{"id":113627,"date":"2021-01-26T07:39:32","date_gmt":"2021-01-26T15:39:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=113627"},"modified":"2021-01-26T07:39:32","modified_gmt":"2021-01-26T15:39:32","slug":"president-biden-at-signing-of-executive-order-on-strengthening-american-manufacturing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=113627","title":{"rendered":"President Biden at Signing of Executive Order on Strengthening American Manufacturing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Good afternoon, folks.  I\u2019m going to make some brief remarks, sign an executive order, and then take your questions, if that\u2019s okay with you all.  Last week, we immediately got to work to contain the pandemic and deliver economic relief to millions of Americans who need it the most.  And today we\u2019re getting to work to rebuild the backbone of America: manufacturing, unions, and the middle class. <\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/f70QDlcf8B0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s based on a simple premise: that we\u2019ll reward work, not wealth, in this country.  And the key plank of ensuring the future will be \u201cMade in America.\u201d  I\u2019ve long said that I don\u2019t accept the defeatist view that the forces of automation and globalization can\u2019t keep \u2014 can keep union jobs from growing here in America.  We can create more of them, not fewer of them. <\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t buy for one second the \u2014 that the vitality of the American manufacturing is a thing of the past.  American manufacturing was the arsenal of democracy in World War Two, and it must be part of the engine of American prosperity now.  That means we are going to use taxpayers\u2019 money to rebuild America.  We\u2019ll buy American products and support American jobs, union jobs. <\/p>\n<p>For example, the federal government every year spends approximately $600 billion in government procurement to keep the country going safe and secure.  And there\u2019s a law that\u2019s been on the books for almost a century now: to make sure that that money was spent \u2014 taxpayers\u2019 dollars for procurement is spent to support American jobs and American businesses.<\/p>\n<p>But the previous administration didn\u2019t take it seriously enough.  Federal agencies waived the Buy American requirement without much pushback at all.  Big corporations and special interests have long fought for loopholes to redirect American taxpayers\u2019 dollars to foreign companies where the products are being made.  The result: tens of billions of American taxpayers\u2019 dollars supporting foreign jobs and foreign industries.<\/p>\n<p>In 1918 \u2014 excuse me, in 2018 alone, the Department spent $3 billion \u2014 the Defense Department \u2014 on foreign construction contracts, leaving American steel and iron out in the cold.  It spent nearly $300 million in foreign engines and on vehicles instead of buying American vehicles and engines from American companies, putting Americans to work.<\/p>\n<p>Under the previous administration, the federal government contract awarded directly to foreign companies went up 30 percent.  That is going to change on our watch. <\/p>\n<p>Today I\u2019m taking the first steps in my larger Build Back Better Recovery Plan that invests in American workers, unions, and businesses up and down the supply chain.  And I know that previous presidents entered office by promising to buy America and instituting the Buy American policy, but here\u2019s why this is different and not the same:<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll be signing an executive order in just a moment, tightening the existing Buy American policies, and go further.  We\u2019re setting clear directives and clear explanations.  We\u2019re going to get to the core issue with a centralized, coordinated effort.<\/p>\n<p>Look, today I\u2019m creating a director of Made in America at the White House Office of Management and Budget who will oversee our all-of-government Made in America initiative.  That starts with stopping federal agencies from waiving Buy American requirements with impunity, as has been going on.  If an agency wants to issue a waiver to say \u201cWe\u2019re not going to buy an American product as part of this project; we\u2019re going to buy a foreign product,\u201d they have to come to the White House and explain it to us. <\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re going to require that waivers be publicly posted; that is, if someone is seeking a waiver to build this particular vehicle or facility and is going to buy the following foreign parts, that waiver \u2014 the request for it \u2014 is going to be posted.  Then we\u2019ll work with small American manufacturers and businesses to give them a shot to raise their hand and say, \u201cYeah, I can do that here in my shop, in my town.