Home • Press Briefing by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

March 29, 2013

Presidential Memorandum - Delegation of Authority to Appoint Commissioned Officers of the Ready Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service

March 29, 2013

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

SUBJECT: Delegation of Authority to Appoint Commissioned Officers of the Ready Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service

By virtue of the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I hereby assign to you the functions of the President under section 203 of the Public Health Service Act, as amended by Public Law 111-148, to appoint commissioned officers of the Ready Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service. Commissions issued under this delegation of authority may not be for a term longer than 6 months except for commissions that place officers in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Epidemiological Intelligence Service, the Senior Commissioned Officer Student Training and Extern Program, the Indian Health Service Pharmacy Residency Program, the Indian Health Service Health Professions Scholarship Program, or the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program, which may not be for a term longer than 2 years. Officers appointed pursuant to this delegation may not be appointed to the Ready Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service for a term greater than those outlined in this memorandum other than by the President. This authority may not be re-delegated.

My memorandum of May 31, 2011 (Delegation of Authority to Appoint Commissioned Officers of the Ready Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service), is hereby revoked.

You are authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

BARACK OBAMA

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

March 29, 2013

Remarks by the President on Rebuilding America Partnership in Miami, Florida

PortMiami

Miami, Florida

1:40 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, Miami! (Applause.) It is good to be back. You know, I've been waiting for spring. I realize I just had to come down to Miami. (Laughter.) It is wonderful to be here.

We've got some outstanding representatives in Congress from this area -- Joe Garcia is in the house. (Applause.) Frederica Wilson is in the house. (Applause.) And we've got Debbie Wasserman Schultz here. (Applause.) I want to thank the Mayor of Miami-Dade County, Carlos Gimenez. (Applause.) And of course, it’s good to see all of you. And I want to thank the gentlemen who just gave me a amazing tour of the PortMiami Tunnel.

LITTLE GIRL: Yea!

THE PRESIDENT: What are you yelling about? Hey, sweetie. (Applause.)

WOMAN: She came just to see you!

THE PRESIDENT: Okay, well, hello. (Laughter.) She’s going to be a politician because I could hear her without a mic from far away. (Laughter.)

Now, before we get started, I've got to get into a sticky subject right off the bat. I know you guys aren’t happy with my Chicago Bulls.

AUDIENCE: Booo --

THE PRESIDENT: But I just want you to know the Heat are going to be just fine. They’re going to be okay. (Applause.) They are playing basketball the right way. The Hurricanes -- they had a great season -- no, no, they deserve a big round of applause. (Applause.) Tonight you’ve got Florida and Florida Gulf Coast going at it. (Applause.) One of them will go to the Elite Eight. So, let’s face it, Florida is the center of basketball right now. (Applause.)

But I’m not here to talk about hoops. I’m here to talk about one of the plans that I put forward in my State of the Union address -- a plan to put people to work rebuilding America.

I’ve come to PortMiami today because there are few more important things we can do to create jobs right now and strengthen our economy over the long haul than rebuilding the infrastructure that powers our businesses and our economy -- our roads, our bridges, our schools, and our ports just like this one.

As President, my top priority is to make sure we are doing everything we can to reignite the true engine of our economic growth -- and that is a rising, thriving middle class. A growing economy that creates good, middle-class jobs – that’s got to be our true North. That's what has to guide our efforts every single day. And to do that, we should be asking ourselves three questions every single day: Number one, how do we make America a magnet for good jobs? Number two, how do we equip our workers with the skills they need to do the jobs? Number three, how do we make sure that hard work leads to a decent living?

When it comes to good jobs, no workers were hammered harder by the recession than construction workers. Fortunately, the unemployment rate for construction has been cut nearly in half over the past three years, partly because the housing market is starting to bounce back. But construction still has the highest unemployment rate of any industry. Breaking ground on more projects like this tunnel that I just saw means more good construction jobs that can’t be outsourced. They have to be done right here in America. And they end up giving people good pay and good opportunities to raise their families. (Applause.)

Projects like this create a lot of other good jobs, too. You ask any CEO where we they rather locate their business and hire new workers. Are you going to set up shop in a country that's got raggedy roads, runways that are pot-holed, and backed-up supply chains? Or are you going to seek out high-speed rail, Internet, high-tech schools, new state-of-the-art power grids, new bridges, new tunnels, new ports that help you ship products made in America to the rest of the world as fast as possible? (Applause.) That's what people are looking for. That's what CEOs are looking for.

When you ask companies who brought jobs back to America in the last few years they’ll say, if we upgrade our infrastructure, we’ll bring even more. So what are we waiting for? There’s work to be done; there are workers who are ready to do it. Let’s prove to the world there’s no better place to do business than right here in the United States of America, and let’s get started rebuilding America. (Applause.)

Now, over the last four years, we’ve done some good work. Construction crews have built or improved more than 350,000 miles of road. That's enough to circle the globe 14 times. We’ve upgraded more than 6,000 miles of rail -- enough to go coast-to-coast and back. We’ve repaired or replaced more than 20,000 bridges. We’ve helped get tens of thousands of construction workers back on the job.

Because of these efforts, when the American Society of [Civil] Engineers put out their 2013 report card on our national infrastructure, they gave it the best overall grade in 12 years. That’s the good news. The bad news is we went from a D to a D+. We still have all kinds of deferred maintenance. We still have too many ports that aren’t equipped for today’s world commerce. We’ve still got too many rail lines that are too slow and clogged up. We’ve still got too many roads that are in disrepair, too many bridges that aren’t safe.

We don’t have to accept that for America. We can do better. We can build better. And in a time of tight budgets, we’ve got to do it in a way that makes sure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely.

Now, what these outstanding folks here in Miami have been doing is a good example of how my plan would work. PortMiami is a busy place. Hundreds of cargo containers pass through every day. Nearly one in five cruise ship passengers in North America sets sail from this spot. All that commerce helps support a whole lot of high-paying jobs, not just in Miami-Dade, but throughout the region.

But it also, let’s face it, creates some congestion. Right now, 16,000 cars and trucks travel to and from PortMiami every day, and they’re stuck going through downtown. And those traffic jams are bad for business. Whether you’re a small business owner in South Beach, or a manufacturer in Atlanta trying to get your goods overseas, that congestion wastes time and money.

Now, some smart folks decided we could solve this problem by digging under the bay, linking the port directly to the highway. State, county, and local governments got together and agreed to jointly fund PortMiami Tunnel. Everybody had some skin in the game. They did something else -- they partnered with a group of private sector companies to finance the design and construction of the project. They made it clear that the payments to these companies would be linked to their performance so if there were big cost overruns, the private companies would have to eat those extra costs.

Because of those efforts, construction workers are on the job digging this tunnel, doing great jobs, getting good pay, boosting the economy, strengthening it for the long run. The port is in better shape, which means it’s going to be able to get all the containers that are coming in from all around the world, matched up with the improvements that are being done on the Panama Canal -- which means we’re not going to be losing jobs to other countries.

We can do this not just here in Miami-Dade, but we can do this all across the country. So today, I’m expanding on a proposal I made in the State of the Union. I’m calling it a Partnership to Rebuild America. It’s a partnership with the private sector that creates jobs upgrading what our businesses need most -– modern ports to move our goods; modern pipelines to withstand a storm; modern schools worthy of our children.

And my plan does three things. First, we’ll set up an independent fund that will attract private investment to build projects like this one, and make sure companies share in the risk and returns. Instead of picking projects based on pork-barrel politics, we’ll pick them based on how much good they’ll actually do for the economy, how much the projects make sense. And we’ll better finance projects that involve more than one mode of transportation, or more than one town or state, with less red tape to gum up the works. So all of this will make the process more efficient. It will help us break ground on some of the projects that our cities and states need most, and they can do it faster and better.

Second, we’re going to fund more projects, at less cost, by establishing a new infrastructure initiative called America Fast Forward bonds. It’s going to give mayors and governors more flexibility and power to attract private investment for public projects.

Number three, we’ll strengthen a loan program that, in recent years, has helped governors and mayors leverage four times the money Washington put into it, and that means we’re helping construction workers get on the job quicker, repaying taxpayers their hard-earned money faster. That’s the kind of approach we used to help PortMiami Tunnel get off the ground -– or I guess underground. (Laughter.)

That’s the Partnership to Rebuild America. That’s how we’ll create good jobs doing the work America needs done. That’s how we’ll encourage more businesses to start here, and grow here, and hire workers here.

And by the way, this should not be a partisan idea. I know in Washington people just like to argue. I guess it gets them on TV. But the fact is you’ve got the Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO agreeing to better infrastructure, knowing that it will help both businesses and workers. So if you’re got the Chamber and the unions agreeing, then the politicians should be able to agree, too. (Applause.) Building better roads and bridges and schools, that’s not a partisan idea. And in fact, that’s where you can get mayors and governors from both parties to find some common ground.

I know that members of Congress are happy to welcome projects like this in their districts. I know because I’ve seen them at the ribbon-cuttings. (Laughter.) They’ll all say how, no, we don’t want to do it. And then they’re all writing me letters saying, we really need this port. Cut somebody else’s port out. (Laughter.) That’s what they’ll say. Cut somebody else’s road. Cut somebody else’s -- well, no, we’re all in this together. So if you think it’s good for your district, then it’s probably good for other districts, too.

We can’t afford Washington politics to stand in the way of America’s progress. So I’ve put forward some ideas to get the private sector involved to protect taxpayer dollars. But ultimately, Congress has to fund these projects. And by the way, the three members of Congress who are here, they all believe in this, they all support it. It will put people back to work and it will grow our economy in the process.

