Month: April 2021

U.S. Senator Tim Scott said President Joe Biden has failed to unite the nation and that his proposals for infrastructure spending and the newly announced package for education and families are pulling the nation further apart. Delivering the Republican response to the Democratic president’s first joint address to Congress on Wednesday night, Scott said, “Our nation is starving for more than empty platitudes.” Biden spent a section of his address celebrating the progress in combatting the coronavirus pandemic, including far exceeding his administration’s goal for vaccinations at this point in his presidency. Scott said Biden “inherited a tide that had already turned,” crediting the Trump administration’s program to accelerate vaccine development, as well as several packages Congress passed last year to deliver trillions of dollars in aid to business, state governments and direct payments to individuals.Television lighting is set up near the U.S. Capitol as U.S. President Joe Biden delivers his first address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress in Washington, April 29, 2021.He described Democrats as unwilling to work with Republicans on more aid, as Democrats passed a new round of coronavirus aid after Biden took office. The parties clashed over the size of that measure, with Democrats arguing the government needed to take more action, while Republicans argued for more targeted spending. Scott also expressed objection to the pace of schools reopening amid the pandemic, arguing that other countries had already allowed their children to go back to their classrooms. “Science has shown for months that schools are safe,” he said. Responding to Biden’s new proposal to raise taxes on corporations and the wealthiest Americans to pay for expanded access to preschool, community college, child care and paid family leave, Scott described the plan as putting the federal government “more in the middle of your life, from the cradle to college.” He said families should be able to define the American dream for themselves and that there should be expanded opportunities for all. Scott, who is the only Black Republican senator, also said Democrats have brought race into unrelated policy disputes, saying, “Race is not a political weapon to settle every issue.” “Today, kids again are being taught that the color of their skin defines them,” Scott said. “If they look a certain way, they’re an oppressor. From colleges to corporations to our culture, people are making money and gaining power by pretending we haven’t made any progress. By doubling down on the divisions we’ve worked so hard to heal.” He added, “America is not a racist country.” 
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“After 100 days of rescue and renewal, America is ready for takeoff,” U.S. President Joe Biden told a joint session of Congress, using the occasion to push his proposed $4 trillion in government spending and tout his overall performance in coping with a series of historic crises since taking office in January.  The president, in an address on Wednesday evening, said he had inherited a nation in crisis facing the worst pandemic in a century, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and “the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.”  The address on the eve of his 100th day in office, was not deemed a ‘State of the Union’ presentation because it was delivered in the first year of a new president’s term. It was also shorn of some of the typical pomp of the annual presidential speech to both the House and Senate because of coronavirus restrictions.  Typically, as many as 1,600 people packed the House chamber to attend a presidential speech. Only 200 people, mostly members of Congress joined by a small number of officials from other government branches plus select family members, attended. They were socially distanced in the House chamber and wore masks.U.S. President Joe Biden arrives to deliver his first address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, April 29, 2021.Biden spoke from the same dais that insurrectionists overtook on January 6 when supporters of his predecessor, Donald Trump, stormed past law enforcement officers into the U.S. Capitol to try to block the official certification of Biden as the winner of last November’s presidential election over the incumbent.  The attack on the Capitol, which remains heavily guarded, left five people dead. More than 400 people have been arrested on various charges related to the siege.   “The image of a violent mob assaulting this Capitol, desecrating our democracy, remains vivid in all our minds,” said Biden. “Lives were put at risk, many of your lives. Lives were lost. Extraordinary courage was summoned.” The president said the insurrection was “an existential crisis, a test of whether our democracy could survive — and it did.”  Biden devoted the bulk of his 65-minute address to domestic policy issues, although he did mention matters beyond America’s borders.  The president said he told Chinese President Xi Jinping that the United States will maintain a strong military presence in the Indo-Pacific “just as we do for NATO in Europe – not to start conflict – but to prevent one.” Biden said he had responded proportionally to Russia’s interference in U.S. elections and the cyber-attacks it launched on government and business. That does not however prevent, according to the president, potential cooperation between Washington and Moscow on nuclear arms reduction and combatting climate change.  