Jennifer Rene Psaki, and Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall

“ Economists, experts, and leaders across the political spectrum have come out and supported the Rescue Plan because they know it’s the best tool we have to get us through this economic storm, create millions of jobs, and get Americans back to work. ”

“ I would say the American Rescue Plan — the key components in there, some are meant to help address exactly this crisis, including funding to reopen schools.
As a mom myself, I can confirm for you, and many mothers across the country can confirm for you, that — the fact that schools still need additional resources to reopen. Obviously, the CDC guidelines give us a good guidepost — give school districts a good guidepost, but many still need funding. That having kids go back to school has an impact on many working mothers, of course. ”

“ The Vice President said today that she views the number of women leaving the workforce as a national emergency. Does the President share the Vice President’s view on that? And if so, does he plan to make a national emergency declaration and take action to address the declining number of women in the workforce, aside from the stimulus package that he’s presented to Congress? ”

“ To have the Deputy National Security Advisor brief us on the Texas grid collapse — you know, it’s not just the immediate logistical issues that she’s grappling with. I want to ask about the nexus between energy policy and national security.As you know, Republicans in Congress and in the energy sector have been pointing out that, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the U.S. achieved one of the core benchmarks of energy independence in 2019. That was the first year since 1957 that the U.S. produced more energy than the country consumed. ”

“ And they claim or they argue that the policies being pursued by the Biden administration will sacrifice those gains.
How do you persuade the American people that U.S. national security can be safeguarded by this transition to a green economy, which, of course, has never been fully developed anywhere relative to our scale? ”

“ I’m just going to step back and make a couple of more observations, which is that, more broadly, the extreme weather events that we’re experiencing this week across the central, southern, and now the eastern United States do yet again demonstrate to us that climate change is real and it’s happening now, and we’re not adequately prepared for it. ”

“ The President believes all of these require immediate action that is long overdue. Immigration reform is not historically a Democratic or Republican priority, but an American one. Modernizing it is long overdue — the system. ”

“ And there was actually a poll out yesterday that showed that President Biden and teachers were the most trusted entities in terms of determining when school should reopen. We obviously rely on science and rely on our health experts, and we think that reflects where most of the country want us to be. They want schools to reopen. We’re also committed to doing that.So there are CDC guidelines that came out on Friday that provided a roadmap for schools to open safely. The President wants schools to open five days a week. He wants kids to be in school. Teachers want kids to be in school. ”

“ And in particular, power grids across our country, particularly in Texas, are overloaded by the demands that are placed on them under these circumstances, and the infrastructure is not built to withstand these extreme conditions.
Going forward, we will be leading an effort to strengthen and harden our critical infrastructure so that it can be prepared to meet the full spectrum of challenges that we’re likely to face in the future. We know that we can’t just react to extreme weather events ”

“ Ten million Americans have been laid off, so there’s no question many of them — as we know, statistically — are certainly women. And certainly, getting people vaccinated will help more people return to the workforce, more child — more kids go to childcare centers, and again, schools, as I said.
So I would say, the President recognizes the severity of this crisis, the impact on women. That’s part of the reason why he — why there are some of these key components in this package. ”

“ Jobless claims increased, and for 48 weeks in a row now, new regular unemployment claims have outpaced their pre-pandemic high. Combined with stalled job growth over the last three months, we have a clear picture of the trouble our economy is in and the financial pain being felt by millions of Americans. ”

“ That’s going to require the kind of technology, innovation, and close collaboration among the federal government, states, communities, and the private sector that enables us to incentivize the kinds of actions that need to be taken to build critically — to build the kind of resilient infrastructure that we will depend on in the future. ”

“ So on the immigration bill: You know, obviously, front burner for you guys right now is the coronavirus relief legislation, so I’m curious if you could explain, on the decision to introduce this today, you know, why now while there’s clearly a higher priority for you guys, as it relates to Congress.And then secondly, you know, there isn’t much in the way of new funding for border security and enforcement in this bill. I’m wondering if the President is open to increasing funding for border security, including for more wall or fencing construction in order to get this bill through. ”

“ This morning, I was also in touch with the leadership of FEMA and also with the Department of Energy, and our private sector partners in the electricity sector, to explore whether there is anything more that we can do to provide support for our citizens across this swath of territory who are suffering from the effects of this storm. ”

“ It’s also providing blankets and meals and other supplies as requested by the governor of Texas.
I want to express our deep thanks to all of the brave first responders who have continued to deliver essential aid to those in need in these very difficult circumstances. There are many infrastructure workers who are responding under extraordinarily challenging conditions to restore energy and water systems. And there are lots and lots of citizen volunteers who have selflessly extended themselves to help others. ”

“ We know that there are still about a million or more people who are experiencing power outages in the hardest-hit areas of the country, though those numbers are declining significantly. In Texas in particular, we’ve gone from multiple millions of people without power, now to approximately 600,000 at the last data point that I received from FEMA earlier this morning. ”

“ Our focus is on working with our partners and allies to engage and coordinate on a range of issues, including the future of the Iran nuclear deal. Secretary Blinken has a meeting with his E3 part- — counterpart later this afternoon, and I would suspect the State Department would have a readout from that meeting.
But certainly our — our focus is, of course, on preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear deal, but they are a long way from compliance and our — our focus is also on working with our partners and allies. On — our priority, I should say, Kayla. ”

“ We certainly understand that the sausage that comes out of the machine on the other side will look different from the sausage that’s introduced today. We’re supportive of that, and we’ll look forward to working with Congress to get the bill moving forward. ”

“ OPERATOR: Our next question will come from the line of Andrea Shalal of Reuters. Please, go ahead. MS. PSAKI: Hi, Andrea. Q Thank you, Jen. Hi. MS. PSAKI: I’m happy to hear you. I was getting a little worried (inaudible) . ”

“ Q I wanted to ask you about a little bit more on the technical (inaudible) infrastructure (inaudible) , but I’m getting an echo. MS. PSAKI: I can hear you (inaudible) in — in and out a little bit, but maybe, could you start your question from the top? Q Yeah, I just put on a headset. I think that’ll make it easier. MS. PSAKI: Okay. Q Okay, so my question isWhat — we just heard about the forthcoming efforts to shore up the infrastructure grid in Texas. Do you have any idea whether that will be included in the recovery package that you’re talking about? ”