So Miami-Dade, my main message is: Let’s get this done. Let’s rebuild this country we love. Let’s make sure we’re staying on the cutting edge. Let’s make sure we’ve always got the ports. Let’s make sure we’ve got the best airports. Let’s make sure we’ve got the best rail lines. Let’s make sure we’ve got the best roads. Let’s make sure we’ve got the best schools. (Applause.)

We’re going to push on this issue each and every day, and make sure we get the middle class going again. We’re going to fix our economy. We’re going to fix our immigration system. We are going to make sure that our young people are getting a great education. We’re going to prevent them from being victims of gun violence. We are going to make sure that everybody in this country has a fair shot and is doing their fair share so that when we pass on this country to the next generation and the generation after that, we’ll be able to once again say that here in the United States of America, it doesn’t matter what you look like or where you come from, if you work hard, you can make it.

Thank you. God bless you. God bless the United States of America.

END

1:55 P.M. EDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

March 29, 2013

Press Gaggle by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest Aboard Air Force One en route Miami, FL, 3/29/2013

Aboard Air Force One

En Route Miami, Florida

10:55 A.M. EDT

MR. EARNEST: Bienvenidos aboard Air Force One as we make our way to Miami today. Typically, at the beginning of gaggles like this, I’ll have a little presentation to preview for you the remarks of the President and give you a sense of the argument and the case the President will be making. Rather than doing that myself today, I’ve actually brought along an expert, Alan Krueger, who is the President’s chief economist.

Prior to working at the White House, Alan worked at the Treasury Department, where he was instrumental in putting together some of the administrations’ proposals related to the infrastructure bank and to the Build America Bonds that have proven to be so popular and helpful in stimulating economic growth and creating jobs all across the country. So I want to give Alan the opportunity to give you a sense of the case the President will make today about the infrastructure proposals that the President will be laying out, and the impact it would have on the economy and creating jobs. Alan can then take your questions about the event, and then we’ll open it up to other questions you may have on other topics today.

All right. So, Alan, do you want to give us a little opener here?

MR. KRUEGER: Sure. So why don’t I say a few words at 30,000 feet about how infrastructure is the right thing to invest in in the economy right now.

The U.S. is underinvested in our infrastructure. If we invest more in infrastructure, we’ll be more competitive -- businesses tell us that. Businesses tell us, and the President cites this in his speech, that if we improve our infrastructure, that will bring more jobs back home to the U.S. Other countries that we compete with economically have been investing quite heavily in infrastructure.

On top of that, now is a particularly good time to invest in our infrastructure. No industry was harder hit by the downturn than construction. Fully 20 percent of the jobs that were lost from the end of 2007 to the end of 2009 were in the construction sector. The unemployment rate for construction has come down, but it still remains over 15 percent. So we have resources that we could put back to work today to improve our competitiveness tomorrow. It makes a great deal of economic sense.

The President today in Miami is going to discuss three proposals to make smarter, more leveraged investments in our infrastructure. And this builds on his previous announcement for the Fix it First initiative, and a good deal of research suggests that maintaining our existing infrastructure has a very high payoff.

One area where we do a very poor job in terms of infrastructure, given the siloed nature in which we select projects and fund projects, is infrastructure that crosses different modes -- like today, we’re going to go to a port, but there’s also a tunnel being built to connect the port, also rail connected to the port. We do a very poor job in the U.S. when it comes to integrating different modes of infrastructure.

The President’s three proposals today will help address that as well as to leverage additional funds, as well as to select projects of national significance.

The first proposal is for a national infrastructure bank. The President will propose capitalizing the bank with $10 billion. This builds on earlier proposals and earlier bipartisan proposals for a national infrastructure bank that can pull in private sector funding and select projects that will do the most good for the country.

Secondly, as Josh said, building on the Build America Bonds, which were part of the Recovery Act -- and over $180 billion of Build America bonds were issued over a two-year period and helped state and local governments attract funds for infrastructure investment, which they were cutting back on at the time -- the President is going to propose a new version called America Fast Forward Bonds -- AFF. America Fast Forward Bonds will be direct subsidy bonds. Instead of relying on high income tax investors to buy tax-free bonds, with these bonds, the issuer will get a direct subsidy of 28 percent of the borrowing costs, and as a result, will be able to attract a wider set of investors, which is exactly what happened with Build America Bonds. And, of course, municipal bonds will also continue.

What we found with Build America bonds is that state and local governments saved around $20 billion in present value from the bonds that were issued, lowered their borrowing costs on 30-year bonds by around 80 basis points. So that’s the first proposal -- sorry, the second proposal is the America Fast Forward bonds. First was the national infrastructure bank.

The third is to build on our success on the TIFIA and TIGER grant program. TIFIA supports surface infrastructure and has been increased by seven fold over the last two years. The Port of Miami project was supported by a TIFIA grant, for example. And those funds are highly leveraged -- over the last 13 years, they've been leveraged about seven to one.

So the President is proposing expanding the TIFIA program and also expanding the TIGER grants that were part of the Recovery Act at a total of $4 billion for those two programs. I'm happy to go into some further details. There are some parts of private activity bonds, part of our AFF bonds I didn’t go into, but I don’t know if you have that much interest.

MR. EARNEST: I think that’s a good place to stop and see if you guys have any questions about the event today or other questions about the infrastructure proposal from the President.

Q What's the total cost going to be of this -- the new proposals?

MR. KRUEGER: Of these?

Q Yes.

MR. KRUEGER: Of these three proposals, they will be budget-neutral, revenue-neutral. So our budget, which will come out on April 10, will explain how they’ll be funded. But the capital that will be leveraged for the economy comes to -- ten plus seven plus four -- $21 billion, and that’s on top of the Fix It First initiative, which was $40 billion? Is that right? That’s on top of the $40 billion Fix It First initiative, which the President previously announced after the State of the Union.

Q But you're saying the total cost was $21 billion, did you say?

MR. KRUGER: $21 billion for these three new initiatives. Of course, their impact on the economy will be substantially greater because they will be leveraged two to one, three to one, four to one, up to seven to one depending upon the particular program. And as I mentioned, they will not increase the deficit by a dime because they are paid for in our budget.

Q These are all proposals that require congressional approval, is that correct?

MR. KRUEGER: That’s correct.

Q And the $21 billion includes the bank, which is not a new proposal, right?

MR. KRUEGER: The $21 billion includes the bank. The bank has been in our budget before.

Q And what makes you think after the bank, for example, has been proposed I think every year that I can remember you guys being in office, that there will be any more chances of getting congressional approval for that now?

MR. KRUEGER: Well, I think if you look at the history of infrastructure investment, it has tended to be a bipartisan area. Businesses support it, labor unions support it, it makes good economic sense. So one argument is just the merits -- it's good for the economy now, it has support, it will put construction workers back to work today and improve our competitiveness tomorrow.

But also, if you look at the recent history, there has been some bipartisan support recently for the TIFIA grants, for example, which, as I mentioned, have increased seven fold. So we'd like to build on that record of success with the Congress.

Q But do you think with the bank specifically that there's more appetite now than there was two years ago, three years ago?

MR. KRUEGER: I think the case is just as strong. We're going to continue making it. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave us a D-plus on our infrastructure. Now, that's raising our grade from a D; it's moving in the right direction. But I was a professor before -- nobody is happy with D-pluses. So we have a tremendous need, I think a bipartisan need, for more investment in infrastructure.

MR. EARNEST: I'll just add to that with one thing, which is that there's no reason that there should be -- to cite the example that Alan just cited of the tunnel at PortMiami -- there is no reason that this should be a Democratic tunnel or a Republican tunnel. These are projects that are helpful to the economy and shouldn't break down along partisan lines. There's an opportunity for us to do something helpful and constructive for the economy.

You will find Republicans at the local level and the state level are supportive of these kinds of projects. There's no reason that Republicans in Congress shouldn't support them too.

Q Is the fact that you're pushing a lot of these things that incentivize the private sector to get involved a reflection of what Jeff was alluding to, which is that there's not a whole lot of appetite in Congress right now to outlay a whole lot of new money on these things?

MR. KRUEGER: I think it's a combination of factors. I think they're good investments for the private sector to get into. And that's what we hear from investors, that we should use innovative ways to try to bring the private sector in to invest in our highways, our ports. They benefit from those investments. They benefit in a number of ways. And we'd like to leverage that investment, and we think we'll all benefit.

Q I'm sorry, I missed it -- did you have a job number estimate for how many jobs this might create?

MR. KRUEGER: I don't have a job number for you because it depends on how much it's leveraged. It depends on a number of factors. I can tell you when economists have looked at infrastructure investment in the past, they find it has a very high rate of return for the economy. And I think that's especially true at a time when the unemployment rate for construction workers remains at 15 percent.

Q These proposals today, have they been -- were they in the State of the Union? Have they come out before? What is actually new-new today?

MR. KRUEGER: The details are new. The President alluded to infrastructure investment in the State of the Union. He mentioned the Fix It First fund to try to improve existing -- deferred maintenance on our infrastructure. The details of the infrastructure bank are new. The details of the AFF bonds, America Fast Forward Bonds -- expanding them for private activity bonds -- and also, the details of what we would like to do to expand the TIFIA and TIGER program.

MR. EARNEST: Any other questions for Alan? Okay. I'll stick around and answer a couple more questions if there are other things you'd like to talk about.

Q North Korea -- Russia has said that today it’s increasingly worried this situation is going to spiral out of control. How does the White House balance a desire to project strength and support for its ally, South Korea, against concern that this could escalate? How are you trying to de-escalate the situation?

