The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
January 29, 2015

FACT SHEET: Promoting Prosperity, Security and Good Governance in Central America

Today, the Administration announced that the President will request an historic $1 billion as part of his Fiscal Year 2016 Budget to contribute to the evolution of an economically-integrated Central America that is fully democratic, provides greater economic opportunities to its people, promotes more accountable, transparent, and effective public institutions, and ensures the safety of its citizens.   

The President’s request aligns the resources necessary to help the leaders of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras implement systemic reforms that address the lack of economic opportunity, the absence of strong institutions, and the extreme levels of violence that have held the region back at a time of prosperity for the rest of the Western Hemisphere. 

While the United States is investing significant resources, the success of this effort will depend far more on the readiness of Central American governments to continue to demonstrate political will and undertake substantial political and economic commitments to bring about positive change in the region.  We are encouraged that the Central American governments – and the Northern Triangle countries in particular – have taken concrete actions to further this objective.  This includes developing their own Alliance for Prosperity Strategy – unveiled on November 14, 2014 at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) – that commits resources to advance strategic goals in sectors such as education, energy, tax regulation and business regulations.  They have also committed to promoting government accountability and reform and strengthening border management that will also focus on migration.  As agreed to at the IDB conference, Central America, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, international financial institutions, the private sector, civil society, and other international partners have committed to promote regional prosperity through a sustained, well-coordinated plan to address longstanding challenges to economic growth in the region. 

U.S. funding will support a whole-of-government approach to address three overarching lines of action: 1) Promoting prosperity and regional economic integration; 2) Enhancing security; and 3) Promoting improved governance. 

Prosperity and Regional Integration

The United States will provide over $400 million of the $1 billion to promote trade facilitation, promote transport and customs/border integration, promote more efficient and sustainable energy, reduce poverty, enhance workforce development, facilitate business development and help small businesses create jobs, link Central American and North American markets, and strengthen Central American regional institutions. 

Examples of current and planned activities include:

  • Agencies will provide the region with trade facilitation, trade capacity building, and technical support to promote efficient movement of goods across borders in a safe and secure framework, support integration of regional value chains, and strengthen competitiveness to grow trade and economic prosperity and work to improve workers’ rights and conditions.  The export of goods to the United States from CAFTA-DR countries increased 66.7 percent since 2005, totaling $30.1 billion in 2013.
  • The United States will continue to fund technical assistance to support electricity market integration, renewable energy development, power sector solvency, and resource planning to improve Central American citizens’ access to clean, affordable, and reliable electricity.  These efforts will help attract private investment in clean energy infrastructure and boost overall economic competitiveness. 
  • Bilateral technical and financial assistance will advance economic prosperity by reducing poverty, accelerating both business and rural development, improving education and workforce development, and strengthening resilience in the region.  These efforts will include support for creating business environments friendly to entrepreneurs and for job placement for at-risk youth to increase the resiliency of vulnerable communities as well as to provide alternatives to the illicit activities that contribute to insecurity and undermine effective governance.
  • The United States supports improved educational access and quality for under-served populations, including rural indigenous girls and boys in hundreds of rural schools, and expanded educational and vocational training opportunities for at-risk youth. 
  • Examples of additional complementary efforts as part of our whole-of government approach include:
    • Complementing our efforts, in September 2014, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) signed a $277 million Compact with El Salvador, designed to enhance the country’s competitiveness and productivity in international commerce through a set of interrelated projects in investment climate (including regulatory and institutional improvements), education, and logistical infrastructure. 
    • The Overseas Private Investment Corporation has significantly invested supporting development across the Northern Triangle and is standing by to provide investors and project developers with financing and risk mitigation tools to make investments in the Northern Triangle more attractive.  The U.S. Trade and Development Agency, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy, is also supporting the planning and development of priority energy and transportation infrastructure projects in Central America. 

