It’s Thursday…
President Biden’s public schedule for 06/01/2023:
| 9:30 AM | Out-of-Town Pool Call Time Out-of-Town Pool |
| 11:40 AM Remarks | The President delivers the commencement address at the United States Air Force Academy Open Press |
| 4:20 PM | The President departs Colorado Springs, Colorado en route to Joint Base Andrews Out-of-Town Pool |
| 6:00 PM | In-Town Pool Call Time In-Town Pool |
| 7:40 PM | The President departs Joint Base Andrews en route to the White House Joint Base Andrews Out-of-Town Pool |
| 7:50 PM | The President arrives at the White House South Lawn Open Press |
President Biden’s remarks:
Hurricane and Wildfire Preparedness Tweets
From Wednesday…
The YouTube is 6 minutes and 48 seconds long.
Full remarks:
THE PRESIDENT: I just — I just had a significant briefing from Cabinet members and agency chiefs to prepare for the 2023 hurricane season and peak wildfire season.
And last year, hurricanes and other extreme weather events here in the United States caused over $165 billion in damages. Three hurricanes — Fiona, Ian, and Nicole — made landfall and did damage across a half a dozen states.
Thanks to the National Oceanic and Envir- — Oceanic Atmosphere and — Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — so-called NOAA — new hurricane modeling systems, we’re getting more and more accurate forecasting of hurricanes — their tracks, their intensity, their associated storm surge — which means saving more lives because we can anticipate what is likely to happen with greater accuracy.
But there’s more to do. Just last week, a super typhoon weakened hav- — wrecked havoc across Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, causing a tremendous amount of damage. And our hearts go out to the people who have been affected.
But the pace of recovery there is an example of the importance of investing in our infrastructure. Recently installed cement utility poles mitigated the damage of the typhoon-force winds on the island’s electric and communications systems — as opposed to wooden posts, which would have snapped. But the poles cost more up front — that’s obvious — but they save money, they save lives, and they last a long time.
And the summer is also bringing a more active wildfire season to the United States.
This year alone, wildfires have destroyed an area almost as big as the state of Maryland. Over the past two years, a third of Americans have been personally affected by extreme weather conditions.
With the impacts of climate change rapidly intensifying, more and more Americans will be affected. That’s why we’ve also invested so much in making sure we deal with climate change and mitigate it.
We’ve just discussed the significant actions we’ve taken to help address these disasters and to mitigate the damage going forward.
My Investing in America agenda includes new investments to make our communities stronger, to make our communities more resilient, and we’re making the most significant investment ever in combatting the climate crisis.
For example, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act — they both include record funding to increase community resilience to drought, flooding, and wildfires — like funding to clear trees and brush to create fire buffers in high-risk areas.
For example, I’m traveling to Colorado this afternoon, where the Forest Service is funding $1.1 million to treat 600 acres of hazardous fuels, like trees and brush. This project, with over 300 homes and buildings in the area, is going to reduce the overall risk of wildfire in that area and, God willing, if anything happens, save lives.
We’re also harnessing new tools like advanced satellite technology that’s going to help get better at predicting where wildfires and storms are going so that we can better position our resources ahead of time to respond.
We’ve funded over 130 water projects to address the drought crisis in the West, including projects that are going to conserve tens of millions of gallons of water in drought-stricken areas like the Colorado River Basin.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is — the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — they’ve funded hundreds of projects across the country to improve flood and coastal resilience.
We’re hardening — I asked about one coastal — a particular town — city. And instead of building back the — the beach to the point where it was — where it was before, you put how much more sand?
LIEUTENANT GENERAL SPELLMON: Yes, sir. Basically, we’re building it back to its full design profile. So instead of 30,000 cubic yards of sand, over 100,000 cubic yards of sand.
THE PRESIDENT: Which is going to increase resilience as well and save people.
And we’re hardening the electric grid to withstand stronger storms with stronger materials, and we’re burying lines where we can. And that’s likely to increase, God willing.
We’re creating micro-grids to reduce the impact when power goes out and make it possible to get back up and running faster after a storm.
We’re also funding conservation, restoration, and protection of coastal areas and flood resil- — flood resilience projects in disadvantaged communities.
Across the country, we’ve got 32,000 projects funded or underway.
And if you want to find out what’s going on in your area and how you may be impacted, just go to Build.gov. Build.gov. And you can see a map and the pr- — of the projects and search by county as to whether or not your community is affected and what we’re doing in that community.
I want to close by thanking the brave Americans — and I mean that sincerely — the brave Americans who put their lives on the line to keep our communities safe — to the firefighters and other first responders, including FEMA personnel, who run toward danger while everyone else runs the other way.
And, by the way, as we were talking here earlier, we have firefighters in Canada right now helping the Canadians fight significant fires. They’ve helped us.
We also have relationships with Australia. We have a — relationships around the world with organiza- — with — with firefighting organizations that are available to us as we’re making our firefighters available to them and their — our rescue people.
So, thank you all very much for coming in.
And, again, go to Build.gov, and you’ll see a map there. And you can check what is in store for your communities and what we’re doing.
Thank you.
