biden signing the Emmett Till Antilynching Act to codify lynching as a federal hate crime, establishing the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, and dedicating Juneteenth as a federal holiday.
Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument
The Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument will protect 1.57 acres of federal land in Springfield, Illinois, and will be managed by the Department of the Interior’s National Park Service. Through the historical objects protected at this site, the monument will tell the story of the violent mob that attacked the Black community in Springfield and lynched two Black men. The Springfield 1908 Race Riot was both a tragic event, and it was emblematic of a larger series of lynchings and racist mob violence that targeted Black communities across the United States in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Between 1882 and 1910, there were 2,503 recorded lynchings of Black people in the United States.
In August 1908, two Black men – 17-year-old Joe James and 36-year-old George Richardson –were being held in the Sangamon County Jail in Springfield based on the claims of white accusers, including one who later recanted. On Friday, August 14th, a crowd of largely young, white men gathered around the county jail demanding that the two men be released in order to be lynched. Fearing violence and hoping to defuse the situation, the county sheriff and a local white business owner worked together to have James and Richardson moved to a jail in Bloomington about 60 miles away.
Upon learning of the move, the mob became violent and began looting and burning Black-owned homes and businesses and attacking residents and business owners. Violence continued throughout the weekend despite the efforts of the Governor, state militia, and Black firefighters and community members to defend the local neighborhoods.
The riot was largely quelled by the morning of Sunday, August 16th, but not before two Black men, Scott Burton and William Donnegan, were brutally lynched. By the end of the weekend, almost three dozen businesses in the Levee neighborhood – half of them Black-owned and a majority of the rest Jewish-owned businesses – had been targeted, looted, and vandalized. In the Badlands neighborhood, dozens more homes of Black community members and Black-owned businesses were also destroyed.
Six months after these tragic days, on the centennial of President Lincoln’s birth and invoking what had happened blocks from the only home he ever owned, a diverse set of leaders from around the country, including Ida B. Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Mary Church Terrell, called to create a national organization that could counter racist policies and fight for equality across the United States. Soon after, civil rights leaders gathered in person and founded an organization that would become the NAACP. Since then, the NAACP has become a transformative and effective civil rights organization, playing key roles in successful lawsuits to challenge discrimination and segregation, including Brown v. Board of Education, and advocating to end racial injustice across America.
The Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument will be the second national monument President Biden has designated using his authority under the Antiquities Act that commemorates and preserves a place significant to civil rights history. This action builds on President Biden’s leadership in also establishing or expanding the Blackwell School National Historic Site, the Amache National Historic Site, and the Brown v. Board National Historic Park – all units of the National Park System.
The Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument weaves together two important threads in our nation’s story: the hateful violence targeted against Black Americans, and the power of dedicated individuals to come together across racial lines to transform shock and grief into hope and action. Over the coming years, the National Park Service will work with the local community and organizations to plan for interpretation, commemoration, and visitor experiences associated with the new park site, which includes the charred foundations of five former homes that were never rebuilt. Just blocks from the Lincoln Home National Historical Site, the new national monument will help tell a fuller and more complete history about the tragedy that occurred in Springfield and the work of civil rights leaders to organize and create lasting change.
The new national monument is part of the National Park Service’s African American Civil Rights Network, which highlights sites of historic importance to the Civil Rights Movement. It also joins an extensive network of park sites dedicated to commemorating historic places integral to civil rights and equality, such as the Manzanar National Historic Site in California, the Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Park in Alabama, the Stonewall National Monument in New York, and the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument in Washington, D.C.
Background on Antiquities Act Designations
President Theodore Roosevelt first used the Antiquities Act in 1906 to designate Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming. Since then, 18 presidents of both parties have used this authority to protect natural and historic features in America, including the Grand Canyon, the Statue of Liberty, the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, the Pullman National Monument, and the César E. Chávez National Monument.
The 1908 Springfield Race Riot National Monument will be President Biden’s eleventh use of the Antiquities Act and his second new national monument commemorating a site of significance to the Civil Rights Movement, following the creation of the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in Mississippi and Illinois last year.
