The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
April 07, 2014

Statement by the President

The Maryland Legislature did the right thing for its workers today by increasing the state minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. Maryland’s important action is a reminder that many states, cities and counties – as well as a majority of the American people – are way ahead of Washington on this crucial issue. I applaud Governor O’Malley and the state legislature for leading by example and giving more Maryland workers the raise they deserve. But there’s only one group who can get the job done for the entire country – that’s Congress. They should follow Maryland’s lead and lift wages for 28 million Americans by passing legislation to increase the federal minimum wage to $10.10, helping to ensure that no American who works full time has to raise a family in poverty, and that every American who works hard has the opportunity to succeed.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
April 07, 2014

Remarks by the President on Opportunity for All -- Bladensburg High School

Bladensburg High School
Bladensburg, Maryland

11:35 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Mustangs!  (Applause.)  Fantastic.  Well, everybody have a seat.  Have a seat.  Thank you, Leah, for the great introduction.  Give Leah a big round of applause.  Yay!  (Applause.)  Meeting young people like Leah just makes me inspired.  It’s a good way to start the week.  And all of the students here who are discovering and exploring new ideas is one of the reasons I love visiting schools like Bladensburg High.  And so I just want to congratulate all of you for the great work that you’re doing. 

I brought a couple of folks here who are helping to facilitate some of the programs here.  My new Deputy Secretary of Labor, Chris Lu, is here.  Give him a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  And some of the biggest champions for education in Prince George’s County are here, including your Governor, Martin O’Malley.  (Applause.)  County Executive Rushern Baker.  (Applause.)  Mayor Walter James.  (Applause.)  Superintendent Kevin Maxwell.  (Applause.)  Your biggest fans in Congress, Donna Edwards and Steny Hoyer.  (Applause.)  We are proud of all of them, and we’re proud of you.  

All of you remind me, all these young people here, that young people today are working on cooler stuff than they were when I was in high school.  In classrooms across the country, students just like the students here, they’re working hard, they’re setting their sights high.  And we’ve got to do everything we can to make sure that all of you have a chance to succeed.  And that’s why your outstanding principal, Aisha Mahoney, is working so hard at this school.  (Applause.)  That’s why Governor O’Malley has been working so hard to repair old schools and build new ones across the state of Maryland.  And that’s why I’m here today.  Because last year, we launched a national competition to redesign America’s high schools for the 21st century -- the 21st century economy.  And I’m proud to say that your hard work here has paid off, because one of the winners is Prince George’s County.  (Applause.)  Good job.  That’s right, you guys have done great.  (Applause.)

Now, let me tell you why this is so important.  Many of the young people here, you’ve grown up in the midst of one of the worst economic crises of our lifetimes.  And it’s been hard and it’s been painful.  There are a lot of families that lost their homes, lost jobs; a lot of families that are still hurting out there.  But the work that we’ve done, the groundwork that we’ve laid, has created a situation where we’re moving in the right direction.  Our businesses have created almost 9 million new jobs over the last four years.  Our high school graduation rate is the highest on record.  Dropout rates are going down; among Latinos, the dropout rate has been cut in half since 2000.  (Applause.)  More young people are earning college degrees than ever before.  We've been bringing troops home from two wars.  More than 7 million Americans have now signed up for health coverage through the Affordable Care Act.  (Applause.)  
So we’ve been making progress, but we've got more work to do to make sure that every one of these young people, that everybody who is willing to work hard has the chance to get ahead.  We’ve got to make sure that our economy works for everybody, not just a few.  We’ve got to make sure opportunity exists for all people.  No matter who you are, no matter where you started out, you’ve got to have confidence that if you work hard and take responsibility, you can make it.

And that’s the chance that this country gave me.  It's the chance that this country gave Michelle.  And that's why we’re working so hard for what we call an opportunity agenda -- one that gives everybody a shot.  And there are four simple goals:  We want to create new jobs.  We want to make sure that people have the skills to fill those jobs.  We want to make sure every young person has a world-class education.  And we want to make sure that we reward hard work with things like health care you can count on and wages you can live on. 

