While MAGA Republicans are doing their best to undermine women’s rights, health, ability to succeed, President Biden has announced the first-ever White House initiative on Women’s Health Research, to be led by First Lady Jill Biden and the White House Gender Policy Council. The new initiative will fundamentally change how we approach and fund women’s health research. Presently, most medical research is conducted on men, with serious consequences for health of women across the country.Here is a fact sheet from the White House explaining the new initiative:
Despite making up more than half of the population, women have been understudied and underrepresented in health research for far too long. Research on women’s health is drastically underfunded, leading to significant research gaps, with serious consequences for the health of women across the country. This lack of investment limits our understanding of conditions that are specific to women, predominantly affect women, or affect women differently. In order to give women and their health care providers the tools and information that they need to more effectively prevent, diagnose, and treat these conditions – from rheumatoid arthritis to menopause to Alzheimer’s disease to cardiovascular disease to endometriosis – our nation must fundamentally change how we approach and fund women’s health research.
If we act swiftly, we can pioneer the next generation of discoveries in women’s health – improving the lives of millions of women. That’s why, today, President Biden is establishing a new White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research. This new effort will be led by First Lady Jill Biden, who has long championed women’s health, and the White House Gender Policy Council. The Initiative will be chaired by Dr. Carolyn Mazure, an esteemed leader in the field of women’s health research, who will coordinate the Initiative on behalf of the Office of the First Lady and the Gender Policy Council.
“I have always believed in the power of research to save lives and to ensure that Americans get the high-quality health care they need,” President Biden stated. “To achieve scientific breakthroughs and strengthen our ability to prevent, detect, and treat diseases, we have to be bold. That’s why today, we’re establishing a new White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research so that my Administration—from the National Institutes of Health to the Department of Defense—does everything we can to drive innovation in women’s health and close research gaps.”
“Every woman I know has a story about leaving her doctor’s office with more questions than answers,” commented First Lady Jill Biden. “Not because our doctors are withholding information, but because there’s just not enough research yet on how to best manage and treat even common women’s health conditions. In 2023, that is unacceptable. Our new White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research will help change that by identifying bold solutions to uncover the answers that every woman and her family deserves. We also are calling on congressional leaders, the private sector, research institutions, and philanthropy to join us in taking urgent action to improve the health and lives of women throughout the nation.”
PRESIDENTIAL MEMORANDUM ESTABLISHING WHITE HOUSE INITIATIVE ON WOMEN’S HEALTH RESEARCH
The White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research will galvanize the Federal government as well as the private and philanthropic sectors to spur innovation, unleash transformative investment to close research gaps, and improve women’s health. As a first step, through today’s Presidential Memorandum, the President is directing his Administration to:
Establish an Initiative consisting of executive departments and agencies across the Federal government. Initiative members include Federal agencies, such as the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Defense, and Veterans Affairs, and White House offices, such as the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Deliver concrete recommendations to advance women’s health research. Within 45 days, Initiative members will recommend concrete actions that the Biden-Harris Administration can take to improve how research on women’s health is conducted and maximize the Administration’s investments in women’s health research, including to address health disparities and inequities.
Take a targeted, high-impact approach. To deliver results quickly, Initiative members will set priority areas of focus where additional investments could be transformative—in areas of research ranging from heart attacks in women to menopause.
Engage the scientific, private sector, and philanthropic communities. The Initiative will explore new public-private partnerships and engage private and philanthropic leaders to drive innovation and ensure the combined power of public, private, and philanthropic sectors advances research on women’s health.
Dr. Carolyn M. Mazure serves as the Chair of the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research and has recently joined the Office of the First Lady. Dr. Mazure comes to the White House from the Yale School of Medicine, where she has served as the Norma Weinberg Spungen and Joan Lebson Bildner Professor in Women’s Health Research, and Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology. After three years at the National Institutes of Health and fellowship training at Yale, Dr. Mazure joined the Yale faculty as an active clinician and NIH-funded researcher. She created Women’s Health Research at Yale, the university’s interdisciplinary research center on the health of women, which studies a wide breadth of topics from cardiovascular disease to cancers. She holds a Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University and did her fellowship and post-doctoral work at Yale School of Medicine.
The Biden-Harris Administration is proposing important steps to strengthen Medicare Advantage and the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Program (Part D). As part of his Bidenomics agenda, President Biden has worked to increase competition in the health care industry and other sectors, lower costs for families, and make sure every American has access to affordable, high-quality health care.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS’) proposed rule will help people with Medicare select and enroll in coverage options that best meet their health care needs by preventing plans from engaging in anti-competitive steering of prospective enrollees based on excessive compensation to agents and brokers, rather than the enrollee’s best interests. The proposed guardrails protect people with Medicare and promote a competitive marketplace in Medicare Advantage, consistent with the goals of President Biden’s historic Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy.
The proposed rule will also improve access to behavioral health care by adding a new facility type that includes several behavioral health provider types to Medicare Advantage network adequacy requirements. CMS is also proposing policies to increase the utilization and appropriateness of supplemental benefits to ensure taxpayer dollars actually provide meaningful benefits to enrollees. Additionally, the proposed rule would improve transparency on the effects of prior authorization on underserved communities and proposes more flexibility for Part D plans to more quickly substitute lower cost biosimilar biological products for their reference products.
“The Biden-Harris Administration remains committed to making health care more affordable and accessible for all Americans. By ensuring Medicare recipients have the information they need to make critical decisions about their health care coverage, we are doing just that,” said U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Promoting competition in the marketplace helps to lower costs and protect access to care while making the whole process more transparent and accountable.”
“CMS continues to improve the Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug programs and maintain high-quality health care coverage choices for all Medicare enrollees,” said CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. “People with Medicare deserve to have accurate and unbiased information when they make important decisions about their health coverage. Today’s proposals further our efforts to curb predatory marketing and inappropriate steering that distorts healthy competition among plans.”
CMS has previously taken unprecedented steps to address predatory marketing of Medicare Advantage plans, such as banning misleading TV ads. Many people on Medicare rely on agents and brokers to help navigate Medicare choices. CMS is concerned that some Medicare Advantage plans are compensating agents and brokers in a way that may circumvent existing payment rules, inappropriately steer individuals to enroll in plans that do not best meet their health care needs, and lead to further consolidation in the Medicare Advantage market. To further protect people with Medicare through stronger marketing policies and to promote a competitive marketplace in Medicare Advantage, CMS is proposing added guardrails to plan compensation for agents and brokers, including standardization. These proposals are consistent with the statutory requirement that CMS develop guidelines to ensure that the use of compensation creates incentives for agents and brokers to enroll individuals in the Medicare Advantage plan that is intended to best meet their health care needs.
CMS also proposes to strengthen and improve access to behavioral health care by adding a new facility type, which includes marriage and family therapists, mental health counselors, addiction medicine clinicians, opioid treatment providers, and others, to CMS’ Medicare Advantage network adequacy requirements. This proposed addition builds on changes finalized last year to strengthen these requirements and would ensure people with Medicare Advantage can access vital mental health and substance use disorder treatment.
“The people we serve are at the center of the Medicare program, and we work each day to make sure the program works for them. Agents and brokers play an important role in guiding people with Medicare to the option that is tuned in to their medical needs. Our proposals on how plans compensate agents and brokers seek to support a competitive marketplace that best serves people with Medicare,” said Dr. Meena Seshamani, CMS Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Medicare.
Currently, 99% of Medicare Advantage plans offer at least one supplemental benefit. Over time, the benefits offered have become broader in scope and variety, with more rebate dollars directed toward these benefits. CMS is committed to ensuring these offerings are effectively reaching enrollees and actually meeting their needs, and not just used for attracting enrollees. In today’s rule, CMS proposes requiring Medicare Advantage plans to send a personalized notification to their enrollees mid-year of the unused supplemental benefits available to them to encourage higher utilization. Furthermore, CMS is proposing additional requirements designed to help ensure that benefits offered as special supplemental benefits for the chronically ill (SSBCI) are backed by evidence. CMS is also proposing new marketing and transparency guardrails around these benefits. These proposals will help ensure a robust and competitive Medicare Advantage marketplace made up of plan options with meaningful benefits.
Additionally, CMS is concerned that certain prior authorization policies may disproportionately inhibit access to needed care for underserved enrollees. To provide additional safeguards, CMS is proposing to require that Medicare Advantage plans include an expert in health equity on their utilization management committees and that the committees conduct an annual health equity analysis of the plans’ prior authorization policies and procedures. This analysis would examine the impact of prior authorization on enrollees with one or more of the following social risk factors—eligibility for Part D low-income subsidies, dual eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid, or having a disability—compared to enrollees without these risk factors. These analyses would have to be posted publicly to improve transparency into the effects of prior authorization on underserved populations. To further promote health equity, CMS is also proposing to streamline enrollment options for individuals with both Medicare and Medicaid, providing more opportunities for integrated care.
To support competition in the prescription drug marketplace, CMS is also proposing to provide more flexibility to substitute biosimilar biological products other than interchangeable biological products for their reference products to give people with Medicare more timely access to lower-cost biosimilar drugs. This proposal would permit Part D plans to treat such substitutions as maintenance changes so that the substitutions apply to all enrollees, not only those who begin the therapy after the effective date of the change, following a 30-day notice.
There will be a 60-day comment period for the notice of proposed rulemaking, and comments must be submitted at one of the addresses provided in the Federal Register no later than January 5, 2024. The proposed rule can be accessed at the Federal Register at https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/current.
View a fact sheet on the proposed rule at cms.gov/newsroom.
View the CMS Blog Important New Changes to Improve Access to Behavioral Health in Medicare at https://www.cms.gov/blog.