MR. EARNEST: Well, I can tell you, Stephen, that the bellicose rhetoric emanating from North Korea only deepens that nation’s isolation. The United States remains committed to safeguarding our allies in the region and our interests that are located there as well.

The recent passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2094 is a pretty clear indication that there is a unanimity of opinion across the globe about the need for North Korea to live up to their international obligations. The passage of that Security Council resolution is also an indication that we’re coordinating pretty closely with not just our allies, but also with Russia and China that also have a significant stake in resolving this situation peacefully.

So the path to peace for the North Koreans is pretty clear. They need to end the provocative acts and the bellicose rhetoric. They need to abandon their nuclear program. They need to live up to their international obligations. And upon doing so, they will be welcomed back into the international community. That would, of course, require the regime to put the interest of their people first; to focus on their well-being, their ability to have access to food and medicine. But by putting the interest of their people first, there is a path for them to come back to the international community.

Q You've been saying for some time that this bellicose rhetoric really is not helpful and doesn't help them achieve their goals, but it seems like these threats from North Korea are getting more and more specific. At what point does this become a more serious thing where the security apparatus has to really address these specific threats?

MR. EARNEST: This administration is not the first administration to confront bellicose rhetoric and provocative actions from North Korean regimes and North Korean leaders. So we’ve made very clear that we have the capability and willingness to protect our interests and our allies in the region.

As you know, there’s an ongoing military exercise that the United States military is engaged in with the South Korean military. That should be some pretty clear evidence to the international community and to the North Koreans that we have the capability and willingness to protect our interests and allies in the region.

But again, the path here to resolving the situation is very clear -- that the North Korean regime should put the interest of their people first. They should abandon their nuclear program. They should live up to their international obligations. And upon doing so, they will be welcomed back into the international community.

Q Are you concerned that the military exercises that you spoke about, specifically the use of the stealth bombers even if it was part of a planned exercise, if fueling a kind of back-and-forth escalation that's already in process?

MR. EARNEST: No, it’s clear that the escalation is taking place from the North Koreans based on their rhetoric and on their actions. These military exercises are something that take place on a regular basis, and they are a clear indication -- something that we have been resolute about in the past. The United States has the capability, and we have demonstrated the willingness to use that capability to protect our interests and our allies. There’s no reason that it should come to that.

The path to peace is clear. But it will require the North Korean regime living up to their international obligations and abandoning their nuclear program.

Q Josh, do you have any concerns about Italy’s lack of ability to form a government?

MR. EARNEST: Well, as I mentioned I think in a briefing earlier this week, I have no hesitation about weighing into American domestic politics, but the domestic politics in other countries is something I’m hesitant to weigh in on. So I think at this point we’ll reserve comment and allow the Italian people to make the decisions that they feel are appropriate in terms of determining their elected leadership in their country.

Q The health of Italy, though, is important to the world economy and important to the U.S., as well, I would think.

MR. EARNEST: It is. We’ve talked quite extensively over the last several years about the role that senior officials at the Treasury Department are playing in working with their colleagues in Europe. It does remain in the economic interests of the United States for the Europeans to resolve some of the financial instability that's taken place on the continent there. That certainly has an impact on domestic politics in Italy and other countries as well.

So I’m going to withhold judgment in terms of those domestic political considerations. But there is an interest the United States has in the -- in greater stability in the financial and currency markets in Europe.

Q Josh, can I ask, is EPA today going to be putting out a new rule on gasoline?

MR. EARNEST: I don’t want to get ahead of any announcements that may be made by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Q They've already made -- they made the announcement this morning.

MR. EARNEST: Did they? Okay. Well, I haven't seen their announcement. I've seen the reports about their announcement. The reports indicate that that announcement is actually a proposal -- a proposal that will go through a review process that will include extensive public comment. But what I have seen about that proposal is something that is strongly supported by the auto makers in the U.S. It's strongly supported by a range of state and local governments as well, because of the impact it could have on cleaning up the air.

Now, the cost that’s estimated with this -- again, according to analysis done by the EPA -- is that this could have an impact of about a penny or even less than a penny per gallon of gas. But the benefit that would be enjoyed as a result of these changes would be a reduction in respiratory ailments by about 20,000, and we would also see on a regular basis about thousands of lives be saved.

So the tradeoff between less-than-a-penny increase in gasoline -- in a gallon of gasoline for tens of thousands fewer cases of respiratory ailments like asthma in children and thousands of lives saved is an indication that they've done a lot of work on this and a lot of analysis. But there will be an opportunity for public comment, and we're going to continue to work with industry and other relevant stakeholders to put a policy like this in place. But again, we're in the proposal stage, not in the final rulemaking stage.

Q Because some in industry are estimating it could be as much as 9 cents a gallon cost to implement this rule.

MR. EARNEST: That’s different than the detailed analysis that the Environmental Protection Agency has undertaken.

The other research that the EPA has conducted indicates that it's only a handful of refineries that would have to be -- that would have to undergo significant infrastructure changes in order to comply with the proposal that’s contemplated here. So it is -- there is plenty of evidence to indicate that the impact on prices is pretty small, the impact on the industry is limited, but the health benefits that would be enjoyed if a rule like this is put in place are significant.

So we're going to work our way through this rulemaking process. But for additional detailed questions like this, I would refer you to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Q Can I ask you about Egypt? It's been a -- the President -- or the authorities have issued warrants for the arrest of a number of political activists, accused them of being -- promoting unrest. We've also seen over the last few days reports about increasing sexual violence against women over the last few months. How concerned is the White House of the political developments that are taking place in Egypt?

MR. EARNEST: The White House has seen those reports. We're aware of them, and we're deeply concerned about them. Sexual violence, including gang rape, has occurred during recent demonstrations in Egypt, and this is a cause of great concern to the United States, the international community, and to many Egyptians. These victims are the mothers, wives, daughters and sisters of Egypt.

The Egyptian government has a responsibility to take legal measures to prevent sexual violence and to prosecute people who are involved in such crimes. The idea that some Egyptians are blaming the victims for being raped and assaulted is abhorrent. We strongly condemn these views and reaffirm the rights of women to express themselves in public squares alongside men, as well as the responsibility of the Egyptian government to protect them.

We urge the government to make good on its promises to govern for all of its citizens, and we call on the Egyptian people to exercise their rights peacefully and respect the rights of their fellow citizens.

I'm sorry, I forgot the week ahead.

On Monday, the President and the First Family will participate in the White House Easter Egg Roll. The event will feature live music, sports courts, cooking stations, storytelling and Easter Egg rolling. This annual event is something that families across the country, military families and even the First Family, looks forward to every spring.

On Tuesday, the President will welcome the Prime Minister of Singapore to the White House. The United States and Singapore have strong economic and security ties, and our strategic partnership reflects a shared commitment to working together to ensure the continued peace, stability and prosperity of the Asia Pacific region. The President looks forward to discussing with Prime Minister Lee a broad range of strategic and economic issues affecting the Asia Pacific region.

On Wednesday, the President will travel to the Denver area, where he will continue asking the American people to join him in calling on Congress to pass common-sense measures to reduce gun violence. The President will meet with local law enforcement officials and community leaders to discuss the new measures the state has recently put in place, including closing loopholes and a background check system to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and others who should not have access to them.

Later in the day, the President will travel to San Francisco, California to attend events for the DCCC. He will remain overnight in San Francisco.

On Wednesday morning, the President will attend events for the DNC in Atherton, California. He will return to Washington, D.C. that evening.

And on Friday, the President will participate in the Easter Prayer Breakfast at the White House.

Q Atherton, California?

MR. EARNEST: Atherton, yes.

END

11:15 A.M. EDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

March 29, 2013

Presidential Proclamation -- Cesar Chavez Day

CESAR CHAVEZ DAY, 2013

- - - - - - -

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

Every year, Americans all across our country pause on March 31 to remember a man who made justice his life's calling. Growing up the son of migrant farm workers who lost everything in the Great Depression, Cesar Chavez knew hard work and hardship from an early age. He labored long hours for little pay, taking odd jobs to help his family get by and forgoing a formal education to follow the crop cycles. But where others might have given up or given in, Cesar Chavez never lost hope in the power of opportunity. He lived each day by a belief as old as America itself -- the idea that with courage and determination, any of us can reach beyond our circumstances and leave our children something better.

More than anything, we remember Cesar Chavez for lending voice to the voiceless. When no one seemed to care about the invisible farm workers who picked our Nation's food, beset by poverty and cheated by growers, a courageous man dedicated to dignity stood up and spoke out. Alongside Dolores Huerta and fellow organizers, he rallied a generation of workers around "La Causa," marching and fasting and boycotting for fair pay and protections on the job. They fought through decades of setbacks and fierce resistance. But through every trial, Cesar Chavez refused to curb his ambitions or scale back his hope. Step by step, march by march, he helped lead a community of farm workers to make the change they sought.

Cesar Chavez's legacy lives on at Nuestra Señora Reina de la Paz, his home and workplace, which I was proud to designate a National Monument last October. It also lives on in those who remember his central teaching: that when workers are treated fairly and humanely, our country grows more just, opportunity becomes more equal, and all of us do better. Because even with the strides we have made, we know there is more left to do when working men and women toil in poverty without adequate protections or simple respect. We know there is more to do when our broken immigration system forces workers into a shadow economy where companies can ignore labor laws and undermine businesses following the rules. Fixing those problems means securing what Cesar Chavez fought for at La Paz. It means taking on injustice, making sure hard work is rewarded, and bringing more Americans into a rising middle class.

