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The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

September 13, 2013

Presidential Proclamation -- National Hispanic-Serving Institutions Week, 2013

NATIONAL HISPANIC-SERVING INSTITUTIONS WEEK, 2013

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BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

There is no better investment than a great education -- both for young people individually, and for our Nation as a whole. In an increasingly competitive, knowledge-based economy, higher education helps build a skilled workforce and provides clear pathways to success. Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) impart essential knowledge while broadening horizons and giving students the tools to pursue their own measure of happiness. During National Hispanic-Serving Institutions Week, we celebrate these institutions, renew our support for their mission, and recommit to helping tomorrow's leaders reach their fullest potential.

Preparing to fill the jobs of today and tomorrow requires our Nation to share in the responsibility of making college more accessible, affordable, and attainable for all Americans. As more than 20 percent of our Nation's elementary and high school students are Hispanic, HSIs play an integral role in helping fulfill this commitment. That is why the Federal Government will invest more than $1 billion in these vital institutions over the course of this decade. At the same time, we are tackling rising college costs, expanding Pell Grants, promoting innovation and value in higher education, and improving student loan repayment options. If we continue to support and challenge our students, I am confident that America can have the world's highest share of college graduates by 2020.

Hispanic-Serving Institutions enable young people and adults to explore their intellectual passions. From the arts and humanities to education to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, HSIs help students hone their talents, launch their careers, and eventually become leaders in their fields. As we honor America's Hispanic-Serving Institutions, let us fight to remain a country that rewards hard work, responsibility, and the pursuit of education. Let us advance a principle at the heart of the American dream -- that no matter who you are or where you come from, in the United States of America, you can make it if you try.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 15 through September 21, 2013, as National Hispanic-Serving Institutions Week. I call on public officials, educators, and all the people of the United States to observe this week with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities that acknowledge the many ways these institutions and their graduates contribute to our country.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand thirteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-eighth.

BARACK OBAMA

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

September 13, 2013

Presidential Proclamation -- National Hispanic Heritage Month, 2013

NATIONAL HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH, 2013

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BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

From the earliest days of our Republic, Hispanic Americans have written crucial chapters in our national story. Hispanics have honorably defended our country in war and built prosperity during times of peace. They run successful businesses, teach our next generation of leaders, and pioneer scientific and technological breakthroughs. This month, America acknowledges these vital contributions and celebrates our Hispanic heritage.

Hispanic Americans represent an array of distinct and vibrant cultures, each of which enriches communities in valuable ways. Just as America embraces a rich blend of backgrounds, those who journey to our shores embrace America. Sharing the dream of equality and boundless opportunity, many Hispanics have marched for social justice and helped advance America's journey toward a more perfect Union. Last year, I was proud to establish the César E. Chávez National Monument in honor of an American hero, a man who reminded us that every life has value, that together, those who recognize their common humanity have the power to shape a better world.

As César Chávez's example teaches us, we must never scale back our dreams. My Administration remains committed to building a rising, thriving middle class, a middle class accessible to the Hispanic community and to all Americans. As we continue to implement the Affordable Care Act, more than 10 million uninsured Latinos will gain access to coverage. To reduce health disparities, my Administration will work to educate, engage, and enroll Hispanic Americans in the Health Insurance Marketplace.

Last year, we lifted the shadow of deportation off young people who are American in every way but on paper. Today, I am as determined as ever to pass commonsense immigration reform -- reform that helps American workers get a fairer deal, adds more than one trillion dollars to our economy, and provides a pathway to earned citizenship. A bipartisan bill consistent with these principles has already passed the Senate, and a growing coalition of Republicans and Democrats is calling for action.

Whether our ancestors crossed the Atlantic in 1790 or the Rio Grande in 1970, Americans are bound by a set of common values -- a love of liberty and justice, the belief that a better life should await anyone willing to work for it. As we celebrate the unique influences of Hispanic cultures during National Hispanic Heritage Month, let us also rededicate ourselves to realizing our shared aspirations.

To honor the achievements of Hispanics in America, the Congress by Public Law 100-402, as amended, has authorized and requested the President to issue annually a proclamation designating September 15 through October 15 as "National Hispanic Heritage Month."

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 15 through October 15, 2013, as National Hispanic Heritage Month. I call upon public officials, educators, librarians, and all Americans to observe this month with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs.

