Jennifer Rene Psaki

“ More than 90 percent of Americans live within five miles of a pharmacy. And I don’t know about you — my mother-in-law, my family calls me all the time, figuring out how they can call the CVS and find out when they can get their vaccine. This is a limited launch of the program, but supply will ultimately go up to 40,000 pharmacies nationwide. ”

“ What I was conveying is what our strategy is here from the United States, which is to work with our partners and allies and determine what the right time is.Of course, the relationship with China is going to be multi-layered. We’ll deal with climate. We’ll deal with the economy. We’ll deal with security. And that is, of course, a priority to President Biden. He’s spoken about it during the transition. He’s spoken about it. Obviously, he’s had engagements with his national security team about a range of issues, including China. ”

“ Well, the size of the package was determined not for shock value, but to address the dual crises that we’re facing. And that includes ensuring that millions of Americans can put food on the table. One in seven Americans — American families don’t — are concerned about food security right now.It ensures that we have funding, that we can reopen schools so that kids can go back to school, mothers and fathers can not worry about their kids, and insurance that — that people can apply for unemployment insurance. ”

“ Obviously, our focus is on our own FDA approval process here and ensuring that we make as much of the vaccine available to the American public.And we just rejoined, as you know, the World Health Organization because we believe that the more people who are vaccinated around the world, the safer we all are. ”

“ And there have been public proposals, of course, by these senators and by others to split the package, to do a smaller package.And his view is that there are key components and funding that would be needed in order to ensure that millions of millions of people have checks, you know, in their hands, that we make — ensure people are getting those $1,400 checks, that we ensure that we are properly funding schools to reopen, that people can — that we’re getting — we have the funding needed to get shots in the arms of the American people. ”

“ Well, I think the President’s commitment is to urgently deliver relief to the American people, and that is what he has conveyed in every meeting he’s had or engagement he’s had with Democrats and Republicans.And as we just talked about, there’s a process that’s just in the early stages, that’s beginning on Capitol Hill, to do exactly that. ”

“ We want to act swiftly. We want to act promptly. But we also need to make sure we are doing that through a strategic policy process.And the President’s commitment to immigration is indicative in the fact that he announced an immigration bill his first day in office and that he has signed and — after this afternoon — a number of bills to overturn the immoral actions of the prior administration. ”

“ As many of you also may have been on the briefing call that we had a little bit earlier today, but for those of you who were not: We have announced — or Jeff Zients announced — our COVID coordinator, I should say — that starting on February 11th, the federal government will deliver to select pharmacies across the country additional vaccine that’s coming online next week. This will provide more sites for people to get vaccinated in their communities and is an important component to delivering vaccines equitably. ”

“ There are estimates of between six and seven hundred kids, but part of what we need to do in the early stages — or I should say, what the task force needs to do is determine what the accurate number is and where these kids are, and then determine, case by case, what the best process and approach is for reuniting them with their family members.So this is — there’s a great deal of work ahead. There is a team that is very committed to that work. ”

“ But what I was just conveying as an example is that ensuring those checks are in the hands of Americans is a top priority for the President.I wasn’t taking in and out things in the bill. That will be a negotiation that will happen through Democrats and Republicans in Congress. Obviously, the reconciliation process has just started. There are many opportunities for Republicans to offer amendments. There’s a whole negotiation that’s going to take place. And we’ll — the President will continue to be engaged with members of both parties through that process. ”

“ The second executive order develops a strategy to address the root causes of migration across our borders, and creates a humane asylum system, including directing DHS to take steps to end the Migrant Protection Protocols program, which had led to a humanitarian crisis in northern Mexico.
And the third executive order promotes immigrant integration and inclusion, and ensures that our legal immigration system operates fairly and efficiently by instructing agencies to review the public charge rule and related policies. ”

“ Freezers can break. Trucks can break. Snowstorms, as we’ve seen this week. We’re fully aware of that.May our problem be that we have too many vaccines to put in the arms of the American people — that is not the current problem we’re tracking, so that’s what our first focus is going to be at this point in time.
Q So if that happens, will you distribute them to allies first on a needs basis? MS. PSAKI: I certainly hope that’s our challenge and our problem, and I’m sure we will be happy to discuss that if that is our issue. ”

“ Q And on the issue of Senator Manchin and his statement today, talked about how he would like to see something targeted. He said, “Let me be clear — and those are the words I shared with President Biden — our focus must be targeted on the COVID-19 crisis and Americans who have been most impacted by the pandemic.” His quote. Does the White House believe that $1.9 trillion is a targeted package? ”

“ Well, certainly watching reactions in the country, watching the potential for violence is something that we will do closely from the White House across the country, no matter what prompts it. And that’s something we will certainly keep an eye on.But, you know, I think, in this case, as you know, there have been dozens and dozens of court cases that have been debunked. ”

“ We want to have a seat at the table. It’s important that our global community is healthy, not just our community in the United States. But we’re going to focus first on ensuring the American people are vaccinated.Go ahead.
Q Just another vaccine question. You guys have — you mentioned you ramped up 16 percent distribution last week — MS. PSAKI: Yeah. Q — another 5 percent. You also have the million doses going out to the pharmacies as well. ”

“ And so we are starting at, you know, square one here, but our team wants to ensure that we’re providing an update on what progress were being made, how it’s going to be approached, and what the task force will be able to get done.
Go ahead.
Q On the same subject — and this is going to be really big news across Latin America, especially in those countries where people have come from: What is the Biden administration’s message to people who may see this in the news in the next few days and think, “Oh, they’re changing the policy. Now might be a good time to go north”? ”

“ Q One of the other things that immigration groups have been talking about — some Democrats as well — is the idea of potentially some kind of executive action that would shield immigrant workers who are considered essential workers from the threat of deportation. ”

“ Yeah. Q — but nothing else? MS. PSAKI: Exactly. That was the — and obviously people can raise what they want to raise. I’m sure Democratic senators will share with all of you what they raised. But the focus of it was to discuss the American Rescue Plan, the path forward, and the imperative of moving it ahead.Go ahead in the back. Oh, go ahead. Oh, sorry, go ahead.
Q Okay. Is there any plan or date set for the President to address a joint session of Congress? And are you guys already working on his address? And is selling the American Rescue package part of that, and in what way? ”

“ I’m not aware of an assessment of that, but I will also ask our team if we have access to them or if there’s a plan to look at them. Q Well, when you get back to releasing — I know under Obama they came out on, like, a monthly basis — a few months after the date of effect. MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm. Q If it’s possible, would you release them for the prior administration? Because there were a lot of people coming in and out of here where the public would only learn through a random media report or if a camera got a picture. MS. PSAKI: I’m not even sure if it’s technically possible. ”

“ Like, the past foreign leader calls by the predecessor and the President. MS. PSAKI: I am not aware of an assessment of those, Jeff. I think our focus is on our foreign leader calls the President — the current President of the United States is making to global leaders in an effort to rebuild our place in the world and work on some diplomacy.Katie.
Q Hi. I just have another question on immigration. On the family reunification task force, can you talk — I know you said you’re at square one, but can you talk a little bit more about the work ahead in finding some of these kids? ”

“ It was — as we said in our readout, and I think as Senator Collins also said, it was civil, it was constructive. This is how democracy should work. We should be engaging. Democrats and Republicans should be engaging with each other. ”