Enhanced Security

The United States will advance regional security efforts by providing over $300 million to improve community security, promote police reform, continue defense cooperation, and attack organized crime.  Examples of ongoing and future activities include:

  • Continuation of the Central America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI), providing for security projects such as model police precincts (MPPs) in Guatemala, El Salvador, and most recently, in Honduras.  MPP projects, which have shown success in targeted Central American neighborhoods, provide police training, facilitate community engagement, and prioritize the crimes of most concern to Central American citizens:  gang extortion, robbery, and domestic violence. 
  • Preventing violence through Municipal Crime Prevention Committees that identify crime “hot spots” and implement community-led plans to improve security; working with faith-based organizations to provide at-risk youth with life skills, job training, and recreation activities; supporting civic groups to reclaim gang-controlled public spaces and improve basic infrastructure, such as street lights; and providing services at domestic violence assistance centers.
  • Developing investigative and prosecutorial capacity to successfully prosecute cases through assessments, training, judicial cooperation and exchanges.  Agencies are working with local counterparts to advance professional responsibility policies and procedures, and enhance collaboration among all parts of the criminal justice system, including police, courts, and corrections.  
  • Providing assistance to build partnerships that professionalize and improve the competency, capability, and accountability of security institutions, especially in the fight against transnational organized crime.  This is accomplished through activities that include professional education, tactical and operational training and exercises, human rights programs and institutional reform activities. 

Improved Governance

Nearly $250 million will strengthen institutions and enable governments to more effectively address the social, economic, political, and security problems they face.  These resources will allow the United States to continue partnering with Central American governments as they make necessary reforms to their own institutions, and will draw on the expertise of the U.S. agencies and other stakeholders in the hemisphere to advance the reforms necessary to ensure the long-term effectiveness and impact of U.S. assistance.  Our focus is to help Central American countries improve revenue collection and public sector fiscal management, increase the role and impact of civil society on governance, strengthen the efficiency, accountability, and independence of judicial institutions, reinforce democratic institutions, and target corruption.  The following are examples of U.S. cooperation to improve governance capacity:

  • The United States will help national and local governments to improve management of public funds; strengthen rule-of-law institutions to better administer justice, ensure due process, and protect human rights; and to increase local resilience to issues that can contribute to migration, especially stresses on rural agriculture.
  • Technical and material support to national and regional civil society networks, including traditionally excluded groups and organization, to build capacity to serve as watchdogs and advocate around public policy issues.  This will include technology to increase the capacity to document corruption, build monitoring and reporting networks and improve digital security of civil society organizations and the media.
  • Supporting Central American governments to create a competent civil service workforce that provides executive branch continuity and services to citizens to and help develop and modify current practices in delivering government services to reduce opportunities for corruption and to comply with international standards. 
  • Complementing these efforts, in December 2014, the MCC finalized a Threshold Program with Guatemala which will focus on policy and institutional reforms to improve the quality of secondary education, including technical and vocational education and training.  The program is expected to also help the government to mobilize additional revenues through more efficient tax administration and public-private partnerships.  In 2013, MCC and the Government of Honduras signed a $15.6 million Threshold Program Agreement designed to promote good governance practices in Honduras. 

The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
January 29, 2015

Op-Ed by the Vice President on the Administration’s Budget Request to Assist Countries in Central America

In an exclusive op-ed published in The New York Times, the Vice President announces the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget request for $1 billion aimed at assisting countries in Central America. The op-ed can be found HERE.

A Plan for Central America

By Vice President Joe Biden

As we were reminded last summer when thousands of unaccompanied children showed up on our southwestern border, the security and prosperity of Central America are inextricably linked with our own.

The economies of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras remain bogged down as the rest of the Americas surge forward. Inadequate education, institutional corruption, rampant crime and a lack of investment are holding these countries back. Six million young Central Americans are to enter the labor force in the next decade. If opportunity isn’t there for them, the entire Western Hemisphere will feel the consequences.

Confronting these challenges requires nothing less than systemic change, which we in the United States have a direct interest in helping to bring about. Toward that end, on Monday, President Obama will request from Congress $1 billion to help Central America’s leaders make the difficult reforms and investments required to address the region’s interlocking security, governance and economic challenges. That is almost three times what we generally have provided to Central America.

