It’s Tuesday.
When Biden Bits was posted for Monday, President Biden had not tweeted. He ended up with a Monday Tweeting Total of 2 tweets and 0 retweets.
The YouTube is 35 minutes and 24 seconds long. His full remarks can be found here.
The White House published the following readout:
President Joseph R. Biden hosted a secure conference call today with Allies and partners about our unified response to Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked war on Ukraine. The leaders recognized the bravery of the Ukrainian people in the face of Russian aggression and discussed their continued support to Ukraine, including security, economic, and humanitarian assistance. They also discussed their coordinated efforts to impose severe costs and consequences to hold Russia accountable while working to maintain global economic stability, including with regard to energy prices.
Joining President Biden on the call were Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada, European Commission President von der Leyen, European Council President Michel, President Macron of France, Chancellor Scholz of Germany, Prime Minister Draghi of Italy, Prime Minister Kishida of Japan, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg, President Duda of Poland, President Iohannis of Romania, and Prime Minister Johnson of the United Kingdom.
White House.gov. 02/28/2022.
Mentioned in yesterday’s Biden Bits:
The White House posted a background press call by Senior Administration Officials on New Economic Restrictive Measures on Russia:
Senior Admin Official 1:
Thanks, [senior administration official]. Good morning, everybody. I’ll kick off and then hand it over to [senior administration official].
So we’ve been saying it as clearly as we can: This is an unjustified, unprovoked, and premeditated war of choice by Putin and that, alongside Allies and partners across the world, we would make this choice a strategic failure for Russia.
We said if Putin continued to escalate, we would escalate. We said all options are on the table, including the most severe sanctions ever contemplated against Russia. We said that as we implement these costs, we would impose them in an historic and unprecedented show of coordination with countries across the world that wish to defend the core principles that underpin peace and security.
And so, that’s the context in which our actions to sanction the Russian Central Bank should be seen. We’re doing exactly what we said we’d do.
As I’ve mentioned before, no country is sanctions-proof when we act together. Our sanctioning of the Russian Central Bank, which we’re taking with Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Japan, Canada, the European Union, and others — with the culmination of months for planning and preparation across our respective governments; across technical, diplomatic, and political channels, including at the highest levels.
We were ready, and that’s what allowed us to act within days, not weeks or months, of Putin’s escalation.
I also want to emphasize the importance of relationships in taking this collective action. It takes trust and solidarity to sanction the central bank of a one and a half trillion-dollar economy, multiples larger than Iran’s or Venezuela’s.
We built that trust and solidarity over time in dozens of phone calls, meetings, and video conferences since November.
With respect to the impact this action will deliver:
As I mentioned, no — no country is sanctions-proof. Putin’s war chest of $630 billion in reserves only matters if he can use it to defend his currency, specifically by selling those reserves in exchange for buying the ruble. And after today’s actions, that will no longer be possible, and Fortress Russia will be exposed as a myth.
Already, you’ve seen the Russian Central Bank more than doubled its policy rate this morning to 20 percent. That’s the highest in almost two decades. The ruble is in freefall, and soon you’ll see inflation spike and economic activity contract.
This is a vicious feedback loop that’s triggered by Putin’s own choices and accelerated by his own aggression. It’s a very raw deal Putin is giving to the Russian people as the world disconnects Russia from the global financial system and all its benefits, but it’s exactly what we said would be the consequences of his actions.
At the same time that we’re following through on our commitment to deliver overwhelming force, I want to emphasize that we and our Allies will continue to limit the impact back home. And in particular, we’ll continue to scope our measures to allow for steady energy supplies to global markets — [senior administration official] will say more on this.
And lastly, I want to remind everyone that, today, we’ll also fully block the Russian Direct Investment Fund and its CEO, Kirill Dmitriev. This fund and its leadership are symbols of deep-seated Russian corruption and influence peddling globally. Some of you may know it spun off from V.E.B. — Putin’s slush fund bank that we fully blocked last week — and it’s known to be intimately connected to kleptocracy at the highest levels of the Russian government.
This action will also limit RDIF’s ability to leverage corrupt ties to universities and organizations in the U.S. and the West more broadly.
White House.gov. 02/28/2022
Let me stop there and turn it to [senior administration official].
Senior Admin 2:
Thanks, [senior administration official]. And thanks, all of you, for joining. I want to briefly walk through the impact of these actions and why we’re taking them.
The steps we’re taking today are part of the strategy that the President asked Secretary Yellen to design in order to hold Russia accountable for an invasion in the Ukraine.
Our strategy, to put it simply, is to make sure that the Russian economy goes backwards as long as President Putin decides to go forward with his invasion of Ukraine. We’re accomplishing this objective by taking a variety of steps targeting Russia’s financial institutions, elites, and now the Russian Central Bank.
These are all sources of the wealth the Kremlin draws on to fund destabilizing activity. Today’s actions represent the most significant actions that the U.S. Treasury has taken against an economy of this size and assets of this size.
And I would — I want to point out that what also makes this action significant is not just the amount of assets or the size of the country we’re targeting, but the speed at which our partners and Allies have worked with us to enact this response.
