The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
November 04, 2009

Remarks by the President on Strengthening America's Education System

James C. Wright Middle School, Madison, Wisconsin

1:40 P.M. CST

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, everybody.  Hello, Madison!  (Applause.)  Thank you so much.  Thank you.  Everybody, please, have a seat.  Have a seat.

It is good to see all of you.  Good to be back in Madison.  I want to first of all just say that Jim Doyle is not only one of the finest governors we have in the country, but is also a great friend, a great supporter; his entire family has been wonderful.  And so I just could not be prouder to associate myself with the outstanding work that Jim has done in the state.  Please give him a big round of applause.  (Applause.)

We've got two wonderful mayors in the house.  First of all, your own, Dave Cieslewicz, is here.  Dave.  (Applause.)  And Milwaukee's outstanding mayor, Tom Barrett, is in the house.  (Applause.)

I am so impressed with the work that's been done here at Wright Middle School and I know that Principal Nancy Evans deserves a huge amount of credit, so please give her a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  And to the faculty and the staff, but most importantly, the students, who I had a chance to meet with earlier today, they are just some outstanding young people.  So if there are any parents of students in the house you should be proud -- and give them all a big round of applause.  (Applause.)

Now, it's great to be back in Madison, great to be back in Wisconsin.  And I've heard great things about Wright, so I've got very high expectations for all the students here -- and I told them this.  I expect them to keep up the good work that you've already been putting in to make sure that you succeed not just in middle school, but also in high school, also in college, and for the rest of your lives.  And parents, I want you to stay on them because -- because that is an absolutely critical ingredient for their success.

You know, one year ago, Americans all across this country went to the polls and cast ballots for the future they wanted to see.  (Applause.)  Election Day was a day of hope, it was a day of possibility, but it was also a sobering one because we knew even then that we faced an array of challenges that would test us as a country.  We already saw that there was a financial crisis that threatened to plunge our economy into a great depression -- the worst that we've seen in generations.  We had record deficits, two wars, frayed alliances around the world.

Facing this reality, my administration had two fundamental obligations.  The first was to rescue the economy from imminent collapse.  And while we still have a long way to go, we have made meaningful progress toward achieving that goal.  We acted boldly and swiftly to pass a Recovery Act that has made a difference for families right here in Wisconsin, and Jim, your governor, described the difference that it's made.

We've put a tax cut into the pockets of 95 percent of hardworking families.  We created or saved over one million jobs, including 4,000 education jobs right here in Wisconsin.  We've taken steps to unlock our frozen credit markets so that the ordinary American can get the loan that he or she needs to buy a home or a car, to go to college or start a new business.  We've enacted measures to stem the crisis in our housing market to help responsible homeowners stay in their homes and curb the decline of home values overall.

So all these things contributed to the first quarter of economic growth that we've had as a nation in over a year.  The rate of job loss is slowing, although not nearly fast enough yet.  The work continues.  But we're moving in the right direction, and we are going to keep on fulfilling our obligation to do every single thing we possibly can to pull this economy out of the ditch and to make sure that people can find jobs that pay good wages.  That's our top priority.  (Applause.)

So that was the rescue part of our job, just solving the immediate crisis.  But we also came into office with another goal, another obligation -- not simply to do what needed to be done to deal with an emergency crisis, but to make those long-term investments necessary to build our economy stronger than before.  It was an obligation to tackle problems that had been festering, problems that had been kicked down the road year after year, decade after decade; problems that have to be overcome for America to move forward.

See, even before the crisis we were having big problems.  We were just papering them over.  Manufacturing was declining and we weren’t producing as many high-tech, high-skilled jobs as we needed to be.  We had an energy situation where suddenly oil producers or speculators want to constrict supply, and next thing you know you're paying four bucks at the pump.  So we didn’t have energy independence.  Health care costs were skyrocketing -- before the crisis -- so that families were seeing more and more out-of-pocket costs and essentially trading away salary and wages just to keep up with their premiums.

So we had an obligation to create a better health care system that works for our people, our businesses, and our government alike.  (Applause.)  And that's why we've been pushing so hard on health care reform.  That's why we took up the cause of a clean energy economy that will free America from the grip of foreign oil and generate millions of good-paying jobs in the process -- green jobs in retrofitting old buildings to make them more energy efficient, creating the batteries and other technologies needed for plug-in hybrids that can get 150 miles a gallon -- and will help to curb climate change.  And that's why we're taking up the cause that I'm here to talk about today, and that is offering the best possible education to America's sons and daughters.  (Applause.)

American prosperity has long rested on how well we educate our children.  But this has never been more true than it is today.  In the 21st century, when countries that out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow, there is nothing that will determine the quality of our future as a nation and the lives our children will lead more than the kind of education that we provide them.  Nothing is more important.