FACT SHEET: President Biden Designates Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument. 08/16/2024.
Climate Change =’s Jobs Tweet
From Thursday…
When I think of climate change, I think of jobs.
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 15, 2024
And a new report shows that since I signed the Inflation Reduction Act, we are creating over 330,000 of them in the clean energy sector.
I'll continue to fight for lower energy costs and an economy that benefits everybody.
Statement from President Joe Biden on New Clean Energy Jobs
When I think of combatting the climate crisis, I think of good-paying jobs for American workers. According to a new report released this week, in the two years since I signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, companies have announced more than 330,000 new clean energy jobs. Many of these jobs are good-paying, union jobs that do not require a college degree, including electricians, construction workers, and mechanics working on innovative clean energy projects. Thanks to my Administration’s policies, these new jobs are driving a manufacturing boom and lowering costs for families by increasing access to affordable, clean energy—including wind and solar energy.
Despite this progress, House Republicans want to take our country backward and have voted dozens of times to repeal these transformative policies—even though more than half of these jobs are being created in their districts. I will continue fighting for American families by lowering utility bills and increasing access to good-paying, union jobs.
Statement from President Joe Biden on New Clean Energy Jobs. 08/15/2024.
Medicare Price Negotiation Tweets
From Thursday…
Tune in as the Vice President and I announce the new lower prices of ten prescription drugs selected for Medicare price negotiation. https://t.co/C3wiOxpapf
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 15, 2024
Remarks by President Biden and Vice President Harris on the Progress They Are Making to Lower Costs for the American People | Largo, MD; the YouTube is 35 minutes and 47 seconds long.
Did you know it costs drug companies roughly $10 a vial to make insulin? Well, Big Pharma has been unfairly charging folks up to $400 a month for it.
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 15, 2024
Not anymore.
We brought the cost of insulin down to $35 a month for seniors – and we're fighting to cap it for everyone.
Big Pharma spent nearly $400 million lobbying to stop our Inflation Reduction Act and the ability to negotiate lower drug prices.
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 16, 2024
And when they failed, they sued us to maintain their exorbitant prices.
But the law is on our side. We fought too damn hard to yield now. pic.twitter.com/13vx4Ycddj
Folks, but guess what? Surprise, surprise. Big Pharma doesn’t want this to happen at all. The pharmaceutical industry last year spent $400 million lobbying to Congress to stop this — $400 million.
[snip]
But Kamala and I and all of us in this room, we’re going to keep standing up to Big Pharma. I fought too damn hard to yield now. (Applause.) We’re not backing down.
Remarks by President Biden and Vice President Harris on the Progress They Are Making to Lower Costs for the American People | Largo, MD; the YouTube is 35 minutes and 47 seconds long. 08/15/2024.
From Friday…
I’m a capitalist.
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 16, 2024
I have no problem with companies making reasonable profits.
But not on the backs of seniors and working families.
Look, I’m a capitalist. I have no problem with companies making money, but not by prouc- — price gouging seniors and working families.
Remarks by President Biden and Vice President Harris on the Progress They Are Making to Lower Costs for the American People | Largo, MD; the YouTube is 35 minutes and 47 seconds long. 08/15/2024.
Welcome to the Oval Office Tweet
From Thursday…
I welcomed Vladimir Kara-Murza and his family to the White House today to celebrate his return to America.
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 16, 2024
Vladimir spent two and a half years unjustly imprisoned in Russia for speaking out against Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Today his family is whole once more. pic.twitter.com/5NopnA2HnW
From the White House…
08/01/2024:
- Remarks by President Biden on Freeing Americans Detained in Russia; the YouTube is 10 minutes and 27 seconds long.
- Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan; the YouTube is 51 minutes and 29 seconds long.
- Remarks by President Biden and Vice President Harris Upon Return of Americans Detained in Russia | Joint Base Andrews, MD; the YouTube is 19 minutes and 13 seconds long.
Inflation Reduction Act turns 2 Tweets
From Friday…
Two years ago, I signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law after Kamala cast the tie-breaking vote.
