Whitehouse.gov Feed

Yesterday, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. declared that an emergency exists in the State of Tennessee and ordered Federal assistance to supplement State and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Tropical Storm Helene beginning on September 26, 2024, and continuing.

The President’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe.

Public Assistance (Category B) emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding for the counties of Carter, Johnson, and Unicoi.

Public Assistance (Category B) emergency protective measures, limited to direct Federal assistance and reimbursement for mass care including evacuation and shelter support will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding for the counties of Cocke, Hawkins, and Washington.

Mr. Darryl L. Dragoo of FEMA has been appointed to coordinate Federal recovery operations in the affected areas.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION MEDIA SHOULD CONTACT THE FEMA NEWS DESK AT (202) 646-3272 OR FEMA-NEWS-DESK@FEMA.DHS.GOV.

###

The post President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Approves Tennessee Emergency Declaration appeared first on The White House.

Dover Air Force Base
Dover, Delaware

2:50 P.M. EDT

Q    Mr. President, did you — do you support Israel’s decision to try to kill Nasrallah?

THE PRESIDENT:  We’re still gathering information.  I can tell you the United States had no knowledge of or participation in the IDF action.  We’re ga- — we’re gathering more information.  I’ll have more to say when we have more information. 

Q    You say you support Israel’s decision —

THE PRESIDENT:  I — 

Q    — to defend itself.  Do you support what they did today with the strikes in Beirut?

THE PRESIDENT:  We have to get more detail.  I don’t know enough to answer that question.

Thank you.

Q    Are you worried about escalation?

Q    On U.S. Steel, sir.  On U.S. Steel.  The timeline has been pushed back three months.  Some are interpreting that that you might changing your mind about how you feel about that deal.  Do you have any comment about how you feel about that deal?

THE PRESIDENT:  No, I don’t — I haven’t changed my mind.  (Inaudible.)

Q    Sir, how concerned are you about escalation right now in Lebanon?

THE PRESIDENT:  I’m always concerned about that.  I’m always concerned about that.

Q    And your reading on the hurricane: How bad does it look down there right now?

THE PRESIDENT:  It looks bad.  At least 25 people dead.  There’s still rising waters.  We don’t have enough information yet.  There’s one dam in North Carolina that’s also in question.

2:51 P.M. EDT

The post Remarks by President Biden in Press Gaggle | Dover, DE appeared first on The White House.

The Biden-Harris Administration took significant proactive measures to support state and local preparation and response measures in advance of Hurricane Helene making landfall. As the storm continues to track north, President Biden and Vice President Harris remain focused on life-saving and life-sustaining response efforts throughout the Southeast. The President and Vice President are closely monitoring these efforts and are receiving regular briefings, including today, from senior Administration officials, including Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell.

Administration officials have been in contact with state and local officials before and during the storm and will continue to coordinate together during recovery efforts. At the President’s direction, FEMA Administrator Criswell is traveling to Florida this afternoon to assess the damage alongside other state and local officials. Administrator Criswell will also travel to Georgia and North Carolina in the coming days.

President Biden and Vice President Harris are praying for those who lost loved ones and for everyone impacted by this storm. Although the storm has weakened, the situation remains extremely dangerous, and the Administration continues to urge residents to heed the warnings of local officials and evacuate immediately if told to do so, as flooding and other hazards may still affect the region.

Consistent with the President’s direction for a robust and well-coordinated Federal response, the Administration has taken swift action to support Hurricane Helene preparedness, response, and recovery efforts. Specific actions taken include:

Approved Emergency Declarations Before Landfall 

• Before Helene made landfall, the Governors of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina submitted emergency declaration requests that President Biden swiftly approved. These declarations authorized FEMA to provide assistance for emergency measures to save lives, protect property, public health and safety, and fund other emergency response measures. The Federal government proactively pre-positioned personnel and resources across the region before Hurricane Helene made landfall, including power restoration teams for temporary emergency power, search and rescue equipment, meals, water, generators, and equipment to assist communities and states with impacts from the storm.
• The Administration, through the Department of Health and Human Services, declared a Public Health Emergency for the states of Florida and Georgia. This gives the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) health care providers and suppliers greater flexibility in meeting emergency health needs of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.

Supporting Ongoing Emergency Response Efforts

• At the President’s direction, before Helene made landfall, 1,500 Federal personnel were deployed to the region.
• Urban Search and Rescue has deployed a total of 14 teams (940 personnel) to affected states. In Florida, eight teams are positioned to respond, and all are equipped with Swift Water Rescue Capabilities. In Georgia, two teams with water capability have been deployed to support rescue operations. In North Carolina, four teams all equipped with Swift Water Rescue Capabilities are in place. 
• The U.S. Coast Guard crews will continue to respond with vessels and aircraft to assist search and rescue activities. Approximately 8,000 personnel are working on the Coast Guard response. They will continue to respond to urgent distress calls to save lives and assist those impacted by the storm.
• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has two teams prepositioned to provide temporary emergency power, with additional personnel deployed and other are prepared to deploy if needed. In addition to temporary emergency power, personnel will assist the states with infrastructure assessments, debris management and temporary roofing assistance as needed. They have activated six emergency operation centers in the region to coordinate operations.
• The Department of Health and Human Services deployed two Health and Medical Task Forces to assist hospitals and other critical care facilities with any impacts as a result of the storm.
• FEMA’s Surge Capacity Force is activated, which enables the deployment of additional disaster staff within the Department of Homeland Security and across the Federal interagency to assist in the areas impacted by the hurricane.
• The Federal government pre-staged more than 2.7 million meals, 1.6 million liters of water, 50,000 tarps, 10,000 cots, and 20,000 blankets in the region to support sheltering needs in impacted communities.
• FEMA pre-positioned tanker trucks with 70,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 40,000 gallons of gasoline to surge to impacted communities once the storm has passed to help alleviate any fuel shortages.
• Prior to the storm, FEMA also helped source hundreds of ambulances to assist with the movement of any patients out of impacted hospitals or other facilities.

Supporting Communities and Infrastructure Following the Storm’s Impact

• The Department of Energy’s Energy Response Organization is activated and closely monitoring impacts and restoration efforts related to Helene, including power, fuel, and supply chain interruptions.  Via the Electricity Sub-Sector Coordinating Council, the Department also works continuously with electric utilities across the country to strengthen post-storm power restoration efforts.
• The Environmental Protection Agency is working closely with Federal, state, local, and Tribal partners to help protect water systems, prepare for debris management, and ensure facilities, including Superfund sites, maintain critical public health and environmental protections. EPA stands ready to mobilize additional staff after the storm passes and as clean up and recovery efforts begin. 
• The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has made information available from the HHS emPOWER program, a partnership between the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, to support public health emergency planning and response activities. The program provides valuable information on the number of Medicare beneficiaries who rely on electricity-dependent durable medical equipment and certain health care services, such as dialysis, oxygen tanks, or home health care, to help anticipate, plan for, and respond to the needs of at-risk residents in areas impacted by the storm. 
• The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) notified Public Housing Authorities, multifamily, and healthcare facility owners to implement all appropriate protocols to prepare for the storm and ensure the safety of their residents. HUD is and will continue to work with the Public Housing Authorities, multifamily, and healthcare owners and homelessness assistance partners to determine damage impact and resident displacement. HUD will also be developing vacancy lists of HUD-assisted projects that can be used to provide temporary and/or permanent housing to disaster survivors.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service approved Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ request to provide operational flexibilities in all of the state’s school lunch programs – which will enhance flexibilities for meal service during unanticipated school closures.
• The Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration aerial teams are being deployed to provide valuable observations of impacted communities to understand the scope of the storm damage and to support disaster response by Federal partners. To ensure navigational safety, NOAA experts work around-the-clock after a storm acquiring and processing data to speed the reopening of ports and waterways by verifying water depth and identifying dangers to navigation.
• Additional personnel from the Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of the Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, and Department of Health and Human Services are deployed to assist with response and recovery efforts.

###

The post FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration’s Life-Saving and Life-Sustaining Response Efforts to Hurricane Helene appeared first on The White House.

East Room

As Prepared for Delivery

SECOND GENTLEMAN DOUGLAS EMHOFF: Good morning, everyone.

On behalf of President Biden, the First Lady, and my wife, Vice President Harris: congratulations to the 2023 Major League Soccer Champions, Columbus Crew, and welcome to the White House.

To all the members of Congress and other distinguished guests: thank you for joining us and for the work you do every day. It’s great to be with all of you.

As Second Gentleman, I’ve traveled to Columbus, Ohio a couple times. And one thing I learned during my travels is just how big of a sports town Columbus is – with loyal ride or die fans to the Crew.

I’ve always loved soccer. I grew up playing a lot of sports as a kid. And at my Jewish Summer camp, I was voted “Most Athletic.”

Later on in life, I was a proud soccer dad for my kids.

First, I was their coach. Then, I became a referee. I had a lot of fun wearing that yellow outfit with the whistle, short shorts, and big socks. Though I think my kids didn’t enjoy that part as much.

And these days, I’m still a massive fan who gets up early to watch the sport.

Last year, I led the Presidential Delegation to the Opening Ceremony of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. And just a couple months ago, I had the honor of representing the United States at the Closing Ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, where I watched the U.S. women’s national Soccer team take home the gold.

Now, I get to join you all for today’s celebration.

Columbus Crew is a team that exemplifies excellence.

Since 1996, you’ve won 9 major trophies.

During the 2023 regular season, you were the top-scoring team in MLS for the first time in the club’s history.

In Round One of the playoffs, you beat Atlanta in three hard-fought games.

In the Conference Semis, you shut out Orlando on the road.

In the Conference Finals, you capped a legendary comeback against your Cincinnati rivals and came back from 2-0 down at the half to win 3-2 in extra time.

Before the Championship match, Coach Nancy, you shared an important lesson with your team. You reminded them that you have one virtue in life: courage.

