English subtitles for clip: File:President Biden Delivers Remarks on Efforts to Address Global Transportation Supply Chain Bottleneck.webm

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>> The President: Please, sit
down. Thank you.

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Well, good afternoon, everyone.
I know you're hearing a lot

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about something
called "supply chains"

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and how hard it is to get
a range of things

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from a toaster to sneakers to a
bicycle to bedroom furniture.

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And that's why,
back in February,

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I signed a piece of legislation
on supply chain --

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an executive order
on supply chains.

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And, well,
we had to move on it.

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And with the holidays coming up,
you might be wondering

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if the gifts you planned
to buy will arrive on time.

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Well, let me explain:
"Supply chains"

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essentially mean
how we make things

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and how the material and parts
get delivered to factory --

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a factory so we
can manufacture things

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and manufacture them here;
how we move things --

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how a finished product
moves from a factory,

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to a store, to your home.

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And today, we have
an important announcement

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that will get things
you buy to you,

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to the shelves faster.

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I'm joined by the executive
directors of the Ports

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of Los Angeles and Long Beach,
Gene Seroka and Mari- --

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Mario Cordero.
I miss- --

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I apologize, Mario.
That the -- and the president

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of the International
Longshoremen's Union,

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Willie Adams.

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Los Angeles and Long Beach

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are home to two of the largest
point -- ports in America.

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And together, these ports are
among the largest in the world.

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And the best way to make that
point is that 40 percent --

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40 percent
of shipping containers

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that we import into this country
come through these two ports.

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And today, we have
some good news:

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They're going to help speed up

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the delivery of goods
all across America.

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After weeks of negotiation
and working with my team

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and with the major union and
retailers and freight movers,

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the Ports of Los Angeles --

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the Port of Los Angeles
announced today

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that it's going to be --

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begin operating 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week.

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This follows the Port of
Long Beach's commitment

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to 24/7 that it announced
just weeks ago.

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Twenty-four/seven system --

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what most of the leading
countries in the world

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already operate on now,
except us, until now.

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This is the first key step
toward moving

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our entire
freight transportation

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and logistical supply chain,
nationwide, to a 24/7 system.

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And here's why it matters:
Traditionally, our ports

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have only been open
during the week --

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Monday through Friday --

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and they're generally closed
down at nights and on weekends.

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By staying open
seven days a week,

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through the night
and on the weekends,

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the Port of Los Angeles
will open --

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over 60 extra hours
a week it will be open.

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In total, that will almost
double the number of hours

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that the port is open for
business from earlier this year.

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That means an increase
in the hours for workers

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to be moving cargo off ships

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and onto trucks and railcars
to get to their destination.

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And more than that, the night
hours are critical

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for increasing the movement
of goods because highways --

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highways are less crowded
in the evening -- at night.

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In fact, during off-peak hours
in Los Angeles,

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cargo leaves the port
at a 25 percent faster pace

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than during the day shift.

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So, by increasing the number
of late-night hours of operation

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and opening up
for less-crowded hours

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when the goods can move faster,

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today's announcement has the
potential to be a gamechanger.

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I say "potential" because
all of these goods

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won't move by themselves.

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For the -- for the positive
impact to be felt all --

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all across the country
and by all of you at home,

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we need the major retailers

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who ordered the goods
and the freight movers

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who take the goods
from the ships to factories

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and to stores
to step up as well.

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These provi- -- these private
sector companies are the ones

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that hire the trucks
and railcars and move the goods.

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On this score, we have some
good news to report as well.

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Today, Walmart,
our nation's largest retailer,

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is committing to go all in
on moving this product --

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its products 24/7 from the ports
to their stores nationwide.

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Specifically,
Walmart is committing

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as much as a 50 percent increase

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in the use of off-peak hours
over the next several weeks.

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Additionally, FedEx and UPS,

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two of our nation's
biggest freight movers,

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are committing today
to significantly increase

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the amount of goods
they are moving at night.

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FedEx and UPS are the shippers

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for some of our nation's
largest stores,

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but they also ship for tens
of thousands of small businesses

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all across America.

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Their commitment to go all in
on 24/7 operations

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means that businesses
of all sizes

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will get their goods on shelves
faster and more reliably.

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Accordingly -- according to one 
estimate: Together, FedEx

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and UPS alone

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move up to 40 percent
of packages in America --

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up to 40 percent.

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And other companies
are stepping as well.

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They include Target,
Home Depot,

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and Samsung that have
all committed to ramp up

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their activities to utilize
off-peak hours at the ports.

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So, the commitments
being made today

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are a sign of major progress

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in moving goods from
manufacturers to a store

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or to your front door.

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I want to thank my Supply
Chain Disruptions Task Force,

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which we set up in June,

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led by Secretaries Buttigieg,
Raimondo, and Vilsack,

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and by my Director of National
Economic Council, Brian Deese.

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I want to thank them
for their leadership.

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And I especially want to thank
Joe [John] Porcari.