During the address, Biden proposed a $1.8 trillion expansion of national government assistance for American children and families.U.S. President Joe Biden delivers his first address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, April 29, 2021.The plan features two years of government-paid, pre-kindergarten education for the country’s youths and two years of free community college for young adults, all of it to be paid for with higher taxes on the country’s wealthiest people and corporations.  Massive spending for infrastructure, jobs creation and education is justified because “China and other countries are closing in fast,” said the president.  Such spending, if approved by Congress, would usher in a much bigger national government footprint in American life, way more than most Republican lawmakers would like but would not go as far as some progressive Democrats envision.   In remarks directed to the audience of millions at home, Biden said his American Jobs Plan is “a blue-collar blueprint to build America” with millions of “good-paying jobs that can’t be outsourced.”  Republicans contend his infrastructure and family spending plans are too costly and assail Biden’s plans to raise taxes on corporations and the wealthiest of Americans.  Delivering the opposition party’s televised rebuttal, the only Black Republican in the Senate, Tim Scott of South Carolina, said Biden had inherited from Trump “a tide that already turned” due to the previous administration’s operation to launch vaccine production and economic policies that were the most inclusive in decades.  “A president who promised to bring us together should not push agendas that tear us apart,” added Scott.  In a statement, one of Scott’s Republican colleagues in the Senate, Ted Cruz of Texas was more critical of Biden’s address, saying it outlined “his socialist vision for our country,” and that “I can summarize his speech in three words for you: boring, but radical.” National surveys this week show Biden with an average approval rating of 53%, according to a polling aggregator, Real Clear Politics.  In his speech, Biden also touted his administration’s early success in getting Americans vaccinated against the coronavirus, with more than 200 million shots already administered even as the death toll has risen to a world-leading total of more than 573,000.  U.S. health officials eased mask-wearing suggestions this week, but millions of Americans are refusing, for various reasons, to get vaccinated, or skipping the second  shot of a two-dose regimen.  “Go and get the vaccination,” Biden implored in his Wednesday evening address.    In addition to discussing his plans for domestic spending, Biden discussed his goal of engaging with other nations and taking a leadership role on the world stage, a contrast from Trump who often touted his “America First” stance and withdrew from international pacts that he viewed as poorly crafted or too costly for the United States.  Mentioning the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea, the president said: “We’re going to be working closely with our allies to address the threats posed by both of these countries, through diplomacy as well as stern deterrence.”  He added that American leadership “means ending the forever war in Afghanistan.”  It remains to be seen if Biden and congressional Democrats “are willing to engage in real negotiation that would result in changes to many of the proposals highlighted in his speech,” Bipartisan Policy Center President Jason Grumet said in a statement to VOA. “Key Administration proposals to modernize infrastructure, provide paid leave, and strengthen childcare have a history of strong bipartisan support, but it will not be possible to build upon this history if the administration pursues a legislative process that excludes Republicans.” 
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Evidence submitted by a retail union that raised objections to Amazon.com Inc.’s conduct at this month’s union election in Alabama “could be grounds for overturning the vote,” the National Labor Relations Board said Wednesday.The labor board has overturned several union elections over the years. In 2016, the board overturned an election the United Steelworkers lost by a decisive vote — a decision criticized by large U.S. business lobbies.The NLRB will hold a hearing on May 7 to consider objections filed by the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which failed to secure enough votes from Amazon warehouse workers to form a union. The vote count announced on April 9 showed that workers at Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse rejected the union by a more than 2-to-1 margin.”The evidence submitted by the union in support of its objections could be grounds for overturning the election if introduced at a hearing,” the labor board said.The RWDSU submitted nearly two dozen objections to Amazon’s conduct during the election, which it said prevented employees from a “free and uncoerced exercise of choice” on whether to create the company’s first U.S. union.The RWDSU alleged that Amazon’s agents unlawfully threatened employees with closure of the warehouse if they joined the union and that the company emailed a warning it would lay off 75% of the proposed bargaining unit because of the union.Amazon, which has denied the allegations, did not respond to requests for comment.For much of its history, the NLRB has used its decision-making authority to change labor policy by establishing new precedents. The board has repeatedly overturned cases decided by prior administrations. Under the Trump administration, it overturned cases detrimental to employers that had been decided during the preceding Obama presidency.
