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Presidential Palace
Luanda, Angola

1:00 P.M. WAT

PRESIDENT LOURENÇO:  (As interpreted.)  (In progress) diplomatic relations since 19th of May, 1993, which have been growing year after year, mainly since in Angola we started the process of fight against corruption and impunity, and we establishing the best business environment.

The Angola president José Eduardo dos Santos was received in the White House in September 1991 and December 1995 by then-Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton respectively.

I thank the fact that President Joe Biden has received me in a very friendly and warm manner in White House on the 30th November, 2023. 

The two countries have been exchanging ministerial and business delegation visits where we have to highlight the visits by the minister of national defense of Angola and the chief of staff of the Angolan Armed Forces to Washington, D.C., and the visits by various U.S. secretary of state to Rwanda and, more recently, for the first time, the U.S. Defense secretary and the director general of CIA to Luanda.

On holding these state visits to Angola on the eves of Angola celebrating 50 years of its national independence, this will be marked in the history of the two countries as the first visit by a U.S. president touching the Angolan soil.

This does not only put an end to the past of our relations whereby within the Cold War we had never been aligned, but also it marks an important turning point in our relations, which undoubtedly will know a new dynamics as from today.

We want to work together attracting U.S. direct full investment to Angola, opening business and (inaudible) opportunity for Angolan businessmen to the U.S. market.

We also would like to increase our cooperation in defense and security sectors, in access to military schools and academies, the military training in Angola, and hold more joint military exercises to cooperate more in programs of maritime security in order to protect the Gulf of Guinea and South Atlantic, as well as in the program of equipment and modernization of the Angola Armed Forces.

Important projects of public investment are ongoing with U.S. EXIM bank funding, City Capital, and the International Development Financial Cooperation — DFC — with U.S. companies such as Sun Afrique, Africell, Mayfair Energy, (inaudible), GatesAir, amongst others, without talking about the oil companies, Chevron and Esso, who are based in Angola for various decades, as well as numerous U.S. service companies in the oil sector.

With company (inaudible), we are working in building cereal silos and the logistic platforms and parks along the Lobito Corridor and other points that considered as main grain production places in the framework of food security.

In the health sector, with USAID, Gavi, and Global Fund, we’ve been benefitting a lot in the programs of fight against malaria, tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS, COVID-19, as well as in the program of robotic surgery that is starting to become a reality in Angola, in partnership with the well-known hospital from Orlando, Florida, in the U.S.

We would like to see U.S. investors engaged in construction of power transmission lines, in high-voltage under public-private partnerships for southern African countries, namely for the region of Copperbelt in Zambia and DRC, as well as for Namibia, connecting to the southern countries’ power grid.

Our AngoSat 2 project is working with NASA and Maxar in acquisition of high-resolution satellite images for monitoring natural disasters, namely in the implementation of our national program of fight against the effects of droughts in the southern part of Angola, PCESSA.

The country is in the process of purchasing six aircraft, Boeing 787 Dreamliners, whose delivery will take place early next year, 2025.

We’re also working with U.S. company Wicks Groups Consulting for Angola accession to Category 1 of Aviation Federal Administration, which could be facilitated by the full functioning of the international airport Antonio Agostinho Neto.

We highlight the fact that in June 2025, Luanda will host the U.S.-Africa Business Summit that will bring closer politicians, entrepreneurs, scholars, and civil society from the U.S. and Africa to talk about businesses, history, culture, and various cross-interests.

Mr. President, your vision and engagement for the success of the Lobito Corridor, as well as your great contribution to our energy transition program in the construction of solar products in the southern part of Angola will always be remembered as a great contribution to food and energy security, as well as towards economic and social development of Angola and the whole southern African region.

Once again, thank you very much, you’re (inaudible) welcome to Angola, and the Angolan people feel themselves very happy and proud of having you here in the city of Luanda. 

Thank you very much, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  Mr. President, thank you very much.  It’s good to see you again and thank you for having me here today.  I mean that sincerely.

I joked with you earlier when I said, “We Bidens are like poor relatives.  We show up when we’re invited, stay longer than we should, eat all your food, and don’t know when to go home.”  But you’ve been very, very generous and hospitable.  Thank you.

I’m proud — (clears throat) — excuse me — very proud to be the first American president to visit Angola.  And I’m deeply proud of everything we have done together to transform our partnership thus far.  And there’s so much ahead of us, so much we can do.

The results so far speak for themselves: building an ocean access railway — ocean-to-ocean access railway that’s going to connect the continent from west to east for the first time in history.

Investing in solar energy projects.  It’s going to help Angolans generate 75 percent of its clean energy by next year — by next year.

Upgrading Internet and communications infrastructure to connect all of Angola to high-speed Internet networks.  As we’re doing that at home ourselves, I compare it to when Franklin Roosevelt took electricity to rural America.  It didn’t exist in rural America.  The government provided it.

Well, it’s hard to get by these days in business or in ranching or anything else without access to the Internet — knowing what’s going on, when to sell your product and the like. It’s critical.

And — (clears throat) — excuse me — and increasing our agriculture production so Angolans can feed themselves and, quite frankly, the rest of the world and making a profit doing it — providing work, providing opportunities, providing muscle to your economy.

And increased agriculture production so Angolans, as I said, can not only feed themselves but — it’s hard for people in a country that only has the borders of the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean to understand that it’s hard to get a product from one country to another that are badly in need of agricultural products but you can’t get there.  To get there, you not only help those people but you help yourself and you grow your economy.

And you’ve heard me say it before, Mr. President.  The United States is all in on Africa.  All in on Africa.  And I think a testament to that assertion I’ve made to you when I saw you and I’ve made publicly before — you’ve heard me say it before, but the United States is all in — all in on Angola.  We’ve already, in — my administration alone has invested over $3 billion in Angola thus far.  The future of the world is here in Africa and Angola.

So, during this visit, I look forward to discussing how we keep ensuring democracy delivers for people — because if they don’t think it’s a democracy and they don’t think they’re in on a deal, they don’t think they’re part of it.  And you’ve been working very hard to establish good democracy.

And — and secondly, how can we help build the strong ties between our nations and our businesses and our people?  There’s a lot to say on all of this, I know.  We’re prepared to — I think we’re well on our way to answering a lot of the questions, but I think you should understand the extent to which we’re prepared to be engaged.

And as I said to — to the president, ours is not — we don’t think because we’re bigger and we’re more powerful that we’re smarter.  We don’t think we have all the answers.  But we’re prepared to hear your answers to the needs you have, particularly answers to international debt financing and a whole range of other things we’re prepared to discuss.

So, I want to thank you very much for your personal welcome.  I want to thank all of your colleagues for treating us so well since we’ve been here.  And I mean it from the bottom of my heart. 

The future of the world is in Africa.  That’s not hyperbole.  It’s going to be a billion people very shortly in this continent — a very diverse continent.  And by — in another 20 years, you’re going to be the largest country in the world — continent in the world.  And so, you’re — we need you to succeed.  This isn’t all selfless.  The more you succeed, the more we succeed, the more the world succeeds.

So, thank you for being willing to have me, be willing to talk to me, and I look forward to a long relationship.

Thank you very much.

(Cross-talk.)

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  Welcome to America.

1:13 P.M. WAT

The post Remarks by President Biden and President João Lourenço of Angola Before Bilateral Meeting | Luanda, Angola appeared first on The White House.

Presidential Palace
Luanda, Angola

1:00 P.M. WAT

PRESIDENT LOURENÇO:  (As interpreted.)  (In progress) diplomatic relations since 19th of May, 1993, which have been growing year after year, mainly since in Angola we started the process of fight against corruption and impunity, and we establishing the best business environment.

The Angola president José Eduardo dos Santos was received in the White House in September 1991 and December 1995 by then-Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton respectively.

I thank the fact that President Joe Biden has received me in a very friendly and warm manner in White House on the 30th November, 2023. 

The two countries have been exchanging ministerial and business delegation visits where we have to highlight the visits by the minister of national defense of Angola and the chief of staff of the Angolan Armed Forces to Washington, D.C., and the visits by various U.S. secretary of state to Rwanda and, more recently, for the first time, the U.S. Defense secretary and the director general of CIA to Luanda.

On holding these state visits to Angola on the eves of Angola celebrating 50 years of its national independence, this will be marked in the history of the two countries as the first visit by a U.S. president touching the Angolan soil.

This does not only put an end to the past of our relations whereby within the Cold War we had never been aligned, but also it marks an important turning point in our relations, which undoubtedly will know a new dynamics as from today.

We want to work together attracting U.S. direct full investment to Angola, opening business and (inaudible) opportunity for Angolan businessmen to the U.S. market.

We also would like to increase our cooperation in defense and security sectors, in access to military schools and academies, the military training in Angola, and hold more joint military exercises to cooperate more in programs of maritime security in order to protect the Gulf of Guinea and South Atlantic, as well as in the program of equipment and modernization of the Angola Armed Forces.

Important projects of public investment are ongoing with U.S. EXIM bank funding, City Capital, and the International Development Financial Cooperation — DFC — with U.S. companies such as Sun Afrique, Africell, Mayfair Energy, (inaudible), GatesAir, amongst others, without talking about the oil companies, Chevron and Esso, who are based in Angola for various decades, as well as numerous U.S. service companies in the oil sector.

With company (inaudible), we are working in building cereal silos and the logistic platforms and parks along the Lobito Corridor and other points that considered as main grain production places in the framework of food security.

In the health sector, with USAID, Gavi, and Global Fund, we’ve been benefitting a lot in the programs of fight against malaria, tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS, COVID-19, as well as in the program of robotic surgery that is starting to become a reality in Angola, in partnership with the well-known hospital from Orlando, Florida, in the U.S.

We would like to see U.S. investors engaged in construction of power transmission lines, in high-voltage under public-private partnerships for southern African countries, namely for the region of Copperbelt in Zambia and DRC, as well as for Namibia, connecting to the southern countries’ power grid.

Our AngoSat 2 project is working with NASA and Maxar in acquisition of high-resolution satellite images for monitoring natural disasters, namely in the implementation of our national program of fight against the effects of droughts in the southern part of Angola, PCESSA.

The country is in the process of purchasing six aircraft, Boeing 787 Dreamliners, whose delivery will take place early next year, 2025.

We’re also working with U.S. company Wicks Groups Consulting for Angola accession to Category 1 of Aviation Federal Administration, which could be facilitated by the full functioning of the international airport Antonio Agostinho Neto.

We highlight the fact that in June 2025, Luanda will host the U.S.-Africa Business Summit that will bring closer politicians, entrepreneurs, scholars, and civil society from the U.S. and Africa to talk about businesses, history, culture, and various cross-interests.

Mr. President, your vision and engagement for the success of the Lobito Corridor, as well as your great contribution to our energy transition program in the construction of solar products in the southern part of Angola will always be remembered as a great contribution to food and energy security, as well as towards economic and social development of Angola and the whole southern African region.

Once again, thank you very much, you’re (inaudible) welcome to Angola, and the Angolan people feel themselves very happy and proud of having you here in the city of Luanda. 

Thank you very much, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  Mr. President, thank you very much.  It’s good to see you again and thank you for having me here today.  I mean that sincerely.

I joked with you earlier when I said, “We Bidens are like poor relatives.  We show up when we’re invited, stay longer than we should, eat all your food, and don’t know when to go home.”  But you’ve been very, very generous and hospitable.  Thank you.

I’m proud — (clears throat) — excuse me — very proud to be the first American president to visit Angola.  And I’m deeply proud of everything we have done together to transform our partnership thus far.  And there’s so much ahead of us, so much we can do.

The results so far speak for themselves: building an ocean access railway — ocean-to-ocean access railway that’s going to connect the continent from west to east for the first time in history.

Investing in solar energy projects.  It’s going to help Angolans generate 75 percent of its clean energy by next year — by next year.

Upgrading Internet and communications infrastructure to connect all of Angola to high-speed Internet networks.  As we’re doing that at home ourselves, I compare it to when Franklin Roosevelt took electricity to rural America.  It didn’t exist in rural America.  The government provided it.

Well, it’s hard to get by these days in business or in ranching or anything else without access to the Internet — knowing what’s going on, when to sell your product and the like. It’s critical.

And — (clears throat) — excuse me — and increasing our agriculture production so Angolans can feed themselves and, quite frankly, the rest of the world and making a profit doing it — providing work, providing opportunities, providing muscle to your economy.

And increased agriculture production so Angolans, as I said, can not only feed themselves but — it’s hard for people in a country that only has the borders of the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean to understand that it’s hard to get a product from one country to another that are badly in need of agricultural products but you can’t get there.  To get there, you not only help those people but you help yourself and you grow your economy.

And you’ve heard me say it before, Mr. President.  The United States is all in on Africa.  All in on Africa.  And I think a testament to that assertion I’ve made to you when I saw you and I’ve made publicly before — you’ve heard me say it before, but the United States is all in — all in on Angola.  We’ve already, in — my administration alone has invested over $3 billion in Angola thus far.  The future of the world is here in Africa and Angola.

So, during this visit, I look forward to discussing how we keep ensuring democracy delivers for people — because if they don’t think it’s a democracy and they don’t think they’re in on a deal, they don’t think they’re part of it.  And you’ve been working very hard to establish good democracy.

And — and secondly, how can we help build the strong ties between our nations and our businesses and our people?  There’s a lot to say on all of this, I know.  We’re prepared to — I think we’re well on our way to answering a lot of the questions, but I think you should understand the extent to which we’re prepared to be engaged.

And as I said to — to the president, ours is not — we don’t think because we’re bigger and we’re more powerful that we’re smarter.  We don’t think we have all the answers.  But we’re prepared to hear your answers to the needs you have, particularly answers to international debt financing and a whole range of other things we’re prepared to discuss.

So, I want to thank you very much for your personal welcome.  I want to thank all of your colleagues for treating us so well since we’ve been here.  And I mean it from the bottom of my heart. 

The future of the world is in Africa.  That’s not hyperbole.  It’s going to be a billion people very shortly in this continent — a very diverse continent.  And by — in another 20 years, you’re going to be the largest country in the world — continent in the world.  And so, you’re — we need you to succeed.  This isn’t all selfless.  The more you succeed, the more we succeed, the more the world succeeds.

So, thank you for being willing to have me, be willing to talk to me, and I look forward to a long relationship.

Thank you very much.

(Cross-talk.)

PRESIDENT BIDEN:  Welcome to America.

1:13 P.M. WAT

The post Remarks by President Biden and President João Lourenço of Angola Before Bilateral Meeting | Luanda, Angola appeared first on The White House.

National Museum of Slavery
Belas, Angola

5:54 P.M. WAT

THE PRESIDENT:  You are a brave crowd to come out in the rain.  I brought my hat just in case.  I don’t have much hair to help me.  (Laughter.)

Leaders of Angola, government and civil society, students, young leaders, staff of the National Slavery Museum, distinguished guests, I sincerely mean this when I say thank you for being here in the rain with us today.  Thank you for allowing me to be here.  It’s an honor — a genuine honor to be with you today in Angola. 

I just got off the phone with the vice president, telling her I’m sorry she’s not with me to be here today, you know, with you in Angola, the — a vibrant city.  And — and I — look, not the city.  The city, I know, is not Angola, but in Angola in a vibrant city.

And I’m joined by members of the United States Congress, senior officials of my administration, and American business and civic leaders.  We think that it’s important that we get together.  We thank all people of Angola for your warm hospitality, and I mean that s- — please sit down if you have a seat.  Don’t — I’m sorry.  (Laughter.)  I wasn’t sure you all had seats. 