And Maryland and Governor O’Malley have been working alongside us on these issues, and I want to give a special shout-out to the Maryland legislature because, because of Governor O’Malley’s leadership, you are helping to make sure that we are raising more people’s wages with your push to raise your minimum wage right here in Maryland.  (Applause.)  We're very proud to see that happen.  And I hope Governor O’Malley is going to sign it into law soon.  Give Maryland a raise.  (Applause.)  That's good work.

But the main focus here is guaranteeing every young person has access to a world-class education.  Every single student.  Now, that starts before high school.  We've got to start at the youngest ages by making sure we've got high-quality preschool and other early learning programs for every young child in America.  (Applause.)  It makes a difference. 

We've got to make sure that every student has access to the world’s information and the world’s best technology, and that's why we’re moving forward with an initiative we call ConnectED to finally connect 99 percent of America’s students to high-speed Internet in the next few years.  (Applause.)  It means that we've got to rein in college costs -- because I want to make sure that Leah, when she goes to school, she’s not burdened with too much debt.  (Applause.)  And we've got to make it easier to repay student loans -- because none of the young people here should be denied a higher education just because your family has trouble affording it.  And a world-class education means preparing every young person with the skills they need for college, for a career, and for a lifetime of citizenship.

So what we did was we launched a new competition, backed by America’s Departments of Education and Labor, to start redesigning some of our high schools.  We call it Youth CareerConnect.  And we’re offering $100 million in new grants to help schools and local partners develop and test new curricula and models for success.  We want to invest in your future. 

You guys are all coming up in an age where you’re not going to be able to compete with people across town for good jobs -- you’re going to be competing with the rest of the world.  Young people in India and China, they’re all interested in trying to figure out how they get a foothold in this world economy.  That's who you're competing against.  Now, I'm confident you can match or exceed anything they do, but we don't do it by just resting on what we've done before.  We've got to out-work and out-innovate and out-hustle everybody else.  We've got to think about new ways of doing things.

And part of our concern has been our high schools, a lot of them were designed with curriculums based on the 1940s and ‘50s and ‘60s, and haven't been updated.  So the idea behind this competition is how do we start making high school, in particular, more interesting, more exciting, more relevant to young people.

Last year, for example, I visited a school called P-TECH --- this is in Brooklyn -- a high school that partnered with IBM and the City University of New York to offer its students not only a high school diploma, but also an associate’s degree in computer systems or electromechanical engineering.  IBM said that P-TECH graduates would be the first in line for jobs. 

Then I visited a high school in Nashville that offers “academies” where students focus on a specific subject area -- but they’re also getting hands-on experience running their own credit union, working in their own TV studios, learning 3D printing, tinkering with their own airplane -- which was pretty cool.  I never got to do that.  I did get my own airplane later in life.  (Laughter.)  Although I've got to give it back.  (Laughter.)  I don't get to keep it.

But this is stuff I didn’t get to do when I was in high school -- and I wish I had.  But it's stuff you have to know how to do today, in today’s economy.  Things are moving faster, they’re more sophisticated.  

So we challenged America’s high schools to look at what’s happening in a place like P-TECH, look at what’s happening in cities like Nashville, and then say what can you do to make sure your students learn the skills that businesses are looking for in high-demand fields.  And we asked high schools to develop partnerships with colleges and employers, and create classes that focus on real-life applications for the fields of the future -- fields like science and technology and engineering and math.  And part of the reason we have to do this now is because other countries, they’ve got a little bit of a lead on us on some of these areas. 

A country like Germany right now focuses on graduating their high school students with a technical degree equivalent that give them a head start.  So we’re asking schools to look into what places like Germany are doing. 

Now, not every school that enters into this competition for the $100 million is going to win -- because we don’t have enough money for everybody, and we want to force schools to think hard and redesign, and we want to reward the schools that are being most innovative and are actually proving some of the concepts that they’re trying out.  But the great thing is that through this competition, schools across the country that entered have changed the way they prepare their students, and have already made enormous improvements, even before they get the grant.  And, ultimately, we had to choose the top Youth CareerConnect initiatives.  Today, I’m proud to say that schools across America are putting up some pretty impressive proposals. 

