Today, the President granted commutation to 330 individuals. The President has now granted commutation to a total of 1,715 individuals, including 568 people who had been sentenced to life in prison. The vast majority of these men and women are serving unduly long sentences for drug crimes. With today’s action, the President has granted more commutations than any president in this nation’s history and has surpassed the number of commutations granted by the past 13 presidents combined. The President set out to reinvigorate clemency, and he has done just that.

In 2014, the President directed officials at the Department of Justice to undertake an ambitious effort: encourage federal inmates serving sentences imposed under outdated laws to apply for clemency. With assistance from the Clemency Project 2014 and volunteer attorneys throughout the country, federal inmates applied for clemency in staggering numbers. The Deputy Attorney General and the Pardon Attorney – and their respective offices – worked vigorously to review these applications. Less than three years later, the President has now granted commutation to more than 1,700 individuals, the overwhelming majority of whom were serving sentences under outdated and overly harsh drug sentencing laws. Many of these individuals were assisted by Clemency Project 2014, and many will be assisted by the Stanford Justice Advocacy Project in their reentry efforts. The President’s vision could not have been realized without this support.

To the President’s 1,715 commutation recipients and 212 pardon recipients – you have been granted a second chance because the President sees the potential in you. After reviewing each of your stories, the President concluded that you have taken substantial steps to remedy your past mistakes and that you are deserving of a second chance. You and your stories have been essential to the President’s successful exercise of his clemency authority. Stories of rehabilitation and growth, of families reunited, and lives turned around – these are the stories that demonstrate why our nation is a nation of second chances. As the President has written to you, your example will influence whether someone in similar circumstances will get his or her own second chance in the future.  Make the President proud with how you use your second chance. 

Neil Eggleston is Counsel to the President. 

My fellow Americans,

It's a long-standing tradition for the sitting president of the United States to leave a parting letter in the Oval Office for the American elected to take his or her place. It's a letter meant to share what we know, what we've learned, and what small wisdom may help our successor bear the great responsibility that comes with the highest office in our land, and the leadership of the free world.

But before I leave my note for our 45th president, I wanted to say one final thank you for the honor of serving as your 44th. Because all that I've learned in my time in office, I've learned from you. You made me a better President, and you made me a better man.

Throughout these eight years, you have been the source of goodness, resilience, and hope from which I've pulled strength. I've seen neighbors and communities take care of each other during the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes. I have mourned with grieving families searching for answers -- and found grace in a Charleston church.

I've taken heart from the hope of young graduates and our newest military officers. I've seen our scientists help a paralyzed man regain his sense of touch, and wounded warriors once given up for dead walk again. I've seen Americans whose lives have been saved because they finally have access to medical care, and families whose lives have been changed because their marriages are recognized as equal to our own. I've seen the youngest of children remind us through their actions and through their generosity of our obligations to care for refugees, or work for peace, and, above all, to look out for each other.

I've seen you, the American people, in all your decency, determination, good humor, and kindness. And in your daily acts of citizenship, I've seen our future unfolding.

All of us, regardless of party, should throw ourselves into that work -- the joyous work of citizenship. Not just when there's an election, not just when our own narrow interest is at stake, but over the full span of a lifetime.

I'll be right there with you every step of the way.

And when the arc of progress seems slow, remember: America is not the project of any one person. The single most powerful word in our democracy is the word 'We.' 'We the People.' 'We shall overcome.'

Yes, we can.

And if you'd like to stay connected, you can sign up here to keeping getting updates from me.

Over the past eight years, the President, the First Lady, and the Obama White House have used social media and technology to engage with people around the country and the world on the most important issues of our time. From the very beginning, our mission has been to reach people on the channels and platforms where they already spend their time. This work began before President Obama took office in 2009, and, now, this work will continue. 

As this Administration draws to a close, we wanted to share how you can continue to follow and engage with President Obama, the First Lady, and other Obama White House officials, as well as how you can find content posted over the past eight years after January 20, 2017. Moving forward, the President and First Lady can be followed on familiar handles: @BarackObama and @MichelleObama. 

In October, we laid out plans to preserve and pass on the digital legacy of the Obama administration and have been working to ensure this unprecedented digital transition meets three key goals. First, we are preserving the material we’ve created with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Second, we are working to ensure these materials continue to be accessible on the platforms where they were created, allowing for continued access to the content posted over the past eight years. Finally, we are working to ensure that the next White House and future administrations can continue to use and develop the digital channels we have created to connect directly with the people they serve. 

We are grateful to the people around the country and the world who have engaged with us online over the past eight years. We listened to you, we learned from you, and we strove to create opportunities for you to play an active role in your government by fulfilling the most important role in our government: the role of citizen.

Digital assets that will remain with the White House

We are working to ensure that the next White House and future administrations can continue to use and develop the digital channels we have created to connect directly with the people they serve. The following assets will remain with the institution:

• Twitter (handle and followers, with no tweets on the timeline): @WhiteHouse, @POTUS, @VP, @FLOTUS, @PressSec, @LaCasaBlanca, @WHLive, @VPLive, @Cabinet
• Facebook (username and followers, with no posts on the timeline): Facebook.com/WhiteHouse, Facebook.com/whitehouse.espanol
• Instagram (handle and follower, with no posts on the timeline): Instagram.com/WhiteHouse
• Snapchat (username and followers): WhiteHouse
• ​YouTube (username and subscribers, with no videos): YouTube.com/WhiteHouse
• Medium (username and followers, with no posts): Medium.com/@WhiteHouse
• Tumblr (username and followers, with no posts): Tumblr.com/WhiteHouse
• Flickr (username and subscribers, with no photos): Flickr.com/WhiteHouse

Where you can access archival Obama White House content

After January 20, 2017, materials will continue to be accessible on the platforms where they were created, allowing the public continued access to the content posted over the past eight years.

WhiteHouse.gov becomes ObamaWhiteHouse.gov
The Obama White House website – which includes press articles, blog posts, videos, and photos – will be available at ObamaWhiteHouse.gov, a site maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), beginning on January 20, 2017. If you are looking for a post or page on the Obama administration’s WhiteHouse.gov from 2009 through 2017, you can find it by changing the URL to ObamaWhiteHouse.gov. For example, after the transition, this blog post will be available at ObamaWhiteHouse.gov/obama-administration-digital-transition-moving-forward.

President Obama, Vice President Biden, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Dr. Biden
Archived content posted to these social media accounts during the Obama administration will be maintained by NARA at the following handles:

• President Obama:
  • @POTUS on Twitter will be archived at @POTUS44
  • ​Facebook.com/POTUS will be archived at Facebook.com/POTUS44
  • Medium.com/@PresidentObama will be archived at Medium.com/@POTUS44
• Vice President Biden:
  • @VP on Twitter will be archived at @VP44
  • ​Facebook.com/VicePresidentBiden will be archived at Facebook.com/VicePresidentBiden44
  • ​Instagram.com/VP will be archived at Instagram.com/VP44
  • ​Medium.com/@VPOTUS44 will be archived at Medium.com/@VPOTUS44
• First Lady Michelle Obama:
  • @FLOTUS on Twitter will be archived at @FLOTUS44
  • ​@MichelleObama on Instagram will be archived at @MichelleObama44
  • ​Medium.com/@FLOTUS will be archived at @FLOTUS44
• Dr. Jill Biden:
  • @DrBiden on Twitter will be archived at @DrBiden44
  • ​@DrBiden on Instagram will be archived at @DrBiden44​
  • Medium.com/@DrBiden will be archived at Medium.com/@DrBiden44

White House Social Media
Archived content posted to institutional White House social media accounts during the Obama administration will be maintained by NARA at the following handles:

• @WhiteHouse on Twitter will be archived at @ObamaWhiteHouse
• Facebook.com/WhiteHouse will be archived at Facebook.com/ObamaWhiteHouse
• Instagram.com/WhiteHouse will be archived at Instagram.com/ObamaWhiteHouse
• @LaCasaBlanca on Twitter will be archived at @LaCasaBlanca44
• Facebook.com/whitehouse.espanol will be archived at Facebook.com/LaCasaBlancaObama
• ​Medium.com/WhiteHouse will be archived at Medium.com/@ObamaWhiteHouse
• Flickr.com/WhiteHouse will be archived at Flickr.com/ObamaWhiteHouse
• YouTube.com/WhiteHouse will be archived at YouTube.com/ObamaWhiteHouse
• ​Tumblr.com/WhiteHouse will be archived at Obamaobamawhitehouse.tumblr.com

Some other content you may be looking for can be found here: 

• @ONDCP will be archived at @ONDCP44
• @ONDCPespanol will be archived at @ONDCPespanol44
• ​@OMBPress will be archived at @OMBPress44
• @WhiteHouseOSTP will be archived at @WHOSTP44
• @WhiteHouseCEQ will be archived at @WhiteHouseCEQ44
• @OpenGov will be archived at @OpenGov44
• @USCTO will be archived at @USCTO44
• @CEAChair will be archived at @CEAChair44
• ​@WHWeb will be arhived at @WHWeb44

How you can keep following the President, First Lady, and other White House Officials:

President Obama
After January 20, 2017, President Obama will use the following accounts:

• @BarackObama on Twitter
• Facebook.com/BarackObama
• Instagram.com/BarackObama
• For updates on the Obama Presidential Center, you can follow @ObamaFoundation on Twitter

First Lady Michelle Obama
You can follow First Lady Michelle Obama after January 20, 2017 at the following accounts:

• @MichelleObama on Twitter
• Instagram.com/MichelleObama
• Snapchat: MichelleObama
• Facebook.com/MichelleObama​

Vice President Biden
You can follow Vice President Biden after January 20, 2017 at the following accounts:

• @JoeBiden on Twitter
• Facebook.com/JoeBiden

Dr. Jill Biden
You can follow Dr. Jill Biden after January 20, 2017 at the following accounts:

• @DrBiden on Twitter
• Instagram.com/DrBiden

White House Officials (You can follow an twitter list of Obama White House officials here):

