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This week, President Obama kicked off a new effort to urge Congress to pass the American Jobs Act, piece by piece, to put folks back to work and strengthen the economy. During a session of White House Hours, Brian Deese, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, answered your questions about the Jobs Act and steps the President is taking to help homeowners refinance their mortgages.
See the full questions and answer session below, or on Storify.
Follow @Whitehouse for the latest from the Administration and upcoming opportunities to engage. Have ideas on how we can improve Office Hours or our online program? Share feedback with us using the hashtag #WHWeb.
On Tuesday, October 25th, Brian Deese Tweets back at followers for White House Office Hours (Photo by Mori Rothman)
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President Barack Obama talks with Jay Leno during an interview on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” at the NBC Studios in Burbank, Calif., Oct. 25, 2011 (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
Yesterday, President Obama stopped by the Tonight Show to sit down for an interview with Jay Leno. The two talked about Libya, the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, and reality television -- including a show on C-SPAN called Congress.
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October 25, 2011
10:00 PM EDTTonight, I’ll be making my first public appearance as Federal CIO at an event at the Churchill Club in Palo Alto, CA – a fitting venue to talk about my priorities and vision for the Federal IT landscape. In my remarks, I’ll focus on my plan for doing more with less and devising solutions with a “shared first” and a “future first” perspective to yield a higher return on our IT investments, increase productivity, and improve the way the government interacts with the American people.
I’m looking forward to sharing these ideas tonight in California, and I’m also excited to hear from you. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to share your thoughts about my plan by sending an email to futurefirst@cio.gov or DM me via Twitter at @stevenvDC.
For those of you who can’t make it out to California, my remarks will be live-streamed here at 7PM PT, 10PM ET – so please tune in!
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First Lady Michelle Obama learns about growing mushroom chandeliers from Erika Allen, National Outreach Director for Growing Power, during a tour of Iron Street Farm in Chicago, Ill., Oct. 25, 2011. Sam Kass, White House Assistant Chef and Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives, left, and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel toured the seven-acre urban farm with Mrs. Obama. October 25, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
For too many American families, serving healthy food as part of a regular diet isn’t actually an option. That’s because, in many communities across the country, there is no place to purchase any groceries, much less fresh fruits and vegetables. These neighborhoods are known as food deserts, and in recent years, as economic difficulties caused grocery stores to shut their doors or consolidate locations, they have been proliferating.
Eliminating these food deserts and making sure parents in every part of the country have access to fresh produce and healthy choices is a primary goal of Let’s Move, and today First Lady Michelle Obama was in Chicago where she challenged attendees at the Mayor’s Summit on Food Deserts to look for ways to attract grocery stores and other businesses selling fresh produce to their communities.
Studies have shown that people who live in communities with greater access to supermarkets, they eat more fresh fruits and vegetables – surprise. And that can have a real impact on the health of our families.
I mean, truly, we all grew up in communities with grandmothers who cooked two, three vegetables that you had to eat. There was no ifs, ands or buts about it. But that’s because many of our grandparents, they had community gardens; there was the vegetable man that came around. There were many other resources that allowed them to have access. So it’s not that people don't know or don't want to do the right thing; they just have to have access to the foods that they know will make their families healthier.
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Tyrone Booth and Jesse Carpenter are police officers in Flint, Michigan -- where Vice President Biden visited earlier this month. Because of budget cuts, they've seen their department shrink since the start of the recession. In fact, at various times in recent years, each has been laid off from the force. Both are keenly aware of the ways in which these reductions have put public safety at risk.
Officer Booth says the Flint police must now prioritize the calls to which they respond. A shooting or an assault must come before a break-in or a burglary, which can be hard for citizens affected. "When someone's home has been burglarized, it's a very sensitive and serious offense to them,” he said. “And we're just unable to get there in a timely manner."
Watch:
Keeping Americans safe is a top priority for President Obama, which is why the American Jobs Act will provide $5 billion to help states and local communities keep first responders on the job. Earlier, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder spoke at a gathering of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and discussed the Administration's support for the nation's fire fighters and police officers.
