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TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES:

It is my solemn duty to announce officially the death of James Earl Carter, Jr., the thirty-ninth President of the United States, on December 29, 2024.

President Carter was a man of character, courage, and compassion, whose lifetime of service defined him as one of the most influential statesmen in our history.  He embodied the very best of America:  A humble servant of God and the people.  A heroic champion of global peace and human rights, and an honorable leader whose moral clarity and hopeful vision lifted our Nation and changed our world.

The son of a farmer and a nurse, President Carter’s remarkable career in public service began in 1943 as a cadet at the United States Naval Academy.  He later served in both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets before becoming a decorated lieutenant and being selected to join the elite nuclear submarine program.

After his father died, he shifted from active duty to the Navy Reserve and returned home to Plains, Georgia, to help manage his family’s peanut farm.  He worked hard stewarding the land while leading his community as a church deacon, Sunday school teacher, and board member of a hospital and library.  His deep faith inspired a passion for public service that led him to be elected State Senator, Georgia’s 76th Governor, and ultimately President of the United States.  

As President, he understood that Government must be as good as its people — and his faith in the people was boundless just as his belief in America was limitless and his hope for our common future was perennial.

With President Carter’s leadership, the modern Department of Education and the Department of Energy were created.  He championed conservation, and his commitment to a more just world was at the heart of his foreign policy, leading on nuclear nonproliferation, signing the Panama Canal treaties, and mediating the historic 1978 Camp David Accords.  His partnership with Vice President Walter Mondale is one that future administrations strived to achieve.

Following his Presidency, President Carter advanced an agenda that elevated the least among us.  Guided by an unwavering belief in the power of human goodness and the God‑given dignity of every human being, he worked tirelessly around the globe to broker peace; eradicate disease; house the homeless; and protect human rights, freedom, and democracy.

Through his extraordinary moral leadership, President Carter lived a noble life full of meaning and purpose.  And as a trusted spiritual leader, he shepherded people through seasons of pain and joy, inspiring them through the power of his example and healing them through the power of his guidance.

As we mourn the loss of President Carter, we hold the memory of his beloved Rosalynn, his wife of over 77 years, close in our hearts.  Exemplifying hope, warmth, and service, she and her husband inspired the Nation.  The love Rosalynn and President Carter shared is the definition of partnership, and their devotion to public service is the definition of patriotism.

May President Carter’s memory continue to be a light pointing us forward.  May we continue to be guided by his spirit in our Nation and in our world.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, in honor and tribute to the memory of President James Earl Carter, Jr., and as an expression of public sorrow, do hereby direct that the flag of the United States be displayed at half-staff at the White House and on all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions for a period of 30 days from the day of his death.  I also direct that, for the same length of time, the representatives of the United States in foreign countries shall make similar arrangements for the display of the flag at half‑staff over their embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.

     I hereby order that suitable honors be rendered by units of the Armed Forces under orders of the Secretary of Defense.

     I do further appoint January 9, 2025, as a National Day of Mourning throughout the United States.  I call on the American people to assemble on that day in their respective places of worship, there to pay homage to the memory of President James Earl Carter, Jr.  I invite the people of the world who share our grief to join us in this solemn observance.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth day of December, 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.

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President Jimmy Carter was guided by a deep and abiding faith — in God, in America, and in humanity. 
 
Jimmy Carter’s life is a testament to the power of service — as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy, the 76th Governor of Georgia, and the 39th President of the United States. He reminded our nation and the world that there is strength in decency and compassion.
 
As President, he protected our air and water, promoted transparency in government, and brokered an historic peace treaty between Egypt and Israel at Camp David.  
 
Throughout his life, President Carter was strengthened by the love and support of his partner of 77 years, First Lady Rosalynn Carter, whose life President Biden and I had the opportunity to celebrate in Georgia last year. After leaving office, President Carter continued his fight for peace, democracy, and human dignity through the Carter Center.
 
I had the privilege of knowing President Carter for years. I will always remember his kindness, wisdom, and profound grace. His life and legacy continue to inspire me — and will inspire generations to come. Our world is a better place because of President Carter.
 
Doug and I send our love and prayers to the Carter family.  

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The post Statement by Vice President Kamala Harris on the Passing of Former President Jimmy Carter appeared first on The White House.

Today, America and the world lost an extraordinary leader, statesman, and humanitarian.

Over six decades, we had the honor of calling Jimmy Carter a dear friend. But, what’s extraordinary about Jimmy Carter, though, is that millions of people throughout America and the world who never met him thought of him as a dear friend as well.  

With his compassion and moral clarity, he worked to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless, and always advocate for the least among us. He saved, lifted, and changed the lives of people all across the globe.

He was a man of great character and courage, hope and optimism. We will always cherish seeing him and Rosalynn together. The love shared between Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter is the definition of partnership and their humble leadership is the definition of patriotism.

We will miss them both dearly, but take solace knowing they are reunited once again and will remain forever in our hearts.

To the entire Carter family, we send our gratitude for sharing them with America and the world. To their staff – from the earliest days to the final ones – we have no doubt that you will continue to do the good works that carry on their legacy.

And to all of the young people in this nation and for anyone in search of what it means to live a life of purpose and meaning – the good life – study Jimmy Carter, a man of principle, faith, and humility. He showed that we are great nation because we are a good people – decent and honorable, courageous and compassionate, humble and strong.

To honor a great American, I will be ordering an official state funeral to be held in Washington D.C. for James Earl Carter, Jr., 39th President of the United States, 76th Governor of Georgia, Lieutenant of the United States Navy, graduate of the United States Naval Academy, and favorite son of Plains, Georgia, who gave his full life in service to God and country.

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The post Statement by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden on the Passing of Former President Jimmy Carter appeared first on The White House.

Jill and I are deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life that occurred as a result of the Jeju Airlines accident in Muan, Republic of Korea. As close allies, the American people share deep bonds of friendship with the South Korean people and our thoughts and prayers are with those impacted by this tragedy. The United States stands ready to provide any necessary assistance.

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The post Statement from President Joe Biden on the Plane Crash in the Republic of Korea appeared first on The White House.

10:35 A.M. EST

MODERATOR:  Hi, everyone.  Good morning.  And thanks so much for joining today’s News of the Day Gaggle with National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby and Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology Anne Neuberger.  This call, as a reminder, is on the record.  I’ll turn it over to John Kirby to kick us off. 

MR. KIRBY:  Hey.  Good morning, everybody.  Thanks for doing this during the holiday week.  I hope, for those who celebrate, you all had a good Christmas and a peaceful and joyous Hanukkah season. 

We are really lucky in this gaggle, this last gaggle of 2024, to have a guest with us today.  As Eduardo said, our Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber, Anne Neuberger, is on the line.  Anne has an update on the Salt Typhoon incident that she’s going to provide.  Then, I’m going to join.  I’ve got a short topper on Russia-Ukraine that I want to share with you all.  And then we’ll open up questions, and we’ll try to knock this out in about a half an hour and let you get back to your eggnog. 

But, Anne, over to you.

MS. NEUBERGER:  Thanks so much, John.  Hello, everybody.  And just echoing and repeating John’s happy holidays greetings to everybody and best wishes for a healthy new year.

So I wanted to provide an update on the Salt Typhoon incident as we’ve continued to work with the companies who were affected and as we’ve continued to better understand the techniques that the Chinese actors use to compromise our telecom infrastructure and what we need to do about it. 

So, first — and then I will also provide a quick update on a rule that we’ll be posting shortly on the Federal Register related to the first update in 20 years of rules around protecting Americans’ healthcare data from rising cyber threats. 

