The White House Blog

President Barack Obama greets President Felipe Calderón of Mexico after arriving at the Los Cabos Convention Center for the G20 Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, June 18, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

In addition to official sessions of the G-20 summit, President Obama is taking advantage of his trip to Los Cabos to hold a series of bilateral meetings with world leaders.

His first two discussions were with the presidents of Mexico and Russia.

After his meeting with Felipe Calderon, President Obama thanked the Mexican president for his leadership and his friendship.

President Obama also expressed a measure of hope for the economic situation in Europe after the recent Greek elections.

"I think the election in Greece yesterday indicates a positive prospect for not only them forming a government, but also them working constructively with their international partners in order that they can continue on the path of reform," he said.

President Obama also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin -- a conversation as "candid, thoughtful and thorough."

The G-20 Summit officially kicked off with an arrival ceremony at 2:45 PM local time, and the assembled world leaders later held their first plenary session and then met for a working dinner.

President Barack Obama participates in a bilateral meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia at the Esperanza Resort in San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico, June 18, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

This afternoon, President Obama had his first face-to-face meeting with his Russian counterpart -- President Vladimir Putin -- since the other leader was inaugurated in May.

After meeting for two hours, the men spoke briefly to reporters.

President Obama described the conversation as "candid, thoughtful and thorough." He said:

Over the last three years, the United States and Russia have been able to make significant progress on a wide range of issues, including the New START Treaty, the 1,2,3 Agreement, the work we've done on Russia's accession to the WTO, and setting up a presidential process whereby issues of trade and commerce, science, technology are all discussed at a much more intensive level.

We agreed that we need to build on these successes, even as we recognize that there are going to be areas of disagreement, and that we can find constructive ways to manage through any bilateral tensions.

The leaders also put out a joint statement that touched on many of these issues in further detail.

In his inaugural address, President Obama praised workers who “would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job.”  But in most states, our unemployment insurance (UI) system discourages reducing hours in this way. A worker who is laid off has access to UI benefits that temporarily cover part of lost wages, but a worker whose hours are reduced has no such access, creating an incentive for layoffs while leaving workers who face an involuntary reduction in their hours with no protection or support. Today the Department of Labor is issuing guidance on new legislation that will help to address these problems. This guidance is part of a series of important UI reforms designed to contribute to job creation and job placement that the President proposed in the American Jobs Act, were signed into law in February and are now being implemented. 

Programs in some states that allow workers whose hours have been cut to claim pro-rated UI benefits—so-called short-time compensation or work sharing programs—help to keep workers on the job.   President Obama has long advocated the expansion of work sharing to help employers and their workers. It’s an idea that has been supported by economists across the political spectrum. The President’s proposal to expand the number of states with work-sharing programs, and increase employer awareness of the benefits of work sharing, was included in both his FY 2012 and 2013 Budgets, and in last September’s American Jobs Act. That proposal was signed into law on a bipartisan basis as part of the February extension of the payroll tax cut, and is being implemented today through guidance released by the Labor Department. 

Over the past two weeks, we’ve asked you to raise your voice about the President’s plan to help owners, and your response has been overwhelming.

In case you still have questions about how the President’s proposal works, we asked Jim Parrott, Senior Advisor for Housing at the National Economic Council, to go "on the clock" and explain the proposal in sixty seconds (or less).

Watch the video, and then share your story:

President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the LGBT Pride Month Reception in the East Room of the White House, June 15, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

President Obama today hosted a reception in the East Room to observe LGBT Pride Month. The President welcomed community leaders, students, politicians and members of the armed services for the annual event and paid tribute to the generations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans who devoted their lives to ensuring equality for all.  In his remarks, the President acknowledged that while great progress has been made, the battle is not over yet:

... but we will get there. We'll get there because of all of you. We’ll get there because of all of the ordinary Americans who every day show extraordinary courage. We’ll get there because of every man and woman and activist and ally who is moving us forward by the force of their moral arguments, but more importantly, by the force of their example. 

 And as long as I have the privilege of being your President, I promise you, you won't just have a friend in the White House, you will have a fellow advocate for an America where no matter what you look like or where you come from or who you love, you can dream big dreams and dream as openly as you want.

Read President Obama's full remarks here.

Here's a quick glimpse at what happened this week on WhiteHouse.gov:

Why Refinance: This past week we heard from Americans who support President Obama's proposal to make it easier for responsible homeowners to refinance their mortgages, an item on his To-Do-List for Congress. We asked you to speak up about the issue and share your stories. Many of you fall into the category of responsible home owners that just need a break from your housing loan's high interest rate, and you should know that we are listening to your voices and concerns.

Fatherhood Buzz: On Wednesday, the President sat down for lunch with four dads to chat about the importance of a father's role in a child's life. He also discussed the "Fatherhood Buzz" initiative and how the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services partnering with barbershops to discuss the importance of fathers with their communities. This week the White House also released a report, Promoting Responsible Fatherhood, and honored several Champions of Change for their work in the fields of fatherhood and low-income men and boys.

President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration announcement in the Rose Garden of the White House, June 15, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Sonya N. Hebert)

Speaking from the Rose Garden, President Obama addressed a new policy from the Department of Homeland Security aimed at making the nation’s immigration policy more fair and more efficient -- by removing the threat of deportation for young people who are low enforcement priorities.

Over the next few months, eligible individuals who do not present a risk to national security or public safety will be able to request temporary relief from deportation proceedings and apply for work authorization.

Now, let's be clear -- this is not amnesty, this is not immunity.  This is not a path to citizenship.  It's not a permanent fix. This is a temporary stopgap measure that lets us focus our resources wisely while giving a degree of relief and hope to talented, driven, patriotic young people. 

Public Financial Disclosure Reports (OGE Form 278) for White House officials are now available. Interested parties may request reports electronically by completing the application form available here.

Once the application form is submitted, reports will be sent via email in PDF format. Please call the press office if you have any questions.

Kathryn Ruemmler is Counsel to the President

President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration announcement in the Rose Garden of the White House, June 15, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Sonya N. Hebert)

Secretary Janet Napolitano’s announcement this morning reaffirms President Obama’s commitment to smart and sensible immigration policies that prioritize immigration enforcement toward individuals who pose a threat to public safety. Young deserving people who are Americans in every way but on paper are not this Administration’s priority for removal. These young people came to this country as children. As the President has said many times, it makes no sense to remove productive young people to countries where they may not have lived or even speak the language. They have become productive members in our communities. They have grown up swearing allegiance to our flag. Yet they live in the shadows of America, without the possibility to realize their dreams.

This new policy is the latest in a series of steps the Department of Homeland Security has taken to improve upon the use of prosecutorial discretion. The point of this strategy is to ensure that our immigration enforcement can focus on high-priority individuals instead of clogging the system with low priority cases. The young immigrants who will be eligible under this policy are earnest, productive young people ready to contribute back to America in the fullest possible sense.