The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 10, 2014

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

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

·         Craig B. Allen - Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam, Department of State

·         Sharon Block – Member, National Labor Relations Board

·         Richard M. Mills, Jr. – Ambassador to the Republic of Armenia, Department of State

·         Joseph Nimmich – Deputy Administrator of Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security

·         Anne E. Rung – Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, Office of Management and Budget

·         Alissa M. Starzak  – General Counsel of the Army, Department of Defense  

·         John Francis Tefft - Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Department of State

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

·         Charles Benton – Member, National Museum and Library Services Board

·         Robert Langer – Member, President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science

·         Lillian M. Lowery – Member, President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans

·         Anne Ashmore-Hudson  – Member, Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

·         Steven M. Goldman  – Member, Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

·         Dale LeFebvre  – Member, Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

·         Anita Lin  – Member, Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

President Obama said, “I am grateful that these impressive individuals have chosen to dedicate their talents to serving the American people at this important time for our country.  I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”

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

Craig B. Allen, Nominee for Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam, Department of State

Craig B. Allen, a career member of the Foreign Commercial Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for China at the Department of Commerce, a position he has held since 2012.  Mr. Allen served in the Department of Commerce as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Asia from 2010 to 2012, Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Johannesburg, South Africa from 2006 to 2010, and Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China from 2003 to 2006.  From 2000 to 2002, he served as Commercial Officer at the National Center for the Asia-Pacific Economic Corporation.  Mr. Allen was Deputy Senior Commercial Officer and Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, Japan from 1995 to 2000, Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China from 1992 to 1995, and Commercial Officer at the American Institute in Taiwan in Taipei, Taiwan from 1988 to 1992.  He was a Presidential Management Intern at the Department of Commerce from 1985 to 1988.  Mr. Allen worked in the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment from 1983 to 1985 and taught English in Japan and Taiwan from 1979 to 1983.  Mr. Allen received a B.A. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and an M.S. from Georgetown University.

Sharon Block, Nominee for Member, National Labor Relations Board

Sharon Block is Senior Counselor in the Office of the Secretary at the Department of Labor (DOL), a position she has held since August 2013.  She served as a Member of the National Labor Relations Board from 2012 to 2013.  She was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs at DOL from 2009 to 2012.  Ms. Block was Senior Labor and Employment Counsel for the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, where she worked for Senator Edward M. Kennedy from 2007 to 2009.  She was Special Assistant in the Office of the General Counsel at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from 2006 to 2007.  Ms. Block previously served at the National Labor Relations Board as senior attorney to Chairman Robert Battista from 2003 to 2006 and as an attorney in the NLRB’s appellate court branch from 1996 to 2003.  From 1994 to 1996, she was Assistant General Counsel at the National Endowment for the Humanities, and from 1991 to 1993, she was an associate at Steptoe & Johnson.  Ms. Block received a B.A. from Columbia University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

Richard M. Mills, Jr., Nominee for Ambassador to the Republic of Armenia, Department of State

Richard M. Mills, Jr., a career member of the Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, most recently served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon from 2012 to 2014.  He was Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Valetta, Malta from 2010 to 2012.  Mr. Mills served as Senior Democracy Advisor at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq from 2009 to 2010, Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in London, England from 2006 to 2009, and Energy Attaché and Acting Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 2005 to 2006.  Mr. Mills served as Deputy Political Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan from 2003 to 2004, Political Officer at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York from 2001 to 2003, Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Dublin, Ireland from 1999 to 2001, and Line Director in the Executive Secretariat at the Department of State from 1996 to 1998.  He has also served in the Office of Legislative Affairs at the U.S. Consulate in Saint Petersburg, Russia, at the Bureau of Soviet Union Affairs and at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, France.  Prior to his Foreign Service career, Mr. Mills was an Associate Attorney at Duncan, Allen and Mitchell and also at Wickwire, Gavin and Gibbs.  Mr. Mills received a B.A. from Georgetown University, a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law, and an M.S. from the National Defense University.

Joseph Nimmich, Nominee for Deputy Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security

Joseph L. Nimmich is the Associate Administrator for Response and Recovery at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a position he has held since 2013.  From 2011 to 2013, Mr. Nimmich was the Director of Maritime Surveillance and Security at Raytheon Corporation.  He was a Member of the Senior Leadership Team at the Applied Research Lab at Pennsylvania State University from 2010 to 2011.  From 1977 to 2010, Mr. Nimmich served in the United States Coast Guard, attaining the rank of Rear Admiral.  From 2009 to 2010, he served as Commander of the First Coast Guard District.  Mr. Nimmich was the Director of the Joint Interagency Task Force South at the Department of Defense from 2007 to 2009 and from 2005 to 2007, he served as Assistant Commandant for Policy and Planning.  From 2003 to 2005, Mr. Nimmich served as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Coast Guard after serving as Commander of the Coast Guard Group - Key West from 2000 to 2003.  Mr. Nimmich received a B.A. from the Coast Guard Academy and an M.B.A. from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Anne E. Rung, Nominee for Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy, Office of Management and Budget

Anne E. Rung is currently a Senior Advisor in the Office of Management and Budget.  Previously, she served at the General Services Administration (GSA) in various positions, most recently as the Associate Administrator of Governmentwide Policy.  Prior to GSA, Ms. Rung was the Senior Director of Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce from 2010 to 2012.  She served in various positions at the Pennsylvania Department of General Services from 2003 to 2010, including Deputy Secretary for Administration and Chief of Staff.  Ms. Rung was Congressional Director of the Democratic Leadership Council from 1997 to 2003.  Earlier in her career, she was Policy Director for Joe Kohn for Attorney General, Legislative Assistant for U.S. Representative Thomas M. Foglietta, and an associate at Cassidy & Associates.  She began her career in 1989 as a Legislative Aide for the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary.  Ms. Rung received a B.A. from Pennsylvania State University and an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Alissa M. Starzak, Nominee for General Counsel of the Army, Department of Defense

Alissa M. Starzak is currently Deputy General Counsel (Legislation) at the Department of Defense, a position she has served in since 2011.  From 2007 to 2011, Ms. Starzak served as Counsel and as a Professional Staff Member on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.  Ms. Starzak served as an Assistant General Counsel at the Central Intelligence Agency from 2005 to 2007.  Earlier in her career, she was an Associate at O’Melveny & Myers and a Law Clerk for The Honorable Judge E. Grady Jolly on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Ms. Starzak received a B.A. from Amherst College and a J.D. from The University of Chicago Law School.

John Francis Tefft, Nominee for Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Department of State

John Francis Tefft, a career member of the Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, is the Executive Director of the RAND Business Leaders Forum at the RAND Corporation, a position he has held since 2013.  Mr. Tefft served as the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine from 2009 to 2013 and as the U.S. Ambassador to Georgia from 2005 to 2009.  From 2004 to 2005, Mr. Tefft served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs in the Department of State.  From 2003 to 2004, Mr. Tefft served as an International Affairs Advisor at the National War College and previously served as the U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania from 2000 to 2003.  From 1996 to 1999, Mr. Tefft was the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia.  He was the Director of the Office of Northern European Affairs at the Department of State from 1992 to 1994.  Mr. Tefft served as the Deputy Director of the Office of Soviet Union Affairs/Office of Commonwealth of Independent States from 1989 to 1992 and served as Counselor for Political-Military Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, Italy from 1986 to 1989.  From 1983 to 1986, he was a Political Officer in the Office of Soviet Union Affairs.  Mr. Tefft was a Pearson Fellow in the Office of Congressman Howard Wolpe from 1982 to 1983.  Earlier in his career, Mr. Tefft was also a Political Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Budapest, Hungary; a Special Assistant in the Washington office of the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations; a Political Officer in the Office of United Nations Political Affairs; an Operations Officer in the Operations Center; and a Vice Consul at the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem.  Mr. Tefft served in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1971 to 1974.  Mr. Tefft received a B.A. from Marquette University and an M.A. from Georgetown University.

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

Charles Benton, Appointee for Member, National Museum and Library Services Board

Charles Benton is Chairman and CEO of the Benton Foundation, a position he has held since 1981.  He was first appointed to the National Museum and Library Services Board in 2012.  In 1978, Mr. Benton served as Chairman of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science and Chairman of the first White House Conference on Library and Information Services in 1979.  Mr. Benton served as Member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters from 1997 to 1998 and on the Consumer Advisory Committee of the FCC from 2005 to 2010.  He was President of the Encyclopedia Britannica Education Corporation from 1996 to 1997 and Films Inc. from 1968 to 1977.  Mr. Benton is Chairman of Public Media Inc. and Chairman Emeritus of the Partnership for a Connected Illinois.  He serves on the boards of the National Foundation for the Preservation of Film and The Educational Development Center.  He is a Lifetime Trustee of the Field Museum of National History in Chicago.  Mr. Benton received a B.A. from Yale University.

Dr. Robert Langer, Appointee for Member, President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science

Dr. Robert Langer is the David H. Koch Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a position he has held since 2009.  He was first appointed to the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science in 2011.  Dr. Langer has been a Professor at MIT since 1977, including as an Institute Professor from 2005 to 2009 and the Kenneth J. Germeshausen Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering from 1988 to 2005.  He is the recipient of a number of awards and recognitions, including the 2014 Kyoto Prize, the 2011 National Medal of Technology, the 2008 Millennium Prize, the 2006 National Medal of Science, and the 1998 Lemelson-MIT Prize.  Dr. Langer received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University and an Sc.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Lillian M. Lowery, Appointee for Member, President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans

Dr. Lillian M. Lowery is currently the Maryland State Superintendent of Schools, a position she has held since she was appointed by Governor Martin O’Malley and the Maryland State Board of Education in 2012. Dr. Lowery served as the Delaware State Secretary of Education from 2009 to 2012.  Between 2006 and 2009, Dr. Lowery was the Superintendent of the Christina School District in Wilmington.  She was the Assistant Superintendent of Cluster VII for Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia from 2004 to 2006.  She also served for two years as an Area Administrator for Fort Wayne Community Schools in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  Earlier in her career, Dr. Lowery spent seven years as a school building administrator and taught middle and high school English for seventeen years in school districts in Virginia and North Carolina.  Dr. Lowery has held leadership positions on the Board of Directors for a number of youth and education-related organizations, including the Boys and Girls Club of America and Stop Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN).  She is an alumnus of the Broad Foundation’s Superintendents Academy.  Dr. Lowery received a B.A. from North Carolina Central University, an M.A. from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, and an Ed.D. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Dr. Anne Ashmore-Hudson, Appointee for Member, Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Dr. Anne Ashmore-Hudson is the Chair Emeritus of the District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities.  She consulted for a cultural arts program for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development from 2009 to 2013.  Previously, Dr. Ashmore-Hudson was a Senior Research Fellow at the E. Franklin Frazier Institute for Social Research at Howard University from 2000 to 2003 and a Fellow at the Du Bois Institute at Harvard University from 1985 to 1987.  In 1984, Dr. Ashmore-Hudson founded and became President of Urban Psychological Services, a position she held until 1992.  She served as the Public Member of the State Department Senior Foreign Services Selection Board and the United States Information Agency Selection Board.  Dr. Ashmore-Hudson served on the boards of the The Washington Ballet, Sasha Bruce Youthworks, the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology, the United Way of Massachusetts, and the Roxbury Community College Foundation.  She also served as the President of the Potomac chapter of Links Inc.  Dr. Ashmore-Hudson received a B.A. from Spelman College, an M.S. from Simmons College School of Social Work, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.