The winners across the board are doing the kinds of stuff that will allow other schools to start duplicating what they’re doing.  The winners in Indianapolis are expanding their career prep programs to encourage more young women and kids from diverse backgrounds to join our science and technology workforce.  New York City likes that Brooklyn high school model, P-TECH, so much that they’re using their grant to fund two more just like it, so that students can gain two degrees at once and get the edge they need in today’s high-tech, high-speed economy.  And as I mentioned earlier, one of our 24 winners is a three-school team including your high school.  Mustangs, you guys are part of the team that won!  (Applause.)  That’s good. 

Now, in part, the reason you won is because you guys were ahead of the curve.  You were already winning.  For a couple years now, your career academies have been integrating classroom learning with ready-to-work skills, and you’re preparing students to move directly into the in-demand jobs of the future -- jobs in IT and biosciences and hospitality.  And now you’re stepping it up.  You’re taking it to another level.  So in the classroom I just visited, you had 10th graders -- although there was also a freshman -- who are studying epidemiology -- the study of disease patterns and outbreaks.  And they’re getting potentially college-level credit for it, which is good because they may be the young people who discover a cure for some disease down the line that we don’t even know about yet.

I know our brilliant scientists at the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control, they’d be proud of you.  They like looking at bacteria.  (Laughter.)  And I got a little worried when I went into the classroom -- everybody was wearing goggles and vests, and I didn’t have my goggles.  (Laughter.)  But they assured me it was safe.  But some of you Mustangs are pushing yourselves to get industry-recognized certifications in nursing, while other students on this winning team are studying cutting-edge technology and getting hands-on internship experience at local businesses.  And we know these are skills that will be in demand.  Companies will come looking to hire you because of the experiences you’ve gotten here.

If you’re focused, if you’re working hard, you now have a platform so that by the time you get out of high school you’re already ahead of the game; you’re already in a position where you’ve got some skills that make you employable.  And then you can just take it further, whether it’s a two-year college or a four-year college, or graduate school.  Or there are a couple of young ladies in there who said they want to be neurosurgeons, psychiatrists.  So you can build on these careers, but the point is you have a baseline where you know if you’re focused here at this school, doing your work, you’re going to be able to find a job. 

And the grants that you’ve won in this Youth CareerConnect competition mean that the programs you’ve started are going to expand, and you’re going to get more college and career counseling to help get you a jump on your post-high school plans.  So a little over four years from now, Bladensburg and your partner schools will graduate hundreds more students with the knowledge and skills that you’ll need to succeed.

And that’s what we want for all the young people here.  We want an education that engages you; we want an education that equips you with the rigorous and relevant skills for college and for a career.

And I'm confident -- meeting these young people, they were incredible.  And a couple of them giggled a little bit when I walked in, but after they kind of settled down -- (laughter) -- they were -- they knew their stuff, and they were enjoying it.  And that's part of the message I've got for all the young people here today, is your potential for success is so high as long as you stay focused.  As long as you're clear about your goals, you're going to succeed.

And my message to the older people here -- like me -- is we've got a collective responsibility to make sure that you're getting those opportunities.  And there are resources out there that we've got to pull into the school setting.  Businesses, foundations around the country, they want to fund more CareerConnect programs -- because it’s in their interest.  They want good employees.  They’re looking for folks with skills.

When you can say, hey, the math that I’m doing here could change the way the business operates; or, I see how this biology experiment could help develop a drug that cures a disease -- that’s a door opening in your imagination.  It’s also good for our economy.  It's good for our businesses.  That's a new career path you’re thinking about that allows you to pursue higher education in that field, or the very training you need to get a good job, or create a new business that changes the world.  That's good for our economy, it's good for business, it's good for you, it's good for America.

As a country, we’ve got to do everything we can to make sure that every single young person here can have that “aha” moment, that light bulb goes off and suddenly you're not just studying because your parents tell you to or your teacher tells you to, you're studying because you know you’ve got something to offer.

And I want to make sure every student in America has a chance to get that moment -- that realization that your education can not just unlock your future and take you places you never imagined, but you're also going to be leading this country.  That’s the chance that this country gave to me and Michelle.  And that’s the chance I want for every single one of you.  From preschool for every four-year-old in America, to higher education for everybody who wants to go, every young person deserves a fair shot.  And I’m going to keep on doing everything I can to make sure you get that shot and to keep America a place where you can make it if you try.

