Pool Reports of September 28, 2022

In-Town Pool Report #1: Gathering

Pool is gathering as President Biden prepares to travel, via motorcade, to Reagan Building for White House hunger conference.

In-Town Pool Report #2: Rolling

The president got into his limousine at 10:03, and the motorcade departed the White House at 10:04.

In-Town Pool Report #3: Traveling with president

Forwarded from the White House.

Traveling with the President by motorcade en route Ronald Reagan Building:

• Bruce Reed, Assistant to the President & Deputy Chief of Staff
• Ashley Williams, Special Assistant to the President & Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations
• Kimberly Gahan, Special Assistant to the President & Principal Deputy National Security Council Legal Advisor & Associate Counsel
• Travis Dredd, Special Assistant to the President and Trip Director
• Sheila Grant, Special Assistant to the President & Senior Presidential Speechwriter

In-Town Pool Report #4: Arrival at Reagan Building

Presidential motorcade arrived at Reagan federal building at 10:09 for WH hunger conference. Your pooler spotted Sen. Cory Booker as we made our way to the auditorium. More details forthcoming.

In-Town Pool Report #5: Photoline

From the White House:

Participating in a photoline with the President at the Ronald Reagan Building:

• Secretary Tom Vilsack, U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Senator Cory Booker (NJ)
• Senator Debbie Stabenow (MI)
• Senator Mike Braun (IN)
• Chairman James McGovern (MA-02)
• Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03)

In-Town Pool Report #6: Conference begins

Agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack began speaking at about 10:15 am.

Spotted in the audience: Domestic Policy Council chair Susan Rice, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Rep. Ayanna Pressley.

In-Town Pool Report #7: Two minute warning

President Biden is about to speak.

In-Town Pool Report #8: Biden remarks, hurricane

The president began speaking at 10:27, receiving a standing ovation from the audience.

He began by addressing the hurricane about to slam into Florida. He said he had spoken to Fla Gov Ron DeSantis "for some time" the previous evening and discussed preparations for the storm.

"I made it clear to the governor and the mayors that the federal government is ready to help in every single way possible…We'll be there every step of the way."

He also warned the energy industry: "Do not use this as an excuse to raise gasoline prices." The line received significant applause.

In-Town Pool Report #9: Presidential remarks, hunger

The president said of the administration's goal of ending hunger by 2030: "This goal's within our reach."

Other highlights. As always, please check against video and/or official transcript.

"A lot of food deserts out there."

"People need to know what they should be eating."

"The expanded child tax credit is one of the most effective programs we've ever seen," he said, urging Congress to make that pandemic-related expansion permanent. The call received a standing ovation.

On Vilsack: "He's doing a hell of a job…He cares passionately about this issue."

On nutrition and nutritional education: "Science changes things."

"If you can't feed your child, what the hell else matters?"

"In America, no child should go to bed hungry. No parent should die of disease that can be prevented."

The president ended his remarks at 10:50.

(Addendum to previous report: Chef and humanitarian Jose Andres is also in attendance.)

In-Town Pool Report #10: Additional hunger conference details

From the White House:

The President is delivering remarks at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. In attendance are state and local government leaders; academics; anti-hunger, nutrition, and public health advocates; private sector leaders; philanthropists; and Americans who have personally experienced food insecurity and/or diet-related disease.

Attendees

• Secretary Tom Vilsack, U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Senator Cory Booker (NJ)
• Senator Debbie Stabenow (MI)
• Senator Mike Braun (IN)
• Chairman James McGovern (MA-02)
• Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03)
• Chef José Andrés

Speaking Program

• Secretary Tom Vilsack, U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Jimmieka Mills, Co-Founder of Equitable Spaces
• The President

In-Town Pool Report #11: Departing conference

The presidential motorcade departed Reagan building, en route back to the White House, at 10:57 am.

In-Town Pool Report #12: WH return

The presidential motorcade returned to the White House at 10:58 am.

In-Town Pool Report #13: Gathering

Press now gathering at Palm Room doors in preparation for president's remarks, to be delivered from the Rose Garden, on ADA and Disability Pride Month.

In-Town Pool Report #14: 2 min warning

For orwsidnt's remarks

In-Town Pool Report: #15: POTUS and FLOTUS emerge

President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden emerged from the Oval Office at 11:20 am. The First Lady began her remarks at 11:22 am.

In-Town Pool Report #16: President speaks

President Biden began his remarks at 11:29 am after an introduction from Tim Adams, the mayor of Bowie, Maryland.

In-Town Pool Report #17: Additional details on ADA event

From the White House.

