2/11/2022

Lower Healthcare Costs & Ukraine tensions

 President Biden deliver remarks on efforts to lower health care costs — 2/10/22

Remarks by President Biden on the Biden-⁠Harris Administration’s Work to Lower Healthcare Costs

FEBRUARY 10, 2022STATEMENTS AND RELEASES
Germanna Community College
Culpeper, Virginia

     THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Mr. President.  (Laughter.)  I could have no more have done that when I was 12 years old than fly.  I used to be a stutterer.  I was scared to death I would stand up and ta-ta — ta-ta-talk — talk like that.  And I can’t tell you how much — how proud I am of you.  And your brother is equally as impressive as you are.  He’s standing there — he’s sitting there two seats over. 
Shannon and Joshua — and, by the way, Happy Birthday, man.  He’s going to be 13 years old — a teenager — in a couple days.  (Applause.)


I want you to know that lowering the cost of prescription drugs is one of the reasons why I’m here with Abigail, your congresswoman.  And that’s what I want to talk about with you today.  Lowering the cost of healthcare overall, as well.  Lowering the cost of prescription drugs is important.  And giving families like yours just a little bit more breathing room makes a gigantic difference.

Before I get into that, I want to say: It’s good to be here at Germanna school.  And, by the way, Abigail, if I wanted to know anything about community colleges in Virginia, I go to my wife.  (Laughter.)  She teaches full-time and has for the last nine years.  She’s in the classroom now at — at a community college in Northern Virginia — Northern Virginia Community College.
And she says — she says, “You know, the single best-kept secret in America is community colleges.”  And it really is.  They are so flexible.  They can do so much — so much.  And if I had more time — which I don’t — for all of you, I’d go into what we’re going to try to do to increase the flexibility and the funding of community colleges for people.
But it’s great to be here with Abigail — with Congresswoman Spanberger.

In every chapter of her career — in every chapter, she’s always been about one thing: service.  Service...     more
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What the US is watching that could signal Russia is launching an invasion of Ukraine

Feb. 11 - ..."If you look at the lower-end options, all of which are executable immediately with little to no warning with the forces that are already deployed — things like a punitive strike or raid in the East, a breakout from the south, a raid from the north—those forces are already in position and in the right number with the right capability," a Western intelligence official told CNN...     quoted from CNN


FEBRUARY 10, 2022 | PART OF U.S. SENATE
U.S. Senate
Senators Sanders and Durbin on Russia and Ukraine
​Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said though Vladimir Putin is dishonest and corrupt, he has a legitimate interest in security in neighboring countries. He said Russia should not invade Ukraine, but he noted that under the Monroe Doctrine, the U.S. asserts the right to intervene in matters in countries in the Western Hemisphere and has overthrown governments in Latin American countries. He said the U.S. was on the brink of nuclear war in 1963 because the Soviet Union put nuclear weapons in Cuba, and Russia similarly does not want adversaries to have military equipment close to its borders. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) responded, saying he agreed with Senator Sanders' criticism of past U.S. military interventions. But he said if the U.S. recognizes a Russian sphere of influence, that would be a green-light for Russia to invade Ukraine. The senators then engaged in a debate about whether Russia has legitimate security interests in Ukraine. close 
President Biden visits the NYPD to address crime and gun violence | USA TODAY
Feb 4, 2022
00:32:27
I BELIEVE UKRAINE IS NOT A VICTIM OF -- HAS BEEN A VICTIM OF RUSSIAN AGGRESSION FOR A LONG TIME. THE LEADER YANUKOVICH I [BLEEP] WAS LIST DEPOSED IN UKRAINE WHEN THE DEMONSTRATIONS TOOK PLACE WAS CLEARLY THE SERVER AND VESSEL OF MOSCOW. IT WAS THE SOVIETS AND I CALL THEM SOVIETS, THE RUSSIANS WHO INVADED CRIMEA AND RECLAIM THEIR TERRITORY FOR THEIR OWN. AS THE RUSSIANS WHO SENT THE LITTLE GREEN MEN WITH NO EMBLEMS ON THEIR UNIFORMS TO INVADE EASTERN UKRAINE AND CONTINUED TO KILL IN THE SITE UKRAINIANS FOR EIGHT YEARS NOW. SO IT'S CLEAR TO ME UKRAINIAN HAS BEEN A VICTIM OF RUSSIAN AGGRESSION FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME. TO SUGGEST THE NOTION THAT THIS IS SOMEHOW WITHIN PUTIN'S SPHERE OF INFLUENCE IS TO RATIONALIZE HIS CONDUCT AND FORGIVE HIS CONDUCT AND I'M NOT ABOUT TO DO THAT. I DON'T THINK WE SHOULD. HE DON'T PUT 110,000 RUSSIAN TROOPS ON THE BORDER AND PREPARE FOR WAR UNLESS YOU BELIEVE THE COMPRESSION THAT COUNTRY INTO SO SECEDING TO THEIR DEMANDS FOR UKRAINE IS NOT A MILITARY POWER. IT WON'T LAST VERY LONG IF THE RUSSIANS- DO INVADE. AT THIS MOMENT I THINK THE SPHERE OF INFLUENCE UNITED STATES HAS MADE ITS OWN MISTAKES IN THE PAST AND THEREFORE WE SHOULD LOOK THE OTHER WAY AT WHAT PUTIN IS DOING ISN'T UNACCEPTABLE CONCLUSION. 