This fact sheet from the White House describes how President Biden is using $16.4 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to repair and replace critical rail infrastructure along the Northeast Corridor, to provide faster and more reliable passenger rail service, and create more than 100,000 construction jobs:
Bidenomics and President Biden’s Investing in America agenda are tackling long-standing infrastructure needs, supporting communities nationwide, and making it possible to get people and goods where they need to be safely, quickly, and conveniently. The President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes the largest investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak, with a $66 billion total investment in rail. Today, President Biden is announcing $16.4 billion in new funding for 25 passenger rail projects on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, moving the United States closer to his vision for world-class passenger rail. The investments announced today will rebuild tunnels and bridges that are over 100 years old; upgrade tracks, power systems, signals, stations, and other infrastructure; and, advance future projects to significantly improve travel times by increasing operating speeds and reducing delays. Combined with Amtrak’s nearly $9 billion fleet replacement program, which will replace over 1,000 locomotives and coaches with state-of-the art and Made-in-America equipment, these investments will ensure that train service is more convenient and climate-friendly than either driving or flying. The funding will also contribute to more than 100,000 good-paying union jobs in construction. President Biden will travel to Bear, Delaware to make the announcement.
The Northeast Corridor, running from Boston, MA, to Washington, DC, is the most heavily traveled rail corridor in the United States, supporting 800,000 trips per day in a region that represents 20 percent of U.S. Gross Domestic Product. The trains carry five times more passengers than all flights between Washington and New York. Amtrak trains on the Northeast Corridor also emit up to 83% less greenhouse gas emissions compared to car travel and up to 72% less greenhouse gas emissions than flying. If the Northeast Corridor shut down for a single day, it would cost the economy $100 million in lost productivity. Despite its importance, the Corridor hasn’t seen major investment in generations. The Northeast Corridor that exists today is the product of investments that date back to the 1830s, and many of the existing bridges and tunnels were built in the early twentieth century. Thanks to the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Northeast Corridor is finally on track to be rebuilt to meet the needs of 21st century travelers.
Today’s $16.4 billion announcement is through the Federal Railroad Administration’s Federal State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail grant program, and reflects nearly $9 billion in FY 2022 and FY 2023 funds and $7.4 billion in future commitments through phased funding agreements. Major awarded projects include:
Gateway Hudson River Tunnel (NY/NJ) will receive $3.8 billion in a phased funding agreement to rehabilitate and expand the Hudson River Tunnel between New York and New Jersey, which is over 100 years old, serves 200,000 passengers daily, and was damaged by Superstorm Sandy. The overall Gateway Hudson River Tunnel project will improve resiliency, reliability, and redundancy for New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) and Amtrak passengers traveling on the Northeast Corridor between New York and New Jersey. Combined with other investments, the total Biden Administration commitment to the tunnel project will be a record $11 billion. President Biden visited this project in January to announce a $292 million DOT MEGA program grant for the Hudson Yards Concrete Casing, which supports the critical connection between the new Hudson River Tunnel and New York Penn Station. In June, the Hudson Tunnel Project received a $25 million grant through DOT’s RAISE program to support construction of the new tunnel portal through the Tonnelle Avenue Bridge and utility relocation project in North Bergen, NJ. On Friday, Administration officials participated in a groundbreaking to officially begin construction on the New York side of the tunnel. The Hudson Tunnel Project is a critical component of the Gateway Program — a comprehensive rail investment program that will improve commuter and intercity services, add needed resiliency and create new capacity for the busiest section of the Northeast Corridor. The project is critical to the northeast regional economy — not only will the project generate $19 billion in economic activity over the Project’s construction period, addressing this critical chokepoint on the Northeast Corridor supports the $50 billion that workers riding on the NEC contribute to the economy annually.
Frederick Douglass Tunnel (MD) will receive $4.7 billion in a phased funding agreement to replace the 150-year-old Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel, increasing speeds from 30 mph to 110 mph and reducing delays on the entire Northeast Corridor. The tunnel’s tight curvature and steep incline requires trains to reduce speeds to 30 mph. These issues create chronic delays — more than 10% of weekday trains are delayed, and delays occur on 99% of weekdays. The tunnel is the largest Northeast Corridor bottleneck between Washington and New Jersey and a single point of failure for the roughly 24,000 Amtrak and Maryland Area Commuter (MARC) passengers who rely on it daily. The President visited this project in January to announce the signing of a project kickoff agreement between Amtrak and the State of Maryland and a Project Labor Agreement between Amtrak and the Baltimore-DC Building and Construction Trades Council. Initial construction began in March of this year, and Amtrak recently awarded a contract for construction on the southern approach.
Susquehanna River Bridge (MD) will receive $2.1 billion in a phased funding agreement to replace an existing 100-year-old rail bridge with two new two-track spans that will allow speeds to increase from 90 mph to 125 mph, and improve reliability and trip times. Amtrak, the MARC rail and Norfolk Southern Railway use the bridge to transport both passengers and freight and therefore experiences a high volume of rail traffic. Roughly 19,000 passengers travel over the existing bridge every weekday. As part of this replacement project, the existing movable bridge will be replaced with high-level fixed bridges, which will also improve navigation for boats on the Susquehanna River.
Penn Station Access (NY) will receive $1.6 billion in a phased funding agreement to repair and rehabilitate 19 miles of the Amtrak-owned Hell Gate Line, including tracks, bridges, and signals. The project will introduce Metro-North service to Penn Station, increase Amtrak service, and the cut local transit travel time from the Bronx to Manhattan by as much as 50 minutes. In addition to reducing travel times, New York MTA’s investment will create four new fully ADA-accessible rail stations, and the added service and reduced travel times will have significant benefits for low-income communities in the Bronx. This project is in active construction as of 2023.
The Connecticut River Bridge (CT) will receive $827 million to replace a 116-year-old bridge with a new modern, resilient movable bridge. Replacing the existing structure will increase reliability and safety, and rail speeds on the bridge will increase from 45 mph to 70 mph. This project is fully designed and set to begin construction in 2024.
Two planning studies are also included in the investment: one to examine opportunities to increase speeds and reduce travel time between Washington, D.C. and New York City, and one to study future infrastructure options to improve speed, resilience, performance, and capacity to support faster trains traveling on the Northeast Corridor through Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Each new awarded project – from the Frederick Douglass Tunnel to the Connecticut River Bridge – will improve travel times by addressing the delays associated with the constant maintenance and repair of old Northeast Corridor infrastructure. These delays are estimated to result in almost 245,000 train delay minutes annually, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding will support replacing infrastructure that could result in almost 110,000 delay minutes saved annually.
Creating Good-Paying Union Jobs
Across all Northeast Corridor projects, an agreement is in place between Amtrak and North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) that ensures Amtrak’s large civil engineering construction projects will be performed under a collective bargaining agreement that addresses points such as wages, benefits, working conditions, and promoting diversity and veteran hiring in the construction trades. With this agreement, Amtrak and NABTU will promote a strong workforce pipeline to prevent work disruptions; contractors and subcontractors share Amtrak’s commitment to paying fair wages and benefits; and Amtrak and NABTU can move forward with Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-funded projects with efficient labor-management relations.
Amtrak expects the Hudson River Tunnel project will result in 72,000 direct and indirect jobs during construction with union partnerships for job training. The Frederick Douglas Tunnel program is expected to generate 30,000 direct and indirect jobs, including approximately 20,000 construction jobs. Amtrak is investing more than $50 million in local workforce development and community investments, including pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs to ensure that local workers in West Baltimore can access these jobs.
Progress for Other Rail Investments
After waiting years for new federal funding, 2023 is the year in which major rail and transit projects across the country are moving forward.
Today’s investment follows major investments in rail safety through track improvements, bridge rehabilitations, fewer grade crossings, upgrades on routes carrying hazardous materials, and enhanced multi-modal connections to keep people living near, working on, and who travel along America’s rail lines safer:
Last month, FRA announced more than $1.4 billion from President Biden’s Bipartisan infrastructure law for 70 rail improvement projects in 35 states and Washington, D.C. This is the largest amount ever awarded for rail safety and rail supply chain upgrades through the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements — or CRISI — program. This popular program has quadrupled since the President signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. While the majority of selected projects support freight rail safety and supply chains, CRISI investments are also laying the groundwork to expand world-class passenger rail to more communities nationwide. For example, investments in Virginia will result in two new Amtrak round trips and three new commuter rail round trips on the RF&P corridor between Washington, D.C., and Richmond, VA — a critical link between Northeast and Southeast states — while also improving the fluidity of CSX’s freight network. In California, two additional daily round trips will be added to the Capitol Corridor between the cities of Sacramento and Roseville, and a project eliminating grade crossings in the Central Valley will bring high-speed rail one step closer to becoming a reality. At least $376 million, or 25 percent of the amounts appropriated, was made available for projects in rural areas. In addition to improving passenger rail service, the CRISI program provides funding to further develop workforce and industry in America around rail. For example, Amtrak will receive up to $8.8 million for a pilot apprenticeship training program to recruit and train new track foremen and inspectors in Pennsylvania.
In June, FRA announced $570 million for 63 projects in 32 states under the new Railroad Crossing Elimination Program, or RCE, created by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This inaugural round of funding will address more than 400 at-grade crossings nationwide, improve safety, and make it easier to get around railroad tracks by adding grade separations, closing at-grade crossings, and improving existing at-grade crossings where train tracks and roads intersect. Over each of the next four years, additional RCE Program funding will be made available annually. Project selections for other grant programs that will improve freight rail safety and efficiency, strengthen supply chains, and expand the passenger rail network — representing billions of dollars in infrastructure law investments — will be announced in the coming months.
