Jennifer Rene Psaki

“ We have made progress. My daughter is here today; she’s downstairs. And when I was her age, the gender wage gap was about 60 percent, compared to 80 percent — 82 percent today. That said, there’s still a lot of work to do. The Biden-Harris administration is working to make sure our daughters have the same opportunities that our sons do, and to make sure that every American is given a fair shot to get ahead in this country.
These aren’t simply women’s issues. They affect all families, the ability of our economy to recover, and our nation’s competitiveness. ”

“ Thank you, Cecilia. So the pandemic and the economic crisis have undermined the health and wellbeing of women and children in the United States. There are now 4.2 million fewer women working than there were in February of 2020, in large part because of the pandemic. Millions more women have had to reduce their hours, often because taking care of the children is a responsibility that continues to fall disproportionately on women. ”

“ Families will get back, as a refundable tax credit, as much as half — half — of their spending on childcare for children under age 13. So they can receive a total of up to $4,000 for one child or up to $8,000 for two or more children.
If we add it all up, these are historic actions that will not only help rescue our economy, they will help support our country’s women and their families. But we know, as Cecilia pointed out, we have to do more to close the wage gap and to take steps to ensure that all women, especially women of color, have their shot to get ahead. ”

“ So part of what we see in this decline in women’s employment is because of their — the fact that they’re responsible for children; the fact that childcare centers have closed, schools aren’t open, families are trying to telecommute, or they’re trying to go out to their job and cope with children not having adequate care or the right care. That is really, I think, going to play an important role in getting folks back into the labor force. ”

“ So, you know, we know that the President has been so clear throughout the campaign and into governing on what his values are and where he wants to guide this economy. Right? That we’re focused on how we can deepen, strengthen, broaden the middle class.That’s why we’re so focused on Equal Pay Day because we know that women are a key part of — you know, make up the workers that make up the middle class. And he’s been very clear in his support of raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. ”

“ Our economic recovery depends on us addressing the barriers that have hampered women from fully participating in the labor force.
So here’s the good news: The American Rescue Plan will change the course of the pandemic and deliver immediate relief and support to women, families, and their communities critical to building a more equitable economy. ”

“ So we see that the wage gap among young adults is actually fairly small. And it opens up particularly when women start families, which is why the care economy and the efforts we’re making to ensure that workers — not just women, but all workers — can balance work and family is going to be so important. ”

“ They believe we must provide paid family and medical leave, make childcare more affordable, and build pipelines for training that enable women to access higher-paying jobs.
They’re also committed to raising pay for childcare workers, preschool teachers, home health aides, and others in the care economy; and taking additional steps to increase wages for American workers, such as raising the minimum wage and empowering workers to organize and collectively bargain, both of which are important to reducing the wage gap for women. ”

“ Well, our Build Back Better agenda — his Build Back Better agenda includes a number of components that he talked about on the campaign trail. Infrastructure is part of it. Making the tax code fair and one that rewards work, and not wealth, is part of it. Doing better by our caregivers is part of that. Increasing access to healthcare is part of it. Investing in our clean energy economy is part of it.There are several components he talked about on the campaign trail. ”

“ In those caring economy parts of our economy, these are jobs that are disproportionately held by women. So, in making sure that schools are open and childcare centers are open, we’re helping those women as workers and also as parents and caregivers. ”

“ And certainly, tragedies like we saw earlier this week, like we saw last week — mass shootings that are killing innocent lives, leaving family members without their loved ones — is a reminder of how important and vital that is. ”

“ This morning, the President was proud to sign into law the Save Lives Act. The bipartisan piece of legislation will give the VA the ability to provide vaccines to all veterans and boost vaccine efforts for veteran’s families and caregivers. It’s truly a testament to what government can do when we work together. He’s grateful for the leadership of both the Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs Committee: both Chairs Mark Takano and Jon Tester, and ranking members Mike Bost and Jerry Moran. ”

“ We also know that flexible workplaces is very important for helping workers to balance work/life — you know, the work responsibilities and job responsibilities. Claudia Goldin at Harvard, for example, has found that the wage gap is smaller in occupations such as pharmacists where there’s just more flexibility baked into the occupation. ”

“ I’m wondering if you give a little bit more of a sense of the President’s engagement with Congress on gun legislation specifically. Does he plan to have a bipartisan meeting on that at the White House? And has he spoken to Senator Manchin at all about his opposition to that background check bill? MS. PSAKI: I don’t have any meetings to predict. Obviously, you know, this is an issue that is — there are a number of passionate gun safety advocates on the Hill, as you well know, who have strong views about what the path forward should look like. ”