We are gathered at a someln — a solemn location.  Because to fully consider how far our two countries have come in our friendship, we have to remember how we began. 

We hear them in the wind and the waves.  Young women, young men born free in the highlands of Angola, only to be captured, bound, and forced on a “death march” along this very coast to this spot by slave traders in the year 1619. 

In the building next to us, they were baptized into a foreign faith against their will, their names changed against their will to Anthony and Isabella.  Then they were condemned to a slave ship bound for the Middle Passage, packed together in hundreds by hundreds.  A third of those souls did not survive the journey.  One third died on the way.

But Anthony and Isabella made it to the British colony in Virginia, where they were sold into servitude and became two of the first enslaved Americans in a place that, 150 years later, would become the United States of America.  They had a son, considered the first child of African descent born in America: William Tucker.

It was the beginning of slavery in the United States.  Cruel.  Brutal.  Dehumanizing.  Our nation’s original sin — original sin — one that haunted America and casts a long shadow ever since. 

From the bloody Civil War that nearly tore my nation apart to the long battle with Jim Crow in the ni- — to — into the 1960s for the civil rights and voting rights movement — which got me involved in public life — during which American cities were burned, to the still unfinished reckoning with racial injustice in my country today. 

Historians believe people of Angola accounted for a significant number of all enslaved people shipped to America.  Today, millions of African Americans have roots in Angola. 

As I said at the U.S.-African Leaders Summit that held in Washington two years — I held in Washington two years ago, “Our people lie at the heart of the deep and profound connection that forever binds Africa and the United States together.  We remember the stolen men and women and children who were brought to our shores in chains, subjected to unimaginable cruelty.” 

Here with us today are three Americans who are direct descendants of Anthony and Isabella, those first enslaved Americans — Afri- — Africans in America.  Wanda Tucker of Hamilton [Hampton], Virginia. Wanda, are you there?  There you are, Wanda.  God love you.  (Applause.)  Her brother Vincent and Carolita as well.  Thank you for being here.  We’re going to write history, not erase history.

The Tuckers learned their family history around the dinner table.  That history led Wanda here in Angola a few years ago.  She did not know how to speak the language, but that didn’t matter.  When she arrived, Wanda said she felt something profound, like she’d come home.  That was her comment to me.  She called it the “connection without words.”

Ladies and gentlemen, I am here today to honor that connection between our people and to pay tribute to the generations of Angolans and American families, like the Tuckers, who have served in government for over — I’ve served in government for over 50 years.  I know I only look like I’m 40 years old, but I’ve been around hanging in the government for — (laughter) — I hate to admit it — for 50 years.

But in that 50 years, I’ve learned a lot.  Perhaps most importantly, I have learned that while history can be hidden, it cannot and should not be erased.  It should be faced.  It’s our duty to face our history: the good, the bad, and the ugly — the whole truth.  That’s what great nations do. 

That’s why I chose to speak here at the National Slavery Museum today, just as I toured.  And that’s why your president visited the National Museum of African American Culture in the — in Washington, D.C. — the second most-visited museum in the States — and he did it a few years ago.

He saw what I see: the stark contradiction between my country’s founding principles of liberty, justice, and equality and the way we long treated people from Angola and from throughout Africa.

I’ve often said America is the only nation in the world founded on an idea.  Most countries are founded based on race, ethnicity, religion, geography, or some other attribute.  But in the United States, founded on idea, one embedded in our Declaration of Independence, and that is that all men and women are created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout their lives. 

It’s abundantly clear today we have not lived up to that idea, but we’ve never fully walked away from it either.  And that’s due in no small part to the determination and dreams of African Americans, including Angolan Americans. 

The proud descendants of the diaspora who helped build my nation as they rebuilt their own families and their own sense of self.  They were the forebearers as well — resilient, faithful, even hopeful — hopeful that joy would cometh in the morning, as it says in the Bible; hopeful that our past would not be the story of our future; and hopeful, in time, the United States would write a different story in partnership with the people brought here in chains to my nation from Africa.  It’s a story of mutual respect and mutual progress. 

That’s the history that brings me here, the first American president ever to visit Angola.  Over time — (applause) — and I’m proud to be.  Over time, the relationship beca- — between our countries has been transformed from distance to genuine warmth.  Today, our relationship is the strongest it’s ever been. 

Throughout my presidency, it’s been my goal — goal of the United States to build a strong partnership with peoples and nations across the continent of Africa — true partnerships aimed at achieving shared goals, bringing to bear the dynamism of America’s private sector and the expertise of our government to support aspirations of African entrepreneurs, experts, leaders both inside and outside of government.

Because we know the challenge that define our age demand African leadership.  One out of every four human beings on Earth will live in Africa by the year 2050.  And the ingenuity and determination of young Africans in particular, like the young society leaders I just met with here today, will be undeniable forces in that human progress. 

That’s why I’m so optimistic, because of that generation.  In no small part, it will be in their hands and the hands of people across Africa to expand access to clean energy, to tackle threats of global health, to grow global — a global middle class. 

In many ways, Africa’s — Africa’s success is and will be the world’s success.  As I said at the United States — U.S.-Africa Summit: The United States is all in on Africa’s future. 

Two years ago, I pledged to deliver $55 million [billion] in new investments in Africa and to mobilize American businesses to close new deals with African partners. Two years ago, we are out way ahead of schedule.  More than 20 heads of U.S. government agencies and members of my Cabinet have traveled to Africa, delivering over $40 billion in investments thus far. 

And we have announced nearly 1,200 new business deals between African and American companies — and American companies — total will be worth $52 billion, including investments in solar energy, telecom, mobile finance, infrastructure, and partnerships with American airlines to expand opportunities for tourism so you don’t have to fly to Paris to get here — although Paris is pretty nice.  (Laughter.)

Here in Angola alone, the United States has invested $3 billion during my short presidency.  We see the bonds between our countries across sectors, from clean energy to health care to sports.  The American Basketball Associat- — National Basketball Association launched Basketball Africa League and Angola is the reigning champion.  (Applause.)

And we see the impact of American culture across — African culture across the American culture, from music to entertainment to fashion to arts and so much more. 

Student exchanges between our countries are essential and must increase.  Students in both countries can be — better understand one another if they know the country, if they visit the country, if they’re educated in the other country.  An increased connection between us makes a big difference.

Being all in on Africa means making sure African voices are heard at the tables that matter most.  Under my leadership, the United States brought — we brought in the African Union as a permanent member of the G20 economies, and we insisted on more African representation among the leaders of the International Monetary Fund and other world financial institutions. 

We’ve also pushed to ensure that developing nations do not — do not choose — have to choose between paying down unsustainable debt and being able to invest in their own people.  And we’re using our voi- — our own voice to increase Africa’s presence on the U.N. Security Council at the United Nations.  That should happen.  You can clap for that, folks.  You should be in there.  (Applause.)  

The United States continues to be the world’s largest provider of humanitarian aid and development assistance.  And that’s going to increase.  You know, that’s the right thing for the wealthiest nation in the world to do. 

And today, I’m announcing over $1 billion in new humanitarian support for Africans displaced from homes by historic droughts and food insecurity.  (Applause.)

But we know African leaders and citizens are seeking more than just aid.  You seek investment.  And so, the United States is expanding our relationship all across Africa — from assistance to aid to investment to trade — moving from patrons to partners to help bridge the infrastructure gap. 

I was told, by the way, when I got elected I could never get an infrastructure bill passed because the last guy spent eight years saying, “Next month” — four years saying, “Next month.”

Well, guess what, folks?  We’ve done it.  (Applause.)  A trillion — a trillion three hundred billion dollars for infrastructure to narrow the digital divide, drive inclusive, sustainable economic growth.

We’re looking for partners who understand that the right question in the year 2024 is not “What can the United States do for the people of Africa?”  It’s “What can we do together for the people of Africa?”  (Applause.)  That’s what we’re going to do.

Nowhere in Africa is the answer more exciting than here in Angola.  It starts with our governments, whose partnership is stronger, deeper, and more effective and active than any point in history.  It’s testament to your president, who had the vision to carry out this relationship — carry this relationship forward.  And it’s a testament to Angolan citizens across the private sector and civil society who have forged strong bonds with your American counterparts. 

And together, we’re engaged in a major joint project to close the infrastructure gap for the benefit of Angolans, Africans across the continent, Americans, and the world.  We’ll all benefit, as you benefit.  You’re — you can produce much more agriculture, for example, than states that can’t.  You’re going to increase their longevity, and you’re going to increase your impact and profit. 

It’s called the Lobito Corridor.  We’re building railroad lines from Angola to the Port of Lobito, in Zambia and the DRC, and, ultimately, all the way to the Atlantic — from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean.  It’ll be the first trans-continental railroad in Africa and the biggest American rail investment outside of America.

And I must tell you up front, with American press here, I’m probably the most pro-rail guy in America.  (Laughter.)  I’ve ri- — I’ve ridden over 1,300,000 miles on a daily basis to my work, 210 — -20 miles a day for the last 50 years. 

Well, I didn’t do it as president.  I stayed in the White House a lot. 

But all kidding aside, folks, we can do this.  We can do this.  It’s in our power. 

It will not only generate significant employment, it will also allow individual countries to maximize their own domestic resources for the benefit of their people and sell critical minerals that power the world’s energy transformation and our fight against climate change and to transport them in a fraction of the time and lower cost.  A shipment that used to take over 45 days will now take 45 hours.  That’s a game changer.  That increases profit.  That increases opportunity.

The Lobito Corridor represents the right way to invest in full partnership with a country and its people. 

As part of this project, we will install enough clean energy power to power hundreds of thousands of homes, expand high-speed Internet across — for millions of Angolans, which is a cos- — as consequential today as electricity was two generations ago. 

And we’re investing in agriculture and food security, fulfilling the needs of countries without agricultural capacity and expanding opportunities for countries growing the crops; connecting farmers across the Lobito — along the Lobito Corridor to new markets, expanding opportunity and prosperity — you doing that, having the means to do it. 

The United States understands how we invest in Africa is as important as how much we invest.  In too many places, 10 years after the so-called investment was made, workers are still coming home on a dirt road and without electricity, a village without a school, a city without a hospital, or a country under crushing debt. 

We seek a better way: transparent, high-standard, open-access investments that protect workers and the rule of law and the environment.  It can be done and will be done.  (Applause.)

And, folks, the partnership between Angola and the United States also extends to supporting peace and security in this region and beyond. 

Pl- — Pr- — President Lourenço, I want to thank him for his leadership and mediation in regional conflicts.  I also want to thank him for Angola speaking out against Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine.  It matters.  It matters when leaders speak out.  (Applause.)

Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, I am in the final weeks of my presidency.  You don’t have to clap for that.  (Laughter.)  You can if you want. 

But I wanted to come to Angola.  Although I’ve been chairman of the Africa America subcommittee for a long time, I had never made it to Angola.  Because although I don’t know exactly what the future will hold, I know the future runs through Angola, through Africa.  I mean it sincerely.  (Applause.)  I’m not kidding.

I know that any nation that wants to thrive in the next century must work as partners with workers, entrepreneurs, and businesses here in Africa.  I know that the connection between our communities, our universities, our sports, our civil societies, our families, our people will only grow deeper.  We have to stay focused.

The story of Angola and the United States holds a lesson for the world: two nations with a shared history in evil of human bondage; two nations on opposite sides of the Cold War, defining struggle in the late part of the 20th century; and now, two nations standing shoulder to shoulder, working together every day for the mutual benefit of our people. 

It’s a reminder that no nation need be permanently a — the adversary of another, a testament to the human capacity for reconciliation, and proof that from every — from the horrors of slavery and war, there is a way forward. 

So, I stand here today — I mean this sincerely — deeply optimistic.

When I — by the way, 20 years ago, when I was a senator, I had a cranial aneurysm.  They s- — got me to the hospital in time.  I remember asking the doctor, “What are my ch-” — he said, “Oh, your chances are good.  They’re about 30 percent.”  (Laughter.)  (Inaudible.)  When it was all over, he was deciding whether or not it was congenital or environmental.  And I said, “I don’t give a damn.  I’m here.”  He said, “You know what your problem is, Senator?  You’re a congenital optimist.”  (Laughter and applause.)  I am.

About the possibilities and progress that lie just beyond the horizon.  Together, we can and will chart a futuche worther [future worthy] of great nations, worthy of the highest aspirations of our people. We just have to remember who we are: We’re Angolans; we’re Americans.   

As I often say in Ameri- — to the American people: There’s nothing — nothing beyond our capacity if we work together.  And today, I say to the people of Angola and all the people of Africa, there is nothing beyond our capacity if we do it together. 

Thank you.  And God bless you and keep you all safe.  (Applause.)  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  And thank you for waiting. 

And I got my hat.  Thanks, everybody.  I really mean it.  You’re very patient.

Q    Mr. President, anything on South Korea and martial law?

THE PRESIDENT:  I’m just getting briefed on it.  I’m just getting briefed.  I haven’t heard the details.

6:13 P.M. WAT

The post Remarks by President Biden Honoring the Past and Future of the Angolan-U.S. Relationship | Belas, Angola appeared first on The White House.

National Museum of Slavery
Belas, Angola

5:54 P.M. WAT

THE PRESIDENT:  You are a brave crowd to come out in the rain.  I brought my hat just in case.  I don’t have much hair to help me.  (Laughter.)

Leaders of Angola, government and civil society, students, young leaders, staff of the National Slavery Museum, distinguished guests, I sincerely mean this when I say thank you for being here in the rain with us today.  Thank you for allowing me to be here.  It’s an honor — a genuine honor to be with you today in Angola. 

I just got off the phone with the vice president, telling her I’m sorry she’s not with me to be here today, you know, with you in Angola, the — a vibrant city.  And — and I — look, not the city.  The city, I know, is not Angola, but in Angola in a vibrant city.

And I’m joined by members of the United States Congress, senior officials of my administration, and American business and civic leaders.  We think that it’s important that we get together.  We thank all people of Angola for your warm hospitality, and I mean that s- — please sit down if you have a seat.  Don’t — I’m sorry.  (Laughter.)  I wasn’t sure you all had seats. 

We are gathered at a someln — a solemn location.  Because to fully consider how far our two countries have come in our friendship, we have to remember how we began. 

We hear them in the wind and the waves.  Young women, young men born free in the highlands of Angola, only to be captured, bound, and forced on a “death march” along this very coast to this spot by slave traders in the year 1619. 

In the building next to us, they were baptized into a foreign faith against their will, their names changed against their will to Anthony and Isabella.  Then they were condemned to a slave ship bound for the Middle Passage, packed together in hundreds by hundreds.  A third of those souls did not survive the journey.  One third died on the way.

But Anthony and Isabella made it to the British colony in Virginia, where they were sold into servitude and became two of the first enslaved Americans in a place that, 150 years later, would become the United States of America.  They had a son, considered the first child of African descent born in America: William Tucker.

It was the beginning of slavery in the United States.  Cruel.  Brutal.  Dehumanizing.  Our nation’s original sin — original sin — one that haunted America and casts a long shadow ever since. 

From the bloody Civil War that nearly tore my nation apart to the long battle with Jim Crow in the ni- — to — into the 1960s for the civil rights and voting rights movement — which got me involved in public life — during which American cities were burned, to the still unfinished reckoning with racial injustice in my country today. 

Historians believe people of Angola accounted for a significant number of all enslaved people shipped to America.  Today, millions of African Americans have roots in Angola. 

