What Government Did Today

Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina 10:44 A.M.

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Remarks by the First Lady at North Carolina A&T University Commencement

In this week’s address, President Obama called on Democrats and Republicans to come together and act on his Congressional “to-do list,” which will create jobs and help restore middle class security. In this make-or-break moment for the middle class, these five initiatives have bipartisan support and will help create an economy that is built to last.  While some believe we should return to the same policies that led to the worst recession since the Great Depression, the President believes we must take action to speed up the recovery and ensure that our economy once again rewards hard work and responsibility as we keep our country moving forward

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Weekly Address: Congress Must Act on “To-Do List”

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room 1:35 P.M. EDT MR.

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Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney, 5/7/12

Today, the President will travel to Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia, to speak with students and their parents about the need to prevent interest rates on federal subsidized student loans from doubling on July 1.

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White House Continues Effort to Stop Student Interest Rate Increase

East Room 2:16 P.M. EDT PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Please be seated.  Good afternoon, everybody.  It is a great pleasure to welcome Prime Minister Noda of Japan, one of America’s closest allies in the Asia Pacific region but also around the world.  And, of course, one of the reasons that we enjoy such a strong alliance between our nations is because it’s rooted in the deep friendship between our peoples.  I’ve felt it in my own life, during my visits to Japan, including as a young boy.  And we’ve seen that friendship on display very profoundly over the past year.

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Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Noda of Japan at Joint Press Conference

Today, President Obama announced that the United States will continue the deployment of a small number of U.S. military advisors to assist Uganda and other regional forces pursuing the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and seeking to protect local populations.  The President said that upon ordering the deployment last year that he directed his National Security Council to review our progress after 150 days.  Having completed this review, he announced that our advisors will continue their efforts to support the regional forces.  “This is part of our regional strategy to end the scourge that is the LRA and help realize a future where no African child is stolen from their family, no girl is raped and no boy is turned into a child soldier,” as the President said.  The President made this announcement in remarks discussing the United States’ development of a comprehensive strategy to prevent and respond to mass atrocities

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Fact Sheet: Mitigating and Eliminating the Threat to Civilians Posed by the Lord’s Resistance Army

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, the President will visit Lorain County Community College in Elyria, Ohio to highlight how federal job training funding is providing critical services for unemployed workers and helping them to get jobs in high-demand, high-growth industries.  The President will visit with students in the college’s Transformations program for Computerized Numerically Controlled Machining, a program with a proven track record of success – placing more than 90 percent of participants in jobs within three months of graduation.   Ohio’s Lorain County has been greatly affected by plant closures over the last three decades. Between 2001 and 2010, the county lost 11,500 jobs overall, with manufacturing losing 10,500.

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President Obama’s Visit to Lorain County Community College

From the very beginning of his administration, President Obama has worked to ensure that women are paid fairly for their work. The President is committed to securing equal pay for equal work because it’s a matter of fair play, and because American families and the health of our nation’s economy depends on it.  Today – Tuesday, April 17 – is Equal Pay Day, which marks the fact that, nearly 50 years since President John F.

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FACT SHEET: Fighting for Equal Pay

EXECUTIVE ORDER SUPPORTING SAFE AND RESPONSIBLE DEVELOPMENT OF UNCONVENTIONAL DOMESTIC NATURAL GAS RESOURCES By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to coordinate the efforts of Federal agencies responsible for overseeing the safe and responsible development of unconventional domestic natural gas resources and associated infrastructure and to help reduce our dependence on oil, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1 .  Policy .  In 2011, natural gas provided 25 percent of the energy consumed in the United States.  Its production creates jobs and provides economic benefits to the entire domestic production supply chain, as well as to chemical and other manufacturers, who benefit from lower feedstock and energy costs.  By helping to power our transportation system, greater use of natural gas can also reduce our dependence on oil.  And with appropriate safeguards, natural gas can provide a cleaner source of energy than other fossil fuels. For these reasons, it is vital that we take full advantage of our natural gas resources, while giving American families and communities confidence that natural and cultural resources, air and water quality, and public health and safety will not be compromised

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Executive Order — Supporting Safe and Responsible Development of Unconventional Domestic Natural Gas Resources

This afternoon, President Obama joined a meeting between Vice President Biden and Masoud Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, at the White House. President Obama and Vice President Biden reaffirmed that the United States is committed to our close and historic relationship with Kurdistan and the Kurdish people, in the context of our strategic partnership with a federal, democratic and unified Iraq. President Obama and Vice President Biden also encouraged President Barzani’s continued engagement in the Iraqi political process, under the auspices of Iraq’s constitution

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Readout of the President and Vice President’s Meeting with Kurdistan Regional Government President Masoud Barzani