First Lady Michelle Obama Visits Panama City Beach, Fla.

This week, the First Lady traveled to Panama City Beach, Florida, to meet with business and community leaders in the area. The past few months have been especially challenging for families and businesses in the Gulf Coast region. The BP Oil Spill is the worst environmental disaster our nation has ever seen, and the effects of the spill are evident not only in the oil washing up on some of the shores, but in the businesses and communities that are suffering.

This Administration will not rest until the well is capped, the oil is cleaned up, the natural beauty of this region is restored, and the people of the Gulf Coast who have been affected by this tragic, ongoing spill are made whole. The President and his tireless advisors like Carol Browner, who joined us on this trip, have been doing everything they can to keep Gulf Coast families and the American people up to date on the Administration-wide response to the Gulf Coast spill, but there was one particular point of great concern that Mrs. Obama wanted to drive home to those families.

“I know that there have been lots of questions lately about how we can best help people here on the Gulf Coast who’ve been affected by the oil spill," Mrs. Obama said, "And to be honest, truly, one of the best ways that fellow Americans can help is to come on down here and spend some money.” What many Americans may not realize is that most of the Gulf Coast is still open for business. Despite what you’ve see on TV or read in the newspapers, many the beaches, like Panama City Beach, where the First Lady visited, are still clean and safe. And one of the best ways Americans can help this region and the hard working people who live in the area is by coming down and enjoying the hospitality. 

For communities like Panama City Beach, summertime is peak tourist season. But this year, many business owners have seen a sharp decline in tourism to the region, despite the fact that their beaches are clean and oil free. If you’re looking for a family vacation this summer, consider visiting one of the many communities in the Gulf Coast region.

Trooper Sanders is Deputy Director of Policy to the First Lady

Tomorrow, the White House Office of Urban Affairs will host a live chat with the leadership of the Sustainable Communities Partnership, an unprecedented agreement between HUD, Transportation, and EPA to coordinate Federal housing, transportation, and environmental investments. A part of President Obama's broader urban and metropolitan agenda, the partnership aims to break down traditional silos and craft federal programs and policies that take a more collaborative and holistic approach to better respond to the needs of communities.

Last month, the Partnership released a joint notice of funding availability (NOFA) – $35 million in TIGER II Planning grants and $40 million in Sustainable Community Challenge grants – for local planning activities that integrate transportation, housing, and economic development. And, HUD also announced $100 million in funding for Sustainable Communities Regional Planning grant program.

We invite you to join us for a live discussion on Sustainable Communities – the progress they’ve made, the funding programs available, and what the future of the partnership looks like – at www.whitehouse.gov/live tomorrow, July 15th at 2:00pm EST or you can submit questions in advance to Planetizen.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is pursuing transformational solutions to our energy problems.  Part of the Department of Energy, ARPA-E is modeled after the famed DARPA program at the Department of Defense that led to the internet, GPS, stealth airplane technology, and many other success stories.   At ARPA-E, we are trying to hit clean energy home runs, not just base hits.  Our goal is to drive the sort of energy innovation that can help us take the lead in high-tech clean energy manufacturing and export clean energy products to the world.

On Monday, we announced $92 million in funding for 43 advanced research projects. These projects focus on three areas that are critical to building a new energy future: grid scale energy storage, advanced power electronics, and energy efficient cooling systems.

When the President began pushing for tough reforms to the way Wall Street does business in the months after he came into office, the grip that the biggest banks in the world have held over Congress in past years left many skeptical about their prospects.  Today, though, Senate Leader Harry Reid announced that the final vote in the Senate would come this week, clearing the way for the bill to be sent to the President’s desk.

