总统乔·拜登周五，我在白宫欢迎了日本首相菅义伟，这是他担任总统期间第一位亲临白宫的外国领导人。

拜登在玫瑰园的一次正式新闻发布会上说:“我非常感谢有机会与你面对面交流想法。”“面对面的讨论是无可替代的。”

这次访问结束了总统为期一周的重大外交决策，宣布了所有美国军队会离开阿富汗到9月11日实施广泛的制裁俄罗斯那边选举干涉、黑客和其他“有害的外国活动”

但它也紧随最近的致命集体拍摄周四晚上，一名19岁的枪手在印第安纳波利斯的联邦快递公司杀死了8人。

拜登在一份声明中说:“昨晚和印第安纳波利斯的早上，家庭不得不再次等待听到他们所爱的人的命运的消息。”。“多么残酷的等待和命运，已经变得太正常了，每天都在我们国家的某个地方发生。”

安德鲁·哈尔尼克/美联社

美国总统乔·拜登和日本首相菅义伟在

拜登下令白宫降半旗，这是他在总统任期内第三次大规模拍摄，也是在他下台一周后有限的行动解决国内的枪支暴力问题。周五下午，当在玫瑰园被问及是否有必要重新安排他的立法议程的优先次序，并将枪支改革置于他目前对基础设施的推动之前时，他变得越来越防御性，他说，“在完成之前，我不会放弃。”

拜登说:“我从来没有不优先考虑这个问题。“没有人比我更努力地处理个人使用武器时使用的暴力。”

民主党控制的众议院已经通过了两项枪支管制法案拜登敦促参议院“采取行动”，重申他支持普遍背景调查和其他改革。

“我强烈敦促我在国会的共和党朋友们现在就提出来，他们甚至拒绝提出众议院通过的法案，”他说。“这已经结束了。这是国家的尴尬。”

菅义伟在当天早些时候的一次会议上也谈到了最近的枪击事件。

“我想向受害者表示哀悼，向受害者家属表示同情，”他说。"无辜的公民不得遭受任何此类暴力。"

最近的昆尼皮亚克民意测验发现89%的美国人支持要求对所有枪支购买者进行背景调查，这在共和党人中也同样高，为84%。

安德鲁·哈尔尼克/美联社

乔·拜登总统在国家餐厅会见日本首相菅义伟

在一整天的会谈中，两位领导人说他们讨论了许多问题，包括新冠肺炎(新型冠状病毒肺炎)流行病、气候变化以及他们如何应对来自朝鲜和中国的挑战。

拜登说:“我们将共同努力，证明民主国家在21世纪仍然能够竞争和获胜。”。“面对快速变化的世界，我们可以为我们的人民提供帮助。”

拜登此前与加拿大总理举行了虚拟双边会议贾斯廷·特鲁多墨西哥总统安德烈斯·曼努埃尔·洛佩斯·奥布拉多尔和爱尔兰总理米歇尔·马丁

President Biden urges Senate to 'step up and act' on gun reform

PresidentJoe Bidenwelcomed Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to the White House on Friday, making it the first in-person foreign leader to visit during his presidency.

"I greatly appreciate the chance to spend time with you in person and to make our exchange of ideas face to face," Biden said during a formal press conference in the Rose Garden. "There's no substitute for face-to-face discussions."

The visit capped off a week of major foreign policy decisions from the president, announcing allU.S. troops would leaveAfghanistanby Sept. 11 andimposing wide-ranging sanctionson Russia overelectioninterference, hacking and other "harmful foreign activities."

But it also came on the heels of the latest deadlymass shootingin the U.S. after a 19-year-old gunman killed eight people at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis Thursday night.

"Last night and into the morning in Indianapolis, yet again families had to wait to hear word about the fate of their loved ones," Biden said in a statement. "What a cruel wait and fate that has become too normal and happens every day somewhere in our nation."

Biden ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff at the White House, making it the third time in his presidency he's done so for a mass shooting, and a week after he rolled outlimited actionsto address gun violence in the country. He grew defensive Friday afternoon when asked in the Rose Garden whether he felt the need to reprioritize his legislative agenda, and to place gun reform ahead of his current push on infrastructure, saying, "I'm not gonna to give up till it's done."

"I've never not prioritized this," Biden said. "No one has worked harder to deal with the violence used by individuals using weapons than I have."

The Democratic-controlled House has passed twogun-control billsand Biden urged the Senate "to step up and act," reiterating his support for universal background checks, among other reforms.

"I strongly, strongly urge my Republican friends in the Congress who even refused to bring up the House passed bill to bring it up now," he said. "This has to end. It's a national embarrassment."

Suga also weighed in on the latest shooting during a meeting earlier in the day.

"I would like to express my condolences to the victims and my sympathies to the families," he said. "Innocent citizens must not be exposed to any such violence."

A recentQuinnipiac pollfound that 89% of Americans support requiring background checks for all gun buyers, which is similarly high among Republicans at 84%.

During their meetings throughout the day, the two leaders said they spoke about a number of issues, including theCOVID-19pandemic, climate change and how they could take on challenges from North Korea and China.

"We're gonna work together to prove that democracies can still compete and win in the 21st century," said Biden. "We can deliver for our people in the face of a rapidly changing world."

Biden previously held virtual bilateral meetings with Canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Irish Prime MinisterMicheál Martin.