Steven M. Goldman, Appointee for Member, Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Steven M. Goldman is a partner at the law firm Kramer, Levin, Naftalis & Frankel LLP, where he has practiced law since 2009.  From 2006 to 2009, Mr. Goldman served as the State of New Jersey’s Department of Banking and Insurance Commissioner, having been appointed by Governor Jon S. Corzine.  He was Senior Partner at the law firm of Sills, Cummis, & Gross from 1984 to 2006.  Mr. Goldman is Chair of the Operations and Finance Committee and Assistant Treasurer of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and a member of the Board of Managers of Theatre Square Development Company.  He is on the Dean’s Board of Advisors for The George Washington University Law School.  He is a member of the U.S. Trust Northeast Client Advisory Council, the Economic Club of New York, and the Lotos Club.  Mr. Goldman received an A.B. from Boston University, a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School, and an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law.

Dale LeFebvre, Appointee for Member, Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Dale LeFebvre is the founder and Chairman of 3.5.7.11, a holding and investment company, a position he has held since 2008.  He was a Managing Partner at the AIC Caribbean Fund from 2006 to 2009 and the Pharos Capital Group from 1999 to 2006.  Mr. LeFebvre was a consultant at McKinsey and Company from 1993 to 1995.  He is a 2006 Henry Crown Fellow and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.  He has served on the Board of the National Urban League and is now a Board Member Emeritus.  Mr. LeFebvre received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. 

Anita Lin, Appointee for Member, Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Anita Lin is the Director Emeritus of the Ballet Western Reserve and a member of the Chautauqua Institution's Music Director Search Committee for their Symphony's Principal Conductor.  She previously served as the Artistic Director and Executive Director of the Ballet Western Reserve from 1982 to 2007.  Ms. Lin danced with the New Orleans Ballet Company from 1981 to 1982 and studied the Royal Academy of Dance Technique in London in 1980.  She also danced for the Cincinnati Ballet Company from 1977 to 1980, and was the principal dancer with the University of Louisville Preparatory Dance Company from 1973 to 1977.  Ms. Lin received a B.F.A. from University of Cincinnati.

The President Speaks on the Economy

July 10, 2014 | 40:24 | Public Domain

At the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas, President Obama delivers remarks on the economy.

Download mp4 (1526MB) | mp3 (39MB)

Read the Transcript

Remarks by the President on the Economy -- Austin, TX

Paramount Theatre
Austin, Texas

12:48 P.M. CDT
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Austin!  (Applause.)  Hey!  Hello, Austin!  (Applause.)  All right, everybody have a seat, have a seat. 
 
It’s good to be in Austin, Texas.  (Applause.)  Can everybody please give Kinsey a big round of applause for the great introduction?  (Applause.) 
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  That's because I love you.  (Applause.)  Everybody knows I love Austin, Texas.  (Applause.)  Every time I come here I tell you how much I love you.  I love Austin.  I love the people.  I love the barbecue -- which I will get right after this.  (Laughter.)  I like the music.  (Applause.)  I've got good memories here, I've got good friends. 
 
I was telling somebody the last time I walked a real walk where I was kind of left alone was in Austin, Texas.  (Applause.) Right before the debate here during the primary in 2007?  2008?  It must have been 2008.  And I was walking along the river and nobody noticed me, and I felt great.  (Laughter.)  And then on the way back somebody did notice me and Secret Service started coming around and -- (laughter) -- but that first walk was really good.  So let’s face it, I just love Austin.  (Applause.)  Love the people of Austin. 
 
I want to thank a proud Texan, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, for being here today.  We appreciate her.  (Applause.) 
 
It is great to play at the Paramount.  I think I finally made it.  I finally arrived.  (Applause.)  I've enjoyed the last couple of days, just getting out of Washington.  And we started in Colorado, in Denver, and then went to Dallas and then came down here.  And at each stop I've been able to just meet people and talk about people’s lives -- their hopes, their dreams.
 
I just had some coffee, as Kinsey may have mentioned, at the Magnolia Café, which is very nice.  (Applause.)  It was fun, too, because I had a chance to -- there were a bunch of folks there and some EMT folks were there on their break after the shift, and there were a group of high school kids who were getting together -- they were about to go on a two-weeklong service trip to Peru  -- which, by the way, reminds you, you should be optimistic whenever you meet young people because they’re full of energy and idealism.  And so they were going to do this service trip and they were going to go for two days, then, to Machu Picchu -- the old Inca ruins in Peru.  And I said, I always wanted to go there. And they said, well, you can come with us if you want.  (Laughter.)  And I said, I'm really tempted, but I think there are some things I've got to do.  (Laughter.) 
 
But I got them -- in exchange for a selfie with them, they promised that they would send me a picture of them when they get there.  So I'm going to hold them to it.  We got their email and if I don't get it I'll be upset.  (Laughter.) 
 
Anyway, so I was talking to Kinsey because she wrote me a letter and I wanted to reply in person.  Because, as some of you may know, every day, we get tens of thousands of letters or correspondence, emails at the White House.  And ever since the first day I was in office, what I've asked our Correspondence Office to do is to select 10 of them for me to read every night. And in these letters, people tell me their stories.  They talk about losing a job, or finding a job.  They talk about trying to finance a college education.  They talk about challenges because maybe they’re the children of immigrants and they’re worried about their status.  They talk about the hardships they’re going through, successes they’ve had, things they hope for, things that they’re afraid of when it comes to the future and their lives.  
 
Sometimes people say thank you for something I've done or a position I've taken, and some people say, “You're an idiot.”  (Laughter.)  And that’s how I know that I’m getting a good representative sampling because -- (laughter) -- half the letters are less than impressed with me.   
 
So Kinsey wrote me to tell me about her family.  Her mom was a preschool teacher, her dad was an engineer.  Together, obviously, they worked really hard, raised a family.  They were responsible, did all the right things, were able to put their kids through college.  Then they lost their jobs.  And because they lost their jobs as mid-career persons, a lot of their resumes didn’t get answered.  And their savings started to dwindle.  And Kinsey works to pay for school, but it’s not enough. 
 
And she told me that she’s always been passionate about politics and the issues of the day, but after last year’s government shutdown, all this stuff that's happened with her family, it doesn’t seem like anybody in Washington is thinking about them.  She wrote, “I became a disgruntled citizen.  I felt as if my government, my beloved government that’s supposed to look out for the needs of all Americans had failed me.  My parents have always supported my siblings and me,” she wrote, “now it’s my turn to help them.  I want to be involved.  President Obama, what can I do?”
 
So I wanted to meet with Kinsey to let her know that I had heard her, that I listened to what was happening with her family, and I was thinking about her parents and I was thinking about her and her sisters.  And I’m here today because of Kinsey.  And I’m here today because of every American who is working their tail off and does everything right and who believes in the American Dream and just wants a chance to build a decent life for themselves and their families. 
 
And you and folks like Kinsey are the reason I ran for President in the first place -- (applause) -- because your lives are the lives that I lived.  When I listen to Kinsey I think about me and Michelle trying to finance our college education.  When I think about somebody who didn't have health care, I think about my mom when she had cancer that would ultimately end her life at about the age I am now.  When I think about equal pay, I think about my grandmother working her way up at a bank with nothing but a high school education and becoming the vice president of the bank, but always being kind of passed over for the next stage by men who were less qualified than she was. 
 
So the stories that I hear in these letters, they're my story, and they're Michelle’s story, and they're the story that we had before I became senator -- worrying about child care, trying to figure out how to have a balanced life so that if Malia or Sasha got sick we could take time off, and how do you manage all that. 
 
So that's why these letters are so important to me.  And that's why whenever I’m out of Washington, part of what I want to do is just to remember and to connect with your stories so that you know that what I’m trying to do every single day is based on that experience.
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Thank you!  (Applause.)
 
THE PRESIDENT:  And when you see the trajectory of Kinsey’s family, in some ways, it’s a little bit a story of what’s happened to America. 
 
The crisis in 2008 hurt us all badly -- worse financial crisis since the Great Depression.  But you think about the progress we’ve made.  Today, our businesses have added nearly 10 million new jobs over the past 52 months.  (Applause.)  Our housing is rebounding.  Our auto industry is booming.  Manufacturing is adding more jobs than any time since the 1990s. The unemployment rate is the lowest point it’s been since September of 2008.  (Applause.)  Kinsey’s dad found a new job that he loves in the field he was trained for.  (Applause.)  So a lot of this was because of the resilience and hard work of the American people.  That's what happens -- Americans bounce back.
 
But some of it had to do with decisions we made to build our economy on a new foundation.  And those decisions are paying off. We’re more energy independent.  For the first time in nearly 20 years, we produce more oil here at home than we buy from abroad. (Applause.)  The world’s largest oil and gas producer isn’t Russia; it’s not Saudi Arabia -- it’s the United States of America.  (Applause.)
 
At the same time, we’ve reduced our total carbon pollution over the past eight years more than any country on Earth.  (Applause.)  We’ve tripled the amount of electricity we generate from wind.  We’ve increased the amount of solar energy we have by 10 times.  We’re creating jobs across the country in clean energy.  (Applause.) 
 
In education, our high school graduation rate is at a record high; the Latino dropout rate has been cut in half since 2000.  (Applause.)  More young people are graduating from college than ever before.
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Si se puede!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Si se peude.  (Laughter.) 
 
The Affordable Care Act has given millions more families peace of mind.  They won’t go broke just because they get sick.  (Applause.)  Our deficits have been cut by more than half. 
 
We have come farther and recovered faster, thanks to you, than just about any other nation on Earth.  (Applause.)  And so we’ve got a lot to be encouraged by, just as the story of Kinsey’s family makes us feel more encouraged.  For the first time in a decade, business leaders around the world have said the number-one place to invest is not China, it’s the United States of America.  So we’re actually seeing companies bring jobs back. (Applause.)  So there’s no doubt that we are making progress.  By almost every measure, we are better off now than we were when I took office.  (Applause.) 
 
But the fact is we’ve still got a long way to go.  We’ve still got a long way to go, because while we’re creating more jobs faster these first six months of this year than any time since 1999, we know there are still a lot of folks out there who are looking for work or looking for more full-time work or looking for a better-paying job.  Corporate profits are higher than ever.  CEOs make more than ever.  But you’re working harder than ever just to get by and pay the bills. 
 
So, as a whole, the country is doing better.  But the problem is, is that so much of the improved productivity and profits have gone to the folks at the very top, and the average person, their wages and incomes haven’t really gone up at all, and in some cases, haven’t kept up with the rising cost of health care or college or all the basic necessities that people need. 
 
And so, Austin, I’m here to say that this country is not going to succeed if just a few are doing well.  This country succeeds when everybody has got a shot.  (Applause.)  The country does better when the middle class does better, and when there are more ladders of opportunity into the middle class.  (Applause.) That’s the kind of economy that works here in America.  And that’s what’s at stake right now. 
 
Now, that’s why we’re fighting for an opportunity agenda that creates more good jobs and creates more good wages -- jobs in American manufacturing, jobs in construction.  We should be rebuilding infrastructure all across America, putting people back to work rebuilding roads and bridges and schools, creating a smart grid to transmit clean energy across the country more efficiently.  (Applause.)   
 
We can create good jobs in American energy -- (sneezes) -- bless me -- and innovation.  (Laughter.)  I’m okay, just haven’t had enough sleep.  (Laughter.) 
 
We’re fighting for an opportunity agenda that trains more workers with the skills to fill the jobs that are being created. I was talking to some folks from a community college before I came out here.  We’ve learned that if we reach out to businesses and help them design the training programs in the community colleges, then when somebody finishes that training, they know they can get a job right away.  (Applause.)
 
We’re fighting for an opportunity agenda that guarantees every child a world-class education from the time that they are three until the time that they graduate from college.
 
We’re fighting for an opportunity agenda that makes sure your hard work pays off with higher wages and equal pay for equal work, and workplace flexibility, and the overtime pay you’ve earned.  (Applause.)
 