As I said at the U.S.-African Leaders Summit that held in Washington two years — I held in Washington two years ago, “Our people lie at the heart of the deep and profound connection that forever binds Africa and the United States together.  We remember the stolen men and women and children who were brought to our shores in chains, subjected to unimaginable cruelty.” 

Here with us today are three Americans who are direct descendants of Anthony and Isabella, those first enslaved Americans — Afri- — Africans in America.  Wanda Tucker of Hamilton [Hampton], Virginia. Wanda, are you there?  There you are, Wanda.  God love you.  (Applause.)  Her brother Vincent and Carolita as well.  Thank you for being here.  We’re going to write history, not erase history.

The Tuckers learned their family history around the dinner table.  That history led Wanda here in Angola a few years ago.  She did not know how to speak the language, but that didn’t matter.  When she arrived, Wanda said she felt something profound, like she’d come home.  That was her comment to me.  She called it the “connection without words.”

Ladies and gentlemen, I am here today to honor that connection between our people and to pay tribute to the generations of Angolans and American families, like the Tuckers, who have served in government for over — I’ve served in government for over 50 years.  I know I only look like I’m 40 years old, but I’ve been around hanging in the government for — (laughter) — I hate to admit it — for 50 years.

But in that 50 years, I’ve learned a lot.  Perhaps most importantly, I have learned that while history can be hidden, it cannot and should not be erased.  It should be faced.  It’s our duty to face our history: the good, the bad, and the ugly — the whole truth.  That’s what great nations do. 

That’s why I chose to speak here at the National Slavery Museum today, just as I toured.  And that’s why your president visited the National Museum of African American Culture in the — in Washington, D.C. — the second most-visited museum in the States — and he did it a few years ago.

He saw what I see: the stark contradiction between my country’s founding principles of liberty, justice, and equality and the way we long treated people from Angola and from throughout Africa.

I’ve often said America is the only nation in the world founded on an idea.  Most countries are founded based on race, ethnicity, religion, geography, or some other attribute.  But in the United States, founded on idea, one embedded in our Declaration of Independence, and that is that all men and women are created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout their lives. 

It’s abundantly clear today we have not lived up to that idea, but we’ve never fully walked away from it either.  And that’s due in no small part to the determination and dreams of African Americans, including Angolan Americans. 

The proud descendants of the diaspora who helped build my nation as they rebuilt their own families and their own sense of self.  They were the forebearers as well — resilient, faithful, even hopeful — hopeful that joy would cometh in the morning, as it says in the Bible; hopeful that our past would not be the story of our future; and hopeful, in time, the United States would write a different story in partnership with the people brought here in chains to my nation from Africa.  It’s a story of mutual respect and mutual progress. 

That’s the history that brings me here, the first American president ever to visit Angola.  Over time — (applause) — and I’m proud to be.  Over time, the relationship beca- — between our countries has been transformed from distance to genuine warmth.  Today, our relationship is the strongest it’s ever been. 

Throughout my presidency, it’s been my goal — goal of the United States to build a strong partnership with peoples and nations across the continent of Africa — true partnerships aimed at achieving shared goals, bringing to bear the dynamism of America’s private sector and the expertise of our government to support aspirations of African entrepreneurs, experts, leaders both inside and outside of government.

Because we know the challenge that define our age demand African leadership.  One out of every four human beings on Earth will live in Africa by the year 2050.  And the ingenuity and determination of young Africans in particular, like the young society leaders I just met with here today, will be undeniable forces in that human progress. 

That’s why I’m so optimistic, because of that generation.  In no small part, it will be in their hands and the hands of people across Africa to expand access to clean energy, to tackle threats of global health, to grow global — a global middle class. 

In many ways, Africa’s — Africa’s success is and will be the world’s success.  As I said at the United States — U.S.-Africa Summit: The United States is all in on Africa’s future. 

Two years ago, I pledged to deliver $55 million [billion] in new investments in Africa and to mobilize American businesses to close new deals with African partners. Two years ago, we are out way ahead of schedule.  More than 20 heads of U.S. government agencies and members of my Cabinet have traveled to Africa, delivering over $40 billion in investments thus far. 

And we have announced nearly 1,200 new business deals between African and American companies — and American companies — total will be worth $52 billion, including investments in solar energy, telecom, mobile finance, infrastructure, and partnerships with American airlines to expand opportunities for tourism so you don’t have to fly to Paris to get here — although Paris is pretty nice.  (Laughter.)

Here in Angola alone, the United States has invested $3 billion during my short presidency.  We see the bonds between our countries across sectors, from clean energy to health care to sports.  The American Basketball Associat- — National Basketball Association launched Basketball Africa League and Angola is the reigning champion.  (Applause.)

And we see the impact of American culture across — African culture across the American culture, from music to entertainment to fashion to arts and so much more. 

Student exchanges between our countries are essential and must increase.  Students in both countries can be — better understand one another if they know the country, if they visit the country, if they’re educated in the other country.  An increased connection between us makes a big difference.

Being all in on Africa means making sure African voices are heard at the tables that matter most.  Under my leadership, the United States brought — we brought in the African Union as a permanent member of the G20 economies, and we insisted on more African representation among the leaders of the International Monetary Fund and other world financial institutions. 

We’ve also pushed to ensure that developing nations do not — do not choose — have to choose between paying down unsustainable debt and being able to invest in their own people.  And we’re using our voi- — our own voice to increase Africa’s presence on the U.N. Security Council at the United Nations.  That should happen.  You can clap for that, folks.  You should be in there.  (Applause.)  

The United States continues to be the world’s largest provider of humanitarian aid and development assistance.  And that’s going to increase.  You know, that’s the right thing for the wealthiest nation in the world to do. 

And today, I’m announcing over $1 billion in new humanitarian support for Africans displaced from homes by historic droughts and food insecurity.  (Applause.)

But we know African leaders and citizens are seeking more than just aid.  You seek investment.  And so, the United States is expanding our relationship all across Africa — from assistance to aid to investment to trade — moving from patrons to partners to help bridge the infrastructure gap. 

I was told, by the way, when I got elected I could never get an infrastructure bill passed because the last guy spent eight years saying, “Next month” — four years saying, “Next month.”

Well, guess what, folks?  We’ve done it.  (Applause.)  A trillion — a trillion three hundred billion dollars for infrastructure to narrow the digital divide, drive inclusive, sustainable economic growth.

We’re looking for partners who understand that the right question in the year 2024 is not “What can the United States do for the people of Africa?”  It’s “What can we do together for the people of Africa?”  (Applause.)  That’s what we’re going to do.

Nowhere in Africa is the answer more exciting than here in Angola.  It starts with our governments, whose partnership is stronger, deeper, and more effective and active than any point in history.  It’s testament to your president, who had the vision to carry out this relationship — carry this relationship forward.  And it’s a testament to Angolan citizens across the private sector and civil society who have forged strong bonds with your American counterparts. 

And together, we’re engaged in a major joint project to close the infrastructure gap for the benefit of Angolans, Africans across the continent, Americans, and the world.  We’ll all benefit, as you benefit.  You’re — you can produce much more agriculture, for example, than states that can’t.  You’re going to increase their longevity, and you’re going to increase your impact and profit. 

It’s called the Lobito Corridor.  We’re building railroad lines from Angola to the Port of Lobito, in Zambia and the DRC, and, ultimately, all the way to the Atlantic — from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean.  It’ll be the first trans-continental railroad in Africa and the biggest American rail investment outside of America.

And I must tell you up front, with American press here, I’m probably the most pro-rail guy in America.  (Laughter.)  I’ve ri- — I’ve ridden over 1,300,000 miles on a daily basis to my work, 210 — -20 miles a day for the last 50 years. 

Well, I didn’t do it as president.  I stayed in the White House a lot. 

But all kidding aside, folks, we can do this.  We can do this.  It’s in our power. 

It will not only generate significant employment, it will also allow individual countries to maximize their own domestic resources for the benefit of their people and sell critical minerals that power the world’s energy transformation and our fight against climate change and to transport them in a fraction of the time and lower cost.  A shipment that used to take over 45 days will now take 45 hours.  That’s a game changer.  That increases profit.  That increases opportunity.

The Lobito Corridor represents the right way to invest in full partnership with a country and its people. 

As part of this project, we will install enough clean energy power to power hundreds of thousands of homes, expand high-speed Internet across — for millions of Angolans, which is a cos- — as consequential today as electricity was two generations ago. 

And we’re investing in agriculture and food security, fulfilling the needs of countries without agricultural capacity and expanding opportunities for countries growing the crops; connecting farmers across the Lobito — along the Lobito Corridor to new markets, expanding opportunity and prosperity — you doing that, having the means to do it. 

The United States understands how we invest in Africa is as important as how much we invest.  In too many places, 10 years after the so-called investment was made, workers are still coming home on a dirt road and without electricity, a village without a school, a city without a hospital, or a country under crushing debt. 

We seek a better way: transparent, high-standard, open-access investments that protect workers and the rule of law and the environment.  It can be done and will be done.  (Applause.)

And, folks, the partnership between Angola and the United States also extends to supporting peace and security in this region and beyond. 

Pl- — Pr- — President Lourenço, I want to thank him for his leadership and mediation in regional conflicts.  I also want to thank him for Angola speaking out against Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine.  It matters.  It matters when leaders speak out.  (Applause.)

Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, I am in the final weeks of my presidency.  You don’t have to clap for that.  (Laughter.)  You can if you want. 

But I wanted to come to Angola.  Although I’ve been chairman of the Africa America subcommittee for a long time, I had never made it to Angola.  Because although I don’t know exactly what the future will hold, I know the future runs through Angola, through Africa.  I mean it sincerely.  (Applause.)  I’m not kidding.

I know that any nation that wants to thrive in the next century must work as partners with workers, entrepreneurs, and businesses here in Africa.  I know that the connection between our communities, our universities, our sports, our civil societies, our families, our people will only grow deeper.  We have to stay focused.

The story of Angola and the United States holds a lesson for the world: two nations with a shared history in evil of human bondage; two nations on opposite sides of the Cold War, defining struggle in the late part of the 20th century; and now, two nations standing shoulder to shoulder, working together every day for the mutual benefit of our people. 

It’s a reminder that no nation need be permanently a — the adversary of another, a testament to the human capacity for reconciliation, and proof that from every — from the horrors of slavery and war, there is a way forward. 

So, I stand here today — I mean this sincerely — deeply optimistic.

When I — by the way, 20 years ago, when I was a senator, I had a cranial aneurysm.  They s- — got me to the hospital in time.  I remember asking the doctor, “What are my ch-” — he said, “Oh, your chances are good.  They’re about 30 percent.”  (Laughter.)  (Inaudible.)  When it was all over, he was deciding whether or not it was congenital or environmental.  And I said, “I don’t give a damn.  I’m here.”  He said, “You know what your problem is, Senator?  You’re a congenital optimist.”  (Laughter and applause.)  I am.

About the possibilities and progress that lie just beyond the horizon.  Together, we can and will chart a futuche worther [future worthy] of great nations, worthy of the highest aspirations of our people. We just have to remember who we are: We’re Angolans; we’re Americans.   

As I often say in Ameri- — to the American people: There’s nothing — nothing beyond our capacity if we work together.  And today, I say to the people of Angola and all the people of Africa, there is nothing beyond our capacity if we do it together. 

Thank you.  And God bless you and keep you all safe.  (Applause.)  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  And thank you for waiting. 

And I got my hat.  Thanks, everybody.  I really mean it.  You’re very patient.

Q    Mr. President, anything on South Korea and martial law?

THE PRESIDENT:  I’m just getting briefed on it.  I’m just getting briefed.  I haven’t heard the details.

6:13 P.M. WAT

The post Remarks by President Biden Honoring the Past and Future of the Angolan-U.S. Relationship | Belas, Angola appeared first on The White House.

     The over one billion disabled people around the world have made incredible contributions — propelling us all forward in the pursuit of progress.  This International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we recommit to ensuring that people with disabilities are treated with dignity and respect and have every opportunity to reach their full potential.
     I remain proud that one of my earliest acts as a United States Senator was co-sponsoring the Rehabilitation Act, banning discrimination on the basis of disability by any entity funded by the Federal Government.  And later, I co-sponsored the Americans with Disabilities Act, which banned discrimination against disabled people in workplaces, schools, public transit, and more — finally making a commitment to build an America for all Americans.  Together, these laws declared what we have always known to be true:  that Americans with disabilities deserve dignity, respect, and an equal chance at the American Dream. 
     Over 180 nations have passed similar laws in the years since, codifying their commitment to equal justice and opportunities for people with disabilities.  Still, these laws have not brought an end to the work we need to do.  Around the world, people with disabilities are subject to shameful discrimination, harassment, exploitation, abuse, and violence.  And too often, they struggle to get by — whether it is finding an accommodating job, enjoying public spaces, receiving quality education, or getting to and from school or work.
     That is why my Administration has worked to uplift people with disabilities in everything we do.  My American Rescue Plan provided $37 billion to strengthen home-based services so that more people with disabilities have the option to live independently at home.  My Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes historic investments in making transit, rail, and airports more accessible, so that people with disabilities can commute and travel with dignity.  The Department of Justice issued a rule that ensures State and local governments make their web content and mobile apps more accessible to Americans with disabilities so they can more easily access local government services, emergency services, voting information, and publicly funded education.  And today, the Department of Labor announced a proposed rule that would gradually phase out certificates that permit employers to pay workers with disabilities less than the full minimum wage.
     My Administration has also worked with partners around the world to secure the rights of people with disabilities.  I released the first-ever Memorandum on Advancing Worker Empowerment, Rights, and High Labor Standards Globally, which is working to ensure that people with disabilities are represented in our work to promote labor rights.  And I re-established the role of Special Advisor on International Disability Rights at the Department of State to ensure our foreign policy reflects our commitment to this community.  In October, my Administration participated in the first-ever G7 Ministerial on Inclusion and Disability, joining leaders around the world to advance disability rights.  Together with leaders from Central Asia, I launched a joint disability rights initiative to help make education and infrastructure more accessible. And as a co-chair of the Global Action on Disability Network, the United States is continuing to advocate for disability rights on the world stage.
     Today, I am thinking of a quote from disability rights activist Judy Heumann, who once wrote:  “Change never happens at the pace we think it should.  It happens over years of people joining together, strategizing, sharing, and pulling all the levers they possibly can.”  On International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we show our gratitude for all the leaders and activists who have advocated and worked to make real our Nation’s founding promise — that every American has a right to be recognized and respected for who they are.  And we recommit to building a world where we support disability pride and give everyone an equitable chance at achieving their highest aspirations.
     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 December 3, 2024, as International Day of Persons with Disabilities.  I call on all Americans to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs.
     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
third 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.

The post A Proclamation on International Day of Persons with Disabilities , 2024 appeared first on The White House.