So, first, as we look at China’s compromise of now nine telecom companies, the first step is creating a defensible infrastructure.  We wouldn’t leave our homes, our offices unlocked, and yet our critical infrastructure — the private companies owning and operating our critical infrastructure often do not have the basic cybersecurity practices in place that would make our infrastructure riskier, costlier, and harder for countries and criminals to attack. 

So, the first step, as I’ve mentioned, is creating that defensible infrastructure.  And what we’ve learned from the investigation, in fact, is that there’s four categories of things that are needed in this space: better management of configuration; better vulnerability management of networks; better work across the telecom sector to share information when incidents occur and the same techniques are used to compromise telecoms. 

That’s why we stood up the Enduring Security Framework 60-day effort that involves all of the telecoms.  Their CEOs signed off on their participating.  And we are documenting rapid, high-impact efforts, bringing the best experts from the intelligence community, CISA, and the FBI, together with the best telecom security experts, to document what is needed. 

However, we know that voluntary cybersecurity practices are inadequate to protect against China, Russia, and Iran hacking of our critical infrastructure.  That is why the FCC launched their notice of a public rule.  They’re waiting for all FCC commissioners to vote on that rule by January 15th, and we really are eager to have the bipartisan support across the FCC to ensure that telecom companies must put in place those basic cybersecurity practices that would make it harder, riskier, and costlier for the Chinese to compromise those networks in the future. 

In addition, GSA is reviewing our government contracts to ensure that we’re using the power of government procurement to also require high-impact cybersecurity practices.  And I would note that we would be following in the footsteps of Australia and the UK, who have already put in place telecom regulations because they recognize that the nation’s secrets, the nation’s economy lies on their telecommunications sector. 

And when I talked with our UK colleagues and I asked, you know, “Do you believe your regulations would have prevented the Salt Typhoon attack,” their comment to me was, “We would have found it faster, we would have contained it faster, it wouldn’t have spread as widely and have had the impact and been as undiscovered for as long had those regulations been in place.”  And that’s a powerful message. 

In addition, I wanted to, as I mentioned, give an update on the notice that HHS will be publishing later today of a proposed rulemaking to modify the HIPAA security rule from 1996 to strengthen cybersecurity protections for electronic protected health information. 

The proposed rule would add new cybersecurity requirements and improve existing security requirements, adding additional clarity and specificity.  And this is — in the last five years, there’s been an alarming growth, 1,002 percent, in the number of Americans affected by large breaches of healthcare information, over 167 million individuals in 2023 alone.  Since 2019, large breaching caused by hacking and ransomware have increased 89 percent and 102 percent. 

And I must say, in this job, one of the most concerning and really troubling things we deal with is hacking of hospitals, hacking of healthcare data.  We see hospitals forced to operate manually.  We see Americans’ sensitive healthcare data, sensitive mental health procedures, sensitive procedures being leaked on the dark web with the opportunity to blackmail individuals with that. 

And because of that, you know, the Biden administration, President Biden, HHS is committed to protecting the security of health information. 

Given the significant increase in cyberattacks and common compliance deficiencies, HHS is issuing this new rule.  And what I want to highlight is the security rule was first published in 2003.  It was last revised in 2013.  So, this is the first update to this 20-year rule in over a decade.  And it will require entities who maintain healthcare data to do things like encrypt that data so if it’s hacked, it cannot be leaked on the Web and endanger individuals and monitor their networks, do compliance checks of their networks to see that they meet those cybersecurity rules.  And I’m happy to go into more details or further questions later.

I want to hit the question of cost.  While there would indeed be an increase in the implementation costs for the proposed rule, if finalized — and we estimate it would be $9 billion for the first year, $6 billion for year two to five — the cost of not acting is not only high, it also endangers critical infrastructure and patient safety, and it carries other harmful consequences. 

I’ll give just two examples.  In 2023, the average cost of a breach in healthcare was $10.1 million.  The two biggest healthcare breaches we have ever experienced, Ascension Health and Change Healthcare, both occurred in the last year, and you may have noted Change Healthcare noted that the cost of the breach will be approaching $800 million in the cost of recovery and the cost of operations, and, frankly, in the cost to Americans’ healthcare data and the operations of hospitals affected by it. 

So, happy to answer questions.  And with that, I’ll turn it over to John with warmest wishes for you for a happy holiday season.

MR. KIRBY:  Thank you, Anne.  And same to you.  I appreciate that very much. 

Okay, so what I wanted to talk a little bit about was the situation in and around Kursk.  We now assess that North Korean forces are conducting massed — massed, dismounted assaults against Ukrainian positions in Kursk.  And these human wave tactics that we’re seeing haven’t really been all that effective.  In fact, we assess that they’ve resulted in heavy casualties for these North Korean forces.  Our estimate is that, to date, they have suffered more than 1,000 killed or wounded in this particular fighting in just the past week of them fighting on the front lines.  So, 1,000 in just the past week.

It is clear that Russian and North Korean military leaders are treating these troops as expendable and ordering them on hopeless assaults against Ukrainian defenses.  These North Korean soldiers appear to be highly indoctrinated, pushing attacks even when it is clear that those attacks are futile. 

We also have reports of North Korean soldiers taking their own lives rather than surrendering to Ukrainian forces, likely out of fear of reprisal against their families in North Korea in the event that they’re captured. 

And I think it’s important to keep all this in mind and it all comes in context, of course, is the — in the early hours of Christmas when the Russians launched waves of missiles and drones against Ukrainian cities, particularly critical energy infrastructure.  No doubt this was all about weaponizing winter and weaponizing energy, making it harder for the Ukrainian people to get the heat that they need simply to subsist. 

That’s why we’re going to stay absolutely committed to making sure that we are bolstering Ukrainian air defense capabilities as well as other capabilities, of course.  And I think you’re going to see — well, no, I know you’re going to see here in the next day or so, certainly over the course of the next couple of days, yet another security assistance package by the United States, approved by the President, which will include, of course, air defense systems for Ukraine to help them beat back against these attacks and also to help them in fighting in and around Kursk to beat back these North Korean waves, as well as continue their defensive operations against the Russians in the east, where the Russians continue to make some plotting progress. 

So with that, Eduardo, we can open it up for questions.

MODERATOR:  Awesome.  Thank you.  First up, we’ll go to the line of Mike Memoli.

Q    Hey, John.  Greetings from St. Croix.  I hope you’re having a good holiday. 

I wanted to ask about comments overnight from President Putin seeming to signal openness to peace talks in Slovakia.  The prime minister had just been at the Kremlin and reiterated and made that offer to the Russians.  What does the U.S. think of that possibility?

And secondly, if I can ask as well, I’m wondering if you can weigh in any more on how the U.S. assesses the possibility of Russia having downed that Azerbaijan jet.  Obviously, we had a statement yesterday, but how — if there’s anything more you can say about how the U.S. came to that assessment. 

MR. KIRBY:  So, on your first question, we have always said from the beginning: Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.  Ukraine has got to be center stage when it comes to any kind of negotiation.  We’ve also always said that any other nation that wants to get involved in helping a negotiated settlement in this war needs to be in complete lockstep with President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people.  He gets to determine if and when he’s ready to negotiate, and he gets to determine the circumstances and the conditions under which he would do that. 

The last thing I’d say, Mike, is that Putin’s comments are pretty vacuous.  I mean, he has shown absolutely zero interest in a negotiated settlement.  I mean, as I just said — mentioned in my topper and you saw the statement by the President, I mean, just over Christmas Day he’s launching waves of missiles and drones against Ukrainian infrastructure.  This is not a man who anyone should take seriously when it comes to saying he’s ready for a negotiated settlement.  He has proven quite the contrary in almost every single possible way. 