In 2022, the Biden Administration announced $233 million in grants to upgrade intercity passenger rail service across the country through the Federal-State Partnership for State of Good Repair Program. These investments will help replace bridges and tunnels along the Northeast Corridor, many of which are over 100 years old. Grants were also awarded to improve rail infrastructure in California, Michigan, and improving Chicago Union Station.
On November 30, 2022, the Federal Railroad Administration granted $4.3 billion to Amtrak, which represents the first year of the $22 billion in direct funding to Amtrak provided in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Amtrak is using these funds to modernize the intercity passenger rail network, modernize and increase accessibility at more than 280 Amtrak-served stations across the country, and replace Amtrak’s existing fleet of over 1,000 railcars and locomotives with accessible, comfortable, state-of-the-art equipment. Portions of the new fleet will enter service in 2023, and over 525 new railcars and locomotives will begin service by the end of the decade. Amtrak debuted the design of the new “Airo” railcars in late 2022. In fiscal year 2023 alone, Amtrak has invested nearly $3 billion in 750 projects across the country. By the end of 2023, 15 Amtrak stations will have been brought to full ADA compliance, with 25 more upgraded with passenger information display stations. Through these investments, Amtrak has created nearly 5,000 jobs, including employing over 4,000 union workers.
Later this year, FRA will award billions from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for intercity passenger rail projects across the country under the Fed-State Partnership National Program. High-speed rail projects are eligible for funding from this program.
This fact sheet from the White House details Biden’s historic investments in transportation, while Congressional Republicans are using the threat of a government shutdown to slash infrastructure funding.
Thanks to President Biden’s leadership, the United States is making historic investments in infrastructure needs so people and goods can get where they need to be safely, quickly, and conveniently. Today, the President is announcing $16.4 billion for passenger rail projects from his Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which makes the largest investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak.
While the Biden-Harris Administration is trying to make travel faster, safer and more reliable, House Republicans are trying to make it slower, harder, and less safe.
House Republicans are turning their backs on their communities—both urban and rural—and undermining American infrastructure with an appropriations bill that guts funding for Amtrak and makes draconian cuts to transportation and infrastructure programs. As outlined in a Statement of Administration Policy, the President would veto this extreme bill that would slash support for infrastructure in communities across the country, while at the same time adding billions to the deficit with give-aways to wealthy tax cheats.
Extreme House Republicans’ bill to defund infrastructure is just the latest example of their brutal cuts that would hurt the American people—following failed attempts to cut investments in infrastructure in March, May, June, and September and to eliminate hundreds of border patrol officers and tens of thousands of Head Start slots for kids. Rather than putting forward these devastating cuts, House Republicans need to follow the lead of the Senate and get to work on a bipartisan funding agreement—and act immediately on the Administration’s supplemental funding requests for urgent national security and domestic needs.
Extreme House Republicans’ draconian infrastructure defunding bill would:
Severely reduce Amtrak service and undermine critical maintenance work by slashing Amtrak funding by $1 billion. This reduction in funding would require Amtrak to reduce most, if not all, long-distance services, reduce certain Northeast Corridor regional train frequencies, and reduce or defer nearly 400 capital projects across the country. The Northeast Corridor is the most heavily traveled rail corridor in the United States, supporting 800,000 trips per day in a region that represents 20 percent of U.S. Gross Domestic Product.
Cut transit programs across the country with an 85% cut tothe Capital Investment Grant program. This critical program funds projects that provide transformative benefits for communities across the Nation by expanding convenient and accessible transportation options—while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality.
Fail to make critical investments in improving the safety and efficiency of the Nation’s airspace, including by funding National Airspace System technology $500 million below the President’s Budget request, risking increased delays and cancellations due to outages and lost opportunities to improve safety.
Cut aviation research funding by over 20 percent, which would undermine the Federal Aviation Administration’s ability to promote innovations that would lower noise and emissions, improve efficiency, and help the industry keep flight costs under control.
The same extreme bill includes deep cuts to housing programs, which would:
Result in 20,000 fewer affordable homes being constructed, rehabbed, or purchased in communities across the Nation due to a nearly 70% cut to the HOME Investment Partnerships Program at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Put 78,000 children at greater risk of lead exposure due a rescission of over $564 million for programs that mitigate housing-related risks of lead poisoning and other illnesses and hazards to lower income families, especially children.
Amid record rates of antisemitism and hate crimes – given added fuel with the Israel-Hamas war – for the first time, eight federal agencies make clear that a key civil rights protection prohibits certain forms of antisemitism; actions are major deliverable in implementing the President’s National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism.
According to an Oct. 7 analysis by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the instances of antisemitic rhetoric and calls for violence against Jews social media greatly increased following Hamas’ sneak attack on Israel earlier that day which killed more than 1,200 Israelis and resulted in hundreds more being taken hostage. On platforms favored by white supremacist extremists, however, hateful and violent rhetoric targeting Jews increased by 488 percent, the ADL said. New York State, New York City, and Long Island, home to the largest population of Jews outside of Israel, have had to step up police protection.
New York State Governor Kathy Hochul led a bipartisan coalition of 17 governors to stand in solidarity with Israel, issuing a joint letter to federal leaders to express the broad support for Israel and condemnation of terror attacks from Hamas on October 17. The governors also reaffirmed their commitment to work with the U.S. Department of State to ensure the safe return of Americans.
“The bonds between America and Israel are unbreakable – now and forever,” Governor Hochul said. “As the Governor of the largest Jewish population outside Israel, I recognize we have a unique and solemn responsibility to support Israel during this critical moment. I’m proud to stand with my fellow Governors to show our support for Israel, and grateful to my colleagues for their bold moral leadership.”
The letter reads:
As Governors representing more than 144,000,000 Americans, we stand with Israel and unequivocally condemn the despicable acts of war and terror perpetrated by Hamas on Saturday, October 7, 2023, which have already claimed the lives of hundreds of innocent people in Israel. In the days since these initial attacks, we have joined with members of our communities to mourn and pray, and we have experienced first-hand the deep emotional toll this horrendous evil has taken on so many. We also know that there are several Americans that have already been confirmed killed as a result of this violence, and we know that number is likely to rise in the days ahead.
We stand united in support of Israel in its efforts to secure the safe return of hostages and ensure the ongoing safety of its people. We commend President Biden for his swift response in providing increased military assistance to Israel, and members of Congress from both parties for their firm statements of support for Israel. We urge immediate and continued U.S. aid to Israel in the weeks and months to come. We also urge the Senate to swiftly confirm nominees to key diplomatic roles in the region, including ambassador roles in Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Oman, and Kuwait as well as move forward with consideration of all pending military nominations and promotions to ensure that our most experienced leaders are occupying the most important jobs for our national defense.
Each of us has taken action in our respective states to increase security in Jewish communities and at Jewish houses of worship. Given these concerns, and the rise of antisemitism across the country, Congress should ensure funding for states and local governments to support activities and programs to ensure resources to safeguard houses of worship and religious-affiliated groups are available to combat antisemitism at home. We will continue to work with federal, state, and local law enforcement to monitor for potential domestic threats and provide support to community leaders as needed.
We stand ready to provide additional support to Israel and to work with the United States Department of State to ensure the safe return of Americans in Israel. Our prayers remain with those who have been lost, their loved ones, the people of Israel, and the Jewish community worldwide.
This fact sheet was provided by the White House on September 28, 2023, more than a week before Hamas massacre of 1400 Israelis in surprise attacks on October 7: As part of President Biden’s National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, eight federal agencies clarified—for the first time in writing—that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits certain forms of antisemitic, Islamophobic, and related forms of discrimination in federally funded programs and activities. These wide-ranging protections provide important tools to curb discrimination based on shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics and to better protect the civil rights of all Americans.
The Departments of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, Treasury, and Transportation will also ensure that agency staff understand and are ready to respond to this kind of discrimination, engage with entities that are prohibited from discriminating in these ways to explain their legal responsibilities, and inform communities of their rights to be free from such discrimination and how to file complaints. In addition, the agencies will continue to investigate complaints under Title VI and other civil rights authorities and vigorously enforce protections within federally funded programs and activities they administer. Examples include shielding people from harassment or discrimination on transit systems funded by the Department of Transportation (DOT); in housing funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); or in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded food programs.
Each agency today is clarifying the ways in which Title VI covers discrimination on the basis of shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, including certain forms of antisemitism, Islamophobia, and related forms of bias and discrimination. These actions were developed with support from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and provide details about how these protections may cover individuals of many different faith traditions, such as people who are Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Hindu, or Buddhist. Agency fact sheets are being translated into Yiddish, Hebrew, Arabic, Punjabi, and other languages to ensure that a diverse array of populations can access this vital civil rights information, and additional languages will be available upon request.
Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act applies to all programs and activities supported by federal financial assistance. Thus, these protections are wide-ranging and provide important tools to prevent and curb discrimination. Today’s announcement is a deliverable of President Biden’s National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, released in May 2023. This strategy represents the most comprehensive and ambitious U.S. government effort to counter antisemitism in American history. It includes over 100 actions the Biden-Harris Administration is taking to address the rise of antisemitism in the U.S. Since the release of the strategy, agencies have taken dozens of actions. Highlights include:
• The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ) published a resource guide for houses of worship and other faith-based institutions to increase security while sustaining an open and welcoming environment.
• DHS has held listening sessions nationwide with communities impacted by targeted violence to better understand evolving threats and address their safety and security needs, with an emphasis on underserved communities. These sessions are ongoing and will help improve accessibility and information-sharing of DHS’ resources to meet the needs of those impacted by hate-motivated violence.