I'm proud of your principal.  I'm proud of your superintendent.  I'm proud of everybody who got involved in making sure that you guys were already doing the right thing before you won this new grant -- and I know it's going to be well-spent.  Most of all, I'm proud of the students. 

Thank you very much, everybody.  God bless you.  (Applause.)  Go, Mustangs! All right.  (Applause.) 

END
11:54 A.M. EDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
April 07, 2014

FACT SHEET: Youth CareerConnect

Too few of America’s students are meaningfully engaged in their academic experience while in high school, and many high school graduates lack exposure to learning that links their studies in school to future college and career pathways – especially in the critically important fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). President Obama has called for a comprehensive effort to rethink the high school experience for America’s youth, challenging schools to scale up innovative models that personalize teaching and learning so that students stay on track to graduate with the knowledge and skills they’ll need to succeed in college and in careers.   

President Obama has made clear that he is committed to making 2014 a year of action by taking steps – both with Congress and on his own – to expand opportunity for all Americans. As part of achieving the President’s vision to prepare all students for success in post-secondary education and in a competitive workforce, the U.S. Department of Labor, in collaboration with the Department of Education, has established Youth CareerConnect grant.  This initiative encourages America’s school districts, institutions of higher education, the workforce investment system, and their partners to integrate rigorous educational standards with work experiences and skills in ways that enhance instruction and deliver real-world learning opportunities for students. Across the country, 24 Youth CareerConnect awards will provide $107 million to local partnerships of local education agencies, workforce investment boards, institutions of higher education and employer partners as they re-design the teaching and learning experience for youth to more fully prepare them with the knowledge, skills, and industry-relevant education needed to get on the pathway to a successful career, including postsecondary education or registered apprenticeship.

Youth CareerConnect schools will strengthen America’s talent pipeline by supporting stronger high school, postsecondary, workforce investment system, and employer partnerships that deliver:

  • Robust Employer Engagement & Work-Based Learning: Youth CareerConnect awards will provide students with the education and training that combines rigorous academic and career-focused curriculum to increase students’ employability skills. Employer partners will provide work-based learning, job-shadowing, and mentoring opportunities to ensure students’ learning is relevant.
  • A Focus on High-Demand Industries, Including STEM:  Youth CareerConnect awards will create a pathway for students to enter high-demand industries such as information technology, healthcare, and other STEM-related and manufacturing fields. Grantees will ensure recruitment and retention of underrepresented groups including girls and minorities to expand the talent pool for these high-demand occupations.
  • Integration of Post-secondary Education and Training: Youth CareerConnect awards will enable high school students to participate in education and training that leads to credit toward a post-secondary degree or certificate and an industry recognized credential, where appropriate.

Recipients of Today’s CareerConnect (YCC) Grants

Today, President Obama will visit Bladensburg High School, one of three high schools included in the Prince George’s County - Youth CareerConnect Program (PGC-YCCP) which is being awarded $7 million. Bladensburg offers several career academies with high school curricula aligned with college-level entrance requirements for Maryland’s state university system. Through a collaborative effort with community partners, the school will expand the capacity of its Health & Biosciences Academy to better prepare more students for one of the region’s highest growth industries. Students at Bladensburg who concentrate in health professions will be able to earn industry-recognized certifications in the fields of nursing and pharmacy; biomedical students will earn college credit from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and the Rochester Institute of Technology. Through the YCC grant program, students will have access to individualized career and college counseling designed to improve the attainment of industry-recognized credentials and preparation for college-level course work. Students will also have the ability to receive postsecondary credit while still in high school and will have access to paid work experiences with employer partners such as Lockheed Martin. Overall, the PGC-YCCP will help prepare 2,500 graduates at Bladensburg and other schools across the county to succeed academically and graduate career-ready in the high-demand fields of information technology and health care.

