5/05/2021

White House News (白宮消息) | May 5th, 2021

 White House News in Chinese - About (weebly.com)

MAY 4, 2021
President Biden Remarks on COVID-19 Response and Vaccine Program
President Biden delivered remarks on the administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the goal of administering at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot to 70% of US adult population by July 4.
White House Wants 70 Percent of Adults Vaccinated by July 4
President Joe Biden has set a new vaccination goal. He says he wants nearly three-fourths of American adults vaccinated by Independence Day.
Remarks by President Biden on the COVID-19 Response and the Vaccination Program
MAY 04, 2021

THE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon. Today, two months until July 4th, I’m here to report that we’re — we’re in our vaccination program — where we are and what comes next in an effort to get this country back closer to normal.

And first: Where are we? Well, as everyone knows, I promised that we’d administer 100 million shots in my first 100 days. After we met that goal, we doubled it to a — a historic 200 million shots. By the time we reached 100 days last week, we had shattered that mark with over 220 million shots in arms.

And as we stand here today, almost 150 million Americans have gotten at least one shot.  Over 105 million Americans are fully vaccinated.  And among our most vulnerable population — seniors — we are nearing 85 percent of those who have gotten their first shot. Seventy percent of the seniors are now fully vaccinated.  It’s a dramatic turnaround from where we were in January, when less than 2 percent of adults and less than 1 percent of seniors were fully vaccinated. 

Not only that, cases are down in 40 states these past two weeks.  Deaths are down dramatically since January — down over 80 percent among seniors, which includes a drop among Hispanics of 80 percent and among African Americans of 70 percent of seniors.  

There are tens of thousands of Americans alive today because — who would not be alive otherwise were they not — had access to rapid vaccination program.  Moms and dads, sisters and brothers, grandparents, neighbors, old friends — they’re around now, and God — thank God for that.

Now, where do we go from here?  Well, as we anticipated, the pace of vaccinations is slowing now that the majority of American adults have already gotten their first shot.  But we are still vaccinating millions of Americans every day. 

In fact, in the last 10 days, 1 out of every 10 adult Americans got a shot.  But, soon, we’ll have reached the adults who are most eager to get vaccinated, and, at that point, this effort will shift to a new phase, which is what I want to talk about today.

Our new phase will focus on three areas.  First, kids, children between the ages of 12 and 15 years of age.  They are not yet eligible for a vaccine...     more


MAY 4, 2021
White House Daily Briefing
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki held a briefing on the Biden administration’s policy agenda. She discussed the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic, aid being provided to India, and the president’s proposed American Jobs and Families plans.
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki, May 4, 2021

...​At the end of March, there were more than 5,000 children in Customs and Border Protection Patrol stations.  Today, that number is approximately 600.

The amount of time children spend in CBP facilities is down by 75 percent — from 131 hours at the end of March to under 30 hours now.

And just yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security announced that it will begin the process of reuniting a number of families who were separated by the policies of the previous administration.

Clearly, we’re not done; there’s a lot of work ahead.  Migration is a dynamic and evolving challenge, but the President has a plan and we’re working on implementing it. 

Just a few more brief updates for you.  As you know, Friday is “Jobs Day.”  Here we are again.  And to mark the occasion, I wanted to convey to all of you that we are going to be welcoming in Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to the briefing room on Friday to provide an update to all of you and take some questions.

And throughout this week, the President, the Vice President, Cabinet members, and other administration officials are fanning out across the country to make a forceful argument for the President’s economic vision.  The President, of course, began that push just yesterday, in Virginia, to talk about the Jobs Plan and the Families Plan, and it will continue today with the Vice President who will be traveling to — who will be in Milwaukee.

As part of this, we’ll also have Secretary Vilsack joining us in the briefing tomorrow to talk about the vital child nutrition proposals in the American Families Plan.

Finally, today, Jeff Zients and members of our COVID Response Team held their weekly meeting with our nation’s governors. 
This week, over 29 million doses will go out across all of our channels, with two thirds of those doses going to jurisdictions and one third to federal channels... 
  quoted from
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 28: PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN, FLANKED BY VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS AND HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI (D-CALIF.), ADDRESSES A JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS, WITH VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS AND HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI (D-CALIF.) ON THE DAIS BEHIND HIM, ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 2021. BIDEN SPOKE TO A NATION SEEKING TO EMERGE FROM TWIN CRISES OF PANDEMIC AND ECONOMIC SLIDE IN HIS FIRST SPEECH TO A JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS.
Joe Biden and the Next 100 Days

May 5 - ...We cannot know what kind of President Biden might have become after one of his earlier runs, but he became president at a moment of both economic peril and political violence—for four years, Trump and his allies leveled attacks on America’s ideals, which culminated with a violent mob storming the Capitol and seeking to undo a free and fair election. 