• The Department of Education (ED) launched an Antisemitism Awareness Campaign to ensure all students are able to attend schools free of discrimination. To open this campaign, in May, ED issued a Dear Colleague Letter specifically on antisemitism to schools, reminding them of their legal obligation under Title VI. The Department of Education has long detailed how Title VI applies to shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics in the educational setting. To further these crucial efforts to counter antisemitism, today, ED will launch the first of several Fall site visits to address and learn about antisemitism at schools and colleges. Deputy Secretary of Education Cindy Marten will visit the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco to engage with students, educators, school administrators, and community leaders around countering antisemitism. Then, the ED team will join San Francisco Hillel for a closed-door conversation with Jewish students from Bay Area colleges around their experiences of antisemitism on college campuses.
• The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency at DHS is expanding security capacity-building services to historically targeted communities, including Jewish communities. This includes sessions on active shooter preparedness; an introduction to bomb threat management; tabletop exercise packages for places of worship, such as synagogues; a training on responding to suspicious behaviors and items; and a workshop held at the White House, in cooperation with the White House and DHS Offices of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, on Sept. 28.
• DOJ released updated informational materials about the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), which provide an overview of the law and DOJ’s enforcement efforts, as well as information about how to identify and report violations. DOJ also announced that it will host a series of outreach events on RLUIPA in 2023 and 2024.
• By the end of September, DOJ will launch the United Against Hate program in all 94 of its U.S. Attorneys’ Offices to strengthen trust between law enforcement and communities that are often the targets of hate, including Jewish communities, teach community members how to identify and report hate crimes and hate incidents. DOJ has already held more than 200 events nationwide.
• DOT, through the Federal Transit Administration, has initiated research to identify the data available at the transit-agency level to better understand the extent to which race, ethnicity, and religion or religious appearance impact assaults on, harassment of, and discrimination against transit riders, including antisemitism. DOT completed interviews at the nine largest transit agencies in the United States and plans to share its findings in a future report.
• The Small Business Administration (SBA) is providing training and resources for small business owners and employees on preventing and responding to antisemitism, Islamophobia, and related forms of hate. For example, SBA is working with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to encourage small businesses and employees to report antisemitic and other hate incidents to the proper authorities. SBA will host a webinar to share these resources broadly.
• The EEOC has disseminated materials on nondiscrimination and religious accommodations in the workplace, including a fact sheet to inform employees of their rights when they face antisemitism at work. Since last October, it has held more than 40 outreach and training events at its field offices around the country.
• HUD issued a letter to 200 federally-funded fair housing partners on how to identify and counter antisemitism, Islamophobia, and related forms of bias and discrimination in housing.
• The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) will extend its national tour of the Americans and the Holocaust exhibition at public and academic libraries in partnership with the American Library Association. To date, it has reached more than 300,000 visitors at 50 host sites across the country. The tour will continue to an additional 50 libraries in 2024.
• AmeriCorps circulated resources to its grantees and sponsors, who support about 200,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers in nearly 40,000 locations across the country, on ways to help counter antisemitism and hate, and enhance the physical security of religious communities.
• The Department of the Interior (DOI) is distributing new resources on Jewish American heritage through the National Park Service (NPS). Additionally, starting in October, NPS will integrate guidance on stopping or preventing antisemitic behavior in parks into staff trainings. NPS will also add tools on countering antisemitism to bystander intervention and conflict de-escalation trainings that are available to all DOI staff.
• In November, USDA will host a summit in Omaha, Nebraska that will include a diverse group of more than 100 religious leaders from across the country to assess the state of antisemitism, highlight effective strategies to counter antisemitism, and build solidarity across faiths.
• The Department of State and the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism produced a report documenting existing overseas programs, policies, and actions that counter antisemitism to help inform domestic efforts to counter antisemitism.
• The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is providing ongoing trainings on antidiscrimination laws to medical students nationwide. HHS is also holding listening sessions with Jewish and Muslim chaplains on religious discrimination in healthcare settings. These sessions will inform future HHS departmental priorities.
• The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) will launch its Artists for Understanding and Connecting initiative in October. Through this work, the NEA will raise awareness of the power of the arts to counter antisemitism, Islamophobia and others forms of hate.
• The National Endowment for the Humanities has placed a special call for applications within existing funding opportunities to encourage research and projects on antisemitism and Islamophobia. Additionally, last week, NEH announced $2.8 million in funding in every state and jurisdiction through its United We Stand: Connecting Through Culture initiative for humanities-based programming that counters hate-motivated violence as well as antisemitism, Islamophobia, and related forms of bias and discrimination in the United States.
This roundup of Biden-Harris administrations actions to support community safety, prevent gun violence and other violent crime has been provided by the White House:
The Biden-Harris Administration has taken new action to support community safety, reduce violent crime, and prevent gun violence in communities across the country with the announcement of $4.4 billion of Department of Justice grants. These new grants will invest in community violence intervention and prevention efforts, improve services for victims of gun violence, and support law enforcement as they work to reduce crime – and they build on President Biden’s historic efforts to reduce gun violence in our country.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre: “Over the past few days we have seen the traumatizing impact of the gun violence epidemic in our country. At Morgan State University in Baltimore, where a joyful Homecoming week was interrupted by violence. In Holyoke, where several people were shot at including a pregnant woman who tragically lost the child she was carrying hours later in the hospital. And in Philadelphia, where three police officers were shot while doing their jobs last night.
Americans should be able to go to their schools, places of worship, jobs, and out in their community without the fear of gun violence.
Last week, the Department of Justice announced that they are awarding more than $4.4 billion in grants to support state, local, and Tribal community safety efforts that reach every corner of the country. This historic investment in community safety is a major stride toward preventing violence in our communities.
Among some examples of where this critical funding will be going toward are: number one, first, community violence prevention efforts, including in new investments in states including North Carolina, Colorado, and Ohio; efforts to support victims of gun violence in all fifty states; investments in crime reduction strategies and support for law enforcement; crucial resources to keep our kids safe in and out of school; and much more.
This is just the latest action from the Biden-Harris Administration to keep communities safe.
And it builds on the historic action President Biden has taken to reduce gun violence and gun crime: including signing into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, announcing dozens of executive actions, and last month, launching the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention.”
The Justice Department announced today that it is awarding more than $4.4 billion to support state, local, and Tribal public safety and community justice activities. The grants, from the Department’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP), will help build community capacity to curb violence, serve victims and youth, and achieve fair outcomes through evidence-based criminal and juvenile justice strategies.
“Everyone in this country deserves to be safe in their communities,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “That is why, in addition to continuing our efforts to identify and prosecute the most violent criminals, the Justice Department is putting every available resource to work to support the efforts of our law enforcement and community partners nationwide. This significant investment will go directly to state and local programs that support the victims of crime, support officer safety and wellness, build the public trust in law enforcement essential to public safety, and help make all of our communities safer.”
The more than 3,700 OJP grants being awarded this fiscal year will support state, local, and community-based efforts and evidence-based interventions that reduce violence, crime, and recidivism while delivering treatment and services to those at-risk of justice system involvement. Funding will expand partnerships between criminal justice professionals and behavioral health experts, help people safely and successfully transition from confinement back to their communities, reach crime victims in underserved areas, steer young people away from justice system contact, improve the management of sex offenders, and support a wide range of research and statistical activities that will help justice system professionals meet community safety challenges.
“Across the country, the Justice Department is working side-by-side with our partners in state and local law enforcement to combat violent crime by using our federal resources to amplify their work on the front lines,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “The billions of dollars in grants announced today will augment those efforts and the tools law enforcement is using to curb violence, counter deadly drug abuse, and promote safety and public trust. Together with our state and local partners, the Department will continue to do everything we can to protect the communities we all serve.”
“The Department of Justice is investing in community-based approaches to violence prevention, law enforcement health and wellness, Tribal courts, improved services for victims, research and data collection efforts, reentry programs, and much more,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “The grants announced today further our commitment to working with our state, Tribal, and local partners to increase public safety, build police-community trust, and ensure safe, healthy, and just communities for all.”
“Every sector of our society — not only the justice system, but nonprofit and faith-based groups, local leaders, and advocates, and people with lived experience who serve as credible messengers — plays a critical role in ensuring public safety and public health,” said OJP Assistant Attorney General Amy L. Solomon. “The Office of Justice Programs is proud to make these substantial investments in building community infrastructure and supporting communities as co-producers of safety and justice.”
Grants will support five major community safety and justice priorities:
Awards totaling more than $1 billion will promote safety and strengthen trust, helping communities tackle the proliferation of gun violence in America and restore bonds of trust between community residents and the justice system. Grants will support innovative and evidence-based strategies designed to prevent and reduce violent crime, support the health and safety of law enforcement and public safety professionals, promote rehabilitation and reentry success, and address the rise in hate crimes across the country.
More than $437 million in grant awards will accelerate justice system reforms designed to achieve equal justice and fair treatment for all. Grants will expand access to services among historically underserved and marginalized communities, reduce counterproductive involvement in the justice system, increase opportunities for diversion, and build pathways to treatment for people with substance use and mental health disorders.
Over $192 million will improve the fairness and effectiveness of the juvenile justice system by supporting developmentally appropriate and culturally responsive interventions for youth. Funding will ensure that young people are served at home in their communities whenever possible, are equipped to transition to a healthy adulthood free of crime, and are protected from violence and abuse.
More than $1.7 billion will expand access to victim services by investing in programs that provide trauma-informed and culturally responsive services to victims. Funding will support thousands of local victim assistance programs across the country and victim compensation programs in every state and U.S. territory, while helping these programs build their capacity to reach those disproportionately affected by crime and victimization.
