What Government Did Today

**As Prepared for Delivery** Please find below excerpts from Secretary Sebelius’s remarks at the AHIP conference, scheduled for 10:30 this morning, as prepared for delivery.

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Excerpts from Secretary Sebelius’s Address to America’s Health Insurance Plans

4:52 P.M. EST MRS.

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Remarks by the President and the First Lady at International Women’s Day Reception

Aboard Air Force One En Route Willow Grove, Pennsylvania 10:25 A.M. EST MR

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Gaggle by Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton aboard Air Force One en route Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, 3/8/10

3:09 P.M. EST THE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon, everybody.  Today, the people of Iraq went to the polls to choose their leaders in Iraq’s second national election.  By any measure, this was an important milestone in Iraqi history.  Dozens of parties and coalitions fielded thousands of parliamentary candidates, men and women.  Ballots were cast at some 50,000 voting booths.  And in a strong turnout, millions of Iraqis exercised their right to vote, with enthusiasm and optimism.      Today’s voting makes it clear that the future of Iraq belongs to the people of Iraq.  The election was organized and administered by Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission, with critical support from the United Nations.  Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis served as poll station workers and as observers. As expected, there were some incidents of violence, as al Qaeda in Iraq and other extremists tried to disrupt Iraq’s progress by murdering innocent Iraqis who were exercising their democratic rights.  But overall, the level of security and the prevention of destabilizing attacks speaks to the growing capability and professionalism of Iraqi Security Forces, which took the lead in providing protection at the polls.  I also want to express my admiration for the thousands of Americans on the ground in Iraq — for our civilians and our men and women in uniform who continue to support our Iraqi partners.

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Remarks by the President on the Elections in Iraq

On this day, 45 years ago, hundreds of brave men and women gathered in the small town of Selma, Alabama to announce to the world that they, too, sang America. As they marched from Selma to Montgomery, fully aware of the danger that lay ahead, these heroes let their feet speak in a way that their voices alone could not. Today, as we gather in this hallowed place on the anniversary of what would come to be known as “Bloody Sunday,” let us honor the memory of all those who were shoved and beaten within an inch of their lives because they believed in the simple truth that every American – regardless of race – had the right to cast a vote; had the right to live free; had the right to reach for their dreams.

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Statement by President Obama on the 45th Anniversary of the March from Selma-to-Montgomery

I congratulate the people of Iraq for casting their ballots in this important parliamentary election. I have great respect for the millions of Iraqis who refused to be deterred by acts of violence, and who exercised their right to vote today.

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Statement by the President on Iraqi Elections

11:43 A.M. EST THE PRESIDENT:  Good morning, everybody.  It is great to be here at OPOWER.  And just looking around, this looks like a fun place to work.  (Laughter.)  The work you do here, as we just heard, is making homes more energy efficient, it’s saving people money, it’s generating jobs and it’s putting America on the path to a clean energy future.  And I understand last year that you doubled your workforce thanks to Bonnie — (applause) — you’re hoping to hire another hundred workers this year.  And so this is a model of what we want to be seeing all across the country.  Our goal for the economy is to show similar job growth in the months ahead. This morning we learned that in February our economy lost an additional 36,000 jobs.  Now, this is actually better than expected, considering the severe storms all along the East Coast are estimated to have had a depressing effect on the numbers.  And it shows that the measures that we’re taking to turn our economy around are having some impact.  But even though it’s better than expected, it’s more than we should tolerate.

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Remarks by the President on Clean Energy Jobs

1:50 P.M. EST THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you so much, all of you, for joining us today.  And I want to thank Julie, Barbara, Roland, Stephen, Renee, and Christopher, standing behind me — physicians, physicians assistants, and nurses who understand how important it is for us to make much needed changes in our health care system

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Remarks by the President on Health Care Reform

Please find below a letter from President Obama to Congressional leaders on moving forward with health insurance reform legislation.

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Letter to Congressional Leaders on Health Insurance Reform

WASHINGTON – In his weekly address, President Barack Obama said that the nation cannot lose the current opportunity to finally enact meaningful health care reform.  At Thursday’s meeting on reform, both sides were able to find several areas of agreement, but there were some differences.  While the President is willing and eager to move forward with members of Congress from both parties, American families and businesses cannot afford to wait another generation for reform. The audio and video will be available online at www.whitehouse.gov at 6:00 am ET, Saturday, February 27, 2010. Remarks of President Barack Obama As Prepared for Delivery Weekly Address February 27, 2010 As the Winter Olympics draw to a close this weekend, I just want to take a minute to congratulate all the athletes who competed in these games.  And I especially want to say how proud I am of all the American men and women have achieved over the last few weeks.  Whether it was the men’s hockey team’s stunning upset of the Canadians on their way to the gold-medal game, Lindsey Vonn’s heroic gold-medal comeback from a shin injury, or Apolo Ohno becoming the most decorated American winter Olympian of all time, you can’t help but be inspired by the sheer grit and athletic prowess on display in Vancouver

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Weekly Address: President Obama Says Washington Must Use This Opportunity to Enact Health Reform