We’re fighting for opportunity for all and the idea that no matter who you are and what you look like and where you come from and who you love, if you work hard in America, if you work hard in Austin, if you work hard in Texas, you can make it here.  (Applause.)  You can make it.  (Applause.)
 
So that's what we’re working for.  And the good news is, is that the things that we need to do are well within our capabilities, our grasp.  We know we can -- we know how to build roads.  We know how to put people back to work on infrastructure. We know that if we invest in early childhood education, every dollar we put in, we get seven dollars back, and fewer dropouts and fewer teen pregnancies, and fewer folks going into the criminal justice system.  (Applause.) 
 
We know that if we do some basic things, if we make some basic changes, we’ll see more jobs, faster economic growth, lift more incomes, strengthen the middle class.  They are common-sense things.  They're not that radical.  We know it’s what we should be doing.  And what drives me nuts -- and I know drives you nuts -- is Washington isn’t doing it.  (Applause.)
 
And let me be clear about why Washington is broken, because sometimes everybody says, well, you know what, all politicians are the same, he parties -- the Democrats, Republicans, it doesn't matter.  Look, Democrats are not perfect, I promise you. I know a lot of them.  (Laughter.)  And, yes, every member of Congress, they're thinking about, I’d like to be reelected and I’d like to keep my job.  That's human nature.  We all understand that.  But let me be clear.  On the common-sense agenda that would help middle-class families, the overwhelming number of Democrats are in favor of these things. 
 
They're in favor of minimum wage.  They're in favor of equal pay.  (Applause.)  They're in favor of extending unemployment benefits.  They're in favor of infrastructure.  They're in favor of investing in research and development.  They're in favor of making college more affordable.  They’ve got specific proposals. They're willing to compromise.  They're prepared to go forward. 
 
So when folks say they're frustrated with Congress, let’s be clear about what the problem is.  (Applause.)  I’m just telling the truth now.  I don't have to run for office again, so I can just let her rip.  (Applause.)  And I want to assure you, I’m really not that partisan of a guy.  My favorite President is the first Republican President, a guy named Abraham Lincoln.  You look at our history, and we had great Republican Presidents who  -- like Teddy Roosevelt started the National Park System, and Dwight Eisenhower built the Interstate Highway System, and Richard Nixon started the EPA. 
 
The statement I’m making is not a partisan statement, it is a statement of fact.  (Applause.)  So far this year, Republicans in Congress have blocked or voted down every serious idea to strengthen the middle class.  They have said no --
 
AUDIENCE:  Booo!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Don't boo now, because what I want you to do is vote.  (Applause.)
 
They’ve said no to raising the minimum wage.  They’ve said no to fair pay.  They said no to unemployment insurance for hardworking folks like Kinsey’s parents who have paid taxes all their lives and never depended on anything and just needed a little help to get over a hump.  They said no to fixing our broken immigration system that we know would strengthen our borders and our businesses and help families.  (Applause.)
 
Instead of investing in education that helps working families, they voted to give another massive tax cut to the wealthiest Americans.  Instead of creating jobs by rebuilding our infrastructure, our roads, our bridges, our ports that help every business, they’ve decided to protect tax loopholes for companies that are shifting jobs overseas and profits overseas. 
 
The best thing you can say about this Congress -- the Republicans in Congress, and particularly the House of Representatives -- the best you can say for them this year is that so far they have not shut down the government -- (laughter) -- or threatened to have America welch on our obligations and ruin our credit rating.  That's the best you can say.  But of course, it’s only July -- (laughter) -- so who knows what they may cook up in the next few months.
 
So even as they’re blocking policies that would help middle-class families, they keep on offering these theories of the economy that have failed over and over again.  They say, well, if we give more tax breaks to folks at the top that's going to be good.  If we make fewer investments in things like education, everything will work out.  If we loosen the rules for big banks and credit card companies and polluters and insurers, somehow that's going to make the economy better.  If we shrink the safety net and cut Medicaid and cut food stamps, and make sure that folks who are vulnerable and trying to get back on their suffer more hardship, somehow that's going to improve the economy.
 
Now, they believe these things -- sincerely, I assume -- that if they -- if we do these things, if we just take care of folks at the top, or at least if we don't empower our government to be able to help anybody, that somehow jobs and prosperity will trickle down and we’ll all be better off.
 
And that may work just fine for folks at the top.  It worked fine for me.  I don't need government.  (Laughter.)  Michelle and I now are in a position where we can pretty much finance Malia and Sasha’s college education.  But I remember when Michelle’s parents couldn’t, they needed help.  And I don't know about you, but I don't believe in pulling up the ladder once I’m up.  I believe in extending it down and making sure that everybody has a chance to climb up.  (Applause.)
 
The status quo certainly works for the special interests in Washington who like things just as they are.  They’ll be fine whether Congress ever passes a bill again or not.  But it doesn’t help you.  It doesn't help your neighbors.  It doesn't help your friends.  It doesn't help your communities.
 
And what it does, is it just feeds people’s cynicism about Washington.  It just makes people think, well, nothing can happen, and people start feeling hopeless.  And we have to understand, in the face of all evidence to the contrary in Washington, we can do better than we’re doing right now.  (Applause.)  We can do better than what we’re doing right now.
 
We know from our history, our economy does not grow from the top down, it grows from the middle up.  It grows from a rising, thriving middle class.  It grows when we got ladders of opportunity for everybody, and every young person in America is feeling hopeful and has a chance to do what they can with the God-given talents that they have.  That’s what we’re fighting for.  That is what you should be fighting for.  (Applause.)
 
And I will always look -- I’ll always look for ways to get Republicans and Democrats together in this effort.  But I’m not  -- I can't stand by with partisan gridlock that's the result of cynical political games that threaten the hard work of millions of Americans.  I’m not just going to stand by and say, okay, that's -- I guess that's the way it is.  Whenever and wherever I have the power, the legal authority to help families like yours, even if Congress is not doing anything, I will take that opportunity.  I will try to make something happen.  (Applause.)
And that’s the reason -- that's the reason why my administration has taken more than 40 different actions just this year to help working Americans -- because Congress won’t.
 
Congress won’t act to make sure a woman gets equal pay for equal work.  So I made sure more women have the protections they need to fight for fair pay in the workplace -- because I think when women succeed America succeeds.   So we went ahead and did that.  (Applause.)
 
Congress won’t act to create jobs in manufacturing or construction.  Well, I went ahead and speeded up permits for big projects.  We launched a new hub to attract more high-tech manufacturing jobs to America.  I want to make sure the next revolution in manufacturing is right here in America; it’s an American revolution, not a German or a Chinese revolution.  I want it happening right here in Austin, Texas.  (Applause.)
 
Congress so far hasn’t acted to help more young people manage their student loan debt.  So I acted with my lawful authority to give nearly 5 million Americans the chance to cap their student loan payments at 10 percent of their income so they can manage it better, so that if they go into teaching, or they go into social work, or they're doing something at a non-for-profit, that they're not encumbered by mountains of debt.  I don’t want our future leaders saddled with debt before they start out in life.  (Applause.)
 
And Republicans in Congress so far have refused to raise workers’ wages with a higher minimum wage.  So I acted to require that federal contractors pay their employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour -- (applause) -- which would give hundreds of thousands of workers a raise.  I asked business owners and governors and mayors and state legislators -- anybody I could work with -- do what you can on your own, I told them. 
 
Since the first time I asked Congress to raise the minimum wage, Congress hasn’t done anything, but 13 states have gone ahead and raised theirs.  (Applause.)  And, by the way -- this is important to remember just because folks are always trying to run the okey doke on you -- (laughter) -- the states that have increased their minimum wages this year have seen higher job growth than the states that have not increased their minimum wage.  (Applause.)  And more and more business owners are choosing to lift the wages for their workers because they understand that it’s going to be good to have productive workers, loyal workers, invested workers. 
 
Just yesterday, before I came down to Texas, when I was in Denver, I met with Carolyn Reed.  She owns six Silver Mine sub shops.  She started her own business.  She was working at UPS and decided she wanted to be a business owner, got her first franchise.  Her and her husband mortgaged their house.  Eventually, they got an SBA loan.  Now, she’s got six stores.  A wonderful woman.  And today, she decided to raise her hourly employees’ wages to a minimum of $10.10 an hour.  (Applause.)  She just went ahead and did it on her own, because she realized that she’ll have less turnover and she’s going to have more productive workers. 
 
As long as Congress will not increase wages for workers, I will go and talk to every business in America if I have to.  (Applause.)  There’s no denying a simple truth:  America deserves a raise, and if you work full-time in this country, you shouldn’t live in poverty.  That’s something that we all believe. (Applause.)   
 
Now, here’s where it gets interesting.  There are a number of Republicans, including a number in the Texas delegation, who are mad at me for taking these actions.  They actually plan to sue me.  (Laughter.)  Now, I don’t know which things they find most offensive -- me helping to create jobs, or me raising wages, or me easing the student loan burdens, or me making sure women can find out whether they’re getting paid the same as men for doing the same job.  I don’t know which of these actions really bug them.  (Laughter.) 
 
The truth is, even with all the actions I’ve taken this year, I’m issuing executive orders at the lowest rate in more than 100 years.  So it’s not clear how it is that Republicans didn’t seem to mind when President Bush took more executive actions than I did.  (Applause.)  Maybe it’s just me they don’t like.  I don’t know.  Maybe there’s some principle out there that I haven’t discerned, that I haven’t figure out.  (Laughter.)  You hear some of them -- “sue him,” “impeach him.”  Really?  (Laughter.)  Really?  For what?  (Applause.)  You’re going to sue me for doing my job?  Okay.  (Applause.)   
 
I mean, think about that.  You’re going to use taxpayer money to sue me for doing my job -- (laughter) -- while you don’t do your job.  (Applause.) 
 
There’s a great movie called “The Departed” -- a little violent for kids.  But there’s a scene in the movie where Mark Wahlberg -- they’re on a stakeout and somehow the guy loses the guy that they’re tracking.   And Wahlberg is all upset and yelling at the guy.  And the guy looks up and he says, “Well, who are you?”  And Wahlberg says, “I’m the guy doing my job.  You must be the other guy.”  (Laughter and applause.)  Sometimes, I feel like saying to these guys, I’m the guy doing my job, you must be the other guy.  (Applause.) 
 
So rather than wage another political stunt that wastes time, wastes taxpayers’ money, I’ve got a better idea:  Do something.  (Applause.)  If you’re mad at me for helping people on my own, let’s team up.  Let’s pass some bills.  Let’s help America together.  (Applause.)   
 
It is lonely, me just doing stuff.  I’d love if the Republicans did stuff, too.  (Laughter.)  On immigration issues, we’ve got -- and to their credit, there are some Republicans in the Senate who actually worked with Democrats, passed a bill, would strengthen the borders, would help make the system more fair and more just.  But the House Republicans, they haven’t even called the bill.  They won’t even take a vote on the bill.  They don’t have enough energy or organization or I don’t know what to just even vote no on the bill.  (Laughter.)  And then they’re made at me for trying to do some things to make the immigration system work better.  So it doesn’t make sense.
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)
 
THE PRESIDENT:  I’m sorry, what are you yelling about now?  Sit down, guys.  I’m almost done.  Come on, sit down.  I’ll talk to you afterwards, I promise.  I’ll bring you back.  I’m wrapping things up here.
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)
 
THE PRESIDENT:  I understand.  See, everybody is going to start -- I’m on your side, man.  Sit down, guys, we’ll talk about it later, I promise.
 
So, look, here’s what we could do.  We could do so much more -- you don’t have to escort them out.  They’ll sit down.  I promise, I’ll talk to you afterwards. 
 
