What Government Did Today

MR. BLINKEN:  Good evening.  Thanks for coming out.  As Jay said, we just arrived with the Vice President about 45 minutes ago.  I think as many of you know, this is the Vice President’s sixth trip to Iraq since January 2009.  You may remember he took a trip to Iraq as Vice President-elect before the inaugural in January.  And counting that one, this is now the sixth trip.  So he is a frequent flyer and frequent visitor here. The main purpose of the trip is for the Vice President to take part in ceremony marking the change in mission and change in command here in Iraq, an important moment, a momentous moment that he thought was important to mark here in person.  But he’ll also take advantage of being here to meet with Iraq’s senior leaders.  They’ll be seeing, among others, Prime Minister Maliki, Dr

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Briefing to the Press by Antony Blinken, National Security Advisor to the Vice President

TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT TO THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE August 30, 2010 Dear Madam Speaker:  (Dear Mr. President:) Pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C

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Letter from the President — Blocking Property of Certain Persons with Respect to North Korea

Below are remarks by the President that will be delivered via videotape tomorrow, August 31, at the Department of Commerce’s Annual Export Controls Update Conference in Washington, D.C. Hello everyone.  I’m sorry I’m not able to be with you in person today, but I’m pleased to have the chance to join you by video to talk about our export control reform initiative.  About a year ago, we launched a comprehensive review of our export controls and determined that we need fundamental reform in all four areas of our current system – in what we control, how we control it, how we enforce those controls, and how we manage our controls.  I want to thank Secretary Locke, Secretary Gates, Secretary Clinton and many others for their work on this initiative.  And today I want to highlight the key elements of our new approach and the first steps toward its implementation

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Video Remarks by The President to the Department of Commerce Annual Export Controls Update Conference

Veterans of Foreign Wars 111th National Convention Indianapolis, Indiana As Prepared for Delivery— “Honor the dead by helping the living.”  That’s what you’re all about.

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Remarks by Vice President Joe Biden at the Veterans of Foreign Wars 111th National Convention

President Obama has directed his Administration to stand with the Pakistani people and to assist them as they confront the worst flooding in Pakistan’s history.   Knowing that continuing heavy monsoon rains over the next few days will only add to the challenges of this humanitarian crisis, the United States Government has been rushing a wide range of assistance to the Pakistani people in close coordination with the Government of Pakistan. The United States Government has provided an additional $35 million in financial aid to the $7.5 million that was already designated to assist people in the affected area, as well as food, shelter, medical supplies and other life sustaining items.  This funding is being provided by the U.S

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Statement by the National Security Advisor General James Jones on the U.S. Response to Flooding in Pakistan

General Motors Auto Plant Hamtramck, Michigan 1:46 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody!  (Applause.)   Hello, Detroit!  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Thank you. Listen, before I just make a few short remarks, I just want to acknowledge some people who are here who have been critical in helping make sure that we are putting the U.S

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Remarks by the President at the General Motors Hamtramck Auto Plant in Hamtramck, Michigan