In 1966, when Cesar Chavez was struggling to bring attention to his cause, he received a telegram from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "As brothers in the fight for equality, I extend the hand of fellowship and goodwill," he wrote. "We are with you in spirit and in determination that our dreams for a better tomorrow will be realized." It is a story that reminds us how here in America, we are bound together not by the colors of our skin or the languages we speak, but by the values we share and the brighter future we seek for our children. So today, as we honor a man who risked everything to stand up for what he believed in, let us reflect on our common cause and recommit to moving forward together -- as one Nation and one people.

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 March 31, 2013, as Cesar Chavez Day. I call upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate service, community, and education programs to honor Cesar Chavez's enduring legacy.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this

twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand thirteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-seventh.

BARACK OBAMA

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

March 29, 2013

The “Rebuild America Partnership”: The President’s Plan to Encourage Private Investment in America’s Infrastructure

Investing in infrastructure not only makes our roads, bridges, and ports safer and gives our businesses and workers the tools to compete successfully in the global economy, it also creates thousands of good American jobs that cannot be outsourced. Since the President took office four years ago, America has begun the hard work of rebuilding our infrastructure: American workers have improved over 350,000 miles of U.S. roads and more than 6,000 miles of rail, and they have repaired or replaced over 20,000 bridges. But there’s more to do, and taxpayers shouldn’t have to shoulder the entire burden themselves.

We know that America works best when it’s calling upon the resources and ingenuity of our vibrant private sector. That’s why the President’s plan calls for a Rebuild America Partnership to help attract the private capital that can go toward building the infrastructure our workers and businesses need most.

By acting on the President’s plan, together we can build an infrastructure that’s second-to-none and prove that there is no better place to do business and create jobs than right here in the United States of America.

• Partnering with the Private Sector to Create Jobs and Invest in the Projects We Need Most: The President is continuing to call for Congress to enact a National Infrastructure Bank capitalized with $10 billion, in order to leverage private and public capital and to invest in a broad range of infrastructure projects of national and regional significance, without earmarks or political influence.

• Giving State and Local Governments Flexible New Tools to Invest in Infrastructure: The President’s new America Fast Forward Bonds program will build upon the successful example of the Build America Bonds program, broadening its use to include the types of projects that can be financed with qualified private activity bonds while also making the combined program more flexible. In addition, the Administration is proposing changes to the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act (FIRPTA) aimed at enhancing the attractiveness of investment in U.S. infrastructure and real estate to a broader universe of private investors.

• Building the Transportation Network Our Businesses and Workers Need to Succeed: In addition to the sound implementation of TIFIA’s recent eight-fold expansion, the Administration is also proposing $4 billion in new competitive funding for the innovative TIGER and TIFIA programs.

The President’s Plan to Attract Private Infrastructure Investment
Through a “Rebuild America Partnership”

Despite progress over the last four years, too many construction workers remain out of work and too many of our nation’s infrastructure needs remain unmet. The President’s new “Rebuild America Partnership” will bring together an array of new and existing policies all aimed at enhancing the role of private capital in U.S. infrastructure investment as a vital additive to the traditional roles of Federal, State, and local governments, making American workers and businesses more competitive and putting more Americans back on the job:

• Partnering with the Private Sector to Create Jobs and Invest in the Projects We Need Most. To leverage private and public capital for infrastructure projects showing the greatest merit, the President is continuing to call for the investment of $10 billion to create and capitalize an independent National Infrastructure Bank (NIB), based on a model that has won bipartisan support from the Senate in the past. Each dollar of Federal funding can leverage up to $20 in total infrastructure investment, mainly from partners in the private sector and State and local government. The National Infrastructure Bank's key provisions would include:

o Independent, Non-Partisan Operations Led by Infrastructure and Financial Experts: While the NIB would be a government-owned entity, it would operate independently and would have a bipartisan board composed of individuals who possess significant expertise in the financing, development, or operation of infrastructure projects.

o Broad Eligibility for Infrastructure and Unbiased Project Selection: Eligible projects would include transportation infrastructure, water infrastructure, and energy infrastructure. In general, projects would have to be at least $100 million in size and be of national or regional significance. Projects would need to have a clear public benefit, meet rigorous economic, technical, and environmental standards, and be backed by a dedicated revenue stream. Geographic, sector, and size considerations would also be taken into account.

o Addressing Market Gaps for Infrastructure Financing: The NIB would issue loans and loan guarantees to eligible projects at interest rates approximately equivalent to Treasury securities of similar maturities. Loans could extend to 35 years, giving the NIB the ability to be a “patient” partner side-by-side with State, local, and private co-investors. To maximize leverage from Federal investments, the NIB would finance no more than 50 percent of the total costs of any project.

• Giving State and Local Governments Flexible New Tools to Invest in Infrastructure. Recovery Act funding for “Build America Bonds” (BABs) helped to support more than $181 billion for new public infrastructure. The President’s new America Fast Forward (AFF) Bonds program will build upon the successful example of the BABs program, broadening its use to include the types of projects that can be financed with qualified private activity bonds (PABs) while also while also making the combined program more flexible. In addition, the Administration is proposing changes to the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act (FIRPTA) aimed at enhancing the attractiveness of investment in U.S. infrastructure and real estate to a broader universe of private investors. Taken together, these proposals represent $7 billion in tax reforms to support infrastructure investment among state and local governments as well as their private sector partners.

o America Fast Forward Bonds: The Recovery Act created the BABs program as an optional new lower cost borrowing incentive for State and local governments on taxable bonds issued in 2009 and 2010 to finance new investments in governmental capital projects. The program’s innovative design ensured that States, localities, and their private sector partners receive the best bang-for-the-buck when they finance their investments in new infrastructure. It also enabled them to attract new sources of capital to infrastructure investment — including from public pension funds that do not receive a tax benefit from traditional tax-exempt debt — and brought down interest costs by about 80 basis points on 30-year bonds. Under the original BABs program, the Treasury Department makes direct subsidy payments to State and local governmental issuers in a subsidy amount equal to 35 percent of the coupon interest on the bonds.

The Administration proposes to create a new permanent AFF Bonds program, which would be an optional alternative to traditional tax-exempt bonds. Like BABs, AFF Bonds would be conventional taxable bonds issued by State and local governments in which the Federal government makes direct payments to State and local governmental issuers in a subsidy amount equal to 28 percent of the coupon interest on the bonds. The 28-percent subsidy rate is approximately revenue neutral in comparison to the Federal revenue cost from traditional tax-exempt bonds.

The Administration proposes to include as an eligible use for America Fast Forward Bonds issuance for the types of projects and programs that can be financed with qualified PABs, subject to applicable State bond volume caps for the PABs category.

o Reformed Project Limitations for Qualified Private Activity Bonds: The Administration proposes modifying certain restrictions in the qualified PABs program, in order to encourage greater take-up and infrastructure construction:
 Increase the national limitation for qualified highway or surface freight transfer facility bonds to $19 billion from $15 billion.
 Eliminate the volume cap for qualified PABs issued for water infrastructure, in an effort to help address what the EPA has estimated is a roughly $600 billion need for capital investment in wastewater and stormwater as well as drinking water infrastructure over the next 20 years.
 Increase from 25 percent to 35 percent the limitation on the use of proceeds for land acquisition, in order to enable greater PABs usage in areas with high land costs.
 Permit private ownership of qualified PAB-supported airports, docks and wharves, and mass commuting facilities, putting these infrastructure categories on an equal footing under the qualified PABs program with other infrastructure types.

o FIRPTA: Infrastructure assets can be attractive investments for long-term investors such as pension funds that value the long-term, predictable, and stable nature of the cash flows associated with infrastructure. Under current law, gains of foreign investors from the disposition of U.S. real property interests are generally subject to U.S. tax under FIRPTA, and foreign investors including large foreign pension funds regularly cite FIRPTA as an impediment to their investment in U.S. infrastructure and real estate assets. With U.S. pension funds generally exempt from U.S. tax upon the disposition of U.S. real property investments, the Administration proposes to put foreign pension funds on an approximately equal footing: exempting their gains from the disposition of U.S. real property interests, including infrastructure and real estate assets, from U.S. tax under FIRPTA.

• Building the Transportation Network Our Businesses and Workers Need to Succeed. The Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program — which provides direct loans, loan guarantees, and lines of credit to regionally or nationally significant transportation projects — received an eight-fold increase in funding to $1 billion in the recent surface transportation reauthorization. Over the past 13 years, TIFIA has entered into 27 loan agreements worth $10.4 billion, resulting in more than $41 billion in total project investment. The program, which is especially important to mayors and local leaders, highlights the important role that infrastructure financing can play in catalyzing private investment, and its expansion was a significant step towards more innovative infrastructure financing.

In addition to the sound implementation of TIFIA’s recent expansion, the Administration is also proposing $4 billion in new competitive funding for the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) and TIFIA programs in 2014. This additional investment would make new grant and loan funding available for States and localities across the country, giving them both a new source of financing and the flexibility to design projects and financing packages to meet their needs.

West Wing Week: 03/29/13 or “Where Peace Begins”

Adam Garber

March 29, 2013
12:00 AM EDT

This week, the President wrapped up an historic trip to the Middle East with stops in Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan, and then returned home for a naturalization ceremony, visits with the LA Galaxy and Kings, African Leaders, young ambassadors and Spanish-language television. He finished the week by pressing for commonsense action to protect children from gun violence.