“Without courage, you can’t do anything.”

Courage is exactly what you showed in that championship match. You played brave: taking risks, attacking early and often, and relying on each other.

And it paid off.

By the end of the game, you were champions once again, for your second MLS Cup in four years.

You’re not only champions on the field. You’re leaders off the field, too. Through the Columbus Crew’s community efforts, you are:

Developing new fields for kids to play soccer;

Providing equipment to help more kids pick up the sport;

And combating chronic absenteeism in Ohio with the Stay in the Game initiative.

Through your work and dedication, you have made the Central Ohio community – and our entire nation – incredibly proud.

Part of why I love sports so much is that it unifies us.

As we all know, we have way more in common than what divides us. There is a lot of hate and division out there at this moment. But sports bring people – and our country – together.

That’s what each of you do every day. You inspire people across our nation, and you lift them up with a sense of joy and community. You show them what true leadership looks like.

This is something Coach Nancy knows a thing or two about.

Right before the MLS Cup Final, Coach Nancy showed all of you pictures of yourselves as kids.

He reminded you — his team — to play with the same joy you did when you were young and helped to lighten the mood before a high-pressure match.

Coach – in only two seasons as head coach for the Crew, you are already making your mark. You are setting an example for coaches across our nation and around the world.

So, Columbus Crew, congratulations once again, on your championship. And good luck on the remainder of the 2024 season.

Now, please join me in welcoming Coach Nancy.

###

The post Remarks by Second Gentleman Honoring the 2023 Major League Soccer Champions, Columbus Crew appeared first on The White House.

WASHINGTON – Today, President Biden announced his intent to appoint the following individuals as members of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board:

• Peter Swift, Member and Designated Chair
• Richelle Allen, Member
• Lake Barrett, Member
• Miles Greiner, Member
• Silvia Jurisson, Member
• Seth Tuler, Member

Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board

The U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) is an independent federal agency in the executive branch of the U.S. Federal Government. NWTRB’s purpose is to perform independent technical and scientific peer review of the U.S. Department of Energy’s activities related to managing and disposing of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. NWTRB reports its findings and recommendations to Congress and the Secretary of Energy.

Peter Swift, Member and Designated Chair

Peter Swift is a consulting geoscientist with over 30 years of experience in high-level radioactive waste management and disposal. He was formerly a Senior Scientist at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he served from 2011 to 2020 as the National Technical Director of the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy Spent Fuel and Waste Technology Research and Development Campaign. His prior experience includes key roles in the certification and licensing processes for both the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and the formerly proposed Yucca Mountain repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste in Nevada. Specific to the Yucca Mountain project, he led the total system performance assessment effort that developed estimates of the long-term safety of the site and then served as the Chief Scientist for the program’s Lead Laboratory during the Department of Energy’s 2008 submittal of the license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Swift received a PhD in Geosciences from the University of Arizona, Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Geology from the University of Wyoming, and a B.A. in English from Yale University. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, and a member or past member of the American Nuclear Society, the American Geophysical Union, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, and the Geochemical Society. 

Richelle Allen, Member

Richelle M. Allen-King is Professor of Geological Sciences at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. She is a hydrogeochemist with more than 35 years of experience studying the fate and transport of contaminants in groundwater with particular focus on the importance of geologic context. She is also interested in groundwater impacts on lake geochemistry in a changing climate.

Allen-King earned a B.A in Chemistry with Specialization in Earth Sciences from the University of California, San Diego and PhD in Earth Sciences from the University of Waterloo. She has served as a member of the National Research Council’s Water Science and Technology Board and on several of the Council’s technical committees on groundwater use, contamination, and remediation. Particularly relevant were the NRC committee on Development and Implementation of a Cleanup Technology Roadmap, NRC Committee on the Bioavailability of Contaminants in Soils and Sediments, and the Committee on Innovations in Ground Water and Soil Clean-up. Allen-King has also served on committees and advisory panels for the Environmental Protection Agency, such as Ecological Processes and Effects Committee.  

Allen-King resides in Buffalo, New York. She was selected as a Henry Darcy Distinguished Lecturer, sponsored by the National Ground Water Association, and is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America.

Lake Barrett, Member

Lake Barrett is an independent consultant in the energy field. He has worked in the nuclear energy and nuclear materials management areas for more than five decades. Barrett currently serves as special advisor to Japan for the recovery of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident. Before that, he served as the head of the Department of Energy’s Office of Civilian Nuclear Waste Management which was responsible for implementing programs for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste management, as mandated by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. In that capacity, Barrett led the complex scientific Yucca Mountain Geologic Repository program through the statutory site selection process culminating with the presidential site designation and following successful House and Senate votes before he retired from federal service.

He also served at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in various senior capacities, including as the site director during the stabilization, recovery, and cleanup of the Three Mile Island reactor accident. He has testified in various congressional hearings concerning spent nuclear fuel policies and the Fukushima reactor accident. He also has extensive managerial and engineering experience in Department of Energy’s Defense Programs and private industry at both Bechtel Power Corporation, with commercial nuclear power plants, and Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics, with nuclear reactor and submarine systems design, operation, and decommissioning. He has degrees in Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering and has been the recipient of various executive branch and congressional honors.

Miles Greiner, Member

Miles Greiner is currently a Foundation Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and past chair of the UNR Mechanical Engineering Department. Since 1993 he has directed of the UNR Nuclear Packaging Program, which conducts externally funded research to develop and experimentally validate computational methods to predict the thermal performance of nuclear packaging under normal and severe fire accident conditions. This includes performing large-scale experiments and computational studies of heat transfer to massive objects engulfed in pool fires, developing methods to predict transport during used nuclear fuel package vacuum drying, and developing wireless methods to monitor nuclear packaging internal conditions.

Since 2016, Greiner has directed a UNR educational program which awards graduate certificates in nuclear packaging and in transportation security and safeguards. He has published over one-hundred journal articles and conference papers on nuclear packaging topics. Miles Greiner earned his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Silvia Jurisson, Member

Silvia Jurisson is Professor Emerita of Chemistry and Radiology at the University of Missouri. She has been involved in inorganic and radiochemistry research with applications to radioisotope production and separations, radiopharmaceutical chemistry, radio-environmental chemistry, and biological systems, and has trained many graduate, undergraduate, and postdoctoral students over the past 30 years. She has over 150 publications in peer-reviewed journals. She is an Associate Editor of Radiochimica Acta, and a Councilor for the Nuclear Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS).

She received the John H. Hubbell Award from Elsevier in 2018, the TERACHEM Award in 2018, and the Glenn T. Seaborg Award for Nuclear Chemistry from the ACS in 2012. She was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2014, a Fellow of the ACS in 2016, and a Fellow of the Society of Radiopharmaceutical Sciences in 2022.

She spent 5 years in the pharmaceutical industry at Squibb/Bristol-Myers-Squibb before beginning her academic career at the University of Missouri. She earned her B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Delaware, and her PhD in inorganic and radiopharmaceutical chemistry at the University of Cincinnati.

Seth Tuler, Member

Seth Tuler is an Associate Professor in the Department of Integrative and Global Studies Division, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Senior Research Fellow at the Social and Environmental Research Institute. Tuler’s research interests focus on risk governance, public participation in risk assessment and decision making, and developing tools to characterize human impacts and vulnerabilities to risk events. He has extensive experience with interdisciplinary research in multiple policy arenas, including climate adaptation planning, oil spill response planning, nuclear waste management, and regional land-use planning.

Tuler was a member of the Federal Advisory Committee on Energy-Related Epidemiologic Research and chaired its Subcommittee for Community Affairs for 2 years. He served on the National Academy of Science’s Committee on Transportation of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste and was asked to co-author two technical reports for President Barack Obama’s Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future on social distrust, with Roger Kasperson, and public engagement, with Eugene Rosa and Thomas Webler. More recently he served on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Committee on Alternatives for the Demilitarization of Conventional Munitions; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Standing Committee on Chemical Demilitarization; and National Research Council Committee on Review of Criteria for Successful Treatment of Hydrolysate, a hazardous byproduct of chemical weapons demilitarization, at two facilities in Pueblo, Colorado and Blue Grass, Kentucky.

# # #

The post President Biden Announces Key Appointments to Boards and Commissions appeared first on The White House.

On September 25, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan hosted a Partnership on Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI) Investor Forum on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly. He was joined by Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo, Senior Advisor to the President for Energy and Investment Amos Hochstein, and World Bank President Ajay Banga, along with ten private sector leaders representing asset managers, debt and equity providers, and infrastructure operators. Collectively, the group represented institutions with trillions of dollars of assets under management and a diversity of financing options to power the most efficient development of sustainable infrastructure in key sectors across the globe.
 
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan opened the discussion by reaffirming PGI’s importance to America’s national and economic security objectives; highlighting projects in the Indo-Pacific, South America, and Africa that PGI has made possible; and thanking private sector leaders for their partnership in catalyzing $60 billion for infrastructure investments in low- and middle income countries since PGI’s launch.
 
The group then discussed a range of opportunities to continue public-private collaboration, including:

• Focusing efforts on a subset of specific countries and sectors where public tools and private capital can drive outsized impact, particularly in climate and digital infrastructure investments (e.g., subsea cables, data centers);
• Continuing to simplify and streamline access to public capital and the use of bilateral and multilateral risk mitigation tools, such as through the recently launched World Bank Group’s Streamlined Guarantee Platform and by scaling up FX risk mitigation tools;
• Empowering the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to more effectively deploy public capital in infrastructure investments;
• Scaling project development initiatives that are being piloted in the Indo-Pacific; and
• Continuing to improve the integration of U.S. small and medium-sized exporters into PGI infrastructure investments and projects.

As announced by President Biden at the 2023 G7 Summit in Hiroshima, the PGI Investor Forum aims to further strengthen partnership with the private sector in order to realize U.S. PGI’s collective goal of mobilizing $200 billion by 2027 for sustainable, global infrastructure investments.