So, again, we would obviously want to make sure that if and when it comes to a negotiated settlement, no matter who hosts that settlement, that it is done in full concert with President Zelenskyy.  And in the meantime, until he’s ready, we’re going to make sure that he can negotiate in the best position of strength, which is why, as I said earlier, you’re going to see yet another presidential drawdown package here in coming days that will continue to bolster his ability to defend himself. 

On your second question, I really don’t have anything more to add.  We do have — have seen some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air defense systems.  That said, there’s an ongoing investigation right now.  Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are conducting this jointly.  We have offered our assistance to that investigation should they need it, should they want it.  But we’re going to respect that process, and I really don’t have anything more to add.

MODERATOR:  Next up, we’ll go to the line of Dustin Volz.

Q    Hi there.  Thank you so much for doing this.  If I could just go back to Anne on Salt Typhoon.  Thank you for the update.  This ninth U.S. telecom victim, I was just wondering if you could give any more details on sort of the timing of that discussion, (inaudible), you could clarify sort of how recently that was detected, and if you anticipate that more victims will continue to be discovered as this investigation continues.  Thank you. 

MS. NEUBERGER:  Thanks, Dustin.  So, one of the steps we took early on was to release two guidance: one, a hunting guide and a hardening guide.  And the hunting guide essentially captured the Chinese techniques, and it went out to key telecom companies to have them look for those techniques on their networks and call in for help if they discover it.  So, from that, yes, a ninth company was identified.

And the hardening guidance is its companion.  As we’ve been working with key telecom companies that were affected, on the hardening guidance, we’re now refining it based on what we’re learning.  I mentioned that’s why we stood up the ESF effort, because we see that very specific things would actually make it riskier, costlier, and harder for the Chinese, managing the management plane of the network, treating configuration management differently, segmenting the network. 

One of the things that happened is the Chinese gained access to networks, essentially had broad and full access.  That’s why they’ve been able — we believe that’s why they had the capability to geolocate millions of individuals, to record phone calls at will, because they had that broad access. 

So, some of the recommendations, some of the requirements that we’re looking for the FCC to include include segmenting the networks.  Even if an attacker like the Chinese government gets access to a network, they’re controlled and they’re contained. 

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Next up we’ll go to the line of Karen DeYoung.

Q    Hi.  I wanted to ask about Yemen and the Israeli strikes against the international airport.  I wondered if the United States is in agreement with that, targeting those places, especially when a lot of civilians are there, if you think that was a worthwhile strike.

Also, if you could give us a readout on the recent round of U.S. and UK strikes, how successful they were, and if you plan on continuing that. 

And finally, to ask about the shipping.  There seems to have been — we haven’t heard about any shipping-related strikes recently.  Is that because the Houthis have sort of stopped attacking ships as they’ve been attacking Israel?  Or is there some — do we have some shortage in our interceptor supplies?

MR. KIRBY:  There’s an awful lot there, Karen.  I’ll try to take them in order.

On your first question, I’ll let the IDF speak to their military operations, as we typically do.  I’m not going to comment on individual strikes that they take to defend themselves.  I would just say that the Houthis continue to pose a real, a present, and a viable threat to the safety and security of the Israeli people as the Houthis — and you mentioned it in your question to me — continue to launch strikes against Israeli soil itself.  So they have a right to defend themselves.

Now, as we’ve also said and continue to say, how they defend themselves matters, of course, and we want to see them conduct our operations with a minimal impact on civilian infrastructure and certainly at much less risk to the civilian population, and that’s a conversation that we continue to have with them, and I can assure you that those conversations are ongoing.

On the strikes that we’ve been conducting as part of our coalition effort, I would point you to the Pentagon to speak to battle damage assessment.  I’m afraid I don’t have that level of detail here this morning. 

That said, those missions are important in terms of further degrading Houthi capabilities.  We believe that, in the main, these strikes have been effective, but clearly there are continued threats posed by the Houthis, continued capabilities that they are able to deploy and use against commercial and warship activity in the Red Sea.  And so, these strikes will continue for as long as that threat remains.  Clearly, they still have some capability to conduct these attacks, and not just against shipping but against the Israeli people as well. 

On the reduction, I think it’s most likely a combination of factors, Karen.  We believe it is certainly due in part to the strikes that we have been conducting and the degradation of their capabilities.  We haven’t eliminated that.  They still have the ability to strike out at shipping, but we do believe we have further degraded their ability to do so.

We also have extensive defensive capabilities as well.  I mean, we believe one of the reasons that you haven’t seen successful attacks against commercial shipping lately is because we also continue to sharpen and hone our defensive capabilities to prevent those attacks from succeeding.  And then, as you rightly also noted, one other factor could be that they have increased their attention on Israeli soil and attacks against the nation of Israel. 

So, I think it’s a combination of things, but the strikes will continue against their capabilities for as long as we believe those capabilities remain viable, and they still remain viable.

MODERATOR:  Next up, we’ll go to the line of Martin Montague.

Q    Good morning.  Happy holidays.  I have questions for

Anne.  Anne, thank you for the update.  Appreciate it. 

You know, the number has come up from eight to nine.  I’m wondering if there’s any evidence that any of the firms have been able to fully evict the Chinese from their networks. 

And I’m also wondering if there’s any sort of idea, now that we’re a few weeks — few months, I should say, into this investigation, the total universe of Americans impacted by this breach, is there any sort of ballpark figure, rough estimate, back-of-the-envelope number you might be able to share?  Thank you.

MS. NEUBERGER:  Thanks so much, Martin.  So, two things I would say.  One is, you know, I’ve had the opportunity to lead both offensive and defensive operations, and the reality is that from what we’re seeing regarding the level of cybersecurity implemented across the telecom sector, those networks are not as defensible as they need to be to defend against a well-resourced, capable, offensive cyber actor like China. 

The reality is that China is targeting critical infrastructure in the United States — those are private sector companies — and we still see companies not doing the basics.  So, you know, in one telecoms case, there was one administrator account that had access to over 100,000 routers.  So, when the Chinese compromised that account, they gained that kind of broad access across the network.  That’s not meaningful cybersecurity to defend against a nation-state actor. 

So I think, at this point, what we need to see is we need to see the FCC’s rules, we need to see every member of the — all the FCC commissioners vote to implement the required minimum cybersecurity practices across telecom, because once those are in place, once companies are taking those steps to make their networks defensible, we would feel more confident to say that the Chinese actors have been evicted and can continue to not be able to come in. 

With regard to the total number impacted, we don’t yet have a good sense.  Our understanding is that a large number of individuals were geolocated in the Washington, D.C./Virginia area.  We believe it was the goal of identifying who those phones belong to and if they were government targets of interest for follow-on espionage and intelligence collection of communications, of texts, and phone calls on those particular phones. 

So, we believe a large number of individuals were affected by geolocation and metadata of phones; a smaller number around actual collection of phone calls and texts.  And I think the scale we’re talking about is far larger on the geolocation; probably less than 100 on the actual individuals. 

But everything we’re learning — we’re continuing to learn in the incident.  The Chinese, you know, were very careful about their techniques.  They erased logs.  In many cases, companies were not keeping adequate logs.  So, there are details likely, Martin, that we will never know regarding the scope and scale of this.  And that’s why we’re looking forward and saying let’s lock down this infrastructure.  And, frankly, let’s hold the Chinese accountable for this. 

You saw the action, I’ll just reference, that the Department of Commerce took regarding China telecom.  There are further actions we’re working related to actions like that in that space as well that will be coming out over the next month and over the coming months.  Thanks.

MODERATOR:  Next up we’ll go to the line of Kellie Meyer.

Q    Hi, thanks for taking my call.  Merry Christmas, John.  Thank you for doing this today.

On the plane crash, I wanted to ask: Is POTUS monitoring this, the latest he’s been watching?  Can you share?