West Wing Week: 03/29/13 or “Where Peace Begins”

March 28, 2013 | 7:40 | Public Domain

This week, the President wrapped up an historic trip to the Middle East with stops in Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan, and then returned home for a naturalization ceremony, visits with the LA Galaxy and Kings, African Leaders, young Ambassadors and Spanish Television. He wrapped up the week by pressing for commonsense action to protect children from gun violence.

Download mp4 (263.7MB)

President Obama Welcomes African Leaders

March 28, 2013 | 7:55 | Public Domain

President welcomes President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, President Macky Sall of Senegal, President Joyce Banda of Malawi, and Prime Minister José Maria Pereira Neves of Cape Verde to the White House.

Download mp4 (299MB) | mp3 (19MB)

Read the Transcript

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

March 28, 2013

Statement by President Obama on the 15th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement

As Easter approaches, we mark the 15^th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. The people of Northern Ireland and their leaders have traveled a great distance over the past fifteen years. Step by step, they have traded bullets for ballots, destruction and division for dialogue and institutions, and pointed the way toward a shared future for all. There is urgent work still to be done – and there will be more tests to come. There are still those few who prefer to look backward rather than forward – who prefer to inspire hate rather than hope. The many who have brought Northern Ireland this far must keep rejecting their call. From building cross-community trust to bringing opportunity to hard-to-reach communities in Belfast and beyond, every citizen and every political party needs to work together in service of true and lasting peace and prosperity. And at every step of the way, the United States will be there as a friend and partner. That is the message I will carry with me when I visit Northern Ireland and attend the G-8 Summit in June.

On behalf of the American people, I salute the people and leaders of Northern Ireland and the model they have given to others struggling toward peace and reconciliation around the world. I pledge our continued support for their efforts to build a strong society, a vibrant economy, and an enduring peace.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

March 28, 2013

Press Briefing by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

12:58 P.M. EDT

Q    Two quick things on behalf of the White House Correspondents Association.

MR. EARNEST: Please do.

Q    We want to thank you for letting the entire pool in yesterday for the Secret Service event. And we hope that --

MR. EARNEST: We’re glad you enjoyed it.

Q    We hope it rubs off on Mr. Carney when he returns to the podium. (Laughter.)

Q    Pass that along, too.

MR. EARNEST: Yes, he deserves as much credit for getting in there as I do.

Q    Thank you. Media people come and go and we don’t always get to acknowledge that. We don’t get to acknowledge the men and women who work behind the cameras as well. And I just wanted to very quickly thank you for letting us thank Mike Greene, cameraman at CNN, who’s retiring. And to be fair and balanced, a Fox White House producer, former producer, Dave Shott, left us yesterday after 17 years. He’s going to the NFL Network, which is a very cool job.

But Mike has been here for 25 years. (Applause.)

Q    Obviously, I didn’t have the sense to leave. (Laughter.)

Q    Number of Presidents -- five. Miles flown on Air Force One and the press charter -- probably hundreds of thousands. And having cheese on the charter -- priceless. (Laughter.)

I wanted to say thanks, and I want to yield to the gentle lady from CNN who wants to say something.

Q    Mike has been looking forward to this day since we got here. He’s been counting down. (Laughter.) Every day might be State of the Union day to us, but it was 52 days until retirement for Mike. You always have a great attitude and make us look great. And thanks to everybody for your indulgence. (Applause.) Thank you.

Q    It means a lot coming from the likes of you. (Laughter.)

MR. EARNEST: Congratulations, Mike.

Q    Thank you very much.

MR. EARNEST: I’ve got two quick things I wanted to do at the top. Later this afternoon, delivering on a promise from his State of the Union address, President Obama will sign an executive order creating a presidential commission on election administration. As you may remember, the commission will be chaired by Bob Bauer and Ben Ginsberg, who, among other leadership roles, served as the general counsel for the President’s reelection campaign and the national counsel for Governor Romney’s campaign, respectively. We thank them for the hard work they’ve already dedicated to this effort and for the hours and experience they’ll donate to ensuring its success in the months ahead.

The executive order will direct the commission to submit a final report to the President within six months of the commission’s first public meeting, and it will also ask them to consider a variety of ways to shorten lines and promote the efficient conduct of elections.

That report is intended to serve as a best practices guide for state and local election officials to improve voters’ experience at the polls under their existing election laws. The President also continues to support legislative efforts in Congress to improve the voting experience, make voter registration easier, and increase access to voting for all Americans.

I know that after the State of the Union address, many of you were interested in how this process would advance, and we’ll have -- it will advance this afternoon when the President signs the executive order. As usual, we’ll distribute the text of the executive order after the President has signed it.

Q    When is that going to be?

MR. EARNEST: It will be later this afternoon.

Q    Pool coverage?

MR. EARNEST: Not this time.

Q    Oh, Josh. Your batting average has dropped. (Laughter.)

MR. EARNEST: The second thing I wanted to announce -- I know this is something that we discussed quite a bit yesterday -- about the date that the budget would come out. I know so many of you plan your social lives and professional lives around this. The budget will be released on April 10th of this year. So let’s get the countdown clock started on the appropriate networks.

With that, Josh, I think I’ve exhausted all of my announcements. So we’ll let you start with the questions.

Q    Thanks a lot, Josh. This morning, the President in remarks on gun control seemed to be focusing really specifically on background checks, speaking about the broad level of support that he says it receives, and urging Americans to ask their members of Congress specifically to lobby on that issue. Has the White House shifted its focus to background checks as the most attainable of the gun control measures that you’d like to see happen?

MR. EARNEST: It is fair for you to believe, Josh, that the President remains firmly behind the range of legislative proposals that he offered up in mid-January when he gave some remarks on this issue.

As you’ll recall from that January speech, the President initiated 23 separate and specific executive actions that he could do and his administration could do unilaterally to try to put in place some policies that would reduce gun violence. At the same time, he rolled out a whole set of legislative proposals that he would forward to Congress, and he vowed to encourage Congress to act on those proposals. He’s making good on that promise, and that’s what part of today’s event -- that’s what today’s event was about, was ensuring that Congress understands that the President and his commitment to these issues has not waned.

It is clear from some of the public polling that the President cited that there is a lot of bipartisan support all across the country for the common-sense proposals that the President has put forward. There’s also a lot of support among gun owners across the country for the proposals that the President has put forward. We now just need to see some bipartisan action in Congress to get it done.

Q    And he spoke this morning pretty emotionally about not wanting to forget about the victims of Newtown, and said shame on us if we do forget. Is he concerned that the moment to act on gun control is slipping away?

MR. EARNEST: No, he’s not concerned about that. What he is concerned about is he’s concerned about making sure that Congress understands that there is strong support all across the country for common-sense measures that both respect the Second Amendment, but also will take important steps, make important progress in reducing gun violence in communities across the country. These steps include a whole range of options -- everything from proposals that would improve mental health services in communities, things that would -- measures that would improve school safety, but also some measures related to gun ownership -- things like closing the loopholes in the background check system that you referred to earlier.

But it also means keeping military-style assault weapons off the streets of our communities. It also means cracking down on people who -- so-called straw purchasers, essentially people who walk into a gun store and purchase a gun with the express purpose of providing it to somebody who shouldn’t -- who wouldn’t otherwise be able to purchase that gun themselves. And also putting in place tougher gun trafficking laws to try to crack down on gun violence in this country.

So the President remains, as you pointed out, passionate about this. And I think that you can anticipate that you’ll hear more from the President on this in the days and weeks ahead.

Q    Can you tell us a little bit about what we’ll see this afternoon when the President meets with African leaders?

MR. EARNEST: I can. The President has been looking forward to this meeting for quite some time. Today’s visit is an opportunity for the President and for the United States to underscore our support for sub-Saharan Africa and for democracy. As he has in the past, the President is inviting these leaders here because they represent a side of Africa that is too often overlooked: nations that are making impressive progress and can serve as a positive model for democratic development across the region.

Some of the things that they’ll cover in the context of this meeting would include strengthening support for democratic institutions in these countries, but also in countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa. They’ll also talk about the need and the potential that these countries have for expanding growth and trade and investment in their countries. That certainly promotes economic opportunity in this country as well. They’ll also talk about some strategic issues in terms of how we can advance peace and security in these countries, but also throughout the region. And we’ll also talk about some development opportunities that would help these countries continue to make progress in strengthening the economic infrastructure of those countries.

Q    Can I follow on that, since I asked you yesterday --

MR. EARNEST: Sure.

Q    Thank you. Josh, when you’re talking about development issues in Africa, is the issue of China coming into play? Because there has been a concern for many, many, many years that infrastructure in Africa and many of the countries in Africa has been built by the Chinese in exchange for oil. And Secretary Kerry has said that this is a major concern about China and Africa, just in recent weeks. Is that going to be one of the topics in the --

MR. EARNEST: Well, I don’t want to get ahead of the meeting. And there will be a pool spray with the entire pool, Mark, where the President will talk about --

Q    Your batting average is better now.

MR. EARNEST: (Laughter.) It’s improving. We’re back on the upswing here. But the President will have the opportunity to talk about the conversation that he does have with the leaders of these countries. And I don’t know, frankly, whether or not China will come up in those meetings, but the President will have the opportunity to talk about that.

What I can assure you is that the President is looking to strengthening the relationship that we have with these countries; that there is an opportunity for us to build stronger economic ties between our countries and -- between our country and theirs. That would promote economic growth both in their country and in ours.

These strong ties also are helpful in helping these -- in supporting the democratic institutions that these countries are struggling to build and to capitalize on the progress that they can make, and to ensure that they can actually serve as a foundation of peace and stability in a region that isn’t always known for its peace and stability.

