The White House Blog

President Barack Obama awards the 2012 National Medal of Arts and National Humanities Medal during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. The President presents the National Medal of Arts to George Lucas. July 10, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

What do an acclaimed Opera singer, the director of Star Wars, and a Harvard scholar have in common? Today at the White House, they were all honored by President Obama as recipients of the National Medals of Arts and Humanities.

In a ceremony in the East Room, President Obama presented 24 medals, equally divided between the National Medal of Arts and the National Humanities Medal, to extraordinary individuals who impacted American life. As the President said, the medal recipients "used their talents in the arts and the humanities to open up minds and nourish souls, and help us understand what it means to be human, and what it means to be an American."

And that's no small feat. Today's awardees included screenwriters, dancers, poets, and professors. They made phrases like "Luke, I am your father" familiar, and they challenged our fundamental beliefs about American civic society. Some won a Grammy, Pulitzer or MacArthur Genius Award, but all awardees gave more to the country than their physical prizes can ever represent.

Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a memorial service for the 19 firefighters who died while fighting the Yarnell Wildfire, in Prescott Valley, Arizona, July 9, 2013. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

Vice President Biden traveled to Prescott Valley, Arizona yesterday to deliver remarks at a memorial service for the nineteen firefighters who died last week fighting the Yarnell Hill fire. The Vice President honored the firefighters, calling them “heroes long before we knew their names.”

We teach our children that these qualities – courage and resolve and perseverance – these qualities are ingrained in our national character as Americans. And I believe they are.  I believe they animate our national identity.  And I believe America will continue to be defined by the example of the 19 ordinary men who did extraordinary things.”

First Lady Michelle Obama delivers remarks during the Kids' State Dinner in the East Room of the White House, July 9, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

Fifty-four young chefs, whose recipes were selected as winners of Epicurious' Healthy Lunchtime Challenge, visited the White House today for the second annual Kids' State Dinner, hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama in the State Dining Room. 

When they arrived, White House chefs were busy in the kitchen whipping up some of the winning recipes. After hearing the First Lady speak, President Obama surprised everyone by stopping by to say hello. Singer Rachel Crow also made an appearance – some of the kids even got on stage to dance with her! 

Their visit was so much fun, we had to compile some of our favorite moments. Check them out below.

1. Yummy Healthy Meals

Joshua from Montana is a proud member of the clean plate club!! Zucchini corn bread and veggie spring rolls, check! pic.twitter.com/traXCycwVb

— Let's Move! (@letsmove) July 9, 2013

Watch this video on YouTube

One of the President’s first priorities after taking office in 2009 was to bring a government built for the 20th century into the 21st century. Over the last four years, we’ve made great progress to advance this goal, thanks in large part to the integration of new technologies and innovations across the Administration.

This morning, the President held a meeting with his Cabinet and senior officials to lay out his vision for building a better, smarter, faster government over the course of his second term. During the meeting, the President directed Cabinet members and key officials in his Administration to build on the progress made over the first term, and he challenged us to improve government even further.

To help members of the Cabinet and Administration officials find more innovative ways to deliver better results, the Administration recently welcomed a second class of Presidential Innovation Fellows – 43 highly talented and motivated individuals chosen out of more than 2,000 applicants. The first class of 18 Presidential Innovation Fellows worked hand-in-hand with top government innovators to develop solutions that are delivering smart-government solutions to taxpayers at a lower cost.

This week more than 7,800 candidates will become citizens at more than 100 ceremonies across the country and around the world. Obama Administration officials participated in ceremonies which were part of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services’ annual celebration of Independence Day. 

On July 4, to celebrate our nation’s birth, White House Chief of Staff, Denis McDonough, gave remarks at a special ceremony at George Washington’s Mt. Vernon where 101 new citizens recited the Oath of Allegiance and became American citizens. Mt. Vernon is one of the prominent landmarks to host naturalization ceremonies this year in honor of Independence Day.

During the ceremony, Mr. McDonough discussed the ways immigrants have always contributed to the success of our economy:

“Throughout our history, immigrants have enriched our nation. From Albert Einstein who brought us the theory of relativity to Andrew Carnegie who led the American expansion in steel. From Madeline Albright our former Secretary of State to Jerry Yang who founded Yahoo!. America has benefited immensely from the contributions and talents of these and millions of other immigrants.”

This week, the First Family traveled to Africa, for a three country, four stop visit that started in Dakar, Senegal and ended in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania with stops in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa sandwiched in between. There were drums and dancing, crowds and ceremonial pomp and circumstance, meetings, forums, summits and town halls, and moving trips to both Goree and Robben Islands.