Last summer, as our countries worked together to stem the dangerous surge in migration, the leaders of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras asked for additional assistance to change the climate of endemic violence and poverty that has held them back. In June, I made it clear to these leaders that the United States was ready to support them — provided they took ownership of the problem. Mr. Obama drove home this point when the leaders visited Washington in July.

And they responded. Honduras signed an agreement with Transparency International to combat corruption. Guatemala has removed senior officials suspected of corruption and aiding human trafficking. El Salvador passed a law providing new protections for investors. Working with the Inter-American Development Bank, these three countries forged a joint plan for economic and political reforms, an alliance for prosperity.

These leaders acknowledge that an enormous effort is required. We have agreed to intensify our work together in three areas.

First, security makes everything else possible. We can help stabilize neighborhoods through community-based policing, and eradicate transnational criminal networks that have turned Central America into a hotbed for drug smuggling, human trafficking and financial crime. Some communities in Guatemala and El Salvador are already seeing the benefit of United States-sponsored programs on community policing, specialized police training and youth centers similar to Boys and Girls Clubs in the United States. As I learned in crafting the 1994 United States crime bill, these programs can reduce crime.

Second, good governance begets the jobs and investment that Central America needs. Today, court systems, government contracting and tax collection are not widely perceived as transparent and fair. These countries have among the lowest effective tax rates in the hemisphere. To attract the investments required for real and lasting progress, they must collect and manage revenues effectively and transparently.

Third, there is not enough government money, even with assistance from the United States and the international community, to address the scale of the economic need. Central American economies can grow only by attracting international investment and making a more compelling case to their citizens to invest at home. That requires clear rules and regulations; protections for investors; courts that can be trusted to adjudicate disputes fairly; serious efforts to root out corruption; protections for intellectual property; and transparency to ensure that international assistance is spent accountably and effectively.

We are ready to work with international financial institutions and the private sector to help these countries train their young people, make it easier to start a business, and ensure that local enterprises get the most out of existing free trade agreements with the United States.

The challenges ahead are formidable. But if the political will exists, there is no reason Central America cannot become the next great success story of the Western Hemisphere.

The region has seen this sort of transformation before. In 1999, we initiated Plan Colombia to combat drug trafficking, grinding poverty and institutional corruption — combined with a vicious insurgency — that threatened to turn Colombia into a failed state. Fifteen years later, Colombia is a nation transformed. As one of the architects of Plan Colombia in the United States Senate, I saw that the key ingredient was political will on the ground. Colombia benefited from leaders who had the courage to make significant changes regarding security, governance and human rights. Elites agreed to pay higher taxes. The Colombian government cleaned up its courts, vetted its police force and reformed its rules of commerce to open up its economy. The United States invested $9 billion over the course of Plan Colombia, with $700 million the first year. But our figures show that Colombia outspent us four to one.

The cost of investing now in a secure and prosperous Central America is modest compared with the costs of letting violence and poverty fester.

Mr. Obama has asked me to lead this new effort. For the first time, we can envision and work toward having the Americas be overwhelmingly middle class, democratic and secure.

That is why we are asking Congress to work with us. Together, we can help Central America become an embodiment of the Western Hemisphere’s remarkable rise — not an exception to it.

The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
January 28, 2015

Readout of the Vice President's Call with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko

Vice President Joe Biden spoke today with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The two leaders discussed the continued attacks in eastern Ukraine by Russian-backed separatists and the heavy toll that the Russian-backed offensive in the east was having on Ukraine's civilian population. The Vice President noted that as long as Russia continues its blatant disregard of its obligations under the Minsk agreements, the costs for Russia will continue to rise.