Ukraine tensions: Russia accused of sea blockade

​Feb. 11 - Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the Sea of Azov was completely blocked and the Black Sea almost fully cut off by Russian forces.

​Russia has repeatedly denied any plans to invade Ukraine despite massing more than 100,000 troops at the border.

But it has just begun massive military drills with neighbouring Belarus.

Belarus is a close ally of Russia and has a long border with Ukraine.

called the drills - believed to be Russia's biggest deployment to Belarus since the Cold War - a "violent gesture". Ukraine says they amount to "psychological pressure"...     more on BBC

Related Articles
Is Russia preparing to invade Ukraine?
EU leaders attempt to dodge Putin's divide and rule
Ukraine: How big is Russia's military build-up?

PM warns Russia if they invade 'Ukraine will fight and there will be bloodshed'

2/04/2022

Hajji Abdullah | Feb. 4, 2022

 

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President Biden on Counterterrorism Operation in Syria
Feb 3, 2022


ISIS Loses Its Leader as Biden Navigates Global Crises

​Hajji Abdullah is the latest jihadi leader eliminated in a U.S. raid, but the President still faces challenges in Russia, China, and Iran, as well as the pandemic. 

Feb. 3 - The elusive leader of isis blew up himself, his wife, and their children during a risky predawn raid by helicopter-borne U.S. FeSpecial Operations Forces in northwest Syria on Thursday. The attack on the leader of what remains the world’s most dangerous terrorist movement, which was carried out after months of secret planning, led to the death of the third major jihadi leader in a confrontation with U.S. forces in the past decade or so. President Joe Biden said the operation that killed Hajji Abdullah, also known as Abu Ibrahim al-Qurayshi, was “testament to America’s reach and capability to take out terrorist threats no matter where they hide around the world.” President Barack Obama oversaw the operation that killed the Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden at his hideaway in Pakistan, in 2011. President Donald Trump approved plans that led to the death of the isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria, in 2019. isis is estimated to have as many as twenty thousand jihadis in underground cells still proliferating across the globe, decades after the emergence of jihadism in the nineteen-seventies...     more


02/02/22: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki​
Feb 3, 2022
Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Jen Psaki

FEBRUARY 03, 2022SPEECHES AND REMARKSAboard Air Force One
En Route New York, New York


     MS. PSAKI:  I know this is a short flight, so I thought I would just start.  And I know we’ve done a number of briefings, but just giving you all just a couple of key points on the President’s engagement in the operation that happened overnight last night. 
 