Additional Youth CareerConnect (YCC) Grant recipients include the following:

  • The Los Angeles Unified School District is receiving a $7 million grant to build out new career academies in six high schools that will focus on healthcare, biotechnology, and other technology-related industries. The program is backed by funding from the Irvine Foundation. The United Way of Greater Los Angeles, the workforce investment system, and the Chamber of Commerce will help provide work-based learning opportunities to students, including 10,000 student summer internships.
  • The New York City Department of Education is receiving a nearly $7 million grant to fund two new early college high schools similar to IBM PTECH models that offer associate’s degrees while still in in high school. The grant will alsoexpand diesel mechanic registered apprenticeship to opportunity youth andcreate a dental hygienist apprenticeship in partnership with the Consortium for Worker Education and modify 10 career and technical education programs to offer college credit and counseling.
  • Clinton, South Carolina, is receiving a $6.8 million grant to reshape three high schools to prepare students for skilled jobs in computer science and engineering. Each school will restructure its instructional calendar to expand individual learning time, work with corporate partners to design project-based learning experiences modeled on real-world challenges, and align curricula with Piedmont Technical College and Midlands Technical College so students can earn postsecondary credits and credentials before graduating. 
  • The Metropolitan School District of Pike Township in Indianapolis is receiving a $7 million grant to expand its career academies in advanced manufacturing and logistics, working in partnership with Conexus, an advanced manufacturing collaborative, and EmployIndy to provide work-based learning opportunities. The grantee will also expand STEM academies, working with the National Society of Black Engineers, Women in Technology, and the Indiana Girls Collaborative to ensure these programs are resulting in a more diverse STEM workforce.
  • Jobs for the Future is receiving a $4.9 million grant to expand and implement rigorous and engaging career pathway models that take young people from 9th grade through industry credentials and an associate’s degree in high demand fields. The grant will fund pathways in three regions across Massachusetts, focusing on information technology, advanced manufacturing, and health care. 
  • The Denver School District is also receiving received nearly $7 million to create and expand STEM pathways in eight schools. Students will participate in a paid internship or job shadow and complete a capstone project that demonstrates how they applied the skills and knowledge learned in the classroom to their workplace-based learning experience. Denver will also work with workforce investment partners to provide career fairs and summer industry academies.

Outside Commitments to Support the Youth CareerConnect Model

  • Website  for Information-sharing about  CareerConnect Model Ideas: Applicants will be invited to send their applications to a web site to share information on ideas for redesigning high schools in ways that build and strengthens a greater connection to work and careers – providing additional opportunities for outside funders to make new investments in these models and identify new partners. Hosted by the National Career Academy Coalition and College and Career Academy Support Network and created with funding from PG&E, this website will provide information on both funded and non-funded CareerConnect applications and it will allow interested parties to view applications by industry, occupation, geography, and other descriptors. Organizations committed to using the website to foster progress in redesigning high schools include the Rockefeller Foundation, IBM Foundation, Irvine Foundation, and the National Academy Foundation.
  • Commitments by the Irvine Foundation to Provide Additional Funding to California Winners: Following up on their commitment made for the White House’s College Opportunity Summit in January, the Irvine Foundation is providing additional $1.5 million to the funded California applications from Los Angeles and the East San Gabriel Valley Regional Occupational Program. The Irvine Foundation is also willing to commit additional funding for any joint efforts among foundations to support a learning community across funded applications.
  • PG&E Commitment to Create Two New Energy Academies: In addition to committing to support the website development, PG&E is creating two new energy academies, one with Arroyo Grande High School, and another with a San Francisco Bay Area school with which they are partnering this year. PG&E will also provide a six-week paid, work-based, learning opportunity for 60-100 students to prepare them for a career in the energy and utility industry. This is a step on their path to investing $1 million in high school redesign efforts by 2016 and increasing the number of New Energy Academy programs by 50 percent, as committed to in the White House college opportunity summit.

Building on Progress

President Obama has encouraged all Americans to commit at least one year to higher education or career training and has set the ambitious goal that America will have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020. Yet today, nearly one in in five students  in America fails to graduate from high school on time and many of the students who graduate have not been adequately prepared to succeed in college and the workforce. Today’s announcement of the Youth CareerConnect grant recognizes that many local districts and school leaders, as well as many of their national and local workforce partners, have been working together to provide these workplace relevant opportunities for students for quite some time, and it builds off of the collective experiences of these local partnerships. Further, this program complements additional proposals in the President’s 2015 budget to ensure that all high school students graduate ready for college and career success and to help America once again lead the world in college attainment:

  • High School Redesign ($150 million).  The President’s budget supports a new competition at the U.S. Department of Education to support school districts and their partners as they transform high schools in innovative ways that better prepare students for college and career success. The new program will ensure that all students graduate from high school with college credit and career-related experiences or competencies, obtained through project or problem-based learning, real-world challenges, and organized internships and mentorships. Under this program, grantees would work to: (1) align academic content and instructional practices more closely with postsecondary education and careers; (2) personalize learning opportunities to support the educational needs and interests of students; (3) provide academic and wrap-around support services for those students who need them; (4) make available high-quality career and college exploration and counseling options for students after high school graduation; (5) offer multiple opportunities to earn postsecondary credit while still in high school; and (6) strategically use learning time in more meaningful ways, such as through technology, a redesigned school day or calendar, or competency-based progressions.
  • Reauthorized Perkins Career and Technical Education program ($1.1 billion).  The President’s budget also supports a reauthorized Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act The Administration blueprint for Perkins reauthorization proposal would strengthen alignment among secondary and postsecondary CTE programs and business and industry; create a better accountability system for improving academic outcomes, technical skills, and employability outcomes; and provide competitive funding to promote innovation and reform in CTE.

Full List of CareerConnect Grant Recipients

Pima County, Tucson, AZ, $5,351,690
East San Gabriel Valley Regional Occupational Program, West Covina, CA $4,499,251
Los Angeles Unified School District, Los Angeles, CA $7,000,000
School District No. 1 in the City and County of Denver, Denver, CO $6,999,980
Putnam County Board of Education, Eatonton, GA $2,418,343
Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission, Postville, IA $2,784,360
Manufacturing Renaissance, Chicago, IL $2,670,909
Metropolitan School District of Pike Township, Indianapolis, IN    $7,000,000
Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Kokomo, IN $3,273,878
Kentucky Educational Development Corporation, Ashland, KY $5,520,019
Jobs for the Future, Inc., Boston, MA $4,867,815
Prince George`s County Economic Development Corporation, Largo, MD $7,000,000
Independent School District 196, Rosemount, MN $2,990,026
Independent School District #625, St. Paul, MN $3,680,658
Anson County Schools, Wadesboro, NC $2,247,373
Westside Community Schools, Omaha, NE $2,647,212
Board of Education, Buffalo NY, Buffalo, NY $3,898,700
New York City Department of Education, New York, NY $6,999,601
Toledo Public Schools, Toledo, OH $3,824,281
Academia de Directores Medicos de Puerto Rico, Inc., San Juan, PR $2,842,834
Laurens County School District 56, Clinton, SC $6,890,232
Bradley County School District, Cleveland, TN $4,499,121
Colorado City Independent School District, Colorado City, TX $3,482,704
Galveston Independent School District, Galveston, TX $3,975,000

 

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
April 06, 2014

Statement by the President on the 20th Commemoration of the Genocide in Rwanda

We join with the people of Rwanda in marking twenty years since the beginning of the genocide that took the lives of so many innocents and which shook the conscience of the world.  We honor the memory of the more than 800,000 men, women and children who were senselessly slaughtered simply because of who they were or what they believed.  We stand in awe of their families, who have summoned the courage to carry on, and the survivors, who have worked through their wounds to rebuild their lives.  And we salute the determination of the Rwandans who have made important progress toward healing old wounds, unleashing the economic growth that lifts people from poverty, and contributing to peacekeeping missions around the world to spare others the pain they have known.  

At this moment of reflection, we also remember that the Rwandan genocide was neither an accident nor unavoidable.  It was a deliberate and systematic effort by human beings to destroy other human beings.  The horrific events of those 100 days—when friend turned against friend, and neighbor against neighbor—compel us to resist our worst instincts, just as the courage of those who risked their lives to save others reminds us of our obligations to our fellow man.  The genocide we remember today—and the world’s failure to respond more quickly—reminds us that we always have a choice.  In the face of hatred, we must remember the humanity we share.  In the face of cruelty, we must choose compassion.  In the face of intolerance and suffering, we must never be indifferent.  Embracing this spirit, as nations and as individuals, is how we can honor all those who were lost two decades ago and build a future worthy of their lives. 

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
April 05, 2014

Statement by the President on Elections in Afghanistan

On behalf of the American people, I congratulate the millions of Afghans who enthusiastically participated in today’s historic elections, which promise to usher in the first democratic transfer of power in Afghanistan’s history and which represent another important milestone in Afghans taking full responsibility for their country as the United States and our partners draw down our forces.