Read more here.
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October 25, 2011
05:17 PM EDTEd. note: This has been cross-posted from DHS.gov
Keeping our nation safe from evolving terrorist threats requires strong partnerships at all levels. Nowhere are those partnerships more important than with our federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement officers who work on the frontlines every day to keep our cities and communities safe.
These courageous men and women, who put their lives on the line to protect others, must have the tools, training, and resources they need to do their jobs safely and effectively.
This week at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) General Assembly in Chicago, we each had an opportunity to reiterate our support for police officers and first responders across our country, many of whom are struggling to hire or retain personnel in the face of tough economic challenges.
As part of ongoing work to better understand and overcome current fiscal challenges, this week, the Justice Department's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) office released a new report on how the economic downturn has impacted police departments nationwide. According to the Department's research, we expect that, by the end of this year, nearly 12,000 police officers and sheriff's deputies will have been laid off. Already, law enforcement agencies nationwide currently have nearly 30,000 unfilled vacancies. And an estimated 28,000 more officers and deputies experienced week-long furloughs last year. In 25 years of collecting data, this is the first national decrease in law enforcement positions ever recorded.
There is great demand for existing federal fire fighter hiring funding. In FY10 alone there were $1.8 billion in applications for $420 million in SAFER funds.
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October 25, 2011
04:23 PM EDTOver the last two and a half years, President Obama has placed a high priority on making government more effective, transparent, and responsive to the needs of citizens. Nowhere is transparency more important than in the management, development, and collection of revenues from energy and minerals in our public lands and oceans. Oil, gas, coal, renewable fuels, and minerals that the Department of the Interior oversees belong to every American, and every American deserves a fair return from development. That is why we have strengthened our royalty and revenue collection program; proposed to bring oil and gas royalty rates on public lands in line with those on private lands; strengthened requirements in energy leases to encourage timely exploration and development; and taken a number of other steps that will help guarantee the taxpayer a full and fair return from their resources.
A critical component of our reform efforts is the President's commitment to implementing what is known as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). This international initiative sets a global standard for managing revenues from natural resources, and I am honored to serve as the official representative of the United States.
In many ways, the U.S. is now among the world leaders in transparency for royalty and revenue collections. By playing a central role in EITI, we can share best practices that will help governments, companies, and civil societies around the world manage their resources responsibly. U.S. companies, in particular, will benefit from improved disclosure policies around the world that will allow them to compete on a level playing field in a healthy marketplace.
Our work under this initiative is only beginning, and I look forward to working closely with industry, stakeholders, and the public on EITI as we move forward.
For more information about the United States Open Government National Action Plan, click here.
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Today, the Obama Administration challenged each of the 8,000 Community Health Centers around the country to hire one veteran, effectively opening up 8,000 jobs to our unemployed vets. These health centers, which provide primary care services in typically underserved areas, are a major piece of President Obama’s historic health care reform law.
Veterans who are committed to serving their country and their communities are well suited to serve in a number of capacities at community health centers, both in administrative and care-providing positions. Yet many former military medics who want to work as nurses, physician assistants, or in other health care jobs when they leave the military are often not given credit or credentials for the skills they developed while serving.
Health centers are also an integral source of local employment and economic growth in many low-income communities. Thanks in part to support from the Affordable Care Act, health centers across the country have added more than 18,600 new full-time positions since the beginning of 2009, many of them in the nation’s most economically distressed communities. Jobs like these are crucial to the health of our economy.
In order to fast-track former military medics into jobs in community health centers and other parts of the health care system, today the Health Resources and Services Administration pledged to open up career-paths into a variety of health care jobs and expand opportunities for veterans to become physician assistants. Through this initiative, HRSA will give priority in physician assistant grant awards to universities and colleges that help train veterans for careers as physician assistants.
We can’t wait any longer to help our unemployed veterans find jobs. The initiatives announced today aren’t a replacement for the bold steps we need to strengthen our economy for the long-term, but our problems are too serious, and the stakes are too high to do nothing. While President Obama will continue to work with Congress to pass the American Jobs Act, piece by piece, he will increase his focus on executive actions like this one that helps our veterans because the American people simply can’t wait.