BARACK OBAMA

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

September 13, 2013

Presidential Proclamation -- National Farm Safety and Health Week, 2013

NATIONAL FARM SAFETY AND HEALTH WEEK, 2013

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BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

Farmers, ranchers, and farmworkers form the cornerstones of some of America's most essential economic sectors. Their products feed, clothe, and fuel our Nation. Their way of life -- handed down from generation to generation -- is central to the American story. During National Farm Safety and Health Week, we celebrate our agricultural producers' values, experiences, and contributions, and we recommit to secure work environments on all our country's farms.

For many agricultural workers, the risk of injury and illness is a daily reality. They face multiple challenges, including entering hazardous grain storage bins, handling livestock and chemicals, and transporting large machinery on our Nation's rural roadways. I encourage agricultural producers and their families and communities to participate in comprehensive farm safety and health programs, take precautions, and prepare themselves for emergencies. I urge all Americans to respect farming and ranching families by driving rural roadways with care, and I ask communities to remember agricultural workers' needs in setting up health facilities and emergency response programs.

As the fall harvest season begins, we pay tribute to the generations of Americans who have devoted themselves to supplying the basic materials that make our country work. This week, we resolve to make farms and ranches safer places to live, work, and raise families.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 15 through September 21, 2013, as National Farm Safety and Health Week. I call upon the agencies, organizations, businesses, and extension services that serve America's agricultural workers to strengthen their commitment to promoting farm safety and health programs. I also urge Americans to honor our agricultural heritage and express appreciation to our farmers, ranchers, and farmworkers for their contributions to our Nation.

BARACK OBAMA

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

September 13, 2013

Statement by the Press Secretary the President’s Travel to Asia

The President will travel to Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines from October 6 – 12 as part of his ongoing commitment to increase U.S. political, economic and security engagement with the Asia Pacific.

In Indonesia, he will attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders meeting. APEC is the region’s leading forum for trade and investment integration. On the margins of the APEC meeting, the President will host a meeting of Leaders of the Trans-Pacific Partnership countries. He will also meet with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to reaffirm our close bilateral ties and celebrate the third year of our Comprehensive Partnership.

The President will then travel to Brunei for the U.S.-ASEAN Summit and the East Asia Summit (EAS) and to meet with the Sultan of Brunei. ASEAN and the EAS are key forums for regional multilateral cooperation. During those meetings the President will discuss the wide range of U.S. cooperation in the Asia Pacific region, including energy, maritime security, investment, development and trade promotion, as well as other topics of regional and global concern.

In Malaysia, the President will meet with Prime Minister Najib of Malaysia to highlight our growing bilateral ties with Malaysia, and will deliver the keynote address to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. Now in its fourth year, the Global Entrepreneurship Summit is an initiative the President announced in 2009 to spur job creation through entrepreneurship by connecting young innovators to resources, ideas, and each other.

The President will then travel to the Philippines, the fifth Asian treaty ally he has visited during his presidency. He will meet with President Aquino to reaffirm the strong economic, people-to-people, and security links between our two countries.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

September 13, 2013

Statement by the President

WASHINGTON, DC – After more than four years working for the Administration, Gene B. Sperling, Director of the National Economic Council and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, will be departing the White House on January 1, 2014. The President announced today that he will appoint Jeffrey Zients, former Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to serve as Director of the National Economic Council.

President Obama said, “Over the past four and a half years, Gene has been one of my closest advisors and a close friend. Gene understands better than anybody that our top priority as a nation is making sure that our economy once again works for working Americans. Gene’s impact in this Administration began at Treasury, where he helped us avoid a second Great Depression and led efforts to pass a Small Business Jobs Act to help entrepreneurs grow. He has been a tireless proponent of efforts to strengthen the recovery and make our tax code more fair, whether in helping to design the payroll tax cut, fighting for job-creating tax credits for tens of millions of hardworking Americans or developing the American Jobs Act. He was central to designing policies to help support the housing recovery and was a driving force behind our manufacturing agenda and our efforts to attract jobs and investment to the United States.

“Gene’s relentless work ethic, sharp intellect and ability to work across the aisle have been instrumental in our efforts to build a better bargain for the middle class and reduce the deficit while also protecting the most vulnerable. I want to thank Gene and his family for their service and I look forward to having his counsel for the rest of the year.