• Denis McDonough: You can continue to follow Denis at @DenisMcDonough on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @Denis44.
• Valerie Jarrett: You can continue to follow Valerie at @ValerieJarrett on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @VJ44.
• Josh Earnest: You can continue to follow Josh at @JoshEarnest on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @PressSec44. 
• Susan Rice: You can continue to follow Susan at @AmbassadorRice on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @AmbRice44.
• Ben Rhodes: You can continue to follow Ben at @brhodes on Twitter. Archive content will be available at @Rhodes44.
• Jason Goldman: You can continue to follow Jason at @Goldman on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @Goldman44.
• Brian Deese: You can continue to follow Brian at @BrianCDeese on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @Deese44.
• Jason Furman: You can continue to follow Jason at @JasonFurman on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @CEAChair44.
• Cecilia Muñoz: You can continue to follow Cecilia at @cecmunoz on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @Cecilia44.
• DJ Patil: You can continue to follow DJ at @dpatil on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @DJ44. 
• Jen Psaki: You can continue to follow Jen at @JRPsaki on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @Psaki44.
• Megan Smith: You can continue to follow Megan at @SmithMegan. Archived content will be available at @USTO44. 
• Pete Souza: You can continue to follow Pete at @PeteSouza on Twitter and @PeteSouza on Instagram. Archived content will be available at @petesouza44 on Twitter and @petesouza44 on Instagram.
• Brandi Hoffine: You can continue to follow Brandi at @brandihoffine on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @Hoffine44.
• Charlie Anderson: You can continue to follow Charlie at @EconCharlie on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @Charlie44. 
• Ed Felten: You can continue to follow Ed at @EdFelten on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @EdFelten44.
• Eric Schultz: You can continue to follow Eric at @ericschultz on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @Schultz44. 
• Jay Shambaugh: You can continue to follow Jay at @JayCShambaugh on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @CEAJay.
• Jesse Lee: You can continue to follow Jesse at @jessecharleslee on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @jesseclee44.
• Joanna Rosholm: You can contine to follow Joanna @jojorosholm on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @Rosholm44.
• Katie Hill: You can continue to follow Katie at @KatieMHill. Twitter. Archived content will be available at @Hill44.
• Kori Schulman: You can continue to follow Kori at @KoriSchulman on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @ks44.
• Kristin Lee: You can continue to follow Kristin at @kristindlee on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @Lee44.
• ​Liz Allen: You can continue to follow Liz at @LizMarieAllen on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @LizAllen44.
• Ned Price: You can continue to follow Ned at @NedPrice on Twitter. Archived content will be available at Price44. 
• Patrick Rodenbush: You can continue to follow Patrick at @pnrodenbush on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @Patrick44.
• Paulette Aniskoff: You can continue to follow Paulette at @PAniskoff on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @Paniskoff44.
• R. David Edelman: You can continue to follow David at @R_D on Twitter. Archive content will be available at @rD44.
• Shaun Donovan: You can continue to follow Shaun at @Shaun_Don66 on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @ShaunOMB.
• Tara McGuinness: You can continue to follow Tara at @taradmcguinness on Twitter. Archived content will be available at @Tara44.
• Todd Park: Archived content will be available at @Todd_Park44. 

Today, 209 commutation recipients – including 109 individuals who had believed they would live out their remaining days in prison – learned that they will be rejoining their families and loved ones, and 64 pardon recipients learned that their past convictions have been forgiven. These 273 individuals learned that our nation is a forgiving nation, where hard work and a commitment to rehabilitation can lead to a second chance, and where wrongs from the past will not deprive an individual of the opportunity to move forward. Today, 273 individuals – like President Obama’s 1,324 clemency recipients before them – learned that our President has found them deserving of a second chance.

While the mercy the President has shown his 1,597 clemency recipients is remarkable, we must remember that clemency is an extraordinary remedy, granted only after the President has concluded that a particular individual has demonstrated a readiness to make use of his or her second chance. Only Congress can achieve the broader reforms needed to ensure over the long run that our criminal justice system operates more fairly and effectively in the service of public safety.

Neil Eggleston is Counsel to the President. 

Transcript | MP3 | MP4

Policy Objectives and FinTech Principles

This document sets forth Administration policy objectives that reflect widely-shared values and practical expectations for the financial services sector and the U.S. government entities that interact with the sector.  It then provides ten overarching principles that constitute a framework policymakers and regulators can use to think about, engage with, and assess the fintech ecosystem in order to meet these policy objectives.  Similarly, industry and other stakeholders can use the framework to understand how they can contribute to a well-functioning and inclusive financial system, and to examine their products and services against articulated principles.

The ten principles encourage stakeholders to:

1. think broadly about the financial ecosystem;
2. start with the consumer in mind;
3. promote safe financial inclusion and financial health;
4. recognize and overcome potential technological bias;
5. maximize transparency;
6. strive for interoperability and harmonize technical standards;
7. build in cybersecurity, data security, and privacy protections from the start;
8. increase efficiency and effectiveness in financial infrastructure;
9. protect financial stability; and
10. continue and strengthen cross-sector engagement.

Federal Government Engagement

Federal policymakers and regulators have accomplished a lot in the fintech space.  Executive agencies across the government – including the Department of Commerce (Commerce), the Small Business Administration (SBA), the Department of State (State), the Department of the Treasury (Treasury), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and others – and independent regulators have engaged with stakeholders across the industry through events, Requests for Information (RFIs), whitepapers, technical assistance and research, and informal outreach and conversations, to better understand the industry and determine the appropriate role for government in fintech development.  The White House FinTech Summit, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) Responsible Innovation initiative, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Project Catalyst, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Fintech Working Group, Commerce’s Open for Innovation events, Treasury and USAID’s Financial Inclusion Forums, and Treasury’s whitepaper, Opportunities and Challenges in Online Marketplace Lending, are just a few examples.

The Road Ahead

Significant work remains, however.  The United States should continue developing a policy strategy that helps advance fintech and the broader financial services sector, achieve policy objectives where financial services play an integral role, and maintain a robust competitive advantage in the technology and financial services sectors to promote broad-based economic growth at home and abroad.

Additionally, policymakers, regulators, and the private sector should continue engaging with one another to foster innovation in fintech while protecting consumers and the financial system.  This whitepaper is both a product of ongoing public-private cooperation and a roadmap for future collaboration.  As the fintech ecosystem continues to evolve, this statement of principles should serve as a resource to guide the development of smart, pragmatic, and innovative cross-sector engagement.

Adrienne Harris is a Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy. Alex Zerden is a Presidential Management Fellow. 

So today, in a collaboration with Oculus and Felix & Paul Studios, the President and First Lady are using virtual reality to bring the history of the White House directly to you. Narrated by the President, “the People’s House” offers an intimate, 360-degree exploration of rooms in the White House residence and the West Wing, as well as a look back at some of the most significant moments that took place there over the past eight years. It’s a first-ever virtual reality experience with the President and First Lady in the White House. Here’s a preview:

The tour takes viewers through rooms in the White House like the Old Family Dining Room, as well as places that many Americans have never seen before: the Oval Office, the Situation Room, the Rose Garden, and the Treaty Room (the President’s private office). Through it all, you’ll hear the President and First Lady’s personal reflections on historic moments that occurred in each place, whether that’s the response to the economic crisis, the raid on Osama bin Laden, or his statement on the Supreme Court’s decision to make marriage equality the law of the land.

All of this reflects what President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama wanted to do when they first step foot in the White House eight years ago. In 2009, they made it their particular mission to open wide the doors of this museum of American history to everyone, near and far. They invited the Girl Scouts to camp out on the South Lawn, they opened up the Old Family Dining Room on the White House tour, they got rid of the ban on photography for visitors, and more so the American people could see – and share – what it’s like to live here. Virtual Reality is the latest technology they can use in service of this mission.

After all, as the President said, each First Family is merely a "renter." This house, and the history made here, belongs to you.

The final open enrollment period of this Administration started on November 1, and since then, more than 11.5 million people nationwide have signed up for health insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace. As part of our Administration’s ongoing efforts to reach the remaining uninsured, the White House launched the Healthy Campus Challenge in September, hoping to engage college and university campuses in enrollment efforts. Campuses opted in by agreeing to undertake a series of best practices, like emailing all students and faculty with information about open enrollment, amplifying deadlines on social media, holding enrollment events, and producing creative online content to reach community members.

White House staff members worked with administrators, students, faculty, staff, alumni, local community leaders, and elected officials across the country to spread the word about open enrollment and the Marketplace, sharing best practices with them honed over the last four years.

More than 350 campuses from all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico participated in the Challenge and carried out some enrollment activities, with nearly 100 campuses completing all the criteria.

Today, leaders from nearly 60 of those campuses will attend Healthy Campus Challenge Day at the White House. We can’t wait to congratulate them for their hard work during the ongoing open enrollment period, hear creative ideas from these schools, and brainstorm ways for them to work together moving forward. Our hope in holding the Challenge was to institutionalize these enrollment practices on campuses nationwide for future open enrollments. 

Healthy Campus Challenge Day will be streamed live from South Court Auditorium at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, January 13 at obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/live, and here’s the program agenda, if you’re tuning in from afar:

Welcome Remarks

Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President, the White House

Panel I: Healthy Campuses Share What Works

Moderator: Bess Evans, Senior Associate Director and Senior Policy Advisor, White House Office of Public Engagement and Domestic Policy Council

Stephanie Blaisdell, Ph.D, Assistant Vice President, University of Memphis

Jessica Koscelnak, Director of Health Services, Keystone College

Jessica Lauritsen, Director of Student Life & Career Development, Hennepin Technical College

Alyssa Padilla, Special Projects Coordinator, University of Arizona

Susan Quinn, Director of Student Health Services, Santa Rosa Junior College

Jodi A. Ray, Director of the College of Public Health, University of South Florida

Brett Rowlett, Director of Governmental & Community Relations, Lane Community College

Presentation of Certificates

Kristie Canegallo, Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Implementation, the White House

Panel II: National Organizations Working to Impact Local Efforts

Moderator: Bess Evans, Senior Associate Director and Senior Policy Advisor, White House Office of Public Engagement and Domestic Policy Council

Amaris Bradley, MPH, RD, Senior Manager of Partnerships, Partnership for a Healthier America

Erin Hemlin, National Director of Training and Consumer Education, Young Invincibles

Kyle Lierman, Senior Associate Director and Senior Policy Advisor, White House Office of Public Engagement and Domestic Policy Council

Ebonee Rice, National Director of Strategic Partnerships, Enroll America

Closing Remarks

Bess Evans, Senior Associate Director and Senior Policy Advisor, White House Office of Public Engagement and Domestic Policy Council

The following schools will attend Healthy Campus Challenge Day:

Ashland University (Ashland, OH)

Augsburg College (Minneapolis, MN)

Bakersfield College (Bakersfield, CA)

Bethune-Cookman University (Daytona Beach, FL)

Bowie State University (Bowie, MD)

Bunker Hill Community College (Boston, MA)

California State University, Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA)

Concord University (Athens, WV)

Cottey College (Nevada, MO)

Delta College (University Center, MI)

DePaul University (Chicago, IL)

Durham Technical Community College (Durham, NC)

Florida Memorial University (Miami Gardens, FL)

George Mason University (Fairfax, VA)

Harold Washington College (Chicago, IL)

Hennepin Technical College (Brooklyn Park, MN)

Kean University (Union, NJ)

Keystone College (Factoryville, PA)

Los Angeles Pierce College (Los Angeles, CA)

Lane Community College (Eugene, OR)

Livingstone College (Salisbury, NC)

Long Beach City College (Long Beach, CA)

Mansfield University of Pennsylvania (Mansfield, PA)

Mercy College (Dobbs Ferry, NY)

Millersville University of Pennsylvania (Millersville, PA)

Missouri State University (Springfield, MO)

Monroe Community College (Rochester, NY)

Nash Community College (Rocky Mount, NC)

Norwalk Community College (Norwalk, CT)

Notre Dame De Namur University (Belmont, CA)

Orange Coast College (Costa Mesa, CA)

Pacific Lutheran University (Tacoma, WA)

Pierpont Community & Technical College (Fairmont, WV)

Princeton University (Princeton, NJ)

Rider University (Lawrence Township, NJ)

Santa Rosa Junior College (Santa Rosa, CA)

Southern California University of Health Sciences (Whittier, CA)

Spencerian College (Louisville, KY)

Sullivan University (Louisville, KY)

The University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ)

The University of New Orleans (New Orleans, LA)

The University of Southern Mississippi (Hattiesburg, MS)

Trocaire College (Buffalo, NY)

United Tribes Technical College (Bismarck, ND)

University of Delaware (Newark, DE)

University of Hawaii at Hilo (Hilo, HI)

University of Memphis (Memphis, TN)         

University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI)

University of South Florida (Tampa, FL)

University of Wisconsin - River Falls (River Falls, WI)

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Milwaukee, WI)

Upper Iowa University (Fayette, IA)

Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, VA)

Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, MI)

Western Washington University (Bellingham, WA)

William Rainey Harper College (Palatine, IL)

Xavier University of Louisiana (New Orleans, LA)

Kristie Canegallo is the White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Implementation. 