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I think all Americans can agree that veterans shouldn’t have to fight for a job once they’ve come home from the fight overseas. But, all too often, those who have sacrificed so much for America struggle to find a job worthy of their talents. As the President has said, “if you can save a life in Afghanistan, you can save a life in an ambulance. If you can oversee millions of dollars of assets in Iraq, you can help a business balance its books here at home.” Ensuring our nation’s veterans get the opportunities they have earned has been one of President Obama’s top priorities as Commander in Chief.
That's why President Obama called for a new Returning Heroes Tax Credit of up to $5,600 for firms that hire unemployed veterans and a Wounded Warriors Tax Credit that will increase the existing tax credit up to $9,600 for firms that hire veterans with service-connected disabilities.These credits are included in the American Jobs Act. Unfortunately, these tax credits that could help companies hire veterans are held up in Congress.
While we will continue to work with Congress to bring up the American Jobs Act piece by piece, we will increase our focus on taking executive actions that fight for the middle class because the American people simply can’t wait. That’s why today, the Obama Administration is announcing two new initiatives to help create jobs for veterans.
1. Hiring 8,000 Veterans in Three Years: The Community Health Center Veterans Hiring Challenge
Today, the Obama Administration challenged Community Health Centers to hire 8,000 veterans – approximately one veteran per health center site – over the next three years. The National Association of Community Health Centers will also contribute to this effort and joined the Administration in announcing this Community Health Center Veterans Hiring Challenge.
2. Helping Veterans Become Physician Assistants
Under this initiative, the Administration will make it easier for veterans to use the training they have received in the military to become physician assistants. We will begin to give priority in physician assistant grant awards to universities and colleges that help train veterans for careers as physician assistants. In an effort to expand the number of training programs that accommodate veterans, the Administration also will identify model programs that offer expedited curricula for veterans and that offer enhanced veteran recruiting, retention, and mentoring services, and help bring these best practices to other programs.
These efforts build on previous Administration efforts to create jobs for veterans including sending 600,000 veterans back to school on the Post-9/11 GI Bill and hiring over 100,000 veterans into the federal government over the past year and a half. And just last week, First Lady Michelle Obama announced that the American Logistics Association (ALA) and their 270 affiliate companies committed to hiring 25,000 veterans and military spouses by the end of 2013. This commitment is part of the First Lady and Dr. Jill Biden’s Joining Forces initiative to support veterans and military families. The ALA’s commitment will fulfill a quarter of the President’s challenge to the private sector to hire or train 100,000 veterans and military spouses by the end of 2013.
This work is also happening across the federal agencies.The Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, are working closely with other agencies and the President’s economic and domestic policy teams, to lead a new task force to ensure that every member of the military receives the training, education, and credentials they need to transition to the civilian workforce or to pursue higher education. This initiative includes the design of a “Transition Boot Camp,” which will give service members additional counseling and guidance and help them depart their active duty service “career-ready.”
Over the weeks and months ahead, we’ll continue to take actions like these that will improve the economy and help middle class families including our nation's veterans because we simply can't wait.
President Obama also can't wait for Congress to:
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October 25, 2011
10:45 AM EDTOver the past several months, the worst humanitarian crisis in the world has placed more than 13.3 million people across the Horn of Africa at risk - a greater number than the populations of New York and Los Angeles combined. Quickly becoming incomprehensible, the emergency has its roots in a devastating combination of famine, war and drought.
Last month, I announced the FWD campaign to raise awareness across America about this worsening situation.
Please join us this Wednesday, October 26th, at 12:30 p.m. EDT to learn about the steps we have taken to build this campaign by informing and engaging our friends and family in order to harness the compassion and generosity of the American people.
In a special “Open for Questions" event, Gayle Smith, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director of the National Security Council, and I will take your questions during a live streamed event moderated by Jon Carson, Director of the Office of Public Engagement. Whether you are wondering about the famine, the global response to the crisis, or what you can do to help, we will be there to answer your questions.