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s about \u2014 as you\u2019ve heard me say before, I used to have a friend who was a great athlete, who\u2019d say, \u201cYou got to know how to know.\u201d  These small businesses don\u2019t even know they can compete for making the product that is attempting to be waived and being able to be bought abroad.<\/p>\n<p>And I\u2019m directing the Office of Management and Budget to review waivers to make sure they are only used in very limited circumstances.  For example, when there\u2019s an overwhelming national security, humanitarian, or emergency need here in America.  This hasn\u2019t happened before. It will happen now.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what else we\u2019re going to be doing.  Under the Build Back Better Recovery Plan, we\u2019ll invest hundreds of billions of dollars in buying American products and materials to modernize our infrastructure, and our competitive strength will increase in a competitive world.  That means millions of good-paying jobs, using American-made steel and technology, to rebuild our roads, our bridges, our ports, and to make them more climate resilient, as well as making them able to move faster and cheaper and cleaner to transport American-made goods across the country and around the world, making us more competitive.<br \/>\nIt also means replenishing our stockpiles to enhance our national security.  As this pandemic has made clear, we can never again be in a position where we have to rely on a foreign country that doesn\u2019t share our interest in order to protect our people during a national emergency.  We need to make our own protective equipment, essential products and supplies.  And we\u2019ll work with our allies to make sure they have resilient supply chains as well.<br \/>\nWe\u2019ll also make historic investments in research and development \u2014 hundreds of billions of dollars \u2014 to sharpen America\u2019s innovative edge in markets where global leadership is up for grabs \u2014 markets like battery technology, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, clean energy.<br \/>\nThe federal government also owns an enormous fleet of vehicles, which we\u2019re going to replace with clean, electric vehicles made right here in America by American workers, creating millions of jobs \u2014 a million autoworker jobs in clean energy \u2014 and vehicles that are net-zero emissions.<br \/>\nAnd together, this will be the largest mobilization of public investment in procurement, infrastructure, and R&#038;D since World War Two.<br \/>\nAnd with the executive order I\u2019ll be signing today, we\u2019ll increase Buy American requirements for these kinds of projects and improve the way we measure domestic content requirements.  For example, right now, if you manufacture a vehicle for the federal government, you need to show that at least 50 percent of the components of that vehicle were made in America.  But because of loopholes that have been expanded over time, you can count the least valuable possible parts as part of that 50 percent to say \u201cMade in America,\u201d while the most valuable parts \u2014 the engines, the steel, the glass, the manufac- \u2014 are manufactured abroad.<br \/>\nSo basically \u2014 but basically we\u2019re batting zero for two.  The content threshold of 50 percent aren\u2019t high enough.  And the way we measure the content doesn\u2019t account for U.S. jobs and economic activity.  We\u2019re going to change that as well.<br \/>\nThe executive action I\u2019m signing today will not only require that companies make more of their components in America, but that the value of those components is contributing to our economy, measured by things like a number of American jobs created and\/or supported.<br \/>\nAt the same time, we\u2019ll be committed to working with our trading partners to modernize international trade rules, including those relating to government procurement, to make sure we can use \u2014 we can all use our taxpayer dollars to spur investment that promotes growth and resilient supply chains.<br \/>\nAnd here\u2019s what else the action does.  When we buy America, we\u2019ll buy from all of America.  That includes communities that have historically been left out of government procurement \u2014 black, brown, Native American small businesses and entrepreneurs in every region of the country.<br \/>\nWe will use a national network of manufacturers \u2014 called a Manufacturing Extension Partnership \u2014 that\u2019s in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, to help government agency connect with new domestic suppliers across the country.<br \/>\nThis is a critical piece of building our economy back better and including everyone in the deal this time, especially small businesses that are badly hurting in this economy.