The decoupling of carbon pollution and economic growth in the United States is underway, and recent data from the International Energy Agency suggests that this trend is going global, as emissions have stayed flat in 2014 and 2015 while the global economy grew. When the Paris Agreement took effect in December 2015, the world took an important step toward avoiding the most dangerous impacts of climate change.  But Paris alone is not enough to avoid average global surface temperature increases that climate scientists say are very risky -- additional policies that reduce CO2 emissions are needed, in the United States and elsewhere, to ensure that these damages are avoided.   

Moreover, as we consider the interaction of climate change mitigation policies and the economy, it is important to remember that the counterfactual to serious mitigation is not free – the absence (or even delay of effective climate policy can be very costly over time. The figure below graphs estimates of the annual economic damages from climate change, expressed as a fraction of global gross domestic product (GDP), from mid- to late-century, under different climate policy scenarios. We can think of this as a “climate damage cost” that world nations will pay each year as the climate changes, in terms of lost economic output. This cost includes impacts of increased temperature on agricultural productivity, sea level rise, and deaths and illnesses related to heat, pollution and tropical diseases. In the reference curve (in blue), no action is taken to address climate change. Each of the other curves incorporate different assumptions about how much emissions mitigation the world will achieve, and how quickly.  If countries meet their individual nationally-determined contributions (INDCs) agreed to in Paris and go no further, moving the world from the blue to the purple curve, we can avoid significant economic damages. To move to the red curve, countries must meet the Paris INDCs and continue to decarbonize beyond 2030 at about the same rate represented in the INDCs.  If we achieve net-zero global GHG emissions in 2080, we can reduce climate damage impacts on the level of global GDP from more than 4 percent to less than 1 percent by 2100.

Failing to make investments in climate change mitigation could leave the global economy, and the U.S. economy, worse off in the future.  And the estimates graphed above are uncertain and may be conservative; they do not account for damages that are difficult to monetize (such as increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather), or for the possibility that we may cross critical greenhouse gas concentration thresholds that cause catastrophic damages (such as the melting of Greenland ice sheets and associated sea-level rise), or for the chance that climate change will reduce the rate of economic growth in some countries, rather than just the level of output.

We may have become used to reading about the predicted physical impacts of climate change, like inundated coasts and lower crop production. But the economic impacts, and their fiscal consequences, will be severe, as well.  For example, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget recently estimated that a reduction in annual global economic output of 4 percent—well within the range of what economic models suggest could happen by 2100 without further climate action—could translate to lost U.S. federal tax revenue of $340 to $690 billion per year (about 0.5 percent of expected U.S. GDP in 2100).

In deciding how much to reduce carbon pollution, and how quickly to act, countries must weigh the costs of policy action against estimates of avoided climate damages. But we should be clear-eyed about the fact that effective action is possible, and that the economic and fiscal costs of inaction are steep. 

Over the past eight years, I’ve been proud to stand by President Obama's side through every step of this journey.

And tonight, I'll be proud to stand by him one last time in Chicago with the First Lady and with Jill as he makes his farewell address to the nation.

Heading back to Chicago, I can’t help thinking about that night when the four of us were together in Grant Park. November 4, 2008.

We’d received the call conceding the race from our friend and patriot, John McCain. Barack had just finished addressing the nation for the first time as President-elect. The park was just filled with hundreds of thousands of people from all around the city and the country, of every age and background. And then, after Barack’s speech, our families joined us on stage -- two families from different parts of the country, from different walks of life, but with the same values, that had grown so close over the past several months and have stayed so close over the last eight years.

And I saw my mother, Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden, who was 91 years old at the time, walking over to us. She really liked Barack. Always had.

And my mom reached out, grabbed Barack's hand, and said, "It's going to be okay, honey, come with me." And holding both of our hands, she walks us up to the front of the stage. Barack and I look at each other. Here we go.

Together, we took that first step in our journey that has continued until today -- a journey to restore our economy, rebuild the middle class, and treat everyone with dignity.

It was a feeling I'll never forget -- standing out on that stage together for the first time since the overwhelming majority of the American people placed their trust in us. I remember how the tough days on the campaign trail were nothing compared to the tough days millions of families were going through as the economy was crashing and they were losing their jobs, their homes, and their savings. I remember seeing the hope in their eyes, and being reminded that there is no quit in America.

And even though we'd go to bed exhausted every night, we'd wake up in the morning inspired by the millions of people who volunteered, organized, voted, and put every ounce of heart and hustle into something bigger than themselves. It was electric -- something that this country had never seen before. At its core, it was truly a campaign about our conviction that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. That's the history of the journey of our country.

Being asked to be part of this journey was a great honor. Barack and I and our families have formed a real and lasting bond over this incredible experience. During long hours in the Oval Office and Situation Room, during private lunches and quiet moments, I've seen Barack lead this country from economic crisis to recovery to resurgence. I've seen him lead the world not just by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.

I've seen a president who never forgot the core that makes us who we are as Americans -- tough, resilient, but always full of hope and optimism. Just give people a fair chance and they will do extraordinary things.

Eight years later, I hope you’ll join me in Chicago as the President speaks about all we've accomplished on our journey as a country over the last eight years and the work that's still ahead.

Tune in at 9pm ET to stand with President Obama, the First Lady, Jill, and me in Chicago one last time.

Joe

Vice President Joe Biden

This second installment of the QER builds on QER 1.1 — “Energy Transmission, Storage, and Distribution Infrastructure”, which was released in April 2015. QER1.1 made 63 recommendations, which DOE and its partners have been actively implementing. As detailed in the recent “Report Card,” 29 of the recommendations have already been fully implemented and an additional 21 are currently underway. Many of the recommendations requiring legislative action have been taken up by Congress, with 21 of the legislative recommendations now fully or partially reflected in Federal law. DOE will work with Congress and other agencies to achieve similar positive impact based on the recommendations from QER1.2

Modernizing the Nation’s electricity system is a strategic imperative. Reliable and affordable electricity provides necessary energy services for consumers, business, and national defense and underpins virtually every sector of the modern U.S. economy. This first-of-its-kind review of the electricity system provides analysis-based recommendations on how the Federal Government can most effectively work with states, localities, industry, and other stakeholders to meet future electricity needs, fully realize America’s economic potential, and secure the United States as a global leader in clean-energy innovation.

Here’s how:

Protect the Electricity System as a National Security Asset.  The QER analyzes the interactions and interconnections that characterize the electricity system, as wells as the risks the system faces and concludes that the electricity system should be treated as a National security asset. The QER also provides recommendations to align investments and interests in support of the overarching National interest in electricity system security against threats both natural and manmade.  The report recommends:

• Amending the Federal Power Act, including new authorities under the FAST Act, to clarify and affirm that the electricity system—from bulk power to distribution—is a national security asset, making its protection a fundamental Federal responsibility.
• Adopting integrated electricity-security planning and standards on a regional basis.
• Assessing interdependencies of natural gas/electricity system infrastructure for cyber security protection to determine whether additional measures are needed to protect the electricity system. 

Maximize Economic Value and Consumer Equity. Consumer options for electricity services and energy efficiency have grown dramatically, enabled in part by the smart grid and the Internet of Things, and supported by significant consumer demand for a range of new services. Consumers can now both produce and consume power through distributed generation technologies and an advanced distribution infrastructure, a significant change in the customer-utility relationship. Advances needed to increase economic value and consumer equity in this context include:

• Increasing Federal support for state efforts to quantitatively value and incorporate energy efficiency, demand response, distributed storage, and distributed generation into resource planning.
• Evaluating the potential to improve incentives and programs to cut electricity bills for low- and moderate-income households.
• Supporting electrification and opportunities for economic development by advancing energy technologies on tribal lands.
• Leveraging electric-utility broadband build-out to expand public broadband access in rural areas.

Build a Clean Electricity Future. Reducing greenhouse gas and other harmful emissions is a key imperative for the power sector and builds on the success of environmental policy in reducing adverse public health and environmental impacts from electricity generation throughout the 20th century.  Ensuring a clean and flexible electricity system will require continually reducing the cost and improving the environmental performance of energy technologies. Achieving these goals will require a number of actions, including:

• Significantly increasing Federal investment in clean electricity Research Development & Demonstration and implementing regional, clean-energy-innovation partnerships.
• Analyzing financing for advanced large-scale generation, while also expanding tax incentives for renewable electricity, electric vehicles, and energy efficiency.
• Extending the timeframe and total capacity allowed under the production tax credit for nuclear power generation and providing tax credits for carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration.
• Reducing the electricity intensity of newly constructed residential and commercial buildings by at least 50 percent relative to typical, present-day, new building construction by 2030.
• Assessing business model inequities associated with Federal electricity financial incentives to include an examination of the usage of tax credits for tax-exempt entities.

Ensure Reliability, Security, and Resilience. Traditional electricity system operations are evolving that can enable a more dynamic and integrated grid, creating both enormous opportunities and the potential for new risks and vulnerabilities. The emerging threat environment, particularly with respect to cybersecurity and increases in the severity of extreme weather events, poses challenges for the reliability, security, and resilience of the electricity sector, as well as to its traditional governance and regulatory regimes. Key steps needed to minimize these risks include:

• Materially expanding existing Federal programs to demonstrate the integration and optimization of distribution-system technologies.
• Providing incentives for energy storage.
• Enhancing coordination between energy-sector information-sharing and analysis centers and the intelligence communities to synthesize threat analysis and disseminate it to industry in a timely and useful manner.
• Supporting grants for small utilities facing cyber, physical, and climate threats.
• Accounting for emerging threats during reliability planning.
• Providing funding assistance to enhance analytical capabilities in state public utility commissions.

Invest in a Modern Workforce. A skilled workforce that can build, operate, and manage this modernized grid infrastructure is essential for the 21st century electricity system. Building a dynamic electricity workforce will require support from the Federal Government, including by:

• Strengthening Federal and regional efforts focused on electricity workforce development and transition assistance.
• Supporting cyber-physical systems (CPS) curriculum, training, and education for grid modernization and cybersecurity.
• Enhancing and aligning skills-based training and electricity-sector workforce development.

Enhance Electricity Integration in North America. Leaders in the United States, Canada, and Mexico have publicly and repeatedly affirmed support for increasing energy integration, and there is a general understanding across the continent that the benefits of cross-border electricity trade can be improved with deeper system integration. A subset of the policies needed to accomplish this goal include:

• Advancing North American grid security through sharing of best practices and exploration of potential future cooperation on grid security issues.
• Facilitating the permitting of cross-border transmission-facilities by expanding the Regulatory and Permitting Information Desktop (RAPID) Toolkit.
• Increasing North American clean-energy and technical coordination and enhancing cooperation on energy information exchange across North America.

