What Government Did Today

4:05 P.M.

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Remarks by the President to College Reporters

WASHINGTON, DC – Earlier today at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, President Barack Obama announced he will award a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom to Jan Karski, a former officer in the Polish Underground during World War II who was among the first to provide eye-witness accounts of the Holocaust to the world.  The Medal of Freedom is the Nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.  President Obama said , “We must tell our children about how this evil was allowed to happen—because so many people succumbed to their darkest instincts; because so many others stood silent.  But let us also tell our children about the Righteous Among the Nations.  Among them was Jan Karski—a young Polish Catholic—who witnessed Jews being put on cattle cars, who saw the killings, and who told the truth, all the way to President Roosevelt himself.  Jan Karski passed away more than a decade ago.  But today, I’m proud to announce that this spring I will honor him with America’s highest civilian honor—the Presidential Medal of Freedom.” Karski served as an officer in the Polish Underground during World War II and carried among the first eye-witness accounts of the Holocaust to the world.  He worked as a courier, entering the Warsaw ghetto and the Nazi Izbica transit camp, where he saw first-hand the atrocities occurring under Nazi occupation.  Karski later traveled to London to meet with the Polish government-in-exile and with British government officials.  He subsequently traveled to the United States and met with President Roosevelt.  Karski published Story of a Secret State , earned a Ph.D at Georgetown University, and became a professor at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service.  Born in 1914, Karski became a U.S. citizen in 1954 and died in 2000. Wanda Urbanska, Director of the Jan Karski U.S

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President Obama Announces Jan Karski as a Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom

EXECUTIVE ORDER – - – - – - – BLOCKING THE PROPERTY AND SUSPENDING ENTRY INTO THE UNITED STATES OF CERTAIN PERSONS WITH RESPECT TO GRAVE HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES BY THE GOVERNMENTS OF IRAN AND SYRIA VIA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C.

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Executive Order — Blocking the Property and Suspending Entry into the United States of Certain Persons with Respect to Grave Human Rights Abuses by the Governments of Iran and Syria via Information Technology

NATIONAL PARK WEEK, 2012 BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION When President Theodore Roosevelt first took office over a century ago, he embarked on a tour of the American West that would change his life and the life of our Nation forever.  He traveled from Yellowstone's geysers, to Yosemite's granite cliffs, to Dakota's Badlands, ever moved by the natural wonders of which he and all Americans were proud inheritors.  As he explored wild country, he heard a call to preserve our country's heritage that echoed throughout our forests and river valleys.  He remarked of the Grand Canyon, "the ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it." From that sense of commitment sprang five National Parks, 18 National Monuments, 51 Federal bird reservations, and 150 National Forests.  From that commitment sprang an effort to save the great Redwoods of California and the Petrified Forest of Arizona, the great bird rocks of the Aleutian Islands and the Tongass of Alaska.  President Roosevelt inspired a breathtaking legacy of conservation that has forever enriched our lives, and in the decades since his historic journey, millions have worked to build on his enduring mission.  When the fate of our lands and waters has been cast into doubt, they have taken the long view    that as Americans and as inhabitants of this one small planet, it is up to us to preserve our national heritage for our children, grandchildren, and for the generations to come.

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Presidential Proclamation — National Park Week, 2012

Lorain County Community College Elyria, Ohio 2:36 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, everybody.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you so much.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Everybody, please have a seat.  Well, hello, Ohio!  AUDIENCE:  Hello! THE PRESIDENT:  It is good to be back here at Lorain.  Last time I was here I had an outstanding burger at Smitty's.  (Laughter.)  I got my own presidential football helmet at Riddell.  I got a feeling I may need it between now and November

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Remarks by the President at Lorain County Community College, Elyria, OH

Vice President Joe Biden holds an event on College affordability with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan at Maury High School in Norfolk, Virginia, April 3, 2012. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann) Yesterday, the Vice President had a powerful message for the graduating seniors, parents, and teachers at Maury High School in Norfolk, Virginia – one that students across the country should hear and one that drives this Administration’s commitment to higher education. He told the Maury students: You are the most qualified generation in history.  And we have an obligation.  We have an obligation to equip you or at least give you the opportunity to go out and plumb that potential

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Investing in the Potential of the Next Generation

In 2009, a wave of youth violence swept through Chicago. Many young people lost their lives, including Darrion Albert, a 16 year-old honors student who was caught in a brawl between two groups of teenagers, and beaten to death on his way home from school

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Valerie Jarrett Speaks at the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention

Ed. note: This week, warriorcare.mil  will feature the story of a catastrophically wounded Service member and his saga of recovery to employed Veteran.  In an effort to highlight what our wounded veterans can offer to private and public organizations, we chose to focus on retired Army Master Sergeant, Jeffrey Mittman.  His story is one of conviction and the dogged determination necessary to continue with his recovery and his successful transition to civilian and veteran life.  In order to bring his story full circle, we have invited his wife, Christy, and his employers from the DoD’s Defense Finance and Accounting Office (Indianapolis) to give their account of what this journey has meant for them as well.  We begin the series with Christy Mittman’s account  of her husband’s injuries and how her family’s life was changed forever. Please follow this story at warriorcare.mil

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A Wounded Warrior Embraces the New Normal: Part One

President Barack Obama delivers remarks at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, Republic of Korea, March 26, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) The U.S

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Ask President Obama

The Affordable Care Act is already helping small business owner s with the costs of providing health insurance for their employees , and many Americans now have access to care they didn’t before, including children with pre-exsiting conditions and young adults  who can now stay on their parents' plan until age 26. Millions more have access to free preventive services , and seniors are getting help paying for the medications they need. But, there are provisions in  President Obama’s health reform law that don’t take effect until 2014 and will do even more to make health insurance cheaper and easier to obtain for millions of Americans.

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By the Numbers: $2,300