We could do so much more if Republicans in Congress would focus less on stacking the deck for those on the top and focus more on creating opportunity for everybody.  And I want to work with them.  I don’t expect them to agree with me on everything, but at least agree with me on the things that you used to say you were for before I was for them.  (Applause.) 
 
You used to be for building roads and infrastructure.  Nothing has changed.  Let’s go ahead and do it.  (Applause.)  Ronald Reagan passed immigration reform, and you love Ronald Reagan.  Let’s go ahead and do it.  (Applause.)   
 
I mean, what changed?  I’m just saying.  (Laughter.)  That’s what made our country great, a sense of common purpose, a sense we’re all in it together as one nation, as one people.  We can debate the issues, we can have our differences, but let’s do something.  (Applause.)  Let’s rally around an economic patriotism that says, instead of giving more tax breaks to millionaires, let’s give tax breaks to working families to help pay for child care or college. 
 
Instead of protecting tax loopholes that let corporations keep their profits overseas,  let’s put some of that money to work right here in the United States rebuilding America.  (Applause.)  We can rebuild our airports, create the next generation of good manufacturing jobs, make sure those are made in America. 
 
Let’s rally around a patriotism that says we’re stronger as a nation when we cultivate the ingenuity and talent of every American, and give every 4-year-old in America access to high-quality education -- good-quality preschool.  (Applause.)  Let’s redesign our high schools to make them more relevant to the 21st century economy.  Let’s make college more affordable.  Let’s  make sure every worker, if you lose your job, you can get a good job training that gives you an even better job.  (Applause.) 
 
Let’s embrace the patriotism that says it’s a good thing when our fellow citizens have health care.  It’s not a bad thing. (Applause.)  That’s not a bad thing.  It’s a good thing when women earn what men do for the same work.  That’s an all-American principle.  (Applause.)  Everybody has got a mom out there or a wife out there or a daughter out there.  They don’t want them to not get treated fairly.  Why would you be against that? 
 
It’s a good thing when parents can take a day off to care for a sick child without losing their job or losing pay and they can’t pay their bills at the end of the month.  It’s a good thing when nobody who works full-time is living in poverty.  That is not radical.  It’s not un-American.  It’s not socialist.  That’s how we built this country.  It’s what America is all about, us working together.  (Applause.)   
 
So let me just wrap up by saying this:  The hardest thing to change in politics is a stubborn status quo.  Our democracy is designed where folks who have power, who have clout -- they can block stuff, they can keep things as they are.  It’s hard.  It’s even harder when Washington seems focused on everything but your concerns, Kinsey’s concerns. 
 
There are plenty of people who count on you getting cynical and count on you not getting involved so that you don’t vote, so you give up.  And you can’t give into that.  America is making progress, despite what the cynics say.  (Applause.)  Despite unyielding opposition and a Congress that can’t seem to do anything, there are workers with jobs who didn’t have them before; there are families with health insurance who didn’t have them before; there are students in college who couldn’t afford it before; there are troops who served tour after tour who are home with their families today.  (Applause.)   
 
Cynicism is popular.  Cynicism is popular these days.  It’s what passes off as wisdom.  But cynics didn’t put a man on the moon.  Cynics never won a war.  Cynics didn’t cure a disease, or start a business, or feed a young mind.  Cynicism didn’t bring about the right for women to vote, or the right for African Americans to be full citizens.  Cynicism is a choice. 
 
Hope is a better choice.  Hope is what gave young soldiers the courage to storm a beach.  Hope is what gave young people the strength to march for women’s rights and civil rights and voting rights and gay rights and immigrant rights.  (Applause.) 
 
Hope is what compelled Kinsey to sit down and pick up a pen, and ask “what can I do,” and actually think maybe the President might read that story and it might make a difference.  (Applause.)  And her voice rang out here in the Paramount Theatre.  And it’s her voice and your voice that’s going to change this country.  That’s how we’re going to make sure that we remain the greatest nation on Earth -- not by asking what we can do for ourselves, but what we can do for each other and what we can do for our country. 
 
And so, as President, I’m going to keep a promise that I made when I first ran:  Every day, I will keep asking the same question, and that is, how can I help you?  And I’ll keep treating your cares and your concerns as my own.  And I will keep fighting to restore the American Dream for everybody who’s willing to work for it. 
 
And I am going to need you to be right there with me.  (Applause.)  Do not get cynical.  Hope is the better choice. 
 
Thank you, Texas.  Thank you, Austin.  God bless you.  (Applause.) 
 
END
1:28 P.M. CDT
 

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The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 10, 2014

Readout of the President’s Call with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel

President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke today by phone.  The President reiterated the United States’ strong condemnation of continuing rocket fire into Israel by Hamas and other terrorist organizations in Gaza and reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself against these attacks.  The President expressed concern about the risk of further escalation and emphasized the need for all sides to do everything they can to protect the lives of civilians and restore calm.  The United States remains prepared to facilitate a cessation of hostilities, including a return to the November 2012 ceasefire agreement. 

The President once again expressed condolences to the people of Israel on the kidnapping and murder of teenagers Gilad Shaar, Eyal Yifrach, and Naftali Fraenkel, who was an American and Israeli citizen, and urged that the perpetrators be brought to justice.  The two leaders also discussed the situation in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.  The President welcomed the arrest of suspects in the abduction and murder of Palestinian teenager Muhammad Abu Khdeir and expressed appreciation for the Prime Minister’s determination to see that they be brought to justice.  He expressed concern about the beating and detention of teenage American citizen Tariq Khdeir and acknowledged Israel’s efforts to resolve this case.  The two leaders discussed the P5+1 negotiations with Iran and the President reiterated that the United States will not accept any agreement that does not ensure that Iran's nuclear program is for exclusively peaceful purposes.

The President Discusses the Humanitarian Situation at the Southwest Border

David Hudson
David Hudson
July 10, 2014
05:27 PM EDT

Watch on YouTube

After meeting with local officials, faith leaders, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, President Obama delivered a statement yesterday evening on the humanitarian situation at the border.

He first described two of the crucial components of this ongoing crisis. First, the surge of unaccompanied children, and children with adults, is occurring in one concentrated sector at the border -- the Rio Grande Valley. Second, many of these children and their parents are not looking to evade law enforcement; rather, they are being apprehended in large numbers.

In his remarks, the President reiterated the steps that his Administration is taking to ensure that sufficient resources are being provided to this region of the border:

Related Topics: Immigration, Texas

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 10, 2014

Gaggle by the Press Secretary Josh Earnest in Austin, Texas, 07/10/14

Austin, Texas

10:26 A.M. CDT

MR. EARNEST:  Let me just do a little thing at the top and then we’ll get to your questions.  In a couple hours, the President will deliver remarks at the Paramount Theater here in Austin where he’ll be introduced by Kinsey Button, a young woman from -- a college student here in Austin, who like some of the other folks that the President spent time with this week, wrote him a letter about her middle-class family’s struggle to get ahead.  The President will also give folks an update on the progress we have made in taking action to expand opportunity for families like Kinsey’s over the past six months.

In January, the President said that 2014 would be a year of action, and in the first six months of this year, he’s signed more than 40, 4-0, executive actions to support workers, strengthen middle-class families, and expand our economy.  Those actions include steps to create new manufacturing jobs, support workplace flexibility and equal pay, cut carbon pollution, and make student loans more affordable for borrowers to repay. 

We’ve seen many folks outside of Washington stepping up to do their part -- from governors and state legislators and even companies that have raised the minimum wage to the tech sector that’s committed resources to help expand digital learning for more of our classrooms.  Yet time and time again, despite all this action from states across the country, Democrats and Republicans, and from private sector business leaders, Republicans in Congress continue to block votes on key issues in favor of wasting time and taxpayer dollars on political stunts like suing the President for doing his job. 

But they won’t stop the President from doing everything in his power to keep expanding opportunity for all Americans.  And he has said many times that he is happy to work with Congress if they’re willing, but he won’t wait for them if they aren’t. 
Kinsey and the other letter-writers that he has met this year are a reminder that concrete steps taken by the President can and will benefit middle-class families all across the country.

You’ll hear more from the President on that today.  But with that, I’m happy to take your questions.

Q    Josh, Germany is expelling the CIA Station Chief over these spying allegations.  And I know you guys have been reluctant to talk about this because it’s an intelligence matter, but some of the frustration in Germany seems to be over the fact that the U.S. is taking sort of a nonchalant approach to this.  So I’m hoping you can provide us some kind of reaction in response to this decision from the Germans.

MR. EARNEST:  Well, Julie, it’s precisely because we do take these intelligence matters and reports related to purported intelligence matters into our broader national security very seriously that I’m not in a position to comment on them.  Again, any sort of comment on any purported intelligence activity would place at risk U.S. assets, U.S. personnel, and the United States’ national security.  So I’m just not in a position to comment on it.

We do continue to be in touch with the Germans at a variety of levels, including through law enforcement, diplomatic, and even intelligence channels.  We’re in touch because we recognize the value and the strong partnership that exists between the United States and Germany.  That partnership covers a variety of issues, including national security and intelligence-sharing matters.  So we value --

Q    This is a pretty extraordinary step for the Germans to take -- to expel the CIA Station Chief from Germany. 

MR. EARNEST:  Well, again, I’m not in a position to talk about any intelligence matters, including some of these reports. As we discussed in the context of the President’s trip to Afghanistan a couple of months ago, even matters related to the activities of intelligence officials even in leadership positions in countries overseas, I’m just not in a position to talk about from here.

So, again, I don’t want you to come away from this exchange thinking that we take this matter lightly.  The strength of our national security relationship with Germany is important to American national security.  It’s also important to the national security of the Germans.  That’s why we have this open dialogue with them in a variety of channels to resolve this situation appropriately.  But when it comes to the specifics of these reports about purported intelligence matters, I’m just not in a position to comment on them in settings like this.

Q    You’ve been saying over and over again that U.S. and German cooperation has been strong.  Are you still able to say that in light of today’s developments? 

MR. EARNEST:  I’m still able to say that there is an important, functioning national security relationship and intelligence-sharing relationship between the United States and Germany.  And the reason that that relationship persists is because it is so important to the national security of Germany and to the national security of the United States.

Q    Has the President talked to Angela Merkel or have any plans to, to try to smooth things over?

MR. EARNEST:  Well, as you know, they spoke last week before the German law enforcement officials made the announcement of the arrest that I’ve read about in reports.  Those reports emerged the day after the President spoke to the German Chancellor.  I don’t have any update in terms of the President’s schedule about future calls with the German Chancellor, but they speak pretty frequently.  But I don’t have any calls to tell you about right now.

Q    Can you say that he hasn’t called her? 

MR. EARNEST:  I don’t know of any calls that they’ve had in the last couple of days, since the last call that we read out at the end of last week.

Q    So since then there haven’t been any --

MR. EARNEST:  I’m saying that I don’t know of any.

Q    If there is a call, will you read out?

MR. EARNEST:  I can’t guarantee that we’ll read out every call that the President does, even with the German Chancellor, but we have often read out those calls.  And, again, if we’re in a position to do that about a future call that, again, I don’t even know is scheduled, then we’ll try to do that.

Q    And are you able to say whether there would be any tit-for-tat reaction on our part to this move by the Germans?

MR. EARNEST:  I’m not in a position to offer any reaction, either in terms of articulating our position or previewing any actions that we may or may not take.

Questions on other topics?

Q    Well, on the supplemental, is the President open to negotiating over the size and scope of the border request?