The full report, details on the process for stakeholder input, and the related analyses are available at energy.gov/qer.

What nobody knew then was that on top of these long-term, chronic economic challenges we would soon be facing the most acute financial crisis in more than seventy years and the very real risk of a second Great Depression. In late 2007 through 2008, a massive housing debt bubble that had built up in the early 2000s began to burst-and a crisis that began on Wall Street very nearly brought down the entire Main Street economy.

When President Obama entered office, nearly 800,000 Americans were losing their jobs each month -- the equivalent of laying off the entire workforce of West Virginia every 30 days. The economy was collapsing at an annual rate of more than 8 percent. Deficits were projected to be more than $1 trillion before the President took the oath of office. Other indicators, like global trade and employment, were also collapsing at Depression-like rates. Nearly 9 million Americans lost their jobs in the Great Recession. More than 5 million lost their homes. Thirteen trillion dollars of household wealth was erased, far more as a share of total wealth than the losses that precipitated the Great Depression.

President Obama responded quickly and aggressively, marshaling $1.4 trillion of support for the economy in his first four years - through tax cuts, targeted investments, and support for keeping hardworking Americans on the job or helping the hardest-hit families make ends meet.  The President rescued the auto industry, saving more than 1 million American jobs. And he stabilized the financial system with infusions of both liquidity and equity, backstopped critical markets, and stress-tested the banks to help markets understand their condition. The Obama Administration also helped millions of Americans refinance or modify their mortgages, so they could lower their monthly payments and avoid foreclosure. The Federal Reserve, acting creatively and aggressively under its independent authority, complemented these efforts. Economists Alan Blinder and Mark Zandi estimated that these policies prevented the loss of 8.5 million more jobs and the unemployment rate from rising to nearly 16 percent.

By the end of 2013, we recovered our pre-crisis levels of per-capita output, faster than in the majority of past systemic financial crises. This was also ahead of most other advanced economies confronting the global crisis. Between faster wage growth and falling gas prices, American workers have seen their inflation-adjusted hourly wages rise more than 5 percent since the end of 2012, more than double the cumulative growth from 1973 to 2007. This business cycle has seen the fastest growth rate of real wages of any since the 1970s. And in 2015, household incomes grew across the spectrum, with the largest gains for families at the bottom.

But the President knew that it was not enough to just come back from this crisis. We had to work to immediately do whatever we could to prevent this kind of a financial crisis from happening again. And so, even as he led the effort to get growth and job creation going, he also called his economic team into the White House and charged them with developing an aggressive plan for Wall Street reform that would lead to legislation that he could sign into law.

By the end of February 2009, President Obama called on his economic team to work - in consultation with Congress - to develop a framework for financial reform that reflected seven key principles he laid out to guide that reform effort in the coming weeks and months. President Obama then pushed his key economic and financial staff to work at a remarkable clip to deliver that framework, and it was released on June 17, 2009.

This framework was the basis for a year-long legislative push that culminated in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which the President fought for and signed into law on July 21, 2010. President Obama and Congressional Democrats prevailed despite the relentless opposition by Republicans who fought against reform at every step of the way. The resulting law, which reflected the principles the President laid out when the process began and followed the contours of the framework his economic team put together - was the most ambitious revamp of the rules preventing abuse, recklessness, and irresponsibility in the financial system since the Great Depression. Among other things, this legislation and other Wall Street reforms put in place by the Administration:

• Created a Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) to monitor and address systemic financial risks, and subjected the largest and most dangerous institutions to much higher safety standards than prevailed before the crisis.

• Established orderly liquidation authority to prevent serious harm to the entire economy and to protect taxpayers from bearing the losses of private firms by giving regulators the tools to safely wind down large, complex financial institutions that fail.

• Established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the first-ever watchdog dedicated to protecting consumers from the types of abuses that preceded the crisis and holding financial institutions accountable.

• Adopted the Volcker Rule to prohibit banks from risky proprietary trading and from sponsoring investment funds that are unrelated to core banking activities.

• Required higher capital and liquidity standards for financial institutions both domestically and internationally.

• Overhauled the $600 trillion derivatives market to make it safer and more transparent, including by leading an international push to mandate central clearing of standardized derivatives, setting capital and margin requirements for derivatives that are not centrally cleared, and imposing new oversight of major swap dealers and participants.

• Increased transparency for securitization markets, hedge funds, and executive compensation.

• Required large banks to create "living wills" to help regulators wind down bankrupt firms in an orderly fashion.

These post-crisis Wall Street reforms have made our financial system more stable and supportive of long-term growth.

• American banks have added more than $700 billion in capital to absorb potential losses and are much less reliant on the kinds of short-term funding that disappeared in the crisis.

• We have subjected large swaths of the financial system – such as derivatives and investment banks – to higher safety standards and better oversight

• We have designated some of the largest and most complex institutions as systemically important, which requires them to reduce their risk of failure and operate more safely.

• And we have made major progress toward ending "too big to fail," as evidenced by the disappearing funding advantage for large U.S. financial institutions.

• And the new consumer watchdog-the CFPB-has held financial institutions accountable, putting nearly $12 billion back in the pockets of more than 25 million American consumers who were treated unfairly, while writing rules that ensure the American people get loans they can repay with terms clear up-front.

While Republicans in Congress predicted the sky would fall and that Wall Street reform would stifle growth and job creation, just the reverse has been true. President Obama hands to his successor a much stronger American economy than he inherited, that is now more than 10 percent larger than it ever was before the crisis began and with a record streak of job creation ongoing. Fifteen million private-sector jobs have been added since Dodd-Frank passed, while incomes rose at the fastest rate on record and poverty fell at the fastest rate in five decades in 2015. And our safer, stronger financial system has withstood a number of shocks in recent years without major financial firms failing or interruptions to the positive economic trends. So, Wall Street reform is working.

Learn more about how Wall Street reform works and the progress we have seen by checking out this slide presentation from the Treasury Department.

Chicago is where I grew up. It’s where I met my husband. It’s where we started our family and where we began our journey to becoming your First Family, which has been the honor of our lifetimes. And tomorrow, I’m going back to Chicago to watch Barack deliver his farewell address to you.

I hope you’ll join me, because as Barack has said, these eight years have always been about you – and what we could accomplish together.  

And together, we’ve made so much progress. We passed a law that helped provide health care for people across this country. Our high school graduation rate is at a record high, and more young people are graduating from college than ever before. Our businesses created millions of jobs, and we lifted millions of Americans out of poverty. We expanded LGBT rights and watched as marriage equality became the law of the land.

We couldn’t have done any of this without you. And in the coming weeks, I know Barack is excited to join you in taking on the most important role of all, the role of citizen.

Because it’s citizens like you who decided to get involved and do your part to make the change we all believe in. It’s citizens like you who refused to let cynicism or fear prevent you from fighting for progress. And it’s citizens like you who will keep moving our country forward in the years ahead.

Time and again, you’ve shown that by working hard and choosing hope, people who love their country can change it. 

So please join me in sharing this moment with Barack tomorrow night at 8:00pm CT/9:00pm ET as he takes a moment to thank you for everything you’ve done. 

Thanks,

First Lady Michelle Obama

Tune in to the Farewell Address

Through his address, the President will thank his supporters, celebrate the ways we have changed this country for the better these past eight years, and offer his vision on where we all go from here. The President will deliver his farewell address at 9:00 PM EST on Tuesday, January 10, at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois. To tune in on Tuesday, visit obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/farewell.

Transcript | MP3 | MP4

The Farewell Address

This is just one story of the millions of Americans whose lives have been changed by the Affordable Care Act. This kind of change has been a long time in the making.

After nearly 100 years of talk, and decades of trying, President Obama finally made affordable, quality health care for all a reality for America. Today, 20 million more adults have health insurance. Three million additional children have health insurance than in 2008. America's uninsured rate now stands at its lowest level ever. One hundred and five million Americans no longer have lifetime limits on their coverage and 137 million Americans now have a right to coverage for critical preventive services with no out-of-pocket costs, like flu shots, yearly check-ups for women, and birth control.

No matter who you are, chances are you're benefiting from an improved health care system thanks to the Affordable Care Act. You may not realize that there's a lot to lose if Republicans succeed in repealing this law. Here's a look at a few different scenarios that reflect the lives of many Americans, and what happens with and without this law in place.

A young married couple receive news that they are going to have their first child, and decide to move closer to their family. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) they can find health care coverage through the Marketplace even though their new jobs, which have a combined income of $40,000, do not provide coverage. 

More on how the ACA helps: 

• They are able to easily go online and compare plans to find one that works for them.  As a result of their move, they qualify for a special enrollment period, and can choose a plan that provides coverage right away. 
• What’s more, they receive financial assistance that provides over $4,250 a year to reduce their premiums, covering over 55 percent of the cost, as well as reduces their out-of-pocket costs. 
• Thanks to the consumer protections in the ACA, their plan covers maternity benefits. It also covers preventive services like prenatal care with no out-of-pocket costs. 
• She goes to a hospital that takes part in the voluntary ACA program that helps to prevent unnecessary early deliveries and maximize the health of the mom and baby. The family may also qualify for a home visit that provides best practices for new parents.  
• The baby’s immunizations and well child visit are covered with no out-of-pocket cost.

If the ACA were repealed:   

• Pregnancy could be considered a pre-existing condition, meaning when this family looked for new coverage after moving, insurers could deny them coverage or charge exorbitant rates. 
• Their plan would likely not include maternity coverage, as was the case for over 60 percent of enrollees in individual market plans in 2011. 
• They’d receive no financial assistance to help ensure they can find a good plan within their budget. They would receive no help in paying their out-of-pocket costs. 
• The programs that support healthy pregnancies, births, and newborns would no longer exist, putting the family at greater risk of health problems. 
• And the family would likely have to pay out of pocket for each visit and shot for their new baby, putting them further behind on other household payments.

A Medicare beneficiary with pre-diabetes later develops diabetes, with significant associated costs and complications. She also suffers a fall and a subsequent hospitalization. The preventive services available through the ACA help her delay the onset of diabetes, and the ACA also helps to prevent further hospitalization and reduce medical problems. This allows the new grandmother to spend more time with her granddaughter.

More on how the ACA helps:                

• She can receive a free annual wellness visit, including a diabetes screening. Her doctor diagnoses her with pre-diabetes, meaning her blood sugar is high and she is at risk for developing diabetes in the future. 
• Her physician refers her to a Diabetes Prevention Program, which Medicare will start paying for nationwide. This Program suggests improvements in her diet and encourages her to increase her physical activity, helping her lose weight and reducing her chances of developing diabetes. 
• When she suffers a serious fall and is hospitalized, her hospital has improved patient safety practices as a result of the ACA, reducing the chance of her acquiring a potentially deadly infection during her stay. 
• Additionally, her hospital has improved its coordination with home health and other post-acute care providers, providing her with a smooth transition from the hospital back to her home, helping her recover more quickly and preventing a costly readmission to the hospital. 
• While preventive measures delay her development of diabetes, after five years, she does develop diabetes and requires insulin, which she gets through her Medicare Part D prescription drug plan. As a result of the ACA phasing out the Medicare “donut hole,” affected beneficiaries have saved an average of $2,127 on prescription drugs through July 2016, and her savings on these medications will increase annually until the “donut hole” is entirely closed in 2020. 