     The over one billion disabled people around the world have made incredible contributions — propelling us all forward in the pursuit of progress.  This International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we recommit to ensuring that people with disabilities are treated with dignity and respect and have every opportunity to reach their full potential.
     I remain proud that one of my earliest acts as a United States Senator was co-sponsoring the Rehabilitation Act, banning discrimination on the basis of disability by any entity funded by the Federal Government.  And later, I co-sponsored the Americans with Disabilities Act, which banned discrimination against disabled people in workplaces, schools, public transit, and more — finally making a commitment to build an America for all Americans.  Together, these laws declared what we have always known to be true:  that Americans with disabilities deserve dignity, respect, and an equal chance at the American Dream. 
     Over 180 nations have passed similar laws in the years since, codifying their commitment to equal justice and opportunities for people with disabilities.  Still, these laws have not brought an end to the work we need to do.  Around the world, people with disabilities are subject to shameful discrimination, harassment, exploitation, abuse, and violence.  And too often, they struggle to get by — whether it is finding an accommodating job, enjoying public spaces, receiving quality education, or getting to and from school or work.
     That is why my Administration has worked to uplift people with disabilities in everything we do.  My American Rescue Plan provided $37 billion to strengthen home-based services so that more people with disabilities have the option to live independently at home.  My Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes historic investments in making transit, rail, and airports more accessible, so that people with disabilities can commute and travel with dignity.  The Department of Justice issued a rule that ensures State and local governments make their web content and mobile apps more accessible to Americans with disabilities so they can more easily access local government services, emergency services, voting information, and publicly funded education.  And today, the Department of Labor announced a proposed rule that would gradually phase out certificates that permit employers to pay workers with disabilities less than the full minimum wage.
     My Administration has also worked with partners around the world to secure the rights of people with disabilities.  I released the first-ever Memorandum on Advancing Worker Empowerment, Rights, and High Labor Standards Globally, which is working to ensure that people with disabilities are represented in our work to promote labor rights.  And I re-established the role of Special Advisor on International Disability Rights at the Department of State to ensure our foreign policy reflects our commitment to this community.  In October, my Administration participated in the first-ever G7 Ministerial on Inclusion and Disability, joining leaders around the world to advance disability rights.  Together with leaders from Central Asia, I launched a joint disability rights initiative to help make education and infrastructure more accessible. And as a co-chair of the Global Action on Disability Network, the United States is continuing to advocate for disability rights on the world stage.
     Today, I am thinking of a quote from disability rights activist Judy Heumann, who once wrote:  “Change never happens at the pace we think it should.  It happens over years of people joining together, strategizing, sharing, and pulling all the levers they possibly can.”  On International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we show our gratitude for all the leaders and activists who have advocated and worked to make real our Nation’s founding promise — that every American has a right to be recognized and respected for who they are.  And we recommit to building a world where we support disability pride and give everyone an equitable chance at achieving their highest aspirations.
     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 December 3, 2024, as International Day of Persons with Disabilities.  I call on all Americans to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs.
     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
third 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.

The post A Proclamation on International Day of Persons with Disabilities , 2024 appeared first on The White House.

Luanda, Angola

MODERATOR:  All right, well, thanks, everyone.  So, we’re going to do this gaggle on background, attributable to a senior administration official.

For your awareness, but not for your reporting, this is [senior administration official].  And by all means, feel free to share this audio with the pool. 

[Senior administration official] will share a few words at the top on how the bilat went and answer questions. 

Q    Any embargo?

MODERATOR:  No embargo.

All right, over to you. 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Okay, great, yeah.  So it was a really warm and substantive conversation that President Lourenço and President Biden had, along with their teams.  On both sides, it was a really substantive delegation and substantive set of points. 

So, I’ll just say on the U.S. side, as you all may know, in addition to President Biden and the national security team, we also had the head of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency; the Millennium Challenge Corporation; the DFC, Development Finance Corporation — which kind of shows you how deep this partnership with Angola has become. 

And the partnership with Angola was basically the theme.  President Biden started off talking about how this is a really transformed partnership over the last certainly centuries, but particularly the last three years.  So when you think about — this is a relationship that began in slavery, which President Biden has called the original sin of the United States; then went through the Cold War, when we were mostly on opposing sides.  But then, since President Lourenço took office, and since President Biden took office four years ago, it has really become a deep partnership and a really warm one.  So, President Biden and President Lourenço both reflected a lot on how far we’ve come on that.

Then, I would say the core of the conversation was on how that partnership is being manifested in the Lobito Corridor.  The Lobito Corridor, as you probably know by now, is a massive and really ambitious investment that the United States is partnering with other both external stakeholders as well as regional countries on.  We’ve invested upwards of $3 billion in it thus far.  More to come. 

But the important thing — and this is something that President Biden talked about — is it is not just about infrastructure, it is about people, were his exact words.  And it’s about people, it’s about the communities that it will touch.  It’s about investing in a responsible and sustainable way, ensuring there’s inclusive economic growth, including that there is contracting that is transparent and not corrupt. 

So, President Biden talked a lot about what he sees.  He loves trains, and he did say, “I’m a train guy, and I love trains,” but he did talk about how that works in the favor of people and communities as well.

As you likely know by now, President Biden and President Lourenço will have a chance to go see the Lobito Corridor in person tomorrow, probably along with many of you.  They will also be co-hosting regional leaders, so the leaders of Zambia, DRC, and Tanzania.  It’ll be the vice president of Tanzania and the president of the other two.  So it was sort of a preview of the conversation tomorrow where the presidents will be able to sort of see what’s been in action, lift up what the G7 has done in support of Lobito, and how it reflects the AU’s vision as well.  So that was huge area of focus. 

Other issues they discussed included global issues such as democracy — how democracy takes constant work; democracy is always fragile is something President Biden said. 

They talked a lot about regional issues.  President Lourenço has taken a really helpful leadership role in mediating the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  President Biden thanked him for that work.  They talked about the way forward on that, but President Lourenço shared his perspective. 

We talked about President Lourenço’s forthcoming chairmanship of the AU, which will start next year, and his helpful role in that regard.

Touched upon other regional and global issues, and then sort of finished off with just a reflection again of how far the partnership has come. 

So, happy to take any questions. 

Q    All right, first of all, can you share with us any details of this meeting that the President had with the descendant of one of the original slaves?  Or however you word that.

And then, Angola’s UNITA Party said today that the President missed a, quote, “great opportunity” to learn more about civil society, to interface with civil society and talk about human rights issues.  What’s your response to that?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Yeah, so on the descendant of slavery you mentioned, so this is the Tucker family.  So Wanda Tucker and then two of her other family members are here as well.  And these are descendants of the original shipment of slaves who came over, I think around 1619.  They will be at the President’s remarks later this afternoon as well. 

The President met with Wanda, at least last night — I’m not sure if the other two or not — and he obviously takes this story very personally in terms of the personal manifestation of it. 

But, yeah, the William Tucker Society has been a really important voice on sort of telling that story of the relationship.

On civil society: So, the President’s delegation has already met with civil society and youth leaders.  We also know civil society is not monolithic, so getting lots of voices.  The President will meet with other representatives from civil society.  So this is — you know, democracy and governance issues came up and are certainly something that I’d say our President did not miss an opportunity to talk about.

MODERATOR:  Trevor?

Q    Two, kind of, related ones.  I thought it was kind of interesting that Lourenço, in his opening remarks, brought up security and cooperation.  Directionally, where is that headed?  Is that headed towards a deeper, you know, alliance, partnership?  Where is that headed?

And then, you mentioned other regional issues and global issues.  Did China come up at all?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  China didn’t come up.

On security cooperation: Yeah, this is a really exciting, I’d say burgeoning area of cooperation that’s particularly picked up steam over the last couple of years.  Secretary Austin was here about a year ago, I believe sometime in 2023.  There have been other visits on this.  And just in the last few weeks, we have initiated the State Partnership Program, which we’re looking forward to deepening with the Angolans.

So, I do think this is an area of burgeoning cooperation, I would say.  It’s obviously a relatively new area.

Q    And then, did — sorry — did Russia come up at all?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  No.

Q    Thanks so much for doing this.  During —

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Oh, I’m so sorry, let me correct myself.  Russia came up briefly in the sense that there’s a concern of, with the war in Ukraine, there may be arms that will end up in the African continent, and that represents, you know, a risk security wise.

The President also did thank President Lourenço for his principled stand on Ukraine. 

Q    Thanks for doing this.  Did Biden bring up any new investments that could be going to the Lobito Corridor in terms of just new funding?  Or did that come up?  I know there’s been talk that there would be some deliverables, but was that mentioned at all during the meeting?  Or —

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  The President’s remarks on Lobito were much more, sort of, the principle behind it, what we’re trying to demonstrate by Lobito.  But there are some investments and announcements that are coming out.  I’m not sure if they’re out yet, so I’ll defer you to [senior administration official], who I think is speaking with you all later on Lobito.

Q    Okay.  And then, just one more.  President Lourenço brought up — during his remarks, he touched on, you know, how he would like to see more engagement from U.S. investors.  Was there any more conversation around, you know, like U.S. companies coming to Angola and Africa more broadly?  What, kind of, was touched on there, if anything?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Yeah.  Absolutely.  This is part of, I think, what the President has pushed forward on Lobito.  And more broadly, under President Biden in general, there’s been a record number of Cabinet officials who have come to Africa, who often bring with them, sort of, the commercial diplomacy aspect as well. 

Tomorrow, at the Lobito Corridor Summit, there will be companies there who will be speaking about their investment.  So this is definitely, I would say, front and center of how they’re thinking about it. 

Q    Just one more.  Sorry.  Did President-elect Trump come up during the meeting?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  No.  President Lourenço didn’t raise it.  Obviously, all these conversations we have are in the context of there is a transition coming.  Fortunately, Africa policy has long been bipartisan.  So, while we obviously can’t predict what the new team will do, we’ve seen a lot of support for investment projects from the other side.  And we’ve heard good support from both sides of the aisle in terms of supporting Angola’s leadership on eastern DRC. 

So that would — I would say it was the only way it was even tangentially talked about.

Q    The media was asking questions about the pardon, and then Biden didn’t answer them, but he made a joke about “and welcome to America.”  Just wondering, (inaudible) —

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  It didn’t come up.  Actually, it didn’t.

Q    They didn’t —

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  There was mention, no.

Q    I figured that was the case.

Q    I was wondering whether you could elaborate a bit on this, on what you just said about Russia and how it could lead to more, like, arms coming into Africa.  And where exactly — have you seen proof of it already?  You know, that kind of thing. 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  It was actually a pretty brief comment in the context of overall the security environment.  So it wasn’t — I actually can’t elaborate because that was as far as it went.

Q    And on the DRC, like, anything more you can share?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Yeah.  Yeah, yeah. 

So, on the DRC — so you’re likely tracking President Lourenço has led the Luanda Process, which we really commend him for.  That’s been a partnership with Avril Haines, our Director of National Intelligence.  President Lourenço, you know, continues to play a pretty strong role.  The op tempo of those meetings has increased.  We had two ministerials in the last 10 days on that.  There’s been a head of state level meeting announced now for mid-December, so there’s some discussion of that. 

Overall, you know, what President Biden conveyed on that was, first, like, “Thank you, President Lourenço,” and then, second, that he has — President Biden has heard bipartisan support for the mediation efforts.  And, you know, the conflict in eastern DRC benefits no one.  Potential investors, the human cost.  So, President Biden basically expressed that he hopes that the partnership on mediating that will continue.

Q    Is the investment, like, in the Lobito Corridor or any of the other public health or energy investments, are any of those contingent on the next administration continuing to disburse the money, or is the money already there?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I defer you to the Lobito Corridor gurus because I don’t want to give you bad —

MODERATOR:  Yeah, I think we’re trying to work a briefing for [senior administration official] later today, maybe after the speech, just to preview Lobito and everything.

Q    Okay.  But just in terms of how Trump only adjacently came up, like not directly came up, because of the context of the transition — was that because there was any concern about whether this work would continue or (inaudible)?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I mean, I think it’s just we don’t want to speak for the next administration.  We don’t know what choices they’ll make.  But I’ll say, you know, there’s a lot of private sector energy already.  There’s a lot of other stakeholders.  This isn’t a U.S.-exclusively endeavor.  It’s a G7 endeavor, Africa Finance Corporation, AFDB — development bank.  So there’s a lot of other players as well, but I think we’ll hear more tomorrow on that.

MODERATOR:  Thank you all.  Hope this was helpful.

The post Background Press Gaggle on President Biden’s Meeting with President Lourenço of Angola appeared first on The White House.

Luanda, Angola

MODERATOR:  All right, well, thanks, everyone.  So, we’re going to do this gaggle on background, attributable to a senior administration official.

For your awareness, but not for your reporting, this is [senior administration official].  And by all means, feel free to share this audio with the pool. 

[Senior administration official] will share a few words at the top on how the bilat went and answer questions. 

Q    Any embargo?

MODERATOR:  No embargo.

All right, over to you. 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Okay, great, yeah.  So it was a really warm and substantive conversation that President Lourenço and President Biden had, along with their teams.  On both sides, it was a really substantive delegation and substantive set of points. 

So, I’ll just say on the U.S. side, as you all may know, in addition to President Biden and the national security team, we also had the head of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency; the Millennium Challenge Corporation; the DFC, Development Finance Corporation — which kind of shows you how deep this partnership with Angola has become. 

And the partnership with Angola was basically the theme.  President Biden started off talking about how this is a really transformed partnership over the last certainly centuries, but particularly the last three years.  So when you think about — this is a relationship that began in slavery, which President Biden has called the original sin of the United States; then went through the Cold War, when we were mostly on opposing sides.  But then, since President Lourenço took office, and since President Biden took office four years ago, it has really become a deep partnership and a really warm one.  So, President Biden and President Lourenço both reflected a lot on how far we’ve come on that.

Then, I would say the core of the conversation was on how that partnership is being manifested in the Lobito Corridor.  The Lobito Corridor, as you probably know by now, is a massive and really ambitious investment that the United States is partnering with other both external stakeholders as well as regional countries on.  We’ve invested upwards of $3 billion in it thus far.  More to come. 

But the important thing — and this is something that President Biden talked about — is it is not just about infrastructure, it is about people, were his exact words.  And it’s about people, it’s about the communities that it will touch.  It’s about investing in a responsible and sustainable way, ensuring there’s inclusive economic growth, including that there is contracting that is transparent and not corrupt. 

So, President Biden talked a lot about what he sees.  He loves trains, and he did say, “I’m a train guy, and I love trains,” but he did talk about how that works in the favor of people and communities as well.

As you likely know by now, President Biden and President Lourenço will have a chance to go see the Lobito Corridor in person tomorrow, probably along with many of you.  They will also be co-hosting regional leaders, so the leaders of Zambia, DRC, and Tanzania.  It’ll be the vice president of Tanzania and the president of the other two.  So it was sort of a preview of the conversation tomorrow where the presidents will be able to sort of see what’s been in action, lift up what the G7 has done in support of Lobito, and how it reflects the AU’s vision as well.  So that was huge area of focus. 

Other issues they discussed included global issues such as democracy — how democracy takes constant work; democracy is always fragile is something President Biden said. 

They talked a lot about regional issues.  President Lourenço has taken a really helpful leadership role in mediating the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  President Biden thanked him for that work.  They talked about the way forward on that, but President Lourenço shared his perspective. 

We talked about President Lourenço’s forthcoming chairmanship of the AU, which will start next year, and his helpful role in that regard.

Touched upon other regional and global issues, and then sort of finished off with just a reflection again of how far the partnership has come. 

So, happy to take any questions. 

Q    All right, first of all, can you share with us any details of this meeting that the President had with the descendant of one of the original slaves?  Or however you word that.

And then, Angola’s UNITA Party said today that the President missed a, quote, “great opportunity” to learn more about civil society, to interface with civil society and talk about human rights issues.  What’s your response to that?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Yeah, so on the descendant of slavery you mentioned, so this is the Tucker family.  So Wanda Tucker and then two of her other family members are here as well.  And these are descendants of the original shipment of slaves who came over, I think around 1619.  They will be at the President’s remarks later this afternoon as well. 