Participants at the Investor Forum event included:

Public Sector Participants:

• Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor
• Adewale Adeyemo, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury
• Amos Hochstein, Senior Advisor to the President for Energy and Investment
• Ajay Banga, President, World Bank President

Private Sector Participants:

• Mark Carney, Chair, Brookfield Asset Management
• Jim Coulter, Executive Chairman, TPG
• Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO, BlackRock
• Jon Gray, President and COO, Blackstone
• Adebayo Ogunlesi, Chair and CEO, Global Infrastructure Partners
• Daniel Pinto, President and COO, JPMorganChase
• Ruth Porat, President and Chief Investment Officer, Alphabet and Google
• Brad Smith, Vice-Chair and President, Microsoft
• Sadek Wahba, Chairman and Managing Partner, I Squared Capital
• Shemara Wikramanayake, Managing Director and CEO, Macquarie Group

###

The post Readout of 2024 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI) Investor Forum appeared first on The White House.

     On this solemn day, we honor the memories of the patriots who served our Nation, defended our freedom, and made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.  We hold close to our hearts the Gold Star mothers and fathers, wives and husbands, sisters and brothers, daughters and sons, and other loved ones, who grieve their loss and carry on their legacy.  And we recommit to fulfilling our sacred obligation to care for all of our Gold Star families.

     Each of our service members is a link in the chain of honor that stretches back to the founding days of our Nation.  They are bound not just by their bravery but also by their commitment to an idea unlike any other in human history:  the idea of the United States of America.  Decade after decade, our service members have fought for our freedom and the freedom of others because they knew that freedom has never been guaranteed.  And just as our fallen heroes have kept the ultimate faith in our country and our democracy, we must keep faith in them.

     To everyone who has loved and lost someone in the service of our country and to everyone with a loved one still missing or unaccounted for, I know how hard these days of remembrance can be.  No matter how much time has passed or how much pride you have in their legacy, the grief and the hurt never fully go away.  The First Lady and I are keeping all Gold Star families in our prayers.  Since I took office, I have signed over 30 bipartisan laws supporting service members and veterans as well as their families, caregivers, and survivors.  And I will continue to do everything I can to support our Gold Star families, to whom our Nation owes a debt of gratitude we can never fully repay. 

     Today, we join Gold Star families in their grief and express our gratitude:  gratitude to our fallen heroes, gratitude for the sacrifices of the families left behind, and gratitude to the brave souls who continue to uphold the flame of liberty all across our country and around the world.  Because of them, our country stands today.  As we honor Gold Star Mother’s and Family’s Day, we recommit to making a more perfect Union, for which our fallen heroes lived and died.  That is our promise.

     The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 115 of June 23, 1936 (49 Stat. 1895 as amended), has designated the last Sunday in September as “Gold Star Mother’s Day.”

     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 Sunday, September 29, 2024, as Gold Star Mother’s and Family’s Day.  I call upon all Government officials to display the flag of the United States over Government buildings on this special day.  I also encourage the American people to display the flag and hold appropriate ceremonies as a public expression of our Nation’s gratitude and respect for our Gold Star Mothers and Families.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-seventh day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.

                              JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

The post A Proclamation on Gold Star Mother’s and Family’s Day, 2024 appeared first on The White House.

     Generations of Americans have enjoyed hunting and fishing — cherished traditions that bring us closer to our Nation’s natural wonders and embody America’s spirit of resourcefulness and adventure.  During National Hunting and Fishing Day, we celebrate our Nation’s hunters and anglers, honor their contributions, and continue the conservation work that so many of them have led.  

     Americans who hunt and fish have immense appreciation for our environment.  They know that when we take care of the natural world, we ensure that all generations to come will also have the opportunity to hunt, fish, and enjoy the great outdoors.  Passing down this tradition is especially important to rural communities, where hunting and fishing are time-honored pastimes, and to Tribal Nations, where hunting and fishing remain central to their cultures and livelihoods.  My Administration set the most ambitious conservation goal ever — committing to conserve at least 30 percent of all our Nation’s lands and waters by 2030.  That goal is at the heart of my “America the Beautiful” initiative to support locally led, voluntary conservation and restoration efforts across the country.  And within our national wildlife refuge system, I approved a 2-million-acre expansion of land available for hunting and fishing.  The Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior are working with the Hunting and Wildlife Conservation Council to improve hunters’ and anglers’ access to public lands and waters.  I also launched the Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation to create more safe, affordable, and equitable opportunities for outdoor recreation, including hunting and fishing.  My Inflation Reduction Act made the largest investment ever in addressing the climate crisis, harnessing the power of nature as a climate solution and working to ensure that our fish and wildlife are healthy and abundant for years to come.

     During National Hunting and Fishing Day, we celebrate hunting and fishing and the place they hold in our hearts, cultures, and national story.  We recommit to protecting these activities, which are important to upholding our sacred trust, treaty, and subsistence responsibilities to Tribal Nations.  And we honor all the incredible contributions of the hunters and fishers, land owners, State and territorial officials, Tribal Nations, Indigenous communities, and local leaders working to conserve our lands and waters.

     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 September 28, 2024, as National Hunting and Fishing Day.  I call upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate programs and activities.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-seventh day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.

                              JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

The post A Proclamation on National Hunting and Fishing Day, 2024 appeared first on The White House.

     America’s natural wonders are our Nation’s heart and soul.  Our public lands protect many of these treasures and ensure that generations can enjoy their splendor — from our national parks and monuments to our forests and wildlife refuges.  On National Public Lands Day, we honor these irreplaceable lands and waters and recommit to working together to preserve them.

     Whether it is the soaring cliffs of Yosemite National Park, the striking geysers of Yellowstone National Park, or the lush hills of the Appalachians in the Monongahela National Forest — our Nation’s public lands inspire and unite us through the ages.  They hold pieces of our country’s history, etched into our lands and waters.  Some public lands are considered sacred by Tribal Nations, which have stewarded them since time immemorial.  And these lands and waters also carry so much promise:  helping protect us against climate change, providing the clean air we breathe and clean water we drink, and sustaining the livelihoods of ranchers, outfitters, guides, and rural and Indigenous communities.  

     Since the beginning of my Administration, I have taken historic steps to conserve our natural treasures for future generations.  That began when I signed an Executive Order that established the most ambitious conservation goal in the history of our country — committing to conserve at least 30 percent of our Nation’s lands and waters by 2030.  To that end, my “America the Beautiful” initiative is supporting voluntary, locally led conservation and restoration efforts across the country.  I also signed an Executive Order to safeguard and steward our Nation’s forests and enlist nature to help address the climate crisis, including through the development of the first National Nature Assessment. 

     Since I came into office, my Administration has conserved more than 42 million acres of our Nation’s lands and waters.  I established and expanded eight national monuments — including the stunning Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada, thought to be one of the most sacred places on Earth by some Tribal Nations.  I restored protections for lands and waters across the country that had been rolled back by the previous administration — including the desert buttes of the Bears Ears National Monument and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, the stunning Tongass National Forest, and the underwater canyons of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. 

     To protect our waters, I took executive action to direct consideration of more than 700,000 square miles of the Pacific Ocean southwest of Hawaii as a new National Marine Sanctuary — which could make this one of the largest protected marine areas on the planet.  And I protected the United States Arctic Ocean from new oil and gas leasing.  My Administration is also advancing the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, which stretches along 116 miles of California coastline.

     My Administration has also made historic investments to preserve our Nation’s ecosystems and safeguard our communities against the impact of climate change.  Our Inflation Reduction Act made the largest investment in history to confront the climate crisis, and together with our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, these investments will help support conservation and restoration, including $50 billion dedicated to strengthening community and ecosystem resilience to climate change.  We have also worked to promote equitable access to outdoor recreation opportunities on public lands and waters through the “America the Beautiful” initiative, launching the Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation to address common challenges and opportunities in expanding outdoor recreation activities and access to the great outdoors.

     I also launched the American Climate Corps to mobilize a new, diverse generation of Americans — putting them to work conserving and restoring our lands and waters, bolstering community resilience, deploying clean energy, implementing energy efficient technologies, and advancing environmental justice.  And, upon completing this program, we are working to ensure they have a pathway to getting high-quality, good-paying clean energy and climate resilience jobs in the public and private sectors.

     Our Nation’s public lands have always been and will always be central to our country’s heritage and essential to our identity.  On National Public Lands Day, I encourage every American to enjoy the wonder of our public lands.  All of our country’s national parks, forests, refuges, and grasslands will have a “Fee-Free Day” on September 28 — anyone can visit them free of charge.  There are several more fee-free days throughout the year, the last of which will occur on Veterans Day, November 11.  Whether you go for the incredible vistas, the lush forests, or the rolling grasslands, our public lands will never fail to inspire awe and connect us to something bigger than ourselves.

     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 laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 28, 2024, as National Public Lands Day.  I invite all Americans to join me in a day of service for our public lands.  I also encourage volunteers from across the Nation to celebrate and care for our lands and waters by reforesting the land, maintaining trails, nurturing ecosystems, removing invasive species, and doing other conservation work to serve the lands and waters that support and sustain us.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-seventh day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.

                              JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

The post A Proclamation on National Public Lands Day, 2024 appeared first on The White House.

Today’s report shows inflation has come back down to 2.2%, similar to pre-pandemic levels, at a time when interest rates have fallen—lowering the cost of buying a home or car, or operating a small business. This follows yesterday’s news that on my watch the economy has grown more than 10% and incomes are up nearly $4,000, after accounting for inflation. The economy, incomes, savings, and consumer spending are all stronger than previously estimated.
 
We have more work to do to lower costs and create opportunities for Americans. The Vice President and I want to build millions of new homes, continue to lower the price of prescription drugs and health care, and cut taxes for families, small businesses, and industries of the future. Congressional Republicans would take the opposite approach—raising costs for middle-class families by nearly $4,000 per year while giving more tax cuts to the wealthy and big corporations. That’s not how you grow the economy, or the middle class.