We will also be releasing special public service announcements on the crisis from some familiar faces. You can submit your questions now through Facebook and Twitter, and during the live event:
Right now, submit your questions:- On Facebook, ask a question on the USAID Facebook page or on the White House Facebook page
- On Twitter, send questions to me @RajShah or @USAID
Wednesday, October 26th at 12:30 p.m. EDT, we hope you'll watch and participate:- Watch live on WhiteHouse.gov/live or USAID.gov
- Ask questions through the White House Live app on Facebook
- Ask questions live with the hashtag #AskFWD
We know that these types of crises are preventable. Through Feed the Future, the U.S. Government is working with partner governments, smallholder farmers, and the private sector to help nations invest in agricultural development to avoid repeating this situation.
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Yesterday, President Obama kicked off a new effort to urge Congress to pass the American Jobs Act, piece by piece, to put folks back to work and strengthen the economy. The President declared “we can’t wait." On Twitter and Facebook, people around the country have been talking about why we can't wait and the issues they care about the most.
Today, Brian Deese, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, is holding a session of Office Hours on Twitter to answer your questions. At 4:00 p.m. EDT, he’ll be on the @WHLive account to answer questions on why we can’t wait for Congress to act and a series of executive actions to put pressure on Congress, including steps to make it easier for homeowners to refinance their mortgages.
Here’s how White House Office Hours work:
- Ask your questions now and during the live event on Twitter with the hashtag #WHChat
- Follow the Q&A through the @WHLive Twitter account
- If you miss the live session, the full session will be posted on WhiteHouse.gov and Storify.com/WhiteHouse
So, stop by for Office Hours at 4:00 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, October 25th with Brian Deese. We can’t wait to join the conversation. Be sure to follow @WhiteHouse on twitter for the latest news and more opportunities to engage.
During White House Office Hours, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council Brian Deese answers questions from the public on the American Jobs Act through Twitter. September 9, 2011 (Photo by Thomas Kelley)
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Nearly 11 million Americans are underwater on their mortgage, meaning they owe more to the bank than their homes are worth. In fact, homeowners have lost $7 trillion in home equity--the difference between the actual value of a home and the balance of what's owed on the mortgage--since the peak of the housing bubble in 2005. This loss in home equity is devastating for a family’s financial security, and makes it more difficult to take out other loans, save for a bigger house, or build a nest egg for retirement. It also means families are making payments that are higher than they would be if their mortgage was based on the actual current value of their home, giving them fewer dollars to spend on other economy-bolstering goods and services.
We can’t wait any longer to help Americans struggling to make their mortgage payments.
Today, President Obama traveled to Las Vegas to announce that the Federal Housing Finance Agency is expanding eligibility for the Home Affordable Refinancing Program. The changes will help responsible borrowers with little to no equity in their homes take advantage of today’s historically low interest rates to refinance their mortgages.
These new steps will save underwater homeowners thousands of dollars each year, and they didn’t take an act of Congress. This executive action will not only save homeowners hundreds of dollars each month, it will put pressure on Congressional Republicans to put country before party and pass the American Jobs Act. The President believes we can’t wait, so he will act where they won’t.
Today’s announcement isn’t a substitute for the bold actions we need to grow the economy, and President Obama knows this. The situation is too serious to not move forward. That’s why he’s pursuing executive actions like this one while continuing to work toward passing the American Jobs Act. The legislation will help keep teachers in the classroom and first responders on the job, invest $50 billion in our nation’s infrastructure, and create tax breaks for small businesses. It also includes Project Rebuild, which helps the private sector put construction workers to work rehabilitating vacant or abandoned homes and business across the country, helping stabilize home prices everywhere. Most importantly, the American Jobs Act will create the jobs we need to improve our economy and help middle class families.
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Last week, Republicans in the Senate blocked a jobs bill that would have meant jobs for around 400,000 teachers and first responders. Twice.
This week, President Obama is back on the road with a new message, which today, he shared with a crowd in Nevada:
So I'm here to say to all of you -- and to say to the people of Nevada and the people of Las Vegas -- we can’t wait for an increasingly dysfunctional Congress to do its job. Where they won't act, I will.