The President met with Wanda, at least last night — I’m not sure if the other two or not — and he obviously takes this story very personally in terms of the personal manifestation of it. 

But, yeah, the William Tucker Society has been a really important voice on sort of telling that story of the relationship.

On civil society: So, the President’s delegation has already met with civil society and youth leaders.  We also know civil society is not monolithic, so getting lots of voices.  The President will meet with other representatives from civil society.  So this is — you know, democracy and governance issues came up and are certainly something that I’d say our President did not miss an opportunity to talk about.

MODERATOR:  Trevor?

Q    Two, kind of, related ones.  I thought it was kind of interesting that Lourenço, in his opening remarks, brought up security and cooperation.  Directionally, where is that headed?  Is that headed towards a deeper, you know, alliance, partnership?  Where is that headed?

And then, you mentioned other regional issues and global issues.  Did China come up at all?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  China didn’t come up.

On security cooperation: Yeah, this is a really exciting, I’d say burgeoning area of cooperation that’s particularly picked up steam over the last couple of years.  Secretary Austin was here about a year ago, I believe sometime in 2023.  There have been other visits on this.  And just in the last few weeks, we have initiated the State Partnership Program, which we’re looking forward to deepening with the Angolans.

So, I do think this is an area of burgeoning cooperation, I would say.  It’s obviously a relatively new area.

Q    And then, did — sorry — did Russia come up at all?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  No.

Q    Thanks so much for doing this.  During —

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Oh, I’m so sorry, let me correct myself.  Russia came up briefly in the sense that there’s a concern of, with the war in Ukraine, there may be arms that will end up in the African continent, and that represents, you know, a risk security wise.

The President also did thank President Lourenço for his principled stand on Ukraine. 

Q    Thanks for doing this.  Did Biden bring up any new investments that could be going to the Lobito Corridor in terms of just new funding?  Or did that come up?  I know there’s been talk that there would be some deliverables, but was that mentioned at all during the meeting?  Or —

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  The President’s remarks on Lobito were much more, sort of, the principle behind it, what we’re trying to demonstrate by Lobito.  But there are some investments and announcements that are coming out.  I’m not sure if they’re out yet, so I’ll defer you to [senior administration official], who I think is speaking with you all later on Lobito.

Q    Okay.  And then, just one more.  President Lourenço brought up — during his remarks, he touched on, you know, how he would like to see more engagement from U.S. investors.  Was there any more conversation around, you know, like U.S. companies coming to Angola and Africa more broadly?  What, kind of, was touched on there, if anything?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Yeah.  Absolutely.  This is part of, I think, what the President has pushed forward on Lobito.  And more broadly, under President Biden in general, there’s been a record number of Cabinet officials who have come to Africa, who often bring with them, sort of, the commercial diplomacy aspect as well. 

Tomorrow, at the Lobito Corridor Summit, there will be companies there who will be speaking about their investment.  So this is definitely, I would say, front and center of how they’re thinking about it. 

Q    Just one more.  Sorry.  Did President-elect Trump come up during the meeting?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  No.  President Lourenço didn’t raise it.  Obviously, all these conversations we have are in the context of there is a transition coming.  Fortunately, Africa policy has long been bipartisan.  So, while we obviously can’t predict what the new team will do, we’ve seen a lot of support for investment projects from the other side.  And we’ve heard good support from both sides of the aisle in terms of supporting Angola’s leadership on eastern DRC. 

So that would — I would say it was the only way it was even tangentially talked about.

Q    The media was asking questions about the pardon, and then Biden didn’t answer them, but he made a joke about “and welcome to America.”  Just wondering, (inaudible) —

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  It didn’t come up.  Actually, it didn’t.

Q    They didn’t —

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  There was mention, no.

Q    I figured that was the case.

Q    I was wondering whether you could elaborate a bit on this, on what you just said about Russia and how it could lead to more, like, arms coming into Africa.  And where exactly — have you seen proof of it already?  You know, that kind of thing. 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  It was actually a pretty brief comment in the context of overall the security environment.  So it wasn’t — I actually can’t elaborate because that was as far as it went.

Q    And on the DRC, like, anything more you can share?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Yeah.  Yeah, yeah. 

So, on the DRC — so you’re likely tracking President Lourenço has led the Luanda Process, which we really commend him for.  That’s been a partnership with Avril Haines, our Director of National Intelligence.  President Lourenço, you know, continues to play a pretty strong role.  The op tempo of those meetings has increased.  We had two ministerials in the last 10 days on that.  There’s been a head of state level meeting announced now for mid-December, so there’s some discussion of that. 

Overall, you know, what President Biden conveyed on that was, first, like, “Thank you, President Lourenço,” and then, second, that he has — President Biden has heard bipartisan support for the mediation efforts.  And, you know, the conflict in eastern DRC benefits no one.  Potential investors, the human cost.  So, President Biden basically expressed that he hopes that the partnership on mediating that will continue.

Q    Is the investment, like, in the Lobito Corridor or any of the other public health or energy investments, are any of those contingent on the next administration continuing to disburse the money, or is the money already there?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I defer you to the Lobito Corridor gurus because I don’t want to give you bad —

MODERATOR:  Yeah, I think we’re trying to work a briefing for [senior administration official] later today, maybe after the speech, just to preview Lobito and everything.

Q    Okay.  But just in terms of how Trump only adjacently came up, like not directly came up, because of the context of the transition — was that because there was any concern about whether this work would continue or (inaudible)?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I mean, I think it’s just we don’t want to speak for the next administration.  We don’t know what choices they’ll make.  But I’ll say, you know, there’s a lot of private sector energy already.  There’s a lot of other stakeholders.  This isn’t a U.S.-exclusively endeavor.  It’s a G7 endeavor, Africa Finance Corporation, AFDB — development bank.  So there’s a lot of other players as well, but I think we’ll hear more tomorrow on that.

MODERATOR:  Thank you all.  Hope this was helpful.

The post Background Press Gaggle on President Biden’s Meeting with President Lourenço of Angola appeared first on The White House.

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. met today with President João Lourenço, highlighting the transformation of the U.S.-Angolan relationship and reaffirming our joint commitment to continue working together to address global challenges. The two leaders discussed significant trade and investment opportunities that keep our companies competitive and defend the interests of workers, addressed the shared responsibility to protect and strengthen democracy in Angola and around the world, and celebrated the continued growth of the U.S.-Angola defense relationship. President Biden underscored the significance of the more than $3 billion in U.S. commitments to infrastructure projects in Angola in support of the Lobito Trans-Africa Corridor, a multinational initiative to help accelerate inclusive economic growth and connect markets along the Corridor to the world, all while creating quality jobs and improving lives and livelihoods both along the Corridor and in the United States. He also expressed appreciation for Angola’s role in promoting peace and security in sub-Saharan Africa, including its efforts to mediate the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).  

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President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. met today with President João Lourenço, highlighting the transformation of the U.S.-Angolan relationship and reaffirming our joint commitment to continue working together to address global challenges. The two leaders discussed significant trade and investment opportunities that keep our companies competitive and defend the interests of workers, addressed the shared responsibility to protect and strengthen democracy in Angola and around the world, and celebrated the continued growth of the U.S.-Angola defense relationship. President Biden underscored the significance of the more than $3 billion in U.S. commitments to infrastructure projects in Angola in support of the Lobito Trans-Africa Corridor, a multinational initiative to help accelerate inclusive economic growth and connect markets along the Corridor to the world, all while creating quality jobs and improving lives and livelihoods both along the Corridor and in the United States. He also expressed appreciation for Angola’s role in promoting peace and security in sub-Saharan Africa, including its efforts to mediate the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).  

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MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE

SUBJECT:       Delegation of Authority Under Section 614(a)(1)

of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 621 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (FAA), I hereby delegate to the Secretary of State the authority under section 614(a)(1) of the FAA to determine whether it is important to the security interests of the United States to furnish up to $63 million in assistance to Ukraine without regard to any provision of law within the purview of section 614(a)(1) of the FAA.

You are authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

                              JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

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MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE

SUBJECT:       Delegation of Authority Under Section 614(a)(1)

of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 621 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (FAA), I hereby delegate to the Secretary of State the authority under section 614(a)(1) of the FAA to determine whether it is important to the security interests of the United States to furnish up to $63 million in assistance to Ukraine without regard to any provision of law within the purview of section 614(a)(1) of the FAA.

You are authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

                              JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

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The United States is disappointed in the lack of a legally binding international agreement fit to meet the moment on addressing plastic pollution at the INC-5 and we are resolved to make more progress in the next stages of this negotiation. While the global movement to reign in the urgent threats of plastic waste in the environment has gained tremendous momentum, a small group of countries and producers stood in the way of progress to protect their profits and perpetuate an inadequate status quo. The United States spearheaded an ambitious approach in Busan, reflected in our own domestic efforts, and we continue to back a global framework that supports private investment, good jobs, and our environment.

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The post Statement from NSC Spokesperson Sean Savett on Outcomes of the Fifth Negotiating Session on a Global Agreement to End Plastic Pollution appeared first on The White House.

The United States is disappointed in the lack of a legally binding international agreement fit to meet the moment on addressing plastic pollution at the INC-5 and we are resolved to make more progress in the next stages of this negotiation. While the global movement to reign in the urgent threats of plastic waste in the environment has gained tremendous momentum, a small group of countries and producers stood in the way of progress to protect their profits and perpetuate an inadequate status quo. The United States spearheaded an ambitious approach in Busan, reflected in our own domestic efforts, and we continue to back a global framework that supports private investment, good jobs, and our environment.

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On the occasion of President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s visit to Angola, we celebrate the transformation and deepening of the U.S.-Angola relationship.  This trip marks the first visit ever by a sitting U.S. president to the Republic of Angola, and the first visit of a U.S. president to sub-Saharan Africa since 2015.
 
This visit comes on the heels of a meeting in November 2023, when President Biden hosted President João Lourenço in the Oval Office in Washington, D.C.  In the time before and since, U.S. and Angolan counterparts have worked closely to advance both Presidents’ visions to expand impactful high-standard economic opportunities and improve global and regional security.  Together, the United States and Angola acknowledge the past horrors of slavery and its legacy, while looking forward to a bright future of continually deepening collaboration between our nations.  Today, President Biden and President Lourenço will meet in Luanda at the Presidential Palace to discuss trade, investment, and infrastructure; security and stability; and deepening U.S.-Angolan cooperation.  Tomorrow, President Biden will travel to Lobito, Angola for a Summit on infrastructure investment in the region with leaders from Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Tanzania, and Zambia. Information on continuing and new U.S.-Angolan partnership initiatives is provided below.
 
TRADE, INVESTMENT, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND DEVELOPMENT
 
At the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in 2022, the United States committed to focus on partnership with Africa through investment.  Advancing two-way trade and investment bolsters participation in the global economy, accelerates sustainable development, and scales innovation and entrepreneurship, resulting in increased economic opportunity for citizens on both sides of the Atlantic.  The United States and Angola are also working with other partners through the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI) to enhance trans-continental connectivity from the Atlantic to the Indian Oceans that enables additional commercial investment.  Tomorrow, President Biden and President Lourenço will co-host a multilateral Lobito Trans-Africa Corridor Summit to further accelerate the development of this critical economic corridor.

• The Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is an important U.S. initiative to enhance trade with African countries, under which Angola has benefited from trade preferences since 2004 and leveraged the annual AGOA Forum to advance trade and economic ties with the United States.  In 2023, two-way U.S.-Angola trade totaled approximately $1.77 billion, making Angola the United States’ fourth largest trade partner in sub-Saharan Africa. 
  
• In November 2024, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Angola’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce establishing the U.S.-Angola Commercial and Investment Partnership.  This Partnership will formalize regular collaboration between the two governments and with U.S. and Angolan industry stakeholders to enhance commercial ties and increase the ease of doing business.  Separately, the U.S. Department of Commerce is developing a Sub-Saharan Africa Rail and Port Trade Mission to Angola and South Africa in 2025 to connect U.S. companies with opportunities to meet demand for U.S. rail and port solutions in African markets.  Members of the President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa (PAC-DBIA)—which advises the President, through the Secretary of Commerce, on ways to strengthen commercial engagement between the United States and African countries—also traveled to Angola to join President Biden for a portion of the trip.
  
• In February 2024, to support trade between the U.S. and Angolan agricultural sectors, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) led an Agribusiness Trade Mission to Angola.  The mission supported 140 business-to-business meetings among sector leaders, with U.S. participants reporting $13.3 million in projected 12-month sales stemming from the trip.
  
• In October 2024, the United States and Angola signed an Open Skies Agreement to facilitate increased air connectivity and provide significant new opportunities for trade, tourism, and investment.  This follows a deal announced by Boeing and Angolan flag carrier TAAG in 2023 to purchase four new 787s, increasing TAAG’s capacity for long-haul flights.  
  
• To facilitate U.S.-Angola bilateral commercial relations in sectors such as energy, manufacturing, equipment and machinery, and aerospace and defense, the United States is connecting U.S. and African businesses with new buyers, suppliers, and investment opportunities through the Prosper Africa initiative.  Since January 2021, U.S. departments and agencies in the Prosper Africa initiative have closed 12 business deals and investments in Angola with a combined value of $6.9 billion.
  
• Since 2022, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) has provided $2.9 billion in financing toward projects in Angola across the renewable energy, infrastructure, and telecom sectors.  For example, in May 2024, EXIM signed a final $363 million loan agreement for Acrow Bridge Corporation to install bridge infrastructure connecting rural communities across Angola in support of PGI. The projects financed in Angola support an estimated 6,200 U.S.-based jobs.  In 2024 alone, EXIM has issued an additional $2.7 billion in non-binding Letters of Interest across the agricultural, power, rail, health, education, and hospital sectors in Angola.
  
• For the past four years, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has closely supported Angola’s efforts to reduce its debt vulnerabilities through technical assistance.  The program has successfully enabled the Angolan government to reprofile its domestic debt and lower interest costs.  In December 2024, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide an additional $650,000 in technical assistance to support the Angola Ministry of Finance with debt and financial risk management.

LEADING GLOBALLY AND REGIONALLY TO KEEP PEOPLE SAFE AND PROMOTE THRIVING SOCIETIES

Together the United States and Angola are enhancing the security, safety, and well-being of their people by tackling shared challenges.  In addition to traditional security challenges, increasingly, we face also threats such as climate change, food insecurity, and disease that do not recognize or respect national borders.  Together, we are enabling more professional and accountable government actors that protect civilians, safeguard natural resources, and build more resilient health systems, and ensure no one is left behind.

• In September 2023, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin became the first U.S. Secretary of Defense to visit Angola.  In June 2024, the U.S. Department of Defense hosted the inaugural Joint Angolan-American Defense Cooperation Committee (DEFCOM) at the Pentagon.  During DEFCOM, representatives signed an agreement to allow the exchange of logistics goods and services between our respective militaries, which facilitates cooperation as we continue to build our growing defense partnership.  Angola and the U.S. Department of Defense, with the Department of State as appropriate, are continuing to plan for cooperative work in the areas of engineering, medicine, cyber, peacekeeping, maritime security, and the development of a coast guard.  The next DEFCOM meeting is planned to be held in Angola in 2025.  
  
• In September 2024, Angola agreed to join Department of Defense’s State Partnership Program (SPP) executed by the National Guard Bureau.  Through the SPP, Guard units work with partner militaries to bolster capabilities, improve interoperability, and enhance principles of responsible governance.  The SPP fosters long-term relationships across all levels of society and encourages the development of economic, political, and military ties between U.S. states and partner nations.  The National Guard Bureau is currently in the process of pairing Angola with a State National Guard that is well-aligned with Angola’s requirements.
  