Happy Independence Day! To celebrate, more than 1,200 military heroes and their families will join the President and the First Lady at the White House for an Independence Day celebration, which includes a performance by the Grammy Award Winning band, fun..

You don't need to be on the South Lawn to enjoy the show! Check out the "Salute to the Military" USO Concert and the fireworks over the National Mall on WhiteHouse.gov/live or on your iPhone with the White House App.

Here's the schedule for Thursday, July 4:

• 6:00 PM EDT: President Obama delivers remarks from the South Lawn
• 8:10 PM EDT: USO show featuring fun.
• 9:10 PM EDT: National capital fireworks display

But first – check out some of our favorite Fourth of July moments from the last few years.

1. President Obama and Babies

President Barack Obama holds a baby while greeting guests during an Independence Day celebration on the South Lawn of the White House, July 4, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

2. Fun, Fireworks and Games

From the start, this Administration has encouraged an ongoing dialogue with the leaders of our nation’s businesses, large and small. There’s more to do, but working together we’ve helped rebuild our economy. Businesses have added 6.9 million private-sector jobs in the past 39 months and we’ve helped strengthen the middle class. Today, most Americans get their health insurance through their jobs and that will be the case moving forward.

To help restore middle class security, we are making health care more affordable to businesses, government, and American families through the Affordable Care Act. While major portions of the law have yet to be implemented, it’s already a little more affordable for businesses to offer quality health coverage to their employees. A recent report suggests that medical cost growth will be lower in 2014 than an already low rate in 2013, both “defying historical patterns.”

Starting next year, the law also ensures all Americans will have access to affordable health coverage. We are on target to open the Health Insurance Marketplace on October 1 where small businesses and ordinary Americans will be able to go to one place to learn about their coverage options and make side-by-side comparisons of each plan’s price and benefits before they make their decision.

As we implement this law, we have and will continue to make changes as needed. In our ongoing discussions with businesses we have heard that you need the time to get this right. We are listening. So in response to your concerns, we are making two changes.

First, we are cutting red tape and simplifying the reporting process. We have heard the concern that the reporting called for under the law about each worker’s access to and enrollment in health insurance requires new data collection systems and coordination. So we plan to re-vamp and simplify the reporting process. Some of this detailed reporting may be unnecessary for businesses that more than meet the minimum standards in the law. We will convene employers, insurers, and experts to propose a smarter system and, in the interim, suspend reporting for 2014.

Second, we are giving businesses more time to comply. As we make these changes, we believe we need to give employers more time to comply with the new rules. Since employer responsibility payments can only be assessed based on this new reporting, payments won’t be collected for 2014. This allows employers the time to test the new reporting systems and make any necessary adaptations to their health benefits while staying the course toward making health coverage more affordable and accessible for their workers.

Today, I had the pleasure and honor of ending our trip by attending an African First Ladies Summit entitled “Investing in Women: Strengthening Africa” which was co-sponsored by our former First Lady, Mrs. Laura Bush.  There are so few people in the world who know what it feels like to be married to the President of the United States, and Mrs. Bush has been so incredibly kind and welcoming to me and my family over the years.  So I was thrilled to have the chance to see her and her husband, President Bush, and to attend this very important event.

Upon arrival, I got to meet First Ladies from countries all across Africa who came here to Tanzania for this summit.  These women are doing extraordinary work in their home countries – from raising awareness about HIV/AIDS, to fighting violence against women, to working to end child hunger – and it was inspiring to learn about the difference they are making across this continent. 

I then had a lively discussion with Mrs. Bush about the impact that First Ladies can have on the important issues this conference is focused on: women’s health, women’s economic empowerment, and education for women and girls.  This last issue is particularly near and dear to my heart and has been part of my focus throughout this trip.

The fact is that too often, in developing countries, girls simply don’t get the chance to attend school.  In some parts of Africa, fewer than 20% of girls ever attend high school.

There are many reasons for this education gender gap.  Sometimes, girls’ families simply can’t afford the costs of sending them to school (for things like school fees, uniforms, or school supplies).  Or if parents don’t have enough money to send all their children to school, they’ll send their sons instead of their daughters.  In some parts of the world, girls are expected to get married when they’re very young – when they’re teenagers or even younger – or they have to work to help support their families, so they can’t go to school.  And in some places, a girl may have to walk many miles to attend the nearest school, and it may not be safe for her to do that by herself.