White House.gov. 05/31/2023.
Q: Mr. President, some progressives don’t like the debt ceil- — debt deal. What’s your message to them?
I told — I — I told all these guys you wouldn’t ask anything about what we just talked about. (Laughter.) Was I right? Just wanted to show you I was right, right?
Now, we’re going to deal with the debt ceiling. We have — we have — I think things are going as planned, God willing.
I’ll have — I’ll be landing in Colorado tonight in preparation for my commencement speech at the Air Force Academy tomorrow. And, God willing, by the time I land, the Congress will have acted, the House will have acted, and we’ll be one step closer.
Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
White House.gov. 05/31/2023.
The White House posted the following briefing readout:
President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. met today with Cabinet members and agency heads to receive a briefing on the 2023 Atlantic Hurricane Outlook and to discuss the Federal preparedness, response, and recovery posture – a meeting he has convened each year since taking office. The President also received a briefing on the ongoing wildfire season and Federal efforts to reduce wildfire risk in the United States. He was briefed by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas; Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland; Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack; FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell; Administrator of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Richard Spinrad; Director of the National Hurricane Center Dr. Mike Brennan; Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Lieutenant General Scott Spellmon; Chief of the United States Forest Service Randy Moore; and Assistant Director for Fire and Aviation from the National Interagency Fire Center Grant Beebe.
The President and his team discussed ongoing efforts to prepare for these extreme weather events and what is being done to improve response and resilience. They spoke about the new tools climate experts are harnessing, such as advanced satellite technology, that are improving how we forecast wildfires and storms to ensure that we act quickly to preposition response and recovery assets. The National Hurricane Center’s new director, Dr. Mike Brennan, previewed NOAA’s new Hurricane Analysis and Forecast System, a hurricane modeling system that provides accurate information about hurricanes – their track, intensity, and associated storm surge – and ultimately saves more lives.
They also spoke about the President’s historic investments through his Investing in America agenda, including record funding to increase community resilience to drought, flooding, and wildfires – and how communities will be stronger from investments in hardening our grid and using stronger materials like concrete poles and burying utility lines. They also discussed coastal resilience, and the work the USACE is doing to control beach erosion, including the Lee County, Florida Beach Erosion Control Project, which will restore approximately 1.8 miles of eroded beach with 320,000 cubic yards of sand. During his concluding remarks, the President highlighted the 32,000 projects around the country that his Investing in America agenda has funded and encouraged Americans to visit build.gov and use the map to find out about resilient infrastructure investments in their communities. He also used the opportunity to thank the brave first responders who work around the clock and put their lives on the line to keep our communities safe.
White House.gov. 05/31/2023.
Bipartisan Budget Agreement Tweets
From Wednesday…
Show more =’s meets that test. I urge the Senate to pass it as quickly as possible so that I can sign it into law, and our country can continue building the strongest economy in the world.
From Thursday…
His full statement:
Tonight, the House took a critical step forward to prevent a first-ever default and protect our country’s hard-earned and historic economic recovery. This budget agreement is a bipartisan compromise. Neither side got everything it wanted. That’s the responsibility of governing. I want to thank Speaker McCarthy and his team for negotiating in good faith, as well as Leader Jeffries for his leadership.
This agreement is good news for the American people and the American economy. It protects key priorities and accomplishments from the past two years, including historic investments that are creating good jobs across the country. And, it honors my commitment to safeguard Americans’ health care and protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. It protects critical programs that millions of hardworking families, students, and veterans count on.
I have been clear that the only path forward is a bipartisan compromise that can earn the support of both parties. This agreement meets that test. I urge the Senate to pass it as quickly as possible so that I can sign it into law, and our country can continue building the strongest economy in the world.
White House.gov. 05/31/2023.
From Congress.gov…
| Date | Actions Overview |
|---|---|
| 05/31/2023 | Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by recorded vote: 314 – 117 (Roll No. 243). |
| 05/29/2023 | Introduced in House |
Veterans Tweets
From Wednesday…
Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022 (PACT Act, 08/10/2022).
Pride Month Tweet
From Thursday…
From the White House…
A Proclamation on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Pride Month, 2023:
In June 1969, a courageous group of Americans rose up to protest the violence and marginalization they faced in what became known as the Stonewall Uprising. Police had raided the Stonewall Inn — a gay bar located in New York City — and for the next six days they clashed with LGBTQI+ protestors, who bravely stood their ground. Their courage sparked a civil rights movement for the liberation of the LGBTQI+ community and changed our Nation forever.
During Pride Month, we honor a movement that has grown stronger, more vibrant, and more inclusive with every passing year. Pride is a celebration of generations of LGBTQI+ people, who have fought bravely to live openly and authentically. And it is a reminder that we still have generational work to do to ensure that everyone enjoys the full promise of equity, dignity, protection, and freedom.
Today, our Nation faces another inflection point. In 2023 alone, State and local legislatures have already introduced over 600 hateful laws targeting the LGBTQI+ community. Books about LGBTQI+ people are being banned from libraries. Transgender youth in over a dozen States have had their medically necessary health care banned. Homophobic and transphobic vitriol spewed online has spilled over into real life, as armed hate groups intimidate people at Pride marches and drag performances, and threaten doctors’ offices and children’s hospitals that offer care to the LGBTQI+ community. Our hearts are heavy with grief for the loved ones we have lost to anti-LGBTQI+ violence.
