ウィスパリング同時通訳研究会コミュのPresident-elect Joe Biden announces Cabinet appointments

Joe Biden: (00:00)
This week marked another tragic milestone in our fight against COVID-19. More than 3000 deaths in one single day, the highest single death count during this pandemic. That’s more deaths in a single day than we saw on 9/11 or Pearl Harbor, this is serious business. And the current director of the CDC said yesterday, “We can expect the similar numbers of death or more every single day for the next 60 to 90 days.” We’re in a teeth for crisis right now and this nation needs presidential leadership right now, a presidential leadership that is willing to model the steps we should be taking to save our own lives and lives of our families.
(00:52)
We can wish this away but we have to face it head on, we have to take it head on. Using every power available to me as president, we’ll have a national coordinated strategy that will beat this virus. And as tough as things are now I firmly believe better days are ahead. We’ve got some good news was yesterday. The FDA Committee, I should say, recommended emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s BioiNTech COVID-19 vaccine, but we’re grateful for the scientists not only there but other great organizations, researchers to develop this vaccine and several others on the way.
(01:35)
And we’re just as grateful to the scientists and the public experts who evaluated its safety and efficiency free from political influence. I want to make it clear to the public, you should have confidence in this. There is no political influence, these are first-rate scientists taking their time looking at all of the elements that need to be looked at. Scientific integrity led us to this point.
(02:02)
We know the immense challenges and hard work ahead. Earlier this week, I announced our COVID response team that will scale up the manufacturing, distribution, and injection of the vaccine. We set a bold and doable challenge in my first 100 days, 100 million shots in 100 days, asking the American people to wear masks for the first 100 days of our administration. Now, if we get the necessary funding from Congress we can get most of our schools open in 100 days but we need the help from the Congress and the funding the first 100 days won’t end the COVID-19 but meeting those goals can slow the spread, save lives and get us back to our lives with the people we love the most. And we’ll also be getting the right people confirmed during this period of time and in place to manage robust, aggressive plan to contain the virus, help us build back better than ever and make sure everyone is included.
(03:08)
Now today, I’m really pleased to add members to my team that will get the job done. In addition to the pandemic’s grim milestone the economic crisis has left millions of Americans out of work, without a paycheck, without health insurance. Unable to put enough food on the table, literally unable to put food on the table, and unsure whether they can pay their rent when the new year begins, or make their mortgage payments. It’s affecting everyone from farmers to students, seniors to veterans, in red states, blue states, small towns and big cities.
(03:44)
And that’s why the Congress needs to act and act now on the COVID package. I spoke to my two friends who are still in the Congress, the vice-president and the soon to be secretary have heard. We have to get this done, they’re pushing hard. But it doesn’t look so good right now, but it has to get done before they go home. Millions and millions of Americans simply can’t wait any longer. We shouldn’t, we can’t get bogged down in issues that don’t help people. State and local governments need help. Not only that, as I said for months we need to protect essential personnel like law enforcement, firefighters, to make sure everything is in place and effectively distribute with the vaccine so that we can do that. This relief package won’t be at the total answer even if it gets passed but it’s an important first step. There’s so much we have to do.
(04:38)
These crises have ripped the blinders right off the systemic racism that exists in America, the American people now can see clearly. Black, Latino, Native American are nearly three times more are likely to die from COVID and more likely to get COVID to begin with. Black and Latino unemployment rates too large, too high. Communities of color are left to ask whether they’ll ever be able to break the cycle where in good times they like, in bad times they’re hit first and the hardest and in recovery they take the longest to bounce back.
(05:13)
vice president-elect Harris and I knew we have our work cut out for us when we got elected but we also knew we could build a team that would meet this unique and challenging moment in American history. Some are familiar faces, some are new in their roles. All are facing new circumstances and challenges. That’s a good thing. They bring deep experience and bold new thinking. Above all, they know how government should and can work for all Americans.
(05:47)
For Secretary of Agriculture I nominate Tom Vilsack, an outstanding two-term governor of Iowa. The best secretary of agriculture I believe this has ever had. He was there when the great recession was pummeling rural America. Over eight years he oversaw a record-breaking investment to bring us back. He implemented the Recovery Act to help rural communities recover and rebuild. Tom helped expand markets around the world for American farmers. He improved our food safety standards and helped millions of children and families receive healthy meals.