Q    So will Secretary Kerry also do a drop-by? Because since he’s having a meeting directly after the meeting with the African leaders --

MR. EARNEST: I don’t know the logistics of Secretary Kerry’s schedule today. We can look into that for you or you can check with the Department of State.

Josh, did you have anything else? I didn’t mean to interrupt you. Okay.

Jeff.

Q    Thanks, Josh. The United States flew two stealth bomber practice missions today over South Korea. What message is the United States trying to send with those flights?

MR. EARNEST: Well, as you know, Jeff, the United States has been working with our allies in South Korea on a range of military exercises that are defensive in nature. We do these exercises on an annual basis or so. This exercise today -- or at least in the last day or two -- has included, in this case, some exercises that involved B-2 bombers.

What we have said for quite some time now, in the face of the bellicose rhetoric and threats that have been emanating from the North Koreans, is that we stand shoulder to shoulder with our allies in South Korea to ensure that their -- that the interests of the United States and the allies of the United States remain protected. And that is something that should be evident from the comments of senior administration officials, but should also be evident from the close security cooperation that we have with the South Koreans, including these recent military exercises.

Q    And on a separate topic, the President is going to Florida tomorrow. You said before that he would be talking about the economy. Can you give us any more sense about what the message will be tomorrow?

MR. EARNEST: I do have a couple of thoughts on that. As you know, the President believes that even as we pursue balanced deficit reduction, we need to make smart, targeted investments to create jobs and boost our economy. One of those investments that he discussed in his State of the Union address is the need to put Americans back to work -- is the need to put Americans back to work right away building the infrastructure that American business and that American workers need to compete and win in a global 21st century economy.

Tomorrow, at the Port of Miami, the President will continue to flesh out some of his detailed proposals to do just that. The Port of Miami is a major center of commerce and an example of the critical infrastructure improvements that are being undertaken to remain competitive in the global marketplace using the types of combined investment from the federal government, state government and local government, and private investors that the President has called for.

So this is a good opportunity for the President to illustrate the value, both in the short term and the long term, of the important infrastructure investments that the President has talked about for quite some time.

Q    So will there be new proposals or is it just a follow-up from proposals he's already made?

MR. EARNEST: Well, stay tuned. I think that we've got a couple of tricks up our sleeve for tomorrow. Okay? Good.

Bill.

Q    Is the President relying just on the bully pulpit for gun control, or is he actually calling any of the members who are at home in their districts right now?

MR. EARNEST: I don’t have any specific presidential calls to read out to you, but over the course of the last several weeks the President has been in touch with a number of members of Congress, in the House and the Senate, Democrats and Republicans, to talk about a range of the President's legislative priorities. It should be evident from the President's passionate remarks today about measures that could reduce gun violence in our communities that that is a legislative priority of his.

So the President did indeed talk about his support for some of these proposals, and did encourage members of Congress to take a close look at the specific proposals that the President has offered both because we should be able to find bipartisan common ground around proposals that would demonstrate or that reflect the President's commitment to protecting the Second Amendment, but also reflect the President's commitment to finding measures -- common-sense measures -- that would reduce gun violence in our communities.

Q    But will he do it personally, as well as through the media?

MR. EARNEST: I would anticipate that the President will have additional conversations with members of Congress as these measures make their way through the legislative process.

Q    How does he feel about Mayor Bloomberg's effort to stimulate the gun control in various key districts?

MR. EARNEST: I haven't had a specific conversation with him about this political campaign that Mayor Bloomberg has undertaken. I can tell you, as a general matter, that as you heard -- I think the President was pretty unequivocal about this in his comments today, that there is strong support all across the country for the common-sense measures that the President has put forward and for some of the measures that are going to be considered in the Senate in the next couple of weeks.

And he was pretty candid about encouraging members of Congress -- or about citizens to contact members of Congress to encourage them to support these proposals. And if there are others across the country who want to make a similar appeal to citizens, to contact their members of Congress and encourage them to support these common-sense measures, the President certainly welcomes that.

Q    So he wouldn't object to what Mayor Bloomberg is doing?

MR. EARNEST: No, not at all.

Q    And one other question. Is he going to throw out the first pitch somewhere?

MR. EARNEST: That's a good question. I haven't seen that on the schedule yet. But if we add that, we'll let you know. It certainly sounds like a lot of fun.

Q    Why not? (Laughter.) And take the pool, will you?

MR. EARNEST: We will.

Q    On Bill's question about guns -- obviously, we should note that Republicans are threatening a filibuster in the Senate, and most Republicans in the Senate and House are talking about opposing a lot of these gun control measures. But, as you know, there's a core group of Democrats in the Senate -- maybe about a dozen or so -- who, when the President said today some people are getting squishy, that includes some Democrats as well. In addition to the calls that he might make that Bill was talking about and the targeting that Mayor Bloomberg is doing of Republicans and what not, are there Democrats the President is going to call out and say, look, you've got to come along here, this is an important issue for me?

MR. EARNEST: I'm confident that the President will be speaking to both Democrats and Republicans about his strong support for these proposals. As I mentioned -- and I think the President mentioned this in his remarks as well -- that if you take a look at some of the polls that have been conducted, not just polls of members of Congress, but polls of Americans across the country, that there is very strong support for many of the initiatives that the President has put forward.

Closing loopholes in the background check system is probably the best example of this. There are a couple of polls I've seen now that demonstrate that 90 percent of Americans support closing loopholes in the background check system. And those aren't just Democrats that these polls are surveying. These polls include Republicans -- about 86 percent of Republicans in a recent poll are supportive of efforts to close loopholes in the background check system. And the other thing that I think is notable about this is that these polls also include surveys of gun owners, and 86 percent of gun owners actually support closing loopholes in the background check system.

The President and his spokespeople often will talk about the need to find common ground. It is not hard to find common ground on this issue. It is clear that the American people agree that, for example, closing background checks is a pretty good place to start in terms of common-sense measures that would reduce gun violence.

Q    On the issue of common ground, on guns, he wants that. He says, on immigration reform -- he did these interviews yesterday saying he wants bipartisanship. And he is having dinner with Senate Republicans, we hear, in a couple of weeks to talk about grand bargain again. If he wants --

MR. EARNEST: Well, I think he'll cover a range of his legislative priorities in that dinner. So I wouldn’t be surprised -- I guess to Bill's question, I wouldn't be surprised if the President's support for some of these common-sense measures to reduce gun violence does actually come up at the dinner. This is something that is a legislative priority of the President's, and I'm confident that will come up at the dinner.

Now, I think, at the same time, the President is very interested in having this dinner because he is looking forward to the opportunity to hear from these senators. So they'll have a healthy conversation, but it will include some of these common-sense measures to reduce gun violence.

Q    So my question is he wants to have that healthy conversation, he wants bipartisanship on all of these issues, and yet, we hear next week he is going out fundraising back on the campaign trail to help elect House Democrats for 2014. When Jay Carney was asked about this a couple of weeks ago -- I think there was a Washington Post story saying the President was going to be focused on 2014, putting Nancy Pelosi back in as Speaker, and he said, no, no, that's not his focus. And here we are beginning of April, way before the 2014 election. Why is he going fundraising already?

MR. EARNEST: Well, the President has some responsibilities as the head of the Democratic Party to support other Democrats. I don't think that's particularly surprising. And I don't think that the President views those two activities as being in conflict. There is an opportunity for the President to try to build common ground in Washington, D.C., to advance his agenda. And whether it is measures like closing loopholes for background checks that have strong bipartisan support -- we're seeing bipartisan support for some of the immigration proposals that are being discussed in the Senate right now. There's even some pretty good bipartisan support around some of the budget proposals. Now, that hasn't necessarily yielded prompt legislative action, but there are Republicans who are sending signals that they agree with the President's balanced approach, or are at least willing to consider it.

So it is certainly possible for the President to continue to move forward in a bipartisan fashion on a range of his own legislative priorities while fulfilling his responsibilities in his support for Democrats in elections. I think the thing that's notable about this -- and I think you alluded to it in your question -- these elections are almost two years away, or at least more than a year and a half away. So there's no reason we need to get wrapped up in discussions about elections. There's plenty of work to do here in Washington, D.C., before we turn our attention to the midterm elections.

Q    Last quick thing. He is meeting with the African leaders, you mentioned, this afternoon. He just came back, obviously, from an important foreign trip. Gallup had a survey earlier this month that surveyed citizens in 130 countries, and they found that median approval of U.S. leadership around the world has declined by eight points from 2009, when the President took office, down to 41 percent -- the lowest of his presidency. He obviously made a big deal in the 2008 campaign saying, I want to restore America's standing in the world. Why then do you think it's still in a pretty low standing right now?

MR. EARNEST: I haven't seen that poll. The thing that I would say is I think that there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that American leadership on President Obama's watch has strengthened significantly. I think that was evident anecdotally in the speech that the President delivered in Jerusalem. The reaction that he got from a crowd of Israeli citizens I think was really powerful, and I think that that was reflected in some of the coverage from those remarks.

The President has an upcoming trip to Mexico and Costa Rica at the end of next month, and that will be an opportunity, again, for him to talk about how we can strengthen the ties between the U.S. and Central America -- that there are important people-to-people ties, that there are a lot of immigrants to this country that originated in Central America, so that there are strong cultural and individual ties. There are also strong economic ties, and that there is an opportunity for us to build on that relationship in a way that strengthens the economy here in the U.S.

So there’s an opportunity for the President to demonstrate his leadership in the international community in a really important way, and I think that has been enhanced over the course of his presidency.

Q    May I follow on the dinner?

MR. EARNEST: Sure, Jessica.

