Democracy and Progress in India

Elizabeth L. Littlefield
January 28, 2015
10:33 AM EDT

President Obama at India's Republic Day Celebration

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama view the Republic Day Parade with President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the Rajpath saluting base in New Delhi, India January 26, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Sixty-five years ago this week, India's post-independence democratic constitution went into effect, paving the way for the country to become not only a democracy but the world's largest democracy. Today, as a country of well over a billion people encompassing great diversity of ethnicity and economic status and spanning crowded cities and remote villages, India is a paradigm of both the challenges and the successes of building a government that seeks to empower all its people.

This week, as I travel to India with President Obama on the occasion of Republic Day, I am heartened to see an extensive portfolio of projects that OPIC has supported with financing and political risk insurance to advance development in India in sectors from power generation to technology to small business finance. As the U.S. Government’s development finance institution, OPIC has invested nearly $2.7 billion across 148 development projects in India since 1974. Over the past five years, our portfolio in India has increased more than five-fold to $734.3 million.

Elizabeth L. Littlefield is the President and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).
Related Topics: Economy, South and Central Asia, Foreign Policy

The Highlights of President Obama's Visit to India

Tanya Somanader
Tanya Somanader
January 26, 2015
07:06 PM EDT
President Obama and Prime Minister Modi Chat in a Garden

President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Naredra Modi have tea in the garden gazebo at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India. January 25, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

"Chalein saath saath; forward together we go."

--India-U.S. Delhi Declaration of Friendship

President Obama and the First Lady traveled to India this week -- their first time visting the South Asian nation since Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sworn in on May 26, 2014. America and India are true global partners in the work of strengthening economies and strong democracies. That is why the President is the first to have visited India twice while in office. 

Related Topics: South and Central Asia, Foreign Policy

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
January 24, 2015

Statement by the President and First Lady on the Passing of Ernie Banks

Michelle and I send our condolences to the family of Ernie Banks, and to every Chicagoan and baseball fan who loved him.

Ernie came up through the Negro Leagues, making $7 a day. He became the first African-American to play for the Chicago Cubs, and the first number the team retired. Along the way, he became known as much for his 512 home runs and back-to-back National League MVPs as for his cheer, his optimism, and his love of the game. As a Hall-of-Famer, Ernie was an incredible ambassador for baseball, and for the city of Chicago. He was beloved by baseball fans everywhere, including Michelle, who, when she was a girl, used to sit with her dad and watch him play on TV. And in 2013, it was my honor to present Ernie with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Somewhere, the sun is shining, the air is fresh, his team's behind him, and Mr. Class -- "Mr. Cub" -- is ready to play two.

The First Lady reads Dr. Seuss’s “Oh, the Things You Can Do That Are Good For You”

January 21, 2015 | 19:19 | Public Domain

As part of her Let’s Move! initiative, the First Lady hosted local students in the East Room of the White House for a special reading of Dr. Seuss’s Oh, the Things You Can Do That Are Good For You: All About Staying Healthy. January 21, 2015.

Download mp4 (711MB) | mp3 (19MB)

In Case You Missed It: How We Honored Dr. King

Chris Evans
January 20, 2015
11:45 AM EDT

In 1994, Congress designated the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday as a national day of service -- a "day on, not a day off." The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service is an opportunity for all Americans to honor Dr. King by coming together to help meet the needs of their communities and recommit to service throughout the year. Throughout the day yesterday, the President and the First Lady, the Vice President, Cabinet secretaries, and other senior Administration officials participated in a number of community service projects both in DC and throughout the nation. 

Here's How We Honored Dr. King:

President Obama 

Chris Evans is an intern in the White House Office of Digital Strategy.
Related Topics: Service, Iowa

8 Americans Wrote to the White House About Their Lives. We Want You to Hear Their Stories:

Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama
January 20, 2015
11:03 AM EDT

Every day, tens of thousands of Americans write to our family. Some of their letters make us laugh. Some of their letters tear at our hearts. A lot of their letters remind Barack and me of our own lives. But all of their letters keep us connected to the stories of Americans across the country. 