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And I think Joe [John]
has done one heck of job --

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my special envoy,
specifically on ports,

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who has been working
this issue

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with all of the stakeholders
for the past several weeks.

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I also want to thank
the port directors.

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I want to thank Gene
and Mario again

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and the mayors of Los Angeles
and Long Beach,

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Mayor Garcetti and Mayor Garcia,
for their leadership.

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And I think
the private companies

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that are stepping up --

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I want to thank them.
Thank them.

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But I particularly want
to thank labor:

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Willie Adams of the Longshoremen
and Warehouses Union,

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who is here today;
the Teamsters; the rail unions

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from the Brotherhood
of Railroad Signalmen;

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and the International
Association of Mechan- --

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of Machinists; to the American
Train Dispatchers Association;

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to Sheet Metal, Air, and Rail,

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and Transportation
Workers Union, known as "SMART."

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I want to be clear: This is
across-the-board commitment

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to going to 24/7.
This is a big first step

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in speeding up
the movement of materials

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and goods through
our supply chain.

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But now we need the rest
of the private sector chain

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to step up as well.

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This is not called
a "supply chain" for nothing.

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This means the terminal
operators, railways,

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trucking companies, shippers,
and other retailers as well.

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Strengthening our supply chains
will continue

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to be my team's focus.
If federal support is needed,

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I will direct
all appropriate action.

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And if the private sector
doesn't step up,

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we're going to call them out
and ask them to act.

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Because our goal is not only
to get through

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this immediate bottleneck,

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but to address
the longstanding weaknesses

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in our transportation
supply chain

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that this pandemic
has exposed.

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I might add, parenthetically:
One of the reasons

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why I think it's very important
that we get the --

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the infrastructure plan passed
-- my infrastructure plan --

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and that's the supply
chain system

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is almost entirely in the hands
of private business.

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The world has changed.

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Prior to the crisis,
we cheered, you know,

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the focus on lean,
efficient supply chains,

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leaving no buffer
or margin for error

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when it comes
to certain parts arriving

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just in time it's needed
to make a final product.

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And our administration --

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Barack and ours --
we -- that's when it was --

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"just in time" was the focus.

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We didn't have a pandemic
and other things at the time.

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We need to take a longer view,
though,

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that invests in building
greater resilience

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to withstand the kinds of shocks
we've seen over and over,

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year in and year out,

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whether it's the pandemic,
extreme weather, climate change,

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cyberattacks,
or other disruptions.

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In fact, research tells us
that a company can expect

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to lose over 40 percent
of one year's earnings

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every 10 years
due to supply-chain disruptions.

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A longer-term view means
we invest in systems

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that have more time built in
and in our ability

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to produce, innovate,
and partner with our allies.

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It also means companies
throughout the supply chain --

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like maritime, air freight,
and trucking companies --

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reduce their carbon emissions

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and help to meet
our climate change goals.

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It also means creating and
supporting good-paying jobs

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so folks want to stay
in these jobs,

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so they can build
the skills and careers

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and to make a decent living.

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It means more opportunities
to join a union,

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especially for truckers.

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These steps are critical.

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They allow companies to pivot
quickly when a disruption hits

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because they've invested
in their workers,

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their workers' skills,

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and training upfront
to be able to adapt.

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We need to invest in making more
of our products

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right here in the United States.

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Never again should our country
and our economy be unable

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to make critical products
we need

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because we don't have access to
materials to make that product.

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Never again should we have to
rely too heavily on one company

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or one country
or one person in the world,

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particularly when countries
don't share our values

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when it comes to labor
and environmental standards.

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I've said before: We're in comp-
--

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we're in the competition
for the 21st century.

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We are America. We still have
the most productive workers

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and the most innovative minds
in the world.

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But the rest of the world
is closing in,

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and we risk losing our edge
if we don't step up.

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In order to be globally
competitive,

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we need to improve our capacity
to make things here in America

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while also moving
finished products

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across the country
and around the world.

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We need to think big and bold.

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That's why I'm pushing for a
once-in-a-generation investment

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in our infrastructure

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and our people
with my infrastructure bill

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and my Build Back Better Act.

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These bills would transfor- --

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transform our ports --
there's million- --

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billions of dollars
for ports, highways,

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rail systems
that sorely need upgrading --

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and would bring products
faster and more efficiently

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from the factories,
to the store, to your house.

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Let me be clear: We're proposing
to make the biggest investment

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in ports
in our history.

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The bill would also
make investments

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in our supply chains
and manufacturing

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and strengthening our ability
to make more goods,

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from the beginning to end,
right here in America.

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The bottom line: We've seen
the cost of inaction

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in the pandemic

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in the delays and the congestion
that affect every American.

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But it's fully within
our capacity to act

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to make sure
it never happens again --

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it's going to take
a little time --

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and that we unlock the full
might and dynamism

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of our economy
and our people.

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That's what we're going to do.

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God bless you all.

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And may God bless
the longshoremen,

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rail workers, truckers,

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and all the workers who are
keeping our economy going.

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And may God
protect our troops.

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Thank you all so very much.