So, we did it last year. And so, we're confident that Congress could do it again.
Go ahead.
Q Thanks, Karine. At this hour, there's a report that Gina McCarthy, the President's Climate Advisor, is stepping down. Is there anything more you can tell us about that?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yes, she is stepping down. Gina is - is indeed leaving us. She, as you know, has been a leader in what we have seen as one of the largest investments in dealing with climate change.
She is a - not the first time that she's been in an administration, and we are very sad to lose her. We will have more to share, I'm sure, in an upcoming - in the upcoming hours.
But just to give a little bit of Gina, she's a public service - has a extended decades across local and state and federal government, including as EPA Administrator in the Obama-Biden administration. And she returned - she returned to public service recognizing the unique moment and eager to support the President at the beginning of this administration, especially as she sought to launch the first-ever Climate Policy Office and 20 - 21-plus agency task force to advance a whole-of-government approach to the climate crisis.
And so, we'll have more to share. But, yes, that is something that I can confirm.
Q I want to ask you about something else. Yesterday, the Defense Department released a pretty disturbing report on the number of sexual assault incidents in the military. This report indicated an increase in, in particular, female servicemembers, who said that they have experienced unwanted sexual contact, and a decrease in the women who say that they trust the system to protect their privacy, trust the system to safe - ensure their safety, and trust the system to treat them with dignity and respect.
Has the President been presented with this report? And does he have confidence in the Defense Department's leadership to address these concerns?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I can tell you that the President - this is a priority for the President, as you know. You've heard from him about this before. One sexual assault is one too many. And the President has been clear about making sure we implement real change to - to rid our ranks of this crime.
That is why he signed an executive order in January 2022 making sexual harassment a named military offense, and it's why his fiscal year '23 budget request proposed $940 million for sexual assault prevention and response programs, including $479 million and more than 2,400 personnel to implement the recommendations of the Independent Review Commission.
And for the first time in military history, beginning in December of next year, investigations and prosecutions of sexual assault and harassment will be taken out of the chain of command and placed in the hands of the independent special counsel.
We understand there's more work to do, of course. And as this new data demonstrates, addressing the scourge of sexual assault in the military will continue to be a priority for the Department of Defense and this administration, and we're going to continue to do the work.
I'm going to take - I'm going to take one more question because we actually have to go.
Q Thank you. I just wanted to follow up on the oil price cap. Could you say when that will be unveiled?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I can say this: You know, we believe the price cap will be successful in our goals of substantially curbing Russia's main source of revenue and lowering energy costs because it offers multiple ways to achieve our goals.
As far as any timing or timeline, as I said moments ago that the U.S. Treasury will have more on that, so I'd point you to them. But we do believe this is an important big step forward.
Q Quickly, on the Iran deal. Are the main sticking points the closure of the IAEA probe and some kind of guarantees for foreign companies that if the U.S. were to leave the deal again, there would be like a wind-down period for contracts?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, let me just give you a little bit on the status of this. So, you know, we have taken a deliberate and principled approach to these negotiations from the start. And, you know, if - if Iran is prepared to comply with this - with its commitments under the 2015 deal, then we are prepared to do the same.
And so, you know, that's going to be our focus. As it - as it relates to the IAEA investigations, the safeguards, our position is crystal clear. Iran needs to answer - it's crystal clear the investigations are not political. They are not leverage or bargaining chips.
Once the IAEA Director General reports to the Board of Governors that the outstanding issues have been clarified and resolved, we expect them to come to - come off the board's agenda, and not before.
We are unbending in our support for the IAEA's independence. There should not be any conditional -conditionality between reimplementation of the JCPOA and investigations related to Iran's legal obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. And, of course, it would be preferable to return to the JCPOA without any open safeguard issues. The power to achieve that is fully in Iran's hands.
I'll take one from the back.
(Cross-talk by reporters.)
Q Karine, can I ask you a quick follow-up on Ethiopia?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I'm not sure if I have any more on Ethiopia.
Q Thank you, Karine. President Biden - President Biden laid out last night the problems that the country is facing: divisions, extremism, polarization. What is his message to adversaries who - around the world - who are looking at this and trying to leverage the division in the country, and also allies who are dismayed at the state of democracy in the U.S.?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So it's the same message he has sent to the world since before January 6, about sacrosanct democratic norms and the importance of standing up for democracy as authoritarianism rises around the world. And so, the same message. Nothing is new.
This is opposite of partisan and about values - much, much bigger, much bigger, much higher than that. And that's - and that's him working to strengthen democracy in the world. That's what he's going to continue to do.
Thanks, everybody.
END 1:11 P.M. EDT
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE
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