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Author: WHOPSO  Staff  Published: 01/15/2025   OFFICE OF POLITICAL STRATEGY & OUTREACH

This Week at the White House

President Biden Delivers Remarks on Reaching a Ceasefire and Hostage Deall

On January 15, President Biden released to following statement on reaching a ceasefire and hostage deal:

Today, after many months of intensive diplomacy by the United States, along with Egypt and Qatar, Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire and hostage deal. This deal will halt the fighting in Gaza, surge much needed-humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite the hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity.

I laid out the precise contours of this plan on May 31, 2024, after which it was endorsed unanimously by the UN Security Council. It is the result not only of the extreme pressure that Hamas has been under and the changed regional equation after a ceasefire in Lebanon and weakening of Iran — but also of dogged and painstaking American diplomacy. My diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done.

Even as we welcome this news, we remember all the families whose loved ones were killed in Hamas’s October 7th attack, and the many innocent people killed in the war that followed. It is long past time for the fighting to end and the work of building peace and security to begin. I am also if thinking of the American families, three of whom have living hostages in Gaza and four awaiting return of remains after what has been the most horrible ordeal imaginable. Under this deal, we are determined to bring all of them home. 

I will speak more about this soon. For now, I am thrilled that those who have been held hostage are being reunited with their families.

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Read President Biden’s Statement Here

Proclamation on the Establishment of the Chuckwalla National Monument and of the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument

 

On January 14, President Biden released the proclamation of two national monuments in California. With these proclamations, President Biden has now conserved more lands and waters than any President in history and has created the largest corridor of protected lands in the lower 48 states, the Moab to Mojave Conservation Corridor.

Since taking office, President Biden has swiftly advanced the most ambitious conservation agenda in U.S. history, setting and pursuing a bold goal to conserve at least 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030 through the America the Beautiful initiative. President Biden became the first sitting U.S. President to visit the Amazon Rainforest, where he signed a proclamation designating International Conservation Day and announced that the U.S. has surpassed his goal of providing $11 billion per year in international climate financing. With today’s designations and yesterday’s actions to protect the East and West coasts and the Northern Bering Sea from offshore oil and natural gas drilling, President Biden has now protected 674 million acres of U.S. lands and waters. […]

Both the Chuckwalla National Monument and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument, which is located in northern California’s mountainous interior, will protect clean water for communities, honor areas of cultural significance to Tribal Nations and Indigenous peoples, and enhance access to nature. Today’s announcements follow years of work by Tribal Nations, Indigenous peoples, community leaders, conservation organizations, renewable energy companies, utilities, local businesses, state and local officials, and members of Congress who have worked to ensure that future generations can experience, learn from, and enjoy these irreplaceable resources. […]


Uplift Tweet Here

Read the Proclamations Here and Here
Read the Fact Sheet Here

Statement from President Joe Biden on Approving Student Debt Cancellation for Over 5 Million Americans 

On January 13, President Biden released the following statement on approving student debt cancellation for over 5 million Americans:Today, my Administration is approving student loan relief for more than 150,000 borrowers – bringing the total number of Americans who have had their student debt cancelled by my Administration to over 5 million. These 150,000 borrowers include: almost 85,000 borrowers who attended schools that cheated and defrauded their students, 61,000 borrowers with total and permanent disabilities, and 6,100 public service workers. 

My Administration has taken historic action to reduce the burden of student debt, hold bad actors accountable, and fight on behalf of students across the country. This includes fixing the broken Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program and ensuring over 1 million public service workers receive the student loan relief they are entitled to under the law, approving student loan relief for 1.7 million borrowers who were cheated and defrauded by their schools, delivering student debt relief to 633,000 borrowers with total and permanent disabilities, and fixing administrative errors in the Income-Driven Repayment programs to deliver relief to over 1.4 million borrowers who have been in repayment for decades. My Administration also secured the largest increase to the maximum Pell Grant award in a decade to put higher-education in reach for more Americans.

Since Day One of my Administration, I promised to ensure higher-education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity, and I’m proud to say we have forgiven more student loan debt than any other administration in history.

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Uplift Tweet Here

Read President Biden’s Statement Here

Statement from President Joe Biden on the Wildfires Across Los Angeles
On January 13, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. made additional disaster assistance available to the State of California by authorizing an increase in the level of Federal funding for emergency work undertaken in the State of California as a result of wildfires and straight-line winds beginning on January 7, 2025, and continuing.

President Biden additionally released the following statement on the wildfires across Los Angeles:

Our hearts ache for the 24 innocent souls we have lost in the wildfires across Los Angeles. Jill and I pray for them and their loved ones. We are deeply saddened by the devastation caused by the unprecedented ongoing wildfires across Southern California.

I am being frequently briefed on intensive efforts to suppress the wildfires across Los Angeles, and have directed our team to respond promptly to any request for additional federal firefighting assistance. At my direction, hundreds of federal personnel and unique federal aerial and ground support has been sent to California to support the firefighting efforts and help communities in need. My Administration remains laser-focused on helping survivors and we will continue to use every tool available to support the urgent firefight as the winds are projected to increase.

To the brave firefighters and first responders working day and night to suppress these fires and save lives: our nation is grateful. You represent the best of America and we are in your debt.

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Uplift Tweet Here

Read President Biden’s Amendment to the Declaration Here
Read President Biden’s Statement Here
Read President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Senior White House and Administration Officials During Briefing on the Full Federal Response to the Wildfires Across Los Angeles Here

REPORT: The Biden-Harris Administration Roadmap for Pandemic Preparedness and Response 

On January 14, the Biden-Harris Administration released a roadmap for pandemic preparedness and response. The report outlines the numerous actions the Biden-Harris Administration took to combat COVID-19 both nationally and globally, and it serves as a roadmap for how the U.S. can effectively respond to pandemics and public health threats in the future. In addition to this public-facing report, this Administration is leaving behind a three-step playbook that future Administrations can use to continue to protect the nation and effectively respond to any future biological threat.

