President Obama Signs New York Emergency Declaration

The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of New York and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee beginning on September 7, 2011, and continuing.

The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the counties of Albany, Broome, Chenango, Chemung, Delaware, Greene, Herkimer, Montgomery, Oneida, Otsego, Rensselaer, Schenectady, Schoharie, Sullivan, and Tioga.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.  Emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding. 

W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Philip E. Parr as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION MEDIA SHOULD CONTACT:  FEMA NEWS DESK AT (202) 646-3272 OR FEMA-NEWS-DESK@DHS.GOV

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

WASHINGTON – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts:

• Cyrus Amir-Mokri– Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions, Department of the Treasury; and Member, Board of Directors of the National Consumer Cooperative Bank
• Kathryn Keneally– Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division, Department of Justice
• Michael James Warren– Member, Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation

President Obama said, “These fine public servants bring both a depth of experience and tremendous dedication to their new roles.  Our nation will be well-served by these men and women, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.”

President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts:

Cyrus Amir-Mokri, Nominee for Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions, Department of the Treasury and Nominee for Member, Board of Directors of the National Consumer Cooperative Bank
Cyrus Amir-Mokri most recently served as Senior Counsel to the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission where he also was the agency’s deputy representative to the Financial Stability Oversight Council.  Prior to joining the Commission, Mr. Amir-Mokri was a partner at the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.  His practice focused on complex securities and antitrust litigation.  He clerked for the Honorable Bruce M. Selya of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.  Mr. Amir-Mokri received a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, a Ph.D. in History from the University of Chicago, and an A.B. in Biochemistry from Harvard College. 

Kathryn Keneally, Nominee for Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division, Department of Justice
Kathryn Keneally is a partner of the law firm Fulbright & Jaworski LLP in New York.  For over twenty-five years, Ms. Keneally has represented clients in tax controversies and defended against allegations of tax fraud and other financial crimes.  She is currently the Vice Chair for Committee Operations for the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Taxation, a Co-Chair of the ABA National Institutes on Criminal Tax Fraud and Tax Controversy, and a fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel.  Ms. Keneally previously served as Chair of the Tax Section's Standards of Tax Practice Committee and as Chair of the Civil and Criminal Tax Penalties Committee.  Ms. Keneally co-authors a column on IRS Practice in the Journal of Tax Practice and Procedure.  She has also served on the Practitioners’ Advisory Group to the U.S. Sentencing Commission.  Ms. Keneally began her legal career in 1982 as the law clerk for the Honorable Edward R. Neaher, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of New York.  She received a B.S. in 1979 from Cornell University, a J.D., magna cum laude, in 1982 from Fordham Law School and an LL.M in Taxation in 1993 from New York University School of Law. 

Michael James Warren, Nominee for Member, Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation
Michael James Warren is a Principal and Managing Board member of Albright Stonebridge Group and serves as a member of the Investment Committee of Albright Capital Management.  In 2009, Mr. Warren served as Senior Advisor for the Economics Division of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel for the Obama Administration. He was also a member of the Obama-Biden Transition Project's Agency Review Working Group helping to oversee the international trade and economics agencies.  Previously, Mr. Warren led corporate development at Horne Engineering Services (2002-2004) and served as President of Appfluent Technologies (1999-2002).  From 1997 to 1999, Mr. Warren worked at McKinsey & Company, serving as a strategic consultant and a fellow at the McKinsey Global Institute. Mr. Warren also served in the White House as Executive Director of the President’s National Economic Council (1995-1997) and as Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Labor (1993-1995). Mr. Warren is on the Board of Directors of the District of Columbia Retirement Board, Civitas Group, Virginia Tech’s Intellectual Property Board, Catalist, and the National Child Research Center. He is a member of the Yale University President’s Council on International Activities. Mr. Warren is a Rhodes Scholar, and earned his degrees from Yale University and Oxford University.

Remarks by the President Honoring Jimmie Johnson's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship

East Room

4:45 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, everybody.  Please have a seat.  Have a seat.  Welcome to the White House, and congratulations to Jimmie Johnson on winning his fifth straight Sprint Cup Championship. 

Before we start, I do want to acknowledge some people who are here today.  First of all, an outstanding American, somebody who's been a great friend and advisor to me, General Ray Odierno, the incoming Army Chief of Staff, is here.  So please give him a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  We've got a host of members of Congress.  I'm not going to name them all, but they're all big NASCAR fans.  They're right here in the front row.