Over $418 million in awards will advance science and innovation to strengthen the base of knowledge that policymakers and practitioners can use to design and deploy effective community safety strategies. Awards will support research and data collection on a wide range of public safety issues, help maintain timely and accurate criminal history records, and improve the capacity of crime labs and forensic analysts to solve crimes, absolve the innocent, and deliver justice to victims.
In addition, OJP will award more than $611 million to continue its support of other previously funded programs and congressionally directed spending. More information about the awards announced today can be found by visiting www.ojp.gov/funding/fy23awards
Following his Oval Office speech to the American people outlining the nation’s interests in aiding Israel, Ukraine and bolstering the border, President Joe Biden is requesting supplemental funding from Congress that advances our national security and supports our allies and partners. This is a fact sheet from the White House:
Following his Oval Office speech to the American people outlining the nation’s interests in aiding Israel, Ukraine and bolstering the border, President Joe Biden is requesting supplemental funding from Congress that advances our national security and supports our allies and partners.
Since the horrific terrorist attack by Hamas, President Biden has surged security, intelligence, and diplomatic support to the people of Israel. This supplemental request will continue to provide the necessary security assistance to Israel, support Israeli efforts to secure the release of hostages, and extend humanitarian assistance to civilians impacted by the war in Israel and in Gaza.
The United States’ support to Israel comes at the same time that Vladimir Putin’s illegal war against the people of Ukraine passes its 600th day. The actions of the Biden-Harris Administration have enabled the people of Ukraine to defend their nation against a brutal and unprovoked invasion and recapture territory seized by Russian forces, liberating Ukrainian civilians from Russian occupation. The Administration’s supplemental request will provide the critical training, equipment, and weapons necessary to help Ukraine defend and recapture its sovereign territory and protect the Ukrainian people against Russian aggression.
The Administration’s supplemental invests in our military industrial base to ensure our military readiness, including replenishing resources to meet our defense needs as we support Israel and Ukraine, as well as the growing security requirements in the Indo-Pacific. Resources for the American defense industrial base will support American jobs, increase our nation’s ability to produce critically important munitions and other equipment, and ensure our Military continues to be the most ready, capable, and best equipped fighting force the world has ever seen. The Administration’s supplemental also requests increased support to allies and partners in our strategic competition with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It will mobilize hundreds of billions from international finance institutions to provide a sustainable source of financing to developing countries as an alternative to the coercive lending practices of the PRC.
Additionally, we’ve been clear that the Congressional Republicans need to stop playing political games with border security and provide the resources our law enforcement personnel need to secure the southwest border and stop the flow of fentanyl into our country. President Biden continues to implement a regional migration strategy focused on enforcement, deterrence, and diplomacy. While progress has been made, President Biden has made clear that we need more funding to enhance our enforcement measures.
To advance our critical national security interests, the Biden-Harris Administration is calling on Congress to provide additional national security resources that will:
Support Israel’s Defense Against Terrorism
Immediately following the brutal October 7 terrorist attack in Israel, President Biden directed his Administration to take swift and decisive action to ensure the government of Israel has everything it needs to defend itself consistent with the rule of law and the law of war. To build on that support, today the Administration is requesting funding to aid Israel’s defense against these horrific terrorist attacks. This request includes funds to:
Strengthen Israel’s defense from vicious terrorist attacksand bolster the Israeli Defense Forces through Department of Defense (DOD) assistance.
Ensure Israel’s air and missile defense systems’ readiness with support for the Government of Israel’s procurement of Iron Dome and David’s Sling missile defense systems and components, and development of Iron Beam.
Replenish DOD stocks that are being drawn down to support Israel in its time of need.
Strengthen Israel’s military and enhance U.S. embassy security with foreign military financing from the Department of State.
Defend Ukraine Against Russian Aggression
Previous supplemental appropriations for direct military aid, economic and humanitarian assistance, and other support for Ukraine have been committed or nearly committed. As Ukrainians wage a tough counteroffensive and as winter approaches, the world is watching what Congress does next. The Administration’s request will provide funding for:
Additional weapons and equipment to help Ukraine succeed on the battlefield and protect its people against Russian attacks, as well as replenish DOD stocks provided to Ukraine via Presidential drawdown authority. The weapons and equipment the United States has provided to date include air defense systems, munitions, small arms, ground maneuver units, and other key capabilities that have made a significant difference on the battlefield, helping Ukraine save countless lives and win the battles for Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Kherson.
Continued military, intelligence, and other defense support, including robust investments in the defense industrial base, transportation costs of U.S. personnel and equipment, and continuing an enhanced U.S. troop presence in Europe among other critical support activities, in response to Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Critical economic and civilian security assistance, including direct budget support to help Ukraine continue to provide critical services to its people and sustain its economy while under attack; assistance for investments in critical infrastructure; support for civilian law enforcement; and assistance for demining in territory recently liberated from Russian occupation.
Support for Ukrainians displaced by Russia’s war and provided safety and shelter in the United States through Uniting for Ukraine.
Nuclear and radiological crisis management, response, and partner capacity building in case of emergencies as part of our general contingency planning.
Provide Life-Saving Humanitarian Assistance
In addition to funding for security assistance for Ukraine and Israel, we are also requesting funding to address humanitarian needs of innocent civilians, including those impacted by the war in Israel and in Gaza. Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine also continues to have a global impact, particularly on food security, given Ukraine’s role as the leading grain producer in the world, and this humanitarian assistance will address global needs. Our humanitarian assistance is critical to demonstrating U.S. leadership amid unprecedented levels of humanitarian need, geopolitical competition, and global challenges. This request includes funds to:
Provide life-saving humanitarian assistance and support for innocent civilians devastated by Putin’s unjust war in Ukraine, Hamas’ attack on Israel, and the numerous other natural and man-made crises around the world. This includes life-saving humanitarian assistance in Gaza and support for Palestinian refugees in the West Bank and surrounding areas
Strengthen Security in the Indo-Pacific
It is critically important that we not lose our focus on the importance of integrated deterrence in the Indo-Pacific. Our allies and partners in the region need our support more than ever, and this request provides resources to help them build the capabilities necessary to meet emerging challenges. This request will provide funding for:
Security assistance for capacity building to address ongoing and emerging threats to critical allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific. This funding will bolster deterrence and support key allies and partners as they face an increasingly assertive PRC, and will support partners transitioning off of Russian military equipment.
The United States’ Submarine Industrial Base, through improvements and infrastructure work at the Navy’s four public shipyards and increasing production rates and submarine availability through initiatives in supplier development, shipbuilder and supplier infrastructure, workforce development, technology advancements, government oversight, and strategic sourcing. This funding will accelerate build and sustainment rates for attack submarines, one of our most effective capabilities for maintaining deterrence, in order to meet U.S. military requirements.
AUKUS. While this funding for our submarine industrial base is necessary to meet U.S. national needs, these investments will also support U.S. commitments under AUKUS – our trilateral security partnership with Australia and the United Kingdom – the first major deliverable of which was our historic decision to support Australia acquiring conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines. Australia has also committed to provide a proportionate financial investment in the U.S. submarine industrial base to accelerate the delivery of Virginia class submarines.
Ensure Military Readiness
As we support our partners in Israel, Ukraine, and across the Indo-Pacific, the Administration’s request –including the items described above – provides funding to ensure American military readiness by investing over $50 billionin the American defense industrial base with through replenishment funding and other forms of security assistance, like foreign military financing and the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. Resources for the American defense industrial base will support American jobs, increase our nation’s ability to produce critically important munitions and other equipment, and ensure our Military continues to be the most ready, capable, and best equipped fighting force the world has ever seen. Without additional replenishment funding, DOD will be unable to continue to backfill the Military Services for equipment provided via drawdown to Ukraine and Israel, thereby degrading U.S. readiness.
Provide Alternatives to Coercive PRC Financing in Developing Countries
To provide a credible alternative to the People’s Republic of China’s coercive and unsustainable financing for developing countries around the world, the Administration’s request will advance high-leverage solutions through the international financial institutions. This historic U.S. action will support the mobilization of $200 billion of new financing for developing countries backed by our partners and allies. The requested funding will:
Materially expand development finance to the countries hard hit by the spillovers of Russia’s war through funding for the World Bank.
Unlock up to $21 billion in new transparent lending with no additional appropriations through the authorization to lend to two International Monetary Fund (IMF) trust funds.
Additionally, we are seeking authorization to ensure the IMF can respond quickly to future global financial shocks and restore stability to both economies and markets, minimizing negative spillovers that could affect the U.S. economy, by providing the authority to extend our participation in the IMF’s New Arrangements to Borrow mechanism.
Strengthen Border Security and Enforcement
The Administration is asking Congress to provide the resources our law enforcement personnel need to secure the southwest border and stop the flow of fentanyl into our country. President Biden continues to implement a regional migration strategy focused on enforcement, diplomacy, and legal pathways and work authorization. The plan has resulted in the largest expansion of legal pathways in decades, increased the number of law enforcement personnel along the border and expedited removals of unlawful crossings thanks to historic diplomatic agreements. Despite the progress made, President Biden has made clear that we need more funding to execute on our three-part strategy, including enhancing our enforcement measures. The requested funding supports:
An additional 1,300 border patrol agents to work alongside the 20,200 agents already funded in the FY2024 Budget.
Funding to deploy over 100 cutting-edge inspection machines to help detect fentanyl at our southwest border ports of entry.
Additional 1,000 law enforcement personnel and investigative capabilities to prevent cartels from moving fentanyl into the country.
1,600 additional asylum officers to increase by 2.5 times the number of personnel that interview and adjudicate claims for asylum and facilitate timely decisions so that those who are ineligible can be quickly removed and those with valid claims can have faster resolution.
375 new immigration judge teams, the largest incremental request ever, to adjudicate and process immigration cases more quickly and help reduce the caseload backlog.