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Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made history Wednesday as the first women to share the stage in Congress during a presidential address. In President Joe Biden’s first prime-time speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night, he was flanked by Pelosi and Harris, two California Democrats.  “It’s pretty exciting. And it’s wonderful to make history. It’s about time,” Pelosi said hours before the speech during an interview on MSNBC. Pelosi already knows what it feels like to sit on the rostrum in the House chamber and introduce a president for speeches. She has sat there for several addresses by Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.  FILE – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California waits before then-President Donald Trump arrives to deliver his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 4, 2020.Women’s advocates said seeing Harris and Pelosi seated together behind Biden would be a “beautiful moment.” But they noted that electing a woman to sit in the Oval Office remains to be achieved, along with the addition of an equal rights amendment to the Constitution. Biden helped usher the moment along by pledging to pick a woman for his running mate and selecting Harris, then a U.S. senator from California. “This is a great start, and we have to continue to move forward to give women their equal due,” said Christian Nunes, president of the National Organization for Women. Pelosi made history by becoming the first female House speaker during Bush’s presidency. He acknowledged the moment by noting during his address to Congress after Pelosi’s election that he had the privilege of being the first president to open with the words “Madam Speaker.” Pelosi, 81, reclaimed the powerful leadership post during Trump’s presidency and sat behind him during his final two speeches to Congress, famously ripping up her copy of Trump’s remarks in 2020 after he finished addressing lawmakers. Harris, 56, made history last year when she became the first woman and first Black and Indian American person elected vice president. In her role as president of the Senate, she joins Pelosi in presiding over the joint session of Congress.  FILE – In this image from Senate TV, Vice President Kamala Harris sits in the chair on the Senate floor to cast the tie-breaking vote, her first, at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 5, 2021.Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, said Wednesday night would show men, women, boys and girls that women can attain and hold high-level positions and that they are as entitled to them as men are. Walsh also noted Biden’s promise to put a woman on his ticket, and pointed, as well, to the diversity of his Cabinet. She said the setting behind Biden on Wednesday was likely to make him feel proud — not just personally, “but I also think proud for the country and proud for his party. And I think he will clearly see the historic implications of this and the role that he played in making that happen.” “For all of us who care about women’s public leadership, we still look forward to the day when the person standing at the podium, in front, is a woman,” Walsh added. “But for now, this is a particularly gratifying moment.”  Harris’ office declined to comment Wednesday on her historic role in the president’s address, preferring to let the moment speak for itself. Apart from the speech Wednesday, Harris and Pelosi have notched another first in U.S. and women’s history. They are first and second, respectively, in the line of presidential succession. 
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A surge in anti-Asian hate crimes in the United States sparked by the coronavirus pandemic last year has continued into 2021, police department data show. Fifteen of America’s largest cities reported a 169% increase in violence aimed at Asian Americans during the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year.  The dramatic increase follows a spike of nearly 150% last year on an annualized basis and comes as the administration of President Joe Biden has prioritized combating attacks on Asian Americans, while the U.S. House of Representatives moves to pass legislation that would create a new Justice Department position dedicated to the problem. In New York, Los Angeles and 13 other cities, police investigated a total of 86 attacks on Asian Americans during the first quarter of this year, up from 32 during the first quarter of 2020, according to an analysis of FILE – Protesters march at a rally against Asian hate crimes, near the Los Angeles Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles, March 27, 2021.The university study was based on reporting by individual city police departments and covered about 8% of the U.S. population living in the 15 cities. The study found that anti-Asian hate crimes in 2020 had increased by 146% over 2019 figures when it looked at 26 of America’s largest cities and counties.  The FBI, which has the only data for the United States as a whole, found that the same 15 cities accounted for more than 20% of all hate crimes in 2019, the last year for which it has made data available. This year, New York, which has the highest number of Asian Americans in the country, accounted for nearly half the 2021 incidents, reporting 42 incidents through the first quarter, a 223% increase from 13 incidents during the first quarter of last year. The attacks on Asians have continued into April, with another 24 incidents reported in the first three weeks of the month.   New York In the latest assault on an Asian American in New York, an unemployed 61-year-old Chinese immigrant collecting bottles in the Harlem neighborhood was sent into a coma last Friday after being severely beaten by an ex-felon on parole. The suspect was arrested this week.   FILE – An Asian American New York City Police officer patrols in the Queens borough of New York, March 30, 2021. Police have stepped up patrols across the city in the wake of increased anti-Asian hate crimes.New York appears to have seen more attacks on Asians during the first quarter of 2021 than during any full year in recent memory, according to Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.  “New York City has been particularly hard hit as the city grapples with a record-setting first quarter in 2021 that has already exceeded last year’s annual record of anti-Asian hate crime,” Levin said.   The attacks on Asians are likely to continue as the weather warms and COVID-19-related social distancing rules ease, increasing public congregations, Levin said.   Other citiesOther cities with large Asian populations also saw double- and triple-digit increases in violence.  In San Francisco, police investigated 12 assaults on Asians, up 140% from five incidents during the first quarter of 2020. In Los Angeles, there were nine anti-Asian hate crimes during the quarter, up 80%, while in Boston, the number of incidents targeting Asians jumped to eight, up 60%.  Lu-In Wang, a University of Pittsburgh law professor and author of the book “Discrimination By Default: How Racism Becomes Routine,” said the increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in New York and other cities with large Asian populations is surprising because these are cities where “they (Asians) would feel more comfortable, would feel more that they belong.”  “But it could be that there is greater resentment of Asians in those cities because they are more visible and more numerous,” Wang said in an interview.  Of the 15 cities surveyed, four — Cleveland, Philadelphia, Tampa and Miami — reported no anti-Asian hate crimes during the quarter.  Washington and San Antonio, Texas, reported six and five anti-Asian hate crimes, respectively, compared with zero during the first quarter of 2020. 