If the ACA were repealed: 

• She would pay a copayment for her annual visit to her physician, which could cause her to skip the visit in order to save money. 
• As a result, she would not learn that she has pre-diabetes. Even if she were finally diagnosed with pre-diabetes, Medicare would not pay for the Diabetes Prevention Program, and thus she could quickly develop full-blown diabetes. 
• Because of the reopening of the Medicare “donut hole,” she would pay significantly more for her insulin and other medications, eating into her limited income and potentially causing her to skip doses in order to save money. 
• When she is finally discharged home after her fall, she would not have any assistance to help her understand her medications or how to contact the home health agency that will provide her follow up care. The unmanaged transition could lead her health to quickly deteriorate, resulting in a readmission to the hospital.  

A man with a low income suffers from undiagnosed bipolar disorder. Thanks to the ACA, he has access to private insurance, despite his pre-existing condition, and to Medicaid in his state, and both have strong protections for enrollees with mental health challenges. Because his annual income is $12,000, he qualifies for Medicaid.

More on how the ACA helps: 

• Individuals with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level are now eligible for Medicaid expansion in States that choose to expand. 
• With coverage under his State’s Medicaid expansion, he is able to get the care and treatment he needs. 
• If his income rises by $5,000, he will qualify for private individual health insurance with financial assistance. For the first time, this man cannot be denied coverage based on a pre-existing mental health condition. 
• Individual market coverage must include mental health and substance use disorder services as an “essential health benefit” and the coverage must be generally comparable to the benefits offered for medical and surgical benefits. 

If the ACA were repealed: 

• He would not afford coverage or doctor’s visits, and would have no regular source of primary care, so his condition would remain undiagnosed. 
• As a result of his lack of regular care, he would go to the emergency room frequently to receive care.
• Lacking coverage, he would be unable to afford medication or to see a psychiatrist, which would cause his condition to worsen. Such circumstances often lead to substance use disorders.

A couple with insurance through their employer gives birth to their second child, who is born with a congenital heart defect. Because of the complexity of the defect, the child requires immediate specialized care and will continue to need special heart care throughout his life.  The ACA helps this family by preventing them from reaching an annual or lifetime limit on what insurance will cover. And, this child will always be insurable even though he has a pre-existing condition.

More on how the ACA helps: 

• There is no annual or lifetime dollar limit on the couple’s insurance plan. This means that they will not have to worry about medical bankruptcy because of the high cost of their son’s care. Prior to the ACA, 105 million people with employer plans had lifetime limits on their coverage, encompassing 59 percent of all workers covered by their employer’s health plan. 
• Their employer-provided plan also must now cap the out-of-pocket costs they can pay, and since the ACA became law an additional 22 million people have gained protection against catastrophic costs. 
• In addition, the ACA allows them to keep their son on their plan until he is 26, so they do not have to worry about how he will obtain coverage in the future, which was a serious problem for many young adults. Prior to the ACA, one in three young adults between the ages of 19 and 25 were uninsured. 
• And, because of the ACA’s ban on insurer discrimination against individual’s with pre-existing conditions, these parents do not have to worry about whether their son can access coverage when he is no longer on their plan.

If the ACA were repealed: 

• This couple would face significant financial burdens in caring for their son. Given the significant costs associated with caring for complex heart defects, they could very quickly reach the lifetime limit on their plan, in addition to the significant out-of-pocket costs they would incur. 
• They would then be forced to either find a new job that provided coverage without a lifetime limit or find a way to pay for the costs of their son’s care on their own. 
• In addition, their employer’s plan would not necessarily need to cover their son until age 26, meaning that, once he is older, he would need to find an alternative source of coverage to provide for his ongoing care. 
• And, because of discrimination against individuals with pre-existing conditions, he may not ever be able to obtain coverage again.  

A 55-year-old man with a history of high cholesterol loses his job. He decides to start his own small business. The ACA helps him find affordable health coverage even though he has a pre-existing condition. And, it makes it easier for him to provide health insurance to his employees as his small business grows by providing tax credits and ensuring premium dollars go to providing care rather than padding insurers’ profits.

More on how the ACA helps: 

• He is able to obtain coverage on the Marketplace after losing his job, meaning that he is free to start his own business rather than work for a large business just to keep his health coverage. 
• He cannot be discriminated against because of his high cholesterol, which affects over 73 million Americans. 
• Moreover, if his high cholesterol leads to a heart attack or other significant health event, his insurer cannot cancel his plan over a technicality regarding the form he filled out when signing up for coverage, such as forgetting to report that he had chicken pox as a child. 
• All individual market plans now cover prescription drugs, so he can obtain medication to help address his high cholesterol and prevent future health problems. 
• As his business expands, he can use the Marketplace for small businesses to easily compare and shop for plans for his employees and offer them a range of options that work for his business and for them. 
• An ACA provision requires that plans spend at least 80 percent of premiums on covering the cost of care or making quality improvements, to ensure he is getting the best value for his dollar.  Thanks to this provision, nearly $2.8 billion in rebates have been paid to Americans from 2011-2015.
• And, because of the ACA, his small business qualifies for a tax credit worth up to 50 percent of the cost he pays for his employees’ coverage.

If the ACA were repealed: 

• This man would have significant trouble finding coverage. 
• To start his own business, he would likely have to forgo insurance, as his pre-existing condition would make it difficult to find an affordable plan. 
• He would be in danger of his insurer canceling his plan the moment he had a significant health condition, and his plan might not cover the prescription drugs he needs to treat his high cholesterol, as was the case for almost one in ten people in the individual market prior to the ACA.  
• If he were able to start his own business, he could find it difficult to provide health care for his employees, particularly given the lack of a small business tax credit to help offset costs. 
• His employees, now forced to find insurance on their own without ACA consume protections, would face the same sorts of issues he did in finding coverage. They may also prefer to work for a company that offers health benefits. 
• And his insurance company could use less of his premium dollars to provide care, instead using them to pay for marketing or company profits. 

A newly married woman with a family history of breast cancer is seeking a new individual market insurance plan. Thanks to the ACA, she can find affordable coverage despite her family history of break cancer. Her coverage will provide free preventive services to help her manage her risk of breast cancer. She is also considering starting a family.  Her coverage will also cover important preventive services for women who may become pregnant and provide her with contraception, both free of charge.

More on how the ACA helps: 

• She does not need to worry that her family history of breast cancer will be treated as a pre-existing condition that prevents her from getting an offer of coverage, being charged more for coverage, or having cancer treatment excluded from coverage. 
• Her coverage will include free breast cancer genetic test counseling and, as she gets older, free mammograms as appropriate. 
• And any coverage that she receives will provide a range of free preventive screenings that are important for women who may become pregnant. 
• It will also cover a yearly physical at no cost. 
• In addition, she will be able to obtain birth control free of charge, and her plan will be required to cover care provided at community health centers and family planning clinics.

If the ACA were repealed: 

• This woman could face significant problems finding coverage and making family planning decisions that are right for her.
• She could be excluded from coverage or charged exorbitant rates because of her family history.
• If she were able to find coverage, it would likely not provide preventive services free of charge, making it more difficult to manage her risk of breast cancer. 
• She would find it more difficult to engage in effective family planning.  Screenings could be costly, and she would have to pay for contraceptive coverage as well. 
• She would not be guaranteed an annual well woman’s visit without out of pocket costs. 
• And there would be no guarantee that her plan would cover care at nearby community health centers or family planning clinics, which could require her to travel significant distances to get needed care at an affordable cost. 

Jeanne Lambrew is Deputy Assistant to the President for Health Policy.

"What do school counselors do?"

Many people ask me that question -- and there are a variety of responses depending on whom you ask. I prefer to reframe the question: "How are my students different because of what I do as a school counselor?"

As a school counselor at a career center in western Michigan, a major portion of my role is helping students determine their post-graduation plan of action and providing them with the support they need to make the decisions that are right for them and help them to Reach Higher. I don’t take my responsibilities lightly; the work we do as school counselors can impact our students for generations to come.

Regardless of the grade levels we serve, no student can fall through the cracks on our watch. School counselors must work to eliminate barriers to their success by ensuring -- to the best of our ability -- that all students receive the support they deserve. We need to be their greatest advocates.

That's why it is an honor to be selected as the American School Counselor Association's 2017 School Counselor of the Year and to be recognized by the First Lady and our school counselor-in-chief, Michelle Obama.

In her service as First Lady, she’s worked to inspire every student in America to complete their education past high school -- and to eliminate the barriers that face too many of our students. She’s elevated National College Signing Day and raised visibility for first-generation college graduates like herself. And Mrs. Obama’s support of the school counseling profession and acknowledgement of what we do for students inspires me to continue working every day for the benefit of the students I support.

So I hope you can join us for today’s special event that will highlight and recognize the amazing work of the nation's top school counselors. You can watch the 2017 School Counselor of the Year ceremony right here.

Learn more about the First Lady's work to help more students reach higher for college and beyond.

THIRTEEN KEY POINTS ON LABOR MARKET PROGRESS OVER THE LAST EIGHT YEARS

1. U.S. businesses have now added 15.8 million jobs since private-sector job growth turned positive in early 2010. Today, we learned that private employment rose by 144,000 jobs in December. Total nonfarm employment rose by 156,000 jobs, slightly below the monthly average for 2016 as a whole but substantially higher than the pace of about 80,000 jobs per month that CEA estimates is necessary to maintain a low and stable unemployment rate given the impact of demographic trends on labor force participation. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.7 percent in December, less than half its peak during the recession, while the labor force participation rate—which has been largely unchanged over the past three years despite downward pressure from demographic trends—increased to 62.7 percent. Average hourly earnings for all private workers increased 2.9 percent over the past year, the fastest twelve-month pace since the end of the recession and above the pace of inflation in 2016.

2. Since job growth turned positive in October 2010, the U.S. economy has added jobs for 75 straight months—the longest streak of job growth on record and more than two years longer than the next-longest streak. Over this period, nonfarm employment growth has averaged a robust 199,000 jobs a month. On a calendar-year basis, the pace of job growth peaked at 251,000 jobs a month in 2014, the best year for job creation since the 1990s. In 2016, job growth remained strong, averaging 180,000 jobs a month. As of December 2016, total nonfarm employment exceeded its pre-recession peak by 6.9 million jobs. All of the net job creation in the current recovery has been in the private sector, as private-sector payroll employment exceeded its pre-recession peak by 7.0 million jobs as of December.

3. The unemployment rate has been cut by more than half since its peak in 2009, falling much faster and further than expected. After peaking at 10.0 percent in October 2009, the unemployment rate fell rapidly over the course of the recovery, and by mid-2015 had recovered fully to its pre-recession average. Since then, it has fallen even further, standing at 4.7 percent at the end of 2016. The rapid decline in the unemployment rate came far more quickly than most economists predicted: as recently as March 2014, private forecasters expected the unemployment rate to remain above 5.0 percent until at least 2020.