The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
January 27, 2015

Statement by the Vice President on International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau

Today, Jill and I join the American people in remembering the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust and the millions of Poles, Roma, LGBT people, and so many others whose lives were extinguished by the Nazi regime.  We honor the memories of those who died in the Holocaust.  And we pay tribute to the resilience of those who survived. Despite carrying with them for the rest of their lives the harrowing knowledge of man’s worst inhumanity to man, in ways large and small, Holocaust survivors have made this world a better place.  We have a special obligation to care for them, to preserve their stories, and to make sure a generation never arises in our midst that does not know what happened at Auschwitz. 

We mark this milestone at a moment when too many hearts in too many places are still full of the hatred that seeks to eliminate innocent life on the basis of religion, ethnicity, or identity.  Recent violent attacks against Jews in France and elsewhere in Europe make unmistakably clear that the scourge of anti-Semitism persists and must be confronted.  Tom Lantos, a Holocaust survivor who served with honor in the United States Congress, used to say, “The veneer of civilization is paper thin. We are its guardians. We can never rest.”   We have to reclaim the words “never again.”  It must be more than a lament.  It must remain our commitment.

The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
January 26, 2015

Remarks by Vice President Biden on the Caribbean Energy Security Initiative

State Department
Washington, D.C. 

2:33 P.M. EST

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Mr. Prime Minister, it’s a pleasure to be with you.  And, Fred, the Atlantic Council has done an incredible job, and you're continued focus and commitment matters and forces everyone else to focus.  And, Mack McLarty, an old, old friend, the Council of the Americas has been your -- how can I say it -- your passion for a long time.  And it’s very much appreciated.

Presidents, Prime Ministers, representatives from the international community, the private sector, and -- if you excuse, as we used to say when I was a senator, a point of personal privilege, Adrienne Arsht.  Where are you, Adrienne?  She is -- there you go.  This woman is a fellow Delawarean.  We grew up together.  She was seven; I was 21.  (Laughter.)  And she is following in the footsteps of her incredible parents in all the incredibly good things you've been doing, not the least of which is this Latin American Center you've set up.  Thank you, Adrienne.

As Fred said, this is not the first time we’ve gathered to discuss energy security.  And for years it’s sort of been the same story.  But I want to make a point at the outset here that is different.  I have been given -- how can I say it -- the authority to move this issue for us, but the President of the United States -- President Obama -- has made it absolutely clear that both the Caribbean and Central America energy and security are, in fact, primary issues for us.

My dad used to have an expression.  He said, if everything is equally important to you, nothing is important to you.  This is extremely important to us.  It’s overwhelmingly in the interest of the United States of America that we get it right, and that this relationship changes for the better across the board.  So I want you to know that the combination of those two issues is -- are paramount issues with us, equal to anything else we are doing around the world.  And we are engaged a great deal, as you know.

And this is also a very propitious moment.  I was mentioning this to the Prime Minister.  The vice president of the IMF is here.  And the IMF has made projections about growth in GDP around the world.  And the United States is projected to be one of those areas of the world that is going to grow, and grow significantly at 3.5 percent or more.

The reason I say that is the combination of that, plus low oil prices, plus the plummeting costs of renewable energy gives us a moment, a window here where we will get significant support from the American public because we are doing better to invest more overseas and overseas is just across the water into the Caribbean.  We are in a position that I think we should understand there’s a sense of urgency that we take advantage of the opportunities.  We had great discussions downstairs, and you're going to have more here before we leave.

The fact is for years it has been the same.  Economies squeezed by the high cost, making companies less competitive, crowding out other investments in the future of your countries; citizens in your countries demanding more affordable supply; expressing their discontent when they hear about investments they don't seem to see any results in; governments dependent on a single, increasingly unreliable, external supplier. Not just here, but in Europe and other parts of the world, as well.

And whether it’s the Ukraine or the Caribbean, no country should be able to use natural resources as a tool of coercion against any other country.

Energy developers come to your door with exciting ideas.  But somehow deals fall apart when it comes to finding the financing.  Many of you feel you can’t tolerate the rise in energy prices, given the little space you have to make reforms you know you need to make.  But this is an opportunity.

