JUDY WOODRUFF: Let's dig deeper
now into President Biden's
executive actions today.
And, for that, we're
joined by Susan Rice, his
domestic policy adviser.
Susan Rice, so good
to see you again.
Welcome back to the "NewsHour."
We heard from Yamiche Alcindor's
reporting earlier in the
program about the memoranda,
executive actions the president
is taking around equity, a
number of these similar to
what President Obama rolled out
early in his administration.
That was 12 years ago, and
even echoes of
President Clinton.
Tell us how what is going
on now is different.
SUSAN RICE, White House Domestic
Policy Adviser: Well, Judy,
it's good to be with you.
I served in the Clinton
administration, the Obama
administration, and now
the Biden administration.
And I can tell you
that, while each of the
previous administrations
that were Democratic
worked to advance racial equity
and justice, what we have
seen in the last week and the
first week of the Biden
presidency is something quite
different and unprecedented.
President Biden on his first
day in office implemented an
executive order that will embed
racial justice and
equity in everything the
federal government does,
from how it collects
data, to how it allocates
resources, to how
it assesses where we
currently stand on matters
of civil rights and racial
equity. And it will hold each
agency accountable for its
results. We have never
done that before.
And, today, beyond his
whole-of-government, interagency
commitment to ensuring that we
put justice and equity
front and center for
everything, he rolled out
a number of additional
executive actions that will be
beneficial for a wide range of
Americans, combating xenophobia,
for example, against Asian
Americans and Pacific
Islanders, who faced so
much vitriol and animosity
and even hate crimes resulting
from previous leaders' attempts
to target them in the context
of COVID.
He instituted a very important
housing regulation that will --
or -- excuse me -- order that
would lead to new housing
regulations, quite
likely, that would roll
back what Donald Trump
did to try to prevent
full implementation of
the Fair Housing Act.
So, there were many actions
today, combined what he did
last week. But, Judy, this is
not the end of what we intend
to do. This is six days in.
We have a great deal more
to do on all aspects
of equity and justice.
The other thing I would
mention is that the...
JUDY WOODRUFF: And so...
SUSAN RICE: Sorry. Go ahead.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Yes, I was just
going to say, so, for Americans
watching this, what tangible
changes are they going
to see from this?
SUSAN RICE: Well, the first and
most important thing, and what
President Biden spent a great
deal of time today talking
about, is, we don't
just invest in equity
and racial justice out
of moral purpose, as
significant as that may be.
We do it because it benefits
every single American, not
just one group or another. You
know, there have been important
studies that have been recently
conducted by economists,
including at Citi, which have
indicated that, if we can close
the racial gap in income and
opportunity, all Americans
stand to benefit.
We will add $5 trillion to the
economy over five years and
create six million new jobs
for everybody. So, this work
is the business of making all
Americans do better, because,
when some of us are suffering,
and the gaps are so huge, it
actually drags us all down.
So, what we will do that is
different is to make sure
that, when we have new policies
and programs, that
we're thinking about how
they can be beneficial
broadly. So, for example,
in the president's American
Rescue Plan, his COVID relief
package, there are things this
there that benefit all
Americans, raising unemployment
benefits and extending them,
making sure that we have up to
$2,000 to all those who need it.
But there are many steps in
there that will benefit those
at the lower-income scale and
lift half of American children
out of poverty and reduce
overall poverty by 30 percent.
So, this is beneficial
to everybody.
JUDY WOODRUFF: What do you say
to some conservatives, like the
columnist Andrew Sullivan -- and
I'm quoting from him -- he's
accusing the president in one
of the things he wrote -- of
culture war aggression.
And he went on to say, the
president's focus on equity, he
said, "would give named identity
groups a specific advantage
and treatment by the federal
government over other groups."
SUSAN RICE: What I would
say to that is that is
a false characterization
of what is going
on. We are not giving
anybody an advantage.
We are giving everybody
an equal, level playing
field, or that's what we aim
to do, because the history
in this country is, there has
not been a level playing field
for many Americans, not just of
Black and brown Americans and
people of color, but people
in rural areas who have been
left behind, people in urban
and suburban areas, disabled
Americans, religious
minorities, LGBTQ Americans.
And the reality is, it
is holding us all back.
So, rather than look at
this through a divisive
prism of zero sum, if it's good
for them, it has to be bad for
me, that's not the American
way, and that's not how
we all grow and prosper.
We have to recognize that we're
in this boat together. We sink
or swim together. And when
we have a leak in the boat
and people are at risk,
it puts all of us at risk.
So, it's not about advantaging
one group over another. It's
making sure that we all begin
at the same place and
have the chance to fulfill
our God-given potential.
JUDY WOODRUFF: I ask because
Andrew Sullivan went on to say,
you don't unite the country
by dividing it along what
he calls these deep and
inflammatory issues of identity.
SUSAN RICE: Well...
JUDY WOODRUFF: And, as you
know, there are Republicans
saying the focus on equity is
pointing a finger at
Republicans, saying
they are racist.
SUSAN RICE: Well, that is
absolutely not the case.
And, as President Biden
said today, he believes
and most religions
teach us that we have to
look out for one another,
and that we believe
that most Democrats,
Republicans, and independents
believe that we are all
human beings of equal
dignity and equal worth,
and we have to respect
that.
But it's a bit rich, frankly,
for Republicans to suggest that,
by trying to lift up everybody,
we are dividing America, when
we just had four years of
the most divisive, vitriolic
presidency that one
can imagine, and that
division was a political
strategy. And, thankfully,
it hasn't worked, because
it is not what the
American people want.
They want us to come together.
They want us to value each
other. They want us to find
common ground. And contrary to
the notion that somehow this
divides us, by recognizing
that we all have inherent
dignity and worth, that
we're all worthy of
respect and opportunity,
we're reaching out
hands to one another and
lifting each other up.
That's the America that makes
the American dream accessible
to not just the few, but
the many. And that's
what we want to be.
JUDY WOODRUFF: One very brief
final question. Will there be
government funds that go into
supporting these new policies?
SUSAN RICE: Yes, absolutely.
For example, in the COVID
relief package, which we call
the American Rescue Plan, there
are funds there for all
Americans, but funds
that will benefit people
who have been left
behind as well and people of
different backgrounds and races,
of all backgrounds and races.
But the reality is, yes, there
will be money for child tax
credits, for the Earned Income
Tax Credits, for vaccines, so we
can get vaccines in everybody's
arms, not just those with access
to information and resources.
And the COVID crisis is
a perfect illustration of
the fact that we are all
in this boat together.
We are not going to recover from
this crisis if our essential
workers, our front-line workers,
from meatpackers to restaurant
workers to hospital workers,
are suffering, because we
all rely on them to keep
our economy afloat and to
keep our lives working.
We need to get our kids
all back in school.
That's not a Democratic
or Republican imperative.
That's a national
imperative. So, this
package and these resources
serve us all. And we will
make those investments
because they are in our
shared benefit and interest.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Susan Rice, who
is President Biden's domestic
policy adviser, I know we
will want to be checking in with
you as the weeks and months go
by to see how these policies
are progressing.
Thank you so much.
SUSAN RICE: Thank you, Judy.