 
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American astronaut Michael Collins, who stayed behind in the command module of Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969, while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin traveled to the lunar surface to become the first humans to walk on the moon, died on Wednesday at age 90, his family said.
A statement released by his family said Collins died of cancer.
Often described as the “forgotten” third astronaut on the historic mission, Collins remained alone for more than 21 hours until his two colleagues returned in the lunar module. He lost contact with mission control in Houston each time the spacecraft circled the dark side of the moon.
“Not since Adam has any human known such solitude as Mike Collins,” the mission log said, referring to the biblical figure.
Collins wrote an account of his experiences in his 1974 autobiography, “Carrying the Fire,” but largely shunned publicity.
“I know that I would be a liar or a fool if I said that I have the best of the three Apollo 11 seats, but I can say with truth and equanimity that I am perfectly satisfied with the one I have,” Collins said in comments released by NASA in 2009.
Collins was born in Rome on Oct. 31, 1930 – the same year as both Armstrong and Aldrin. He was the son of a U.S. Army major general and, like his father, attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, graduating in 1952.
Like many of the first generation of American astronauts, Collins started out as an Air Force test pilot.
In 1963, he was chosen by NASA for its astronaut program, still in its early days but ramping up quickly at the height of the Cold War as the United States sought to push ahead of the Soviet Union and fulfill President John F. Kennedy’s pledge of landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade.
Collins’ first voyage into space came in July 1966 as pilot on Gemini X, part of the missions that prepared NASA’s Apollo program. The Gemini X mission carried out a successful docking with a separate target vehicle.
His second, and final, spaceflight was the historic Apollo 11.
He avoided much of the media fanfare that greeted the astronauts on their return to Earth, and was later often critical of the cult of celebrity.
After a short stint in government, Collins became director of the National Air and Space Museum, stepping down in 1978. He was also the author of a number of space-related books.
His strongest memory from Apollo 11, he said, was looking back at the Earth, which he said seemed “fragile.”
“I really believe that if the political leaders of the world could see their planet from a distance of 100,000 miles, their outlook could be fundamentally changed. That all-important border would be invisible, that noisy argument silenced,” he said.
His family’s statement said they know “how lucky Mike felt to live the life he did.”
“Please join us in fondly and joyfully remembering his sharp wit, his quiet sense of purpose, and his wise perspective, gained both from looking back at Earth from the vantage of space and gazing across calm waters from the deck of his fishing boat.”
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America’s re-engagement with the world coincides with a weird new era: that of virtual diplomacy. Since the pandemic made travel unsafe, world leaders have taken their diplomacy digital, opening up new possibilities for engagement — but also, new concerns about fairness and transparency, and the occasional awkward moment. VOA’s Anita Powell follows this story — virtually, of course — and reports from Johannesburg.Camera: Zaheer Cassim/Nike Ching (cellphone video)   
Producer: Jon Spier 
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Upon taking office, President Joe Biden pledged to bring multilateralism back to U.S. foreign policy, a pivot from the America First doctrine under President Donald Trump. Here are some areas where Biden has kept his promise to reengage with the world, and some where he may be holding back.   Climate change  Last week the world witnessed a dramatic foreign policy shift between a president who withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Accord commitments to one who convened FILE – World leaders are shown on a screen as President Joe Biden speaks to the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, from the East Room of the White House, April 23, 2021.At the summit, Biden announced he will cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 compared to 2005 levels and rallied leaders to declare their own ambitious targets in the run-up to the U.N. Conference on climate later this year in Glasgow. The U.S. is also doubling its annual public climate financing to help developing countries by 2024, renewing the so far unmet pledge by developed countries to increase climate financing to at least $100 billion per year by 2020.     But the global effort on climate change will depend on its largest emitters. Citing the challenge of achieving carbon neutrality in such a short time frame while maintaining its rapid economic development, Chinese President Xi Jinping stuck with Beijing’s initial target of 2060. India, the world’s third largest emitter, and Russia, the fourth largest also made no new commitments on reducing emissions.    Nuclear arms control  Under Biden, the U.S. has revived arms control efforts, part of the president’s plan to downgrade nuclear weapons in U.S. defense policy and to extend the New START treaty with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The administration has returned to indirect nuclear negotiations with Iran, an about-face from Trump’s 2018 withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Signed by Iran and world powers, the JCPOA placed restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.    