We commend the Afghan people, security forces, and elections officials on the turnout for today’s vote –- which is in keeping with the spirited and positive debate among candidates and their supporters in the run-up to the election.

These elections are critical to securing Afghanistan’s democratic future, as well as continued international support, and we look to the Afghan electoral bodies to carry out their duties in the coming weeks to adjudicate the results –- knowing that the most critical voices on the outcome are those of Afghans themselves.

Today, we also pay tribute to the many Americans –- military and civilian –- who have sacrificed so much to support the Afghan people as they take responsibility for their own future.

The United States continues to support a sovereign, stable, unified, and democratic Afghanistan, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with the new government chosen by the Afghan people on the basis of mutual respect and mutual accountability.

Weekly Address: The President’s Budget Ensures Opportunity for All Hardworking Americans

David Hudson
David Hudson
April 05, 2014
06:00 AM EST

In this week’s address, the President highlighted the important differences between the budget he’s put forward — built on opportunity for all — and the budget House Republicans are advocating for, which stacks the deck against the middle class.

While the President is focused on building lasting economic security and ensuring that hardworking Americans have the opportunity to get ahead, Republicans are advancing the same old top-down approach of cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans and slashing important investments in education, infrastructure, and research and development.

Transcript | mp4 | mp3

Related Topics: Economy

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
April 05, 2014

Weekly Address: The President’s Budget Ensures Opportunity for All Hardworking Americans

WASHINGTON, DC — In this week’s address, the President highlighted the important differences between the budget he’s put forward – built on opportunity for all – and the budget House Republicans are advocating for, which stacks the deck against the middle class. While the President is focused on building lasting economic security and ensuring that hardworking Americans have the opportunity to get ahead, Republicans are advancing the same old top-down approach of cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans and slashing important investments in education, infrastructure, and research and development.

The audio of the address and video of the address will be available online at www.whitehouse.gov at 6:00 a.m. ET, Saturday, April 5, 2014.

Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
April 5, 2014

Hi, everybody. 

Today, our economy is growing and our businesses are consistently generating new jobs.  But decades-long trends still threaten the middle class.  While those at the top are doing better than ever, too many Americans are working harder than ever, but feel like they can’t get ahead.

That’s why the budget I sent Congress earlier this year is built on the idea of opportunity for all.  It will grow the middle class and shrink the deficits we’ve already cut in half since I took office.

It’s an opportunity agenda with four goals. Number one is creating more good jobs that pay good wages. Number two is training more Americans with the skills to fill those jobs. Number three is guaranteeing every child access to a great education.  And number four is making work pay – with wages you can live on, savings you can retire on, and health care that’s there for you when you need it. 

This week, the Republicans in Congress put forward a very different budget.  And it does just the opposite: it shrinks opportunity and makes it harder for Americans who work hard to get ahead. 

The Republican budget begins by handing out massive tax cuts to households making more than $1 million a year.  Then, to keep from blowing a hole in the deficit, they’d have to raise taxes on middle-class families with kids.  Next, their budget forces deep cuts to investments that help our economy create jobs, like education and scientific research. 

Now, they won’t tell you where these cuts will fall.  But compared to my budget, if they cut everything evenly, then within a few years, about 170,000 kids will be cut from early education programs.  About 200,000 new mothers and kids will be cut off from programs to help them get healthy food.  Schools across the country will lose funding that supports 21,000 special education teachers.  And if they want to make smaller cuts to one of these areas, that means larger cuts in others. 

Unsurprisingly, the Republican budget also tries to repeal the Affordable Care Act – even though that would take away health coverage from the more than seven million Americans who’ve done the responsible thing and signed up to buy health insurance.  And for good measure, their budget guts the rules we put in place to protect the middle class from another financial crisis like the one we’ve had to fight so hard to recover from.

Policies that benefit a fortunate few while making it harder for working Americans to succeed are not what we need right now.  Our economy doesn’t grow best from the top-down; it grows best from the middle-out.  That’s what my opportunity agenda does – and it’s what I’ll keep fighting for.  Thanks.  And have a great weekend.