[Senior administration official] is right that we’ve been coordinating with these Allies since November on actions related to Russia. But since the beginning of President Biden’s term, we’ve been working closely with these Allies on various issues related to the international financial system, which built the trust that was necessary for us to take these actions today.
Russia has hundreds of billions of dollars of assets in jurisdictions all over the world. And ever since the leaders made their announcement on Saturday, the Russian Central Bank has been attempting to bring those assets back to Russia or to safe havens so they can be used to support their economy and their currency.
Today’s announcement to prohibit transactions with the Central Bank of Russia and the National Wealth Fund will significantly hinder their ability to do that and inhibit their access to hundreds of billions of dollars in assets.
From our actions alone, they will not be able to access assets that are either in the United States or in U.S. dollars. And as you’ve seen, the EU has taken actions that prohibit Central Bank’s transactions in their jurisdiction as well, and we expect the rest of the — our G7 partners to take similar actions.
It’s important to note that with today’s actions, we’re also constricting Russia’s access of those they might turn to for a bailout since we’re also targeting its Ministry of Finance and its rainy-day fund, the National Wealth Fund. And our directive also makes clear that Russia can’t turn to other banks or companies and use them as agents to evade these prohibitions.
As a result of today’s coordinated announcement, Russia will experience even further economic consequences. They will be forced to deplete their limited domestic rainy-day fund far more quickly; experience a weakening of their currency, making funding their war of choice much more expensive; create a real squeeze on Russia’s ability to fund their priorities like invasion in Ukraine; constrict the Central Bank’s routine functions and make financing more difficult since it is locked out of using foreign reserves; and exacerbate liquidity issues.
As with our other actions, we’ve been calibrated and deliberate to ensure our sanctions cost maximum consequences for Russia, while mitigating harm to America and our partners.
The President made very clear to us it was critical that we target our sanctions in a way that would impose costs on Russia if they continued the invasion, while mitigating those costs on the American people, on our Allies and partners. And consistent with that, Treasury will issue a general license to authorize certain energy-related transactions by exempting energy-related transactions for preventing unnecessary harm for consumers and preventing spikes in prices that would only pad the pockets of President Putin.
As I mentioned at the top, these are serious consequences for Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and we wouldn’t hesitate to level more if necessary.
As I said in the beginning, our objective is to make sure that the Russian economy goes backwards if President Putin decides to continue to go forward with an invasion in Ukraine. And we have the tools to continue to do that.
White House.gov. 02/28/2022.
For Tuesday, March 1st, 2022, President Biden has received his daily brief. At 9:00 p.m. D.C., time the President will deliver his State of the Union to a joint session of Congress.
President Biden has tweeted…
It is 11:44 a.m. D.C., time and President Biden has not tweeted.
Yesterday, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) announced that her husband Richard Blum passed away at the age of 86:
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today announced the passing on Sunday evening of her husband, Richard Blum, at the family home after a long battle with cancer.
“My heart is broken today. My husband was my partner and best friend for more than 40 years. He was by my side for the good times and for the challenges. I am going to miss him terribly.
“Dick was incredibly devoted to his family, particularly his daughters and his grandchildren, and my heart is with them and everyone who Dick encountered. He was the type of man who really replaced his divot in life, who left things better than he found them. His enormous generosity is an inspiration for so many of us.
“As a role model, Dick was second to none, and I think his compassion and devotion to the people of the Himalayan region may prove to be his most enduring legacy. His friendship with the Dalai Lama helped shape us, and his creation of the American Himalayan Foundation was one of his proudest achievements.
“We have a hole in our hearts that will never be filled. Dick, we love you, we’ll miss you and we’ll continue to celebrate everything you accomplished during an amazing life.”
Feinstein.Senate.gov. 02/28/2022.
The President offered the following statement reading Blum’s passing:
Jill and I were saddened to learn of the passing of Dick Blum, a successful businessman, humanitarian, and proud son of California who dedicated much of his public life to fighting poverty around the globe.
For 16 years, I had the honor of serving on the Senate Judiciary Committee alongside Dick’s wife — and one of America’s true trailblazers — Senator Dianne Feinstein. During that time, Jill and I came to know Dick as a friend. He was first and foremost dedicated to his family. He turned his lifelong fascination with Mt. Everest into the American Himalayan Foundation, which he created to help construct schools and hospitals in the Tibetan community. And here at home, Dick bled Berkeley blue — he was fiercely loyal to his alma mater, the University of California, where he established the Blum Center for Developing Economies to seek innovative solutions to the challenges of global poverty.
Above and beyond his many professional and philanthropic accomplishments, Dick was a man of personal decency and generosity — a champion of human rights, driven by genuine care and compassion to make a difference in the world. From his home state to halfway around the globe, his legacy will live on in the families and communities his goodness touched.
Jill and I will miss our friend. Our prayers are with Senator Feinstein, their family, and all those who knew and loved Dick Blum.
White House.gov. 02/28/2022.