FILE – Attendees wait for the start of a meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission in Vienna, Austria, April 17, 2021. (EU Delegation in Vienna/Handout via Reuters)Negotiations have been difficult, partly because the Iranians are demanding all sanctions be removed — something the administration is unwilling to do. With many forces inside Iran’s political establishment, regional powers including Saudi Arabia and Israel, as well as Republicans in Congress rejecting the deal’s revival, Biden’s slow, step by step process may be a liability, said Mohsen Milani, executive director of the Center for Strategic & Diplomatic Studies and professor of politics at the University of South Florida. “The longer these negotiations take, the more these forces have the chance to sabotage the process and derail it,” he said.   On North Korea, Biden is strengthening alliances with Japan and South Korea to help restrain Pyongyang, rather than personally courting Kim Jong Un as Trump had done. Still, the central challenge is having a decades-old U.S. policy that demands the North Korean leader give up all his nuclear weapons in one fell swoop, despite no indication that he would, said Michael O’Hanlon, senior fellow at The Brookings Institution. “Working well with allies won’t change the fact that our policy needs to be grounded in realism and in sound diagnosis of the problem,” O’Hanlon said. “It’s not clear we are headed there yet.”    Pandemic recovery    In July 2020, President Trump formally withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization, accusing the U.N. body of being under China’s control in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. While Biden rejoined the WHO in the first hours of his presidency, some 100 days later he has yet to offer a comprehensive strategy to speed up global pandemic recovery efforts.     On vaccine sharing, the Biden administration is operating on a strategy of “oversupplied and overprepared” to ensure that it is prepared to vaccinate children and deal with emerging variants. Only this week did the White House announce it will begin sharing up to 60 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines, unused in the U.S. because it has not yet been granted emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration.    FILE – Nursing home residents receive a coronavirus vaccine at King David Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, a nursing home facility, in Brooklyn’s Bath Beach neighborhood in New York City, Jan. 6, 2021.But with some 230 million doses administered and 29 percent of Americans fully vaccinated, the Biden White House is under pressure to do more, including to support the temporary waiver of TRIPS — Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights — to be discussed at a formal meeting at the World Trade Organization on April 30. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said so far there has been no decision on a waiver, which would allow countries to make generic versions of the vaccines.    Mathew Kavanagh, director of the Global Health Policy and Politics Initiative at Georgetown University, said it “looks incredibly stingy” and “geopolitically dumb” for the administration not to get behind vaccine patent waivers, especially considering aggressive Chinese and Russian vaccine diplomacy.“The administration says it’s serious about multilateralism but is so far ignoring calls from WHO, the U.N., and African, Asian, and Latin American governments to share the vaccine science,” Kavanagh said.    In March, Biden and other leaders of the Quad countries — Australia, India, and Japan — launched a financing plan to boost COVID-19 vaccine production and distribution for countries in the region, with a focus on Southeast Asia, where the Chinese have been aggressively pushing vaccine diplomacy efforts. The initiative is in addition to the $4 billion that was approved under the Trump administration to support COVAX, the U.N. mechanism to ensure vaccine access to middle-and lower-income countries.    Meanwhile Biden is criticized by conservatives for not continuing Trump’s push for reforms at the WHO. The world deserves an accountable and effective World Health Organization, said Brett D. Schaefer, the Jay Kingham Fellow in International Regulatory Affairs at Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom. “By failing to tie U.S. membership and funding to reform, Biden squandered key leverage and made this outcome less likely.”    Trade agreements  Americans of various political leanings, not just Republicans, have embraced Trump’s populist anti-globalization narrative. That means there now appears to be little political will to strike new international trade deals.    In Congress for example, there is little appetite to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the 11-country free trade deal spanning Asia and the Pacific.  In the meantime, Beijing last year finalized its 15-nation trade deal called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. RCEP members make up nearly a third of the world’s population and account for 29% of global gross domestic product.    Analysts say China’s emergence as a major U.S. competitor means the Biden administration may need to include trade agreements as a larger part of its foreign policy approach. Robert Daly, director of the Wilson Center’s Kissinger Institute on China and the United States, said there is a need to reassure America’s trading partners that Washington will be a reliable partner if they face economic retaliation from China. Otherwise, he said, “they will continue to hedge against the prospect of America as not being sufficiently reliable as a partner,” and that could mean less cooperation on U.S. policy priorities.  