Additional grants to local governments and non-profits to support the provision of for temporary food, shelter, and other services for those recently released from DHS custody.
Critical border management activities, including additional temporary holding facilities and detention beds for fair and fast processing for recent arrivals.
Expansion of lawful pathways, including efforts to streamline the processing of eligible refugees and migrants through the Safe Mobility Offices Initiative.
Support for eligible arrivals, including services to successfully resettle in the United States and become self-sufficient.
Funding to conduct robust child labor investigations and enforcement, particularly to protect vulnerable migrant children entering the United States through the southern border.
Reimbursement to the Department of Defense for its support provided along the southwest border in FY 2024.
Finally, our nation faces additional urgent needs for millions of hard-working Americans. In coming days, the Administration will also submit a request for supplemental funds to address recent natural disasters, avoid the risk that millions of Americans lose access to affordable high-speed internet or child care, provide additional resources for FEMA’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program, and avert a funding cliff for wildland firefighter pay. Congress should also address critical funding needs the Administration communicated earlier this fall, including to protect critical nutrition assistance for millions of pregnant women, infants, and children through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
This fact sheet was provided by the White House to detail new actions to expand access to homeownership and ensure homeowners can afford to stay in their homes so that the wealth-building potential of homeownership works for everyone:
For millions of Americans homeownership is a foundation for so many parts of their lives, and for many it is also their primary source of wealth. The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to expanding access to homeownership, ensuring homeowners can afford to stay in their homes and make the repairs they need, and that the wealth building potential of homeownership works equally for everyone.
Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is releasing new data showing major federal investment in homeownership, and announcing key new actions to accelerate progress. These actions make important strides, but given the lack of homes on the market and current interest rates, to truly ensure homeownership is accessible to all households, we need Congress to act. That is why President Biden proposed $16 billion for the Neighborhood Homes Tax Credit, which would result in more than 400,000 homes built or rehabilitated, creating a pathway for more families to buy a home and start building wealth. The President has also proposed a $10 billion down payment assistance program that would ensure first-time homebuyers whose parents do not own a home can access homeownership alongside a $100 million down payment assistance pilot to expand homeownership opportunities for first-generation and/or low wealth first-time homebuyers.
New Data Shows Strong Investment in Homeownership
The Treasury Department released data demonstrating how President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is supporting existing homeowners and helping more Americans access affordable homeownership through over $12 billion in support. The American Rescue Plan’s Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) has assisted nearly 400,000 homeowners at risk of foreclosure. Through Q2 2023, the state, territorial, and Tribal recipients of HAF have expended over $5.5 billion to assist homeowners, a 32% increase from Q1 2023. In addition, through the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program local, state, territorial, and Tribal governments are also supporting home ownership, in part by dedicating more than $6.6 billion to support over 17,000 units of affordable housing, through June 30, 2023.
Federal agencies are also releasing data showing record support for low-, middle-income, and first-time homebuyers:
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is announcing that the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) first-time homebuyer rate under the Biden-Harris Administration is the highest it has been since at least 2000. Since the start of the Administration, FHA has supported nearly 1.8 million homeowners with purchase mortgages, and 83.6 percent or 1.5 million of whom are first-time homebuyers.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is announcing that in this past fiscal year it provided more than 7,100 direct housing loans, which subsidizes loan rates down to 1 percent for certain borrowers. This is the highest number of loans since 2010, serving homebuyers with an average income of $42,918. Roughly 55 percent of these borrowers were female-headed households and 22 percent identify as Black or African American.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is announcing that in 2023 it helped 145,480 Veterans retain homeownership and/or avoid foreclosure.
New Actions to Support Homeownership
We know that despite these milestones and actions, homeownership is still out of reach for too many, which is why the Administration is committed to aggressively increasing homeownership opportunities, which includes:
Allow homebuyers to leverage income from accessory dwelling units: Today, HUD, through FHA, published new policy allowing prospective borrowers to use a portion of the actual or prospective rental income from an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) to be added to the borrower’s effective income for purposes of qualifying for an FHA-insured mortgage. FHA’s new policies will increase the ability of homebuyers across the nation to obtain access to affordable mortgage credit when seeking to purchase properties with ADUs, add ADUs to existing structures, or construct new homes with ADUs. The flexibilities will help more first-time homebuyers, seniors, and inter-generational families leverage ADUs to build generational wealth through homeownership while creating new affordable housing in their communities.
Increase mortgage opportunities for Tribes: USDA is awarding $9 million in loans to nine Native American Community Development Institutions as a part of its efforts to increase access to homeownership for Native Americans on Tribal Lands through a relending demonstration program. The program provides capital to Native Community Development Financial Institutions (NCDFIs) to be relent to low- and very low-income people who live on tribal lands and are in need of affordable single-family homes.
Ensure innovative homeownership models can work: Before the end of the year USDA will launch a pilot to test alternative eligibility criteria related to community representation for Community Land Trust Organizations through its Section 502 Direct Home Loan Program. Through this pilot, USDA will evaluate whether expanding eligibility criteria in this way increases access to affordable homeownership opportunities.
Make home repairs easier to finance: HUD, through FHA, is continuing its work to update the 203(k) Rehabilitation Mortgage Insurance Program to help homebuyers and homeowners finance the purchase or refinance of homes in need of improvement. FHA is considering potential policy changes that could increase the funds available to borrowers to make renovations and repairs. Other policies under review would permit more time for completion of those improvements. These and other program changes will increase the use of FHA-insured mortgages to finance renovations that will improve existing homes and restore them to viable use, adding to the supply of housing in communities across the country.
Help homeowners know their rights and remain in their homes: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an independent agency, is working on reforms to existing rules to help homeowners when they have trouble making their mortgage payments. The reforms build on observations during the COVID-19 pandemic about places where the rules could be streamlined and simplified. The reforms will ensure homeowners can get the help they need without unnecessary delays or hurdles and are better able to not fall into foreclosure.
Assist homeowners behind on their mortgages: In fiscal year 2024, VA will deploy a new home retention option that provides a long-term solution to address our most severely impacted Veteran borrowers. The VA Servicing Purchase (VASP) program will help Veteran borrowers who are behind on their mortgage loan who do not qualify for traditional home retention options.
The announcement builds on prior work across the Administration, including a policy announced earlier this year that reduced the mortgage insurance fees for borrowers receiving FHA loans, saving them on average $800 per year on housing costs. HUD has also made it easier for first-time homebuyers to qualify for FHA-insured mortgage financing by permitting lenders to use positive rental history as a factor in evaluating an applicant’s creditworthiness and by providing more access to affordable single-family FHA-insured mortgage financing for creditworthy individuals with student loan debt. Ginnie Mae is enhancing its security disclosures so that, for the first time, investors can measure their social impact in driving first time homeownership. This policy can expand access to capital for first time homebuyers. And this work builds on efforts by the Administration’s Interagency Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE), which is making critical progress toward ensuring there is equity in the home appraisal process. However, the White House calls on Congress to pass the President’s proposals so that we can ensure homeownership is a possibility for all Americans.
Today, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden convened a meeting of the Cancer Cabinet to announce new actions federal agencies are taking to advance the mission of the White House Cancer Moonshot, as well as new commitments the Biden-Harris Administration has secured from non-governmental organizations and the private sector to deliver progress on the mission to end cancer as we know it.
Last year, the President and First Lady reignited the Cancer Moonshot with the goals of reducing the cancer death rate in the United States by at least half—preventing more than 4 million cancer deaths—by 2047 and improving the experience of people who are touched by cancer. The President also established a Cancer Cabinet to mobilize the entire Biden-Harris Administration in pursuit of these ambitious goals. In the time since, the Cancer Moonshot has announced roughly 50 new programs, policies, and resources and secured more than 100 commitments from private companies, non-profit organizations, patient groups, and more toward the President’s and First Lady’s goals.
Accelerating the fight against cancer is a core component of the President’s Unity Agenda, a set of priorities that Americans from every walk of life can support. In his State of the Union address earlier this year, President Biden laid out a bold vision to advance his Unity Agenda, including the work of the Cancer Moonshot, specifically by driving innovation that changes patient outcomes, providing support to families as they navigate a cancer diagnosis, and preventing cancer by tackling the biggest single driver of cancer deaths in this country—smoking. Today’s actions build on the progress the Cancer Moonshot has delivered since then, and at today’s Cancer Cabinet meeting, the President and First Lady will hear from Cabinet leaders on the progress made and the important work ahead.
“Joe Biden is determined to be a president for all Americans,” White House deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed said in a statement Tuesday. “That is why his Unity Agenda is about making progress on the biggest challenges we all face regardless of party. At his direction, the entire federal government is mobilizing like never before to end cancer as we know it.”
Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health is announcing $240 million in investments to fund research and innovators this year for cancer-related projects, as well as a new partnership with the NIH, the National Cancer Institute to launch a so-called Biomedical Data Fabric Toolbox, which the administration says will be “the first step toward transforming data accessibility across all medical domains.”
In addition, new programs from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Environmental Protect Agency will seek to expand cancer care to underserved communities, reduce the impact of smoking in underserved, minority, tribal, and veterans’ communities, and invest in community centers offering cancer screenings.
And NASA, in partnership with the International Space Station, will also announce funding for in-orbit research projects to advance cancer technology.
Biden unveiled his “Cancer Cabinet,” as part of his administration’s broader Cancer Moonshot initiative in 2022. It’s made up of representatives from the Departments of Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, Defense, Energy and Agriculture, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute and others across the executive branch.
For her part, First Lady Jill Biden has used her platform to support cancer patients and their families, participating in more than 40 Cancer Moonshot events in 16 cities across almost a dozen states, per the White House.