• Since 2020, the United States has dedicated nearly $17 million toward training and professionalization for the Angolan military, including English language training, expanding women’s access to military education courses in the United States, and maritime security-focused training.  In just the past year, the U.S. increased annual International Military Education and Training assistance to Angola from $500,000 to $600,000.  The United States is also providing the Angolan Marines with eight rigid-hull inflatable boats and other critical equipment, with the final four boats scheduled to be delivered to Angola by the end of 2025.  
  
• The United States has been proud to partner with Angola to address regional and global issues, and it remains a steadfast partner in navigating challenging and complex situations.  The United States is providing more than $1 billion in additional humanitarian funding which will assist countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, including Angola, to respond to humanitarian crises including displacement and El Nino-induced drought.
  
• The United States is supporting Angola’s development of a cyber security strategy through almost $1.4 million in projects providing training and mentorship to the future cybersecurity workforce and assisting the Angolan Ministry of Defense’s creation of a cyber defense capability.
  
• The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has initiated discussions with the Angolan Ministries of Interior, Finance, and Trade on a three-year, $5 million program to bolster the two countries’ management, oversight, and accountability of their trade and travel sectors.  The program would focus on modernizing information sharing, allowing the governments to interdict threats and hazards at the earliest possible point, and mitigate and monitor threats from transnational criminal organizations and other malign non-state actors.
  
• Between 2019 and 2023, the Treasury Department provided technical assistance to help strengthen Angolan institutions’ ability to identify, detect, and prosecute money laundering, terrorist financing, and other crimes in support of Angola’s political and economic reforms.  USAID and the State Department are working with various Angolan institutions—including Parliament, the National Court of Accounts, and the Ministries of Health, Education and Finance—to build their public financial management, debt management, and anti-corruption capacity.  Capacity is also being built to support Angola’s implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative standard.
  
• The United States and Angola are working together to combat timber trafficking through the creation of a National Forest Inventory, a critical tool for any country that seeks to conserve and manage its forest resources sustainably.  The State Department, through the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), announced $750,000 in new programs in Angola to improve the identification, interdiction, and confiscation of illicit commodities.  USAID will add $1.3 million from fiscal year 2023 Southern Africa regional Sustainable Landscapes resources to an existing partnership of $1.3 million to expand the partnership between the U.S. Forest Service and the Government of Angola’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forests to continue work on the forest inventory, establish a partnership for carbon market utilization, and develop a Forest Monitoring System.
  
• The State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration provides funding to support refugee assistance, as well as regional funding to UNHCR to support the nearly 56,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Angola.  
  
• Angola is a founding member of the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation, an initiative committed to the interconnected goals of advancing a peaceful, stable, prosperous, open, safe, and cooperative Atlantic as well as to conserving the Atlantic Ocean as a healthy, sustainable, and resilient resource for generations to come.  To develop Angola’s capacity for ocean science research and support for ocean-based food security, the United States is collaborating with the Atlantic community to leverage support for Angola’s ocean research vessel Baia Farta.  The United States and Angola have concluded a Letter of Intent to formalize collaboration, including, for example, on bringing U.S. experts to Angola to support ocean science capacity building and training through the Fulbright Specialist program.  In addition, the U.S. public-private partnership with OceanX will identify opportunities for Angolan early career scientists and youth to access ocean science research, foster a new generation of ocean advocates, and collaborate on initiatives with NGOs and philanthropies, including with OceanX aboard the research vessel OceanXplorer in early 2025.
  
• Through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), more than 25,000 people living with HIV in Angola are receiving life-saving treatment, building efforts to reduce mother-to-child HIV transmission.  Over the past two decades, the United States has invested nearly $251 million to provide HIV testing, prevention, care, and treatment services, and to strengthen public health systems through optimized laboratory services, quality data management, and supply chain security in Angola.
  
• Since 2006, USAID has provided nearly $415 million to address malaria through the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) in Angola.  In the past year, PMI distributed almost 5 million fast-acting malaria medicines and more than 9 million rapid diagnostic tests to clinics and communities to protect and treat Angolans.  More than 12,000 Angolan health workers have been trained since 2023 to diagnose and treat malaria.  Angola experienced a 29 percent decrease in malaria deaths in PMI-focused provinces in 2023 compared with 2020 levels.
  
• USAID is in the process of re-establishing a bilateral Mission in Angola to continue expanding the presence of the United States in Angola and further strengthen our emerging strategic partnership.  
  
• The United States, in partnership with COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) and the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT), donated more than 11 million safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine doses to the people of Angola.
  
• The United States is proud to work with Angola on bolstering African-led solutions to current and future health emergencies.  In September 2024, the United States announced $500 million and one million mpox vaccine doses to support African countries to prevent and respond to the current mpox outbreak.  We are delivering on that commitment, with two thirds of the more than $500 million of support to mpox preparedness and response already available and at work supporting countries in the region.  All one million vaccine doses are currently available for allocation by WHO and Africa CDC based on needs and demand in the region.  Angola has joined the United States as a Global Health Security partner, which will foster greater collaboration as both countries strive to protect the health, lives, and economic well-being of our citizens and people throughout the world.  

CELEBRATING THE U.S.-ANGOLA RELATIONSHIP

The United States and Angola are bound by enduring historical ties and invigorated by our dynamic future.  We share a commitment to reckon with the horrific history of the trans-Atlantic trade of enslaved people by striving to reconnect cultures and celebrating collaboration between our nations.  People are at the heart of this connection.  Today, there are nearly 12 million Americans of Angolan descent.  These relationships—rooted in family, friendship, and community—improve and enrich our lives.  They drive our cooperation, underpin our shared values, and elevate our aspirations.

• In 1619, a vessel carrying enslaved Africans who had been captured in Angola and forcibly marched over one hundred miles along a route known as the Kwanza Corridor landed in present-day Hampton, Virginia.  As many as 6 million enslaved people were kidnapped from their homes and forced from Angolan shores.  We are committed to learning from the horrors endured by enslaved people and honor their descendants, who continue to fight for civil rights, justice, and freedom.  The United States supports Angola’s nomination of the Kwanza Corridor to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites as a way to look forward, to reconnect cultural ties, and to celebrate Angola’s richness and beauty.  
  
• The United States is pleased to announce a grant of $229,000 to support restoration and conservation of the 1786 Álvaro de Carvalho Matoso Residence, Angola’s National Slavery Museum Building.  Founded in 1977, the Museum offers programming promoting a message of harmony, humanism, and respect for human rights.  The funds will go toward the restoration of the building’s exterior and interior galleries.
  
• The United States and Angola look forward to a future strengthened by people-to-people ties that reconnect cultures, promote dialogue, and encourage creative collaboration between our nations.  In August 2024, the City of Hampton, Virginia, the Fort Monroe Authority, the U.S. National Park Service, and Project 1619, Inc. hosted the annual African Landing Day Commemoration at the future site planned to honor the lives of the enslaved Africans stolen from Angola and taken to modern-day Hampton.  In September 2024, Hampton and the City of Malanje in Angola signed a Sister City agreement, which will further enshrine the deep connections between our citizens.  
  
• The United States and Angola share a commitment to enhancing dialogue with the African Diaspora.  President Biden established the President’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement (PAC-ADE) in December 2022.  PAC-ADE members discussed this historic visit to Angola with Assistant to the President, Senior Advisor to the President, and Director of the Office of Public Engagement Stephen Benjamin in October 2024.  PAC-ADE members also traveled to Angola to join President Biden for a portion of the trip.
  
• The United States supports Angola’s efforts to combat corruption, enhance accountability, and institutionalize the rule of law.  In October 2024, the United States and Angola agreed to schedule the next iteration of our bilateral human rights dialogue. We are collaborating on multiple human rights-focused initiatives.  These efforts require advancing democratic governance and respecting human rights, including the fundamental rights to freedoms of expression, press, association, peaceful assembly, and religion or belief.  The United States continues to support Angola’s commitment to reforms, including by amplifying civil society and faith-based organizations’ roles in improving the quality of elections and local decision-making.  The State Department has provided $10.5 million since 2021 in support of these goals, and plans to continue providing such funding, subject to the availability of funds.  
  
• The United States is moving forward with Angola to protect and improve democracy as the work of our time.  The State Department is building on its existing governance investments with an additional $700,000 for capacity building and specialized training to lawyers engaged in human rights defense and similar fields, to strengthen the efficiency and independence of the judicial system, and for the Angolan Ombudsperson’s office to increase engagement with citizens, supporting transparency and good governance.  In October 2024, the United States and Angola agreed to schedule the next iteration of our bilateral human rights dialogue.
  
• People-to-people ties are essential to the U.S.-Angola relationship.  Since 1968, more than 1,200 Angolans have participated in U.S. Government-sponsored educational and professional exchange programs, including the Fulbright Program, the International Visitor Leadership Program, the Mandela Washington Fellowship, and the Pan-Africa Youth Leadership Program, among others.  Through these programs, we are reconnecting cultures, promoting dialogue, and nurturing collaboration between our nations.
  
• In 2024, the United States is contributing almost $140,000 to expand English-language training through the English Access Scholarship Program (Access) and the Learning is Never Too Late program.  Access provides vocational English and 21st-century skills to 100 participants ages 17 to 25 in Angola.  The Learning is Never Too Late program offers English and digital journalism instruction to 40 girls in Luanda.  The U.S. Embassy in Luanda is also providing curriculum development training valued at $100,000 for English department faculty and conducting capacity building for English educators and university administrators.
  
• EducationUSA offers advising services at the U.S. Embassy in Luanda to Angolan students interested in pursuing higher education opportunities in the United States.  University partnerships have strengthened capacity in higher education administration, fostered joint research efforts, created faculty exchanges, and developed new academic programs in STEM-related fields.  Notably, a collaboration between the University of California, Berkeley, and Agostinho Neto University has led to significant advancements in agricultural research, benefiting both institutions and their communities.  
  
• In November 2023, Angola become the third African nation to sign the Artemis Accords, signaling its commitment to promoting the responsible use of space.  The United States and Angola will continue to work together to advance a common vision of space exploration for the benefit of all humankind.
  
• Since 2020, the U.S. Embassy in Angola has issued more than $490,000 in grants to support initiatives that are important to the Angolan people.  These grants have funded programs in entrepreneurship, English language, journalism, music, and intellectual property rights.  By addressing these critical areas, the Embassy aims to empower individuals and strengthen communities throughout Angola.

 
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The post FACT SHEET: President Biden’s Trip to Angola appeared first on The White House.

On the occasion of President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s visit to Angola, we celebrate the transformation and deepening of the U.S.-Angola relationship.  This trip marks the first visit ever by a sitting U.S. president to the Republic of Angola, and the first visit of a U.S. president to sub-Saharan Africa since 2015.
 
This visit comes on the heels of a meeting in November 2023, when President Biden hosted President João Lourenço in the Oval Office in Washington, D.C.  In the time before and since, U.S. and Angolan counterparts have worked closely to advance both Presidents’ visions to expand impactful high-standard economic opportunities and improve global and regional security.  Together, the United States and Angola acknowledge the past horrors of slavery and its legacy, while looking forward to a bright future of continually deepening collaboration between our nations.  Today, President Biden and President Lourenço will meet in Luanda at the Presidential Palace to discuss trade, investment, and infrastructure; security and stability; and deepening U.S.-Angolan cooperation.  Tomorrow, President Biden will travel to Lobito, Angola for a Summit on infrastructure investment in the region with leaders from Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Tanzania, and Zambia. Information on continuing and new U.S.-Angolan partnership initiatives is provided below.
 
TRADE, INVESTMENT, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND DEVELOPMENT
 
At the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in 2022, the United States committed to focus on partnership with Africa through investment.  Advancing two-way trade and investment bolsters participation in the global economy, accelerates sustainable development, and scales innovation and entrepreneurship, resulting in increased economic opportunity for citizens on both sides of the Atlantic.  The United States and Angola are also working with other partners through the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI) to enhance trans-continental connectivity from the Atlantic to the Indian Oceans that enables additional commercial investment.  Tomorrow, President Biden and President Lourenço will co-host a multilateral Lobito Trans-Africa Corridor Summit to further accelerate the development of this critical economic corridor.

• The Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is an important U.S. initiative to enhance trade with African countries, under which Angola has benefited from trade preferences since 2004 and leveraged the annual AGOA Forum to advance trade and economic ties with the United States.  In 2023, two-way U.S.-Angola trade totaled approximately $1.77 billion, making Angola the United States’ fourth largest trade partner in sub-Saharan Africa. 
  
• In November 2024, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Angola’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce establishing the U.S.-Angola Commercial and Investment Partnership.  This Partnership will formalize regular collaboration between the two governments and with U.S. and Angolan industry stakeholders to enhance commercial ties and increase the ease of doing business.  Separately, the U.S. Department of Commerce is developing a Sub-Saharan Africa Rail and Port Trade Mission to Angola and South Africa in 2025 to connect U.S. companies with opportunities to meet demand for U.S. rail and port solutions in African markets.  Members of the President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa (PAC-DBIA)—which advises the President, through the Secretary of Commerce, on ways to strengthen commercial engagement between the United States and African countries—also traveled to Angola to join President Biden for a portion of the trip.
  
• In February 2024, to support trade between the U.S. and Angolan agricultural sectors, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) led an Agribusiness Trade Mission to Angola.  The mission supported 140 business-to-business meetings among sector leaders, with U.S. participants reporting $13.3 million in projected 12-month sales stemming from the trip.
  
• In October 2024, the United States and Angola signed an Open Skies Agreement to facilitate increased air connectivity and provide significant new opportunities for trade, tourism, and investment.  This follows a deal announced by Boeing and Angolan flag carrier TAAG in 2023 to purchase four new 787s, increasing TAAG’s capacity for long-haul flights.  
  
• To facilitate U.S.-Angola bilateral commercial relations in sectors such as energy, manufacturing, equipment and machinery, and aerospace and defense, the United States is connecting U.S. and African businesses with new buyers, suppliers, and investment opportunities through the Prosper Africa initiative.  Since January 2021, U.S. departments and agencies in the Prosper Africa initiative have closed 12 business deals and investments in Angola with a combined value of $6.9 billion.
  
• Since 2022, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) has provided $2.9 billion in financing toward projects in Angola across the renewable energy, infrastructure, and telecom sectors.  For example, in May 2024, EXIM signed a final $363 million loan agreement for Acrow Bridge Corporation to install bridge infrastructure connecting rural communities across Angola in support of PGI. The projects financed in Angola support an estimated 6,200 U.S.-based jobs.  In 2024 alone, EXIM has issued an additional $2.7 billion in non-binding Letters of Interest across the agricultural, power, rail, health, education, and hospital sectors in Angola.
  
• For the past four years, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has closely supported Angola’s efforts to reduce its debt vulnerabilities through technical assistance.  The program has successfully enabled the Angolan government to reprofile its domestic debt and lower interest costs.  In December 2024, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide an additional $650,000 in technical assistance to support the Angola Ministry of Finance with debt and financial risk management.

LEADING GLOBALLY AND REGIONALLY TO KEEP PEOPLE SAFE AND PROMOTE THRIVING SOCIETIES

Together the United States and Angola are enhancing the security, safety, and well-being of their people by tackling shared challenges.  In addition to traditional security challenges, increasingly, we face also threats such as climate change, food insecurity, and disease that do not recognize or respect national borders.  Together, we are enabling more professional and accountable government actors that protect civilians, safeguard natural resources, and build more resilient health systems, and ensure no one is left behind.