That's been the story, but it doesn't need to remain that way.  Ladies and gentlemen, when it comes to energy, we’re living in a new moment –- not just in the Caribbean, but worldwide. 

Sometimes it took -- I can recall when I was a younger senator and we’d talk about the Information Age.  By the time we’d caught up to the Information Age, it had already passed government.  It had already moved well beyond.

You can talk about that in every state.  The question is, how do governments keep up with fundamental changes that are taking place in the world?  So it’s up to us to seize this moment and seize it together because a great deal has changed.

Let’s start with oil prices, now under $50 a barrel.  This gives governments a little space to breathe, and it’s likely it’s going to remain relatively low for at least the near term, the next several years.  There’s an old saying:  The best time to fix a roof is when the sun is shining.  The best time to fix a roof is when the sun is shining.  The sun is shining now figuratively speaking.  The time is now.

Renewable energy is affordable.  We heard discussions downstairs just how radically the cost has been reduced for renewable energy and how it is producing competitive per-kilowatt hours. 

The cost of developing wind and solar energy has fallen by 50 percent just in the last four years.  We’re starting to see those technologies outcompete real coal, oil-fired generation in places like Brazil without any subsidies at all.

We have technologies in natural gas that are moving forward.  And we shouldn’t expect this to be a panacea for everyone, but it’s also true there are more options at your disposal now for natural gas delivery than there have ever been -— from small-scale barge trades of LNG, to floating import terminals.  And they're not just -- these aren’t just designs on paper.  They exist.  They operate.

You can now purchase gas on the open market from many countries, including your neighbor, Trinidad and Tobago right now.  There’s also LNG exporters in the United States with licenses to export to any of your countries, whether you have a free trade agreement or not.  If you want gas, go talk to them. 

Meanwhile, we’re in the midst of a seismic shift in the global economy:  the ascendancy of the Americas as the epicenter of energy production in the world.  We have more oil and gas rigs running in the United States, than all the rest of the world combined.  Mexico, Canada and the United States is the new epicenter of energy -- not the Arabian Peninsula.  It is the new epicenter of energy in the 21st century. 

An integrated North America, working to promote energy security beyond our borders can be a major asset for the entire hemisphere.  And it’s profoundly in the self-interest of the United States to see the Caribbean countries succeed as prosperous, secure, energy-independent neighbors -— not a world apart, but an integral part of the hemisphere, where every nation is middle class, democratic and secure.  It’s the first time in history that can be envisioned.  You can see it if we make the right decisions.

So taken together, these changes create a moment of energy opportunity that hasn’t existed.  Progress is possible.  And it’s possible to begin now -- not a decade from now, but now.  And that’s what we’ve discussed in our meetings today.  You can set up an electric sector that uses geothermal energy, hydropower, and other sources to give the system stability. 

You can max out your use of renewable energy resources like wind, solar, and biomass, diversifying your supply, keeping your foreign reserves in the bank where you need them.  You can leverage energy efficiency in every sector, shrinking the amount of energy you need to keep your economy humming.

Some people out there think that it can’t be done in the Caribbean.  They’re dead wrong.  They are dead wrong.  Not only can it be done, it is being done right now with some of your neighbors. 

Look at what the U.S. Virgin Islands are doing:  They’re combining renewable energy with propane to lower costs, and secure their supply, saving ratepayers 30 percent on electric bill, while at the same time reducing greenhouse gas emissions
from the fossil fleet by 12 percent.

Solar photovoltaic facilities at the -- at the Cyril E. King Airport that the Port Authority is saving nearly $1,000 a day.  That’s real money.

Aruba, which united its government, the utilities, and businesses behind a common strategy and action plan, has now brought enough renewable energy online to satisfy 30 percent of their demand, and may even reach 40 percent by the end of this year.  That’s demonstrable progress.  It’s happening now.

St. Lucia is breaking down the barriers to develop new investments in geothermal energy and is creating new legislation to create a national regulatory body for energy to stabilize the rules of the game and make investments more attractive to those of you who are energy suppliers here in the room.