UPDATE: President Biden tweeted; 12:03 p.m. D.C., time, so I was still correct when the post posted…
The video is 1 minute and 38 seconds long:
President Biden: Happy Women’s History Month–when we honor the legacy of trailblazing women and girls. You Know, they are the stewards of our land, abolitionists and suffragists, inventors and entrepreneurs, dreamers and doers who strengthen our nation beyond everyone’s imagination. I’m honored to have nominated the most diverse set of judges to the federal bench in American history. Including what will be the first African-American woman to the Supreme Court. And I’m proud that my administration established the first ever White House Gender Policy Council, to advance gender equality at home and aboard. Throughout the pandemic, women have kept our country going as essential workers, from teachers, to child care providers, to doctors, scientists, researchers, nurses, first responders, farmers, farm workers. We also see how women continue to bear unequal burdens across society today, in America and around the world. From the disparities in pay, health care, caregiving responsibilities, the rise in hunger, poverty, and violence against women. But no longer. In my administration, we fight for equal pay for affordable child care, for the right of women to make their own health care decisions. For the freedom from violence, for their basic human rights. For more opportunities to find a job, start a career, serve as leaders, and keep moving our country forward. That’s the future I see for this country. And from what we saw at the Olympics this year, where women of Team USA represented all of us with dignity, pride, and that singular belief in possibilities. Happy Women’s History Month.
On Monday the White House offered the following Proclamation:
Every March, Women’s History Month provides an opportunity to honor the generations of trailblazing women and girls who have built our Nation, shaped our progress, and strengthened our character as a people.
Throughout our history, despite hardship, exclusion, and discrimination, women have strived and sacrificed for equity and equality in communities across the country. Generations of Native American women were stewards of the land and continue to lead the fight for climate justice. Black women fought to end slavery, advocate for civil rights, and pass the Voting Rights Act. Suffragists helped pass the 19th Amendment to the Constitution so that no American could be denied a vote on the basis of sex.
Standing on the shoulders of the heroines who came before them, today’s women and girls continue to carry forward the mission of ensuring our daughters have the same opportunities as our sons. Women of the labor movement are achieving monumental reforms to help all workers secure the better pay, benefits, and safety they deserve. LGBTQI+ women and girls are leading the fight for justice, opportunity, and equality — especially for the transgender community. Women and girls continue to lead groundbreaking civil rights movements for social justice and freedom, so that everyone can realize the full promise of America.
But despite the progress being made, women and girls — especially women and girls of color — still face systemic barriers to full participation and wider gaps in opportunity and equality. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated those disparities which have disproportionately impacted women’s labor force participation, multiplied the burden on paid and unpaid caregivers, and increased rates of gender-based violence. The constitutional right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade is facing an unprecedented assault as States pass increasingly onerous restrictions to critical reproductive health care and bodily autonomy. Workers contend with gender and racial wage gaps that can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars denied over the course of their lifetimes. The Congress sent the Equal Rights Amendment to the States for ratification 50 years ago and it is long past time that the principle of women’s equality should be enshrined in our Constitution.My Administration has made this issue a top priority from day one. Through historic Executive actions, my Administration launched Government-wide efforts to advance gender equity and equality, racial equity, and LGBTQI+ equality. Through the American Rescue Plan, my Administration delivered immediate relief to women and families, funded domestic violence and sexual assault services, supported child care providers, and invested in care workers — who are disproportionately women of color. Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are working to ensure equitable access to good-paying jobs, particularly in sectors where women have historically been underrepresented. We have taken critical steps to end the scourge of gender-based violence and advocate for the long overdue reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act — legislation that I was proud to author and champion as a United States Senator. We are confronting the epidemic levels of violence that transgender women and girls continue to face. We are working to expand access to health care, including reproductive health care for all people regardless of their gender, race, ethnicity, income, or zip code. We are fighting to lower the costs of child care and provide access to free preschool for all three- and four-year olds. We issued a call to action to eliminate racial disparities in maternal health care, which disproportionately impact Black and Indigenous women. And my Administration established a Gender Equity and Equality Action Fund to advance the rights and economic security of women and girls around the world.
This work is being led by the most diverse and gender-balanced Cabinet in American history, including the first woman — and woman of color — to serve as Vice President, Kamala Harris; the first women ever to serve as Treasury Secretary and Director of National Intelligence; the first Native American woman to serve as a Cabinet Secretary; women leading the Departments of Commerce, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, along with the Small Business Administration and the Office of Management and Budget; and women of color representing America on the world stage as United States Ambassador to the United Nations and the United States Trade Representative as well as leading my Council of Economic Advisers in the White House. In addition, I established the first White House Gender Policy Council to advance gender equity across the Federal Government and released the first-ever national gender strategy to support the full participation of all people — including women and girls — in the United States and around the world.
This Women’s History Month, as we reflect on the achievements of women and girls across the centuries and pay tribute to the pioneers who paved the way, let us recommit to the fight and help realize the deeply American vision of a more equal society where every person has a shot at pursuing the American dream. In doing so, we will advance economic growth, our health and safety, and the security of our Nation and the world.
White House.gov. 02/28/2022.
Reminder there will be a separate thread for the State of the Union address.
There is no daily press briefing listed on the schedule.
This is an Open Thread.
