Jennifer Rene Psaki

“ You said earlier that the President had been speaking with members of the Senate — MS. PSAKI: Mm-hm. Q — but you wouldn’t say who they were and anything about those conversations because they were private. I mean, they were, presumably, discussing the people’s business. Is that a matter -– you know, why should those be private? Why not be more revealing of who the President is speaking with that is in the government? ”

“ Well, the President himself has conveyed the urgency of moving this package forward, and that’s certainly something he has also conveyed privately to Democrats and Republicans.And it’s not just him; there’s urgency to the American people for this package to move forward because we are going to hit a cliff — an unemployment cliff — unemployment insurance cliff, I should say — in March, where millions of people won’t be able to have access to unemployment insurance. We’re going to hit a point where we won’t have enough funding for vaccine distribution. ”

“ Today’s action fulfills another campaign promise. With this EO, no one will be separated or discharged from the military or denied reenlistment on the basis of gender identity. And for those transgender service members who were discharged or separated because of their gender identity, their cases will be reexamined.
President Biden believes that gender identity should not be a bar to military service and that America’s strength is found in its diversity. America is stronger at home and around the world when it is inclusive. ”

“ China is engaged in conduct that it hurts American workers, blunts our technological edge, and threatens our alliances and our influence in international organizations.What we’ve seen over the last few years is that China is growing more authoritarian at home and more assertive abroad. ”

“ Just before the Trump administration left office, they initiated a new policy to basically revoke and issue intents to deny licenses for even more innocuous items that U.S. companies were selling to Huawei. Does the Biden administration plan to keep Huawei on the entity list and continue to enforce this much more stringent blanket ban on U.S. goods sales to China — to Huawei? MS. PSAKI: Well, technology, as I just noted, is, of course, at the center of the U.S.-China competition. ”

“ This afternoon, the President will sign an executive order that takes an important step to support American manufacturing. With this “Buy American” executive order, the President is already making good on his commitment to building a future that is made in America by all of America’s workers. ”

“ New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio announced today that the city is delaying the opening of large COVID-19 vaccination sites at Yankee Stadium, at Citi Field. Governor Cuomo has said the state has the capacity to vaccinate up to 100,000 folks a day, if there was supply.
As the administration is, you know, analyzing and reconfiguring its distribution plan, how heavily is infrastructure being weighed? In other words, does New York get first dibs because it has the capacity to do this right away? ”

“ China has been willing to do whatever it takes to gain a technological advantage — stealing intellectual property, engaging in industrial espionage, and forcing technology transfer.Our view — the President’s view is we need to play a better defense, which must include holding China accountable for its unfair and illegal practices and making sure that American technologies aren’t facilitating China’s military buildup. ”

“ He also, though, has supported — and himself, even before — or we did, I should say, even before he was inaugurated — steps, travel restrictions in order to keep the American people safe to ensure that we are getting the pandemic under control. That’s been part of his policy.But he was critical of the former president for having a policy that was not more comprehensive than travel restrictions. ”

“ The President is committed to building an America that is more inclusive, more just, and more accessible for every American, including Americans with disabilities and their families.
Next, I wanted to share a few updates from the COVID response team. First, today, the President will sign a presidential proclamation to reduce the spread of COVID-19 through travel, especially as we see faster-spreading variants emerging across the world. This proclamation is part of the Biden administration’s whole-of-government, decisive, and science-driven response to the COVID-19 pandemic. ”

“ Everybody watching is not as in the weeds on the Senate process as all of you. So let me just take a moment to explain.
Reconciliation is a mean — a means of getting a bill passed. There are a number of means of getting bills passed. That does not mean, regardless of how the bill is passed, that Democrats and Republicans cannot both vote for it. ”

“ Infrastructure is pivotal. It’s not just about the science. Scientists, medical experts, they’ve — what they’ve done over the last year in moving this vaccine forward has been a Herculean effort, but now it is about ensuring that there are more vaccinators and there are more places to actually distribute the vaccine.And clearly, cases — scenarios where there are large facilities, whether they’re football fields or others, to do that can be quite efficient. ”

“ There are seniors who don’t have access to websites, don’t have folks vouching for them. Is there anything the administration is doing to ensure that seniors who don’t have, you know, anybody to assist them with scheduling these appointments, that they don’t fall through the cracks? ”

“ He talked about unity, as well, and also talked about cooperation on coronavirus and other issues. Is that likely — is that kind of statement today likely to change or affect the stance that the U.S. — that the Biden administration has toward China on trade and technology? MS. PSAKI: No. I think our approach to China remains what it has been since — for the last months, if not longer. We’re in a serious competition with China. Strategic competition with China is a defining feature of the 21st century. ”

“ And certainly thinking about how to reach seniors — doing it in a way where it is being done locally by trusted authorities and trusted figures locally, we found to be a key — a key, effective approach to that. ”

“ These continued efforts to suppress Russians’ rights to peacefully protest and assemble and ex- — and their freedom of expression and the arrest of opposition figure Alexei Navalny and the crackdown on protests that followed are troubling indications of further restrictions on Russian civil society.So I’ll just reiterate our call from here on Russian authorities to release all those detained for exercising their universal rights and for the immediate and unconditional release of Alexei Navalny. ”

“ MS. PSAKI: Well, there’s an urgency to moving it forward, and he certainly believes it needs to be — there needs to be progress in the next couple of weeks. Q So he thinks by March it could get passed? MS. PSAKI: Well, I don’t want to give a deadline on it, Kaitlan, but I think we are all mindful and looking at that timeline in March as to when we will hit the unemployment cliff. ”

“ Well I think there’s a couple of steps that we -– we’re working to convey, and convey more effectively to people directly living in many of the countries who are — who have large populations who are coming to the border.One is that this is not the right time to come. ”

“ Will there be any federal assistance to support states in reaching out to seniors who may not have access to, you know, Internet or even phone to schedule these appointments? That’s been a complaint that’s emerged a lot. MS. PSAKI: Yeah, it’s a really important question because what we’ve discovered and what our team has discovered is that the farther you get into vaccinating Americans, the harder it becomes. There — for a couple of reasons. One is vaccine hesitancy, which Dr. ”

“ We’re on day five, so I don’t have anything new for you on, specifically, Afghanistan troop production, but I’m hoping to get Jake Sullivan out to the briefing room soon to answer a lot of your questions on a range of issues. Q Jen? MS. PSAKI: Thank you, everyone. Q Thanks, Jen. Q Jen, you haven’t taken my question. MS. PSAKI: All right, one more. I’m sorry about that. We don’t — we don’t want to leave you hanging. Q Sorry. MS. PSAKI: You’ve been very patient in the back. Q I represent for the foreign press group. MS. PSAKI: Of course. ”