Q    What kind of work is the President doing in between these two dinners to build his relationship with Republican senators?

MR. EARNEST: Well, again, I don't have any specific conversations or calls to read out to you. What the President has certainly demonstrated I think over the course of the last several weeks in particular is his interest in trying to build a rapport, even if it’s just socially, with members of Congress, rank-and-file members of Congress.

And the President is hopeful that that can lay the foundation for constructive dialogue and progress on a range of legislative priorities. We haven’t seen that yet. But this is a process and an effort that I think should be judged over the long term, and I think you’ll do that.

Q    Okay, so to dial back and try to come at it at a different direction -- is the White House laying groundwork in between these two dinners to try to get something concrete out of the next dinner?

MR. EARNEST: I wouldn’t anticipate a specific agreement or an avail in the lobby of some restaurant here in Washington to announce a bipartisan agreement on something.

Again, I think these are -- the dinner that the President had at the beginning of this month and the dinner that he’ll have at the beginning of next month are an opportunity for him to lay the groundwork for future agreements. And I think that this is something that I know I’ve been asked about previously, and I know that many people lament the deteriorating social relationships between senior figures in Washington, D.C. that previously -- that there have been -- that some people have speculated that personal relationships have been important to bipartisan agreements. I don't think anybody -- and I don't think even the people who are asking me the question were thinking or were suggesting that just showing up at a cocktail party was going to be the difference between getting a bipartisan agreement and not. But we’re hopeful and the President is hopeful that establishing a useful rapport can be helpful in fostering constructive dialogue down the road.

Now, the other thing I think that the President has found interesting about this process is he has found it helpful to hear directly from these members of Congress about their priorities and their perspectives on some of these things. It’s a helpful dialogue to try to find some common ground. I think many members of Congress have expressed a similar view -- that there were positions that the President has long supported that they weren’t aware of.

And so this is an opportunity for them to put aside the posturing -- to do so without having to worry about the prying eyes of the media, but to actually have a private conversation about their priorities can be useful to finding common ground moving forward. Again, I don’t think that’s something that’s going to happen right away, and there’s certainly not going to be an avail right after the dinner to announce a historic bipartisan agreement. But we’re hopeful that it’s useful in laying the groundwork to more bipartisan cooperation in Washington, D.C.

Q    But should we make something of the fact that it’s also on April 10th, the day you say the White House is releasing its budget?

MR. EARNEST: Just a happy confluence of events.

Peter.

Q    Josh, if I can follow up on guns. And as long as we’re on the topic of statistics in terms of the number the President cited -- I think it was 9 out of 10 Americans saying -- or the stat you cited -- that they support expanded background checks. But there was another series of statistics that came out I think earlier this week from our colleagues at CBS -- thank you, Bill, for those -- that say that support for stricter gun control laws stands at 47 percent today versus 57 percent, that it’s dropped 10 percent in barely 100 days since Newtown took place. And while the President said, “Shame on us if we have forgotten,” and that these families he stood with today haven’t forgotten, isn’t there some responsibility of this White House not to have acted, notwithstanding 20 events in 100 days, to have done more while that window of opportunity existed?

MR. EARNEST: I think the President did move really quickly after the tragic events at Newtown to try to advance the discussion about common-sense measures to reduce gun violence. The President acted unilaterally, as we discussed. On the day that the President rolled out his proposals in mid-January, he announced 23 executive actions that his administration would take unilaterally to put in place some measures that could contribute to a reduction in gun violence.

The Vice President has been very visible on this topic, as we discussed a little bit yesterday. Between the President and Vice President, they devoted their time to about 20 different interviews and events and other public appearances to encourage Congress to take action. And I think because of the support that’s cited in the poll for a number of the proposals that the President has put forward, I think that you can judge those events as very constructive to this process.

But again, we’re not stopping here. You said the President was demonstrating a pretty clear commitment to continuing the effort on this. And this will actually continue into next week. On Tuesday, the President will travel to Denver where he’ll continue to ask the American people to join him in calling on Congress to pass common-sense measures to reduce gun violence. He’ll meet with local law enforcement officials and community leaders to discuss the new measures the state has recently put in place, including closing back -- including closing loopholes in the background check system to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and others who should not have access to them. So the President started on this very quickly, and our efforts on this will continue forcefully.

Q    So given all of those efforts -- and it seems, as you indicate, a lot of emphasis on this, including what's going to happen on Tuesday -- still, at least from these stats, and you cited some stats earlier today, 39 percent of Americans say they want laws kept the way they are; 11 percent say they want them to be less strict. That means that 50 percent of Americans, even after all the emphasis the White House and Joe Biden, the Vice President, has put on this, that Americans, it seems disagree that new laws are needed.

MR. EARNEST: Well, I think that this -- the numbers that you're citing and the numbers that I have cited are an indication that a lot of these are -- a lot of these policy decisions that need to be made are complicated; that they reflect difficult questions, or at least complicated questions, not necessarily difficult ones, but complicated questions related to heritage, related to the rights guaranteed under the Bill of Rights, but also related to broader societal challenges that we face in terms of trying to keep our community safe.

But the President has been resolute about challenging Congress to take action, and not allowing them to suggest that because these things are so complicated, we shouldn’t take action. The President has said, if there is one thing that we can do that will make one child safer, then why wouldn’t we do it?

Q    Following up very briefly on a different note. Last week while we were traveling with you and with the President when he was overseas, he said that the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime would be viewed as a "game changer." Today, we learned about a series of new attacks -- these by rebels against the Assad regime, or I think at least 10 people were killed there. But the President said that the investigation was basically still underway to determine whether the use of chemical weapons existed. So where do we stand on that, and how much longer do we wait to find out what actually happened?

MR. EARNEST: Well, you referenced the mortar attack that took place in -- at Damascus University today. We've noted the increased tempo in clashes in the Damascus area. We're deeply concerned by the reported mortar attack on a Damascus University faculty of architecture building today, which resulted in reportedly at least 10 deaths.

We cannot confirm at this time who is responsible for the attack, but we have been clear in our insistence that all sides should abide by international law, including not deliberately targeting citizens. So that’s an important part of this.

The second thing is, as you know, the United Nations announced earlier this week that Mr. Sellström of Sweden would head the U.N. fact-finding mission that will investigate allegations of chemical weapons use in Syria.

The United Nations is continuing their efforts to compose the remainder of the team, drawing on expertise from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the World Health Organization. And we understand that they hope to begin their investigation within the next week. So we’re certainly pleased to see the U.N. moving quickly to work out the details, and it demonstrates the unique importance the United Nations is placing on the investigation.

Now, this investigation is only going to be successful if the Assad regime cooperates with their efforts to investigate any and all credible allegations of the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria, so we’re hopeful that the Assad regime will cooperate with the group that Mr. Sellström is pulling together.

Roger.

Q    You mentioned Denver next Tuesday. Is he doing that on the way the California?

MR. EARNEST: Yes.

Ari.

Q    You said the Election Commission report will be six months after the first meeting. Do you have any sense of when the first meeting would be?

MR. EARNEST: I don't yet have a date for that first meeting.

Q    Also you mentioned Colorado’s gun law. There are by some reports more than 20 states considering laws going in the other direction to put up roadblocks to any limits on the Second Amendment. Is that on the President’s radar? Is he at all concerned about that?

MR. EARNEST: Well, the measures that the President has put forward would not affect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. That is a priority of the President’s as well. The President believes in the Second Amendment, so none of the measures that he’s put forward would have any impact on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.

Q    Let me rephrase. There are more than 20 states that are considering legislation or passed legislation that would move in the opposite direction from the direction President Obama would like to go. Is that concerning to him?

MR. EARNEST: Well, the President is hopeful that we can -- that the Obama administration can work in bipartisan fashion in Washington and where appropriate to work with state and local officials about measures, again, that would reduce the impact -- or reduce the likelihood of gun violence in communities all across the country. This is one of the reasons that we’re going to Colorado to talk to law enforcement officials and other elected officials in Colorado who have recently taken steps that would make their community safer there in Colorado.

JC.

Q    We know the -- Secretary of State Kerry will be here this afternoon. And we also know that he has been speaking to his counterparts in NATO, in the region, in the Far East, as well as Defense Secretary Hagel. How much of that meeting with the Vice President and President will the discussion of the provocative actions and statements from North Korea be a part?

MR. EARNEST: Well, I think you’re referring to the regular weekly meeting that the President has with him. We have made it a practice not to read out the details of that meeting. But suffice it to say that Secretary Kerry has had a very busy travel itinerary over the course of the last week, so I think they’ll have a lot of things to discuss.

The other part of this -- and I think you could get more detail on this from the State Department -- but the State -- senior officials at the State Department have been in regular contact with our colleagues throughout Northeast Asia to talk to them about the continued provocative acts from the North Koreans, and the provocative statements from the North Koreans. As I mentioned a little bit in the briefing yesterday, our allies in the region have a significant stake in resolving those tensions in a diplomatic way and without violence. So I’m confident that our diplomats in the region and our diplomats here in Washington have been coordinating with their counterparts as we work through a delicate situation there.

Q    Thanks, Josh.

MR. EARNEST: Goyal.

Q    Two questions, thank you. Secretary Kerry just came back from Afghanistan, and people of Afghanistan now asking and they trust now President Obama as ending the war, and also what they're asking me now, what is their future after U.S. or NATO leaves Afghanistan? Was Secretary Kerry carrying any -- carrying any message from the President for the people of Afghanistan?

MR. EARNEST: Well, I think that might be a better question for the State Department, because they can give you more details about the conversations the Secretary had during his trip.