###

The post Statement from President Joe Biden on the August PCE Report appeared first on The White House.

Vice President’s Ceremonial Office
Eisenhower Executive Office Building

3:46 P.M. EDT

VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS:  Well, President Zelenskyy, it is good to see you again.  This is our seventh visit together.  And welcome back to Washington, D.C.

As I have made clear on our six previous meetings and throughout Putin’s brutal aggression and war against Ukraine, my support for the people of Ukraine is unwavering. 

I have been proud to stand with Ukraine.  I will continue to stand with Ukraine.  And I will work to ensure Ukraine prevails in this war. 

To be safe, secure, and prosperous, the United States must continue to fulfill our long-standing role of global leadership.  We must stand with our allies and our partners.  We must des- — defend our democratic values and stand up to aggressors.  And we must stand for international order, rules, and norms.  Each one of these principles is at stake in Ukraine, and that is why Ukraine’s fight matters to the people of America. 

The Ukrainian people are bravely defending their homes and their homeland, their freedom, and their democracy against a brutal dictator, and the American people know well the meaning of freedom, of independence, and the importance of rule of law.  These ideals are central to who we are as Americans, and some of the most important moments in our history have come when we stood up to aggressors like Putin just as we must today. 

Indeed, standing with our friends and defending our ideals against tyranny has helped make America the most powerful and prosperous nation in the world.  Putin’s aggression is not only an attack on the people of Ukraine, it is also an attack on fundamental principles such as sovereignty and territorial integrity. 

 International rules and norms are not some abstract notion.  They provide order and stability in our world.  They support American security and American prosperity.  And when they are threatened anywhere, they are threatened everywhere. 

History has shown us if we allow aggressors like Putin to take land with impunity, they keep going.  And Putin could set his sights on Poland, the Baltic states, and other NATO Allies.  We also know that other would-be aggressors around the world are watching to see what happens in Ukraine.  If Putin is allowed to win, they will become emboldened.  And history reminds us and history is so clear in reminding us: The United States cannot and should not isolate ourselves from the rest of the world.  Isolation is not insulation. 

 So, then, the United States supports Ukraine not out of charity but because it is in our strategic interest.  We will continue to provide the security assistance Ukraine needs to succeed on the battlefield, as demonstrated by President Biden’s significant announcement earlier today.

I’ve been proud to work alongside President Biden and the 50-nation coalition we have built up to allow Ukraine to defend itself.  Thanks to this coalition and the skill and the bravery of the Ukrainian people, along with your courageous leadership, President Zelenskyy, Ukraine has stood up to Russia’s aggression, and today Kyiv stands free and strong. 

President Zelenskyy, I am clear: Putin started this war, and he could end it tomorrow if he simply withdrew his troops from Ukraine’s sovereign territory.  Of course, he has demonstrated no intention of doing that.  Instead, he continues to assault civilian infrastructure and terrorize the people of Ukraine.

In Switzerland, in June, along with 90 other nations at the Uka- — at the Ukraine peace conference, I told you that the United States shares your vision for the end of this war, an end based on the will of the people of Ukraine and the U.N. Charter, and that m- — we must work with the international community se- — to secure a just and lasting peace.  And I told world leaders there: Nothing about the end of this war can be decided without Ukraine. 

However, in candor, I share with you, Mr. President, there are some in my country who would instead force Ukraine to give up large parts of its sovereign territory, who would demand that Ukraine accept neutrality, and would require Ukraine to forego security relationships with other nations.  These proposals are the same of those of Putin.  And let us be clear: They are not proposals for peace.  Instead, they are proposals for surrender, which is dangerous and unacceptable.

So, President Zelenskyy, I look forward to our discussion today, and I will continue to work with you to ensure Ukraine prevails in this conflict and remains a free, democratic, and independent nation. 

Welcome back, again. 

PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY:  Thank you so much.  Madam Vice President, thanks for invitation.  Happy to see you.

Dear journalists, I want to especially thank you for your participation in the peace summit.  And, really, it was very important, and we remember it.  The format was successful.  We are preparing the second one. 

And now, we have to end this war.  We need a just peace, and we must protect our people — Ukrainian families, Ukrainian children, and everyone — from Putin’s evil.  And we are grateful to America for supporting Ukraine all along. 

And we’ll have an important meeting today, right after I talked to President Biden about the plan of victory, and I will share some details of the plan with Vice President Harris.  It’s crucial for us to — to be fully understandable and to work in a full coordination with the United States. 

And this morning, I talked also to — to the congressmen, both chambers, both parties.  And I am thankful for their bipartisan support.  We believe this war can be won and just peace can be close only with a — with the United States. 

Madam Vice President, this is our — you said seventh meeting?

VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS:  Seventh.

PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY:  Yeah, and it’s not last.  And the third meeting — as far as I remember, the third meeting this year. 

VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS:  Yes.

PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY:  Thank you.  And I want to inform you about the latest developments on the battlefield, of course, and about Ukraine’s actions in the Kursk region, on what has been achieved and the ambitions ahead.

Today, we have a new strong support package, as you said, and we have common view on the things that need to be done.  We have to keep pressure on Russia to stop the war and to make truly lasting and just peace.  It’s a top priority for us and for other freedom-loving nations to achieve not a freezing but real — real peace for us. 

So, we need to keep sanctions against Russia strong, and we need to use the proceeds from immobilized Russian assets to protect Ukraine — our people, our cities, our front line — from Russian evil.  And, of course, we must work hard to bring all Russian war criminals to justice. 

And one more thing.  I want to inform Madam Vice President about the latest Russian missile and the Shaheds attacks against Ukrainian energy infrastructure.  We need to urgently strengthen Ukraine’s air defense to save thousands of lives and reduce Russian terror to zero. 

It’s achievable. 

Thank you, again.  Thanks, America.  Thanks to you, Madam Vice President. 

Slava Ukraini.

VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS:  Thank you.

PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY:  Thank you so much.

VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS:  It’s good to see you.

PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY:  Good to see you too.

                   END                     3:55 P.M. EDT

The post Remarks by Vice President Harris and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine Before Bilateral Meeting appeared first on The White House.

East Room

5:13 P.M. EDT

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everyone. Good afternoon. (Applause.) Thank you, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Please have a seat. Please have a seat.

Sari, you are extraordinary. You are right, I have been traveling our country for many years meeting with extraordinary heroes, and you are really an extraordinary leader. And when I look at you, I know the future of our country is bright. Thank you, Sari. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

And all of the — all of the leaders here — survivors, family membered [members], loved ones — thank you all for the work that you do and the voice that you carry for so many who are not in this room right now but deserve to be seen, deserve to be known, deserve to be heard. I thank you all for all that you do to sacrifice your time and your hearts to give what you give to so many.

And so, it is good to be with everyone, including our extraordinary president, Joe Biden. (Applause.)

And, you know, I have — I have the great blessing and fortune to work alongside our president. And wherever we are together, whether the cameras are in the room or not, he cares about the American people. He loves the American people. And he — in his leadership, so much of his leadership is always about fighting for the dignity of all people and understanding the pain that many might experience and what we must do as leaders to alleviate that pain.

And I thank you, Mr. President, for all that you are. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: And to all the members of Congress who are here, all of the leaders who are here, I thank you.

So, before I begin, I will say a few words about Hurricane Helene. So, the president and I, of course, are monitoring the case and the situation closely, and we urge everyone who is watching at this very moment to take this storm very seriously and please follow the guidance of your local officials.

And President Biden and I, of course, will continue to work closely with state and local officials to ensure that everyone is safe and to protect communities before, during, and after the storm.

So, with that, I will return to the subject at hand.

I believe the right to be safe is a civil right — (applause) — and that the people of America have a right, then, to live, work, worship, and learn without fear of violence, including gun violence.

And yet our nation is experiencing an epidemic of gun violence. I’m telling a bunch of leaders who know. Today, one in five Americans has a family member that was killed by gun violence. Gun violence is now the number one cause of the death of children in America — not car accidents, not cancer — gun violence — the number one cause of death for the children of America.

And this is the result of many, many issues, including mass shootings and school shootings that are too frequently occurring in our nation. And it is, of course, the result of everyday gun violence, which occurs in cities and neighborhoods and towns across our nation.

And we know that the prevalence of this violence causes trauma that is far too often undiagnosed and untreated, which means that the effect of it is from that moment and lingers for a lifetime if we don’t take seriously what are the seen and visible and unseen injuries that result from this violence.

Over the years, I have held the hands of far too many mothers and fathers to try and comfort them after their child was killed by gun violence.

And let us all agree: It does not have to be this way. We know — (applause) — we have in our possession, we know how to stop these tragedies. And it is a false choice to suggest you are either in favor of the Second Amendment or you want to take everyone’s guns away. (Applause.) I am in favor of the Second Amendment, and I believe we need to reinstate the assault weapons ban — (applause) — and pass universal background checks, safe storage laws, and red flag laws. (Applause.)

When we took office, we promised to take on the crisis of gun violence. And we passed, under the president’s leadership, the first major gun safety law in nearly 30 years, a bipartisan law which includes an historic investment to address the trauma caused by gun violence.

We are hiring 14,000 new mental health counselors in public schools across our nation. (Applause.) We need to hire more. We need to hire more. But it is the single-largest investment in student mental health in history.

And for as much as we have accomplished, more must be done. We need more leaders — we need more leaders like the leaders in this room — in Congress who have the courage to take action, to stand up to the gun lobby, and to put the lives of our children first.

Last week — (applause) — last week, I met with young leader. Her name is Natalie. She is a 15-year-old student at Apalachee High School and a survivor of gun violence. When we met, Natalie was still wearing bandages. And she is extraordinarily brave.