In attendance for the President and the First Lady's remarks to celebrate the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and mark Disability Pride Month:

• Chair Cecilia Rouse, Council of Economic Advisers
• Administrator Isabel Guzman, Small Business Administration
• Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)
• Leader Steny Hoyer (MD-05)
• Rep. Debbie Dingell (MI-12)
• Rep. Jim Langevin (RI-02)
• Rep. Jerry Nadler (NY-10)

Speaking Program

• The First Lady
• Mayor Tim Adams (Bowie, MD)
• The President

In-Town Pool Report #18: POTUS remarks

A few highlights from POTUS remarks. Please check against official transcript/video

"America simply wasn't built for all Americans—but we changed that."

The ADA "is a testament to the character of our people."

"I continue to call on Congress to provide the resources we need to deal with COVID across the board."

In-Town Pool Report #19: event over

The ADA/Disability Pride Month event concluded at 11:52 am.

In-Town Pool Report #20: Briefing time change

According to the White House, today's press briefing has been moved back to 1pm.

In-Town Pool Report #21: Details from ADA event

After the president's remarks, the audience was treated to a performance by pianist José André Montanó. The president stayed behind to chat with audience members for some time.

In-Town Pool Report #22: Press briefing moved again

Now starting at 1:45 pm.

In-Town Pool Report #23: Two-min warning to briefing

About to start.

In-Town Pool Report #24: Lunch lid.

Until 5:20. Enjoy your afternoon.

In-Town Pool Report #24: Waiting

The press pool is now waiting, along with the rest of the presidential motorcade, for POTUS to emerge from the West Wing, at which point he will travel to a Democratic Party event.

In-Town Pool Report #25: Departure

The presidential motorcade departed for a Democratic Party event at 6:14 pm.

According to the White House:

Traveling with the President by motorcade en route a Democratic Governors Association reception:

• Bruce Reed, Assistant to the President & Deputy Chief of Staff
• Vinay Reddy, Assistant to the President & Director of Speechwriting
• Emmy Ruiz, Assistant to the President & Director of Political Strategy & Outreach
• Ashley Williams, Special Assistant to the President & Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations
• Ryan Harper, Special Assistant to the President, National Security Council Acting Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary
• Travis Dredd, Special Assistant to the President and Trip Director
• Carla Frank, Special Assistant to the President & Director of Strategic Planning

In-Town Pool Report #26: Arrival

The presidential motorcade arrived at a private residence in upper Northwest DC at 6:27 pm.

In-Town Pool Report #27: Photoline

From the White House:

Participating in a photoline with the President at a reception for the Democratic Governors Association:

• Governor Phil Murphy (NJ) & Tammy Murphy, First Lady of New Jersey
• Governor John Carney (DE)
• Mayor Muriel Bowser (Washington, D.C.)

In-Town Pool Report #28: Remarks begin

The president began speaking at 6:46. He opened with a discussion of the federal response to the hurricane now devastating the coast of Florida.

In-Town Pool Report #29: Event details

Apologies that this is coming so late, but the venue has poor reception.

From the White House:

The President is delivering remarks at a reception for the Democratic Governors Association.

Speaking Program

• Dale LeFebvre
• The President

In-Town Pool Report #30: Quotes

The president spoke for about 25 minutes. The White House says a fuller transcript is coming, but some notes below. Please check them against the transcript when it becomes available.

"I ran for the Senate because I didn't want to be the Governor…Being a Governor is too hard."

"I do really do believe that we are in an inflection point in history here."

As he has before, the president discussed how the 2017 violence in Charlottesville precipitated his decision to seek the presidency.

"Democracy's at stake."

The difficulty of sustaining democracy in the 21st century: "It's awful hard to reach a consensus in a short amount of time."

"We need keep control of the Congress, to state the obvious."

The consequences of Dobbs: "It goes to contraception, it goes to who you can marry."

Social Security is "under direct attack."

Climate change: "If you're gonna go down the Colorado River, you better go now."

Today's Republicans are "a different breed of cat."

The president criticized the "incompetence" of "the last four years."

"We have got to win."

In-Town Pool Report #31: End, Leaving

The president finished speaking at 7:14.

The motorcade departed for the White House at 7:17.

In-town pool report #32: Back at White House

Presidential motorcade arrived back on WH grounds at 7:29.

POTUS Foreign Pool Report #1 (9/28/22)-Schedule

Good afternoon from the White House.

My name is Taka Abe with Japan's Nippon Television. It's my pleasure to be your foreign pool reporter today covering day one of the first ever U.S.-Pacific Island Country Summit on the first day.

Your pool was COVID tested earlier today.

Since POTUS is not planning to attend the summit today, I will not actually cover any events today as the foreign pool, but I would like to share some information.

According to a senior administration official, the schedule of the summit is as follows:

Today, Wednesday Sep. 28

The Biden-Harris Administration releases the first-ever U.S. Pacific Island Strategy.

Sec. Blinken hosts the Pacific Island leaders at the State Department.

Sec. Raimondo and Amb. Bianchi meets with the leaders to discuss about economic, investment, and trade ties.

Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Kerry hosts a lunch with the leaders to discuss climate issues.