One of those letters came from Jason Gibson, a wounded warrior who wrote Barack last October. Jason sustained injuries serving our country in Afghanistan that led to the loss of both of his legs. Despite enduring 21 surgeries, he is unable to use prosthetics.

Related Topics: State of the Union, Veterans, California, Ohio

Email from First Lady Michelle Obama: "The Most Important Story"

Tanya Somanader
Tanya Somanader
January 19, 2015
05:14 PM EDT

This afternoon, First Lady Michelle Obama sent a message to the White House email list, letting readers know that the very best place to watch the State of the Union is at WhiteHouse.gov/SOTU. Check out her email, share this video from the President, and tune in to watch the State of the Union tomorrow night.

Didn't get it? Make sure you sign up for email updates here.

Tomorrow night, Barack will deliver his sixth State of the Union address.

That means tonight, he’ll be sitting down at his desk, reviewing each and every word to make sure his speech tells the most important story: yours.

For Barack, that is what this address is about. Not politics or partisanship, but the lives you lead, the challenges you face, and the future you hope to build for yourself and for your children. Every day, he reads those stories in the letters folks send to him from across the country.

Barack sat down to talk about what makes the address so personal for him, and what will make 2015 special.

Make sure you watch the video -- then join me and millions of other Americans on Tuesday in watching the State of the Union.

Watch on YouTube

Related Topics: State of the Union, Colorado

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
January 19, 2015

The President and First Lady, Vice President Biden, Cabinet Secretaries, and Senior Administration Officials Honor Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service

WASHINGTON, DC – To honor the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service and Dr. King’s life and legacy, the President and First Lady, the Vice President, Cabinet Secretaries, and other Senior Administration Officials will participate in community service projects and events.  The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service is an opportunity for all Americans to honor Dr. King by coming together to help meet the needs of their communities and re-commit to service throughout the year.

The President and First Lady will participate in a community service project at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington, in celebration of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service and in honor of Dr. King’s life and legacy. They will be joined by Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary Broderick Johnson, and Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) CEO Wendy Spencer.

Also today, the Vice President will deliver remarks at the Organization of Minority Women’s 31st Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast. The breakfast, which takes place at the Chase Center on Wilmington’s Riverfront, will commemorate the legacy of the great ‘Drum Major of Justice for all People,’ the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and will pay tribute to the late State Representatives Al and Hazel D. Plant. 

On Monday, January 19th, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Cabinet Members will participate in Day of Service events in the Washington, DC area and in cities around the country.  Events include the following:

  • Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew will serve alongside City Year AmeriCorps members in New York City.  Service projects will include painting murals and accents, light construction, organization, kit-making, and workshops for youth.
  • Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Administrator of the General Services Administration Dan Tangherlini will serve at the Student Conservation Association’s annual King Day cleanup of Anacostia Park. 
  • Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack will serve at the Central Iowa Shelter & Service’s Mulberry Food and Farms Greenhouse in Des Moines to assist the Shelter’s team in providing work and housing placement services.
  • Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker will speak at the Taproot Foundation’s Scope-A-Thon event which will connect approximately 100 DC/Baltimore area nonprofit organizations with professional project managers.
  • Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez will speak to students at the University of South Carolina and serve meals to those volunteering at service projects throughout the City of Columbia.
  • Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro will serve at the Greater Washington Urban League Young Professionals 14th Annual Community Service Drive. He will also give remarks at the National Action Network Annual Martin Luther King Day Dr. Breakfast.  
  • Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson will deliver remarks at the “A Day of Reflection and Service” event at the Martin Luther King. Jr. Memorial, hosted by the Memorial Foundation, IMPACT DC, and the Faith and Politics Institute.  
  • Deputy Secretary of Transportation Victor Mendez will participate in a screening of the film “Selma” with DC nonprofit Horton’s Kids, an organization whose mission is to educate and empower the children of Washington.
  • Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will serve at Southeast DC’s Eastern Senior High School alongside City Year AmeriCorps members. He will be joined by White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough.
  • Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald will serve at Fisher House in DC preparing and serving meals to veterans and their families.
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell will participate in a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service project hosted by Project HOME, a non-profit organization that empowers individuals to break the cycle of poverty and homelessness through affordable housing, employment, health care, and education.
  • Deputy Secretary of Energy Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall will serve at an Energy Department event designed to promote STEM learning and energy literacy among young DC students.
  • Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development Rajiv Shah will serve at Martha’s Table by preparing and distributing hot meals to homeless Washingtonians and families in crisis.
  • Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Gina McCarthy will serve with Habitat for Humanity AmeriCorps members building homes in the Ivy City neighborhood of Northeast DC.
  • Administrator of the Small Business Administration Maria Contreras-Sweet will serve alongside City Year AmeriCorps members at Gage Park High School in Chicago.
  • CNCS CEO Wendy Spencer will participate in various service projects throughout Washington, DC.
  • Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power will serve with Student Conservation Association AmeriCorps members at the East River Park in Manhattan to improve the soil damaged by Hurricane Sandy.
  • Chairman Fred P. Hochberg of the Export Import Bank of the United States will serve at the Lotus House in Miami, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of homeless women, youth and children.
  • In addition, on January 15th, Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet visited children at Barbara Chambers Children’s Center in Northwest D.C. for a day of service alongside Peace Corps staff.  The Director and her team participated in a variety of service projects totaling nearly 830 hours of service throughout the day.
  • And on January 17th, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell served by cleaning up the area on the National Mall surrounding the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. The Secretary served with the Interior Department, National Endowment for the Arts, and General Services Administration staffs, as well as members of the mentoring and professional development nonprofit IMPACT DC.

For more on the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service, please visit the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) at mlkday.gov.

Meet Nicole Hernandez Hammer, a Guest of the First Lady at the State of the Union

Lindsay Holst
Lindsay Holst
January 19, 2015
07:15 AM EDT

Nicole Hernandez Hammer is joining the First Lady as a guest at the 2015 State of the Union Address on January 20. Watch it live at 9 p.m. Eastern at WH.gov/SOTU.

Nicole Hernandez Hammer

Nicole Hernandez Hammer

As a sea-level researcher, Nicole Hernandez Hammer has studied how the cities and regions most vulnerable to the effects of climate change and sea-level rise also have large Hispanic populations -- something she learned firsthand growing up in South Florida
 
A Guatemalan immigrant with Cuban heritage, today Nicole works to mobilize the Latino community to better understand and address climate change's disproportionate effects on the health of Hispanics.
 
Most recently, that means working with Moms Clean Air Force to increase public awareness of climate change on children's health specifically.
 
Nicole lives in Southeast Florida with her husband and her son.
 

The State of the Union 2015: Everything You Need to Know:

Related Topics: Higher Education, Jobs, College Affordability, Economy, Education, State of the Union, Working Families, Florida

Meet Katrice Mubiru, a Guest of the First Lady at the State of the Union

Ezra Mechaber
Ezra Mechaber
January 19, 2015
07:15 AM EDT

Katrice Mubiru is joining the First Lady as a guest at the 2015 State of the Union address on January 20. Watch it live at 9 p.m. ET at WhiteHouse.gov/SOTU.

KATRICE MUBIRU

When Katrice Mubiru -- a career-technical education teacher in L.A. -- wrote President Obama to share stories of her students, she likely never thought she'd get to meet him.
 
But after writing in with stories of her students who pursued their education to get jobs in the burgeoning health care field despite difficult financial situations, Katrice was invited to introduce the President at the Los Angeles Trade-Technical College.
 
As President Obama said during his visit last July, Katrice is "helping to train people to get the kinds of jobs that we want and opportunity for people that don't have it."
 
Katrice has witnessed first-hand how a technical education gives students skills that can change their lives -- and her stories have helped put a human face on the policies President Obama is fighting for every day.

Related Topics: State of the Union, Louisiana, Maryland, Texas