“ Yeah, so, you know, educational attainment was actually very instrumental in making some of the gains between my daughter — for, you know, the wage gap when I was coming up and my daughter.So we know that women getting hired — years of schooling was very important in the early years. But now we know that women, on average, are getting more schooling than men. ”

“ His definition of bipartisanship has always been working on behalf of the American people and governing for all people — whether it’s Democrats, Republicans, independents — and moving forward on proposals and policies that will make their lives better. ”

“ The outgoing administration flooded the oil markets with cheap federal leases. This will not affect oil and gas production or jobs for years to come.And what President Biden has pledged to do is invest to create jobs and ensure America leads the clean energy revolution, which is where the industry is largely going anyway, where there is the greatest opportunity for job creation. He wants to create good-paying union jobs. ”

“ What our focus is on is putting in place commonsense measures that will make our communities safer, make families safer, make kids safer. The majority of the American public supports background checks. The majority of the American public does not believe that anyone needs to have an assault weapon. ”

“ Executive actions are, of course, an important lever that every President has at their disposal.There’s current discussions and analysis internally of what steps can be taken — and that — that has been ongoing for several weeks, even before these two recent tragedies — that, you know, he looks forward to getting an update on and seeing what can be moved forward on that front as well. ”

“ There is a network pool camera that will be a part of this journey, which will be — which will ensure that there’s network pool coverage — or network pool footage, I should say, that is provided to all of the networks so that you can all see, as the media, for yourselves and be able to provide analysis on that B-roll footage.And we are also — remain committed to transparency and will continue to work with agencies on creating avenues for media access to — and visibility into these facilities. ”

“ Q But just as a general principle, do you believe that protecting American innovation and intellectual property of pharmaceutical companies outweighs the benefit of moving faster towards a COVID-free world? ”

“ As you know, this afternoon, the President and First Lady will be joined by Megan Rapinoe and Margaret Purce at the White House for a virtual event with other members of the U.S. Women’s National Team where the President will sign a proclamation marking Equal Pay Day. ”

“ Well, first, the President shares that sentiment, as I think many Americans do, that when we saw 20 children murdered, when we saw 6 adults murdered, that that would turn the tide of Congress.We have seen data and statistics still — across the country — still broadly support background checks. I think it’s about 80 percent of the American public support background checks, including a good percentage of gun owners support background checks. ”

“ But there’s also components like our cyber infrastructure. There’s lots of ways to look at infrastructure. But how — what is in a package that he proposes in the coming months, I don’t have anything more to detail for you. Q And then, on taxes: The White House says now that families who make up to $400,000 won’t pay a penny more under the President’s potential plan — MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm. Q — to the federal government in taxes. So — MS. PSAKI: Which is 98 percent of families. Q So what about individuals? If you’re an individual and you make up to “blank,” you won’t pay more to Uncle Sam. ”

“ We remain engaged with them, but I don’t have an update on the specific timing. Q And if I can just ask one more from one of the reporters in the pool who couldn’t be here. MS. PSAKI: Go ahead. Q There was an Axios report today that he met with historians to discuss how aggressive he could be on his economic agenda, among other topics. I’m wondering if you can confirm the meeting, and maybe tell us who was involved and why he felt the need to meet with historians on this. MS. PSAKI: I will tell you: Presidents love historians. ”

“ The plan will increase the Child Tax Credit from $2,000 per child to about $3,000 per child, and even more for a child under the age of six. This means a typical family of four with two young children will receive an additional $3,200 in assistance to cover the costs associated with raising children. This will benefit 66 million children. ”

“ And then just one more on the gun issue. I know this is kind of a crazy question, but — MS. PSAKI: It’s always a good lead-in when it’s a crazy question. (Laughter.) It’s quite a lead-in. Q You know, given the history of people trying to enact gun control legislation in this country — MS. PSAKI: Yeah. ”

“ That is what our policy’s central focus is right now, as you know, Jeff. And there are also — it’s also becoming a public health concern because of the number of kids who are moving through those facilities and the fact — Q But why not show those? Why not show those to the American people? MS. PSAKI: Well, we will, and we are working with the Border Patrol and with DHS to determine how we can do that.Go ahead, Jennifer.
Q On Iraq and withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, could you please give us an update on Iraq’s request for the start of talks on that withdrawal, please? ”