President Joe Biden and his granddaughter Natalie Biden deplane from Air Force One after arriving at Harry Reid International Airport Tuesday, March 14, 2023.
Tuesday, March 14, 2023 | 7:11 p.m.
President Joe Biden landed at Las Vegas' Harry Reid International Airport on Tuesday evening as he rounds out a West Coast swing where he is expected to announce new action to combat prescription drug prices.
Bookended by Metro Police cruisers and a cavalcade of other vehicles, the President was greeted by Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, U.S. Rep. Dina Titus — whose district includes the airport — and others as he deplaned from Air Force One. Biden did not take questions and rode away in the presidential limousine shortly after landing.
Sources told the Sun last week Biden had scheduled a trip this week to Nevada where he would officially designate Avi Kwa Ame a U.S. National Monument. That designation has since been put on hold, and it's currently unclear when Biden would make the declaration.
Ave Kwa Ame is a 450,000-acre site about 80 miles south of Las Vegas known colloquially as Spirit Mountain. Avi Kwa Ame is regarded as a sacred holy center of creation for 10 Tuman-speaking tribes, as well as the Hopi and Chemehuevi Paiute tribes.
Instead, Biden will speak Wednesday at UNLV about his administration's plan to lower prescription drug prices, according to an itinerary published by the White House.
In December, Biden hosted several dozen native tribes from across the country at the White House where he announced then the intention to give Avi Kwa Ame the national monument designation.
Beyond serving as the site of creation for the 12 above sites, Avi Kwa Ame also a gathering place to collect medicines and to trade with other tribes. It’s also part of the Salt Song Trail for Southern Paiute tribes, which tells the traditional life cycle of the Southern Paiute people.
Biden is allowed to declare any site he sees for as a national monument under authority given to him by the Antiquities Act signed into law in 1906. Once officially designated, Ave Kwa Ame will be Nevada’s fourth national monument.
After leaving the airport, Biden was en route to a Democratic National Committee fundraiser hosted in conjunction with Sun publisher Brian Greenspun. Details about the contents of his Wednesday speech at UNLV were not immediately available.
Biden's trip comes a day after meeting with the prime ministers Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom and Anthony Albanese of Australia to announce plans to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines, according to multiple media reports.
The deal entails the U.S. to share technology with the two nations, as Australian officials voice increasing concern over China's growing presence in the Indo-Pacific. The deal marks the first time since 1958 America has shared information about its nuclear-powered submarines.