    The operation has been months in — was months in planning.  The President was first briefed on this operation in depth over a month ago by the actual operational commanders.  He was regularly updated by the national security team on the planning details of this operation, to include a briefing in the Oval Office on Monday. 

 
    Last night, the President monitored key aspects of the operation in real time in the White House Situation Room.  I think you all saw the photo that we released on that. 

 
    I also want to stress that the President directed the Department of Defense to take every precaution to minimize noncombatant casualties in the operation, hence how they proceeded with their — the operation. 


     Unfortunately, as we know and we saw, ISIS once again revealed its barbarity in a final act of cowardice, and displaying a never-ending — ended — disregard for innocent lives.  Hajji Abdullah detonated an explosive device shortly after U.S. forces arrived on site, killing himself, a woman, and three children...     more 
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FEBRUARY 3, 2022
​President Biden Holds Gun Violence Strategies Meeting in New York
President Biden discussed gun crime and what his administration is doing to reduce gun violence during a visit to police headquarters in New York City. Six NYPD officers have been shot, two fatally, so far in 2022. President Biden was joined at the event by Attorney General Merrick Garland, New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D), New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Rep. Nadia Velazquez (D-NY).
President Biden visits the NYPD to address crime and gun violence | USA TODAY
Feb 4, 2022
Remarks by President Biden at a Gun Violence Prevention Task Force Meeting

​FEBRUARY 03, 2022SPEECHES AND REMARKSOne Police Plaza
New York, New York


     THE PRESIDENT:  Okay.  Well, General Garland; Governor; Mr. Mayor; Representative Jeffers [sic] — Jeffries, excuse me; Representative Velázquez — they rode up on the flight with me — and other members of Congress that are here: Thank you. 

 
    And I just want to thank Mayor Adams and Commissioner Sewell and the law — all the law enforcements here today for — not having me, for what you do every single day.


It’s — and let me start by saying Detective Wilbert Mora and Jason Rivera are the “who” and “what” law enforcement ought to be.  And the — Senator Gillibrand and I have talked about that on the way up as well.

 
    I’ve spoken to their families, and — and their loss for the city is also a loss for the nation.  You know, the future is cut short by a man with a stolen Glock with 40 rounds — a magazine with 40 rounds.  And it’s really a weapon of war. 


One of the things I was proudest of years ago, when I was in the Senate — I was able to get these weapons and the size of magazines outlawed.  That got changed.  It got overruled.  But I don’t see any rationale to why there should be such a weapon able to be purchased.  It doesn’t violate anybody’s Second Amendment rights to deny that...     more 


a​FEBRUARY 3, 2022
Speaker Pelosi Holds News Conference
​House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said she favors sanctions on Russia if they were to invade Ukraine and not before. The speaker told reporters during her weekly briefing, “I think its really important for us to use the sanctions if the Russians strike. it is important because it’s where our leverage is at maximum if they do this, then we strike. It is where also most of our allies are on this. In response to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WVA, calling the so-called Build Back Better agenda "dead,” the speaker said: “I’m never giving up on BBB.”
Pelosi urges US Olympians not to anger ‘ruthless’ Chinese government

Feb. 3 - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday urged US athletes competing in the Beijing Winter Olympics to keep mum on China’s human rights abuses because the country’s government is “ruthless.”


Pelosi issued the warning during testimony at a Congressional-Executive Commission on China. She acknowledged the US has a moral obligation to condemn the rights violations – but insisted the Olympic games were not the proper venue for athletes to voice their concerns.

If we do not speak out against human rights violations in China, because of commercial interests, we lose all moral authority to speak out against human rights violations anywhere,” Pelosi said.

But addressing athletes, she added: “Do not risk incurring the anger of the Chinese government because they are ruthless.”