Brian France, the CEO of NASCAR, and his wife Amy couldn't make it here because of the storm.  But I want to thank them for everything that they do.

It’s great to welcome NASCAR back to Washington.  It’s great to have Number 48 parked outside.  (Laughter.)  I was just telling these guys I’m not allowed to drive much these days -- (laughter) -- basically just my golf cart at Camp David -- which is called Golf Cart One.  (Laughter.)  True.  (Laughter.)  But I will say that it’s pretty tough to look at Number 48 and not want to jump in and take a few laps -- although I'm sure Jimmie would not be happy if I was doing that.

The last time many of these drivers were here, Jimmie was celebrating his third straight championship.  He’s got a couple more titles under his belt now, but another big change in the Johnson house -- he and Chandra are now parents of Genevieve Marie, who was born late July.  So, congratulations on that.  (Applause.) 

I told Jimmie you cannot beat daughters.  And I know Jimmie is pretty excited to be a dad.  He whipped out the iPhone with the pictures on it the minute I asked about it.  (Laughter.)  In fact, I hear that he is in charge of taking Genevieve Marie to music class.  And because of his unique work schedule, Jimmie is usually the only dad there.  (Laughter.)  But that's a good sign of being a good dad.

So Jimmie has got a lot to be proud of.  And that’s especially true when you think of what it means to win five championships in a row.  NASCAR is a sport where anything that can go wrong will go wrong at some point during the season -- similar to being President.  (Laughter.)  That's true even for the best drivers.  And with so much extraordinary talent that is going bumper to bumper in every race, just making the Chase is hard enough, let alone winning the whole thing.

And that’s why Jimmie is not just one of the best drivers of all time -- he’s up there with some of the great sports dynasties.  If you think about it, only the Boston Celtics, the Yankees and the Canadiens have ever won more than four titles in a row.  And now Jimmie is breathing down the necks of Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty for the most NASCAR titles ever, which is not bad for the son of a machine operator and a school bus driver who still has plenty of seasons ahead of him.

Jimmie’s talent has been to make a very difficult, demanding sport look easy.  But this year, the Number 48 team also showed its toughness.  They entered the last race of the Chase trailing, and ended up pulling off an extraordinary comeback. 

And if you ask Jimmie, he’ll give credit to that team, led by owner Rick Hendrick and crew chief Chad Knaus, who couldn’t be here today.  We also need to give credit, though, to the other Chase drivers up here who want Jimmie to know that the second he makes a mistake, they will be ready to knock him out of the victory lane.  (Laughter.)

I did observe that lately there’s been some trash talking in NASCAR.  (Laughter.)  I thought I was watching WWF.  (Laughter.) But that’s good.  You got to have a little feistiness, and these guys are extraordinary competitors.  And that’s what makes this sport so exciting to watch -- because everything can come down to just one race, one pit stop, one split-second decision. 

Now, what also makes NASCAR special is the difference that it makes in the lives of so many people, especially our troops and their families.  And I personally thanked all these guys for what they’ve been doing on behalf of military families, who are obviously huge fans of NASCAR.

Last month, the drivers and staff toured Walter Reed hospital, served dinner to 400 wounded warriors and their loved ones.  NASCAR has been a huge supporter of the Joining Forces program that Michelle and Dr. Jill Biden have set up to support military families.  This morning, Jimmie made a special visit to the Pentagon to spend time with folks over there.  And later this week, NASCAR will be honoring our military and first responders again in Richmond the night before the anniversary of 9/11.

So I want to congratulate Jimmie.  I want to congratulate all the drivers who are on the stage for their extraordinary success, for the success of NASCAR, and for everything that they do for our country. 

Good luck heading into this year’s Chase, everybody.  We will all be watching.

So thank you very much.  And I think -- Jimmie, do you want to tell me what you got here?

MR. JOHNSON:  Absolutely.  Well, first of all, thank you for having us here.  We all greatly appreciate it.  And on behalf of myself and our race team, Lowe's Motor Sports team, we have some gloves here that were worn in Las Vegas when I won.  I wanted to present them to you --

THE PRESIDENT:  That's pretty sharp.

MR. JOHNSON:  -- the helmet we gave you the last time we were here.

THE PRESIDENT:  I will wear the helmet and the gloves when I'm driving -- (laughter) --

MR. JOHNSON:  Heloing --

THE PRESIDENT:  No, Golf Cart One.  (Laughter.)

MR. JOHNSON:  I had to ask.  Be safe.  (Applause.)

END
4:53 P.M. EDT