As it happened, the President was meeting with Senate Democratic Leaders just this morning, and before announcing the nomination of his new OMB Director, the President took a moment to commend those Senators who have withstood the army of lobbyists working against this bill to get it to just steps from the finish line:

Before I begin, I just want to note a breakthrough that we’ve had on our efforts to pass the most comprehensive reform of Wall Street since the Great Depression.  Three Republican senators have put politics and partisanship aside to support this reform, and I'm grateful for their decision, as well as all the Democrats who’ve worked so hard to make this reform a reality -- particularly Chairman Dodd and Chairman Barney Frank.

What members of both parties realize is that we can’t allow a financial crisis like this one that we just went through to happen again.  This reform will prevent that from happening.  It will prevent a financial crisis like this from happening again by protecting consumers against the unfair practices of credit card companies and mortgage lenders.  It will ensure that taxpayers are never again on the hook for Wall Street’s mistakes.  And it will end an era of irresponsibility that led to the loss of eight million jobs and trillions of dollars of wealth.  This reform is good for families; it’s good for businesses; it’s good for the entire economy.  And I urge the Senate to act quickly so that I can sign it into law next week.

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden meet with the Senate Democratic Leadership Team in the Roosevelt Room of the White House to discuss legislative priorities before the August recess, July 13, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Today, I am pleased to announce the release of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States.  The release of the strategy reaffirms President Obama’s commitment to fighting this domestic epidemic.

From the time that we first heard about the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) thirty years ago through today, HIV has become a global pandemic with more than 33 million people living with HIV around the world.  In the United States, approximately 56,000 people become infected each year, more than 1.1 million Americans are living with HIV, and nearly 600,000 Americans have been lost to this disease.  Unless we take bold actions, we anticipate a new era of rising infection rates and even greater challenges in serving people with HIV.

This afternoon President Obama held a bilateral meeting with President Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Republic, touching on a broad range of issues from the political crisis in Honduras, to trade, to continued efforts to crack down on drug trafficking between our two countries.

Both Presidents closed their remarks afterwards with words of appreciation for each others’ friendship, but President Obama opened his remarks on a heart-breaking topic:

One of the first messages I wanted to deliver was my appreciation for the role that the Dominican Republic played in helping the international community respond to the crisis in Haiti after the devastating earthquake there.  And I think that the Dominican Republic’s role, President Fernandez’s role in particular, in helping to facilitate a rapid response was extraordinarily important.  It saved lives and it continues as we look at how we can reconstruct and rebuild in Haiti in a way that is good not only for the people of Haiti but also good for the region as a whole.

As the six-month anniversary of the tragedy approaches, it’s not too late to help again, or for the first time.

President Barack Obama talks with President Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Republic following their meeting in the Oval Office July 12, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

At a time like this, when there are still far too many Americans out of a job, policy makers might consider this simple rule: when a program is successfully and efficiently creating jobs, don’t eliminate it.

This rule should especially be observed when the assertion that it’s working is widely agreed upon by both Democrats to Republicans, by economists and business owners and governors.

But unless the Senate acts soon to preserve the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Subsidized Jobs program, this simple rule will be broken and this great program will be taken down.

We’ve highlighted this jobs program before, and a quick look at the reasons it’s so effective explains our enthusiasm.  It lets states use Recovery Act dollars to pay for part of a new employee’s wages, giving employers a strong incentive to hire unemployed workers.  And we’re not talking about bureaucrats here, folks – these subsidized workers are being placed at private-sector businesses and non-profits in addition to state government agencies.

It’s a two-fer as well, because while the program helps folks get out of their homes and into jobs, it’s also helping them get off public assistance like unemployment insurance and welfare.

Following up on his tour of Smith Electric’s new factory in Kansas City yesterday – an all-electric, zero emissions commercial truck manufacturer that received a $32 million Recovery Act grant – the President spoke today at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on the nexus of government, the emerging clean energy economy, and recovery:

Thanks for checking out the West Wing Week, your guide to everything that's happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. This week, walk step by step with the President as he speaks about 6 straight months of job growth, celebrates America's Independence Day with Military Families, watches a fireworks extravaganza with the First Lady, meets with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, tours Smith Electric Vehicles in Kansas City and much more.