Instead of waiting for Congress to fix No Child Left Behind, the President directed his administration to move forward with a plan to give states the flexibility they need to help students meet higher standards. The Administration acted to cut dramatically the time it takes for small businesses who contract with the federal government to get paid. And last week, the President eliminated outdated regulations that will save hospitals and patients billions of dollars in the years ahead.
Now, President Obama is taking on housing.
President Barack Obama participates in a kitchen table discussion regarding the American Jobs Act, with Jose and Lissette Bonilla at their home in Las Vegas, Nevada, Oct. 24, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
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Last week, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden traveled to St. Louis for Game One of the 2011 World Series to honor the troops, veterans and their families as part of their Joining Forces initiative geared towards connecting local communities in support of military families.
Check out the video from their trip here:
Before the first pitch, the First Lady also took your questions from Twitter and Facebook on how you can say thanks and provide a helping hand for the families of service members. There are lots of ways to get involved, from sending a message of gratitude to exploring volunteer opportunities near you. Find out how you can support a military family in your community at JoiningForces.gov.
First Lady Michelle Obama makes her first official tweet at Game 1 of the World Series to recognize Major League Baseball’s (MLB) outstanding support of America's veterans and military families as part of their Joining Forces at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 19, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
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Today, the President traveled to Las Vegas to highlight a set of steps announced by the FHFA to make it easier for some homeowners to refinance their mortgages. This will help responsible borrowers with little or no equity in their homes take advantage of today’s low mortgage rates.
Over the past several months, the Obama Administration has worked with federal housing agencies, industry stakeholders and state and local governments to push forward several important executive actions to help stabilize the housing market and help struggling borrowers:
Helping Responsible Homeowners Afford Mortgages
- Helping more responsible borrowers refinance their mortgages (10/24/11):Today, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced a set of changes to help a greater number of creditworthy borrowers refinance – particularly those who are underwater on their mortgages. By eliminating the maximum cap on underwater borrowers participating in the program, as well as eliminating certain risk-based fees and encouraging competition by addressing the issue of representations and warranties, these changes should help more Americans save several hundred dollars each month by taking advantage of today’s historically low interest rates.
Helping Prevent Foreclosures and Keep Families in Their Homes
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Providing 12 months of mortgage forbearance for unemployed borrowers (07/25/11): The Administration announced it was extending the minimum forbearance period that unemployed borrowers could receive on their mortgages to a full year, up from four months in FHA and three months in the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). This change will help borrowers stay in their homes while they look for jobs, which is not only good for those families but for the housing market by reducing the number of homes that go into foreclosure. These changes went into effect on 10/1/11.
- Encouraging servicers to speed up the HAMP modification process (07/06/11):To help encourage servicers to move quickly to modify distressed borrowers’ loans, the Treasury adjusted the incentive structure of HAMP payments to servicers. Treasury reformed the system from a flat $1,000 fee to variable fee to encourage modifications earlier in a homeowner’s delinquency. The new incentive structure is $1,600 for modifications before 4 months of delinquency, $1,200 for 4-7 months, and $400 afterwards.
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Single point of contact for HAMP borrowers (05/18/11): In conjunction with Treasury, the Administration has provided significant resources for homeowners seeking assistance through HAMP. On May 18, the Treasury Department provided guidance requiring the 20 largest servicers participating in HAMP to provide a single point of contact for homeowners. As of September 1 for new applicants to the program, and November 1 for homeowners who have already begun the application process, servicers are required to implement a Single Point of Contact system of customer service for their non-GSE loans, so that a homeowner seeking a modification or foreclosure avoidance assistance has one single relationship manager. The relationship manager works with the homeowner throughout the loss mitigation process until all options have been exhausted.
- Right to neutral third-party appeal of modification denials (02/01/11): In the event a homeowner is not eligible for a modification HAMP requires servicers to notify the homeowner of this decision in writing using commonly understandable language, and to give homeowners 30 days to dispute the decision before a foreclosure sale can take place. If a homeowner has been denied due to a negative net present value (NPV) result, servicers must disclose all of the variables that went into the NPV calculation and homeowners can also work with staff at the Homeowner’s HOPE Hotline and the HAMP Solution Center to resolve any issues. Treasury has also made available online an NPV Calculator to help homeowners better understand their eligibility.