• In September 2023, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin became the first U.S. Secretary of Defense to visit Angola.  In June 2024, the U.S. Department of Defense hosted the inaugural Joint Angolan-American Defense Cooperation Committee (DEFCOM) at the Pentagon.  During DEFCOM, representatives signed an agreement to allow the exchange of logistics goods and services between our respective militaries, which facilitates cooperation as we continue to build our growing defense partnership.  Angola and the U.S. Department of Defense, with the Department of State as appropriate, are continuing to plan for cooperative work in the areas of engineering, medicine, cyber, peacekeeping, maritime security, and the development of a coast guard.  The next DEFCOM meeting is planned to be held in Angola in 2025.  
  
• In September 2024, Angola agreed to join Department of Defense’s State Partnership Program (SPP) executed by the National Guard Bureau.  Through the SPP, Guard units work with partner militaries to bolster capabilities, improve interoperability, and enhance principles of responsible governance.  The SPP fosters long-term relationships across all levels of society and encourages the development of economic, political, and military ties between U.S. states and partner nations.  The National Guard Bureau is currently in the process of pairing Angola with a State National Guard that is well-aligned with Angola’s requirements.
  
• Since 2020, the United States has dedicated nearly $17 million toward training and professionalization for the Angolan military, including English language training, expanding women’s access to military education courses in the United States, and maritime security-focused training.  In just the past year, the U.S. increased annual International Military Education and Training assistance to Angola from $500,000 to $600,000.  The United States is also providing the Angolan Marines with eight rigid-hull inflatable boats and other critical equipment, with the final four boats scheduled to be delivered to Angola by the end of 2025.  
  
• The United States has been proud to partner with Angola to address regional and global issues, and it remains a steadfast partner in navigating challenging and complex situations.  The United States is providing more than $1 billion in additional humanitarian funding which will assist countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, including Angola, to respond to humanitarian crises including displacement and El Nino-induced drought.
  
• The United States is supporting Angola’s development of a cyber security strategy through almost $1.4 million in projects providing training and mentorship to the future cybersecurity workforce and assisting the Angolan Ministry of Defense’s creation of a cyber defense capability.
  
• The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has initiated discussions with the Angolan Ministries of Interior, Finance, and Trade on a three-year, $5 million program to bolster the two countries’ management, oversight, and accountability of their trade and travel sectors.  The program would focus on modernizing information sharing, allowing the governments to interdict threats and hazards at the earliest possible point, and mitigate and monitor threats from transnational criminal organizations and other malign non-state actors.
  
• Between 2019 and 2023, the Treasury Department provided technical assistance to help strengthen Angolan institutions’ ability to identify, detect, and prosecute money laundering, terrorist financing, and other crimes in support of Angola’s political and economic reforms.  USAID and the State Department are working with various Angolan institutions—including Parliament, the National Court of Accounts, and the Ministries of Health, Education and Finance—to build their public financial management, debt management, and anti-corruption capacity.  Capacity is also being built to support Angola’s implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative standard.
  
• The United States and Angola are working together to combat timber trafficking through the creation of a National Forest Inventory, a critical tool for any country that seeks to conserve and manage its forest resources sustainably.  The State Department, through the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), announced $750,000 in new programs in Angola to improve the identification, interdiction, and confiscation of illicit commodities.  USAID will add $1.3 million from fiscal year 2023 Southern Africa regional Sustainable Landscapes resources to an existing partnership of $1.3 million to expand the partnership between the U.S. Forest Service and the Government of Angola’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forests to continue work on the forest inventory, establish a partnership for carbon market utilization, and develop a Forest Monitoring System.
  
• The State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration provides funding to support refugee assistance, as well as regional funding to UNHCR to support the nearly 56,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Angola.  
  
• Angola is a founding member of the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation, an initiative committed to the interconnected goals of advancing a peaceful, stable, prosperous, open, safe, and cooperative Atlantic as well as to conserving the Atlantic Ocean as a healthy, sustainable, and resilient resource for generations to come.  To develop Angola’s capacity for ocean science research and support for ocean-based food security, the United States is collaborating with the Atlantic community to leverage support for Angola’s ocean research vessel Baia Farta.  The United States and Angola have concluded a Letter of Intent to formalize collaboration, including, for example, on bringing U.S. experts to Angola to support ocean science capacity building and training through the Fulbright Specialist program.  In addition, the U.S. public-private partnership with OceanX will identify opportunities for Angolan early career scientists and youth to access ocean science research, foster a new generation of ocean advocates, and collaborate on initiatives with NGOs and philanthropies, including with OceanX aboard the research vessel OceanXplorer in early 2025.
  
• Through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), more than 25,000 people living with HIV in Angola are receiving life-saving treatment, building efforts to reduce mother-to-child HIV transmission.  Over the past two decades, the United States has invested nearly $251 million to provide HIV testing, prevention, care, and treatment services, and to strengthen public health systems through optimized laboratory services, quality data management, and supply chain security in Angola.
  
• Since 2006, USAID has provided nearly $415 million to address malaria through the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) in Angola.  In the past year, PMI distributed almost 5 million fast-acting malaria medicines and more than 9 million rapid diagnostic tests to clinics and communities to protect and treat Angolans.  More than 12,000 Angolan health workers have been trained since 2023 to diagnose and treat malaria.  Angola experienced a 29 percent decrease in malaria deaths in PMI-focused provinces in 2023 compared with 2020 levels.
  
• USAID is in the process of re-establishing a bilateral Mission in Angola to continue expanding the presence of the United States in Angola and further strengthen our emerging strategic partnership.  
  
• The United States, in partnership with COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) and the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT), donated more than 11 million safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine doses to the people of Angola.
  
• The United States is proud to work with Angola on bolstering African-led solutions to current and future health emergencies.  In September 2024, the United States announced $500 million and one million mpox vaccine doses to support African countries to prevent and respond to the current mpox outbreak.  We are delivering on that commitment, with two thirds of the more than $500 million of support to mpox preparedness and response already available and at work supporting countries in the region.  All one million vaccine doses are currently available for allocation by WHO and Africa CDC based on needs and demand in the region.  Angola has joined the United States as a Global Health Security partner, which will foster greater collaboration as both countries strive to protect the health, lives, and economic well-being of our citizens and people throughout the world.  

CELEBRATING THE U.S.-ANGOLA RELATIONSHIP

The United States and Angola are bound by enduring historical ties and invigorated by our dynamic future.  We share a commitment to reckon with the horrific history of the trans-Atlantic trade of enslaved people by striving to reconnect cultures and celebrating collaboration between our nations.  People are at the heart of this connection.  Today, there are nearly 12 million Americans of Angolan descent.  These relationships—rooted in family, friendship, and community—improve and enrich our lives.  They drive our cooperation, underpin our shared values, and elevate our aspirations.

• In 1619, a vessel carrying enslaved Africans who had been captured in Angola and forcibly marched over one hundred miles along a route known as the Kwanza Corridor landed in present-day Hampton, Virginia.  As many as 6 million enslaved people were kidnapped from their homes and forced from Angolan shores.  We are committed to learning from the horrors endured by enslaved people and honor their descendants, who continue to fight for civil rights, justice, and freedom.  The United States supports Angola’s nomination of the Kwanza Corridor to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites as a way to look forward, to reconnect cultural ties, and to celebrate Angola’s richness and beauty.  
  
• The United States is pleased to announce a grant of $229,000 to support restoration and conservation of the 1786 Álvaro de Carvalho Matoso Residence, Angola’s National Slavery Museum Building.  Founded in 1977, the Museum offers programming promoting a message of harmony, humanism, and respect for human rights.  The funds will go toward the restoration of the building’s exterior and interior galleries.
  
• The United States and Angola look forward to a future strengthened by people-to-people ties that reconnect cultures, promote dialogue, and encourage creative collaboration between our nations.  In August 2024, the City of Hampton, Virginia, the Fort Monroe Authority, the U.S. National Park Service, and Project 1619, Inc. hosted the annual African Landing Day Commemoration at the future site planned to honor the lives of the enslaved Africans stolen from Angola and taken to modern-day Hampton.  In September 2024, Hampton and the City of Malanje in Angola signed a Sister City agreement, which will further enshrine the deep connections between our citizens.  
  
• The United States and Angola share a commitment to enhancing dialogue with the African Diaspora.  President Biden established the President’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement (PAC-ADE) in December 2022.  PAC-ADE members discussed this historic visit to Angola with Assistant to the President, Senior Advisor to the President, and Director of the Office of Public Engagement Stephen Benjamin in October 2024.  PAC-ADE members also traveled to Angola to join President Biden for a portion of the trip.
  
• The United States supports Angola’s efforts to combat corruption, enhance accountability, and institutionalize the rule of law.  In October 2024, the United States and Angola agreed to schedule the next iteration of our bilateral human rights dialogue. We are collaborating on multiple human rights-focused initiatives.  These efforts require advancing democratic governance and respecting human rights, including the fundamental rights to freedoms of expression, press, association, peaceful assembly, and religion or belief.  The United States continues to support Angola’s commitment to reforms, including by amplifying civil society and faith-based organizations’ roles in improving the quality of elections and local decision-making.  The State Department has provided $10.5 million since 2021 in support of these goals, and plans to continue providing such funding, subject to the availability of funds.  
  
• The United States is moving forward with Angola to protect and improve democracy as the work of our time.  The State Department is building on its existing governance investments with an additional $700,000 for capacity building and specialized training to lawyers engaged in human rights defense and similar fields, to strengthen the efficiency and independence of the judicial system, and for the Angolan Ombudsperson’s office to increase engagement with citizens, supporting transparency and good governance.  In October 2024, the United States and Angola agreed to schedule the next iteration of our bilateral human rights dialogue.
  
• People-to-people ties are essential to the U.S.-Angola relationship.  Since 1968, more than 1,200 Angolans have participated in U.S. Government-sponsored educational and professional exchange programs, including the Fulbright Program, the International Visitor Leadership Program, the Mandela Washington Fellowship, and the Pan-Africa Youth Leadership Program, among others.  Through these programs, we are reconnecting cultures, promoting dialogue, and nurturing collaboration between our nations.
  
• In 2024, the United States is contributing almost $140,000 to expand English-language training through the English Access Scholarship Program (Access) and the Learning is Never Too Late program.  Access provides vocational English and 21st-century skills to 100 participants ages 17 to 25 in Angola.  The Learning is Never Too Late program offers English and digital journalism instruction to 40 girls in Luanda.  The U.S. Embassy in Luanda is also providing curriculum development training valued at $100,000 for English department faculty and conducting capacity building for English educators and university administrators.
  
• EducationUSA offers advising services at the U.S. Embassy in Luanda to Angolan students interested in pursuing higher education opportunities in the United States.  University partnerships have strengthened capacity in higher education administration, fostered joint research efforts, created faculty exchanges, and developed new academic programs in STEM-related fields.  Notably, a collaboration between the University of California, Berkeley, and Agostinho Neto University has led to significant advancements in agricultural research, benefiting both institutions and their communities.  
  
• In November 2023, Angola become the third African nation to sign the Artemis Accords, signaling its commitment to promoting the responsible use of space.  The United States and Angola will continue to work together to advance a common vision of space exploration for the benefit of all humankind.
  
• Since 2020, the U.S. Embassy in Angola has issued more than $490,000 in grants to support initiatives that are important to the Angolan people.  These grants have funded programs in entrepreneurship, English language, journalism, music, and intellectual property rights.  By addressing these critical areas, the Embassy aims to empower individuals and strengthen communities throughout Angola.

 
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The post FACT SHEET: President Biden’s Trip to Angola appeared first on The White House.

East Room

12:54 P.M. EST

THE FIRST LADY:  Hello.  How are you?  (Applause.)  (Laughs.)  Hi.  Well, gosh.

In the swirl of the end of each year, we hope to begin to turn toward our hope for tomorrow.

So, as we celebrate our finally — final holiday season here in the White House, we are guided by the values that we hold sacred: faith, family, and service to our country, kindness toward all of our neighbors, and the power of community. 

So, that’s what inspired this holiday theme, what I think of this time of year: “A Season of Peace and Light.”

We begin with light from the stunning, rotating star above the East entrance, as when you all came in.  And walking in, we’re embraced by the sparkling spirit of the season, as light-filled greenery led us to the first Christmas tree display, dedicated to our Gold Star Families.  (Applause.)

And this year’s Gold Star Tree exhibit is constructed of six large stars — I think you all saw them by now, right? — representing each branch of our military.  I thought it was just beautiful walking in and seeing the gold and leading to that tree.  You know, the names of fallen service members are written on the gold star ornaments on the accompanying Christmas trees. 

And the display honors the heroic men and women of our country, of our nation’s military who have laid down their lives for our country, those who are missing in action, and the families who carry on their legacies. 

So, may God bless our troops and their families.  (Applause.)

Then chiming bells call us to the East Colonnade, where bells of all sizes float above us and line every archway, filling the air with the sounds of the season. 

In the East Garden Room, a horse-drawn sleigh pulls us into the historic mansion.  It was really cute, wasn’t it?  (Laughter.)  And there, we enter another hall of light as lush garlands of green envelope us in the tranquility of nature.

In the Library, a twirling forest of vintage ceramic trees shines with the color of the holidays.  And walking in, I was taken back to my childhood, because when the — (laughs) — when that tree first came out — so you know it’s an antique — (laughter) — we knew Christmas had become — had begun. 

So, across the hall, in the Vermeil Room, we enjoy trees of stacked bows and vibrant silk flowers.

And artisanal breads spill out of the China Room, and we can almost smell their warm aroma filling the air with memories.

Earlier this year, I opened the Diplomatic [Reception] Room — it was the first time o- — to be on the tour, so — the expanded White House tour.  So, I hope you saw — those of you who were here other years, I hope you saw the difference.  You know, I tried to make the tour come alive.  It was important to me, as an educator.

So, this holiday season, for the first time, guests will be able to enjoy that space, and it features the White House Historical Association ornament honoring President Carter.  God bless him.  (Applause.)

Now, look above us.  Here in the East Room, a reflective canopy wraps us in a peaceful snowfall.

In the Green Room, a rainbow of glass ornaments fills the room with a burst of color and light.

And just outside the Green Room, we find the Official White House Menorah, made during Joe’s first year in the White House fo- — the carpentry shop made that themselves.  Make sure that you see it.  It’s truly beautiful.  And, you know, it came from wood on the — from the White House grounds in the renovation of this house 70 years ago.  That’s pretty incredible.

So, in the Blue Room — (laughs) — you know, you can’t help but smile when you see that tree.  (Laughter.)  And as the animals move up and down and — you know, and we see the holiday candy treats lining the tree, don’t you feel like you’re a kid again?  And sitting on a carousel, you know, is that world of light just spinning around us.

So, the White House Chris- — official Christmas tree also features the name of every state and territory and the District of Columbia as you look around the top of it.  And each year, I love watching all the visitors — and you’ll probably see it yourselves when you walk in there — looking for your home state and, you know, seeing your faces light up as you find, like, “Hey, there’s Delaware” or Pennsylvania, New Jersey.

In the Red Room, glowing gifts from under the Christmas tree lift — light the messages of peace above.