MR. KIRBY:  Yeah, Kellie.  Yeah, the President has been and will continue to be apprised and kept up to date on what’s going on.  But as I said, it’s actively being investigated.  He wanted to make sure that our team — and we did this both through our diplomats, but also through some NSC officials — made very clear to the Azerbaijani government that we stand ready and willing to help them, should they need it, with their investigation. 

But again, I don’t want to get ahead of where we are.

MODERATOR:  Next up, we’ll go to the line of Sara Cook.

Q    Hey, thank you so much for doing this.  I had a couple questions.  One, on the crash.  Can you expand on what these early indications are that you’re seeing that it might have been a Russian missile system? 

And separately, can you comment on Marc Fogel receiving wrongfully detained status in Russia?

And if I may, on the strike that Israel conducted near a hospital on Thursday that left about 50 killed, including five hospital workers and five journalists, I’m wondering if you can comment on that as well. 

MR. KIRBY:  All right, I’m going to be completely unsatisfying to you on almost all of these. 

I’m not going to get into what the early indications are that we’re looking at.  I think hopefully you can understand why I won’t do that, but we do have early indications. 

Again, I want to clarify: These are early indications.  There is an active investigation going on, and I don’t want to get ahead of where we are right now. 

I’m going to leave the State Department to speak to Mr. Fogel and his classification.  That is a determination that they make, and they have a process for that.  And I really think it’s better if you ask them what that — about that process and his particular case.

And on your last question, we’ve said time and time and time again: Hospitals should not be active scenes of combat and conflict.  People should be able to — be able to feel safe going to a hospital, get the medical care that they desperately need.  Sadly, we have seen in the past — again, time and time and time again — that Hamas uses civilian infrastructure, like schools and like hospitals, to store caches of weapons, to house fighters, to plan and coordinate. 

I can’t speak to this particular strike.  You guys are probably sick of me saying it, but I’ll say it again: I’m not going to speak to every IDF strike that they take.  I’ll let them speak to their operations.  But again, they still have an active threat from Hamas — Hamas fighters.  They should speak to how they’re dealing with that threat.  We don’t want to see hospitals as the scene of conflict.  And I’ll leave it at that. 

I do want to, if I could, while I remember — Karen DeYoung asked me about interceptor supplies for the United States Navy.  Again, this will be an unsatisfying answer, but I didn’t want to think — I didn’t want Karen to think I was blowing that off.  That would really be a question more for the Pentagon to speak to in terms of their inventory.  I would be surprised if they’re willing to publicly disclose what their inventory of air defense interceptors are aboard their surface ships in the Red Sea.  That’s not the kind of thing that we make public. 

But again, I would point you to the U.S. Navy or to DOD, and I just didn’t want you to think I blew that part of your question off.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  We’ve got time for a couple more questions.  Next up, we’ll go to the line of Lucas Thompson.

Q    John, is President Biden committed to the destruction of the Houthis in Yemen before he leaves office?

MR. KIRBY:  Hey, Lucas.  This is about destroying their ability to conduct these kinds of attacks.  It’s not about wiping every Houthi fighter off the map.  This is about preventing them from threatening commercial and, quite frankly, naval ship activity in and around the Red Sea, as well as helping degrade and prevent their ability to continue to launch drones and missiles at Israel.  So that’s what this is about. 

And as I said in my answer to Karen, we’re going to continue that effort.  For as long as he’s Commander-in-Chief, we’re going to continue to conduct those kinds of strikes and continue to try to degrade those capabilities.

MODERATOR:  Next up, we’ll go to the line of Eric Bazail.

Q    John, thanks so much for doing this.  Do you have any updates on the state of Gaza ceasefire talks, especially in light of some back-and-forth comments between Israeli and some of the Hamas leaders on Wednesday that Al Jazeera and other outlets reported on?

MR. KIRBY:  What I can tell you, in all honesty — and we had a conversation on this this morning — that our backs are to it, and we are continuing to work on this as hard as we can to try to get a ceasefire deal in place before we leave office.  And the team is, again, actively working this even today. 

I don’t have any specific updates to share with you.  Obviously, if we did, we would be sharing with you if we had some kind of breakthrough; we’re not there yet. 

I would just add again that Hamas is the obstacle.  As you get down towards what you believe is a conclusion of a negotiation, which we believe we are close to, it’s the specific details that become the issues over which the sides barter.  And the closer you get to the end, the more detailed those discussions occur.  And that’s where it gets more difficult, and that’s really where we are.  And it is because of Hamas throwing up obstacles or refusing to move on any of these details that we are still not at a conclusion. 

But we believe, as Jake has said, we’re very, very close, and so we’re not going to give up on it.

MODERATOR:  Next up, we’ll go to the line of Dmitry Anopchenko.

Q    Hello.  Thank you very much for taking my question.  John, two short questions please.  Firstly, you mentioned the situation with the North Koreans.  Previously, it was reported that Ukraine will have the opportunity to use the American or Western long-range missiles or long-range capabilities hitting any territory where the North Korea troops are.  So could you clarify the policy?

And secondly, there are a lot of talks about the upcoming meeting of the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group, the Ramstein Format, scheduled for January.  Could you share your understanding: Do you believe that it might be on the leaders’ level, or it will be on ministers’ level, as it was before? Thank you. 

MR. KIRBY:  I don’t have an update on the next Ukraine Defense Contact Group, Ramstein Format that you mentioned.  We’ll have more to say as we get closer to that, and I’m sure I’d point you to DOD to be the prime speaker to their plans for that. 

On your first question, I’ll let the Ukrainians talk about their operations and how they’re conducting their operations in and around Kursk.  Nothing has changed about our guidance to them in terms of how they can use long-range capabilities to defend themselves in that area.  But they should speak to what they’re doing, how they’re doing it, what they’re using.  I’m not going to get into that.  I haven’t done that for three years, and I’m not going to start doing it now. 

I’ll just say what I said before, and this kind of ties back to my topper: It remains deeply troubling that Mr. Putin has decided to use foreign troops on Russian soil to defend that soil, which is a historic move; hasn’t been done for decades.  We believe — continue to believe it’s a sign of his desperation as he tries to spread forces around a pretty wide front there and defend against the Ukrainians in and around Kursk. 

And as we said when they decided to move forward on this, those North Korean troops would be doing it at their own peril.  And, clearly, they’re under peril.  In just the last week alone, as I said, a thousand casualties that’s killed or wounded in the space of, what, seven, eight days. 

So I hope that for all the things — and I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again — for all the things that the Russian military has given these guys, whether it’s a rifle, ammunition, artillery, knapsacks, whatever the heck they’re getting, I hope they’re loading up their commanders with a bunch of body bags, because they’re clearly going to need it. 

MODERATOR:  Our last question will go to the line of Courtney Kube.

Q    Hi.  Thank you.  I know you don’t want to talk about the indications that you guys have on the plane, but I wonder if you can even say whether the U.S. indications, early indications, are more than just sort of the visual things that we’ve been hearing about from experts who are looking at the holes and saying it could be shrapnel and things.  Do you have actual — some kind of intelligence or information, whether it’s like infrared or something that’s beyond just sort of the informed speculation we’ve been seeing?

MR. KIRBY:  Short answer to your question, Court, is yes. And I’ll leave it at that.

MODERATOR:  And that’s all the time we have for today.  Thank you, Kirby, and thank you, Anne, for joining.  And thanks, everyone, for listening in and asking your questions. 

If you have any follow-up questions, feel free to reach out to our team, and we’ll get back to you.  Hope everyone has a great rest of your day.

11:10 A.M. EST

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Jill and I join the people of India in grieving the loss of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. 