And so, on behalf of her, on behalf of all the survivals — all the survivors that we have lost, let us continue to fight to end the epidemic of gun violence and to keep our communities and our children safe.

And now — (applause) — and now, it is my great honor to introduce a leader and a friend who understands the urgency of this crisis. He is a mayor who knows firsthand what it is like to lose a loved one to gun violence and to see his community shaken by tragedy. A dear friend who is not only a local leader but a national leader, please welcome Mayor Randall Woodfin. (Applause.)

MAYOR WOODFIN: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, thank you.

Thank you, everyone. And thank you for the introduction, Madam Vice President.

As stated, my name is Randall Woodfin. I am honored to serve as mayor of the city of Birmingham, Alabama. I want you all to know that I am not here representing myself. I am here representing the 200,000 residents I serve.

Gun violence — gun violence is very — what I would say, very personal to me because I know the scream of a mother when her child is killed. I know that because I heard it from the voice of my own mother when my brother was killed by gun violence.

I know that scream. I heard that scream again this past Saturday as the lives of 4 people were stolen and 17 other victims were shot during the horrific mass shooting in Birmingham.

Saving lives — saving lives should not be partisan. Saving lives should not be Democrat or a Republican thing. (Applause.) Saving lives, everyone — saving lives shouldn’t even be political. Saving lives is the most American thing we can do together. (Applause.)

And so, we have been working with our U.S. attorney, with the Justice Department to get machine gun conversions, like Glock switches, off our city streets. But still, my community — and I imagine other communities — are still finding the use of these devices at crime scene after crime scene.

And so, that is why I am grateful to our president — that is why I’m so grateful to our vice president as well — who today are taking more action to help people not only in Birmingham but across our country. Today, we work to loosen the grip that gun violence has on our communities.

I know firsthand what it means to have a president who is not only a partner but a friend to a community and cities. The Biden-Harris administration is making historic and transformative investments in our neighborhoods but, most importantly, in our people.

Instead of being overlooked, I am happy to stand on this stage and tell you we have a president who not only sees us but truly believes in us.

And that is why it is my honor to introduce President Joe Biden, who has been a true friend to Birmingham, Alabama. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Please. Thank you. (Applause.)

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Please. Please. (Applause.) Thank you.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love you, Joe!

THE PRESIDENT: (Inaudible.) Thank you.

AUDIENCE: Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe!

THE PRESIDENT: Please have a seat. That was very nice of you all. Thank you very much. (Laughter.)

Mayor Woodfin, thank you for your introduction — (laughter) — and, quite frankly, for your extraordinary leadership in Birmingham. You know, through your love for your brother, you’re helping ensure that he and all the victims of gun violence di- — have not died in vain.

May I ask a question? How many of you in this audience have lost someone in the family to gun violence?

I know from experience what a loss is. That this is bittersweet. We want us to be doing this, but it brings back the very moment it happened, no matter how long it — since it’s occurred. You’re here, and you remember — you remember the first time you heard my son, my daughter, my mother, my father, my brother, my sister — somebody you lost. I know the feeling in a different context, and it’s heartbreaking.

So, thank you for the courage to be here. I know — I know the intensity of your feelings. But thank you, because it really does require you to relive the moment it occurred, and that’s tough. And I don’t think people who haven’t been the loss of someone through an accident or through violence fully understands it until it happens. And I hope that it doesn’t happen to the rest of you in any circumstance.

So, thank you for — Sari, for sharing your story and your classmates’, your teachers’, your friends’ in Parkland. You know, an extraordinary courage, it inspires the nation. And we stand with you, for real.

Quite frankly, you inspired me when I met many of you after that tragedy.

Before I begin, let me speak to our preparedness and — very briefly for the Hurricane Helena. We’re expecting a catastrophic storm, winds and flooding throughout the Southeast, starting in Florida right now. Kamala and I have been briefed and spent many hours with FEMA, including recently.

Ambassador Griswell [Criswell] is on the scene tomorrow. I’ve directed FEMA to work with the state partners to take proactive measures to ensure the communities in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, and other states have the support and the resources they need. That includes improving prelandfall emergency declaration requests from the governors of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Alabama.

At my direction, more than 1,000 federal personnel have already been deployed to those areas. We have search and rescue teams, medical teams, power restoration teams, generators, water, food on the ground and ready to support families throughout the coming days.

But let me say this. Everyone needs to take it seriously — extremely seriously. The potential storm surge is well beyond the immediate path of the hurricane. It could be significant and deadly.

You know, for you and your family’s sake, I urge everyone in and near the path of the hurricane to listen to local officials and follow evacuation orders and been — when told to do so.

Remember two years ago — just two years ago — 150 people were killed when the surge was only 14 feet. Now the surge is expected to be up to 20 feet — 20 feet. So, take this seriously.

I have — from the bottom of my heart, please take it seriously, anybody listening to this. And — because — anyway. The tendency is to say, “I can do this,” but you can’t. Twenty-foot storm surge — you can’t.

Folks, now for the reason we’re here today. I want to thank Vice President Harris and members of our Cabinet, members of the Congress, including Birmingham’s extraordinary congresswoman, Terri Sewell. Terri, stand up. Stand up. (Applause.)

I want to thank Congressman Mike Thompson. Mike, stand up. (Applause.)

And a good friend and one of the brightest people I know, Jamie Raskin. Jamie, stand up. (Applause.)

And Congressman Maxwell Frost, who started by organizing opposition to gun violence and is now the youngest member of Congress. (Applause.) Even when I was the second-youngest senator in history, I never had that much hair. (Laughter.)

And Representative Lucy McBath, whose son Jordan was killed by gun violence. (Applause.) Thanks, Lucy. Thanks for being here. I know events like this are difficult.

Look, folks, I want to thank you for the courage. And I also want to thank the chiefs of police and sheriffs, to all the advocates and allies, and especially to the survivors and families, many of whom I’ve met with. Jill and I have gotten to know some of you very well over the years. Thank you for being here.

With absolute courage, you have turned your pain into purpose — that’s what it’s all about, turning your pain into purpose — your loss into determination, your anger into commitment and the power in — (a child in the audience cries) — of a movement of saving lives.

That’s okay. Babies rule in my house. (Laughter and applause.) Don’t worry about it.

This past Monday, the FBI reased — released data showing how crime is down in America. The year before we came to the presidency, we saw the biggest increase in murder rates on record.

Last year, we saw the largest decrease in murder rates nationwide in recent history — (applause) — thanks to guys like you wearing those uniforms. The homicide rate in 2023 was 16 percent below the year before we became president and vice president. In the first half of 2024, in large cities across the country, homicide rate dropped another 17 percent. Last year, we also saw the lowest rates of all violent crime in more than 50 years. Murder, rape, aggravated assault, robbery all dropped, along with burglary, property crime. It matters.

And together, we’re making clear: If we want to talk about reducing crime and violence in America, you need to talk about guns in America — (applause) — you need to talk about guns.

You just heard Kamala cite the statistics all Americans should be ashamed of. Guns are the number one — hard to believe — they’re the number one killer of children in America — more than any other cause: accidents, ca- — more than any other cause. It’s almost in- — in- — unbelievable to think that’s — it’s sick.

Last year, after another school shooting, my predecessor said it — just said, like some mem- — members of Congress say, just go — just “get over it.”

I’m going to be very blunt. Secretary [Senator] Vance of Ohio has called these shootings “facts of life.”

Who the hell do these people think they are? (Applause.) I mean it.

Think about it. The only industry that is ex- — exempted by law from being investigated and being dealt with is the gun industry. Imagine had that be the case with the tobacco industry, what cancer would be li- — I mean this sincerely. Think about this.

This time last year, we stood in the Rose Garden to launch the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention in our nation’s history. (Applause.)

I look around the room, and I see survivors, like our former magnificent congresswoman, who is always out there fighting. Thank you, Gabby. Thank you, Gabby.

And, you know, it’s staffed by gun violence survivors and experts, overseen by our incredible vice president. The purpose is to drive and coordinate the government in a nationwide effort to reduce gun violence in America.

Over the past year, we’ve made tremendous progress: more background checks required for firearms sold at gun shows [and] online; a new interagency response team to support communities after mass shootings.

And I’ve been to all but three mass shootings in — in the United States of America and spent time with surviving families, many of whom I see here in this audience. Because it’s important to raise up what’s happening.

The most comprehensive federal guide ever on safe gun storage of firearms. The first-ever surgeon general’s advisory declaring gun violence to be a public health crisis. (Applause.)

And, by the way, parenthetically, as I travel the world with other world leaders, they ask, “Do you really have a pub- — do you cite that you have a public health crisis with gun violence?”

Well, today, I’m proud to announce a new executive order that’s going to — two additional things.

First, the executive order will establish a new federal task force on emerging firearm threats.

Previously, my administration took action to crack down on private manufacturers of firearms, including kits of so-called “ghost guns.” This is probably the only audience that knows what ghost guns are. They don’t have to have a serial number. When guns don’t have serial numbers, it’s hard for them to track back to the shooter and hold them accountable when something happens.

But today, we’re taking the next step. Our new task force will address 3D printed firearms. And — and for those listening — everybody in this room knows what that is — but they actually can produce a plastic firearm with a 3D printer. That mag- — you know, and magnetometers can’t detect these, or they don’t have a serial number.

This task force is also going to tackle machine gun conversion devices that were mentioned by the mayor, devices that illegally turn semiautomatic weapons, and including handguns, into fully automatic machine guns that can fire up to 20 bullets in tw- — in 1 sec- — in 2 seconds — 20 in 2 seconds.

These devices are already illegal under federal law and can be made on a 3D printer for just 40 cents in less than 30 minutes and sold for as little as $20. But local law enforcement in cities across the country tell me the streets are flooded with machine gun conversion devices — isn’t that right, Captain? —

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: — because the parts are small, cheap, and easy to make. The impact of these devices is devasting.