MR. EARNEST:  The President has articulated -- and I think he did when he spoke to you last night -- a willingness to work with Republicans on this request.  I think it’s important to recognize, however, that the request that was put together by this administration and sent up to Congress earlier this week does reflect a lot of the priorities that Republican members of Congress have themselves articulated.  So everything from funding to ensure that public health concerns are addressed, to additional resources on the border, to additional immigration enforcement resources in the form of immigration judges and ICE prosecutors -- all of these were things that Republicans say should be used to address the urgent situation on the border -- all of these things are included as line items in the proposal that this administration has put forward to congress. 

And I think that is why you’ve heard the President yesterday say that we can solve this problem if there are people on Capitol Hill and the Republican Party who are actually interested in solving the problem.  If they’re interested in just talking about the problem and trying to capitalize on what they may perceive to be a political advantage, that’s going to make this pretty hard to solve.  But if there is a willingness to set aside partisan differences and focus on specific solutions to problems that everybody agrees exists, then we should be able to get that done. And the President said if Congress is ready to act quickly the President would be willing to sign it is as early as today.

Q    And in the worst case scenario that, say, this doesn’t make it, do you have enough resources to sort of muddle through? What is your plan if it doesn’t work?

MR. EARNEST:  Well, right now there have been some steps that the President has been able to take to address this situation.  There are already resources that have been moved from the interior to the border.  The Deputy Attorney General who was on the border yesterday talked about the tangible impact of some of those steps.  The administration has been in close touch with Central American leaders to try to stem the tide of this migration at the source.  So there are a number of things that can be done and we’re working through them already, but I think everybody acknowledges that this is a serious problem and that additional resources would contribute in an important way to addressing it.

So, again, if Republicans are actually interested in solving this problem, there is a very specific step that they can take today to back up that talk with action.  But, again, if they’re much more interested in playing politics and dragging their feet even on a common-sense proposal, that’s going to make this problem a lot harder to solve.

Q    Is it right that HHS is now having to, like, raid the Refugee Resettlement Fund in order to pay for some of the costs it’s incurring to house and care for the young migrants from Central America?

MR. EARNEST:  I’m not aware of sort of how they’ve been able to meet their obligations.

Q    More generally, are you shifting resources from other needs in order to meet this?  I mean, it’s not -- you don’t have infinite resources.

MR. EARNEST:  That’s true, and I think there is a concern that that could happen.  It’s difficult for me to say from here whether or not that has already happened.  I’m sure HHS officials could explain to you how they’re mobilizing the resources that have already been mobilized and what impact that has on their other activities.  But there is a clear and urgent need here.  We’ve put forward a very specific line-item proposal for what additional resources are needed and how much money those additional resources would cost, and we’ve asked Congress to act on it. 

Q    House Republicans are working on their own proposal to revise the 2008 law.  Are you amenable to some of the things that they’re discussing, or are you not wanting to revise the law in the way that they’re talking about?

MR. EARNEST:  I think as a general matter we’re certainly open to discussions about ways that law enforcement officials can better enforce the law -- that is to say, how can this law be enforced in a more efficient way.  Right now, what we’re seeing is a backlog in the immigration court system that, in some cases, leads to a very long delay in claims being adjudicated.  We’re also seeing a delay in repatriating those individuals whose claims have already been adjudicated in a way that determines they have no basis, legal basis for remaining in the country.  But there are a couple other ideas that we’re trying to address and we’re willing to work with Congress to find solutions to them. 

We’ve put forward this idea that the Secretary of Homeland Security should be able to exercise some additional discretion in enforcing that law, but if there are other people that have other ideas for how to make the process of enforcing the law more efficient, we’re certainly open to those discussions.

Q    Josh, on Ukraine, there’s been some criticism from the Hill that the sanctions are a paper tiger because there have been threats of further action but no further action taken.  How do you respond to that criticism?

MR. EARNEST:  I think I would respond to them in a couple of different ways.  The first is that our goal throughout this crisis has been to support a democratic Ukraine that is stable, secure both politically and economically, and able to determine its own future.  So even as we work toward a sustainable, bilateral ceasefire, and urge Russia to deescalate and cease support for the separatists, we shouldn’t forget that our ultimate goal is not just a temporary halt to violence.  We want Russia to stop destabilizing its neighbor and allow the people of Ukraine to come together to make their own decisions about their country’s future through the political process. 

And, frankly, in the view of the United States, the more we let the Russian-backed separatists and Russia draw out the crisis, the more vulnerable Ukraine will become.  The fact is the protracted conflict in the east is not compatible -- and when I say the east, I mean eastern Ukraine -- is not compatible with our efforts to support a more secure, stable, and democratic Ukraine.  That would be a situation that’s not in the best interest of Ukraine, it’s not in the best interest of Europe, and it’s not in the best interest of Russia.

So let me say one more thing about this, which is that we’re working in a coordinated fashion with our European partners because it’s our belief that the cost of inaction now only increases the cost of what we might need to do in the future should Ukraine fail due to Russia’s continued efforts to destabilize the country.

Now, many of those efforts, as you point out, have related to our efforts to impose economic costs on Russia.  The fact is that sanctions and the uncertainty that they have created in the Russian economy have had an impact.  And as those sanctions increase it’s not just that the costs will increase, it’s that Russia’s ability to mitigate those costs will be affected in a negative way for the Russians. 

If you just look at the IMF’s economic analysis, they’ve said that the concern about possible escalation of sanctions has increased the uncertainty of doing business in Russia and is having a chilling effect on investment there.  That’s one tangible way we can sort of evaluate the impact of sanctions. 
The IMF, in the context of that analysis, has actually downgraded Russia’s growth outlook to 0.2 percent this year.  That stands in pretty stark contrast to previous IMF forecasts, which as recent as February were projecting 2 percent growth. 

The other thing that we have seen is reports of a pretty significant capital flight from Russia and, again, that is the result of the economic isolation that Russia has experienced as a result of the sanctions that have been imposed by the United States in coordination with our allies in Western Europe.

Q    Josh, I think some of the criticism from the Hill and other places is that when we were in Brussels in June, you guys set a fairly firm deadline on additional sanctions if Russia didn’t meet certain conditions.  They haven’t met those conditions.  That deadline passed and there’s no sign that sanctions are coming.  So doesn’t that send a message to Russia that these threats might just be empty?

MR. EARNEST:  No, it doesn’t.  I think it sends a signal to them that they should be concerned about the fact that continued efforts on the part of the Russians to destabilize the situation in Ukraine will lead to greater economic isolation and increased economic costs.

The United States, in concert with our allies, stands prepared to act, if necessary.  And it’s important to understand the goal that we’re pursuing here.  We’re not just pursuing a temporary halt to the violence -- although we’d certainly welcome that.  We want to make sure that Russia understands that the United States and the international community will not stand by as they continue to try to destabilize the political situation and the economy in Ukraine. 

And this is the resolute view of the international community and it’s why the prospect of sanctions remains on the table.  And it’s why, as recently as earlier this week, the President had a telephone conversation with the President of France to discuss this issue; he was talking to the German Chancellor at the end of last week about this issue.  So the prospect of additional economic costs being posed onto Russia is something that remains very much on the table.

Q    Do you guys have anything on these reports about Chinese hackers tapping into U.S. government personnel files, or trying to?

MR. EARNEST:  Only that I would suggest that you reach out to OPM and DHS regarding the incident.  DHS, as you know, is responsible for a lot of the monitoring of the cybersecurity threats.  As those two agencies have said, as soon as they learned of a possible intrusion, they took steps to assess and mitigate that intrusion -- I think they have said -- but if they haven’t, I’ll say it -- for the incident that you’re referencing, we have no reason to believe that personally identifiable information was compromised. 

But, again, this is part of a -- we have systems in place to deal with these kinds of threats and intrusions, and I know that those systems responded to this incident. 

Thanks, everybody.

END
10:45 A.M. CDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 10, 2014

Remarks by the President on the Economy -- Austin, TX

Paramount Theatre
Austin, Texas

12:48 P.M. CDT
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Austin!  (Applause.)  Hey!  Hello, Austin!  (Applause.)  All right, everybody have a seat, have a seat. 
 
It’s good to be in Austin, Texas.  (Applause.)  Can everybody please give Kinsey a big round of applause for the great introduction?  (Applause.) 
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  That's because I love you.  (Applause.)  Everybody knows I love Austin, Texas.  (Applause.)  Every time I come here I tell you how much I love you.  I love Austin.  I love the people.  I love the barbecue -- which I will get right after this.  (Laughter.)  I like the music.  (Applause.)  I've got good memories here, I've got good friends. 
 
I was telling somebody the last time I walked a real walk where I was kind of left alone was in Austin, Texas.  (Applause.) Right before the debate here during the primary in 2007?  2008?  It must have been 2008.  And I was walking along the river and nobody noticed me, and I felt great.  (Laughter.)  And then on the way back somebody did notice me and Secret Service started coming around and -- (laughter) -- but that first walk was really good.  So let’s face it, I just love Austin.  (Applause.)  Love the people of Austin. 
 
I want to thank a proud Texan, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, for being here today.  We appreciate her.  (Applause.) 
 
It is great to play at the Paramount.  I think I finally made it.  I finally arrived.  (Applause.)  I've enjoyed the last couple of days, just getting out of Washington.  And we started in Colorado, in Denver, and then went to Dallas and then came down here.  And at each stop I've been able to just meet people and talk about people’s lives -- their hopes, their dreams.
 
I just had some coffee, as Kinsey may have mentioned, at the Magnolia Café, which is very nice.  (Applause.)  It was fun, too, because I had a chance to -- there were a bunch of folks there and some EMT folks were there on their break after the shift, and there were a group of high school kids who were getting together -- they were about to go on a two-weeklong service trip to Peru  -- which, by the way, reminds you, you should be optimistic whenever you meet young people because they’re full of energy and idealism.  And so they were going to do this service trip and they were going to go for two days, then, to Machu Picchu -- the old Inca ruins in Peru.  And I said, I always wanted to go there. And they said, well, you can come with us if you want.  (Laughter.)  And I said, I'm really tempted, but I think there are some things I've got to do.  (Laughter.) 
 
But I got them -- in exchange for a selfie with them, they promised that they would send me a picture of them when they get there.  So I'm going to hold them to it.  We got their email and if I don't get it I'll be upset.  (Laughter.) 
 
Anyway, so I was talking to Kinsey because she wrote me a letter and I wanted to reply in person.  Because, as some of you may know, every day, we get tens of thousands of letters or correspondence, emails at the White House.  And ever since the first day I was in office, what I've asked our Correspondence Office to do is to select 10 of them for me to read every night. And in these letters, people tell me their stories.  They talk about losing a job, or finding a job.  They talk about trying to finance a college education.  They talk about challenges because maybe they’re the children of immigrants and they’re worried about their status.  They talk about the hardships they’re going through, successes they’ve had, things they hope for, things that they’re afraid of when it comes to the future and their lives.  
 
Sometimes people say thank you for something I've done or a position I've taken, and some people say, “You're an idiot.”  (Laughter.)  And that’s how I know that I’m getting a good representative sampling because -- (laughter) -- half the letters are less than impressed with me.   
 
So Kinsey wrote me to tell me about her family.  Her mom was a preschool teacher, her dad was an engineer.  Together, obviously, they worked really hard, raised a family.  They were responsible, did all the right things, were able to put their kids through college.  Then they lost their jobs.  And because they lost their jobs as mid-career persons, a lot of their resumes didn’t get answered.  And their savings started to dwindle.  And Kinsey works to pay for school, but it’s not enough. 
 
And she told me that she’s always been passionate about politics and the issues of the day, but after last year’s government shutdown, all this stuff that's happened with her family, it doesn’t seem like anybody in Washington is thinking about them.  She wrote, “I became a disgruntled citizen.  I felt as if my government, my beloved government that’s supposed to look out for the needs of all Americans had failed me.  My parents have always supported my siblings and me,” she wrote, “now it’s my turn to help them.  I want to be involved.  President Obama, what can I do?”
 