Weekly Address: The President’s Budget Ensures Opportunity for All Hard-Working Americans

April 05, 2014 | 3:03 | Public Domain

In this week’s address, President Obama highlights the important differences between the budget he’s put forward – built on opportunity for all – and the budget House Republicans are advocating for, which stacks the deck against the middle class.

Download mp4 (113MB) | mp3 (3MB)

Read the Transcript

Weekly Address: The President’s Budget Ensures Opportunity for All Hardworking Americans

WASHINGTON, DC — In this week’s address, the President highlighted the important differences between the budget he’s put forward – built on opportunity for all – and the budget House Republicans are advocating for, which stacks the deck against the middle class. While the President is focused on building lasting economic security and ensuring that hardworking Americans have the opportunity to get ahead, Republicans are advancing the same old top-down approach of cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans and slashing important investments in education, infrastructure, and research and development.

The audio of the address and video of the address will be available online at www.whitehouse.gov at 6:00 a.m. ET, Saturday, April 5, 2014.

Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
April 5, 2014

Hi, everybody. 

Today, our economy is growing and our businesses are consistently generating new jobs.  But decades-long trends still threaten the middle class.  While those at the top are doing better than ever, too many Americans are working harder than ever, but feel like they can’t get ahead.

That’s why the budget I sent Congress earlier this year is built on the idea of opportunity for all.  It will grow the middle class and shrink the deficits we’ve already cut in half since I took office.

It’s an opportunity agenda with four goals. Number one is creating more good jobs that pay good wages. Number two is training more Americans with the skills to fill those jobs. Number three is guaranteeing every child access to a great education.  And number four is making work pay – with wages you can live on, savings you can retire on, and health care that’s there for you when you need it. 

This week, the Republicans in Congress put forward a very different budget.  And it does just the opposite: it shrinks opportunity and makes it harder for Americans who work hard to get ahead. 

The Republican budget begins by handing out massive tax cuts to households making more than $1 million a year.  Then, to keep from blowing a hole in the deficit, they’d have to raise taxes on middle-class families with kids.  Next, their budget forces deep cuts to investments that help our economy create jobs, like education and scientific research. 

Now, they won’t tell you where these cuts will fall.  But compared to my budget, if they cut everything evenly, then within a few years, about 170,000 kids will be cut from early education programs.  About 200,000 new mothers and kids will be cut off from programs to help them get healthy food.  Schools across the country will lose funding that supports 21,000 special education teachers.  And if they want to make smaller cuts to one of these areas, that means larger cuts in others. 

Unsurprisingly, the Republican budget also tries to repeal the Affordable Care Act – even though that would take away health coverage from the more than seven million Americans who’ve done the responsible thing and signed up to buy health insurance.  And for good measure, their budget guts the rules we put in place to protect the middle class from another financial crisis like the one we’ve had to fight so hard to recover from.

Policies that benefit a fortunate few while making it harder for working Americans to succeed are not what we need right now.  Our economy doesn’t grow best from the top-down; it grows best from the middle-out.  That’s what my opportunity agenda does – and it’s what I’ll keep fighting for.  Thanks.  And have a great weekend.

Close Transcript

President Obama's Meeting with Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa of Tunisia

April 04, 2014 | 9:44 | Public Domain

President Obama speaks to the press before a meeting with Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa of Tunisia to discuss the commitment Tunisia’s leaders have made to advancing Tunisia’s democracy and how the United States can further support Tunisia’s historic transition.

Download mp4 (356MB) | mp3 (9MB)

Weekly Wrap Up: Millions Get Covered, Team USA Visits, and More

Jonathan Friedman
April 04, 2014
05:59 PM EST

This week, the President announced that 7.1 million Americans got covered, and the First Lady worked with students to plant the Kitchen Garden. Plus, 2014 U.S. Olympians and Paralympians visited the White House. Check out what else you may have missed in this week's wrap up.

7.1 Million Americans: Covered

The numbers don't lie -- the Affordable Care Act is working. By the end of open enrollment on March 31, 7.1 million Americans had signed up for coverage.

In a Rose Garden speech, President Obama celebrated the news: "the bottom line is this: under this law, the share of Americans with insurance is up and the growth of health care costs is down, and that’s good for our middle class and that’s good for our fiscal future."

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