 will create opportunities for Americans to directly sponsor refugees from around the world arriving through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.
The Welcome Corps is the boldest innovation in U.S. refugee resettlement in four decades and will make a meaningful difference in the lives of refugees and Americans alike.
The Welcome Corps program is designated to strengthen and expand our country’s capacity to resettle refugees by harnessing the energy of private sponsors from all over the United States.
Local communities have long been at the heart of America’s resettlement program. And we have seen over the past year the overwhelming response of the American people to welcome our Afghan allies, Ukrainians displaced by war, and Venezuelans fleeing violence and oppression.
The Welcome Corps builds on this enthusiasm by establishing a durable program for Americans to privately sponsor refugees from around the world.
Groups of private sponsors will help refugees find housing and — and employment, enroll children in school, and connect with other essential services so they can thrive in their new home.
The State Department is working with a consortium of non-profit organizations with expertise in welcoming, resettling, and integrating refugees into U.S. communities to make this program a success. This Welcome Corps team will pro- — will guide private sponsors through every step of sponsorship journey.
Our goal for the program’s first year is to mobilize at least 10,000 Americans to step forward as private sponsors and offer a welcoming hand to at least 5,000 refugees.
I’m proud to share we’re already off to a strong start, thanks to the generosity and tremendous support of Americans across the country. Nearly 250 diverse organizations representing every sector, national and community-based service organizations, veterans’ groups, and a wide diversity of faiths have already joined in expressing their support for the program. More than 100,000 people have visited the Welcome Corps website since its launch this past Thursday, and over 10,000 people have signed up for more information.
And this week, Director of the Domestic Policy Council Ambassador Susan Rice and Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer will host a briefing with stakeholders to dicu- — discuss the Welcome Corps.
President Biden made a commitment to rebuild, enhance, and expand the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, and the Welcome Corps is one of the many ways in which we are doing this.
We encourage anyone who is indeed interested in sponsoring refugees to visit WelcomeCorps.org to learn more about the program.
Finally, we have a preview for some new travel on the President’s schedule for next week.
Next Monday, the President will travel to Baltimore, Maryland. And next Tuesday, he will travel to New York City to discuss how his economic plan, including his success bringing Republicans, independents, and Democrats together to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is strengthening America’s economic competitiveness, creating good-paying jobs, and proving that we can still do big things when we all work together.
In Baltimore, the President will discuss how Bipartisan Infra- — Infrastructure Law funding will replace the 150-year old Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel — as you — many of you have probably experienced and gone through during your — your outing in your cars — to address the largest bottleneck for commuters on the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C., and New Jersey.
In New York City, the President will discuss how Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for the Hudson River Tunnel project will improve reliability for the 200,000 passengers trips per day on Amtrak and New Jersey Transit.
Both projects will create good-paying jobs, including union jobs; lower commu- — commuting times; and enhance safety.
These two critical, important projects funded by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, much — much like the — the Brent Spence Bridge project connecting Ohio and Kentucky that the President visited just a few weeks ago, alongside Senator — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, along with thousands of other projects across the country, will make life better for people in communities nationwide.
During both visits, the President will also discuss how his economic plan to build an economy from the bottom up and the middle out is leading to billions of dollars in private sector investments in Maryland, New York, and across the country.
Q Thanks, Karine. Does the President or the Vice President have any plans to visit the community in Monterey Park in light of this weekend’s shooting?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No, that’s a good question. Don’t have anything to share at this time on any travel to California, specifically Monterey Park, at this time. But if we have — if that changes, certainly we will share that with all of you.
Q And then, over the weekend, there was a reporting that Ron Klain will be stepping down as Chief of Staff, being replaced by Jeff Zients. Can you confirm that? And when will that changeover be effective?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, I know many of you have a lot of questions on this. I know that you might have some — a lot of questions today on this particular story. I don’t have anything to preview or share or announce at this time.
I do want to take just a personal — pers- — point of personal privilege, as — when the President was senator would say. Look, Ron has been an incredible boss. 
And we are — many of us — and I think all of us here are a part of the “Klainiacs.” 
But he has been an incredible leader, an incredible boss, as I just stated. And we credit the President, as we should, for the impressive legislative successes, historic successes that the President has had the first two years. But in part, it was because of Ron’s leadership — incredible leadership that we were able to get that done.
So, again, don’t have anything to share with you all today at the — on this front.
But, again, Ron has been an incredible, incredible leader these past two years.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Feel free. I’m sure they won’t be shy to follow up.
Q — on Friday. The President, when the initial batch of documents were reported a couple of weeks ago, said he was “surprised” the documents — that there were classified documents down at the Penn Biden Center. Was he surprised that there was classified material found at his home on Friday, as well the prior discovery at his house a few weeks ago?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, again, there’s going to be a lot of questions on this. I know my colleagues from the White House Counsel’s Office has been pretty diligent on taking questions these last couple of days.
They’re going — there’s going to be a call in less — I think less than an hour or so from my — White House Counsel Office. And look, they’re going to answer the questions from — from — from here.
Any specifics, the Department of Justice — any specifics to this particular legal matter, I would refer you to the Department of Justice.
I’m going to continue to be prudent from here. I’m going to be — continued to be consistent and make sure that those questions go to my colleagues in the White House Counsel’s Office.
Q Another question on the documents. You have said, though, from this podium many, many times over the last two weeks that this President takes the handling of classified material very seriously. And yet, we continue to learn about more documents being found and discovered at his home, including now some that go back decades to his time in the Senate. So why should the American people believe that this President takes classified material seriously, and the handling of it?
And look, I think, as it relates to the American people and the President standing with the American people, it is going to be up to them to decide how they see this President.
Look, this is a President that came into office — 9 million people had lost their jobs, the unemployment rate was 6.3 percent, and hundreds of thousands of small businesses had closed their doors.
And in the past two years, we’ve created nearly 11 million jobs, the unemployment rate is at a record low at 50 — a 50-year record low. And the last two years were the best years for small businesses’ applications on record. We talked about that last week just from here.
The President has built the most significant legislative record since LBJ. Let’s not forget, there’s the CHIPS and Science Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure legislation. I just walked through what he’s going to see next week when he’s traveling to Baltimore and also New York City. The Inflation Reduction Act, which is going to deal with lowering costs.
So, the President has been in office for the last two years focusing on the American people, and, you know, we saw that. We saw what the American people had to say during the midterms.
As it relates — again, as it relates to this, as it relates to this ongoing legal matter, I would refer you to — to my colleagues at the White House Counsel. Again, they’re going to be speaking with all of you in just — in just less than an hour or so.
Q — with this investigation.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: That hasn’t — that hasn’t changed, Mary.
Q But given that, why then did it take several searches and the FBI coming in to uncover the full extent of the documents at his house?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I understand your question. I — I’ve said