Pelosi slammed the International Olympic Committee – saying the group “turns a blind eye” to Beijing’s rights violations.
Rights groups have long criticized the IOC for awarding the Games to China, citing its treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups.

The US has deemed the treatment of the minority groups genocide. China has denied allegations of human rights abuses.    source from nypost


'China, US should cooperate to contain Taiwan'

Jan. 31 - 
WASHINGTON, D.C.: China and the United States should "work together to contain the separatist forces of Taiwan," Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang said.
The one-China principle is the most important foundation of China-US relations in the past decades, said Qin in an interview with US National Public Radio aired on Friday, adding that the United States has been walking away from this commitment "bit by bit."

Speaking of the recent escalation of tension in the situation across the Taiwan Strait, Qin said, "This is because the Taiwanese authority is trying to seek an independence agenda by borrowing support and encouragement from the United States and the US is playing Taiwan card."
  
"We have taken notice of President (Joe) Biden's words that the United States does not support Taiwan independence and the United States wants to see peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, the United States will adhere to its one-China policy, but so far, we haven't seen many actions to honor his words," he said.       more

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White House and Justice Department commit to combating violent crime at local level

Feb. 3 - At a summit on public safety Thursday, President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland announced new efforts to fight violent crime at the local level. This is part of the administration’s comprehensive strategy to prevent and respond to gun crime, announced in May 2021. Hours after Biden told every US Attorney’s Office in the country to direct funds toward fighting violent crime, Garland announced how the Department of Justice (DOJ) would help its local partners.


Garland spoke on the new federal actions to support this local work. Among these efforts is a national ghost gun enforcement initiative to train prosecutors on bringing charges for unregistered firearms that are assembled at home. The DOJ claims they are also “strengthening…firearms trafficking strike forces” to prevent violent criminals from obtaining firearms through illegal gun pipelines.

The DOJ’s mix of local and federal strategy is “designed to address violent crime from all angles:”

It includes targeted enforcement, data-driven approaches, and programming that reach every aspect of the problem, from the earliest prevention strategies and violence interruption approaches to post-conviction reentry services. The strategy recognizes that we are most successful when we work closely with state, local, Tribal, and territorial counterparts—and when we serve as a force multiplier for their frontline efforts, including with critical grant funding.

The Biden Administration and DOJ’s plan to keep direct actions primarily in the hands of local authorities, who allegedly have a better understanding of their communities, but seek to work cooperatively across local and federal lines. The summit was hosted by New York City mayor Eric Adams at a New York Gun Violence Strategic Partnership meeting, seen as a model of working across jurisdictions to remedy violent crime and gun trafficking.     Source from JURIST

1/28/2022

Minsk Protocol | Jan. 28, 2022

  Site Name:   "White House News in Chinese - Weebly"


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President Biden Statement on First Year GDP Growth

​JANUARY 27, 2022STATEMENTS AND RELEASES

The GDP numbers for my first year show that we are finally building an American economy for the 21st Century, with the fastest economic growth in nearly four decades, along with the greatest year of job growth in American history. And, for the first time in 20 years, our economy grew faster than China’s.

This is no accident. My economic strategy is creating good jobs for Americans, rebuilding our manufacturing, and strengthening our supply chains here at home to help make our companies more competitive.

Today, Americans are finding better jobs with better pay and better benefits. Layoffs are near record lows...     more

U.S. senators writing bill with 'substantial' Ukraine defense aid increases

Jan 27 - A bipartisan group of U.S. senators have been meeting to hammer out legislation that would dramatically increase the amount of U.S. military aid for Ukraine, as it faces the threat of an invasion by Russia.

The group of about five Democrats and five Republican Senators has made progress in talks on a bill, a source familiar with the negotiations told Reuters.

Their goal is to write a bill that will pass the Senate next week. To become law, it would also have to pass the House of Representatives and be signed by President Joe Biden.