4. Real hourly wages have grown faster over the current business cycle than in any cycle since the early 1970s. In recent years, American workers have seen sustained real wage gains, as hourly earnings have grown faster than inflation. The chart below plots the average annual growth of real hourly earnings for private production and nonsupervisory workers—a group comprising about four-fifths of private nonfarm employment—over each business cycle, including both recessions and recoveries. (Economists prefer comparing across entire business cycles, as they generally represent economically comparable periods.) Since the beginning of the current business cycle in December 2007, real wages have grown at a rate of 0.8 percent a year, faster than in any other cycle since 1973.

5. Since the end of 2012, real wages for non-managerial workers have grown nearly 18 times faster than they did from 1980 to 2007. In fact, since the end of 2012, real wages for private production and nonsupervisory workers have grown over 5 percent cumulatively, more than double their 2.1-percent total growth from the business cycle peak in 1980 to the business cycle peak in 2007—a sign of the remarkable progress made by American families in the current recovery after years of slow growth in wages.

6. Robust real wage growth and strong employment growth have translated into rising real incomes for households, with the largest gains going to low- and middle-income families. From 2014 to 2015, real median household income increased by $2,800, or 5.2 percent, the largest annual increase on record. Gains were even larger in the lower half of the income distribution, ranging from an increase of 5.5 percent for households at the 40th percentile to an increase of nearly 8 percent for households at the 10th percentile. While households in the top half of the income distribution also saw increases, their gains were smaller, with an increase of 2.9 percent at the 90th percentile of household income. Growth in both real wages and employment in 2016 point to continued gains in real incomes for American households.

7. On net, essentially all of the increase in employment over the recovery has been in full-time jobs. As measured by the household survey, U.S. employment reached a trough in December 2009. Since then, full-time employment has increased by 13.7 million. In contrast, part-time employment has increased by just 420,000 over the course of the recovery.

8. Broader measures of labor underutilization have also steadily improved, and all but one are below their pre-recession averages. The headline unemployment rate, the U-3 rate, includes unemployed persons who have looked for work in the last four weeks. Broader measures of labor underutilization each include a progressively larger group of individuals: U-4 counts discouraged workers in addition to the unemployed, U-5 adds in others who are marginally attached to the labor force, and U-6 also includes people working part-time who would prefer a full-time job (“part-time for economic reasons”). Like the headline unemployment rate, all of these measures saw large increases during the recession, with the U-6 rate in particular reaching a record high. However, U-3, U-4, and U-5 all recovered fully to their respective pre-recession averages in the summer of 2015 and have fallen further since. As of December, the U-6 rate was just 0.1 percentage point above its pre-recession average.

9. Real average hourly wages have risen in every major industry over the current business cycle—and in nearly all, the pace of increase has been faster than in the previous cycle. Since the beginning of the current business cycle, real wages for non-managerial workers have grown at an average rate of 0.8 percent a year. However, this average masks considerable variation in real wage growth among workers in different industries. As the chart below shows, workers in all major sectors have seen real increases in their hourly earnings, ranging from average gains of 0.1 percent a year for workers in the transportation and warehousing industry to gains of 1.7 percent a year for workers in the financial activities sector. For nearly all major industries, real wage gains so far in the current business cycle have outpaced gains in the 2000s business cycle.

10. Unemployment rates for all major demographic groups have recovered to below their respective pre-recession averages, though more work remains to close longstanding disparities in the labor market. The unemployment rates for African Americans and Hispanic Americans peaked at 16.8 percent and 13.0 percent, respectively, after experiencing larger percentage-point increases from their pre-recession averages than the overall unemployment rate did. By mid-2015, both the African-American and Hispanic-American unemployment rates had recovered to their respective pre-recession averages. Similarly, the unemployment rates for white Americans and for Asian Americans, which have historically tended to be lower than the overall unemployment rate, have more than recovered to their pre-recession averages. Still, the fact that the unemployment rates for African Americans and Hispanic Americans are much higher than the overall unemployment rate is a reminder that much more work remains to ensure that the benefits of the strong labor market are shared among all Americans, including through efforts like the My Brother’s Keeper initiative.

11. Initial claims for unemployment insurance (UI) have been below 300,000 for 96 consecutive weeks, the longest such streak since 1970. During the Great Recession, claims for unemployment insurance—which are an important leading indicator of recessions—rose sharply to near-record highs. However, they have since declined to well below their pre-recession average, and average weekly initial claims in 2016 were the lowest of any calendar year since 1973. Still, the share of unemployed workers eligible for unemployment insurance has fallen in recent years, in part as a result of reductions in coverage within States’ UI programs. A number of reforms—including several in the President’s Fiscal Year 2017 Budget—would build on the strengths of the UI system to ensure that it both provides effective assistance for those who lose a job through no fault of their own and helps to stabilize the U.S. economy during future downturns.  

12. Two-thirds of States have seen their unemployment rates fall below their pre-recession averages. There was extremely wide variation in the effect of the Great Recession on unemployment rates across States and the District of Columbia, with increases ranging from nearly 200 percent (Nevada) to just 13 percent (Alaska) of their respective pre-recession averages. As of November 2016, however, 34 States and the District of Columbia have seen their unemployment rates recover fully, with a number of States seeing unemployment rates substantially below their pre-recession averages. The sixteen States that still have elevated unemployment rates include the six that saw the largest percentage increases in their unemployment rates in the recession. 

13. Since 2010, the United States has put more people back to work than all the other G-7 economies combined. The rebound of the U.S. economy from the Great Recession occurred much faster than in most other advanced economies and compares favorably with the historical record of countries recovering from systemic financial crises. As shown in the chart below, the United States has been responsible for a disproportionate share of employment growth in the G-7 economies during the recovery. Although the United States comprises about two-fifths of total employment in the G-7, it has been responsible for more than 55 percent of the net employment growth since 2010, a further sign of the strength and resilience of the U.S. economy and the importance of the policies of the last eight years in putting it on a sounder footing.

As the Administration stresses every month, the monthly employment and unemployment figures can be volatile, and payroll employment estimates can be subject to substantial revision. Therefore, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report, and it is informative to consider each report in the context of other data as they become available.

• ArchiveSocial, a social media archiving platform, is hosting an open archive consolidating more than a quarter-million White House social media posts that are easily searchable by date, platform, and keyword. The open archive is now available to the public at http://ObamaWhiteHouseArchive.social
• Rhizome, a digital art organization, is publishing a series of multi-media, digital essays that explain Internet culture associated with the Obama administration—starting with the history of the “Thanks Obama” meme, the First Lady’s Turnip Vine, and the #LoveWins hashtag on Instagram and Twitter. Learn more on Rhizome’s website. 
• MIT Media Lab’s Electome group and Derek Lieu, a programmer, both used topical analysis to understand what issues the White House was talking about most on Twitter. Electome’s interactive tool compares Administration tweets with a sampling of citizen tweets, and Derek’s analysis examines and how White House tweet topics fluctuated over the course of the Administration.
• GIPHY, a GIF search engine, will launch a page that enables the public to view all of the GIFs that the White House has ever shared, as well as a collection of all of the White House’s Vines. The page will also include many other White House related GIFs that have been pulled together by GIPHY's Editorial team. Check it out at giphy.com/Obama
• A new Twitter bot built by the Portland, Oregon-based studio, Feel Train, will republish White House tweets over the next eight years to mark some of the most significant moments of the Obama administration as experienced on Twitter. Follow along by visiting @Relive44 on Twitter.
• Students will be diving into our social media data, too. At the University of Texas-Austin, students in Dr. Amelia Acker’s graduate seminar will be utilizing White House social media data in their final projects. And NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) Fellows are hosting an “Obamathon” on January 6th—a special hackathon to spawn the creation of new projects, like the ones listed above.
• Internet Archive is making White House social media data available to download from their website—ensuring it’s publicly-accessible for years to come—and hosting a public hackathon this Saturday, January 7th.

The White House convened these citizens in the hopes that their creations would inspire people (like you) to dive into the archives themselves—to build research tools, art projects, and the like. That’s why, starting today, you can download the White House’s Twitter, Facebook, and Vine archives yourself. All of the tweets published by President Obama and the First Lady are available, as well. We can’t wait to see what you make. 

Good morning everyone! Thank you Officer Mouse, Acting District Director Tarango and Acting Field Office Director Enis.

And most of all, thank you to my newly minted, fellow Americans! Our newest citizens, I am honored to be here and share in this special day with all of you.  

I’d like to start with comic book superheroes. All superheroes have an ‘origin story’ which is the back-story that reveals how a character or a group of people came to where they are now. For example, Superman’s origin story is about being an immigrant—from another planet, of course. And let’s not leave out Wonder Woman, she’s also an immigrant. Both came here as outsiders to help fight for peace, justice, and liberty.

The origin story of this country begins with the Native Americans. And now, our shared country is the story of immigrants. For more than 200 years now, we’ve been building our strength as a nation through immigration. Just like a family, as a nation, we’ve had good times and bad. Easier times and harder times. But, through our collective efforts, we have persevered. Thanks to you we will continue to create a diverse nation with a wide variety of ideas, heritage, religion, and even food. 

And there have been questions about the value of immigration. A question of if the whole is greater than the sum of its parts? Every time this has happened, we have decided as a nation that immigration is our superpower. And the results have benefited all of us.

In 2016, Nobel Prizes were given to 6 scientists at American universities, in Chemistry, in Physics, and in Economics. The common thread? All 6 of these scientists were born outside of the United States.

Companies like Intel, YouTube, Google, and Tesla are creating the economy of the future. What do they share? All were founded or co-founded by immigrants. In fact, of the US-based startups that were valued at $1 billion or more in 2016, half were founded or co-founded by immigrants. 

And me. The reason this event is so special for me, is that I’m an immigrant. I was born in New Delhi, India. I immigrated to the United States when I was young. We moved to Boston, where my father was a professor. An immigrant professor who would go on to create a dozen companies. Later in my life, I met the woman who was to be my wife. She too, an immigrant. We have two kids. They are both children of immigrants. And I wouldn’t want to raise them anywhere else. So, this is deeply personal to me.

A little over a year ago, President Obama gave remarks at an event like this. While he is a hard act to follow, he is an excellent act to imitate. I’m going to borrow some of his words here. He said:

The truth is, being an American is hard. Being part of a democratic government is hard. Being a citizen is hard. It is a challenge. It’s supposed to be. There’s no respite from our ideals. All of us are called to live up to our expectations for ourselves -- not just when it’s convenient, but when it’s inconvenient. When it’s tough. When we’re afraid. The tension throughout our history between welcoming or rejecting the stranger, it’s about more than just immigration. It’s about the meaning of America, what kind of country do we want to be. It’s about the capacity of each generation to honor the creed as old as our founding: “E Pluribus Unum” -- that out of many, we are one.

We also have another saying at the White House that comes from our President: #YesWeCan. We say it when things are hard. When things are tough. It’s a rallying cry that we are not scared of the future. That #YesWeCan build the future. 

You have just taken an oath and committed to making this country your home. My nation is now your nation. My children’s nation is now your children’s nation. This is our nation.  You have stepped forward to stand up for the ideals, values, and carry the country forward.  You are each superheroes with your own origin stories. Now, your origin story, my origin story, and the county’s origin story all become our origin story.

Everything we do needs to be infused with the sense of possibility.

When I see the challenges we face, I do not have fear. I have hope. Because I am here, today, with you: fellow citizens with a shared bond forged under the same pledge adding to the rich foundation of this country.  Because together we can.  #YesWeCan. 