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 16, 2024
Folks, I'm so proud of all the ways this law has already started transforming the lives of hardworking American families.
Let me name a few: pic.twitter.com/wF2RZbNu54
It builds on the Affordable Care Act to save millions of people $800 per year on health insurance premiums – helping get more Americans than ever before the peace of mind that comes with affordable care.
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 16, 2024
But our Inflation Reduction Act does more than lower health care costs.
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 16, 2024
It enabled the IRS to pilot a program that allowed 140,000 people to file their taxes online for free – and empowered the agency to recover $1 billion from millionaire tax cheats.
And it is spurring job-creating investments in communities across the country.
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 16, 2024
Since I took office, companies have announced $900 billion in clean energy and manufacturing investments in the U.S. – including $265 billion in clean energy investments since I signed this bill.
While Republicans in Congress try to repeal this law, @VP and I will keep fighting to move our country forward by doing what’s always worked in America:
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 16, 2024
Giving people a fair shot.
Leaving no one behind.
And growing the economy from the middle out and bottom up.
From the White House…
Statement from President Joe Biden on Inflation Reduction Act Anniversary
Two years ago, I signed the Inflation Reduction Act—the largest climate investment in history that is lowering energy costs and creating good-paying union jobs, while taking on Big Pharma to lower prescription drug costs—with Vice President Harris casting the tie-breaking vote. Already, this law is lowering health care costs for millions of families, strengthening energy security, and creating more than 330,000 clean energy jobs according to outside groups. It has also unleashed $265 billion in clean energy and manufacturing investments from the private sector in the last two years—part of the nearly $900 billion invested in America since we took office.
This historic legislation is fiscally responsible. It lowers the deficit over the long run by cutting wasteful spending on special interests and making big corporations and the wealthy pay more of their fair share. And just yesterday, my Administration announced lower prescription drug prices for the first ten drugs that have been negotiated by Medicare, which will cut the prices of drugs used to treat blood clots, heart disease, cancer, and more by nearly 40% to 80%, and save taxpayers $6 billion in the first year alone.
While Republicans in Congress try to repeal this law—which would increase prescription drug costs and take good-paying jobs away from their constituents, all to give massive tax cuts to big corporations—Vice President Harris and I will keep fighting to move our country forward by investing in America and giving families more breathing room.
Statement from President Joe Biden on Inflation Reduction Act Anniversary. 08/16/2024.
Statement from Vice President Kamala Harris on the Inflation Reduction Act Anniversary
Since day one of our Administration, President Joe Biden and I have made it a priority to strengthen the middle class by lowering costs, creating jobs, and advancing opportunity. That is why we fought to enact our Inflation Reduction Act, historic legislation that I was proud to cast the tie-breaking vote on in the Senate. In the two years since President Biden signed it into law, this landmark bill has already delivered for American families.
Statement from Vice President Kamala Harris on the Inflation Reduction Act Anniversary. 08/16/2024.
This transformational legislation is reducing the cost of health care for millions of people in communities across our nation – from capping the price of insulin at $35 a month for seniors to capping out-of-pocket drug costs at $2,000 a year for Americans on Medicare, which is expected to save nearly 19 million seniors an average of $400 per year. Additionally, Medicare is now able to negotiate lower prescription prices for millions of Americans while saving taxpayers billions by paying rates 40% to 80% lower for expensive medications used to treat conditions such as blood clots, heart disease, and cancer.
Our Inflation Reduction Act is also the single largest climate investment in American history. While taking on the climate crisis and lowering utility bills for families, it is helping us to rebuild American manufacturing and drive American innovation – creating good-paying union jobs, furthering economic opportunity, and contributing to the nearly $900 billion of private-sector investment since President Biden and I took office.
As we mark this two-year anniversary, President Biden and I recommit to doing everything in our power to ensure that families throughout our country have the freedom to thrive.
“New” from the White House…
08/16/2024:
08/15/2024:
This is an open thread
PS….
Given that I had to run errands this morning, I’m gonna drop the VP Harris economy policy remarks here…
It starts in about 32 minutes from now…