Reducing Housing Inventory to Increase Home Values, Improve Economy
- Transitioning vacant property owned by the GSEs/FHA into rental housing (8/1/11 – ongoing): In August, the FHFA, in conjunction with the Obama Administration released a request for information on ways to help address the growing inventory of Real Estate Owned (REO) foreclosed proprieties on Fannie and Freddie’s books, including transitioning properties to rental housing. Together, the GSEs and FHA own about half of the REO properties across the country. These REO properties are at the end of the foreclosure pipeline, usually vacant and often not well maintained. As such, they have a disproportionate downward impact on local and regional housing prices. Taking steps to transition some of this inventory over into rental properties or other productive uses will help stabilize neighborhoods and home values, and encourage greater private investment into the real estate sector at a crucial moment in our economy.
Helping Hardest Hit States
- Implementing the Hardest Hit Fund (2/19/10 – on going):Treasury has allocated $ 7.6 billion to help homeowners avoid foreclosure in the areas hardest hit by steep home price declines and unemployment. All 18 states and the District of Columbia are now accepting applications for the Hardest Hit Fund foreclosure prevention programs.
Increasing Transparency and Accountability
- New compliance reporting for the largest HAMP servicers (06/09/11 - ongoing): Since inception of the Making Home Affordable Program (MHA),Treasury has conducted a comprehensive compliance program to ensure that homeowners are being fairly evaluated for the program and that servicer operations reflect the primary aim of both Treasury and the Administration: assisting struggling homeowners who may be eligible for assistance and ensuring that homeowners are being treated appropriately. This past June, Treasury enhanced its public reporting by publishing servicer assessments for each of the 10 largest servicers in the Making Home Affordable Program (MHA). These assessments are designed to provide further information to the public about servicer performance and prompt servicers to correct identified deficiencies by holding them publically accountable. In the second quarter of 2011, two servicers were found to be non-compliant and, therefore, their incentive payments have been withheld.
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In a typical recession, this is how you expect a recovery to get its legs: Growing families begin to invest in new homes. That investment works its way through the economy. Builders, suppliers, realtors, and the broader community all benefit.
Today, that isn't happening.
In 2006, the median home price in the United States was $227,100. By May of this year, that price had fallen to $158,700.
Already, at least 5 million people have lost their homes due to foreclosure, and today, one in every three homes purchased is the product of a short sale or a foreclosed property.
Worse still, across the country, nearly 11 million owe more than their property is worth.
Millions of these people have done everything right. They've paid all their bills and kept current on their home loans. But right now, they're stuck with higher payments because their mortgages are underwater. They're not eligible to refinance because the decline in home prices have made their property worth less than what they owe. And that's a problem President Obama knows must be addressed.
All of these factors have contributed to a climate where new homes are being built at the lowest rate since World War II and where homeowners feel trapped by financial circumstances outside their control. Those two things together are holding back the recovery.
We can't wait to help homeowners. The situation is too serious, and too much good can come from improving the state of housing in this country.
So today, President Obama is taking action. It starts with finding ways to allow homeowners to refinance their mortgages.
The Home Affordable Refinance Program is designed to do just that. To date, it's already helped nearly 1 million homeowners improve their financial situations. But up until now, eligibility regulations and costs associated with the program have kept it from having a wider impact.
Now, a new set of rules will open the program to nearly anyone with a mortgage backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac -- no matter what they owe -- so long as they are current on their payments, have no late payments in the last six months, and have not made more than one late payment in the past year.
The group that manages the program, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, will also waive a set of unnecessary costs and fees that were dissuading some from taking advantage of the program and work to get rid of certain restrictions in order to increase competition among lenders.
Millions of individuals could see up to $2,500 in savings every year.