The unprecedented level of cooperation between the United States and India today would not have been possible without the Prime Minister’s strategic vision and political courage. From forging the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Agreement to helping launch the first Quad between Indo-Pacific partners, he charted pathbreaking progress that will continue to strengthen our nations—and the world—for generations to come. He was a true statesman. A dedicated public servant. And above all, he was a kind and humble person. 

I had the chance to meet Prime Minister Singh as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2008 and as Vice President during his Official State Visit to the United States in 2009. He also graciously hosted me in New Delhi in 2013. As we discussed then, the U.S.-India relationship is among the most consequential in the world. And together, as partners and friends, our nations can unlock a future of dignity and unlimited potential for all of our people. 

During this difficult time, we recommit to this vision to which Prime Minister Singh dedicated his life. And Jill and I send our deepest condolences to former First Lady Gursharan Kaur, their three children, and all the people of India. 

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In the early hours of Christmas, Russia launched waves of missiles and drones against Ukrainian cities and critical energy infrastructure. The purpose of this outrageous attack was to cut off the Ukrainian people’s access to heat and electricity during winter and to jeopardize the safety of its grid. Let me be clear: the Ukrainian people deserve to live in peace and safety, and the United States and the international community must continue to stand with Ukraine until it triumphs over Russia’s aggression. In recent months, the United States has provided Ukraine with hundreds of air defense missiles, and more are on the way. I have directed the Department of Defense to continue its surge of weapons deliveries to Ukraine, and the United States will continue to work tirelessly to strengthen Ukraine’s position in its defense against Russian forces. 

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The post Statement from President Joe Biden on Russia’s Overnight Aerial Attacks against appeared first on The White House.

Today, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. declared that a major disaster exists in the State of North Dakota and ordered Federal assistance to supplement state, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by wildfires and straight-line winds from October 5 to October 6, 2024.

Federal funding is available to state, tribal, 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 wildfires and straight-line winds in the counties of McKenzie and Williams.

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

Mr. Robert Little III 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.

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

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On Monday, December 23, 2024, the President signed into law:

H.R. 663, the “Native American Child Protection Act;”

Thank you to Representative Gallego, and Senators Lujan and Collins for their leadership.

H.R. 1097, the “Everett Alvarez, Jr. Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2023;”

Thank you to Representatives Panetta and Fallon, and Senators Padilla and Lummis for their leadership.

H.R. 1607, which clarifies jurisdiction with respect to certain Bureau of Reclamation pumped storage development;

Thank you to Representatives Schweikert and Stanton, and Senators Kelly and Sinema for their leadership.

H.R. 1727, the ” Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park Commission Extension Act;”

Thank you to Representatives Trone, Mooney, Raskin, Norton, Wexton, Connolly and Beyer, and Senators Cardin, Capito, Van Hollen, Manchin, Warner and Kaine for their leadership.

H.R. 2468, the “Mountain View Corridor Completion Act;”

Thank you to Representatives Owens and Curtis, and Senator Lee for their leadership.

H.R. 3254, the “First Responder Access to Innovative Technologies Act;”

Thank you to the late Representative Donald Payne, and Representative Dale Strong, for their leadership.

H.R. 3324, which extends the authority to collect Shasta-Trinity Marina fees through fiscal year 2029;

Thank you to Representative Huffman and LaMalfa, and Senator Padilla for their leadership.

H.R. 3797, the “Paperwork Burden Reduction Act;”

Thank you to Representatives Jason Smith and Panetta, and Senators Thune and Warner for their leadership.

H.R. 3801, the “Employer Reporting Improvement Act;”

Thank you to Representatives Adrian Smith and Mike Thompson, and Senators Warner, Young, Cortez Masto and Thune for their leadership.

H.R. 4094, the “Great Salt Lake Stewardship Act;”

Thank you to Representatives Curtis, Owens, Blake Moore and Stewart, and Senators Lee and Romney for their leadership.

H.R. 4385, the “Drought Preparedness Act;”

Thank you to Representatives Neguse and Ciscomani, and Senators Hickenlooper, Lummis and Wyden for their leadership.

H.R. 4467, the “DHS Border Services Contracts Review Act;”

Thank you to Representatives Brecheen and Mark Green, and Senators Cornyn and Hassan for their leadership.

H.R. 5301, the “Eliminate Useless Reports Act of 2024;”

Thank you to Representatives Robert Garcia and Grothman, and Senators Ossoff and Lankford for their leadership.

H.R. 5646, the “Stop Campus Hazing Act;”

Thank you to Representatives McBath and Duncan, and Senators Klobuchar and Cassidy for their leadership.

H.R. 5770, the “Water Monitoring and Tracking Essential Resources (WATER) Data Improvement Act;”

Thank you to Representatives Neguse and Ciscomani their leadership.

H.R. 6826, which designates the visitor and education center at Fort McHenry National Historic Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore, Maryland, as the Paul S. Sarbanes Visitor and Education Center;

Thank you to Representatives Mfume, Hoyer, Sarbanes, Harris, Raskin, Trone, Ruppersberger and Ivey, and Senators Cardin and Van Hollen for their leadership.

H.R. 6829, the “Cardiomyopathy Health Education, Awareness, and Research, and AED Training in the Schools Act of 2024” or the “HEARTS Act of 2024;”

Thank you to Representative Pallone and Senator Kim for their leadership.

H.R. 6843, which expands the boundaries of the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area to include Lafourche Parish, Louisiana;

Thank you to Representatives Scalise, Garret Graves, Letlow, Higgins and Carter, and Senators Cassidy and Kennedy for their leadership.

H.R. 6960, the “Emergency Medical Services for Children Reauthorization Act of 2024;”

Thank you to Representatives Buddy Carter, Castor and John Joyce, and Senators Casey and Budd for their leadership.

H.R. 7177, which amends title 28, United States Code, to consolidate certain divisions in the Northern District of Alabama;

Thank you to Representatives Strong, Aderholt, Mike Rogers, Moore and Carl for their leadership.

H.R. 7213, the “Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support Act of 2024” or the “Autism CARES Act of 2024;”

Thank you to Representatives Chris Smith and Cuellar, and Senators Lujan and Collins for their leadership.

H.R. 7332, the “Utah State Parks Adjustment Act;”

Thank you to Representative Maloy and Senator Lee for their leadership.

H.R. 7524, the “GSA Technology Accountability Act;”

Thank you to Representatives Sessions and Connolly, and Senators Peters and Moran for their leadership.

H.R. 7872, the “Colorado River Salinity Control Fix Act;”

Thank you to Representatives Curtis, Neguse, Ciscomani, Stansbury, Hageman, Owens, Blake Moore, Maloy, Leger Fernandez and Napolitano, Senators Bennet, Lummis, Padilla, Barrasso, Sinema, Romney and Hickenlooper, and the late Senator Dianne Feinstein for their leadership.

H.R. 8219, the “Lahaina National Heritage Area Study Act;”

Thank you to Representatives Tokuda, LaMalfa, Neguse, Takano, Case, Huffman, Sablan and Radewagen, and Senator Hirono for their leadership.

H.R. 8413, the “Swanson and Hugh Butler Reservoirs Land Conveyances Act;”

Thank you to Representatives Adrian Smith, Bacon and Mann, and Senators Fischer, Ricketts and Marshall for their leadership.

H.R. 8663, the “Detection Equipment and Technology Evaluation to Counter the Threat of Fentanyl and Xylazine Act of 2024” or the “DETECT Fentanyl and Xylazine Act of 2024;”

Thank you to Representatives LaLota and Correa, and Senators Cornyn, Ossoff, Sinema and Lankford for their leadership.

H.R. 9566, the “Source code Harmonization And Reuse in Information Technology Act” or the “SHARE IT Act;”

Thank you to Representative Langworthy and Timmons, and Senators Cruz and Peters for their leadership.