Barbados has long been the leader in solar technology, and is poised to make major new investments in renewables.

Progress is practical, it is possible, and it is profitable.   Significant improvements are within reach for just about every one of your countries.  And as I said before, not a decade away.  Now.  Right now. If, and it’s a big if, you can summon within your systems the political will to seize the promise of this new moment. 

Because, as we learned, real and lasting progress toward energy security everywhere in the world depends more than just on spending money.   Because over the last 10 years, tens of millions of dollars have been pledged and invested.  But we don’t have nearly enough to show for it.

So it can’t just be about money.  It has to be about doing business the right way.  Government money and targeted international aid can and must be available -- is helpful, but the private sector is where the money is.

That’s why the primary goal of this summit isn’t to put up another solar panel, or sign another gas contract.  It’s to help you create the conditions where your countries can attract private-sector investment.  And it’s there.  They're ready.  From hedge funds to private energy companies.  This may not be easy, but it’s also not a mystery how it works.  The geography may be different.  The size and scales of each of your countries may vary.  But there are certain core ingredients that remain the recipe for success moving toward energy independence.

First and foremost, you have to deal with corruption.  You need to be choosing projects because they’re the most competitive -— not for other reasons.  You need update and modernize not just the physical infrastructure, but your institutions and regulations.  Rules need to be clear, transparent, and fair.  Many of you are already doing that and way ahead of the curve.

Enforcement needs to be predictable under the rule of law.  Courts need to adjudicate disputes fairly.  You can’t bankrupt yourself on subsidies.  Utilities need to be financially viable.  It helps if you can harmonize your regulatory frameworks -– so that businesses can look to invest in an entire region, rather than just in a single country -- trying to navigate the unique regulations of every country in the region.

We need to talk to the stakeholders, from utilities, to generators, to consumers, to articulate a common vision and create a system that works to realize that vision.

We need to have the political will to take on entrenched interests, to better serve our people.  Some of you have been told differently.  You’ve been promised easy solutions over the years.  But if there were easy solutions and fixes, there would have already been found by now. 

We’ve learned that the countries that fare the best are those willing to roll up their sleeves and put everything on the table.  They take a determined and holistic approach, with an eye to the long-term.  And they make it a paramount priority to attract private investment.  This is not either-or.  It’s all of the above -- concessional loans, international development banks, private sector.  All the above.

And I can promise you this:  If you commit -- and I believe you all are committing -- to these goals, to this process, all of us here will work to support you.   We’re prepared.  I guarantee you we will do our part.  And we can afford it.  But we’re not going to waste money.  We’re going to insist on
considerably more transparency, greater coordination, and changes in the regulations.

We’re not here to replace one flawed financing scheme with another.  The United States and the international community
can and will do -- and we’ll be involved.  We can help.  We can make it less difficult but necessary steps take a quantum leap toward energy security -- the necessary steps that I’ve referenced and others.

And there’s a lot we can do –- some of which I spoke about in June in the Dominican Republic.  In some cases, we can help provide financing.  The U.S. government is in the process of establishing a team, a beefed-up team of Overseas Private Investment Corporation, known as OPIC, devoted entirely to the Caribbean.  In the past most of our effort has been developing in other parts of the world.  But this new focus, we have taken on in a shorthanded agency, an entirely new team to ensure that we focus on the Caribbean, to ensure projects can be connected to financing.

And today, OPIC will disburse its first installment, $90 million, for 34 Mega-Watt wind project by Blue Mountain Renewables in Jamaica.  When construction begins in June, it will be a tangible example of what can be achieved when the public and private sector in both countries work together to meet this challenge and meet it head on.

The United States and the international community can also provide technical assistance to help countries attract investment in your energy sectors.   USAID announced a $10 million program to supply energy investments in Jamaica; the U.S. Trade and Development Agency has announced three new grants to support clean energy in the Dominican Republic.  We’re also looking at similar projects in other parts of the region.