But good as this program might prove to be, alone it won't be enough. The thing that pushes most homeowners into foreclosure is unemployment. Knowing that, Congress still has the opportunity to pass a housing program with sweeping potential -- the American Jobs Act.
Until they do, President Obama isn't waiting on lawmakers to take action. Today's announcement is just the start of things this Administration will do to get the economy growing again -- even if Congress refuses to make jobs a priority.
President Obama also can't wait for Congress to:
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A powerful earthquake rocked eastern Turkey on Sunday, and even as rescuers hunt for survivors, the death toll has climbed into the hundreds.
On hearing the news, President Obama issued the following statement:
We have been following reports of the earthquake in Turkey's eastern province of Van with great concern. On behalf of the American people, I express my deepest condolences to the families of the victims. Our thoughts and prayers are with the brave men and women who are working to bring assistance to this stricken region. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our Turkish ally in this difficult time, and are ready to assist the Turkish authorities.
The State Department is advising U.S. citizens who need assistance to contact Turkish Authorities or the U.S. Consulate in Adana, which is located at Girne Bulvari No. 212, Guzelevler Mahallesi, Yuregir, Adana, Turkey. The consulate's telephone number is (90)(322) 346-6262; fax is (90)(322) 346-7916.
Look for more updates on the U.S. Consulate in Adana website.
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Today in Las Vegas, the President is kicking off a new effort to urge Congress to pass the American Jobs Act, piece by piece, to put folks back to work and strengthen the economy. Using the mantra “we can’t wait,” the President will highlight executive actions that his Administration will take. He’ll continue to pressure Congressional Republicans to put country before party and pass the American Jobs Act, but he believes we cannot wait, so he will act where they won't.
While in Vegas, he’ll highlight a set of steps announced by the FHFA to make it easier for some homeowners to refinance their mortgages. This will help responsible borrowers with little or no equity in their homes take advantage of today’s low mortgage rates.
Later this week, the Administration will announce measures to help students better manage their student loan debt when they graduate.
These announcements will build on our ongoing effort to take action and help middle class families. For example, we decided to stop waiting for Congress to fix No Child Left Behind, and decided to give states the flexibility they need to help our children meet higher standards. And the President acted to dramatically reduce the time it takes for small businesses to get paid when they have a contract with the federal government, and eliminated regulations that will save hospitals and patients billions of dollars.
These steps aren’t a substitute for the bold action we need to create jobs and grow the economy, but they’ll make a difference. The fact is, our problems are too serious to simply do nothing. The stakes are too high. The issues facing Americans require serious bipartisan solutions, yet the Republicans in Congress have decided to put party before country and block legislation that would create jobs and grow the economy. They blocked the Americans Jobs Act, a bill that independent experts said could create up to 2 million jobs. And again, just last week, Senate Republicans obstructed a piece of the American Jobs Act that would keep hundreds of thousands of firefighters on the job, police officers on the streets, and teachers in the classroom when our kids need them most.
While President Obama continues to take executive actions, Republicans in Congress will have the opportunity to do what’s right for the country. They’ll have a chance to vote on another piece of the Americans Jobs Act. It’s a bill that will make an immediate investment of $50 billion in our nation’s surface transportation infrastructure and a $10 billion investment to create a bipartisan National Infrastructure bank. Together, these initiatives will put hundreds of thousands of construction workers back on the job rebuilding our roads, rails, and runways.
We’ll continue to do our job. Over the weeks and months ahead, we’ll continue to take actions that will improve the economy and help middle class families. Now, it’s time for Republicans in Congress to do theirs. It’s time to put country before party and do what’s right for the American people.
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Following today’s historic declaration of liberation in Libya, President Obama released this statement:
On behalf of the American people, I congratulate the people of Libya on today’s historic declaration of liberation. After four decades of brutal dictatorship and eight months of deadly conflict, the Libyan people can now celebrate their freedom and the beginning of a new era of promise.
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President Obama discusses how the death of Moammar Qadhafi in Libya and the announcement that troops from Iraq will return home by the end of the year are strong reminders that the United States has renewed its leadership in the world.
Transcript | Download mp4 | Download mp3
Watch President Obama's full remarks here.
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