The issue remains a personal one for the Biden family – both have had cancerous lesions removed as part of routine checkups, while their son, Beau Biden, died of a glioblastoma brain tumor in 2015.
Today’s announcements from the Biden Cancer Moonshot include:
$240 million in additional investment this year to accelerate new ways to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer. The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) will award an additional $240 million to researchers and innovators this year for cancer-related projects. This includes projects to develop new tools to detect cancers early, when cancers are most treatable; produce innovative approaches to visualize cancer cells during surgery to improve patient outcomes through the Precision Surgical Interventions program; pursue new treatment approaches, like directing bacteria to kill cancer inside the body; and design devices that could deliver treatments directly to cancer cells to treat tumors more effectively.
A new “biomedical data fabric toolbox” to advance cancer research progress. ARPA-H is partnering with the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and other agencies to develop a new Biomedical Data Fabric Toolbox for Cancer. Starting with cancer datasets, this program represents the first step toward transforming data accessibility across all medical domains, promising a future of boundless possibilities in health innovation. Today, cancer research data is collected across thousands of research labs, clinical care organizations, and numerous other sources; these entities all store their datasets differently, making it difficult for cancer researchers to leverage the full potential of massive amounts of data that exist. This initiative will pioneer prototype technologies capable of seamlessly searching cancer datasets to reveal opportunities for groundbreaking disease detection, prevention, and treatment, reduce the time needed to integrate new data sources from months to days, and improve data usability by the research community—so we can break down existing data siloes and learn from the experiences of more patients. This project will help bring America’s cancer research system into the 21st century by transforming our health care system for cancer into a learning system, ensuring that knowledge gained through research is available to as many experts as possible, and delivering discovery and breakthroughs to patients sooner.
A new nationwide health innovation network to bring cancer clinical trials to underserved communities and drive research progress. ARPA-H is announcing that it’s new ARPANET-H, a nationwide health innovation network to tackle pressing health challenges, will be deployed to accelerate clinical trials for cancer and other diseases. This new network will reach all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and create a continuous feedback loop with patients, providers, researchers, and others that improves the goals, reach, and data sharing capabilities across ARPA-H programs to foster breakthrough collaborations and advance equitable health outcomes. ARPANET-H will comprise Customer Experience, Investor Catalyst, and Stakeholder and Operations hubs, along with a network of supporting spokes that connect local organizations, health providers, companies, and others to ARPA-H’s work. This new network will enable historically underserved populations to actively participate in clinical trials, improve equity in access to innovative cancer interventions and accelerate the agency’s work to drive breakthroughs in preventing, detecting, and treating cancer and other diseases.
New investments to reduce the impact of menthol and other flavored commercial tobacco products in communities that experience health disparities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is announcing awardees of a new five-year, $15 million program to help increase adoption, implementation, and enforcement of policies prohibiting the sale of menthol and other flavored tobacco products and increase awareness of cessation services and coverage options among populations experiencing tobacco-related disparities in order to accelerate smoking cessation.
A new award recognizing community health centers for exceptional performance and high clinical quality in cancer screenings. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is launching a new National Quality Leader (NQL) – Cancer Screening Badge. Federally qualified community health centers that meet two or more of the Healthy People 2030 breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening targets in their annual Uniform Data System performance report will receive the new NQL – Cancer Screening Badge. This badge, which will be awarded annually, was created in support of the Cancer Moonshot’s call to action on cancer screening, and highlights the critical role health centers play in providing historically medically underserved, high-need communities with access to lifesaving cancer screenings. In 2022, community health centers—which provide comprehensive, high-quality primary health care services tailored to their communities regardless of their patients’ ability to pay—served more than 30 million patients nationwide.
A new plan to decrease the impact of smoking on Americans’ health by expanding efforts to prevent smoking and to support everyone who wants to quit. While the United States has made important progress, smoking remains the biggest single driver of cancer deaths in the country. To ensure Americans who want to quit have the support they need, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will finalize its Framework to Support and Accelerate Smoking Cessation this year. This Framework, which was developed with public input, will be a roadmap for enhancing collaboration and coordination across HHS—and with federal agencies and non-governmental organizations—to equitably accelerate smoking cessation progress, with a specific focus on communities disproportionately impacted by tobacco use.
New smoking cessation resources for underserved communities, including American Indian, Alaska Native, and Black communities, to reduce cancer health disparities. NCI’s SmokeFree.gov initiative is extending a partnership with the Indian Health Service to collaborate with experts from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and the American Indian Cancer Foundation to launch SmokeFreeNative, a text messaging program to help American Indian and Alaska Native adolescents and adults quit smoking, while honoring the significance of traditional tobacco. Additionally, NCI is launching digital resources this fall on www.smokefree.gov to encourage and help people who smoke menthol cigarettes to quit. These resources were created to address barriers to quitting in communities that experience disparities caused by menthol cigarette use, with a particular focus on Black communities.
A new pilot program to increase veteran engagement in tobacco use treatment. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), in collaboration with NCI, will conduct a clinical demonstration project to assess how to more effectively engage veterans in tobacco-use treatment programs. This clinical demonstration project will be implemented in the next year across a subset of Veterans Integrated Services Network clinical resource hubs and aims to address the high rates of tobacco use among veterans with mental health disorders and address gaps in the provision of treatment across facilities.
New resources and actions to reduce exposures to environmental carcinogens. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is launching epa.gov/cancer, with new information and prominently featured resources from EPA and other federal agencies about secondhand smoke, smoking cessation, and other cancer-related topics. New regulatory efforts, through rules and standards in progress, will regulate unreasonable cancer risks associated with carcinogenic chemicals under statutes including the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Clean Air Act. EPA will also continue to leverage its existing authorities under our nation’s bedrock health and environmental laws to accelerate the rate of progress to prevent cancer, including phase-outs of carcinogens, regulatory actions to protect children, workers and overburdened communities, and enforcement actions to ensure pollution is curbed. The Administration’s efforts to fight cancer linked with environmental exposure also advance President Biden’s commitment to environmental justice for all.
Leveraging research in space to fight cancer on earth and amplifying awareness on cancer screening. NASA’s Division for Biological and Physical Sciences, in partnership with the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory, will fund several projects to advance cancer research and technology to take place in-orbit on the ISS. Projects will aim to develop new cancer treatments, broaden research advancements, foster new collaborations, and accelerate biomanufacturing. Additionally, NASA is piloting early cancer screening education videos, partnering with VA to drive targeted education on lung cancer screening for veterans.
A new partnership to further understanding of the impact cancer has on America’s veterans. In alignment with the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022, VA and NCI are announcing a new partnership to develop a two-way exchange process to collect more data on cancers in VA patients. This process will allow NCI’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program and the VA cancer registry to work together to gain crucial insights on veteran cancer diagnoses and treatments, while maintaining and protecting veteran privacy. Prior to this effort, data exchange was sporadic and incomplete, resulting in a lack of complete information on cancer in this important population. This collaboration will help us better understand—and ultimately treat—cancer among veterans and all Americans.
An expansion of virtual cancer care for America’s veterans. VA is announcing that it is adding more than 30 new sites to its VA National TeleOncology program, which provides resources and staff support through partnerships with VA medical centers nationwide. This program makes highly specialized care, like virtual tumor boards for multiple cancers, available to veterans, in particular, living in rural locations.
The Cancer Moonshot is also announcing the following new commitments from non-governmental organizations:
The American Cancer Society (ACS) will create a new oncology professional navigator curricula and certification program. In 2024, the ACS, with input from key partners, will lead the creation and implementation of a standardized national curricula for professional, non-clinician navigators to support people with cancer. Navigation by trained professionals in clinical settings is an integral component to improving cancer outcomes in the United States, helping to ensure every cancer patient has access to timely, quality, and culturally competent care, especially in historically marginalized communities. Additionally, ACS with will work with key partners to establish new programs such as navigator certification to support evaluation and adherence to best practices that align with improved outcomes.
The HealthWell Foundation will provide more than $300 million in 2024 to underinsured oncology patients to offset out-of-pocket medication costs. This will enable these patients to adhere to prescribed treatment regimens, and improve survival. In 2024, HealthWell will also start providing financial assistance to address disparities in oncology clinical trials and to support oncology caregivers—self-funding $500,000 for the program.
The African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC) is launching a coordinated effort to make Emotional Brain Training (EBT) services available for stress management and smoking cessation. In collaboration with the University of California, San Francisco Smoking Cessation Leadership Center, AATCLC will launch a coordinated effort within three months to promote the use of a free app for anyone new to EBT to gain easily scalable, rapid-acting tools to assist with smoking cessation. EBT has shown long-term effectiveness in treating stress overload, as well as mood and addictive behaviors including smoking.
CVS Health will be launching anexpanded smoking cessation program in a dozen states. In addition to their currently offered smoking cessation and counseling, CVS Health will launch a comprehensive smoking cessation assessment, prescribing and counseling program at its retail pharmacies in 12 states, further increasing patient access to smoking cessation care. Combined with its expanding digital capabilities, CVS Health will be able to reach patients in their neighborhoods, helping address health disparities and breaking down barriers to care, building on their commitment to not sell tobacco products.
Komodo Health, a health data and technology startup, is announcing a new platform to measure cancer disease burden, map cancer outcomes, and illuminate disparities in cancer care. Over the next two years, this effort will deliver insights to help public health officials, government agencies, and patient advocacy organizations to directly support efforts to close the screening gap and decrease the impact of preventable cancers. Built on more than 330 million patient experiences, Komodo’s platform can be used to spotlight gaps in care, identify disparities in disease burden, and understand the impact of cancer on discrete patient populations. This research will enable public and private partners to direct resources to reduce the burdens of lung cancer.