Just this weekend, a machine gun conversion device was found at the scene of a mass shooting in Birmingham. I can tell you, over 100 shell casings — 100 shell casings were found, including 4 killed and 18 injured and a community shattered.

Enough.

Within 90 days of — our task force will send me a ri- — a risk assessment and a strategy to address these emerging firearm threats. It’s about se- — it’s about sending a clear message to — (a child in the audience cries).

Don’t worry about the babe. It’s okay. (Laughter.) Really.

Sending a clear message to local law enforcement and cities all across the country: We’re here to help, and together, we can save lives.

Look, the second part of this executive order relates to active shooter drills in schools. You know, it’s a good thing, but people don’t — you all understand, many of you in here — but the psychological impact that has on a child.

You know, I’m old enough we used to have drills for — you know, duck and cover for nuclear devices. But guess what? Now we’re talking about kids know what’s happening.

Kamala just talked about the worry of parents and the stress and fear students have when they’re told to participate in active school shooter drills. The lack of guidance today on how to prepare students while minimizing the trauma of active shooter drills is — it’s unacceptable.

So, today, I’m directing the members of my Cabinet to return to me within 110 days with resources and information for schools to improve active shooter drills, minimizes harm, create age-appropriate content, and communicate with parents before and after these drills happen so they know what’s going on. (Applause.)

Folks, we — we just have to do better, and we can do better.

But that’s not all. Today, my administration is also announcing a whole series of new actions to address gun violence. We’re releasing a new tool with resources to help schools communicate with parents about safety of storing firearms in their homes. (Applause.)

And, by the way, I, along with Dianne Feins [Feinstein], was the guy that passed the first assault weapons ban. And here’s the deal: It was amazing — amazing how many of those gun violence occurred with those fire- — when they were outlawed, what — with the — with these firearms were a consequence of a parent not being responsible with the guns they own, or in a recent case — I won’t get into because it’s under litiga- — a parent who provided an assault weapon to a young child.

It’s been found that when school administrators communicate with parents about safe storage of firearms in their homes, it motivates parents to act.

We’re awarding $135 million on top of the $238 million we’ve already awarded last year to 48 states for crisis intervention — (applause) — including tools like red flag laws. I’m going to say — be very personal here. My son was attorney general — it was the first state in the nation to institute that statewide. (Applause.)

Removing — temporarily removing firearms from those who are a danger to themselves and others.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Right.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, it’s important.

We’re awarding an additional $85 million to 30 community violence intervention programs on top of the $200 million we’ve already invested in these programs. (Applause.)

As you all know, these local intervention programs stop shootings before they happen, utilizing trusted messengers, community members, leaders to work directly with people at risk who are the most vulnerable to gun violence.

And, folks, all these new actions build on historic steps we’ve already taken since I took office to address gun violence in America.

Through the American — American Rescue Plan — which, by the way, not a single one of the opposition voted for — (laughter) — I don’t say that for political re- — I say that to make sure people understand it’s not costless to do — do that — helped deliver more than $15 billion — the largest investment ever in public safety. Let me say it again: All my opponents — all our opponents voted against the largest funding ever in public sa- — safety.

I also announced a dozens executive orders to reduce gun violence, more than any of my predecessors.

And with your help, we passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most significant gun violence [legislation] in 30 years. (Applause.) And so many things because we had a first-rate prosecutor who had — (applause) — no — who has incredible experience dealing with this. Among many things, it strengthened background checks for anyone under the age of 21 seeking to purchase a firearm.

Since we implemented the background check system last year, we’ve kept almost 1,000 guns out of the hands of people under the age of 21. But, folks, the law also invests over $1 billion, the largest one-time ever investment ever, in seeking to deal with mental health issues in our schools — (applause) — to help them deal with the grief and trauma of gun violence and other traumatic experiences.

We spent a lot of time — didn’t we? — with those kids. Afraid to go back to school. Not an unusual thing to be concerned about if you’ve sat there and you’re — the kid sitting next to at your desk gets shot and killed.

My former Senate deputy chief of staff is here with me today — Roger Harrison — sitting in the back there. He founded an organization that does outreach programs for middle and high school students dealing with mental health issues, and many others around the country are doing similar things.

We still have more to do, but the steps we’ve taken so far in reducing gun violence and saving lives are real. But we have to keep going. There’s so much more we have to do.

I think it’s time to reinstate the assault weapons ban and high-capacity magazines. (Applause.)

When I was a senator and I introduced the first effort to ban them, those weapons, I literally was walking through the swamps of eastern — the Northeast Cor- — excuse me, in southern Delaware, down in the area where the r- — where the swamps and rivers are. There was a guy fishing, and he looked at and me and he said, “Biden, what the hell you going to take my gun for? Why are you going to take my assault weapon?” He was fishing. And I said — (laughter) — true story. And I said, “You need that?” And he said, “Yeah.” (Laughter.) I said, “You must be one hell of a lousy shot.” (Laughter.) “And I don’t see a lot of dear running around here wearing Kevlar vests.” (Laughter.) He said, “Well, that’s not” — “Well, why do you have it?” “Well, I hunt.” “You hunt? Like hell.” (Laughter.)

Look, it’s time we establish universal background checks — (applause) — universal — and require safe storage of firearms. (Applause.) I mean it. Start holding parents accountable for being negligent. (Applause.)

By the way, if you pulled up here — wherever you parked here — and left your key in your car, and a student steals the car and gets in an accident, you are held responsible. Why in the hell would not that be the case if you leaved a gun case open? (Applause.) No, I mean it.

And I’ve been fighting for this. I’m going to continue after I leave this office: End immunity for the gun industry. End it. End it. End it. (Applause.)

Look, folks, I taught constituted law for years — constitutional law. Never was the Second Amendment meant to be absolute. Back when it was passed, you could not own a cannon. (Laughter.) No, well I’m not jo- — I’m not joking. People are like, “The — you know, the — the — the liberty of America is — is watered with the blood of patriots.” Like hell. (Laughter.) I’m serious. Think about it. Think about it. It was never absolute — never, never, never, never.

It’s time we increase funding for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — (applause) — and other law enforcement agencies that deal with crime and solve crimes faster.

We get a lot of heat from the other guy — she get a lot of heat from the other guy, talking about “We’re not helping” –we’re the ones funding cops.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Yes, we are.

THE PRESIDENT: We’re the ones funding these things.

It’s time to increase funding to help victims in crime and support community groups helping hun- — and hurting — people hurting from gun violence. No, I really mean it. (Applause.)

Unfortunately, my predecessor and a lot of congressional other people oppose all these steps to reduce gun violence. Instead, they tried to stop the crackdown on ghost gun kits, by the way. You kn- — know, that’s a real big deal to them. “We can’t deny the Second Amendment right to” — oh, give me a break. (Laughter.)

If they got their way, criminals could traffic guns and commit crimes.

Congressional — our opponents are trying to defund the Office of Gun Violence Prevention. There’s an amendment to defund the Office of Gun Violence Prevention. “Bless me, Father,” as we say in my church.

They attack the FBI and want to abolish the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and Explosives — by the way, that’s out — written out — which is responsible for fighting gun crimes.

Folks, you can’t be pro-law enforcement and be anti-FBI and ATF. It’s outrageous. (Applause.)

Well, that’s why we’re here today and why this is so important. We need your help in fighting and standing up to the gun lobby, gun manufacturers, the politicians who oppose commonsense gun legislation.

Because whether you’re a Democrat or Republican or independent, we all want our families to be safe. We drop families off at the house of worship or a child at a mall or a movie theater or a school — we don’t have to worry about whether it was — that’s the last time we’ll see them. No, I — I mean, think about. Think about it. We all want our kids to have the freedom to learn how to read and write in schools instead of duck and cover.

Let me close with this. I know how difficult this work is, particularly for someone who’s been through the tragedies of consequences of it. But I also have no illusions about the champions and heroes in this fight, including all of you. I really don’t.

Look at what you’ve already done. Look at the movement you’ve built. Look at the elected officials standing alongside me in — that are here today.

Listen to the young people speaking out. That’s the power of your loved ones and their memory. (Applause.) And that’s the power of this movement. That’s the power of America.

We just have to keep going, have — have faith in who we are.

Ladies and gentlemen, we’re the United States of America. There is nothing beyond our capacity — nothing, nothing, nothing. I mean that. I swear to God.

I know I look like I’m only 40, but I’m 100 years old. (Laughter and applause.) I’ve been around a long time.

I really mean it. There’s nothing beyond our capacity. We’re the only nation in the world — as a student of history, I can tell you — that’s come out of every crisis stronger than we went in. And we’ve got to come out stronger now.

Now, I’m going to sign this executive order.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. (Applause.)

(The president moves to signing desk.)

All right. What I’m about to sign is “Combating Emerging Firearms Threats and Improving School-Based Active-Shooter Drills.” I never thought I’d have to sign something like this, but we do.

MR. GUTTENBERG: And we thank you.

MS. GIFFORDS: Thank you.

(The executive order is signed.)

MS. GIFFORDS: Bravo. (Applause.)

(The president gives a pen to Representative McBath.)

(The executive order is signed.)

THE PRESIDENT: Keep it going, boss. (Laughter.)

(The president gives a pen to the vice president.)

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.)

5:51 P.M. EDT

The post Remarks by President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Mayor Woodfin on the Scourge of Gun Violence in America appeared first on The White House.

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Approves South Carolina Emergency Declaration

Today, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. declared that an emergency exists in the State of South Carolina and ordered Federal assistance to supplement State, tribal, and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Hurricane Helene beginning on September 25, 2024, and continuing.

The President’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe.

Public Assistance (Category B) emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding for the counties of Abbeville, Anderson, Cherokee, Greenville, Laurens, Oconee, Pickens, and Spartanburg

Public Assistance (Category B) emergency protective measures, limited to direct Federal assistance and reimbursement for mass care including evacuation and shelter support will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding for the counties of Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Calhoun, Chester, Colleton, Edgefield, Fairfield, Greenwood, Hampton, Jasper, Kershaw, Lancaster, Lexington, McCormick, Newberry, Orangeburg, Richland, Saluda, Sumter, Union, and York.