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U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to discuss his goal of engaging with other nations and taking a leadership role on the world stage as he gives an address Wednesday night to a joint session of Congress. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said ahead of the speech that Biden’s comments on foreign policy would include “taking America’s seat back in the world, what our values are as a country.”  She said the president would likely talk about a number of foreign policy priorities, “including our engagement with China.” The Biden administration’s push to work more with allies, which this month included coordinating with fellow NATO members on the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, is a departure from four years of foreign policy under former President Donald Trump that focused on prioritizing U.S. interests. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invited Biden to the House chamber to speak about “vision for addressing the challenges and opportunities of this historic moment,” in a speech that comes as the president marks 100 days since taking office. Psaki said the main policy initiative Biden will highlight is a domestic program for “investment in education and childcare.”President Joe Biden removes his face mask to speak about COVID-19, on the North Lawn of the White House, April 27, 2021, in Washington. The proposal involves $1.8 trillion in spending over 10 years that includes universal preschool, two years of free community college, subsidized childcare for qualifying families, monthly payments of at least $250 for parents and expanding availability of free and reduced-fee school lunches.  Administration officials say Biden is proposing to largely pay for the initiatives with tax increases on the wealthiest Americans.   Psaki said Biden will also discuss the administration’s efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic and unemployment, as well as immigration, police reform and gun safety.  The administration is planning the speech as a launching point to seek support for Biden’s initiatives, with the president, Vice President Kamala Harris and members of Biden’s Cabinet planning to travel to different parts of the country for events on Thursday and Friday. Republicans will seek to counter Biden’s message with a rebuttal speech Wednesday by South Carolina Senator Tim Scott. Typically, a presidential speech before a joint session of Congress would include an invited audience of the 535 members of the House and Senate, the vice president, Cabinet members, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Supreme Court justices, members of the diplomatic corps, and a number of special guests sitting with the first lady, some whom the president notes in the speech as a way of highlighting a certain policy. Wednesday’s audience will be more restricted.  Chief Justice John Roberts is expected to be the only justice in attendance. Psaki also said there will not be the traditional box of seating with first lady Jill Biden and guests, and that Cabinet members will be watching the speech from home. Not having Cabinet members in the House chamber also eliminates another tradition linked to presidential addresses.  In order to ensure continuity of government in case of a disaster, one Cabinet member is typically selected to stay away from the Capitol so that high-level officials are not all in the same place. Wednesday’s speech will be conducted under heavy security, with a ring of fencing still standing in the immediate area surrounding the Capitol following the January 6 storming of the site by Trump supporters.  Security has eased somewhat in Washington since the attack, with a more extensive perimeter fence on Capitol Hill and another temporary fence extending beyond the White House complex now removed. 
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Fully vaccinated people can skip the mask when they get together outside with others, vaccinated or not, according to A person wears a mask while jogging, April 27, 2021, near the Capitol in Olympia, Washington.The only time vaccinated people need to wear masks outdoors is when they are in crowds, like at street festivals, parades, farmers markets or political rallies, for example.Keep that mask handy, however. CDC still says to mask up when you go inside. But do go inside, the recommendations say. Indoor dining, movies, haircuts, religious services, exercise classes, and other indoor public spaces all are much safer for vaccinated people than unvaccinated.Just wear a mask.Why wear a mask indoors if you are vaccinated?”At their best, these vaccines are 95% effective,” said Vanderbilt University Medical Center infectious diseases professor William Schaffner. “I did not say 100%. So, there’s still that small risk that you could yourself acquire the infection.”Even if a vaccinated person does not get seriously ill, there remains a chance that the person could pass the virus on to someone who is not vaccinated.Also, not wearing a mask puts an unfair burden on workers to enforce mask rules.”You can’t expect someone at a store to go around and look at people’s vaccination status,” noted Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.Indoor get-togethers without masks are fine when everyone is vaccinated, as earlier CDC guidelines said.Students at Wyandotte County High School wear masks as they walk through a hallway on the first day of in-person learning at the school in Kansas City, Kansas, March 31. 2021.The guidelines also note that unvaccinated people can walk, run or bike outside without a mask, a recommendation that some experts said is long overdue.”If you’re walking outside and passing someone for a second, even without vaccination, you did not need to be wearing a mask,” said Leana Wen, health policy professor at The George Washington University and former Baltimore health commissioner. “So, I’m glad that the Biden administration is clarifying that part.””I do still think that their guidance is overly cautious,” she added. “But at least now they are finally differentiating between what it is that people can do once they’re fully vaccinated compared to those who are not.”The updated recommendations give people more of an incentive to get vaccinated, Wen said.The recommendation regarding wearing masks indoors will likely remain until a bigger chunk of the population is vaccinated and the case count comes down from where it is today, in the tens of thousands, Adalja said.The pace of vaccination has slowed, however, from more than 3 million shots per day two weeks ago to about 2.5 million.The people who were ready and willing to get vaccinated have largely done so. Now, the hard work of overcoming hesitancy begins.”The more people who are vaccinated, the more steps we can take towards spending time with people we love doing the things we love to enjoy,” Walensky said. 
