The White House Blog: The President

President Obama Visits the Argonne National Research Lab to Talk About American Energy Security

President Barack Obama delivers remarks on clean energy at Argonne National Laboratory’s Nanoscale Materials Center in Lemont, Ill., March 15, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

Few areas hold more promise for creating good jobs and growing our economy than how we use American energy, and today President Obama visited the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois to talk about the progress we are seeing from his all of the above approach to energy independence and the risk that this important sector faces from the arbitrary cuts being imposed by the so-called sequester.

As President Obama noted in his remarks, these cuts do not distinguish between wasteful programs and vital investments. "They don’t trim the fat; they cut into muscle and into bone," the President said. "Like research and development being done right here that not only gives a great place for young researchers to come and ply their trade, but also ends up creating all kinds of spinoffs that create good jobs and good wages."   

West Wing Week: 03/15/13 or “Stay With It!”

This week, the President met with the Sultan of Brunei, his Export Council, Intel Science Fair finalists, and Israel Channel 2; he discussed cybersecurity and immigration reform with CEOs, and traveled to the Capitol to meet with Congressional Caucuses, while the First Lady honored Women of Courage, held a Twitter Q&A, and challenged CEOs to find innovative ways to hire veterans.

President Obama Talks Trade with His Export Council

Today, President Obama stopped by a meeting of his Export Council, a group of business executives and government leaders who advise him on trade and export issues.

“The good news is we are well on our way to meeting a very ambitious goal that we set several years ago to double U.S. exports,” President Obama said. “The question now becomes how do we sustain this momentum?”

Part of that means building on progress that put strong trade deals in place, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which “sets a high bar that ensures that trade is fair and free,” the President said.

“And for those of us who abide by high labor standards and high environmental standards, obviously being able to lock in those kinds of high standards in the fastest-growing region of the world and the most populous region of the world can yield enormous benefits and help to generate billions of dollars in trade and millions of jobs.”

President Obama also discussed expanding trade with Europe through efforts to lock in the EU-U.S trade deal he announced in his State of the Union Address.

West Wing Week: 03/08/13 or “Jedi Mind-Meld”

This week, the President urged Congress to resolve harmful budget cuts and reduce the deficit in a way that helps grow the economy and strengthen the middle class, held his first Cabinet meeting of the second term, announced three key Cabinet nominations, and signed the Violence Against Women Act.