We can help.  We can help you build a more comprehensive model as we are working to do so -- and we're doing that as I speak, we're doing it with the government of Grenada.  This is an effort to show what is possible.  We’re willing to work with all of you.  But we have to be focused.  We can help come -- we can help convene all of us around the table to discuss and coordinate more effectively -- as I promised to do last summer, and as we are doing today, and we’ll move on beyond today.

I’ve spoken at length about what success requires from you. 
Let me speak about how, the United States and the donor countries, need to change the way we do business, as well.

We all want to invest in this new future in the Caribbean. 
Everyone is well-intentioned.  I know it’s easier in the short run to go out and cherry pick, to do a series of one-off projects.  But to be effective over the longer term, that has to change.

We donors and investors need to talk to one another.  It’s important that international financial institutions are more coordinated and more focused.  We need one central fora to make sure our various efforts are aligned and achieve maximum impact in the region.  That's our responsibility.  We have not done that thus far for you.

I promised last summer that we’d work within the international financial institutions and with others to do a better job in this coordination.  The goal of this meeting today is to walk away with an agreement to create a coordinating mechanism that will maximize energy programs in the region.  We support the World Bank’s proposal to create this and we hope you’ll join us in offering your support, as well.

These countries’ and institutions’ presence here at this meeting is encouraging -- an encouraging sign.  Now it’s important that we back up all we’ve talked about with some real, genuine action.  Because imagine what will happen if, together, we finally get this right.

You, the countries of the Caribbean, have a chance at the supply of energy that’s more resilient, more sustainable, cleaner, more affordable than you have ever, ever had.

You have a chance to reduce the number of oil spills, protect your waters, put the money you are saving into schools, hospitals, jobs, infrastructure, and manufacturing.  You have a chance to harness the natural wealth of your countries; to find and fuel your economies and save your people money; free up your government budgets and without the burden of insecure supplies of energy; to expand what is possible for the citizens of the Caribbean in the century ahead.

A lot of work lies ahead.  I’m not Pollyannaish about this.  I know there’s a lot of work.   But we have a chance.

And I’d like to conclude in the words with -- I was kidding my colleagues earlier today about Irish poets.  And my good friend from Trinidad and Tobago said, you know we have a Nobel laureate.  I’m going to send you his poems.  But there’s an Irish poet Seamus Heaney.  He wrote a poem called “The Cure at Troy.”  And there’s a paragraph -- there’s a stanza in that poem that applies to where I think we all find ourselves today.  He said:

History teaches us don’t hope
on this side of the grave,
but then once in a lifetime,
the longed-for tidal wave of justice can rise up,
and hope and history rhyme.

We’ve got a chance.  We got a chance to make hope and history rhyme here in terms of your economies.  And the single-biggest burden that could be lifted from you right now, economically, is the cost of energy and the dependence that you still have on single suppliers.  That's what we can do.  It can change everything.

And I know all of you I met with today are competent, committed leaders in your country.  You all have the interests of your people at heart.  We share your desire.  We're going to try our best to be the best partner we can possibly be in order to have you reach the objective that is within your reach, energy independence in the Caribbean.

So I thank you all for making the trip here.  I’ll close where I began our early morning meeting.  This meeting was planned for Miami.  But it’s all the fault of Colombia that we're not there.  (Laughter.)  And I want to explain why. The Miss Universe Pageant took place -- (laughter) -- seriously, and all the rooms were taken up.  That's because I guess the Colombians knew they were going to beat the American and end up with the runner-up being an American and Miss Universe being Miss Colombia.  So I understand that.  I understand that.  (Laughter.)  But that's the reason you're in the snow.  That's the reason you're in the snow.  (Laughter.)