So I wanted to meet with Kinsey to let her know that I had heard her, that I listened to what was happening with her family, and I was thinking about her parents and I was thinking about her and her sisters.  And I’m here today because of Kinsey.  And I’m here today because of every American who is working their tail off and does everything right and who believes in the American Dream and just wants a chance to build a decent life for themselves and their families. 
 
And you and folks like Kinsey are the reason I ran for President in the first place -- (applause) -- because your lives are the lives that I lived.  When I listen to Kinsey I think about me and Michelle trying to finance our college education.  When I think about somebody who didn't have health care, I think about my mom when she had cancer that would ultimately end her life at about the age I am now.  When I think about equal pay, I think about my grandmother working her way up at a bank with nothing but a high school education and becoming the vice president of the bank, but always being kind of passed over for the next stage by men who were less qualified than she was. 
 
So the stories that I hear in these letters, they're my story, and they're Michelle’s story, and they're the story that we had before I became senator -- worrying about child care, trying to figure out how to have a balanced life so that if Malia or Sasha got sick we could take time off, and how do you manage all that. 
 
So that's why these letters are so important to me.  And that's why whenever I’m out of Washington, part of what I want to do is just to remember and to connect with your stories so that you know that what I’m trying to do every single day is based on that experience.
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Thank you!  (Applause.)
 
THE PRESIDENT:  And when you see the trajectory of Kinsey’s family, in some ways, it’s a little bit a story of what’s happened to America. 
 
The crisis in 2008 hurt us all badly -- worse financial crisis since the Great Depression.  But you think about the progress we’ve made.  Today, our businesses have added nearly 10 million new jobs over the past 52 months.  (Applause.)  Our housing is rebounding.  Our auto industry is booming.  Manufacturing is adding more jobs than any time since the 1990s. The unemployment rate is the lowest point it’s been since September of 2008.  (Applause.)  Kinsey’s dad found a new job that he loves in the field he was trained for.  (Applause.)  So a lot of this was because of the resilience and hard work of the American people.  That's what happens -- Americans bounce back.
 
But some of it had to do with decisions we made to build our economy on a new foundation.  And those decisions are paying off. We’re more energy independent.  For the first time in nearly 20 years, we produce more oil here at home than we buy from abroad. (Applause.)  The world’s largest oil and gas producer isn’t Russia; it’s not Saudi Arabia -- it’s the United States of America.  (Applause.)
 
At the same time, we’ve reduced our total carbon pollution over the past eight years more than any country on Earth.  (Applause.)  We’ve tripled the amount of electricity we generate from wind.  We’ve increased the amount of solar energy we have by 10 times.  We’re creating jobs across the country in clean energy.  (Applause.) 
 
In education, our high school graduation rate is at a record high; the Latino dropout rate has been cut in half since 2000.  (Applause.)  More young people are graduating from college than ever before.
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Si se puede!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Si se peude.  (Laughter.) 
 
The Affordable Care Act has given millions more families peace of mind.  They won’t go broke just because they get sick.  (Applause.)  Our deficits have been cut by more than half. 
 
We have come farther and recovered faster, thanks to you, than just about any other nation on Earth.  (Applause.)  And so we’ve got a lot to be encouraged by, just as the story of Kinsey’s family makes us feel more encouraged.  For the first time in a decade, business leaders around the world have said the number-one place to invest is not China, it’s the United States of America.  So we’re actually seeing companies bring jobs back. (Applause.)  So there’s no doubt that we are making progress.  By almost every measure, we are better off now than we were when I took office.  (Applause.) 
 
But the fact is we’ve still got a long way to go.  We’ve still got a long way to go, because while we’re creating more jobs faster these first six months of this year than any time since 1999, we know there are still a lot of folks out there who are looking for work or looking for more full-time work or looking for a better-paying job.  Corporate profits are higher than ever.  CEOs make more than ever.  But you’re working harder than ever just to get by and pay the bills. 
 
So, as a whole, the country is doing better.  But the problem is, is that so much of the improved productivity and profits have gone to the folks at the very top, and the average person, their wages and incomes haven’t really gone up at all, and in some cases, haven’t kept up with the rising cost of health care or college or all the basic necessities that people need. 
 
And so, Austin, I’m here to say that this country is not going to succeed if just a few are doing well.  This country succeeds when everybody has got a shot.  (Applause.)  The country does better when the middle class does better, and when there are more ladders of opportunity into the middle class.  (Applause.) That’s the kind of economy that works here in America.  And that’s what’s at stake right now. 
 
Now, that’s why we’re fighting for an opportunity agenda that creates more good jobs and creates more good wages -- jobs in American manufacturing, jobs in construction.  We should be rebuilding infrastructure all across America, putting people back to work rebuilding roads and bridges and schools, creating a smart grid to transmit clean energy across the country more efficiently.  (Applause.)   
 
We can create good jobs in American energy -- (sneezes) -- bless me -- and innovation.  (Laughter.)  I’m okay, just haven’t had enough sleep.  (Laughter.) 
 
We’re fighting for an opportunity agenda that trains more workers with the skills to fill the jobs that are being created. I was talking to some folks from a community college before I came out here.  We’ve learned that if we reach out to businesses and help them design the training programs in the community colleges, then when somebody finishes that training, they know they can get a job right away.  (Applause.)
 
We’re fighting for an opportunity agenda that guarantees every child a world-class education from the time that they are three until the time that they graduate from college.
 
We’re fighting for an opportunity agenda that makes sure your hard work pays off with higher wages and equal pay for equal work, and workplace flexibility, and the overtime pay you’ve earned.  (Applause.)
 
We’re fighting for opportunity for all and the idea that no matter who you are and what you look like and where you come from and who you love, if you work hard in America, if you work hard in Austin, if you work hard in Texas, you can make it here.  (Applause.)  You can make it.  (Applause.)
 
So that's what we’re working for.  And the good news is, is that the things that we need to do are well within our capabilities, our grasp.  We know we can -- we know how to build roads.  We know how to put people back to work on infrastructure. We know that if we invest in early childhood education, every dollar we put in, we get seven dollars back, and fewer dropouts and fewer teen pregnancies, and fewer folks going into the criminal justice system.  (Applause.) 
 
We know that if we do some basic things, if we make some basic changes, we’ll see more jobs, faster economic growth, lift more incomes, strengthen the middle class.  They are common-sense things.  They're not that radical.  We know it’s what we should be doing.  And what drives me nuts -- and I know drives you nuts -- is Washington isn’t doing it.  (Applause.)
 
And let me be clear about why Washington is broken, because sometimes everybody says, well, you know what, all politicians are the same, he parties -- the Democrats, Republicans, it doesn't matter.  Look, Democrats are not perfect, I promise you. I know a lot of them.  (Laughter.)  And, yes, every member of Congress, they're thinking about, I’d like to be reelected and I’d like to keep my job.  That's human nature.  We all understand that.  But let me be clear.  On the common-sense agenda that would help middle-class families, the overwhelming number of Democrats are in favor of these things. 
 
They're in favor of minimum wage.  They're in favor of equal pay.  (Applause.)  They're in favor of extending unemployment benefits.  They're in favor of infrastructure.  They're in favor of investing in research and development.  They're in favor of making college more affordable.  They’ve got specific proposals. They're willing to compromise.  They're prepared to go forward. 
 
So when folks say they're frustrated with Congress, let’s be clear about what the problem is.  (Applause.)  I’m just telling the truth now.  I don't have to run for office again, so I can just let her rip.  (Applause.)  And I want to assure you, I’m really not that partisan of a guy.  My favorite President is the first Republican President, a guy named Abraham Lincoln.  You look at our history, and we had great Republican Presidents who  -- like Teddy Roosevelt started the National Park System, and Dwight Eisenhower built the Interstate Highway System, and Richard Nixon started the EPA. 
 
The statement I’m making is not a partisan statement, it is a statement of fact.  (Applause.)  So far this year, Republicans in Congress have blocked or voted down every serious idea to strengthen the middle class.  They have said no --
 
AUDIENCE:  Booo!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Don't boo now, because what I want you to do is vote.  (Applause.)
 
They’ve said no to raising the minimum wage.  They’ve said no to fair pay.  They said no to unemployment insurance for hardworking folks like Kinsey’s parents who have paid taxes all their lives and never depended on anything and just needed a little help to get over a hump.  They said no to fixing our broken immigration system that we know would strengthen our borders and our businesses and help families.  (Applause.)
 
Instead of investing in education that helps working families, they voted to give another massive tax cut to the wealthiest Americans.  Instead of creating jobs by rebuilding our infrastructure, our roads, our bridges, our ports that help every business, they’ve decided to protect tax loopholes for companies that are shifting jobs overseas and profits overseas. 
 
The best thing you can say about this Congress -- the Republicans in Congress, and particularly the House of Representatives -- the best you can say for them this year is that so far they have not shut down the government -- (laughter) -- or threatened to have America welch on our obligations and ruin our credit rating.  That's the best you can say.  But of course, it’s only July -- (laughter) -- so who knows what they may cook up in the next few months.
 
So even as they’re blocking policies that would help middle-class families, they keep on offering these theories of the economy that have failed over and over again.  They say, well, if we give more tax breaks to folks at the top that's going to be good.  If we make fewer investments in things like education, everything will work out.  If we loosen the rules for big banks and credit card companies and polluters and insurers, somehow that's going to make the economy better.  If we shrink the safety net and cut Medicaid and cut food stamps, and make sure that folks who are vulnerable and trying to get back on their suffer more hardship, somehow that's going to improve the economy.
 
Now, they believe these things -- sincerely, I assume -- that if they -- if we do these things, if we just take care of folks at the top, or at least if we don't empower our government to be able to help anybody, that somehow jobs and prosperity will trickle down and we’ll all be better off.
 
And that may work just fine for folks at the top.  It worked fine for me.  I don't need government.  (Laughter.)  Michelle and I now are in a position where we can pretty much finance Malia and Sasha’s college education.  But I remember when Michelle’s parents couldn’t, they needed help.  And I don't know about you, but I don't believe in pulling up the ladder once I’m up.  I believe in extending it down and making sure that everybody has a chance to climb up.  (Applause.)
 
The status quo certainly works for the special interests in Washington who like things just as they are.  They’ll be fine whether Congress ever passes a bill again or not.  But it doesn’t help you.  It doesn't help your neighbors.  It doesn't help your friends.  It doesn't help your communities.
 
And what it does, is it just feeds people’s cynicism about Washington.  It just makes people think, well, nothing can happen, and people start feeling hopeless.  And we have to understand, in the face of all evidence to the contrary in Washington, we can do better than we’re doing right now.  (Applause.)  We can do better than what we’re doing right now.
 
We know from our history, our economy does not grow from the top down, it grows from the middle up.  It grows from a rising, thriving middle class.  It grows when we got ladders of opportunity for everybody, and every young person in America is feeling hopeful and has a chance to do what they can with the God-given talents that they have.  That’s what we’re fighting for.  That is what you should be fighting for.  (Applause.)
 
And I will always look -- I’ll always look for ways to get Republicans and Democrats together in this effort.  But I’m not  -- I can't stand by with partisan gridlock that's the result of cynical political games that threaten the hard work of millions of Americans.  I’m not just going to stand by and say, okay, that's -- I guess that's the way it is.  Whenever and wherever I have the power, the legal authority to help families like yours, even if Congress is not doing anything, I will take that opportunity.  I will try to make something happen.  (Applause.)
And that’s the reason -- that's the reason why my administration has taken more than 40 different actions just this year to help working Americans -- because Congress won’t.
 