Lawmakers from both parties have said they want to act quickly to boost Ukraine. Russia has been building up its forces on Ukraine's borders for months and has demanded NATO pull troops and weapons from eastern Europe and bar the former Soviet state from ever joining the U.S.-led military alliance.

There are still areas of disagreement between senators from the two parties, especially over whether to impose sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline.

Members of the two parties are also working out an agreement on what sanctions if any should be imposed on Russia now and what should be imposed after any invasion, Senate aides said.

A spokesman for Senator Bob Menendez declined comment on specifics in talks on the bill. Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, led Democrats this month in introducing legislation to impose sweeping sanctions on top Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, as well as banking institutions, in case of an invasion.


Republicans would like the bill to include a "substantial increase" in the so-called presidential draw down authority, or PDA, an expedited mechanism for providing security assistance to Ukraine, according to the source familiar with the negotiations.     source from Reuters

Biden says he'll name a Black woman as Supreme Court pick by end of February

Jan. 27 -- President Biden praised retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer at the White House on Thursday, and said he plans to announce his nominee to fill Breyer's seat before the end of February. The president also reiterated his commitment to nominating a Black woman to the nation's highest court. 


Mr. Biden and Breyer appeared together Thursday, one day after news emerged that Breyer plans to step down after nearly 28 years on the Supreme Court. The president praised Breyer for his intellect, legal insight, work ethic, optimism and patriotism...     more from Washington

JANUARY 27, 2022
​President Biden and Justice Breyer on Retirement From Supreme Court
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer joins President Biden at the White House for his retirement announcement. The president says he intends to pick a replacement by the end of February.
WATCH LIVE: President Biden gives remarks on the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer
Jan. 27, 2022

Remarks by President Biden on the Retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer

​JANUARY 27, 2022SPEECHES AND REMARKS
Roosevelt Room

THE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon.  I’m going to begin by recognizing both Dr. Breyer and Dr. Biden — (laughs) — and — for being here.  And I can’t tell you — this is sort of a bittersweet day for me.  Justice Breyer and I go back a long way, all the way back to the mid-’70s, when he first came on the Judiciary Committee, but that’s another story.

I’m here today to express the nation’s gratitude to Justice Stephen Breyer for his remarkable career of public service and his clear-eyed commitment to making our country’s laws work for its people. 


And our gratitude extends to Justice Breyer’s family for being partners in his decades of public service.  In particular, I want to thank his wife, Dr. Joanna Breyer, who is here today and who has stood by him for nearly six decades, and — with her fierce intellect, good humor, and enormous heart.  I want to thank you.  The country owes you as well.

And Stephen Breyer’s public service started early.  He served in the United States Army as a teenager and in all three branches of the federal government before he turned 40.  They were the good old days, weren’t they?

And as — he was a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Goldberg, a prosecutor in the Department of Justice, a member of the Watergate prosecution team.  And I first met Stephen Breyer when I was a senator on the Judiciary Committee and he started off as — taking care of one of the subcommittees for Teddy, but then became Chief Counsel during the tenure as — as Ted’s chairman- — chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee.

Beyond his intellect and hard work and legal insight, he was famous for biking across Washington virtually every day for a face-to-face meeting with a Republican chief counsel — the ranking Republican counsel.  And over breakfast, they’d discuss what would they do for the country together.  Whereas, in those days, we tried to do things together.  They — that spirit stuck with me when I took over the Judiciary Committee as Chair after Senator Kennedy’s tenure. 

And it was my honor to vote to confirm Justice Breyer to serve in the United States Supreme Court — the Court of Appeals first, in 1980. 

And then, 14 years later, in 1994, I got to preside as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee over his Supreme Court confirmation hearings. 

We were joking with one another when he walked in: Did we ever think that he would have served decades on the Court and I’d be President of the United States on the day he came in to retire?  And he looked at it — anyway, I won’t tell you what he said.  I’m joking.

But I was proud and grateful to be there at the start of this distinguished career on the Supreme Court, and I’m very proud to be here today on his announcement of his retirement. 