And for the State Dining Room, we invited military families from the USS Delaware and the Gab- — USS Gabrielle Giffords, the two Navy vessels that I have the honor of sponsoring, to create some paper garlands hanging throughout the room.  I thought they looked so beautiful.

And adorning the sparkling Christmas trees beside them are self-portraits by students from across the country.  (Applause.)  And I know that some of the teachers — some of their teachers are here and they helped decorate the tree.  So, how many of you are teachers?  (Applause.)  How many of you are teachers?  Lots of teachers.  I love that.  Because teachers always get stuff done.  (Applause.)  (Laughs.)

So, the trees are amazing.

Of course, the room also features this year’s incredible gingerbread house.  I love that.  (Applause.)  Didn’t you see it light up?  I mean, it was just so beautiful.  And did you see the ice-skating rink right in front of it?

And Susie and Carlo did — you know, you did such an amazing job.  So, thank you for creating that.  (Applause.)

And this year’s display captures the light of our theme, from the glowing windows to the bright star on top of the house — of the gingerbread house.

And in the Cross Hall behind me, spectacular flocks of hand-cut peace doves fly across the sky.  (Applause.)  I mean, it th- — really, how — how beautiful is that?

And finally, don’t miss that teddy bear driving the vintage red truck.  (Laughter.)

Now, to you, the people who brought this vision to life, our volunteers: This — (applause) — yes, all of you — this would not be possible without your work.  It’s been incredible to watch all of you transform this space year after year.

And you traded time with families for hours gluing, you know, with hot — hot glue guns and — you know, and Thanksgiving wris- — leftovers for tired wrists from wiring ornaments to the trees, because, you know, you can’t just hang it; it has to be, you know, hung perfectly.  (Laughter.)  I know, some of you are perfectionists.  That’s okay.  (Laughter.)

And some of — and you have to wrap them around and around the branch so the ornaments stay on, because you know thousands of kids are coming through here and they’re going to try to pull them off, so you have to make sure that they’re secure.  They always try too.  I mean, you know — 

But it’s during those long afternoons when your hands are sore from cutting the ribbons just so, from hanging the greenery, that’s when these lifelong friendships are made.  And that’s when the magic happens.

So, I’m already hearing about the text chains you’re creating to keep in touch.  (Laughs.)  I wish you could add my name to those.  (Laughter.)  

So, thank you for everything that you’ve done.

To Bryan Rafanelli, who’s back there in the corner — Bryan — (applause) — love you — and his team, I’m so grateful for your vision and leadership.  And to all the incredible decorators who were here, like Glitterville, BMF, Silver Lining, Cheree Berry Paper & Design, Frost Chicago, thank you for dedicating your time and talents to this design.

I’m also grateful to the National Confectioners Association for their partnership and unyielding support.  (Applause.)  Thank — so, let’s thank all of them.  (Applause.)

And there’s another person who helped bring the magic of our theme to life: the incredible illustrator of our 2024 White House Holiday G- — Holiday Guide, Zoe Ranucci.  Zoe, where are you?  Oh, there she is.  (Applause.) 

You’ll have to say hello to everybody, Zoe, because they so appreciate everything you’ve done.  Thank you for creating the beautiful artistry in your design. 

So, these last four years, you know, there’s a group of people who have helped us stay in touch with the American people, and they’re our correspondence volunteers.  (Applause.)  So, you can imagine how much I appreciate them, as an English teacher, and their writing skills, because I teach writing.  So, all of you are an essential part of our democracy, and I’m so grateful for your work.

Thank you all for your heart and for everything you’ve done to make this possible — the people’s house.

So, for Joe and for me, these are the final holidays at the White House.  So, standing with all of you, I remember the first time we walked across this threshold right over here on Inauguration Day, and the gravitational pull of history guided us forward, wrapping us in the centuries of stories that live here in this house.

Then we were finally able to welcome all the visitors.  And on public tours and on receptions and as volunteers decorated during the holidays during the four years, your laughter and ideas harmonized with the echoes of the past.  And in those moments, this became more than a historic house.  You made it a home, alive with purpose and possibility.

And that’s why, each year, we’ve opened the doors of the people’s house wider and wider so we can bring the light of more Americans into these halls. 

It’s been the honor of our lives to serve as your first family.  May our nation be blessed with peace and light this holiday season.

Merry Christmas.  Happy Holidays.  We love you all.

Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Love you.  (Applause.)

1:07 P.M. EST

The post REMARKS BY FIRST LADY JILL BIDEN AT THE UNVEILING OF THE 2024 WHITE HOUSE HOLIDAY THEME AND DECOR appeared first on The White House.

East Room

12:54 P.M. EST

THE FIRST LADY:  Hello.  How are you?  (Applause.)  (Laughs.)  Hi.  Well, gosh.

In the swirl of the end of each year, we hope to begin to turn toward our hope for tomorrow.

So, as we celebrate our finally — final holiday season here in the White House, we are guided by the values that we hold sacred: faith, family, and service to our country, kindness toward all of our neighbors, and the power of community. 

So, that’s what inspired this holiday theme, what I think of this time of year: “A Season of Peace and Light.”

We begin with light from the stunning, rotating star above the East entrance, as when you all came in.  And walking in, we’re embraced by the sparkling spirit of the season, as light-filled greenery led us to the first Christmas tree display, dedicated to our Gold Star Families.  (Applause.)

And this year’s Gold Star Tree exhibit is constructed of six large stars — I think you all saw them by now, right? — representing each branch of our military.  I thought it was just beautiful walking in and seeing the gold and leading to that tree.  You know, the names of fallen service members are written on the gold star ornaments on the accompanying Christmas trees. 

And the display honors the heroic men and women of our country, of our nation’s military who have laid down their lives for our country, those who are missing in action, and the families who carry on their legacies. 

So, may God bless our troops and their families.  (Applause.)

Then chiming bells call us to the East Colonnade, where bells of all sizes float above us and line every archway, filling the air with the sounds of the season. 

In the East Garden Room, a horse-drawn sleigh pulls us into the historic mansion.  It was really cute, wasn’t it?  (Laughter.)  And there, we enter another hall of light as lush garlands of green envelope us in the tranquility of nature.

In the Library, a twirling forest of vintage ceramic trees shines with the color of the holidays.  And walking in, I was taken back to my childhood, because when the — (laughs) — when that tree first came out — so you know it’s an antique — (laughter) — we knew Christmas had become — had begun. 

So, across the hall, in the Vermeil Room, we enjoy trees of stacked bows and vibrant silk flowers.

And artisanal breads spill out of the China Room, and we can almost smell their warm aroma filling the air with memories.

Earlier this year, I opened the Diplomatic [Reception] Room — it was the first time o- — to be on the tour, so — the expanded White House tour.  So, I hope you saw — those of you who were here other years, I hope you saw the difference.  You know, I tried to make the tour come alive.  It was important to me, as an educator.

So, this holiday season, for the first time, guests will be able to enjoy that space, and it features the White House Historical Association ornament honoring President Carter.  God bless him.  (Applause.)

Now, look above us.  Here in the East Room, a reflective canopy wraps us in a peaceful snowfall.

In the Green Room, a rainbow of glass ornaments fills the room with a burst of color and light.

And just outside the Green Room, we find the Official White House Menorah, made during Joe’s first year in the White House fo- — the carpentry shop made that themselves.  Make sure that you see it.  It’s truly beautiful.  And, you know, it came from wood on the — from the White House grounds in the renovation of this house 70 years ago.  That’s pretty incredible.

So, in the Blue Room — (laughs) — you know, you can’t help but smile when you see that tree.  (Laughter.)  And as the animals move up and down and — you know, and we see the holiday candy treats lining the tree, don’t you feel like you’re a kid again?  And sitting on a carousel, you know, is that world of light just spinning around us.

So, the White House Chris- — official Christmas tree also features the name of every state and territory and the District of Columbia as you look around the top of it.  And each year, I love watching all the visitors — and you’ll probably see it yourselves when you walk in there — looking for your home state and, you know, seeing your faces light up as you find, like, “Hey, there’s Delaware” or Pennsylvania, New Jersey.

In the Red Room, glowing gifts from under the Christmas tree lift — light the messages of peace above.

And for the State Dining Room, we invited military families from the USS Delaware and the Gab- — USS Gabrielle Giffords, the two Navy vessels that I have the honor of sponsoring, to create some paper garlands hanging throughout the room.  I thought they looked so beautiful.

And adorning the sparkling Christmas trees beside them are self-portraits by students from across the country.  (Applause.)  And I know that some of the teachers — some of their teachers are here and they helped decorate the tree.  So, how many of you are teachers?  (Applause.)  How many of you are teachers?  Lots of teachers.  I love that.  Because teachers always get stuff done.  (Applause.)  (Laughs.)

So, the trees are amazing.

Of course, the room also features this year’s incredible gingerbread house.  I love that.  (Applause.)  Didn’t you see it light up?  I mean, it was just so beautiful.  And did you see the ice-skating rink right in front of it?

And Susie and Carlo did — you know, you did such an amazing job.  So, thank you for creating that.  (Applause.)

And this year’s display captures the light of our theme, from the glowing windows to the bright star on top of the house — of the gingerbread house.

And in the Cross Hall behind me, spectacular flocks of hand-cut peace doves fly across the sky.  (Applause.)  I mean, it th- — really, how — how beautiful is that?

And finally, don’t miss that teddy bear driving the vintage red truck.  (Laughter.)

Now, to you, the people who brought this vision to life, our volunteers: This — (applause) — yes, all of you — this would not be possible without your work.  It’s been incredible to watch all of you transform this space year after year.

And you traded time with families for hours gluing, you know, with hot — hot glue guns and — you know, and Thanksgiving wris- — leftovers for tired wrists from wiring ornaments to the trees, because, you know, you can’t just hang it; it has to be, you know, hung perfectly.  (Laughter.)  I know, some of you are perfectionists.  That’s okay.  (Laughter.)

And some of — and you have to wrap them around and around the branch so the ornaments stay on, because you know thousands of kids are coming through here and they’re going to try to pull them off, so you have to make sure that they’re secure.  They always try too.  I mean, you know — 

But it’s during those long afternoons when your hands are sore from cutting the ribbons just so, from hanging the greenery, that’s when these lifelong friendships are made.  And that’s when the magic happens.

So, I’m already hearing about the text chains you’re creating to keep in touch.  (Laughs.)  I wish you could add my name to those.  (Laughter.)  

So, thank you for everything that you’ve done.

To Bryan Rafanelli, who’s back there in the corner — Bryan — (applause) — love you — and his team, I’m so grateful for your vision and leadership.  And to all the incredible decorators who were here, like Glitterville, BMF, Silver Lining, Cheree Berry Paper & Design, Frost Chicago, thank you for dedicating your time and talents to this design.

I’m also grateful to the National Confectioners Association for their partnership and unyielding support.  (Applause.)  Thank — so, let’s thank all of them.  (Applause.)

And there’s another person who helped bring the magic of our theme to life: the incredible illustrator of our 2024 White House Holiday G- — Holiday Guide, Zoe Ranucci.  Zoe, where are you?  Oh, there she is.  (Applause.) 

You’ll have to say hello to everybody, Zoe, because they so appreciate everything you’ve done.  Thank you for creating the beautiful artistry in your design. 

So, these last four years, you know, there’s a group of people who have helped us stay in touch with the American people, and they’re our correspondence volunteers.  (Applause.)  So, you can imagine how much I appreciate them, as an English teacher, and their writing skills, because I teach writing.  So, all of you are an essential part of our democracy, and I’m so grateful for your work.

Thank you all for your heart and for everything you’ve done to make this possible — the people’s house.

So, for Joe and for me, these are the final holidays at the White House.  So, standing with all of you, I remember the first time we walked across this threshold right over here on Inauguration Day, and the gravitational pull of history guided us forward, wrapping us in the centuries of stories that live here in this house.

Then we were finally able to welcome all the visitors.  And on public tours and on receptions and as volunteers decorated during the holidays during the four years, your laughter and ideas harmonized with the echoes of the past.  And in those moments, this became more than a historic house.  You made it a home, alive with purpose and possibility.

And that’s why, each year, we’ve opened the doors of the people’s house wider and wider so we can bring the light of more Americans into these halls. 

It’s been the honor of our lives to serve as your first family.  May our nation be blessed with peace and light this holiday season.

Merry Christmas.  Happy Holidays.  We love you all.

Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Love you.  (Applause.)

1:07 P.M. EST

The post REMARKS BY FIRST LADY JILL BIDEN AT THE UNVEILING OF THE 2024 WHITE HOUSE HOLIDAY THEME AND DECOR appeared first on The White House.

In September, the President announced a surge in security assistance for Ukraine to put Ukrainian forces in the strongest possible position before he leaves office. As part of that effort, he directed his team to fully utilize all funding available for Ukraine’s defense. Today, we are announcing a $725 million security assistance package for Ukraine, which includes substantial quantities of artillery, rockets, and air defense capabilities. The President has directed the Department of Defense to deliver the materiel to Ukraine rapidly — to ensure that Ukraine has the equipment it needs to defend itself. Between now and mid-January, we will deliver hundreds of thousands of additional artillery rounds, thousands of additional rockets, and other critical capabilities to help Ukraine defend its freedom and independence. 

In addition to this surge in assistance, the President has authorized a series of additional steps to strengthen Ukraine’s position in this war. Earlier this year, the President decided to prioritize U.S. air defense exports for Ukraine, and as a result of this decision, Ukraine has received hundreds of additional air defense missiles, with more deliveries on the way. To help Ukraine stabilize its lines in the east, the President has authorized the provision of non-persistent anti-personnel land mines to Ukraine as a limited exception to the Administration’s continuing landmine policy.  In response to the entry of North Korean soldiers into this war, the President has decided to adjust permissions on Ukraine’s use of U.S.-provided long-range missiles. And to disrupt Russia’s war machine, the United States has implemented major sanctions against Russia’s financial sector, with more sanctions to follow. 

The President is seeking to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position, and we will continue to execute upon this strategy in support of Ukraine and its fight for freedom. 

###

The post Statement from National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan appeared first on The White House.

In September, the President announced a surge in security assistance for Ukraine to put Ukrainian forces in the strongest possible position before he leaves office. As part of that effort, he directed his team to fully utilize all funding available for Ukraine’s defense. Today, we are announcing a $725 million security assistance package for Ukraine, which includes substantial quantities of artillery, rockets, and air defense capabilities. The President has directed the Department of Defense to deliver the materiel to Ukraine rapidly — to ensure that Ukraine has the equipment it needs to defend itself. Between now and mid-January, we will deliver hundreds of thousands of additional artillery rounds, thousands of additional rockets, and other critical capabilities to help Ukraine defend its freedom and independence. 

In addition to this surge in assistance, the President has authorized a series of additional steps to strengthen Ukraine’s position in this war. Earlier this year, the President decided to prioritize U.S. air defense exports for Ukraine, and as a result of this decision, Ukraine has received hundreds of additional air defense missiles, with more deliveries on the way. To help Ukraine stabilize its lines in the east, the President has authorized the provision of non-persistent anti-personnel land mines to Ukraine as a limited exception to the Administration’s continuing landmine policy.  In response to the entry of North Korean soldiers into this war, the President has decided to adjust permissions on Ukraine’s use of U.S.-provided long-range missiles. And to disrupt Russia’s war machine, the United States has implemented major sanctions against Russia’s financial sector, with more sanctions to follow. 

The President is seeking to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position, and we will continue to execute upon this strategy in support of Ukraine and its fight for freedom. 

###

The post Statement from National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan appeared first on The White House.