The leaders attend a dinner at the Coast Guard HQ to discuss maritime issues including enhancing maritime domain awareness and countering illegal fishing. The participants include NSA Sullivan, and Sec. Mayorkas.

Tomorrow, Thursday Sep. 29

Pacific Island leaders meets with business groups at the Chamber of Commerce.

Speaker Pelosi hosts the leaders for lunch with a bipartisan and bi-cameral group.

President Biden hosts in the U.S.-Pacific Island Country Summit at the State Department.

President Biden welcomes Pacific Island Leaders to the White House, and hosts a dinner for them.

POTUS Foreign Pool Report #2 (9/28/22)-General Background Information

I would like to share some general background information about the U.S. Pacific Island Country Summit. Hope it helps.

The U.S. Pacific Island Country Summit Up Till Now:

President George Bush hosted the Pacific Island Nations-United States Summit in Hawaii in 1990. President Obama also met leaders from the Pacific Islands and delivered remarks at the Pacific Islands Conference of Leaders (PICL) in Hawaii in 2016.

Today and tomorrow the Biden-Harris Administration hosts the first U.S.-Pacific Island Country Summit, and it will be the first time for Pacific Island leaders to visit the White House.

I believe there are several definitions of the Pacific Islands countries, but at least the following countries should be included as the ones; Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

According to an administration official, all Pacific Island countries have been invited. Leaders from Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Tuvalu participate in the summit. Nauru and Vanuatu send their representatives.

Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Secretary General attends as observers.

Guam is a member of the U.S. delegation.

The same official said that since it's very challenging, and a long way for these leaders to travel from the region, the United States is very grateful with the participation.

The Goal of the Summit:

According to a senior administration official, the goal of the summit is fundamentally to meet the Pacific Island leaders where they live. Kurt Campbell, Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, also said that the goal of the summit is not just listen to the leaders of the Pacific Island countries, but put substantial resources and commitments in dozens of areas. He said that this is a region that has been disappointed before. Sometimes expectations get raised and unfulfilled. What the United States is going to try to do is to fulfill those expectations.

Biden-Harris Administration's engagements with the Pacific Island Countries:

Some of the engagements in the past are below.

Sec. Austin met President Kabua of Marshall Islands at the Pentagon. (Sep. 27, 2022)

Sec. Blinken chaired the first ministerial meeting of the Partners in the Blue Pacific (informal mechanism to support the Pacific Islands region among Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the UK, and the US) in New York (Sep. 22, 2022)

Deputy Sec. Sherman attended the 2022 Pacific Islands Conference of Leaders (PICL) in Hawaii (Sep. 13, 2022)

John Kirby, NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications, said that the United States was disappointed in the Solomon Island's decision not to provide diplomatic clearance to the Coast Guard Cutter Oliver Henry for a stop there for refueling and resupply on Aug. 23. However, the United States was pleased the US Navy hospital ship, Mercy, received diplomatic clearance and was able to take port there on Aug. 29. (His virtual gaggle on Aug. 29, 2022)

Deputy Sec. Sherman visited Samoa, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Australia and New Zealand (Aug. 3-9, 2022) . On the visit of Solomon Islands, Deputy Sec. Sherman led a US delegation including U.S. Amb. to Australia Caroline Kennedy to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Guadalcanal (Aug. 6-8, 2022)

VP Harris participated virtually in the annual leaders' meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum, which took place in Fiji (July 12, 2022)

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/07/12/fact-sheet-vice-president-harris-announces-commitments-to-strengthen-u-s-partnership-with-the-pacific-islands/

Amb. Joseph Yun, Special Presidential Envoy for Compact Negotiations, visited the Republic of the Marshall Islands for the first round of the negotiations. Compact is U.S. economic assistance to the country, and it will be expired next year. (June 2022)

A high-level U.S. delegation led by NSC Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell and AS Daniel Kritenbrink visited Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands. (April 2022)

Sec. Blinken visited Fiji. (Feb 12, 2022)

POTUS Foreign Pool Report #3 (9/28/22)-Some Facts

I would like to add some diplomatic and economic facts as my last background information.

Diplomacy:

As I mentioned on my previous pool report, leaders from Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Tuvalu participate in the summit. Nauru and Vanuatu send their representatives.

Countries in the Pacific region that do not have formal diplomatic ties with the United States are;

Cook Islands, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, and Niue

Countries in the Pacific region that have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan are;

Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, and Tuvalu

The Solomon Islands and Kiribati switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 2019. The Solomon Islands signed a security agreement with China on April, 2022.

Economy:

The United States has the Compact of Free Association (COFA) agreements, U.S. economic assistance, with Micronesia, Marshall Islands, and Palau. The agreements with Micronesia, and Marshall Islands will be expired next year, and the one with Palau in 2024. An administration official said the United States will fulfill its historic commitments by completing these negotiations successfully.

That's all from me virtually covering the 1st day of the U.S. Pacific Island Country Summit.

Have a great afternoon to all.