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President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will visit the 39th president, Jimmy Carter, and his wife, Rosalynn, while in Georgia this week, the White House said Tuesday. The White House had previously announced that Biden would attend a drive-in rally in Atlanta on Thursday to mark his 100th day in office, which comes a day after his first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday evening. The Bidens will now add in a trip to Plains, Georgia, to visit the Carters.In this image from video, former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter, seen in a photo as they speak on audio only, during the second night of the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 18, 2020.The 96-year-old former president and the 93-year-old former first lady were unable to attend Biden’s inauguration because of the coronavirus pandemic. Both couples are now vaccinated, and the Carters have resumed worshipping in-person at their longtime church.  Biden was a young Delaware senator and Carter ally during the Georgian’s term in the White House, from 1977 to 1981. Carter is now the longest-lived American president in history. 
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President Joe Biden’s first address to Congress is an invite-only affair, no guests allowed.The restrictions for Wednesday’s event are due to COVID-19 safety protocols, but they will have the added security benefit of a limited number of people inside the U.S. Capitol for the president’s first major indoor event since he took office just weeks after the Jan. 6 insurrection. Fencing is still up around the Capitol, and the National Guard is still there.”Obviously the events of the sixth are poignant reminders of why we need to be vigilant,” said Michael Plati, the U.S. Secret Service special agent in charge who is leading security for the joint session. “But the standard of security remains the same.”Congressional leadership extended the invitations, and anyone without one must leave the building by 5 p.m. Wednesday, though staff with Capitol offices and those credentialed by the sergeant-at-arms can remain in the building, according to a memo by Timothy Blodgett, the acting sergeant-at-arms. Official visitors are allowed only until 1 p.m., and they must be escorted into the Capitol from the barricades.While senators are in Washington this week, the House is not in session, with most lawmakers working remotely. House Republicans are holding a private retreat in Florida, and it’s doubtful many will rush back to attend.Chief Justice John Roberts is the only member of the Supreme Court invited to Wednesday’s speech. He plans to attend, court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said.Security agencies readyOne of the main issues on Jan. 6 was a lack of coordination between multiple agencies in the district, which won’t happen this time because those agencies have already been approved to work together and have been doing so for months, said Plati, who led security for the Jan. 20 inauguration that proceeded without any problems.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invited Biden to the chamber to share his “vision for addressing the challenges and opportunities of this historic moment.” Presidents don’t deliver a State of the Union address to Congress until their second year in office.The joint session is designated as a “national special security event,” which clears the way for communication, funding and preparation between multiple agencies in Washington, including the U.S. Capitol Police, Pentagon, Homeland Security and District-area police. Other such events are the State of the Union, the Super Bowl, and the Democratic and Republican national conventions.Biden’s address comes as he completes his first 100 days in office. He didn’t give a traditional address to Congress earlier this year because, the White House said, he was focusing on his COVID-19 recovery and response efforts.The address will provide him with an opportunity to update the American public on his progress toward fulfilling his promises and make the case for the $2.3 trillion infrastructure package he unveiled earlier this month.Security will be tight around the Capitol region for the event. National Guard troops, in place since the riot, are still in the area. Some security plans will be obvious — officers in uniforms, checkpoints, metal detectors, fencing — and some won’t. Capitol police said Monday that streets around the Capitol will be shut down two hours before the event.”We have many options, and we prepare for contingencies well in advance,” Plati said.Trouble at the CapitolThe Capitol Plaza remains behind fencing that was erected after a mob of Donald Trump supporters had descended on it on Jan. 6, sacking the building and disrupting the vote to certify Biden’s presidential win. Five people died, including a Capitol Police officer. Hundreds of people were charged in the insurrection.There had also been a second razor-wire-tipped fence that blocked off city streets around the Capitol, but that has since come down. Soon after it was removed, a man rammed his car into two Capitol Police officers, killing one. It’s likely that streets will be blocked off anew for Wednesday’s event.And a 22-year-old Virginia man was caught by Capitol Police scaling the fence Monday. He was taken into custody.Law enforcement officials never go into too much detail about security so would-be attackers aren’t tipped off. But Plati said they have taken into account recent events and watched other major U.S. events such as the verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial in Minneapolis and the response to it.”There are always opportunities to learn from these incidents, but the planning is comprehensive” and incorporates the possibility for mass civil unrest or other security concerns, Plati said.”We continuously evaluate the intelligence with our partners and refine the plan; we look to make those refinements,” Plati said. 
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Amid criticism that the U.S.’s response to India’s COVID-19 crisis has been slow, President Joe Biden said the U.S. is sending a whole range of critical assistance to India, which is overwhelmed with a deadly second wave of the coronavirus. VOA’s senior diplomatic correspondent Cindy Saine has the story.