S. 59, the “Chance to Compete Act of 2024;”

Thank you to Senators Sinema, Hagerty, Lankford and Carper for their leadership.

S. 223, which amends the Controlled Substances Act to fix a technical error in the definitions;

Thank you to Senators Grassley and Coons, and Representatives Burchett and Cohen for their leadership.

S. 709, the “Federal Agency Performance Act of 2024;”

Thank you to Senator Peters and Braun, and Representatives Timmons and Khanna for their leadership.

S. 759, the “Beagle Brigade Act of 2023;”

Thank you to Senators Warnock and Ernst, and Representatives Sanford Bishop, Ferguson, Kildee and Adrian Smith for their leadership.

S. 932, the “No Congressionally Obligated Recurring

Revenue Used as Pensions To Incarcerated Officials Now Act” or the “No CORRUPTION Act;”

Thank you to Senators Rosen, Rick Scott and Hawley for their leadership.

S. 1147, the “Jenna Quinn Law;”

Thank you to Senators Cornyn, Hassan, Braun and Lujan, and Representatives Wild and McCaul for their leadership.

S. 1351, the “Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act;”

Thank you to Senators Merkley, Cornyn, Lujan, Tuberville and Collins, and Representatives Khanna, Buddy Carter, Schakowsky and McClain for their leadership.

S. 2414, the “Working Dog Health and Welfare Act of 2023;”

Thank you to Senators Braun and Sinema, and Representatives Yakym and Titus for their leadership.

S. 2513, the “Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2024;”

Thank you to Senators Tester and Moran, and Representatives Luttrell and Pappas for their leadership.

S. 3448, the “Never Again Education Reauthorization Act of 2023;”

Thank you to Senators Rosen, Cramer, Blumenthal, Rubio and Cardin, and Representatives Buddy Carter, Manning, Stefanik, Wasserman Schultz, Joe Wilson, Brian Fitzpatrick and John Moolenaar for their leadership.

S. 3791, the “America’s Conservation Enhancement Reauthorization Act of 2024;”

Thank you to Senators Carper, Capito, Cardin, Boozman, Padilla, Wicker, Whitehouse, Mullin and Van Hollen, and Representatives Wittman, Kiggans, Dingell and Mike Thompson for their leadership.

S. 3857, the “Jamul Indian Village Land Transfer Act;”

Thank you to Senators Padilla and Butler, and Representatives Issa and Vargas for their leadership.

S. 3938, which designates the community-based outpatient clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Lynchburg, Virginia, as the “Private First Class Desmond T. Doss VA Clinic;”

S. 3946, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1106 Main Street in Bastrop, Texas, as the “Sergeant Major Billy D. Waugh Post Office;”

Thank you to Senators Cruz and Cornyn, Representative McCaul, and many others for their leadership.

S. 3959, the “Transportation Security Screening Modernization Act of 2024;”

Thank you to Senators Wicker, King, Fischer and Tester, and Representatives Garret Graves, Adam Smith, Titus, Mark Green, Carbajal and Guest for their leadership.

S. 3998, the “Federal Judiciary Stabilization Act of 2024;”

Thank you to Senators Cruz and Hirono, Representatives Gooden, Lieu and Moran, and many others for their leadership.

S. 4077, which designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 180 Steuart Street in San Francisco, California, as the “Dianne Feinstein Post Office;”

Thank you to Senator Padilla and Butler for their leadership.

S. 4107, the “Think Differently Transportation Act;”

Thank you to Senators Duckworth and Capito, and Representatives Molinaro, Nehls, Norton, Pappas, Carson and González-Colón, and the late Representative Donald Payne for their leadership.

S. 4610, which amends title 36, United States Code, to designate the bald eagle as the national bird;

Thank you to Senators Klobuchar, Lummis, Mullin and Smith, and Representatives Finstad, Craig and Emmer for their leadership.

S. 4716, the “Financial Management Risk Reduction Act;”

Thank you to Senators Peters and Johnson, and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene for their leadership.

S. 5314, which designates the medical center of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as the James Mountain Inhofe VA Medical Center;

Thank you to Senators Lankford and Mullin for their leadership.

S. 5355, the “National Advisory Council on Indian Education Improvement Act” or the “NACIE Improvement Act.”

Thank you to Senators Fischer and Tester, and Representatives Neguse, LaMalfa and Davids for their leadership.

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The post Press Release: Bill Signed: HR 663 appeared first on The White House.

     I am returning herewith without my approval S. 4199, the “Judicial Understaffing Delays Getting Emergencies Solved Act of 2024” or the “JUDGES Act of 2024.”

     S. 4199 seeks to hastily add judgeships with just a few weeks left in the 118th Congress.  The House of Representative’s hurried action fails to resolve key questions in the legislation, especially regarding how the new judgeships are allocated, and neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate explored fully how the work of senior status judges and magistrate judges affects the need for new judgeships.  The efficient and effective administration of justice requires that these questions about need and allocation be further studied and answered before we create permanent judgeships for life-tenured judges.

     S. 4199 would create new judgeships in States where Senators have sought to hold open existing judicial vacancies.  Those efforts to hold open vacancies suggest that concerns about judicial economy and caseload are not the true motivating force behind passage of this bill now.
     
     Therefore, I am vetoing this bill.
 
 
 
                              JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
 
 
 
THE WHITE HOUSE,
    December 23, 2024.

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Today, I have signed into law H.R. 5009, the “Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025” (the “Act”).  This Act authorizes fiscal year appropriations principally for the Department of Defense, Department of Energy national security programs, Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, and the Intelligence Community.  This bill provides vital benefits for military personnel and their families, and includes critical authorities to support our country’s national defense, foreign affairs, and homeland security.  While I am pleased to support the critical objectives of the Act, I note that certain provisions of the Act raise concerns.

A number of provisions of the Act may, in certain circumstances, interfere with the exercise of my constitutional authority to articulate the positions of the United States in international negotiations or fora (e.g., sections 735(a), 1214, 1221, 1333, 5121(b), 7204, and 7803(a)).  I recognize that “[i]t is not for the President alone to determine the whole content of the Nation’s foreign policy” (Zivotofsky v. Kerry) and will make every effort to take action consistent with these directives.  Indeed, I do not necessarily oppose many of the objectives in these provisions.  Nevertheless, I will not treat them as limiting my constitutional discretion to articulate the views of the United States before international organizations and with foreign governments.

Certain provisions of the Act, including sections 129, 809, 1067, 1069, 1078, 1225, 1229, 1707, 6308, 7302(b)(2)-(3), 7502, and 7505, would require the President and other officials to submit certifications, reports, notifications, or plans to the Congress that (1) may in the ordinary course, include highly sensitive classified information, including information that could reveal critical intelligence sources or military operational plans or (2) could implicate executive branch confidentiality interests.  In addition, section 354(4) raises constitutional concerns to the extent that it purports to compel the provision of certain documents subject to executive branch confidentiality interests — including attorney-client privileged information.  The Constitution vests the President with the authority to prevent the disclosure of such highly sensitive information in order to discharge his responsibility to protect the national security.  At the same time, congressional committees have legitimate needs to perform vital oversight and other legislative functions with respect to national security and military matters.  Accordingly, it has been the common practice of the executive branch to comply with statutory reporting requirements in a way that satisfies congressional needs pursuant to the traditional accommodation practice and consistent with due regard for the protection from unauthorized disclosure of classified information relating to sensitive intelligence sources and methods or other exceptionally sensitive matters, as well as to preserve the confidentiality of internal executive branch deliberations, particularly those with respect to decisions bearing on the Nation’s national security.  I believe the Congress shares this understanding, and my Administration will presume that it is incorporated into statutory reporting requirements of the kind at issue in the Act.