Under these circumstances, and with extraordinary experience and empathy, Biden has laid the foundation for an historic presidency that builds back a better, more inclusive and secure American dream and middle class. If he stays the course, his second 100 days could produce an historic set of legislative accomplishments that empower a team of true public servants to spend the remainder of the term making real the American ideals in which Joe Biden has never lost faith. ​    quoted from
MAY 4, 2021
Vice President Harris Remarks at Conference on the Americas
Vice President Harris addresses the Conference on the Americas, focusing her remarks on the underlying causes behind migration from Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Mexico to the U.S. southern border.

Remarks by Vice President Harris at the Virtual Washington Conference on the Americas
MAY 04, 2021

...Last week, President Joe Biden and I reached the 100th day of our administration.  In that time, we have let the world know — and the President has been very clear about this — America is back. 

We have rejoined the Paris Agreement.  We are ending our nation’s longest war.  We are rebuilding our alliances and engaging partners all over the world.  And we are revitalizing our relationships throughout the Western Hemisphere from the southernmost parts of South America, to the northernmost parts of Canada, and everywhere in between.

The Western Hemisphere is our home.  And because it is our home, because the people within it are our neighbors, it is imperative that we promote democracy and good governance, security, and prosperity within the region. 

It is also important that we build relationships throughout the hemisphere that are based on dignicy [dignity] and diplomacy — relationships that are both candid and collaborative. 

The strength of the United States of America depends on the strength of all of the Western Hemisphere.  In so many ways, our fates are intertwined.  That is especially true of Latin America, one of our fastest-growing trade partners. 

To be sure, our relationship with Latin America is bigger than trade.  And our relationship is incredibly complex and, at times, has been incredibly complicated.  Today, I want to make clear that our administration firmly believes in the potential of the region and in the power of the people of the region. 

Latin Americans are shaping their own future...    more



US Legislators Call on Biden to Help Raise Funds for Yemen

May 5, TEHRAN (FNA)- A group of influential United States legislators called on the Joe Biden administration to help raise $2.5bln in aid for Yemenis suffering amid what they described as “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis”.


In an open letter on Tuesday, four US senators urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken to provide more aid for Yemen and rally other countries to contribute after a recent United Nations fundraising appeal for the war-torn country fell short, Al-Jazeera reported.

The UN conference in March sought to raise $3.85bln but only raised $1.35bln. The Biden administration had pledged $19mln in US assistance, far below the “fair share” of $1.2bln that international aid group Oxfam had urged Washington to contribute.

“More than 20 million Yemenis depend on humanitarian assistance to survive and we cannot let them down,” reads the bipartisan letter, signed by Democratic Senators Chris Murphy and Jeanne Shaheen, as well as Republican Senators Jerry Moran and Todd Young.


“Unfortunately, the looming threat of famine has re-emerged. Today, nearly 50,000 people in Yemen are living in famine-like conditions with 5 million more just a step away,” added the legislators, urging Blinken to support calls for a second humanitarian donor conference for Yemen.

Switzerland and Sweden have called for another fundraising conference to fill the $2.5bln shortage
“We urge you to work with other major donors to rally around that meeting, mobilizing the resources needed to stave off famine and save lives,” the senators said in their letter.

Murphy has been travelling in the region this week and met in Amman on Tuesday with the US Special Envoy for Yemen, Tim Lenderking, and a group of European diplomats.


Lenderking had been in Saudi Arabia and Oman on April 29 for talks on Yemen.

“Folks are definitely hoping the United States contributes its fair share. It’s definitely a welcome letter,” stated Hassan El-Tayyab, a lobbyist in Washington with the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a Quaker advocacy organisation.
But El-Tayyab told Al-Jazeera that “aid alone is not enough to support the population”.

​“It’s at best a Band-Aid,” he continued, adding, “What Yemen needs is a nationwide ceasefire that ends the war.”
Biden has withdrawn US support for offensive operations carried out by a military coalition in Yemen led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and paused weapons sales to Riyadh that had been previously approved by the Donald Trump administration.     source from


Biden in April offered a meeting in a third country.
Biden Says 'Hope and Expectation' for Putin Meeting in June


May 4 - ...​Biden is scheduled to attend a G7 summit in Britain in mid-June, followed by NATO and EU summits in Brussels, which would open the door to the logistics of a separate Putin meeting.
Austria and Finland have expressed interest in hosting the summit.

In April, Washington expelled 10 Russian diplomats over what it says was Russia's large-scale cyber attack on U.S. computer systems and interference in the 2020 presidential election. Moscow responded with tit-for-tat expulsions.

, the Biden administration has stressed that it wants to bring stability to the relationship and that Washington and Moscow need to cooperate on key areas, such as nuclear weapons and the climate crisis.   quoted from
NBC Nightly News Broadcast (Full) - May 4th, 2021 | NBC Nightly News
May 5, 2021
3.2K147SHARESAVEPresident Biden announces new goal for 70 percent of adults to get first Covid vaccine by July 4, the FDA may soon authorize Pfizer’s Covid vaccine for children, and fears of the Taliban’s return as U.S. troops leave Afghanistan.