Thanks for making the effort to be here.  Love you.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

END
2:55 P.M. EST

The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
January 24, 2015

Readout of the Vice President’s Call with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko

Vice President Joe Biden spoke today with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko about the situation in eastern Ukraine. The Vice President condemned the attacks and violence in eastern Ukraine initiated by Russia-backed separatists who have launched a military offensive against various cities and towns in the region. The Vice President and President Poroshenko expressed grave concern over Russia's blatant disregard for its commitments under the September Minsk agreement and unilateral escalation of the conflict, and agreed to work with international partners to ensure that the costs continue to rise on Russia for its aggressive actions against Ukraine. The Vice President expressed his condolences for the tragic loss of life in Mariupol and elsewhere in eastern Ukraine. 

The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
January 22, 2015

Statement by the Vice President on the Death of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz

Jill and I were saddened to learn of the passing of King Abdullah.  We extend our sympathies to his family in their moment of loss.

King Abdullah’s death is a great loss for his country.  It is hard to distinguish him from Saudi Arabia itself.  Over many decades, he played an outsized role in building his country.

Over the years, I have come to know King Abdullah.  I always appreciated his frankness, his sense of history, his pride in his efforts to move his country forward, and his steadfast belief in the U.S.-Saudi relationship. 

In the coming days, I will be leading a Presidential delegation representing the United States to pay our respects and offer condolences to King Abdullah’s family and nation. 

The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
January 22, 2015

Statement by the Vice President on the Passing of Wendell Ford

Jill and I were very sorry to hear of the passing of Senator Wendell Ford. 

He was one of the most effective legislative leaders I’ve ever worked with throughout my entire career. His philosophy was summed up when he said, “why make a speech when you can sit down with your colleagues and work something out?”

He always took care of Kentucky, but never lost sight of the fact that he represented all of America.

During Wendell’s time in the Senate, he helped bring greater transparency to government, greater safety to the airlines, and greater access to the polls.

It was thanks to his leadership as Whip that the Violence Against Women Act passed in 1994 as part of the Biden Crime Bill, changing the lives of so many women and men in this country and around the world.

On a personal note, Senator Ford has been an important part of our family for a long time. He gave Sara Jones Biden, from Owensboro, Kentucky, her first job on the Hill when she graduated from Duke Law School, and that’s how she met my brother Jimmy.

Last May, Jill had the honor of speaking at Owensboro Community College in Wendell’s hometown, and it was clear that his legacy will long outlive him in Owensboro, in Kentucky, and across the United States.

Wendell was an extremely effective senator and a great personal friend whose advice I sought long after he had left the Senate. I will miss him.

Our thoughts are with Jean, Steve, and Shirley during this difficult time. He was a good man.

The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
January 22, 2015

Readout of Vice President Biden's Drop-By with a Visiting Delegation from Iraq’s Anbar Province

Today, Vice President Biden dropped by White House Coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf Region Phil Gordon’s meeting with a delegation of Iraqi tribal and provincial leaders from Anbar Province.  The delegation includes Anbar Governor Sohaib Al-Rawi, Sheikh Abu Risha, President of the Iraq Awakening Council, and representatives of the Anbar Provincial Council and Sunni Endowment.  The Vice President recognized the courage of all Iraqis on the frontlines of the fight against ISIL, and he expressed support for the Iraqi government’s efforts to enlist fighters from all of Iraq’s communities to help reconstitute Iraq’s security forces.  The Vice President  encouraged the delegates to continue to work constructively with Prime Minister Abadi and the Iraqi government on these important efforts to forge a durable security for Iraq.  The Vice President expressed his personal sympathies to Sheikh Abu Risha for the recent cowardly attack by ISIL on the Sheikh’s family compound.   The Vice President underscored the United States’ steadfast support for the people of Iraq and their government in the fight against ISIL.

The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
January 21, 2015

Readout of the Vice President’s Meeting with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop of Australia

The Vice President met with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop of Australia today at the White House. The Vice President and the Foreign Minister discussed a range of regional and global issues. The Vice President thanked the Foreign Minister for Australia’s significant contributions to counter the threat posed by ISIL and help Iraq strengthen its security forces. The Vice President and the Foreign Minister agreed on the strategic and economic value of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the importance of continuing to work together to conclude TPP negotiations as quickly as possible.