Division A, title X, subtitle D, section 1043 of the Act continues to bar the use of funds appropriated to the Department of Defense to transfer Guantánamo Bay detainees to the custody or effective control of certain foreign countries.  Division A, title X, subtitle D, section 1041 likewise would continue to prohibit the use of such funds to transfer Guantánamo Bay detainees into the United States.  It is the longstanding position of the executive branch that these provisions unduly impair the ability of the executive branch to determine when and where to prosecute Guantánamo Bay detainees and where to send them upon release.  In some circumstances, these provisions could make it difficult to comply with the final judgment of a court that has directed the release of a detainee on writ of habeas corpus, including by constraining the flexibility of the executive branch with respect to its engagement in delicate negotiations with foreign countries over the potential transfer of detainees.  I urge the Congress to eliminate these restrictions as soon as possible. 

My Administration strongly opposes Division A, title VII, subtitle A, section 708 of the Act, which inhibits the Department of Defense’s ability to treat all persons equally under the law, no matter their gender identity.  By prohibiting the use of appropriated funds, the Department of Defense will be compelled to contravene clinical practice guidelines and clinical recommendations.  The provision targets a group based on that group’s gender identity and interferes with parents’ roles to determine the best care for their children.  This section undermines our all-volunteer military’s ability to recruit and retain the finest fighting force the world has ever known by denying health care coverage to thousands of our service members’ children.  No service member should have to decide between their family’s health care access and their call to serve our Nation. 

                              JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

THE WHITE HOUSE,
December 23, 2024.

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The post Statement from President Joe Biden on H.R. 5009, Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 appeared first on The White House.

On Monday, December 23, 2024, the President signed into law:

H.R. 5009, the “Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025,” which authorizes fiscal year 2025 appropriations principally for Department of Defense programs and military construction, Department of Energy national security programs, Intelligence programs, and Department of State programs; specifies a military basic pay increase and other authorities relating to the U.S. Armed Forces; and provides authorities related to and makes other modifications to national security, foreign affairs, and other programs.

Thank you to Representatives Mike Rogers, Adam Smith, Bacon and Houlahan, and Senators Reed and Wicker, and many others for their leadership.

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The post Press Release: Bill Signed: H.R. 5009 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.  Statutory Pay Systems.  The rates of basic pay or salaries of the statutory pay systems (as defined in 5 U.S.C. 5302(1)), as adjusted under 5 U.S.C. 5303, are set forth on the schedules attached hereto and made a part hereof:

     (a)  The General Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5332(a)) at Schedule 1;

     (b)  The Foreign Service Schedule (22 U.S.C. 3963) at Schedule 2; and

     (c)  The schedules for the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs (38 U.S.C. 7306, 7401, 7404; section 301(a) of Public Law 102–40) at Schedule 3.

     Sec. 2.  Senior Executive Service.  The ranges of rates of basic pay for senior executives in the Senior Executive Service, as established pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 5382, are set forth on Schedule 4 attached hereto and made a part hereof.

     Sec. 3.  Certain Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Salaries.  The rates of basic pay or salaries for the following offices and positions are set forth on the schedules attached hereto and made a part hereof:

     (a)  The Executive Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5311–5318) at Schedule 5;

     (b)  The Vice President (3 U.S.C. 104) and the Congress (2 U.S.C. 4501) at Schedule 6; and

     (c)  Justices and judges (28 U.S.C. 5, 44(d), 135, 252, and 461(a)) at Schedule 7.

     Sec. 4.  Uniformed Services.  The rates of monthly basic pay (37 U.S.C. 203(a)) for members of the uniformed services, as adjusted under 37 U.S.C. 1009, and the rate of monthly cadet or midshipman pay (37 U.S.C. 203(c)) are set forth on Schedule 8 attached hereto and made a part hereof.

     Sec. 5.  Locality-Based Comparability Payments. 

     (a)  Pursuant to section 5304 of title 5, United States Code, and my authority to implement an alternative level of comparability payments under section 5304a of title 5, United States Code, locality-based comparability payments shall be paid in accordance with Schedule 9 attached hereto and made a part hereof.

     (b)  The Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall take such actions as may be necessary to implement these payments and to publish appropriate notice of such payments in the Federal Register.

     Sec. 6.  Administrative Law Judges.  Pursuant to section 5372 of title 5, United States Code, the rates of basic pay for administrative law judges are set forth on Schedule 10 attached hereto and made a part hereof.

     Sec. 7.  Effective Dates.  Schedule 8 is effective January 1, 2025.  The other schedules contained herein are effective on the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after January 1, 2025.

     Sec. 8.  Prior Order Superseded.  Executive Order 14113 of December 21, 2023 (Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay), is superseded as of the effective dates specified in section 7 of this order.

                              JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

THE WHITE HOUSE,

    December 23, 2024.

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National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke today with Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, head of the Interim Government of Bangladesh. Mr. Sullivan thanked Chief Adviser Yunus for his leadership of Bangladesh during a challenging period. Both leaders expressed their commitment to respecting and protecting the human rights of all people, regardless of religion. Mr. Sullivan re-iterated the United States’ support for a prosperous, stable, and democratic Bangladesh, and offered the United States’ continued support in meeting the challenges Bangladesh faces.

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The post Readout of National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s Call with Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh appeared first on The White House.

Today, President Biden announced that he is commuting the sentences of 37 individuals on federal death row. Those individuals will have their sentences reclassified from execution to life without the possibility of parole.

President Biden has dedicated his career to reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair and effective justice system. He believes that America must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level, except in cases of terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder – which is why today’s actions apply to all but those cases. When President Biden came into office, his Administration imposed a moratorium on federal executions, and his actions today will prevent the next Administration from carrying out the execution sentences that would not be handed down under current policy and practice.

This historic clemency action builds on the President’s record of criminal justice reform. The President has issued more commutations at this point in his presidency than any of his recent predecessors at the same point in their first terms. Earlier this month, the President announced clemency for approximately 1,500 Americans – the most ever in a single day – who have shown successful rehabilitation and a commitment to making communities safer. This included sentence commutations for nearly 1,500 individuals who were placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and who have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities, as well as 39 pardons for individuals who were convicted of non-violent crimes. President Biden is also the first President ever to issue categorical pardons to individuals convicted of simple use and possession of marijuana, and to former LGBTQI+ service members convicted of private conduct because of their sexual orientation.

The President’s criminal justice record has transformed individual lives and positively impacted communities, especially historically marginalized communities. In the coming weeks, the President will take additional steps to provide meaningful second chances and continue to review additional pardons and commutations.