But as the President has expressed many times that the American people want to continue to work with the Afghan people to help them build the democratic institutions that are going to be critical to the safety and security and stability of that country moving forward, even after the war has ended there.

Q    And second, as far as the immigration issue is concerned on Capitol Hill, like you’ve been mentioning for the last couple of days, progress has been made there. Talking to more of the Latinos and also illegal people in this country, now they have more faith and trust in President Obama than four years ago. What they are now saying is that time has come for the President to bring them out of the shadow, and working in bad conditions or low wages, and all that. And they are willing to pay taxes and also whatever is needed, just like a good citizen. What they’re asking now -- really, what is their future now, immediate future? What message do you have and the President has for them? And also, what message the President has for the small businesses and its impact on the immigration?

MR. EARNEST: Well, one of the tenets of the comprehensive immigration reform that the President is advocating is a clear path to citizenship for undocumented workers in this country. So what we’ll see in that reform package is a -- what the President would like to see and what the President feels strongly about is ensuring that there is a clear path to citizenship for them.

The President also believes that a top priority needs to be continuing the progress that we’ve made to secure the border. I talked a little bit yesterday about the extensive investments that have been made to secure our border there in terms of the 22,000 personnel that’s on the border, the commitments that have been made in terms of technology, in terms of aircraft, in terms of building fences -- about 650 miles of fencing and walls have been built along the border to secure the border. That’s an important part of comprehensive immigration reform as well.

And I think this clear path to citizenship and these efforts to secure the border reflect a lot of the common ground that we’re hopeful that we can find, to find a bipartisan compromise, to move quickly on comprehensive immigration reform.

Q    What have we heard of in this immigration issue -- because President Bush also had the same issue during his presidency, and then President Obama of course has been following and pushing this issue. Where is this big hurdle now? Because this can bring the economy online as far as illegal immigrations are concerned.

MR. EARNEST: There are certainly obvious economic benefits that can be derived from passing -- from the passage and enactment of comprehensive immigration reform. That’s one of the reasons that the President has made it a priority. You do rightly cite that in the past there has been -- there were some efforts to try to find bipartisan ground around comprehensive immigration reform, but quite frankly, Republicans lost their nerve last time.

So we’re hopeful that as we move this process forward, we’re going to find constructive conversations with Republicans in Congress. So far, that’s exactly what we’re seeing. That’s encouraging to the President, it’s encouraging to this administration, and it’s why we’re hopeful that we’re going to find -- as the President said yesterday, that we’ll have comprehensive immigration reform done before the end of the summer.

Chris.

Q    Josh, I just want to follow up on the oral arguments that took place in the Supreme Court this week. In the wake of those proceedings, is the President confident the Court will strike down Prop 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act?

MR. EARNEST: Well, Chris, it was about a year ago that I was actually standing at this podium, in this room, where people were warning of the terrible argument that had taken place before the Supreme Court in defense of the President’s Affordable Care Act, and people warning that the Supreme Court was poised to strike down that in a pretty decisive fashion, based solely on the arguments that were made by the attorneys and by the questions that were posed by the justices. Those predictions demonstrated how unwise it is to make predictions about the outcome of Supreme Court cases based solely on the arguments that are presented orally. So I don’t want to judge or prejudge or predict what the Supreme Court’s ruling will be when it’s announced later this summer.

Q    Would the President welcome a ruling from the Supreme Court that would institute marriage equality nationwide?

MR. EARNEST: Well, again, I don’t want to get into parsing what -- how the President would respond to possible decisions that are offered by the justices. So when we get an announcement of a decision from them later this summer, you can expect a reaction from us.

Thank you, Chris.

April, a second bite at the apple.

Q    Thank you. (Laughter.) How is it determined -- what’s the process within the White House of how it’s determined when an administration official will go to the U.S. Supreme Court and sit in the court and listen to arguments?

MR. EARNEST: Well, I don’t know that there’s a formal process necessarily. This is obviously an issue that the President has spent a lot of his own time thinking about, and I know that there are a number of senior White House officials who were encouraging of the arguments that were being made by the Department of Justice before the Supreme Court.

So it’s not surprising that when you have a high profile argument, like the one -- like the arguments that took place on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, that there would be senior administration officials who have been involved in this debate, or senior attorneys at the White House who are eager to see those arguments take place in person.

Q    So have they been to any other of the days where there were other arguments for other groups that they strongly support in this administration?

MR. EARNEST: I know there were some senior administration officials at the Supreme Court for the Affordable Care Act arguments that I mentioned earlier. But I’m not sure if I have a complete listing of the --

Q    They were involved in that. These were officials that were just sitting there, listening to the arguments in support of same-sex marriage.

MR. EARNEST: It's my understanding that there are White House personnel who went to observe the hearings -- or to observe the oral arguments during the Affordable Care Act case last year, as well. So I don’t frankly know how common that is.

Donovan.

Q    Thanks, Josh. I want to kind of ask you, once again, on guns. I think the CBS News poll was cited showing that public opinion has waned, and the question was whether the President had moved quickly enough or if he has lost momentum. He cited a Politico story earlier this morning, saying --

MR. EARNEST: You like it when he does that, don’t you? (Laughter.)

Q    -- in that story we noted that the Patriot Act was passed within 45 days of September 11, and it's now 100 days. Couldn’t he have done more sooner? Or what went into the decision to take it so methodically?

MR. EARNEST: Well, I think I would not agree at all with your description of this process as methodical. I think what you've seen from this administration is an aggressive process to move quickly to build public support, and to put together specific proposals, proposals that the President could act on unilaterally in the form of executive actions -- 23 different ones, 23 different proposals -- but also a set of legislative proposals that were forwarded to Congress.

As you will recall, just three days after the President appeared at the memorial service for the victims of the Newtown shooting, he stood at this podium with the Vice President right behind him and he called on Congress to hold speedy votes banning military-style assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and an initiative to close loopholes in the background check system. That was something that the President did less than a week after the shootings.

So the President I think has been very forward-leaning in terms of the way that he is engaged in this process. And the reason for that I think is readily apparent to anybody who is in this room or in the East Room earlier today and heard the President talk about it. He's passionate about these issues. He understands and has seen tragically how families have been ripped apart by violence like this.

And it is the President's determination to see progress made on these issues, and he is going to -- he has already acted quickly to try to build public support, to try to find common ground in a way that both respects the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment of the Constitution, but in a way that will reduce gun violence in communities all across the country.

These are common-sense measures. Again, that’s reflected in the strong support that these measures have among Americans all across the country, including among American gun owners. So what we need is we need Congress to reflect the will of the people who elected them and act quickly on some of these common-sense measures.

Again, I don’t want to stand up here, and I don’t think even the President would stand here and say that these -- that there are any easy answers to the complicated policy questions posed by the spate of gun violence. But we can't allow that complexity to be an excuse for inaction.

Q    So are you saying that the complexity of the issue is why it's taking so long?

MR. EARNEST: I don’t know why -- again, I don’t think it's taking really long. I think what we're seeing is, we're seeing a President who has engaged in this process from the very beginning and has demonstrated a sustained level of engagement at a pretty high operational tempo to marshal public support and encourage Congress to act.

But again, the President has taken 23 executive actions that he could do unilaterally to try to address this problem. So the President has taken definitive action, and he took those actions about a month after the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. At the same time, the President laid out specific proposals that required congressional approval that would also have an impact on gun violence in communities all across the country.

The President has acted very aggressively, and the President's tempo is sustained. He held this event today, that I think many of you found interesting. It was a pretty persuasive message to people all across the country to make their voices heard to their member of Congress on this. And you will hear more from the President on Tuesday in a place that is powerful because of the legislative efforts that they've taken at the state level there to act on these challenges.

So again, we can't -- Congress and others should not be in a position of suggesting that they won't act because it's too complicated. That’s not an excuse. That is not a good excuse.

Q    Thank you, Josh.

MR. EARNEST: I’ll take one more.

Q    Thank you. Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa met in Dublin this week for a summit. What is the White House's thoughts and views on the BRICS summit and the decisions they took during the summit, including setting up a development bank?

MR. EARNEST: I have seen some of the reports about this. I don't have in front of me a specific reaction to that. But I can consult with my colleagues at the National Security Council and see if we can get you a specific reaction to that.

I just want to clarify one thing that Amy handed to me. I may have been a little unclear. The visit in Denver is next Wednesday. So I believe that's --

Q    We tweeted it already.

MR. EARNEST: I know, I know. (Laughter.) So let's just make sure we get this right before I leave. So, yes, it's next Wednesday, which I believe is April 3rd. Do I have that right? So Wednesday, April 3rd, the President will be in Denver.

Q    Is the budget really April 10th? (Laughter.)

MR. EARNEST: The budget is really April 10th. I got that date right. One out of two isn't bad -- right, Mark?

Q    Josh, more seriously, just before you go -- on the issue of Nelson Mandela, obviously this appears like this is a more serious health issue than past visits he has had at the hospital. Has the President had conversations with Mr. Mandela recently? And how is he being kept apprised of his health?

MR. EARNEST: Well, I know the President has found President Mandela to be an inspiration in his own personal life, but also in his professional career. The President had the opportunity to meet former President Mandela when he traveled to Africa as a senator. And I know that they've had telephone conversations.

The First Lady and the Obama girls had the opportunity to visit Mr. Mandela in his home when they traveled to Africa just a couple of years ago. And I know that they found that to be a very powerful visit for them. The President is being kept apprised of the former President's health condition. And, certainly, our thoughts and prayers go out to the former President and his family.

Thanks, everybody.

END
1:33 P.M. EDT

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