(06:25)
He wasn’t anxious to come back, he wasn’t looking for this job but I was persistent. And I asked him to serve again in this role because he knows the USDA inside and out, he knows the government inside and out. We need that experience now. One in six Americans and a quarter, a quarter of the children in America are facing hungry. The opioid crisis in rural America is a rural America crisis, as is the climate crisis with droughts, floods, wiping out crops in small towns. Farmers and small businesses in small towns, rural communities, white, black, Latino are reeling from the pandemic and economic downturn.
(07:12)
Tom knows the full range of resources available to this department to get immediate relief to those most in need and address the crises, not one, the crises facing rural America. He knows how to build back better for all Americans. He helped develop my rural plan for America in the campaign and he now has the dubious distinction of having to carry it out. It’s a good plan. That includes making American agriculture the first in the world to achieve net zero emissions and create new sources of income for farmers in the process by paying farmers to put their land in conservation, plant cover crops that use the soil to capture carbon. And he will ensure that USDA promotes true racial equality and inclusion. He recognizes the history of discrimination and will root it out wherever it exists. I’ve known Tom for a long time and I’m confident he’ll get it done.
(08:11)
For Secretary of Housing and Urban Development I am really pleased to nominate Congressman Marcia Fudge. I might add you could do many jobs beyond the one I’m asking you to do but I think the job I’m asking you to do Congresswoman is critically important to everything that the vice president and I believe is how we’re going to build back better. As a former mayor she understands how to manage challenges and forge solutions at a local level. For 12 years in Congress she’s represented the great City of Cleveland. Though I think of her most significant political feat was being elected President of Deltas. I know from this day how powerful the Deltas are. You think I’m kidding, I’m not.
(09:02)
She developed an entire career for fighting for working people on issues from affordable housing to urban revitalization. During the great recession, her district was hit hard by the housing crisis. She spent the past decade working to improve blighted neighborhoods, create safer, more affordable communities. She also understands where you live impacts on your health, access to education, jobs, and economic opportunity. Zip code should not determine the outcomes on all those issues. She’s going to bring that same vision as HUD Secretary using every lever at her disposal to help the millions of Americans facing evictions, trying to pay for their mortgages, to find their way through this crisis.
(09:49)
And I think you’ll see that she’s going to lead our charge to make housing more affordable and accessible. She worked to increase home ownership as a means towards wealth generation. Particularly for communities of color it’s not just dealing with the other issues, we have to be able to build wealth in communities of color. And she’s also going to help us build back better by working across the ideological spectrum to fulfill the promise of HUD’s mission.
(10:20)
And here’s what its mission is, it’s often forgotten, “To create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality, affordable homes for all.” Marcia will be the first woman to lead HUD for more than 40 years and just the second black woman ever. I’m honored to have her serve and thank her for being willing to do it in the Biden-Harris administration at this critical moment in our nation’s history.
(10:49)
And for Secretary of Veteran Affairs I nominate Denis McDonough, former White House Chief of Staff, Deputy National Security Advisor, deep experience on Capitol Hill. I’ve known Dennis for a long time. He shares my belief that we have many obligations as a nation. We have only one truly sacred obligation, to prepare and equip our troops that we send into harm’s way and then to care for them and their families when they return. He regularly traveled as I did to Iraq and Afghanistan to meet directly with our service members, to see what they were going through, to understand the strain and the impact on them and their families.
(11:34)
He visits them as I did often at Walter Reed to see firsthand the visible and invisible wounds they brought home. He knows the cost of war on veterans and their families. From the toll on their physical and mental health, to the access to good-paying jobs. And he’s a fierce advocate and a relentless workhorse and I believe and I think everyone who has ever worked with him knows he’s a world-class manager with an…
(12:03)
I think everyone who’s ever worked with him knows he’s a world-class manager with an innate understanding for how government can and must work for our veterans. He worked closely with our then VA secretary, Bob McDonald, and with the Congress to increase VA funding to ensure veterans get the benefits they earned and they deserve. And by the way, he knows, we have a very, very steep hill to climb in getting more funding, more docs, more psychiatric nurses, more folks out of the private sector into, into the VA. That includes implementing Veterans Choice, a bill led by my friend, Bernie Sanders, and my late friend and American hero, John McCain, and signed into law by President Obama in 2014 to help veterans access quality healthcare that they need when they need it. And this role, I’ve given Dennis a clear mission, fight like hell. Fight like hell for our veterans and their families.