“Today, I’m also proud to name Jeff Zients as the next Director of the National Economic Council. Before heading up the Office of Management and Budget, Jeff spent decades as a successful entrepreneur in the private sector. Jeff has a sterling reputation as a business leader, and he earned the admiration and respect of everyone he worked with during his four years in leadership positions at the Office of Management and Budget. I am certain that in Jeff’s hands we will continue to have strong leadership of our economic policy team and his advice will be critical as we keep moving this country forward and building an economy where everyone who works hard can get ahead.”

Biography for Jeffrey Zients

Jeffrey Zients served as the Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget from January 2012 to April 2013, and from July 2010 to November 2010, after being confirmed by the United States Senate in 2009 as the Deputy Director for Management and the nation’s first Federal Chief Performance Officer. Zients has twenty years of business experience as a CEO, management consultant and entrepreneur. In the private sector, Zients served as CEO and Chairman of The Advisory Board Company and as Chairman of the Corporate Executive Board, two high growth, publicly traded firms that are leading providers of performance benchmarking and best practices across a wide range of industries. Zients also founded an investment firm, and served as a member of a number of Boards of Directors including Sirius XM Radio, Timbuk2 Designs, and Children’s National Medical Center. Zients is a co-founder of The Urban Alliance Foundation, a non-profit organization that partners with corporations to provide economically disadvantaged youth with year-round paid internships, adult mentors and job training. Zients graduated from Duke University and lives with his wife Mary and four children in Washington, D.C.

West Wing Week 09/13/13 or, "My Fellow Americans..."

Adam Garber

September 13, 2013
12:00 AM EDT

This week, the President represented the US at the G20 in St. Petersburg, addressed the nation on the ongoing crisis in Syria, and honored the 12th anniversary of September 11th at the Pentagon and with a service project, while the Vice President highlighted infrastructure improvements and the First Lady traveled to Watertown, WI to ask Americans to drink more water.

President Obama Signs Colorado Emergency Declaration

The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Colorado and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from severe storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides beginning on September 11, 2013, and continuing.

The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the counties of Boulder, El Paso, and Larimer.

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

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

President Obama Meets with His Cabinet

Matt Compton

September 12, 2013
05:09 PM EDT

President Barack Obama holds a Cabinet meeting (Sept 12, 2013)

President Barack Obama holds a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Sept. 12, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

This morning, President Obama convened a meeting of his Cabinet -- the third of 2013.

"Even as we have been spending a lot of time on the Syria issue and making sure that international attention is focused on the horrible tragedy that occurred there," he said, "it is still important to recognize that we’ve got a lot more stuff to do here in this government."

In talking through the agenda, the President described focusing on the steps necessary to improve education, put people back to work, and tackle some of the budget debates looming in the near future.

Check out his full remarks.

Presidential Determination -- Continuation of the Exercise of Certain Authorities Under the Trading With the Enemy Act

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE

THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY

SUBJECT: Continuation of the Exercise of Certain Authorities Under the Trading With the Enemy Act

Under section 101(b) of Public Law 95-223 (91 Stat. 1625; 50 U.S.C. App. 5(b) note) and a previous determination on September 10, 2012 (77 FR 56753, September 13, 2012), the exercise of certain authorities under the Trading With the Enemy Act is scheduled to terminate on September 14, 2013.

I hereby determine that the continuation for 1 year of the exercise of those authorities with respect to Cuba is in the national interest of the United States.

Therefore, consistent with the authority vested in me by section 101(b) of Public Law 95-223, I continue for 1 year, until September 14, 2014, the exercise of those authorities with respect to Cuba, as implemented by the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 515.

The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to publish this determination in the Federal Register.

BARACK OBAMA

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

September 12, 2013

Letter -- Regarding the Principles for Modernizing the Military Compensation and Retirement Systems

Dear Mr. Chairman:

Pursuant to section 674(c) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, Public Law 112-239, January 2, 2013, I hereby transmit to you and the other members of the Military Compensation and Retirement Commission, the principles for modernizing the military compensation and retirement systems requested by the Act.

I wish the Commission success in its important work.

Sincerely,

BARACK OBAMA