<\/p>\n<p>The executive action I am taking also reiterates my strong support for the Jones Act and American vessels, you know, and our ports, especially those important for America\u2019s clean energy future and the development of offshore renewable energy.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll close with this: The reason we need to do this is America can\u2019t sit on the sidelines in the race for the future.<br \/>\nOur competitors aren\u2019t waiting.  To ensure the future is made in America, we need to win not just the jobs of today, but the jobs and industries of tomorrow.  And we know that the middle class built this country, and we also know unions built the middle class.  So let\u2019s invest in them once again.  I know we\u2019re ready, despite all of the \u2014 all we\u2019re facing.  I have never been more optimistic about the future of America than I am today.<\/p>\n<p>Given even just half a chance, the American people,<br \/>\nthe American worker, has never, ever let the country down.  Imagine if we give them a full chance.  That\u2019s what we\u2019re going to do.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll stop here and sign the executive order, and then come back and take some of your questions.<\/p>\n<p>     This executive order is entitled \u201cEnsuring the Future Is Made in America, by Americans \u2014 All of American Workers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>(The executive order is signed).<\/p>\n<p>There you go.  Now I\u2019d now be happy to take your questions.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Thank you, Mr. President.  Jonathan Lemire with the Associated Press.  Two topics, if I may.  The first: You have made reopening schools a central part of your first 100 Days agenda, and you\u2019ve long portrayed yourself as an ally to the teachers and the unions.  Right now, the Chicago Teachers Union has refused.  They defied an order to return to in-person classing \u2014 for in-person classrooms because of a lack of vaccinations.  Do you believe, sir, that teachers should return to schools now?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I believe we should make school classrooms safe and secure for the students, for the teachers, and for the help that\u2019s in those schools maintaining the facilities.  We need new ventilation systems in those schools.  We need testing for people coming in and out of the classes.  We need testing for teachers, as well as students.  And we need the capacity \u2014 the capacity to know that, in fact, the cic- [sic] \u2014 or the circumstance in the school is safe and secure for everyone.<\/p>\n<p>For example, there is no reason why the clear guidance will be that every school should be thoroughly sanitized, from the lavatories to the hallways.  And so this is about making \u2014 and none of the school districts that I\u2019m aware of \u2014 there may be some, of public school districts \u2014 have insisted that all of those pieces be in place.<\/p>\n<p>And, I might add, it\u2019s the same kind of thing I hope we can do with small businesses and businesses, making sure they have the capacity to test their workers when they come in; to make sure they have plastic dividers between their booths in their \u2014 in their restaurants, et cetera; to make sure they can sanitize. <\/p>\n<p>So it\u2019s not so much about the idea that teachers aren\u2019t going to work.  The teachers I know, they want to work.  They just want to work in a safe environment and as safe as we can rationally make it.  And we can do that, and we should be able to open up every \u2014 every school, kindergarten through eighth grade, if, in fact, we administer these tests. <\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019ll have the added advantage, I might add, of putting millions of people back to work \u2013 all those mothers and fathers that are home taking care of their children, rather than go to work.  Even when they can work, they\u2019re not able to do it unless they have the luxury of working distance-wise, like many of us do.  They\u2019re not able to do it.  And so this is about generating economic growth overall as well.<\/p>\n<p>WHITE HOUSE AIDE:  Great.  Alex from Reuters.   <\/p>\n<p>Q    Thank you, Mr. President.  I\u2019m Alex Alper from Reuters.  I wanted to ask a question about Navalny \u2014 if you are considering imposing sanctions on any of the individuals involved in his attempted poisoning and\/or his arrest when he returned from Germany.  And if not, is that related to your concerns about it potentially derailing a New START extension?  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I find that we can both operate in the mutual self-interest of our countries as a New START agreement, and make it clear to Russia that we are \u2014 we are very concerned about their behavior, whether it\u2019s Navalny, whether it\u2019s the SolarWinds, or whether it\u2019s the reports of bounties on the heads of Americans in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<p>I have asked the agencies in question to do a thorough \u2014 a thorough read for me on every one of those issues, to update me on precisely where they are.  