Congress won’t act to make sure a woman gets equal pay for equal work.  So I made sure more women have the protections they need to fight for fair pay in the workplace -- because I think when women succeed America succeeds.   So we went ahead and did that.  (Applause.)
 
Congress won’t act to create jobs in manufacturing or construction.  Well, I went ahead and speeded up permits for big projects.  We launched a new hub to attract more high-tech manufacturing jobs to America.  I want to make sure the next revolution in manufacturing is right here in America; it’s an American revolution, not a German or a Chinese revolution.  I want it happening right here in Austin, Texas.  (Applause.)
 
Congress so far hasn’t acted to help more young people manage their student loan debt.  So I acted with my lawful authority to give nearly 5 million Americans the chance to cap their student loan payments at 10 percent of their income so they can manage it better, so that if they go into teaching, or they go into social work, or they're doing something at a non-for-profit, that they're not encumbered by mountains of debt.  I don’t want our future leaders saddled with debt before they start out in life.  (Applause.)
 
And Republicans in Congress so far have refused to raise workers’ wages with a higher minimum wage.  So I acted to require that federal contractors pay their employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour -- (applause) -- which would give hundreds of thousands of workers a raise.  I asked business owners and governors and mayors and state legislators -- anybody I could work with -- do what you can on your own, I told them. 
 
Since the first time I asked Congress to raise the minimum wage, Congress hasn’t done anything, but 13 states have gone ahead and raised theirs.  (Applause.)  And, by the way -- this is important to remember just because folks are always trying to run the okey doke on you -- (laughter) -- the states that have increased their minimum wages this year have seen higher job growth than the states that have not increased their minimum wage.  (Applause.)  And more and more business owners are choosing to lift the wages for their workers because they understand that it’s going to be good to have productive workers, loyal workers, invested workers. 
 
Just yesterday, before I came down to Texas, when I was in Denver, I met with Carolyn Reed.  She owns six Silver Mine sub shops.  She started her own business.  She was working at UPS and decided she wanted to be a business owner, got her first franchise.  Her and her husband mortgaged their house.  Eventually, they got an SBA loan.  Now, she’s got six stores.  A wonderful woman.  And today, she decided to raise her hourly employees’ wages to a minimum of $10.10 an hour.  (Applause.)  She just went ahead and did it on her own, because she realized that she’ll have less turnover and she’s going to have more productive workers. 
 
As long as Congress will not increase wages for workers, I will go and talk to every business in America if I have to.  (Applause.)  There’s no denying a simple truth:  America deserves a raise, and if you work full-time in this country, you shouldn’t live in poverty.  That’s something that we all believe. (Applause.)   
 
Now, here’s where it gets interesting.  There are a number of Republicans, including a number in the Texas delegation, who are mad at me for taking these actions.  They actually plan to sue me.  (Laughter.)  Now, I don’t know which things they find most offensive -- me helping to create jobs, or me raising wages, or me easing the student loan burdens, or me making sure women can find out whether they’re getting paid the same as men for doing the same job.  I don’t know which of these actions really bug them.  (Laughter.) 
 
The truth is, even with all the actions I’ve taken this year, I’m issuing executive orders at the lowest rate in more than 100 years.  So it’s not clear how it is that Republicans didn’t seem to mind when President Bush took more executive actions than I did.  (Applause.)  Maybe it’s just me they don’t like.  I don’t know.  Maybe there’s some principle out there that I haven’t discerned, that I haven’t figure out.  (Laughter.)  You hear some of them -- “sue him,” “impeach him.”  Really?  (Laughter.)  Really?  For what?  (Applause.)  You’re going to sue me for doing my job?  Okay.  (Applause.)   
 
I mean, think about that.  You’re going to use taxpayer money to sue me for doing my job -- (laughter) -- while you don’t do your job.  (Applause.) 
 
There’s a great movie called “The Departed” -- a little violent for kids.  But there’s a scene in the movie where Mark Wahlberg -- they’re on a stakeout and somehow the guy loses the guy that they’re tracking.   And Wahlberg is all upset and yelling at the guy.  And the guy looks up and he says, “Well, who are you?”  And Wahlberg says, “I’m the guy doing my job.  You must be the other guy.”  (Laughter and applause.)  Sometimes, I feel like saying to these guys, I’m the guy doing my job, you must be the other guy.  (Applause.) 
 
So rather than wage another political stunt that wastes time, wastes taxpayers’ money, I’ve got a better idea:  Do something.  (Applause.)  If you’re mad at me for helping people on my own, let’s team up.  Let’s pass some bills.  Let’s help America together.  (Applause.)   
 
It is lonely, me just doing stuff.  I’d love if the Republicans did stuff, too.  (Laughter.)  On immigration issues, we’ve got -- and to their credit, there are some Republicans in the Senate who actually worked with Democrats, passed a bill, would strengthen the borders, would help make the system more fair and more just.  But the House Republicans, they haven’t even called the bill.  They won’t even take a vote on the bill.  They don’t have enough energy or organization or I don’t know what to just even vote no on the bill.  (Laughter.)  And then they’re made at me for trying to do some things to make the immigration system work better.  So it doesn’t make sense.
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)
 
THE PRESIDENT:  I’m sorry, what are you yelling about now?  Sit down, guys.  I’m almost done.  Come on, sit down.  I’ll talk to you afterwards, I promise.  I’ll bring you back.  I’m wrapping things up here.
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)
 
THE PRESIDENT:  I understand.  See, everybody is going to start -- I’m on your side, man.  Sit down, guys, we’ll talk about it later, I promise.
 
So, look, here’s what we could do.  We could do so much more -- you don’t have to escort them out.  They’ll sit down.  I promise, I’ll talk to you afterwards. 
 
We could do so much more if Republicans in Congress would focus less on stacking the deck for those on the top and focus more on creating opportunity for everybody.  And I want to work with them.  I don’t expect them to agree with me on everything, but at least agree with me on the things that you used to say you were for before I was for them.  (Applause.) 
 
You used to be for building roads and infrastructure.  Nothing has changed.  Let’s go ahead and do it.  (Applause.)  Ronald Reagan passed immigration reform, and you love Ronald Reagan.  Let’s go ahead and do it.  (Applause.)   
 
I mean, what changed?  I’m just saying.  (Laughter.)  That’s what made our country great, a sense of common purpose, a sense we’re all in it together as one nation, as one people.  We can debate the issues, we can have our differences, but let’s do something.  (Applause.)  Let’s rally around an economic patriotism that says, instead of giving more tax breaks to millionaires, let’s give tax breaks to working families to help pay for child care or college. 
 
Instead of protecting tax loopholes that let corporations keep their profits overseas,  let’s put some of that money to work right here in the United States rebuilding America.  (Applause.)  We can rebuild our airports, create the next generation of good manufacturing jobs, make sure those are made in America. 
 
Let’s rally around a patriotism that says we’re stronger as a nation when we cultivate the ingenuity and talent of every American, and give every 4-year-old in America access to high-quality education -- good-quality preschool.  (Applause.)  Let’s redesign our high schools to make them more relevant to the 21st century economy.  Let’s make college more affordable.  Let’s  make sure every worker, if you lose your job, you can get a good job training that gives you an even better job.  (Applause.) 
 
Let’s embrace the patriotism that says it’s a good thing when our fellow citizens have health care.  It’s not a bad thing. (Applause.)  That’s not a bad thing.  It’s a good thing when women earn what men do for the same work.  That’s an all-American principle.  (Applause.)  Everybody has got a mom out there or a wife out there or a daughter out there.  They don’t want them to not get treated fairly.  Why would you be against that? 
 
It’s a good thing when parents can take a day off to care for a sick child without losing their job or losing pay and they can’t pay their bills at the end of the month.  It’s a good thing when nobody who works full-time is living in poverty.  That is not radical.  It’s not un-American.  It’s not socialist.  That’s how we built this country.  It’s what America is all about, us working together.  (Applause.)   
 
So let me just wrap up by saying this:  The hardest thing to change in politics is a stubborn status quo.  Our democracy is designed where folks who have power, who have clout -- they can block stuff, they can keep things as they are.  It’s hard.  It’s even harder when Washington seems focused on everything but your concerns, Kinsey’s concerns. 
 
There are plenty of people who count on you getting cynical and count on you not getting involved so that you don’t vote, so you give up.  And you can’t give into that.  America is making progress, despite what the cynics say.  (Applause.)  Despite unyielding opposition and a Congress that can’t seem to do anything, there are workers with jobs who didn’t have them before; there are families with health insurance who didn’t have them before; there are students in college who couldn’t afford it before; there are troops who served tour after tour who are home with their families today.  (Applause.)   
 
Cynicism is popular.  Cynicism is popular these days.  It’s what passes off as wisdom.  But cynics didn’t put a man on the moon.  Cynics never won a war.  Cynics didn’t cure a disease, or start a business, or feed a young mind.  Cynicism didn’t bring about the right for women to vote, or the right for African Americans to be full citizens.  Cynicism is a choice. 
 
Hope is a better choice.  Hope is what gave young soldiers the courage to storm a beach.  Hope is what gave young people the strength to march for women’s rights and civil rights and voting rights and gay rights and immigrant rights.  (Applause.) 
 
Hope is what compelled Kinsey to sit down and pick up a pen, and ask “what can I do,” and actually think maybe the President might read that story and it might make a difference.  (Applause.)  And her voice rang out here in the Paramount Theatre.  And it’s her voice and your voice that’s going to change this country.  That’s how we’re going to make sure that we remain the greatest nation on Earth -- not by asking what we can do for ourselves, but what we can do for each other and what we can do for our country. 
 
And so, as President, I’m going to keep a promise that I made when I first ran:  Every day, I will keep asking the same question, and that is, how can I help you?  And I’ll keep treating your cares and your concerns as my own.  And I will keep fighting to restore the American Dream for everybody who’s willing to work for it. 
 
And I am going to need you to be right there with me.  (Applause.)  Do not get cynical.  Hope is the better choice. 
 
Thank you, Texas.  Thank you, Austin.  God bless you.  (Applause.) 
 
END
1:28 P.M. CDT
 

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 10, 2014

Statement by the President on the Confirmation of Shaun Donovan as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget

I am pleased that Republicans and Democrats in the Senate today confirmed Shaun Donovan as the next Director of the Office of Management and Budget. From his outstanding work at HUD helping to rebuild our housing market to his leadership in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Shaun has played a crucial role in our efforts to battle back from the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes and expand opportunity for more Americans. While we have made significant strides by investing in areas that are helping to grow the economy, creating good jobs, and promoting more effective and efficient management in government, Shaun knows there is more work to do, and today’s bipartisan vote ensures the dedicated professionals at OMB will have a proven, effective leader to build on the progress we’ve made.

The President's Been Busy This Year

David Hudson
David Hudson
July 10, 2014
02:55 PM EDT

"Let's make this a year of action."

That's what President Obama said in this year's State of the Union address — and he's been doing his part. Since January, the President has taken more than 40 executive actions to help families across the country succeed.

The President has helped to make student loan payments more affordable, support equal pay and workplace flexibility, cut carbon pollution, and raise the minimum wage for all workers on new federal contracts. And those are just a handful of the actions he's taken.

Find out how the President is working to ensure opportunity for all Americans.

Learn more about the President's actions this year.

Related Topics: Higher Education, Jobs, Economy, Energy and Environment, Equal Pay, Middle Class Security, Working Families

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 10, 2014

Remarks by the President at DNC Event -- Austin, TX

Private Residence
Austin, Texas

11:02 P.M. CDT
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, everybody.  Good to see you.  Good to be here.  (Applause.)  Good to be here.  Thank you.
 