Public Assistance (Category B) emergency protective measures, limited to direct Federal assistance will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding for the counties of Berkeley, Charleston, Chesterfield, Clarendon, Darlington, Dillon, Dorchester, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Lee, Marion, Marlboro, and Williamsburg.

Mr. Brett H. Howard of FEMA has been appointed to coordinate Federal recovery operations in the affected areas. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION MEDIA SHOULD CONTACT THE FEMA NEWS DESK AT (202) 646-3272 OR FEMA-NEWS-DESK@FEMA.DHS.GOV.

The post President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Approves South Carolina Emergency Declaration appeared first on The White House.

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

     Section 1.  Policy.  During 2020, the last year of the prior administration, homicides in the Nation increased nearly 30 percent over the previous year — the largest 1-year increase in murders ever recorded.  After that, the Vice President and I took action to reduce gun crime and other forms of violent crime.  By the middle of 2022, we had already taken more executive action to reduce gun violence than any other administration at that point in time.  On June 25, 2022, I signed into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (Public Law 117-159) — the most significant new gun violence prevention law in nearly 30 years.  Rates of homicide in the United States are falling at one of the fastest rates ever recorded.  Year-over-year comparison shows that 2023 had one of the largest declines in the homicide rate in recent history.  This life-saving progress has continued in 2024.  While we have made great progress, much more work remains to be done to reduce gun violence and save lives.

     It is the policy of my Administration to coordinate across executive departments and agencies (agencies) to reduce gun violence and save lives.  This order directs enhanced coordination for two key challenges:  combating emerging firearms threats and understanding and improving school-based active-shooter drills.

     One way to continue the progress on reducing gun violence is to stay ahead of emerging violent crime threats involving firearms.  My Administration has always taken these threats seriously.  In April 2021, one of my Administration’s first executive actions to reduce gun violence was directed at stopping the proliferation of firearms without serial numbers, often referred to as “ghost guns.”  To expand these efforts, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) of the Department of Justice established an Emerging Threats Center, which focuses ATF’s resources on identifying developments in illicit firearm marketplaces, including the use of new technologies to make and unlawfully distribute undetectable firearms and devices that convert semiautomatic firearms into illegal machineguns.  The Vice President and I strongly disagreed with the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down an important gun safety regulation on bump stocks — the device used in the shooting at a crowded music festival in Las Vegas — and called on the Congress to clarify that this dangerous accessory is a machinegun.

The Court’s decision addressing bump stocks did not alter the statutory prohibition on machinegun conversion devices, which are prohibited for non-governmental possession even when not installed on a firearm.  The threat posed by the continued proliferation of these devices is particularly acute.  These devices enable semiautomatic firearms, including easily concealable handguns, to match or exceed the rate of fire of many military machineguns with a single engagement of the trigger — up to 20 bullets in one second and 1,200 rounds in one minute.  From 2017 through 2021, ATF recovered 5,454 of these devices — a 570 percent increase over the previous 5-year period.  These devices are often illegally imported or illegally made on a 3D printer.  

Unserialized, 3D printed firearms — which can be used for illicit purposes such as gun trafficking, possession by people convicted of felonies or subject to domestic violence restraining orders, or unlawful engagement in the business of manufacturing or selling firearms — are another emerging threat.  These firearms can be 3D printed from computer code downloaded from the internet and produced without serial numbers, which law enforcement uses to trace firearms recovered in criminal investigations.  Some 3D printed firearms can be rendered undetectable by magnetometers used to secure airports, courthouses, and certain events.  3D printing technology is developing quickly, which can cause the safety threat of 3D printed firearms to suddenly increase.

In addition to the threat of domestic crime, these emerging firearms threats pose a significant risk to the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States.  Many foreign countries have heavily regulated automatic weapons and 3D printed and undetectable firearms.  The wide availability of these emerging firearms threats would undermine other nations’ gun laws and the safety and security of our allies.  Technical data and software for 3D printed firearms and machinegun conversion devices can be used by international gangs, criminals, and terrorists in a manner contrary to United States national security and foreign policy interests.    

Multiple agencies have the authority to help stop the proliferation of these emerging threats, and it is the policy of the United States to work collectively across agencies to identify threats, engage in information sharing, and work together to develop and implement effective strategies to combat these threats.  Authorities that can address emerging firearms threats extend beyond the Gun Control Act (Public Law 90-618) and the National Firearms Act (Public Law 73-474).  Focused and enhanced coordination is needed to ensure a unified and robust strategy for enforcing existing legal authorities and using every available tool and resource.  This interagency effort will build on the life-saving work that has occurred to date to stop the proliferation of machinegun conversion devices, including the ongoing efforts at the Department of Justice and ATF.

     My Administration also has invested significant resources in school safety and has taken steps to keeps firearms out of schools.  These steps have focused on preventing unauthorized access to firearms for youth and individuals in crisis; supporting schools that are implementing evidence-based safety and gun-violence prevention and intervention solutions; and addressing the mental health needs of students, particularly those impacted by gun violence.  

Keeping students and educators, including teachers and other school personnel, safe from gun violence in their schools is a top priority for my Administration, but there is more to do to make our schools safer.  Since the mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999, according to one analysis, there have been more than 400 school shootings that exposed more than 375,000 students to gun violence.  Exposure to school shootings takes a terrible toll on students and educators.  A nationally representative study found that 51 percent of 14- to 17‑year‑olds in the United States worry about school shootings.

     The majority of States require schools to conduct active-shooter drills for students and educators.  About 95 percent of K-12 public schools in the United States conduct lockdown drills, which include drills to prepare for an active-shooter situation.  These drills vary widely in their approach, and many parents, students, and educators have expressed concerns over the effectiveness of and trauma caused by some approaches to these drills. 

     Despite their ubiquity, there is very limited research on how to design and deploy these drills to maximize their effectiveness and minimize any collateral harms they might cause.  While additional research is ongoing, it is difficult to conclusively determine which specific practices are most effective in preparing schools for active-shooter incidents, preventing injuries and fatalities, and minimizing any associated psychological impacts or traumas.  The Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, and the Department of Homeland Security continue to work together on a range of school safety issues, including the beginnings of research into these important questions.  It is time for these agencies to extend their efforts to help schools better design and conduct effective and age- and developmentally appropriate active-shooter drills.

Sec. 2.  Definitions.  For purposes of this order:

(a)  The term “machinegun” has the meaning given by 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(24) and 26 U.S.C. 5845(b), and includes a “machinegun conversion device,” which is any part designed and intended solely and exclusively, or combination of parts designed and intended, for use in converting a weapon into a machinegun.

(b)  The term “undetectable firearm” means a firearm as proscribed by 18 U.S.C. 922(p).

(c)  The term “3D printing” refers to the additive manufacturing process, during which producers transmit digital designs to 3D printers.  The computerized design guides the fabrication of products, building them up layer by layer rather than cutting away from a large block of existing material as in most traditional manufacturing.  This term includes additive manufacturing technology used to produce a firearm, firearm frame or receiver, or machinegun conversion device.

Sec. 3.  Combating Emerging Firearms Threats.  (a)  There is hereby established an interagency Emerging Firearms Threats Task Force (Task Force).  The Task Force shall be chaired by the Director of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention.  In addition to the Chair, the Task Force shall consist of the following members:

(i)     the Secretary of State;

(ii)    the Attorney General;

(iii)   the Secretary of Commerce;

(iv)    the Secretary of Homeland Security;

(v)     the Director of the Office of Management and Budget;

(vi)    the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy;

(vii)   the Assistant to the President and Homeland Security Advisor;

(viii)  the Counsel to the President;

(ix)    the Assistant to the President and Director of the Domestic Policy Council;

(x)     the Deputy Assistant to the President and Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President; and

(xi)    the heads of such other agencies and offices as the Chair may from time to time invite to participate.

(b)  Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Task Force shall submit to the President, through the Director of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, a report containing a risk assessment and strategy to stop the proliferation of machinegun conversion devices, with a particular emphasis on the devices used to convert a standard, semiautomatic firearm to a machinegun.  The risk assessment and strategy shall include:

(i)     information regarding the use, recovery, origins, and distribution channels of machinegun conversion devices, including:

(A)  the software or technology used for 3D printing machinegun conversion devices; and

(B)  the origins of machinegun conversion devices that are seized at ports of entry, illegally imported into the United States, or otherwise recovered by law enforcement agencies in the United States;

(ii)    an assessment of existing applicable legal authorities of the agencies represented on the Task Force and other agencies identified at the direction of the Chair to regulate software or technology used to make machinegun conversion devices, which shall include a review of export and import laws;

(iii)   an assessment of the technological and legal feasibility of 3D printing companies designing 3D printers that block the functional capacities of software that can 3D print machinegun conversion devices;

(iv)    an assessment of the operational capabilities and legal authorities of agencies to detect, intercept, and seize machinegun conversion devices that are illegally imported or illegally produced domestically, including through 3D printing;

(v)     an interagency plan for expanding U.S. Customs and Border Protection initiatives with Federal, State, Tribal, and local law enforcement to stop the flow into the United States of machinegun conversion devices;

(vi)    an interagency plan for seizing as criminal instrumentalities 3D printers that are acquired for the purpose of illegally making machinegun conversion devices and recommendations for additional administrative actions necessary to facilitate such seizure;

(vii)   an interagency plan for expanding partnerships with State, Tribal, and local law enforcement for Federal training on identifying machinegun conversion devices, tracing the firearms to which they were attached, and submitting seizure data to ATF;

(viii)  an interagency plan — with input from 3D data providers, technology companies, and civil society — for voluntary, regulatory, and international mechanisms to limit the availability on the internet of files used for the purpose of unlawfully producing machinegun conversion devices;

(ix)    an interagency plan for effective coordination to limit the illegal export and import of software or technology on the internet that can be readily used to 3D print machinegun conversion devices; and

(x)     recommendations for any additional authorities or funding agencies need from the Congress to more effectively address the proliferation of machinegun conversion devices.