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) will invest more than $17 million to bring clinical trials and treatment innovation to diverse and underrepresented communities across the country. For example, LLS is expanding its Influential Medicine Providing Access to Clinical Trials (IMPACT) Research Grant Program to include seven major, geographically diverse cancer centers and surrounding local cancer care delivery settings, to bring blood cancer treatment studies into more communities. As part of the investment, LLS’s Equity in Access Research Program will spend $2.5 million withing the next year to initiate multi-year studies addressing systemic, institutional, clinician, and patient-related barriers to trial participation. In the next five years, LLS aims to improve the speed of innovation and expand equitable access to treatments that have the potential to increase blood cancer patients’ quality of life and survival.
TOUCH, the Black Breast Cancer Alliance, will bolster Black women’s breast cancer clinical trial participation by 2025 committing to reaching 350,000 Black women and motivating 25,000 into trial portals. Additionally, TOUCH Care, the first program to provide a nurse navigator service to assist Black breast cancer patients in clinical trials by developing culturally-agile recruiting materials, training trial staff, and coaching patients, is being piloted with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, and will add five trials annually. Less than three percent of breast cancer clinical trial participants are Black.
xCures, a health-data technology platform, is launching a study to enhance the collection and organization of comprehensive data for Diffuse Midline Glioma (DMG) and Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG). The study will streamline and standardize data gathering and identify patterns that can predict disease progression and treatment response, leading to more personalized treatment plans and targeted therapies. xCures pledges to maintain the data infrastructure for this study, and to make the data freely available to academic and government researchers. This will improve access and collaboration, with the ultimate goal of bringing innovation to more patients and providing a better understanding of these deadly cancers.
The DIPG DMG Research Funding Alliance is launching an online hub to support pediatric brain cancer patients from diagnosis through treatment and grief support. This hub, DIPG OneLink, will provide entry to two complementary data registry studies by the Children Brain Tumor Network and xCures, enrolling 250 DIPG/DMG patients in 2023 and expanding to over 700 patients by the end of 2024. The project will collect, store, and harmonize clinical records, imaging, and multiomics information that will be readily accessible to families and researchers.
The Focused Ultrasound Foundation (FUSF) is committing more than $3 million over the next three years for clinical trials exploring focused ultrasound as part of cancer treatment. In partnership with the Cancer Research Institute and the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, FUSF has defined a roadmap to move towards clinical adoption of focused ultrasound and cancer immunotherapy combination treatments in glioblastoma, diffuse midline glioma, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, breast cancer, and pediatric solid tumors. In addition, and in partnership with Arms Wide Open, FUSF will co-fund a preclinical research project exploring focused ultrasound for neuroblastoma.
The National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS) is launching a comprehensive effort to advance quality of life (QoL) research for people facing brain tumors. NBTS will create a new QoL Research Agenda, the first of its kind in the brain tumor space. This work will foster strong patient, clinician, researcher, and industry partnerships to support future QoL research, and NBTS will formally launch its QoL research funding agenda in early 2024.
The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) will launch a national initiative to increase skin cancer awareness and early detection among firefighters. To protect first responders from the impacts of their unique exposure to carcinogenic chemicals, AAD will partner with fire stations and firefighter support organizations to educate them on the importance of early detection. To date, volunteer dermatologists have conducted screenings with over 2,700 local firefighters and volunteers in six states, including California, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, with the program expanding nationwide in 2024.
The National LGBT Cancer Network is making tailored tobacco cessation materials more readily available. LGBTQIA+ communities use commercial tobacco products at rates 49 percent higher than the general population, but there is a dearth of tailored cessation materials for these communities. Building on its community tailored website and a series of social media shareables, the National LGBT Cancer Network is creating at least six LGBTQIA+ tailored, print-based tobacco cessation materials, and will launch a print-on-demand store with all these materials available in the next year. The National LGBT Cancer Network will work with stakeholders like the North American Quitline Consortium, NCI-designated cancer centers, and community members to ensure these materials are compelling and motivational, and widely promote their availability.
House Republicans’ are proposing appropriations bills would raise a host of costs for families, hurt students, seniors, and rural communities, slash support for law enforcement, and undermine our economy—while Congressional Republicans fight separately for multi-millionaires and big corporations to get massive tax cuts. Basically going back on the deal that was negotiated just months ago, with Biden saved the nation from its first ever credit default, they are now using extortion, threatening a government shutdown, if they don’t get these cuts, along with policy changes to undermine women’s rights. This fact sheet from the White House details the impacts on individual states.–Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
Earlier this year, the President and Congressional leaders reached a bipartisan budget agreement that averted a first-ever default and protected our historic economic progress. The President, House Democrats, Senate Democrats, and Senate Republicans all stand by this promise. Unfortunately, Speaker McCarthy and House Republicans are ignoring the bipartisan budget agreement they passed and instead advancing extreme, partisan appropriations bills that break their public promise and gut key investments in the American people.
House Republicans claim these cuts are about fiscal responsibility—but they aren’t. Not only would their bills add at least $100 billion to deficits over 10 years by making it easier for the wealthy and big corporations to cheat on their taxes, but House Republicans are separately pushing corporate tax giveaways that would cost over $500 billion if made permanent—including at least $30 billion in retroactive tax breaks for investments companies made last year. These retroactive tax cuts alone would erase the savings from their deep cuts to education, health, and labor programs.1
Today, the Office of Management and Budget released 51 fact sheets highlighting the devastating impacts of these extreme cuts on states and the District of Columbia. Below are some of the most harmful elements of House Republicans’ appropriations bills that they will begin to consider this week.
The cuts in the House appropriations bills would:
Slash Funding for Schools with Low-Income Students: House Republicans’ 80 percent cut to Title I funding would impact 26 million students in schools that teach low-income students by forcing a reduction of up to 226,000 teachers, aides or other key staff.
Eliminate Tens of Thousands of Preschool Slots: House Republicans’ cut to Head Start would mean as many as 82,000 children would lose access to high-quality preschool—undermining their education, leaving fewer children ready to enter kindergarten ready to learn, and making it more difficult for parents to join the workforce.
Slash Funding for Law Enforcement: The proposed cut to the FBI would eliminate up to 1,850 personnel, including up to 673 agents, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives would be forced to eliminate approximately 400 positions, including more than 200 agents. The House bill also cuts funding for U.S. Attorneys by roughly 12 percent, which would eliminate approximately 1,400 positions.
Raise Housing Costs for Tens of Thousands: The proposed cuts would raise housing costs by eliminating funding for Housing Choice Vouchers for 20,000 households, including approximately 6,000 households headed by seniors. In addition, a nearly 70 percent cut to the HOME Investment Partnerships Program would result in 20,000 fewer affordable homes being constructed, rehabbed, or purchased in communities across the country.
Slash Critical Job Training and Workforce Development Programs: The proposal would result in half a million fewer people receiving job training and employment services. These harmful cuts would deprive businesses of the skilled workforce they need to thrive, and would cut off workers’ pathways to good jobs.
Undermine Critical Health Research: House Republicans’ cuts would undermine critical research efforts to find treatments and cures for diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s by cutting $3.8 billion for the National Institutes of Health. They would also eliminate funding for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which would end the Long COVID research at the agency and delay other priority health services research.
In addition to demanding these draconian cuts, House Republicans are also fighting to rescind vital funding that is helping make our tax code fairer, rebuilding America’s infrastructure, lowering costs for families, and tackling the climate crisis. Their proposals would:
Increase Risks of Lead Exposure: The proposal would rescind over $564 million in funding for programs that mitigate housing-related risks of lead poisoning and other illnesses and hazards to lower income families, especially children, resulting in 55,000 fewer homes safe of hazards and adversely impacting approximately 78,000 children.
Protect Wealthy Tax Cheats: While House Republicans separately lay the groundwork for more than $3 trillion in tax cuts skewed to the wealthy and big corporations, they are also fighting to make it easier for wealthy tax cheats to avoid paying what they owe—proposing to rescind $67 billion dollars in funding for the IRS enacted in the Inflation Reduction Act, which would increase the deficit by more than $100 billion.
Increase Energy Costs for Rural Americans: Rescinding $2 billion in funding provided by the Inflation Reduction Act for programs at USDA would undermine programs that help agricultural producers and rural small businesses convert to renewable energy systems, and that help rural Americans to build clean, affordable, and reliable energy by working with approximately 900 electric cooperatives in 47 States.
Shortchange Home Electrification Projects: Rescinding $4.5 billion in funding provided by the Inflation Reduction Act for the High-Efficiency Electric Home Rebate Program would impact at least 250,000 home electrification and appliance upgrade projects in low- and medium-income homes across all States, territories, and tribes.
Undermine Clean Technology Investments and Pollution Reduction: Rescinding $20 billion in funding provided by the Inflation Reduction Act for programs at EPA would take away funds designed to help communities access grant opportunities to reduce pollution and mobilize private capital into clean technology projects, especially in low-income and disadvantaged communities. These programs will spur investment in clean technology projects and expand economic opportunities in communities, helping to cut harmful pollution and protect people’s health while tackling the climate crisis.
Slash Support for Teachers: Rescinding $1.7 billion—or 77 percent—in the Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants (Title II) program would severely undermine the program’s ability to improve the effectiveness of teachers in the classroom.
A deal is a deal. The President and the Speaker already made a bipartisan budget agreement—one that would result in $1 trillion of deficit reduction over the next decade. Every party to that agreement except House Republicans—House Democrats, Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans, and President Biden—are honoring their word. It is a balanced deal that protects critical investments while ensuring fiscal responsibility. We urge House Republicans to follow the law they helped enact and the Senate’s bipartisan approach to funding the government according to the deal.