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U.S. lawmakers worried about the impending withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan got a dose of cautious optimism from the diplomat who helped negotiate last year’s deal with the Taliban that paved the way for the upcoming pullout.Zalmay Khalilzad, the United States’ special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, telling members that while the Taliban have not quite lived up to all aspects of their agreement, the country’s future is far from lost.”I do not believe that the government is going to collapse, that the Taliban is going to take over,” Khalilzad said. “I don’t personally believe that there will be an imminent collapse.””It would be a mistake in my judgment to dismiss the Afghan security forces as not being a credible force that could perform well, although they will face more difficult circumstances,” he added.Doubts about withdrawalCritics of the withdrawal have voiced concern about the future of Afghanistan since U.S. President Joe Biden announced earlier this month that he was pulling the 2,500 to 3,500 U.S. troops out of the country beginning May 1.Lawmakers said Tuesday that they worry about the safety of Afghans who worked with U.S. forces over the past two decades and about what will happen to women’s rights as the Taliban likely gain more power.Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., questions Zalmay Khalilzad, special envoy for Afghanistan Reconciliation, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 27, 2021.”I’m concerned about public executions and other forms of brutality that will just be so incredibly offensive,” Republican Senator Ron Johnson said Tuesday.”Are we going to sit back and just watch?” he asked. “Wring our hands and mourn the fact that we had made so much progress?”U.S. military officials and a U.S. government watchdog have likewise expressed some reservations about the withdrawal, worrying that the Afghan military cannot stand up to the Taliban without the help of U.S. and coalition troops and thousands of civilian contractors critical to maintenance and logistics efforts.But Khalilzad said Tuesday that while such concerns should not be dismissed, there is little for the U.S. to gain by keeping troops in Afghanistan any longer.”The agreement we struck with the Taliban was the best possible under the circumstances,” he told lawmakers.”If we did stay another year or two or indefinitely, we would be back at war,” Khalilzad said, adding that the number of U.S. troops currently in Afghanistan might not have been enough to withstand a Taliban onslaught.“There could have been potentially demand for more forces to be able to maintain the status quo, not to lose significant ground,” he said, warning that even before the U.S.-Taliban deal was signed, “the military balance was changing territorially, negatively for the past several years.””As the #Taliban seek to end their chapter of animosity w/the United States, they must know to move forward they cannot continue to hold an American hostage” per @US4AfghanPeace”I have repeatedly demanded the Taliban release of #MarkFrerichs”— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) April 27, 2021 Khalilzad also said that the Taliban have been warned about the consequences of failing to adhere to all aspects of their agreement with the U.S., and of rejecting talks with the current Afghan government.”If they obstruct a negotiated settlement and instead pursue a military takeover, they will be opposed not only by the Afghan Republic, but by the United States, our allies and partners,” he said. “They will face isolation, regional opposition, sanctions and international opprobrium.””The #Taliban have taken several positive steps” when it comes to terrorism, per @US4AfghanPeace “But we are pressing for more”— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) April 27, 2021 U.S. diplomats sent homeGiving critics more cause for concern, however, the U.S. State Department on Tuesday ordered some employees at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul to head home, citing a rise in violence.Embassy staff defended the move, saying it would not affect its critical duties.”By minimizing the (number) of employees whose functions can be performed elsewhere, personnel who are urgently needed to address issues related to the drawdown of U.S. forces and the vital work we are doing in support of the Afghan people will be able to remain in place,” Chargé d’Affaires Ross Wilson wrote. “We do not anticipate any changes to our operations.”(1/4) In light of increasing violence & threat reports in Kabul, the @StateDept has approved Ordered Departure status affecting a relatively small number of employees at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul effective immediately. We do not anticipate any changes to our operations. https://t.co/hHZdr1uxVO— Chargé d’Affaires Ross Wilson (@USAmbKabul) April 27, 2021 For now, though, U.S. military planners are bracing for the possibility that the Taliban, or another group, will target American and NATO troops as they try to leave Afghanistan.Officials have sent four U.S. B-52 bombers to al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar to help provide air cover for the approximately 10,000 U.S. and NATO forces still in Afghanistan.New: Two B-52 bombers arrive at #AlUdeid Air Base in #Qatar ” to protect US & coalition forces as they conduct drawdown operations from #Afghanistan” per @USAFCENTThis is in addition to the 2 B-52s sent to the region last week… pic.twitter.com/8p3RUX8Tf1— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) April 26, 2021 The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier has also been ordered to remain in the region for the start of the drawdown. And officials have said ground forces, for protection and logistics, could also be sent to aid with the pullout.“We’ve actually got a very good backbone of a plan,” U.S. Central Command’s General Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie told a virtual forum Tuesday.NEW: “We’ve actually got a very good backbone of a plan” for May 1, @CENTCOM Commander Gen Kenneth McKenzie tells @AEISays US military presence to be minimal, to protect @USEmbassyKabul— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) April 27, 2021″I think we have a plan that will allow for us to get out in a protected manner,that will bring our partners out,” he said.  
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