Well, first of all, it’s just good to be back in Austin -- love this town.  (Applause.)  Love Austin, Texas.  I do.  I remember the first fundraiser I had down here in Austin when I was running for the U.S. Senate, and it was around this time of year -- it was so hot that when I was done, I had to get rid of the shirt.  (Laughter.)  It just never recovered.  (Laughter.)
 
The last time I took a walk unencumbered was in Austin, Texas.  True story.  This is before a debate in the primary.  And I walked along the river, and I got about probably a mile, mile and a half, and then some people started spotting me so that by the time -- Secret Service got nervous, and then by the time we got back, there was a big rope line and there was all the fuss.  And I have wistful memories of that walk.  (Laughter.) 
 
And I remember going to a bar or club, honkytonk around here and singing on stage.  (Laughter.)  I wasn’t very good, but people were enthusiastic anyway.  I’ve had really good barbecue here.  (Applause.)  But most importantly, I just love the people of Austin.  They’re just good people.  I forget, I actually got down into the Longhorn Stadium and tossed the football with Colt and Coach Brown.  Every time I come here, I have fun.  And tonight is no exception because we are in an extraordinary setting.
 
I’m going to use my creativity by taking off my jacket.  (Applause.)  And perhaps if the press wasn’t here, I’d be creative and jump in the pool.  (Laughter and applause.)  But the pool report might reflect bad judgment on my part.  (Laughter.)  There’s a fine line between creativity and bad judgment.  (Laughter.)  You want your President to be on the right side of that line.  So taking off the jacket -- creative.  Jumping in the pool -- bad judgment.  (Laughter.)
 
Obviously I want to thank Robert and Marci for making this incredible setting available -- (applause) -- and congratulate Robert on all the great work that he is doing on the new network and shows and the way that he is broadening I think everybody’s imaginations about what America is about and what it looks like, what it sounds like. 
 
I want to acknowledge a dear friend who has really been working hard on behalf of Democrats all across the country, and he is one of your own -- Henry Muñoz is here.  We’re very, very proud of Henry.  There he is.  (Applause.)  In addition to just being one of the finest people I know and a great friend, he’s also very stylish -- so I would advise people to take a look at his shoes before you leave and then see if you could pull it off. (Laughter.)
 
I’ve been doing a lot of stuff today.  I was in Denver to start with, and then I was in Dallas, hanging out with your Governor.  (Laughter.)  And then I’m ending up in Austin.  My message has been consistent, I think, throughout this day and throughout this trip -- and throughout my presidency.  What makes America special is the idea that no matter what you look like, where you come from, who you love, what your last name is, what manner you worship the Sacred, that you can make it here if you try.  If you work hard, you can make it.  (Applause.)
 
And when I came into office, we were in the midst of the worst crisis since the Great Depression.  And because of the resilience of the American people and the creativity of the American people, we pulled ourselves out of it. 
 
And also because my administration made some good decisions early that were tough and not always popular -- (applause) -- we’ve now seen 52 straight months of job growth, 10 million jobs created, unemployment rate the lowest it’s been since September of 2008.  First half of this year, jobs have grown faster than any time since 1999.  (Applause.)  We saved an auto industry, stabilized the financial system, put in place laws to make sure that predatory lending and some of the practices that got us into this mess in the first place don’t happen again. 
 
We’ve lowered the rate of uninsured through the Affordable Care Act and we’ve actually slowed the pace at which health care inflation increases, which is good for families and good for businesses.  We’ve cut the deficit by more than half.  We have seen a lowering of the dropout rate -- it’s been cut in half for Latino students.  We’ve seen the highest college attendance rate in history.  Our energy market is booming.  We’re producing more oil than we’re importing for the first time in a lot of years. We’ve tripled the amount of wind energy, increased by tenfold the amount of solar energy, lowered our carbon pollution.
 
It used to be before I came into office that China was determined as the best place to invest among the world’s investors and companies.  The United States is now back where it belongs as the number one country to invest and we’re actually seeing manufacturing come back to the United States.  (Applause.)
 
So the point is that we’ve made some remarkable progress.  The stock market is at an all-time high and obviously that benefits a lot of folks at the very top, but anybody who has a 401(k) has seen their retirement savings exceed where they were before I came into office and before the crash.  We’ve seen housing begin to recover.  We’ve made a lot of progress. 
 
But the reason we’re here is we know we’ve got so much more to do.  And there is anxiety around the country, and worry.  And the reason there is anxiety and the reason there is worry is because so much of the gains that we’ve made have gone to folks at the top.  Ordinary folks haven’t seen much of an increase in terms of their wages, their incomes.  There are families that work really hard every single day, do the right thing, are responsible, but at the end of the month it’s tough paying the bills.  There are young people who are dying to go to college but aren’t sure that they can afford it.  There are still folks who are desperate for work but find perhaps because they got laid off at the age of 50 or 55 that folks aren’t willing to hire them anymore.
 
We still have millions of people around the country who are our neighbors and our friends and the friends of our children, but who are still living in the shadows because we haven’t passed immigration reform.  There are children who are still in schools that aren’t teaching them, and they’re going to have a real hard time finding ladders into the middle class.
 
So we know that we’ve got more work to do.  Now, the good news is we also know what we could be doing about it.  We know that if we invest in infrastructure -- rebuilding our roads and our bridges and our ports and our airports and creating smart grids and new ways to transmit energy -- that all this would create jobs right now in the United States and increase our economic growth and set the course for future economic growth. 
 
We know that if we pass immigration reform, it’s not just good for the families, it’s good for the economy:  We attract the best and the brightest; they invest here, they create jobs.  It’s estimated that it would cut our deficit and the economy would grow by more than an extra trillion dollars.  We know these things. 
 
We know if we invest in basic research and technology that we’ll keep our edge and the dynamism of the U.S. economy, which has always been our advantage, that the pace of growth will accelerate.  We know that if we invest in early childhood education, that every dollar we invest helping a child get a good start means they’re less likely to drop out, more likely to go to college, less likely to have a teen pregnancy, less likely to go to jail.  We know it’s a good investment. 
 
So we know what to do.  The problem is that Washington is not working the way it’s supposed to.  And that’s part of the reason people feel anxious, because they’re thinking to themselves, we could be there, we could be making progress.  People sense -- they may not follow all the intricacies of the debates that go on, what passes for debates in Washington, but they know we could be doing better than we’re doing right now if folks were acting on behalf of middle-class families and people who are striving to get into the middle class; if folks were showing a seriousness of purpose as opposed to worrying about getting reelected or posturing on television. 
 
They know that.  And so what I’ve said to my team is, get me out of Washington.  (Laughter.)  Let me talk to people who are doing the right thing and struggling, so that they know they’re being heard by at least somebody in Washington.  Let’s remind the country what we should be focused on.  (Applause.)  So that we can also maybe prod Congress into doing the right thing.  Now --
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Good luck.
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I don’t need luck, I need work.   Because the challenge we’ve got -- and I said this earlier today and I’m going to keep on saying it -- I’m not actually -- I wasn’t raised sharply partisan.  My mom, she had good old-fashioned liberal, progressive values but she wasn’t involved in politics.  And my favorite President is a Republican named Abraham Lincoln.  (Applause.)  And so my attitude is that, historically, both parties have done really important work.  You have Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican, started the national parks, and Dwight Eisenhower build the Interstate Highway System, and Richard Nixon started the EPA.  There have been historically some great Republicans and some great Democrats who have helped lead this country in a good direction.  And for a big stretch of time, they’ve been able to work together on important projects. 
 
But right now, at this moment, the reason Washington doesn’t work is very simple:  You’ve got one party whose main goal seems just to say no:  Say no to immigration reform.  Say no to raising the minimum wage.  Say no to extending unemployment benefits for folks who are out there looking for work but can’t find it.  Say no to equal pay for equal work.  Don’t just say no to doing something about climate change, just deny climate change.  And definitely say no to me.
 
And so you don’t get a sense that you’ve got a party that’s serious about trying to do anything when it comes to the challenges that are facing the middle class.  It’s not just that they have a different theory about how to help, they just don’t seem to have any theory at all -- other than saying no, or a theory that says we’re going to help -- or just allow folks at the very top to do whatever the heck they want and somehow prosperity is going to trickle down onto everybody else.
 
And that’s, hopefully, why you are here, because that is not inevitable.  The American people agree with us on minimum wage.  They agree with us on equal pay for equal work.  They agree with us on immigration reform.  They agree that we should be doing more to help young people go to college.  Across the board, on the issues, the American people agree with us.  So why is it Congress isn’t working and the Republican Party can’t seem to respond?  It’s because, especially in midterms, half of us don’t vote. 
 
And so the reason we are here today is just to remind everybody -- here we don’t have to be that creative -- that if people participate and feel a sense of urgency and channel the frustration people feel constructively into these midterm elections, then we can get a Congress that’s responsive -- which doesn’t mean that we have to do everything that I think we should do -- I’m willing to compromise. 
 
I told Rick Perry today, I said, I’m happy to listen to your ideas, but right now, the main problem I’ve got with respect to these unaccompanied children is I’ve just put forward a piece of legislation before Congress that would give us the resources to care for them and help deal with the borders, all the things you say you want, Governor, and somehow I haven’t heard yet from the Republican delegation of Texas to say this is such an urgent problem that they’re going to move this quickly and get it done. So if you can’t even do the things you say you want to do, how are we going to get anything done? 
 
So we’ve got to feel a sense of urgency.  And if we do, Congress can change.  And if Congress changes, then America can change in ways that we all hope for -- not just for ourselves but for our kids and our grandkids.  (Applause.)
 
But we’ve got to feel a sense of urgency about it not just during presidential elections but during midterms.  And all of you are going to be critical in that endeavor.  So I hope you’ll join me.  Do not get cynical.  Cynics didn’t send men to the moon.  Cynics did not liberate slaves.  (Applause.)  Cynics did not transform this country.  Folks who are hopeful and creative did.  And that’s what we’ve got to constantly remember, we’ve got to guard against cynicism, embrace hope, work hard.  If we do, we’re going to be able to deliver the kind of Congress that the American people deserve. 
 
Thank you. 
 
END
11:19 P.M. CDT
 

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 10, 2014

Year of Action Updated Progress Report

Background from a White House Official:

Six months after the President declared 2014 a Year of Action, the White House will release an updated Progress Report today detailing the more than 40 actions the President and his administration have taken since January to build real, lasting economic security for the middle class and expand opportunities in order for every hardworking American to get ahead. A copy of that report can be found here.

Today in Austin, the President will discuss these actions and update the American people on the progress we’ve made, working with all who are willing to be a part of the solution – including state and local officials, companies large and small and ordinary citizens.

While Republicans in Congress – the least productive Congress in recent history – continue to block votes on key issues like raising the minimum wage and cutting student loan interest rates, and waste time and taxpayer dollars on political stunts like Speaker Boehner’s plan to sue the President for doing his job, the President will continue to do everything in his power to expand economic opportunity for all Americans.

That’s why the President will keep visiting with folks from across the country, to hear directly from them about what matters most and how we can continue to help their families get ahead. Today in Austin the President will meet with Kinsey, a student at the University of Texas, who took the time to write him about her family’s struggle to lead a middle class life.

Thanks to the grit and resilience of the American people, the American economy has come a long way since the President took office. But, there is much more progress to be made and the President won’t let Congress stand in the way. From helping to create new manufacturing jobs, to supporting workplace flexibility and equal pay, to cutting carbon pollution, and rallying support to raise the minimum wage in states across the country, the President is doing right by hardworking Americans.

The President’s taken the actions detailed in today’s report to help the folks for whom Washington should be working, Americans from all across the country – people like Kinsey and her family – who ask for nothing but a fair shot at their own American Dream, but often feel the system is rigged against them.