And I will not hesitate to raise those issues with the Russians.<\/p>\n<p>WHITE HOUSE AIDE:  Jeff from NBC. <\/p>\n<p>Q    President Biden, Vice President Harris, a question about your COVID relief deal.  On Friday, you said the nation is \u201cin a national emergency [and] we should act like it.\u201d  Given that \u2014 given the scale and the severity of the need, how long are you willing to get sufficient Republican support before you would greenlight Democrat attempts to use reconciliation, for instance, to pass that bill?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, look, the decision on reconciliation will be one made by the leaders of the House and the Senate.  But here\u2019s the deal: I have been doing legislative negotiations for a large part of my life.  I know how the system works.  And what I\u2019m not \u2014 I can\u2019t guarantee anything at all, but I can say that what I\u2019m going to be doing \u2014 and we\u2019ve already begun \u2014 is making it clear to the leadership in the House and the Senate, as well as the \u2014 the group of 16, the group \u2014 the bipartisan group, as well as Republican individuals who have an interest in the issues that are in package, and saying \u201cHere\u2019s what I\u2019m doing, and here\u2019s why I want to do it, here\u2019s why I think we need to do it, and what kind of support can or can\u2019t you give to that?\u201d  And then we go on to the way in which we deal with legislation all the time.<\/p>\n<p>You know, we \u2014 we didn\u2019t have any votes for the recovery package when Barack and I came into office.  We were short three votes.  We didn\u2019t know we had the votes until the day of the \u2013- the day of the \u2014 of the \u2014 bringing it up. <\/p>\n<p>And \u2014 but here\u2019s the deal: You know, it\u2019s interesting \u2014 and I know you ask a lot of these questions.  You know the answers, but you have to \u2014 to help educate the public as well; I\u2019m not suggesting you don\u2019t know what I\u2019m about to say.  No one wants to give up on their position until there\u2019s no other alternative.  They either have to make a decision that they don\u2019t do what \u2014 they don\u2019t support what is being proposed, or they insist on what they have, or they let it all go away, fall down.  I think we\u2019re far from that point right now. <\/p>\n<p>The decision to use reconciliation will depend upon how these negotiations go.  And let me make clear about negotiations: I\u2019ve always believed part of negotiation \u2014 on the part of a President and\/or a chairman of a committee trying to get a major piece of legislation passed \u2014 is about consultation. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not enough for me just to come up to you and say, \u201cI like this.  I expect you to support it.\u201d  I want to explain to you why I think it\u2019s so important in this package that we have to provide for money for additional vaccines, why I think it\u2019s so important why we provide for money to extend unemployment benefits, why I think it\u2019s so important that we provide money to provide for the ability of people not to be thrown out of their apartments during this pandemic because they can\u2019t afford their rent, and to make the case to you why I think and what I think the priorities within this piece \u2014 that we think the priorities are \u2014 I apologize \u2014 were within this legislation. <\/p>\n<p>And I don\u2019t expect we\u2019ll know whether we have an agreement or to what extent the entire package will be able to pass or not pass until we get right down to the very end of this process, which will be probably in a couple of weeks.  But the point is, this is just the process beginning.<\/p>\n<p>WHITE HOUSE AIDE:  Annie, the Washington Post.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Thank you, Mr. President, Annie Linskey with the Washington Post.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Hi, Annie. <\/p>\n<p>Q    I wanted to ask you a little bit about one of the, sort of, major themes of your campaign, and how you sort of intend to measure and enact it \u2014 and that is the idea of unity.  If you could talk a little bit about what you see unity as being?  There are some people who are defining it as being bipartisan.  Others are saying it is what most of the people in the country, defined by some poll, might believe, or any sort of number of other \u2014 or perhaps it\u2019s 50 plus 1, or 50 plus 2, or 75 percent. <\/p>\n<p>So, given that it is such a key part of your message and your promise, can you talk and reflect a little bit more about what is unity when you see it and as you define it?