You know, during his confirmation hearings, way back in 1994, nominee Stephen Breyer said, quote, “The law must work for [the] people.”

He explained to us his faith that our complex legal system has a single purpose: to help the people who make up our country.  It was a different time, of course.  But his brilliance, his values, his scholarship are why Judge Breyer became Justice Breyer by an overwhelming bipartisan vote at the time. 

Today, Justice Breyer announces his intention to step down from active service after four decades — four decades on the federal bench and 28 years on the United States Supreme Court. 

His legacy includes his work as a leading scholar and jurist in administrative law, bringing his brilliance to bear to make the government run more efficiently and effectively. 

It includes his stature as a beacon of wisdom on our Constitution and what it means. 

And through it all, Justice Breyer has worked tirelessly to give faith to the notion that the law exists to help the people...   more 
Biden and Zelensky discuss how US will help Ukraine

​In “long” phone call, the two presidents spoke about recent Normandy talks with Russia, among other topics

Jan. 27 - US President Joe Biden received a report on the recent talks with Russia in Paris from his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. The two leaders agreed on joint action and discussed further US military and financial support to Ukraine, according to Kiev.

​The White House told reporters on Thursday that the call was scheduled for 2 pm Eastern time.

Shortly before 4 pm, Zelensky tweeted about a “long” conversation with Biden, saying  that they discussed “recent diplomatic efforts on de-escalation and agreed on joint actions for the future.” Zelensky thanked Biden for “the ongoing military assistance” and also discussed “possibilities for financial support to Ukraine.”


Ahead of the call, CNN reported that Zelensky was going to ask the US to be “more cautious in its messaging surrounding a potential Russian attack,” as Kiev was facing panic and negative economic consequences. Ukraine’s dollar bonds had their best day in almost two years on Thursday, following the news that the ‘Normandy format’ talks with Russia in Paris were somewhat successful.

The White House readout, released after 5 pm, said that Biden “reaffirmed the readiness of the US along with its allies and partners to respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine,” and that the US embassy in Kiev “remains open and fully operational” despite the departure of family members of diplomats.


Biden also expressed support for the Normandy format talks, “expressing his hope that the sides’ recommitment on January 26 to the terms of the July 2020 ceasefire will help decrease tensions and advance the implementation of the Minsk Agreements.” 

The talks, hosted by France on Wednesday, ended with envoys for Moscow and Kiev agreeing to “support unconditional respect for the cease-fire and full adherence to the cease-fire strengthening measures” from 2020 “regardless of differences on other issues relating to the implementation of the Minsk agreements,” according to the Élysée Palace. The diplomats also agreed to meet in Berlin in two weeks’ time.

US media have claimed since late October that Russia was about to invade Ukraine, citing an assessment by American intelligence. Russia has dismissed the accusation as “fake news.”

When US, UK and Canadian embassies in Kiev began evacuating some staff on Monday, Ukrainian officials – starting with Zelensky himself – started downplaying the threat of the alleged invasion, saying they were seeing no sign of it in the near future.     source from RT


​China Backs Russia in Strongest Display Yet of Support Over Ukraine

Jan. 27 - ...During the conversation, Wang brought up the possibility of forging a new Minsk Agreement. The accord, also known as the Minsk Protocol, was a peace plan signed in 2014 and 2015 that brought a cease-fire to a separatist war involving Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine.

"To resolve the Ukrainian issue, we still need to return to the new Minsk Agreement—the starting point," Wang said.
"The new Minsk Agreement, which was approved by the Security Council, is a fundamental political document recognized by all parties and should be effectively implemented," he continued. "As long as efforts are made in line with the direction and spirit of the agreement, China will support them."

​Blinken has also recently called on Russia and Ukraine to return to the dialogue of the Minsk Agreement, calling it "the most promising avenue for diplomacy" during a December news conference...     quoted from Newsweek



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