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Today, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. is commuting the sentences of the following 37 individuals to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole:

                      NameReg. No.SHANNON WAYNE AGOFSKY06267-045 
BILLIE JEROME ALLEN 
26901-044 
AQUILIA MARCIVICCI BARNETTE 
12599-058 
BRANDON LEON BASHAM 
98940-071 
ANTHONY GEORGE BATTLE 
11451-056 
MEIER JASON BROWN 
11364-021 
CARLOS DAVID CARO 
37786-079 
WESLEY PAUL COONCE, JR. 
30011-039 
BRANDON MICHAEL COUNCIL 
63961-056 
CHRISTOPHER EMORY CRAMER 
10422-081 
LEN DAVIS 
24325-034 
JOSEPH EBRON 
08655-007 
RICKY ALLEN FACKRELL 
12324-081 
EDWARD LEON FIELDS, JR.
 04136-063CHADRICK EVAN FULKS16617-074 
MARVIN CHARLES GABRION, II 
09184-055 
EDGAR BALTAZAR GARCIA 
28132-177 
THOMAS MOROCCO HAGER 
08596-007 
CHARLES MICHAEL HALL 
03766-036 
NORRIS G. HOLDER 
26902-044 
RICHARD ALLEN JACKSON 
16669-058 
JURIJUS KADAMOVAS 
21050-112 
DARYL LAWRENCE 
66476-061 
IOURI MIKHEL 
23675-112 
RONALD MIKOS 
20716-424 
JAMES H. ROANE, JR. 
32923-083 
JULIUS OMAR ROBINSON 
26190-177 
DAVID ANTHONY RUNYON 
57997-083 
RICARDO SANCHEZ, JR. 
75820-004 
THOMAS STEVEN SANDERS 
15967-043 
KABONI SAVAGE 
58232-066 
MARK ISAAC SNARR 
11093-081 
REJON TAYLOR 
41070-074 
RICHARD TIPTON 
32922-083 
JORGE AVILA TORREZ 
16054-084 
DANIEL TROYA 
75817-004 
ALEJANDRO ENRIQUE RAMIREZ UMAÑA 
23077-058

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A resilient and secure supply of foundational semiconductors is critical to U.S. national and economic security.  These semiconductors are essential to key sectors of the U.S. economy, powering cars, medical devices, critical infrastructure, key aerospace and defense systems, and the goods and services we rely on every day.

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) routinely engages in non-market policies and practices, as well as industrial targeting, of the semiconductor industry that enables PRC companies to significantly harm competition and create dangerous supply chain dependencies in foundational semiconductors.  

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is taking additional action to protect American workers and businesses from the PRC’s unfair trade practices in the semiconductor sector and support a healthy domestic industry for foundational semiconductors. 

These actions include:

Launching a Section 301 investigation to examine the PRC’s targeting of foundational semiconductors.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is launching a Section 301 investigation to examine the PRC’s targeting of foundational semiconductors (also known as legacy or mature node chips) for dominance and the impact on the U.S. economy.

In addition, the investigation will initially assess the impact of the PRC’s acts, policies, and practices on the production of silicon carbide substrates or other wafers used as inputs into semiconductor fabrication.

PRC semiconductors often enter the U.S. market as a component of finished goods. This Section 301 investigation will examine a broad range of the PRC’s non-market acts, policies, and practices with respect to the semiconductor sector, including to the extent these semiconductors are incorporated as components into downstream products for critical industries like defense, automotive, medical devices, aerospace, telecommunications, and power generation and the electrical grid. 

Awarding and catalyzing billions of dollars in semiconductor manufacturing projects across the country.

The Biden-Harris Administration has championed efforts to ensure more chips are made in America by American workers, in particular through CHIPS and Science Act funding, which allocates at least $2 billion for mature semiconductors.  This was a key part of President Biden’s vision for renewing American economic leadership and a vibrant American industrial base.

The United States is investing across the semiconductor supply chain—including the upstream materials critical to chip manufacturing such as silicon carbide and wafers.  To date, the Department of Commerce has catalyzed billions of dollars in private sector investments that will serve the American auto and defense industries, including the Texas Instruments projects in Texas and Utah, the GlobalFoundries projects in Vermont and New York, and the Bosch project in California.  Many of these investments also include supply agreements with customers across critical infrastructure industries to maximize the predictability, volume, and quality of domestically manufactured chips needed to power complex technology.  These investments are compounded and sustained by this Administration’s 48D Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit, which will provide up to a 25% tax incentive for the manufacturing of semiconductors, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and wafer production.

Reducing national security risks in federal supply chains.

Semiconductors are key components of U.S. critical infrastructure that have many military applications. It is vital that federal agencies procure secure and trusted chips. 

To clean up federal procurement of semiconductors, the Biden-Harris Administration is:

• Implementing a statutory provision in the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2023 that prohibits executive agencies from procuring or obtaining products and services that include chips from certain Chinese fabs and other entities of concern.
• Releasing a Request for Information (RFI) to gauge the best ways for government contractors to scale up their use of domestically manufactured chips, particularly for critical infrastructure.  The RFI intends to solicit commercial ideas from industry that may inform future policymaking in support of the government-wide effort to leverage existing manufacturing capacity.
• Issuing guidance to help the Federal Government – the world’s largest buyer – organize its demand for domestic semiconductors so that agencies can mitigate the risk posed by undue dependence on foreign manufacturing, limited competition, and possible higher manufacturing costs.  This effort includes agencies developing strategies to dual or multiple source semiconductors, increasing transparency for critical infrastructure supply chains, and providing the government’s demand for the products and services that use these chips.

Prioritizing supply chain resilience and bolstering our toolkit to address non-market policies and practices.

President Biden made supply chain resilience a Day One priority in his Administration.  The first-ever U.S. Government Quadrennial Supply Chain Review, published on December 19, provides an in-depth assessment of the United States’ critical supply chains, actions taken over the last four years to make each supply chain more resilient, and necessary steps to increase U.S. resilience in the future. 

The Review includes a comprehensive strategy to respond to non-market policies and practices because they pose a significant challenge in critical industries covered in the supply chain report.  The strategy details the types of comprehensive action necessary to combat non-market policies and practices, including procurement policies. 

Working with our partners around the world to strengthen cooperation on semiconductor supply chains and address shared concerns about China’s unfair practices.

Semiconductor supply chains are critical not only to the United States but to all of our allies and partners.  The Biden-Harris Administration has closely consulted with allies and partners on promoting economic resilience and addressing the PRC’s non-market practices in the semiconductor supply chain, including through the following efforts:

• The State Department launched the CHIPS and Science Act’s International Technology Security and Innovation (ITSI) Fund, which has thus far partnered with eight countries – Costa Rica, Panama, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Kenya, the Philippines, and Mexico – to promote semiconductor supply chain development, security, and diversification.
• The Department of Commerce announced the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Agreement Relating to Supply Chain Resilience with 13 diverse partner countries across the Indo-Pacific, led by the United States, to coordinate more resilient supply chains for semiconductors and other industries.
• Within the G7, the United States has championed efforts to bolster economic resilience and address harmful market distortions and global excess capacity in key sectors resulting from non-market policies and practices.   This led to the establishment of mechanisms to jointly monitor and respond to these detrimental practices, including in the semiconductor sector.  

President Biden recognizes the benefits for our workers and businesses from strong alliances and a rules-based international trade system based on fair competition.  The Biden-Harris Administration will continue to collaborate with allies and partners on this critical issue in the coming days and weeks.  

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I’ve dedicated my career to reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair and effective justice system.

Today, I am commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole. These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my Administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.

Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss.

But guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Vice President, and now President, I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level. In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.

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Dear Mr. Speaker:   (Dear Madam President:)

In accordance with section 21304 of the American Relief Act, 2025 (H.R. 10545; 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.

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The bipartisan funding bill I just signed keeps the government open and delivers the urgently needed disaster relief that I requested for recovering communities as well as the funds needed to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge. 

This agreement represents a compromise, which means neither side got everything it wanted. But it rejects the accelerated pathway to a tax cut for billionaires that Republicans sought, and it ensures the government can continue to operate at full capacity.

That’s good news for the American people, especially as families gather to celebrate this holiday season.

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The United States extends our deepest condolences to the people of Germany grieving the terrible attack at a Christmas market yesterday in Magdeburg, Germany.  No community—and no family—should have to endure such a despicable and dark event, especially just days before a holiday of joy and peace.  My team has been in close touch with German officials.  We’ve made it clear that the United States stands ready to offer all available resources and assistance if needed.  And while this situation remains under investigation, make no mistake:  the United States will always stand with our Allies against violent terror.  In the coming days, we will keep all those injured or killed—and their beloved families—close in our hearts.

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