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, Annie, I think it makes up several of the issues \u2014 the points you made.  One is: Unity requires you to take away \u2014 eliminate the vitriol, make anything that you disagree with about the other person\u2019s personality or their lack of integrity or they\u2019re not decent legislators and the like \u2014 so we have to get rid of that.  And I think that\u2019s already beginning to change, but God knows where things go, number one. <\/p>\n<p>Unity also is: trying to reflect what the majority of the American people \u2014 Democrat, Republican, and independent \u2014 think is within the fulcrum of what needs to be done to make their lives and the lives of Americans better.  For example, if you look at the data \u2014 and I\u2019m not claiming the polling data to be exact, but if you look at the data, you have \u2014 I think it\u2019s \u2014 I hope I\u2019m saying this correct \u2013- you may correct me if I get the number wrong, I think it\u2019s 57, 58 percent of the American people \u2014 including Republicans, Democrats, and independents \u2014 think that we have to do something about the COVID vaccine; we have to do something about making sure that people who are hurting badly, can\u2019t eat, don\u2019t have food, are in a position where they\u2019re about to be thrown out of their apartments, et cetera, being able to have an opportunity to get a job \u2014 that they all think we should be acting, we should be doing more. <\/p>\n<p>Unity also is trying to get, at a minimum \u2014 if you pass a piece of legislation that breaks down on party lines but it gets passed, it doesn\u2019t mean there wasn\u2019t unity; it just means it wasn\u2019t bipartisan.  I\u2019d prefer these things to be bipartisan, because I\u2019m trying to generate some consensus and take sort of the \u2014 how can I say it? \u2014 the vitriol out of all of this.  Because I\u2019m confident \u2014 I\u2019m confident, from my discussions, there are a number of Republicans who know we have to do something about the food insecurity for people in this pandemic.  I\u2019m confident they know we have to do something about figuring out how to get children back in school.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s just \u2014 there\u2019s easy ways to deal with this.  One, if you\u2019re anti-union, you can say it\u2019s all because of teachers.  If you want to make a case though that it\u2019s complicated, you say, \u201cWell, what do you have to do to make it safe to get in those schools?\u201d  And we\u2019re going to have arguments.<\/p>\n<p>For example, you know I proposed that we \u2014 because it was bipartisan, I thought it would increase the prospects of passage \u2014 the additional $1,400 in direct cash payment to folks.  Well, there\u2019s legitimate reason for people to say, \u201cDo you have the lines drawn the exact right way?  Should it go to anybody making over X-number of dollars or why?\u201d  I\u2019m open to negotiate those things.  That\u2019s all. <\/p>\n<p>I picked it because I thought it was rational, reasonable, and it had overwhelming bipartisan support in the House when it passed.  But this is all a bit of a moving target in terms of the precision with which this goes.  You\u2019re asking about unity: 51 votes, bipartisan, et cetera.<\/p>\n<p>The other piece of this is that the one thing that gives me hope that we\u2019re not only going to, sort of, stay away from the ad hominem attacks on one another, is that there is an overwhelming consensus among the major economists at home and in the world that the way to avoid a deeper, deeper, deeper recession, moving in the direction of losing our competitive capacity, is to spend money now to \u2014 from \u2014 from across the board, every major institution has said, \u201cIf we don\u2019t invest now, we\u2019re going to lose so much altitude, in terms of our employment base and our economic growth, it\u2019s going to be harder to reestablish it.\u201d  We can afford to do it now.  As a matter of fact, the \u2014 I think the response has been, \u201cWe can\u2019t afford not to invest now.  We can\u2019t afford to fail to invest now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And I think there\u2019s a growing realization of that on the part of all but some very, very hard-edged partisans, maybe on both sides, but I think there is a growing consensus.  Whether we get it all done exactly the way I want it remains to be seen, but I\u2019m confident that we can work our way through. <\/p>\n<p>We have to work our way through because, as I\u2019ve said 100 times, there is no ability in a democracy for it to function without the ability to reach consensus.  Other- \u2014 otherwise it just becomes executive fiat or battleground issues that are \u2014 get us virtually nowhere.