4:58 P.M. EDT      THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, everybody.  Please have a seat.      I want to start, obviously, by thanking Lisa for her introduction and having the courage to share her story with all of us today.  It’s for every survivor like Lisa who has never gotten their day in court, and for every family that feels like justice is beyond reach, and for every tribal community struggling to keep its people safe, that I’ll be signing the Tribal Law and Order Act into law today.       And in doing so, I intend to send a clear message that all of our people — whether they live in our biggest cities or our most remote reservations — have the right to feel safe in their own communities, and to raise their children in peace, and enjoy the fullest protection of our laws.       As many of you know, I campaigned on this issue.  And during our last — during our tribal conference last year, I pledged my administration’s fullest support for this bill.  And I told Senator Dorgan last week that I intended to sign it in a ceremony here at the White House with all of you.  So today, I am proud to make good on my word.       Now, I’m told there’s a Seneca proverb that says “He who would do great things should not attempt them all alone.”  (Laughter.)  And that’s particularly true of this legislation, which is the product of tireless efforts by countless individuals across this country.  Congressional leaders like Senator Dorgan, Representative Herseth Sandlin, and others who are here today, and tribal leaders like Chairman Marcus Levings, President Theresa Two Bulls, President Diane Enos, Chief Chad Smith, Vice Chairman Jonathan Windy Boy — we are grateful to all of them for their extraordinary support.  And then we’ve got leaders in our administration like Attorney General Holder and Secretary Salazar, Kimberly Teehee, Jodi Gillette here at the White House who work tirelessly on this legislation.       And that’s nothing to say of all the dedicated judges and prosecutors and tribal and BIA law enforcement officers — some of whom are here today — who’ve supported these efforts.  And the determined survivors most of all, like Lisa, who even when it’s too late to undo what happened to them, still speak out to seek justice for others.       All of you come at this from different angles, but you’re united in support of this bill because you believe, like I do, that it is unconscionable that crime rates in Indian Country are more than twice the national average and up to 20 times the national average on some reservations.  And all of you believe, like I do, that when one in three Native American women will be raped in their lifetimes, that is an assault on our national conscience; it is an affront to our shared humanity; it is something that we cannot allow to continue.       So ultimately, it’s not just the federal government’s relationship with tribal governments that compels us to act, it’s not just our obligations under treaty and under law, but it’s also our values as a nation that are at stake.  And that’s why earlier this year, after extensive consultations with tribal leaders, Attorney General Holder announced significant reforms to increase prosecutions of crimes committed in Indian Country.  He hired more Assistant U.S.

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Remarks by the President Before Signing the Tribal Law and Order Act

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to establish the Federal Government as a model employer of individuals with disabilities, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1.  Policy.  Approximately 54 million Americans are living with a disability.  The Federal Government has an important interest in reducing discrimination against Americans living with a disability, in eliminating the stigma associated with disability, and in encouraging Americans with disabilities to seek employment in the Federal workforce.  Yet Americans with disabilities have an employment rate far lower than that of Americans without disabilities, and they are underrepresented in the Federal workforce.  Individuals with disabilities currently represent just over 5 percent of the nearly 2.5 million people in the Federal workforce, and individuals with targeted disabilities (as defined below) currently represent less than 1 percent of that workforce. On July 26, 2000, in the final year of his administration, President Clinton signed Executive Order 13163, calling for an additional 100,000 individuals with disabilities to be employed by the Federal Government over 5 years.  Yet few steps were taken to implement that Executive Order in subsequent years. As the Nation’s largest employer, the Federal Government must become a model for the employment of individuals with disabilities.  Executive departments and agencies (agencies) must improve their efforts to employ workers with disabilities through increased recruitment, hiring, and retention of these individuals.  My Administration is committed to increasing the number of individuals with disabilities in the Federal workforce through compliance with Executive Order 13163 and achievement of the goals set forth therein over 5 years, including specific goals for hiring individuals with targeted disabilities.

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Executive Order– Increasing Federal Employment of Individuals with Disabilities

Click here to see the video. This morning, President Obama signed the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act, a bill – passed unanimously by both the House and Senate – designed to cut waste, fraud and abuse due to improper payments by federal government agencies.  Making our government more efficient and cost-effective has been a priority for the President since day one.  Over the past eighteen months, the Obama Administration has taken many steps to curb wasteful spending and streamline government processes.  In his remarks before signing the bill, the President reflected on some of the ways his Administration has already begun to cut wasteful spending in the budget process: read more

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Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act: Cutting Waste and Fraud in Government

What a thrill it was to participate in the White House ceremony hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama yesterday as she celebrated the 2010 National Design Awards honorees. The First Lady serves as the honorary patron for this year’s National Design Awards and her commitment to arts and design based education made this a very special event.

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Honoring the Designers of Today and Inspiring the Designers of the Future