Thank you. May God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

In 1796, as George Washington set the precedent for a peaceful, democratic transfer of power, he also set a precedent by penning a farewell address to the American people. And over the 220 years since, many American presidents have followed his lead.

On Tuesday, January 10, I'll go home to Chicago to say my grateful farewell to you, even if you can't be there in person.

I'm just beginning to write my remarks. But I'm thinking about them as a chance to say thank you for this amazing journey, to celebrate the ways you've changed this country for the better these past eight years, and to offer some thoughts on where we all go from here.

Since 2009, we've faced our fair share of challenges, and come through them stronger. That's because we have never let go of a belief that has guided us ever since our founding—our conviction that, together, we can change this country for the better.

So I hope you'll join me one last time.

Because, for me, it's always been about you.

President Barack Obama

The Farewell Address

Transcript | MP3 | MP4

January

Watch: President Obama Delivers his Final State of the Union Address

February

Watch: "What's the secret to still dancing at 106?"

March

Watch: West Wing Week 3/25/16 or, “¡Hola, Cuba!”

Watch: President Obama and the First Family Take a Walk in Old Havana

April

Watch: President Obama Explores America's Newest National Monument

May

Watch: President Obama Meets With His Kid Science Advisors

June

Watch: President Obama meets "Little Miss Flint"

July

Watch: Celebrating the 26th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act

August

Watch: President Obama visits Midway Atoll

September

Watch: Dear President Obama: "We Will Give Him a Family"

October

Watch: A Peek Inside SXSL: A Festival at the White House

November

Watch: President Obama in Athens, Greece

December

Watch: First Family Attends The Christmas Tree Lighting

Check out some of our favorite videos from the past eight years.

The President released the following statement regarding today's actions:

"Today, I have ordered a number of actions in response to the Russian government’s aggressive harassment of U.S. officials and cyber operations aimed at the U.S. election. These actions follow repeated private and public warnings that we have issued to the Russian government, and are a necessary and appropriate response to efforts to harm U.S. interests in violation of established international norms of behavior.

All Americans should be alarmed by Russia’s actions. In October, my Administration publicized our assessment that Russia took actions intended to interfere with the U.S. election process. These data theft and disclosure activities could only have been directed by the highest levels of the Russian government. Moreover, our diplomats have experienced an unacceptable level of harassment in Moscow by Russian security services and police over the last year. Such activities have consequences. Today, I have ordered a number of actions in response.

I have issued an executive order that provides additional authority for responding to certain cyber activity that seeks to interfere with or undermine our election processes and institutions, or those of our allies or partners. Using this new authority, I have sanctioned nine entities and individuals: the GRU and the FSB, two Russian intelligence services; four individual officers of the GRU; and three companies that provided material support to the GRU’s cyber operations. In addition, the Secretary of the Treasury is designating two Russian individuals for using cyber-enabled means to cause misappropriation of funds and personal identifying information. The State Department is also shutting down two Russian compounds, in Maryland and New York, used by Russian personnel for intelligence-related purposes, and is declaring “persona non grata” 35 Russian intelligence operatives. Finally, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are releasing declassified technical information on Russian civilian and military intelligence service cyber activity, to help network defenders in the United States and abroad identify, detect, and disrupt Russia’s global campaign of malicious cyber activities.

These actions are not the sum total of our response to Russia’s aggressive activities. We will continue to take a variety of actions at a time and place of our choosing, some of which will not be publicized. In addition to holding Russia accountable for what it has done, the United States and friends and allies around the world must work together to oppose Russia’s efforts to undermine established international norms of behavior, and interfere with democratic governance. To that end, my Administration will be providing a report to Congress in the coming days about Russia’s efforts to interfere in our election, as well as malicious cyber activity related to our election cycle in previous elections."

Here are some of the ways in which President Obama is taking action:

Sanctioning Malicious Russian Cyber Activity

In response to the threat to U.S. national security posed by Russian interference in our elections, the President has approved an amendment to Executive Order 13964. As originally issued in April 2015, this Executive Order created a new, targeted authority for the U.S. government to respond more effectively to the most significant of cyber threats, particularly in situations where malicious cyber actors operate beyond the reach of existing authorities. The original Executive Order focused on cyber-enabled malicious activities that:

• Harm or significantly compromise the provision of services by entities in a critical infrastructure sector;
• Significantly disrupt the availability of a computer or network of computers (for example, through a distributed denial-of-service attack); or
• Cause a significant misappropriation of funds or economic resources, trade secrets, personal identifiers, or financial information for commercial or competitive advantage or private financial gain (for example, by stealing large quantities of credit card information, trade secrets, or sensitive information).

Read more about today's sanctions on Russia here.

Responding to Russian Harassment of U.S. Personnel

Over the past two years, harassment of our diplomatic personnel in Russia by security personnel and police has increased significantly and gone far beyond international diplomatic norms of behavior. Other Western Embassies have reported similar concerns. In response to this harassment, the President has authorized the following actions:

Today the State Department declared 35 Russian government officials from the Russian Embassy in Washington and the Russian Consulate in San Francisco “persona non grata.” They were acting in a manner inconsistent with their diplomatic status. Those individuals and their families were given 72 hours to leave the United States.

In addition to this action, the Department of State has provided notice that as of noon on Friday, December 30, Russian access will be denied to two Russian government-owned compounds, one in Maryland and one in New York.

Raising Awareness About Russian Malicious Cyber Activity

The Department of Homeland Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation are releasing a Joint Analysis Report (JAR) that contains declassified technical information on Russian civilian and military intelligence services’ malicious cyber activity, to better help network defenders in the United States and abroad identify, detect, and disrupt Russia’s global campaign of malicious cyber activities.

• The JAR includes information on computers around the world that Russian intelligence services have co-opted without the knowledge of their owners in order to conduct their malicious activity in a way that makes it difficult to trace back to Russia. In some cases, the cybersecurity community was aware of this infrastructure, in other cases, this information is newly declassified by the U.S. government.
• The report also includes data that enables cyber security firms and other network defenders to identify certain malware that the Russian intelligence services use. Network defenders can use this information to identify and block Russian malware, forcing the Russian intelligence services to re-engineer their malware. This information is newly de-classified.
• Finally, the JAR includes information on how Russian intelligence services typically conduct their activities. This information can help network defenders better identify new tactics or techniques that a malicious actor might deploy or detect and disrupt an ongoing intrusion.

Read more about this action here.

As the Administration stated today, cyber threats pose one of the most serious economic and national security challenges the United States faces today. For the last eight years, this Administration has pursued a comprehensive strategy to confront these threats. And as we have demonstrated by these actions today, we intend to continue to employ the full range of authorities and tools, including diplomatic engagement, trade policy tools, and law enforcement mechanisms, to counter the threat posed by malicious cyber actors, regardless of their country of origin, to protect the national security of the United States.

Here's a look at the specifics on how the Administration is responding to Russia: 

• Department of State actions in response to Russian harassment
• Treasury sanctions on two individuals for malicious cyber enabled activity
• Joint DHS, ODNI, FBI statement on Russian malicious cyber activity 
• DHS and FBI Joint Analysis Report

Learn More Read the Executive Order

Ned Price is a Special Assistant to the President and spokesperson for the National Security Council. 

Transcript | MP4 | MP3

Just last month, on Veterans Day, the President spoke of the critical role of our service member institutions:

“It’s the example of the single-most diverse institution in our country – soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and coastguardsmen who represent every corner of our country, every shade of humanity, immigrant and native-born, Christian, Muslim, Jew, and nonbeliever alike, all forged into common service.”

That is why today, the President established a new federal Interagency Working Group charged with enhancing access to services and benefits for new American service members, veterans, and their families. 

Like other immigrants and refugees, these new Americans are a source of our nation’s strength and exemplify their commitment to the past, present, and future of our country. These brave new Americans have taken the extraordinary step of answer the call of duty to support and defend our country—some even before becoming American citizens. Like other immigrants and refugees, these new Americans are a source of our nation’s strength and exemplify their commitment to the past, present, and future of our country.

Over the past decade, the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security have strengthened partnerships to provide services and opportunities to service members, veterans, and their families interacting with the U.S. immigration system. Indeed, since 2001, more than 110,000 service members have been naturalized and many were assisted in the process through partnerships such as the “Naturalization at Basic Training Initiative,” which gives non-citizen enlistees the opportunity to naturalize during basic training. Despite these efforts, service members, veterans, and their families too often still face barriers to accessing immigration benefits and other assistance for which they may be eligible.  

Over the past 8 years, President Obama has spoken at several naturalization ceremonies for service members and their families, including two ceremonies held at the White House on the Fourth of July.  These ceremonies have provided the President with the opportunity to be among the first to welcome these newest Americans, each with their own path.  

“Some of you came here as children, brought by parents who dreamed of giving you the opportunities that they had never had. Others of you came as adults, finding your way through a new country and a new culture and a new language. All of you did something profound: You chose to serve. You put on the uniform of a country that was not yet fully your own. In a time of war, some of you deployed into harm’s way. You displayed the values that we celebrate every Fourth of July -- duty, responsibility, and patriotism.”

It is our hope that through this Presidential Memorandum and the new Interagency Working Group it establishes, new American service members, veterans and their families will be better able to receive the services and benefits to which they are entitled and be able to live their lives to the fullest—just as they deserve. 

Read the Presidential Memorandum here. 

The challenge many families face finding affordable diapers is just one example of the many ways in which families with young children face constraints in making investments in their children's development, including high-quality care and education experiences, as discussed in a new CEA issues brief released today. 

From the start of their children’s lives, the high costs driven by “Surge Pricing for Diapers” strain young families’ finances and jeopardize their health. Low-income parents with infants and toddlers spend 14 percent of their income on diapers alone – leaving less room to cover rent, food, or heat.  Unsurprisingly, nearly one in three low-income families report that they lack the diapers they need for their babies, causing some caregivers to stretch the time between diaper changes to make their limited resources last.  This pressure can lead to serious health problems for children and unimaginable stress for parents.  That public health crisis is why, earlier this year, the White House challenged the private sector to employ innovative technologies and business models to help struggling families access the basic necessities they need to care for their children.

Today, we’re excited to report that these innovative efforts are working – and expanding.

• Since its unveiling in March, the JetCares Community Diaper Program — a collaboration between Jet.com and First Quality — has shipped nearly five million diapers to non-profits in forty-eight states. Thanks to this program, some participating non-profits have doubled the number of diapers they can distribute to low-income families with the same underlying funds . Best of all, the model has proven sustainable for the participating companies, and Jet.com launched a new tool that now allows consumers to support this cause as well. 
• Today, Huggies is announcing a new diaper program providing bulk shipments of diapers to National Diaper Bank Network locations at competitive prices beginning in 2017. Through “No Baby Unhugged”, Huggies and its partners have donated more than 48 million diapers and wipes in 2016 alone.
• Pampers built on its 10-year partnership with Feeding America to donate a total of nearly 19 million diapers and 19 million baby wipes to food banks across the country this year.
• LA-based Baby2Baby is on track to distribute 5 million diapers this year to over 120 non-profit partner organizations across the country - a new record for the organization.
• The Honest Company has donated 3.3 million diapers and 1 million other baby, personal care, and household products to the National Diaper Bank Network and other community partners this year.