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t want to hold the \u2014 my colleague may know, the Vice President \u2014 but, you know, I think there were very few debates on the Senate floor the whole last year \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE VICE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s correct.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  \u2014 on almost any issue.<\/p>\n<p>Well, that benefits no one.  It doesn\u2019t inform anybody.  It doesn\u2019t allow the public to make judgments about who they think is right or wrong.<\/p>\n<p>So I am \u2014 I am optimistic that it may take some time, but over the year, the way \u2014 if we treat each other with respect \u2014 and we\u2019re going to argue like hell.  I\u2019m confident of that.  Believe me, I know that.  I\u2019ve been there.  But I think we can do it in a way that we can get things done for the American people.<\/p>\n<p>WHITE HOUSE AIDE:  Great.  Last question.  Josh from Bloomberg.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Josh, they don\u2019t trust you with the mic, huh?  I don\u2019t know, man.<\/p>\n<p>Q    No, that\u2019s fine.  I wouldn\u2019t either.  (Laughter.)  Thank you, Mr. President.  I appreciate you taking the questions. <\/p>\n<p>You mentioned just now that you might know in a couple of weeks.  Can I ask whether it\u2019s more important for you to get something passed in a short timeframe like that or would you be willing to wait longer to get more bipartisan support?<\/p>\n<p>And might I also ask that \u2014 one of the pillars is the vaccine funding \u2014 when do you think any American who wants to get the shot will be able to get the shot?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I\u2019ll try to answer the three parts to your question as I heard them.<\/p>\n<p>One, time is of the essence.  Time is of the essence.  And I must tell you, I\u2019m reluctant to cherry pick and take out one or two items here, and then have to go through it again to \u2014 because these all are kind of \u2014 they go, sort of, hand in glove, each of these issues.  Number one.<\/p>\n<p>Number two, we are optimistic that we will have enough vaccine and in very short order.  We, as you know, we came in office without knowledge of how much vaccine was held \u2014 being held in abeyance or available.  Now that we\u2019re here \u2014 we\u2019ve been around a week or so \u2014 we now have that.  And we\u2019ve gotten commitments from some of the producers that they will, in fact, produce more vaccine in a relatively short period of time and then continue that down the road.<\/p>\n<p>So I\u2019m quite confident that we will be in a position, within the next three weeks or so, to be vaccinating people at the range of a million a day or in excess of that.  That is my \u2014 I promised that we would get at least 100 million vaccinations \u2014 that\u2019s not people, because sometimes you need more than one shot of the vaccination.  But 100,000 \u2014 100 million shots in people\u2019s arms of the vaccine. <\/p>\n<p>I think, with the grace of God, and the goodwill of the neighbor, and the creek not rising, as the old saying goes, I think we may be able to get that to 150 thou- \u2014 1.5 million a day, rather than 1 million a day.  But we have to meet that goal of a million a day. <\/p>\n<p>And everything points that we\u2019re going to have: A, the \u2014 enough vaccine; B, enough syringes and all the paraphernalia needed to store, keep, inject, move into your arm the vaccine; three, a number of vaccinators, people administering the vaccine, which is not an easy task of those who have \u2014 those facilities, like the nursing homes and hospitals \u2014 they have people do it, but they don\u2019t have the capacity to do everyone.  And so I think we\u2019re going to have \u2014 we\u2019re leaning hard on \u2014 into areas where we can produce more vaccinators.  We feel confident we can do that. <\/p>\n<p>And thirdly, it\u2019s really important that we have the fora, the place, the facility, the circumstance where people can show up, stand in line, and get their vaccine without having to stand in line for eight hours \u2014 being able to pick up the phone, call the pharmacy, and get your name on the list, et cetera. <\/p>\n<p>All those mechanical things are really \u2014 they sound simple, but they\u2019re all consequential when we\u2019re trying to get out a minimum of 100 million vaccinations in 100 days and move in the direction where we are well beyond that in the next 100 days so we can get to the point where we reach herd immunity in a country of over 300 million people.  Did that answer your question?<\/p>\n<p>Q    Well, my question was at what date \u2014 or, roughly, when do you think anyone who wants one would be able to get it?  Summer?  Is it (inaudible)?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Oh, I \u2014 no, I think it\u2019ll be this spring.  I think we\u2019ll be able to do that this spring.  