(c)  Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Task Force shall submit to the President, through the Director of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, a report containing a risk assessment and strategy to address the emerging threat related to 3D printed firearms, including unserialized or undetectable 3D printed firearms.  The risk assessment and strategy shall include:

(i)     information regarding the usage, recovery, origins, and distribution channels of 3D printed unserialized firearms and 3D printed undetectable firearms, including the software or technology used for 3D printing unserialized firearms or undetectable firearms;

(ii)    an assessment of how 3D printing of firearms can facilitate violation of the Undetectable Firearms Act (18 U.S.C. 922(p));

(iii)   an assessment of existing authorities, including export and import laws, that regulate software or technology used for 3D printing firearms, including undetectable firearms;

(iv)    an assessment of the technological feasibility of 3D printers proactively blocking the functional capacities of software used to 3D print undetectable firearms;

(v)     an interagency plan for seizing as criminal instrumentalities 3D printers acquired for the purpose of illegally producing or dealing in firearms, including unserialized or undetectable firearms, or for the purpose of producing firearms for criminal purposes, and recommendations for additional administrative actions that may be necessary to facilitate such seizures;

(vi)    an interagency plan for effective coordination between the Department of Justice and the Department of Commerce to limit the illegal export or import of software or technology on the internet that can be readily used to illegally 3D print firearms, including unserialized or undetectable firearms;

(vii)   an interagency plan for expanding partnerships with Federal, State, Tribal, and local law enforcement to train them on identifying undetectable or unserialized firearms made with 3D printing software or technology and reporting recoveries of such firearms to ATF; and

(viii)  recommendations for any additional authorities or funding the agencies need from the Congress to more effectively address the problem of 3D printed firearms, including unserialized or undetectable firearms.

(d)  The Task Force shall be responsible for interagency coordination necessary to facilitate agencies’ implementation of the recommendations and strategies in the reports described in subsections (b) and (c) of this section.

(e)  At the direction of the Chair, the Task Force may coordinate interagency efforts to address additional emerging firearms threats.

     Sec. 4.  Understanding and Improving School-Based Active-Shooter Drills.  (a)  Within 110 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Surgeon General, shall develop and publish information about school-based active-shooter drills for schools, including institutions of higher education, and for State, Tribal, and local educational agencies.  Such information shall include:

(i)   a summary of existing research and recommendations on active-shooter drills, including information on:

(A)  how educators can collaborate within schools — as well as with families; communities; State, Tribal, and local law enforcement; and other emergency response officials — to implement drills that effectively prepare a response to school-based active-shooter situations, including by accounting for the particular needs of educators and students with disabilities; sharing evidence-informed age- and developmentally appropriate practices, such as those that prevent or limit trauma and psychological harm to those participating in drills; and facilitating effective and timely communication with students, educators, first responders, family members, and other relevant stakeholders; and

(B)  how schools must comply with Federal civil rights laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, and disability when creating, implementing, and evaluating active-shooter drills, including by effectively serving educators and students with disabilities as well as ensuring that communications with educators and students consider their language-related needs (e.g., communicating in a manner and language that educators and students are able to understand); and

(ii)  resources on school-based active-shooter drills, including information on:

(A)  the types of drills that may be appropriate to prepare students and educators for school-based active-shooter situations; and

(B)  how to create, implement, and evaluate evidence-informed, effective, and age- and developmentally appropriate school-based drills, including:

(1)  how best to engage with students, family members, educators, law enforcement, and other relevant stakeholders on the process for creating, implementing, and evaluating these drills;

(2)  how best to communicate with students, family members, educators, and other relevant stakeholders before, during, and after the drill, including through the use of notification plans for students, educators, parents, and other parties;

(3)  how to prevent or limit trauma or psychological distress associated with active-shooter drills and support students and educators who may experience such trauma or psychological distress; and

(4)  how best to serve people with disabilities and those with unique language-related needs.

(b)  Within 110 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Surgeon General, shall develop and publish information on recommended areas for future research that can help inform policymakers, educators, students, parents, and other relevant stakeholders about different types of school-based active-shooter drills, the appropriate frequency of such drills, and the effects of such drills on students and educators.  This information shall include potential funding sources that could help advance research on, and inform improvements to, active-shooter drills.

Sec. 5.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

                              JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

THE WHITE HOUSE,
September 26, 2024.

The post Executive Order on Combating Emerging Firearms Threats and Improving School-Based Active-Shooter Drills appeared first on The White House.

On Thursday, September 26, 2024, the President signed into law:

S. 2825, the “Dustoff Crews of the Vietnam War Congressional Gold Medal Act,” which provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to the United States Army Dustoff crews of the Vietnam War, collectively, in recognition of their extraordinary heroism and life-saving actions in Vietnam.

Thank you to Senators Cornyn and Warren, and Representatives Kilmer and McMorris Rodgers for their leadership.

S. 2861, the “Billie Jean King Congressional Gold Medal Act,” which provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to Billie Jean King in recognition of a remarkable life devoted to championing equal rights for all, in sports and in society.

Thank you to Senators Gillibrand, Capito, and Sinema, and Representatives Fitzpatrick and Sherrill for their leadership.

###

The post Bills Signed: S. 2825, S. 2861 appeared first on The White House.

On Thursday, September 26, 2024, the President signed into law:

S. 265, the “Supporting and Improving Rural EMS Needs Reauthorization Act” or the “SIREN Reauthorization Act,” which reauthorizes and modifies a grant program to support the improvement of emergency medical services in rural areas.

Thank you to Senators Durbin and Collins, and Representatives Dave Joyce and Dingell, for their leadership.

S. 1648, the “Launch Communications Act,” which requires the Federal Communications Commission to finalize rules for access to specified frequencies for commercial space launches and commercial space reentries.

Thank you to Senators Schmitt and Hickenlooper, and Representatives Soto and Dunn, for their leadership.

S. 4351, the “Poison Control Centers Reauthorization Act of 2024,” which reauthorizes national poison control programs.

Thank you to Senators Murray, Tuberville, Luján, and Romney, and Representatives Chavez-DeRemer, John Joyce, Cherfilus-McCormick, and Davis, for their leadership.

###

The post Press Release: Bills Signed: S. 265, S. 1648, S. 4351 appeared first on The White House.

Vice President Kamala Harris met today with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine at the White House.  The Vice President expressed her unwavering commitment to stand with Ukraine.  They discussed the importance of continued, strong U.S. support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression, President Zelenskyy’s plans for victory, and efforts to secure a just and lasting peace based on the will of the people of Ukraine and the UN Charter.
 
The two leaders also discussed the latest developments on the battlefield, and ongoing U.S. military assistance to Ukraine, including President Biden’s major announcements today.  Building on previous discussions, the Vice President welcomed continued progress by Ukraine on rule of law reforms and anti-corruption efforts, and they discussed continued U.S. support for bolstering Ukraine’s civilian energy infrastructure after renewed attacks from Russia.

# # #

The post Readout of Vice President Harris’s Meeting with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine appeared first on The White House.

Today, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. declared that a major disaster exists in the State of Vermont and ordered Federal assistance to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by the severe storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides from July 29 to July 31, 2024.

The President’s action makes Federal funding available to affected individuals in the counties of Caledonia, Essex, and Orleans.

Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

Federal funding is also available to state and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides in the counties of Caledonia, Essex, and Orleans.

Lastly, Federal funding is available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

Mr. William F. Roy of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been appointed to coordinate Federal recovery operations in the affected areas. 

Additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.

Residents and business owners who sustained losses in the designated areas can begin applying for assistance at www.DisasterAssistance.gov, by calling 800-621-FEMA (3362), or by using the FEMA App. Anyone using a relay service, such as video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone service or others, can give FEMA the number for that service. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION MEDIA SHOULD CONTACT THE FEMA NEWS DESK AT (202) 646-3272 OR FEMA-NEWS-DESK@FEMA.DHS.GOV.

###

The post President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Approves Vermont Disaster Declaration appeared first on The White House.

Today, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. declared that an emergency exists in the State of Alabama and ordered Federal assistance to supplement State, tribal, and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Hurricane Helene beginning on September 22, 2024, and continuing.

The President’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe.

Public Assistance (Category B) emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding for Houston County.

Public Assistance (Category B) emergency protective measures, limited to direct Federal assistance and reimbursement for mass care including evacuation and shelter support will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding for the counties of Barbour, Bullock, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, DeKalb, Etowah, Geneva, Henry, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lee, Limestone, Macon, Madison, Marshall, Morgan, Randolph, Russell, and Tallapoosa.

Public Assistance (Category B) emergency protective measures, limited to direct Federal assistance will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding for the counties of Baldwin, Butler, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Mobile, Monroe, and Washington. 

Mr. Keith Denning of FEMA has been appointed to coordinate Federal recovery operations in the affected areas.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION MEDIA SHOULD CONTACT THE FEMA NEWS DESK AT (202) 646-3272 OR FEMA-NEWS-DESK@FEMA.DHS.GOV.

###

The post President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Approves Alabama Emergency Declaration appeared first on The White House.

Dear Mr. Speaker:   (Dear Madam President:)

In accordance with section 114(b) of the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (H.R. 9747; the “Act”), I hereby designate as emergency requirements all funding (including the transfer and repurposing of funds) so designated by the Congress in the Act pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as outlined in the enclosed list of accounts.

The details of this action are set forth in the enclosed memorandum from the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. 

                             Sincerely,

                             JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

The post Letter to the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate on the Designation of Funding as Emergency Requirements in Accordance with Section 114(b) of the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 appeared first on The White House.