President Biden came into office facing the worst public health crisis in more than a century. COVID-19 was wreaking havoc on our country – closing our businesses, keeping our kids out of school, and forcing communities into isolation and lockdown. In the first year of the pandemic, nearly 400,000 Americans died of COVID-19.  Even before taking office, President-elect Biden recognized that the U.S. needed an emergency response that was worthy of the crisis it faced – a response that would leave no stone unturned and that would leverage the full force of the federal government, the innovation of the private sector, and the determination of the American people. Building on decades of research and planning efforts, President Biden, on his first full day in office, released the first comprehensive National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness. This strategy focused on building a response to this virus that would give people the tools and transparent communication they needed to protect themselves, reopen our schools, and get our economy moving again. […]

Read the Full Report Here

FACT SHEET: Marking Historic Progress, the Biden Cancer Moonshot Convenes Mission Report and Announces New Government and Private Sector Actions to Accelerate Progress Against Cancer

On January 15, the Biden Cancer Moonshot convened leaders and advocates to recognize the important progress made on a central priority of the Biden-Harris Administration, ending cancer as we know it. The event brought together the powerful and diverse Cancer Moonshot community to spotlight collective achievements and chart a course for the future through The Biden Cancer Moonshot: Ending Cancer As We Know It report and celebrate the enduring legacy of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden’s historic leadership of the Cancer Moonshot.Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the Cancer Moonshot mobilized a whole-of-society approach through the first-ever Cancer Cabinet, collaborating on new actions to better prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer and support those facing this diagnosis […]


Uplift Tweet Here

Read the Fact Sheet Here

FACT SHEET: The Biden-Harris Administration Advanced Gender Equity and Equality at Home and Abroad

On January 14, the Biden-Harris Administration released a fact sheet on how the Administration advanced gender equity and equality at home and abroad.

Over the past four years, President Biden and Vice President Harris leveraged the full force of the federal government to advance rights of and opportunities for women and girls across the country and around the globe. From defending reproductive freedom, delivering the highest women’s labor force participation on record, making historic investments in the care economy, and lowering drug prices for women with Medicare to fighting to end violence against women, advancing the human rights of women and girls globally, and promoting women’s political participation and leadership, President Biden and Vice President Harris invested in the future of women and girls. […]

Read the Fact Sheet Here

Biden-Harris Administration Takes Action to Combat Emerging Firearm Threats and Improve School-Based Active Shooter Drills 
On January 14, the Department of Education, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security released new resources to help schools improve active shooter drills.

The Biden-Harris Administration has overseen the two largest single-year decreases in homicide ever recorded.  Violence in many cities is at pre-pandemic levels.  The Administration helped contribute to these historic decreases through unprecedented public safety funding for states, cities, law enforcement, and community violence interventions; more executive action on gun violence prevention than any other Administration; passing and implementing the first significant gun safety law in nearly 30 years; and the establishment of the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention (OGVP) to coordinate and lead the Administration’s effort to reduce gun crime and other forms of gun violence.

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announces that it completed the work required under the Executive Order President Biden signed in September 2024, directing federal agencies to: 1) help schools improve school-based active shooter drills; and 2) combat the emerging threats of machinegun conversion devices and unserialized, 3D printed firearms. […]

Read the Release Here
President Biden Awards Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction to His Holiness Pope Francis

On January 11, President Biden spoke with His Holiness Pope Francis and named him as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the Nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors. This is the first time that President Biden has awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction.

Citation: 

As a young man, Jorge Bergoglio sought a career in science before faith led him to a life with the Jesuits. For decades, he served the voiceless and vulnerable across Argentina. As Pope Francis, his mission of serving the poor has never ceased. A loving pastor, he joyfully answers children’s questions about God. A challenging teacher, he commands us to fight for peace and protect the planet. A welcoming leader, he reaches out to different faiths. The first pope from the Southern Hemisphere, Pope Francis is unlike any who came before. Above all, he is the People’s Pope – a light of faith, hope, and love that shines brightly across the world.

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Uplift Tweet Here

BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION RESOURCES
WhiteHouse.gov/therecord to learn about the Biden-Harris Administration’s top accomplishments.

WhiteHouse.gov/economy to learn about the Biden Economy, building back from a financial crisis to the strongest economy in the world.

Biden-Harris Lowering Cost Agenda to learn more about the actions the Biden-Harris Administration has taken to lower costs for American families.

Invest.gov to explore an interactive map that illustrates the impact of the record-breaking levels of public and private investment across states and territories under the Biden-Harris Administration.

State-by-State Fact Sheets | Student Debt Cancellation to learn more about how the Biden-Harris administration is delivering student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible through various actions.

State-by-State Facts Sheets | Investing In America for more detailed information about announced funding and projects in each state through the Investing in America Agenda.

State-by-State Fact Sheets | Affordable Connectivity Program to learn more about the historic progress made towards lowering costs – including internet costs – for American families across the country.

Environmental Justice for the one-stop-shop that highlights the Administration’s actions on environmental justice, features stories of progress across America, and shares tools, resources, and funding opportunities to empower communities to navigate federal programs and advance environmental justice in their neighborhoods.

BUILD.gov to stay updated on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s signature projects.

Cleanenergy.gov to learn how the Inflation Reduction Act will help American families access cost-saving clean energy resources.

EPA Investments to learn about EPA investments made under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act.

Know Your Reproductive Rights to learn timely and accurate information on people’s right to access reproductive health care.

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