And \u2014 but it\u2019s going to be a logistical challenge that exceeds anything we\u2019ve ever tried in this country, but I think we can do that.<\/p>\n<p>I feel confident that, by summer, we\u2019re going to be well on our way to heading toward herd immunity and increasing the access for people who aren\u2019t on the first \u2014 aren\u2019t on the list, all the way going down to children and how we deal with that.<br \/>\nBut I feel good about where we\u2019re going, and I think we can get it done. <\/p>\n<p>WHITE HOUSE AIDE:  Thank you, guys.<\/p>\n<p>Q    One more.  One more on vaccines.  Mr. President, one more on vaccines.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Now, wait, wait, wait.  I know he always asks me tough questions, and he always has an edge to them, but I like him anyway.  So go ahead and answer \u2014 ask the question.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Thank you, Mr. President.  So you just said that you think within three weeks or so we\u2019ll be at the point where there are a million vaccines per day, but it seems like \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  No, I think we\u2019ll get there before that.  I said, \u201cI hope\u2026\u201d \u2014 I misspoke.  I hope we\u2019ll be able to increase as we go on until we get to the million-five a day.  That\u2019s my ex- \u2014 my hope.<\/p>\n<p>Q    And then my \u2014 the follow-up to that would be: Now that you\u2019re President and you\u2019re saying, \u201cThere is nothing we can do to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next several months,\u201d what happened to two months ago when you were talking declaratively about \u201cI\u2019m going to shut down the virus\u201d?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I\u2019m going to shut down the virus, but not \u2014 I never said I\u2019d do it in two months.  I said it took a long time to get here; it\u2019s going take a long time to beat it.  And so we have millions of people out there who are \u2014 who have the virus. <\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re just, for the first day, I think \u2014 correct me if I\u2019m wrong; I\u2019ve been doing other things this morning, speaking with foreign leaders.  But one of the things \u2014 I think this is one of the first days that the number has actually come down \u2014 the number of deaths \u2014 and the number on a daily basis, and the number of hospitalizations, et cetera.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s going to take time.  It\u2019s going to take a heck of a lot of time.  And we still have \u2014 as Dr. Fauci constantly points out, it\u2019s one thing when we have mass \u2014 how can I say it politely? \u2014 mass disregard of the warnings about not wearing masks and wearing masks, and social distancing and failure to social distance, and people getting together on holidays in ways that weren\u2019t recommended, et cetera.<\/p>\n<p>We see \u2014 the first thing that happens is we see the number of infections go up.  Then you see the hospitalizations go up.  Then you see the deaths go up.  And so we\u2019re in this for a while.  I mean, we\u2019re \u2014 what are we now?  At about 410,000 deaths.  And there\u2019s going to be more.  The prediction, as I said from the very beginning to getting here as \u2014 after being sworn in, was \u2014 the predictions were: We\u2019re going to see somewhere between a total of 600,000 and 660,000 deaths before we begin to turn the corner in a major way.<\/p>\n<p>So \u2014 and again, remember: The vaccine \u2014 most of the people taking the vaccine \u2014 a vast, significant number \u2014 required two shots, and they\u2019re an average of three weeks apart.  And it takes time for it to be sure that you\u2019re \u2014 you get to that 95 percent assurance rate. <\/p>\n<p>And so it\u2019s beginning to move.  But I\u2019m confident we will beat this.  We will beat this.  But we\u2019re still going to be talking about this in the summer.  We\u2019re still going to be dealing with this issue in the \u2014 in early fall.<\/p>\n<p>And last point I\u2019ll make \u2014 and I know you\u2019re tired of hearing me saying it, particularly \u2014 you may be tired of me saying it.  (Laughs.)  And that is that if we wear masks between now and the end of April, the experts tell us we can save 50,000 lives \u2014 50,000 people who otherwise would die. <\/p>\n<p>Thank you so very much. <\/p>\n<p>                              END                 4:14 P.M. EST<\/p>\n<p>Ne<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Good afternoon, folks. I\u2019m going to make some brief remarks, sign an executive order, and then take your questions, if that\u2019s okay with you all. Last week, we immediately got to work to contain the pandemic and deliver economic relief to millions of Americans who need it the most. 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