Despite these attacks, the LGBTQI+ community remains resilient. LGBTQI+ Americans are defiantly and unapologetically proud. Youth leaders are organizing walkouts at high schools and colleges across the country to protest discriminatory laws. LGBTQI+ young people and their parents are demonstrating unimaginable courage by testifying in State capitols in defense of their basic rights.
They are not alone: My entire Administration stands proudly with the LGBTQI+ community in the enduring struggle for freedom, justice, and equality. And we are making strides. On my first day in office, I signed a historic Executive Order charging the entire Federal Government with protecting LGBTQI+ people from discrimination — from health care to housing, education, employment, banking, and the criminal justice system. Last December, surrounded by dozens of couples who have fought for marriage equality in the courts for decades, I had the great honor of signing into law the landmark Respect for Marriage Act. This bipartisan law protects the rights of same-sex and interracial couples — like caring for one’s sick partner and receiving spousal benefits. Deciding who to marry is one of life’s most profound decisions, so we etched a simple truth into law: Love is love.
Meanwhile, I have taken unprecedented steps to support LGBTQI+ youth. During Pride Month last year, I signed an Executive Order charging Federal agencies with combating the dangerous and discredited practice of so-called “conversion therapy.” I also directed agencies to help end the crisis of homelessness among LGBTQI+ youth and adults and to address discrimination that LGBTQI+ kids face in foster care. The Department of Justice is combating laws that target transgender children, and the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services have proposed new rules to protect LGBTQI+ Americans from discrimination in health care, at school, and in sports. I also established the White House Task Force to Address Online Harassment and Abuse to develop concrete actions to prevent and respond to online harassment and abuse, which disproportionately target LGBTQI+ people. Additionally, my Administration made it easier for LGBTQI+ youth to access vital mental health support. Now, by calling the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and dialing the number 3, LGBTQI+ youth can speak to counselors who have been specifically trained to support them.
This country is stronger and more just when America’s leaders reflect the full diversity of our Nation, so I have appointed a historic number of highly qualified openly LGBTQI+ judges and public servants at all levels of the Federal Government. Our Armed Forces are most capable when all patriots can serve their country, so I protected the right of transgender people to once again serve openly in the military.
But there is more to do, like passing the bipartisan Equality Act, which would strengthen civil rights protections for LGBTQI+ people and families across America. We must also address the disproportionate levels of homelessness, poverty, and unemployment in the LGBTQI+ community and end the crisis of violence against transgender women and girls of color. We must support LGBTQI+ activists around the globe who are standing up for basic human rights and LGBTQI+ survivors of gender-based violence. And we must end the HIV/AIDS epidemic once and for all. Our collective freedoms are inextricably linked: when one group’s dignity and equality are threatened, we all suffer. This month and every month, let us celebrate the pride that powers the movement for LGBTQI+ rights and commit to doing our part to help realize the promise of America, for all Americans.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2023 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to recognize the achievements of the LGBTQI+ community, to celebrate the great diversity of the American people, and to wave their flags of pride high.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
White House.gov. 05/31/2023.
thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-seventh.
Remembrance Tweet
From Thursday…
Show more =’s for communities like Greenwood continues.
From Tulsa History.org:
May 31 – June 1, 1921
On the morning of May 30, 1921, a young black man named Dick Rowland was riding in the elevator in the Drexel Building at Third and Main with a white woman named Sarah Page. The details of what followed vary from person to person. Accounts of an incident circulated among the city’s white community during the day and became more exaggerated with each telling.
Tulsa police arrested Rowland the following day and began an investigation. An inflammatory report in the May 31 edition of the Tulsa Tribune spurred a confrontation between black and white armed mobs around the courthouse where the sheriff and his men had barricaded the top floor to protect Rowland. Shots were fired and the outnumbered African Americans began retreating to the Greenwood District.
In the early morning hours of June 1, 1921, Greenwood was looted and burned by white rioters. Governor Robertson declared martial law, and National Guard troops arrived in Tulsa. Guardsmen assisted firemen in putting out fires, took African Americans out of the hands of vigilantes and imprisoned all black Tulsans not already interned. Over 6,000 people were held at the Convention Hall and the Fairgrounds, some for as long as eight days.
Twenty-four hours after the violence erupted, it ceased. In the wake of the violence, 35 city blocks lay in charred ruins, more than 800 people were treated for injuries and contemporary reports of deaths began at 36. Historians now believe as many as 300 people may have died.
In order to understand the Tulsa Race Massacre it is important to understand the complexities of the times. Dick Rowland, Sarah Page and an unknown gunman were the sparks that ignited a long smoldering fire. Jim Crow, jealousy, white supremacy, and land lust, all played roles in leading up to the destruction and loss of life on May 31 and June 1, 1921.
Tulsa History.org.
The website has photos, audio recordings, documents, and other resources available online.
This is an Open Thread.