Today the White House wants to pause to recognize the continued commitment of these organizations to closing the #DiaperGap, and their amazing progress to date.

Though the progress is encouraging, there is still more work to do to ensure that all families have access to the basics their babies need.  Find out how you can get involved today.

How you can get involved:

• Join the conversation online using #DiaperGap
• Share your own story about why it’s important for all families to have access to affordable diapers.
• Host a ”Diaper Drive” in your community.
• Read the President’s take on this need for action in his Mother’s Day Medium Post on the #Diapergap.
• Learn more about barriers in accessing the tools of the new economy and innovative solutions in this “Surge Pricing for Diapers” Medium post.
• Find out what public health issues are at stake in this post by Cecilia Muñoz. 

Luke Tate is the Special Assistant to the President for Economic Mobility.

SEVEN KEY POINTS ON MACROECONOMIC PROGRESS OVER THE LAST EIGHT YEARS

1. According to BEA’s third estimate, real gross domestic product (GDP) increased 3.5 percent at an annual rate in the third quarter of 2016, an upward revision of 0.3 percentage point (p.p.) from the second estimate. Real consumer spending grew a strong 3.0 percent in the third quarter following robust growth in the second quarter. Inventory investment—one of the most volatile components of GDP—added 0.5 percentage point to GDP growth in the third quarter after subtracting 1.2 percentage points in the second quarter. Residential investment declined for the second quarter in a row, though at a slower pace in the third quarter than in the second. Notably, exports grew 10.0 percent at an annual rate in the third quarter, their fastest quarterly growth since late 2013, boosted by a likely transitory jump in agricultural exports.

Real gross domestic income (GDI)—an alternative measure of output—increased 4.8 percent at an annual rate in the third quarter. (In theory, GDP and GDI should be equal, but in practice they usually differ because they use different data sources and methods.) The average of real GDP and real GDI, which CEA refers to as real gross domestic output (GDO), increased 4.1 percent at an annual rate in the third quarter. CEA research suggests that GDO is a better measure of economic activity than GDP (though not typically stronger or weaker).

The 0.3-p.p. upward revision to GDP growth was more than accounted for by upward revisions to consumer spending, business fixed investment, and State and local government spending. However, the overall contour of third-quarter growth was largely unchanged from last month’s second estimate.

2. Strong consumer spending growth over the current recovery has been supported by growth in real incomes, improvements in household balance sheets, and high levels of consumer confidence. Consumer spending accounts for over two-thirds of GDP, and has contributed disproportionately to overall real GDP growth in recent years. This strength in domestic demand reflects improved economic conditions for American households across a wide range of measures. Real wages have grown faster over the current business cycle than in any since the early 1970s (measured peak to peak), and from 2014 to 2015 real median household income increased 5.2 percent, the fastest growth on record. Meanwhile, as a share of disposable income, household debt service—the amount that households must spend on interest and principal payments for their outstanding debt—has fallen sharply in recent years, driven both by low interest rates and by sharp reductions in outstanding household debt relative to income. Taken together, these factors have left households with more disposable income available for consumer purchases. Finally, consumers have been increasingly confident in recent years. As the chart below shows, the University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment—which tends to closely track real consumer spending growth—is close to its highest level in ten years.

3. The recent slowdown in real business fixed investment growth can be explained largely by changes in the rate of U.S. and foreign GDP growth, as discussed in Chapter 2 of the 2017 Economic Report of the President. While business fixed investment—private spending on structures and equipment, as well as expenditures on intellectual property products such as software and research and development (R&D)—constitutes just 12 percent of GDP, it is crucial to long-run growth because it provides workers with more capital and improves technology, thus contributing to productivity growth. Business fixed investment growth has slowed since 2014; while oil-related investment has dragged on overall investment growth due to low oil prices, non-oil related investment growth has slowed somewhat as well. CEA analysis finds that much of the slowdown in investment growth can be explained using an “accelerator model,” which assumes that businesses invest if they expect rising demand growth for their products, meaning that rising GDP growth rates will lead to faster investment growth. The analysis also finds that several factors that have historically impacted investment growth—including credit constraints and other financial stress—have little explanatory power in understanding the recent slowdown. However, because the model predicts that investment follows changes in the rate of GDP growth, it predicts a rebound in the future, since U.S. and global output growth are expected to stabilize or pick up slightly in the years ahead.

4. Ten years after the first signs of decline in the U.S. housing market, housing activity and investment have gradually recovered, with room for future expansion. Recovery in the housing sector has been supported by strong job growth, rising real wages, and low mortgage rates, with growth in real residential investment outpacing overall real GDP growth over the course of the recovery from the Great Recession. Even with the solid growth in recent years, there is room for further expansion in residential construction. As the chart below shows, housing starts remain well below the level needed to keep pace with population growth, household formation, and typical rates of housing stock replacement. CEA analysis suggests that excess housing supply from overbuilding during the 2000s has been more than offset by underbuilding in recent years. Low household formation, particularly among young adults, may be playing a role in reducing demand for housing. On the supply side, local barriers to housing development in high-demand areas may also be one factor holding back new residential construction. Still, residential investment has further room to grow in future quarters, presenting upside potential for domestic demand in the near-to-medium term. 

5. Trends in real State and local government purchases have differed sharply from prior business cycles, with meaningful contractions amid budgetary cuts. Although in a typical recovery State and local spending tends to grow quickly and at a similar pace as in the pre-recession period, State and local spending contracted sharply in the current business cycle and, after seven years, has still not rebounded to its pre-crisis levels. During the four quarters of 2010, State and local purchases subtracted 0.5 percentage point from GDP growth and then subtracted about another 0.3 percentage point in both 2011 and 2012. Spending in this sector stabilized in 2013, added modestly to GDP growth during the four quarters of 2014 and 2015, and had a negligible impact on GDP during the first three quarters of 2016. Real State and local government purchases, as well as State and local government employment, remain below their respective pre-crisis levels. If State and local government purchases had increased at the average rate of expansions excluding the current cycle (as shown in the chart below), real GDP growth would have been approximately 0.4 percentage point faster per year on average in the current recovery. Due in part to contractions in State and local government spending, total real government purchases are below their level at the business cycle peak in 2007; in other words, all of the growth in real GDP in the current business cycle is attributable to the private sector.

6. Growth in U.S. exports closely tracks global demand, with slowing global growth creating key headwinds to U.S. growth in recent years. The volume of U.S. exports to foreign countries is sensitive to foreign GDP growth, and, as shown in the chart below, four-quarter foreign GDP growth—when weighting countries by their relative importance to U.S. trade—explains much of the variance in U.S. export growth. Over the last five years, global growth has consistently underperformed relative to forecasts, and in its October World Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised down its forecast of global growth for the four quarters of 2016. Still, the IMF currently forecasts global growth to pick up in 2017, suggesting less downward pressure on U.S. export growth—and on the manufacturing sector, which tends to be more export-oriented than other industries—from weak foreign demand going forward.

7. The aging of the U.S. population, a trend that will continue in the coming years, has placed constraints on growth in potential real GDP. The growth of the working-age (15-64) population in the United States has slowed notably in recent decades, putting downward pressure on labor force participation and real GDP growth. The working-age population grew 1.4 percent at an annual rate in the 1960s through the 1980s, but just 0.6 percent during the current business cycle. (The rate of growth of the prime-age [25-54] population has declined even more steeply, and the prime-age population even contracted between 2012 and 2015.) The decline in the growth rate of the working-age population is expected to continue through 2028, suggesting continued demographic headwinds to overall growth for at least the next decade. As noted in Chapter 2 of the 2017 Economic Report of the President, research has found that demographic shifts towards an older workforce may have also reduced productivity growth in recent years, though projections of the composition of the labor force suggest that the drag on productivity from demographics may soon abate. Still, slowing productivity growth remains a key structural challenge that the United States shares with all other major advanced economies.

As the Administration stresses every quarter, GDP figures can be volatile and are subject to substantial revision. Therefore, it is important not to read too much into any single report, and it is informative to consider each report in the context of other data as they become available.

Today, in order to ready the United States for a future in which artificial intelligence (AI) plays a growing role, the White House released a report on Artificial Intelligence, Automation, and the Economy. This report follows up on the Administration’s previous report, Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence, which was released in October 2016, and which recommended that the White House publish a report on the economic impacts of artificial intelligence by the end of 2016.

Accelerating AI capabilities will enable automation of some tasks that have long required human labor. These transformations will open up new opportunities for individuals, the economy, and society, but they will also disrupt the current livelihoods of millions of Americans. The new report examines the expected impact of AI-driven automation on the economy, and describes broad strategies that could increase the benefits of AI and mitigate its costs.

AI-driven automation will transform the economy over the coming years and decades. The challenge for policymakers will be to update, strengthen, and adapt policies to respond to the economic effects of AI.

Although it is difficult to predict these economic effects precisely, the report suggests that policymakers should prepare for five primary economic effects:

• Positive contributions to aggregate productivity growth;
• Changes in the skills demanded by the job market, including greater demand for higher-level technical skills;
• Uneven distribution of impact, across sectors, wage levels, education levels, job types, and locations;
• Churning of the job market as some jobs disappear while others are created; and
• The loss of jobs for some workers in the short-run, and possibly longer depending on policy responses.

There is substantial uncertainty about how strongly these effects will be felt and how rapidly they will arrive. It is possible that AI will not have large, new effects on the economy, such that the coming years are subject to the same basic workforce trends seen in recent decades—some of which are positive, and others which are worrisome and may require policy changes. At the other end of the range of possibilities, the economy might experience a larger shock, with accelerating changes in the job market, and significantly more workers in need of assistance and retraining as their skills no longer match the demands of the job market. Given available evidence, it is not possible to make specific predictions, so policymakers must be prepared for a range of potential outcomes. At a minimum, some occupations such as drivers and cashiers are likely to face displacement from or a restructuring of their current jobs.

Because the effects of AI-driven automation will be felt across the whole economy, and the areas of greatest impact may be difficult to predict, policy responses must be targeted to the whole economy. In addition, the economic effects of AI-driven automation may be difficult to separate from those of other factors such as other forms of technological change, globalization, reduction in market competition and worker bargaining power, and the effects of past public policy choices. Even if it is not possible to determine how much of the current transformation of the economy is caused by each of these factors, the policy challenges raised by the disruptions remain, and require a broad policy response.

In the cases where it is possible to direct mitigations to particularly affected places and sectors, those approaches should be pursued. But more generally, the report suggests three broad strategies for addressing the impacts of AI-driven automation across the whole U.S. economy:

1. Invest in and develop AI for its many benefits;
2. Educate and train Americans for jobs of the future; and
3. Aid workers in the transition and empower workers to ensure broadly shared growth.

The report details what can be done to execute on these strategies. Continued engagement between government, industry, technical and policy experts, and the public should play an important role in moving the Nation toward policies that create broadly shared prosperity, unlock the creative potential of American companies and workers, advance diversity and inclusion of the technical community in AI, and ensure the Nation’s continued leadership in the creation and use of AI.
Beyond this report, more work remains, to further explore the policy implications of AI. Most notably, AI creates important opportunities in cyberdefense, and can improve systems to detect fraudulent transactions and messages.