(13:04)
And anyone who has worked with Dennis will tell you, he’ll move heaven and earth to fix any problem, to get the job done. He’ll also work closely with our secretary of defense designated, Lloyd Austin, and the entire cabinet and Jill as first lady to pull every lever to help us build back the VA better than ever. And Dennis, it’s a family endeavor. His wife, Carrie, leads a nonprofit that helps connect veterans and military families with local communities so they can help each other out and build a stronger country together. Both our spouses feel incredibly strongly about this and have for some time. To all the veterans and military families, nominating a VA secretary is one of the most important decisions I believe a president can make, and Dennis will always be there for you, I promise you, always fighting for you, as will the vice-president and I.
(14:07)
For the United States Trade Representative, I’ve nominated Katherine Thai, a trusted trade expert, a dedicated public servant who knows government and who’s spent her career leveling the playing field for American workers and their families. That’s not hyperbole, that’s a fact. She currently serves as the chief lawyer on trade for the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. She earned praise for both lawmakers and both political parties and from both labor and business as well. Now that’s a feat across the board, but all kidding aside, you have. I’ve gotten more calls complimented me on your appointment than you can imagine. During the Obama-Biden administration, she was the chief trade enforcer against unfair trade practices by China, which will be a key priority in the Biden-Harris administration.
(14:59)
She understands that we need to be considerably more strategic than we’ve been in how we trade and that makes us all stronger, how we’re made stronger by trade. One that leaves nobody behind. She’s going to work closely with my economic and national security and foreign policy teams. Trade will be a critical pillar in our ability to build back better and carry out our foreign policy, foreign policy for the middle class. When I announced my candidacy, I talked about a foreign policy for the middle class, and I meant that in the literal sense. She also brings a sophisticated understanding of the threats of climate change to trade as well as addresses the climate crisis with urgency. She also embodies a powerful immigration story of America. Her parents were both born in China. They moved to Taiwan and then came to the United States where Katherine was born.
(15:59)
Her parents became government scientists at Walter Reed and NIH, inspiring their daughter to pursue a career in public service. Katherine says she’s the first American born member of her family and a second generation US government servant. That’s a great way of expressing it. If confirmed, she’d be the first Asian American and the first woman of color to serve in this position. In our nation, our economy, our workers, our businesses, we are fortunate to have her serve in this role. As director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, I spent some time convincing this wonderful public servant, but I’m appointing Susan Rice, former United States ambassador to the United Nations, former national security advisor to President Obama, former cabinet member, team player, policy heavyweight, tough negotiator, and trusted and tested public servant, who I’ve known for a long time and not only admired, but become friends with.
(17:06)
She’ll lead and coordinate my critical domestic policy agenda and she’s going to elevate and turbocharge, revitalize domestic policy council to help us build back better on every issue across the board. She worked closely with my director of National Economic Council, Brian Deese. She worked closely with my national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, and the national security council. Together, they’ll align domestic policy, economic policy and national security unlike ever before. This is a big and critical role, that’s why I asked Susan to serve. She’s been there. She knows what it takes like she did in helping mobilize the entire federal government to end the Ebola crisis, and her voice is particularly needed this critical moment. A granddaughter of immigrants, a descendant of enslaved people, Susan will be an effective and tireless champion for all Americans. And she knows I’m really thrilled she was willing to come back, be at my side in the White House.
(18:12)
To each of you on this team, you have my gratitude, the gratitude of the vice-president and me for answering the call to serve again. To your families, thank you. We know the sacrifice you’re making to allow your family member to serve as they are going to, God willing. And to career civil servants at these agencies, we look forward to working with you because we know how many talented people are there. It’s time to rededicate ourselves to the mission our government agencies were entrusted with. And to the American people, help is on the way. I promise we’re not going to let you down now. May God bless you and may God protect our troops. Now I’m going to turn this over to the team, starting with our next Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack. Tom, thank you. The podium is yours. I guess they’re going to clean it up [inaudible 00:19:09].