And here is what we know:  Over the course of a lifetime, those with a college degree -- and I want the young people here especially to listen to this -- over the course of a lifetime, those with a college degree earn over 60 percent more than those with only a high school diploma -- 60 percent more.  Most of the fastest growing jobs require a bachelor's degree or more.  This is what we were talking about earlier in the classroom.  Four out of every 10 new jobs will require at least some advanced education or training within the next decade.  So put simply, the right education is a prerequisite for success.  There was a time when if you just got a high school education and you were willing to work hard, you could get a job in a trade or in the factory that paid a middle-class wage.  And those days are declining.  The currency of today's economy is knowledge.

And yet we continue to trail other countries in a number of critical areas.  The United States, a nation that has always led the way in innovation, is now being outpaced in math and science education.  A handful of states have even gone in the wrong direction, lowering their standards at the very moment that they should be raising them.  We used to rank number one in the number of college graduates and advanced degrees.  That's not the case anymore.  Meanwhile, African American and Latino students continue to lag behind their white classmates -- an achievement gap that will ultimately cost us hundreds of billions of dollars because that's our future workforce.

Of course, these problems aren't new.  We've heard about them for years.  But instead of coming together to solve them, we've let partisanship and petty bickering stand in the way of progress.  (Applause.)  It's been Democrat versus Republican -- it's been Democrat versus Republican, it's been voucher versus public schools, it's been more money versus more reform.  In some cases, people have seen schools as sort of a political spoil having to do with jobs and contracts instead of what we're teaching kids.  And this status quo has held back our children, it's held back our economy, and it's held back our country for too long.  It's time to stop just talking about education reform and start actually doing it.  It's time to make education America's national mission.  (Applause.)

Now, I'm proud to say that thanks to one of the best secretaries of education America has ever had, Arne Duncan, who's here today -- stand up, Arne, so everybody can see -- (applause) -- thanks to Arne's passion and understanding of these issues and the ability to bring people together, that's exactly what we're going to do.  We are making this America's national mission:  improving our schools not in unrealistic ways, not in abstract ways, not in pie-in-the-sky ways -- in concrete ways we are putting our resources behind the kinds of reforms that are going to make a difference.

In the coming weeks, states will be able to compete for what we're calling a Race to the Top award.  We're putting over $4 billion on the table -- $4 billion with a "b" -- one of the largest investments that the federal government has ever made in education reform.  But we're not just handing it out to states because they want it.  We're not just handing it out based on population.  It's not just going through the usual political formulas.  We're challenging states to compete for it.

And I have to tell you, this was not an easy thing to get through Congress.  This is not normally how federal dollars work.  But because of Arne's tenacity and our commitment to make sure that reform happens, that's how we've structured it.  We're saying to states, if you are committed to real change in the way you educate your children, if you're willing to hold yourselves more accountable, and if you develop a strong plan to improve the quality of education in your state, then we'll offer you a big grant to help you make that plan a reality.

Now, before a state is even eligible to compete, they'll have to take an important first step.  And this has caused some controversy in some places, but it shouldn't be controversial.  Any state that has a so-called firewall law will have to remove them.  Now, here's what a firewall law is:  It basically says that you can't factor in the performance of students when you're evaluating teachers.  That is not a good message in terms of accountability.  So we said, if you've got one of those laws, if you want to compete for these grants you got to get rid of that law.

And we'll encourage states to take a better approach when it comes to charter schools and other innovative public schools.  When these schools are performing poorly, they'll be shut down.  But when innovative public schools are succeeding, they shouldn't be stifled -- they should be supported.

And I'm proud to say that already a number of states have taken us up on this challenge.  Across the country, different groups are coming together to bring about change in our schools -- teachers unions and parents groups, businesses and community organizations.  In places like New Haven, educators and city leaders have come together to find a smarter way to evaluate teachers and turn around low-performing schools.  In states like California and Indiana and Wisconsin, you're seeing steps taken to remove these so-called firewall laws so we can have a clear look at how well our children are learning and what can be done to help them learn better.  States like Delaware and Louisiana, Tennessee and Illinois are all making efforts to let innovative charter schools flourish.

So, a race to the top has begun in our schools, but the real competition will begin when states apply for the actual Race to the Top grants.  See, they had to make some changes just to even join the race.  But now the race starts, and we're going to start seeing even more interesting changes at the local level.  So we'll take a hard look at states' applications to determine whether they measure up.  We'll take a look at a state's track record to determine whether the steps they've taken have had real results when it comes to their students' education.  We'll take a look at whether states are taking an all-hands-on-deck approach when it comes to reform.  And in particular, we'll take a look at how states are doing when it comes to four key measures of reform.

And I want to get into some details about this because I want you, as parents, as well as the educators, to understand what the data and the science and the studies and the research show actually make a big difference in terms of school improvement -- because that's what we are basing this stuff on.  We didn’t just kind of make it up, didn’t just do it because it sounded good, this is what the research shows is really going to make a difference.

The first measure is whether a state is committed to setting higher standards and better assessments that prepare our children to succeed in the 21st century.  And I'm pleased to report that 48 states are now working to develop internationally competitive standards -- internationally competitive standards because these young people are going to be growing up in an international environment where they're competing not just against kids in Chicago or Los Angeles for jobs, but they're competing against folks in Beijing and Bangalore.

This is something I called for earlier this year, and I want to commend the leadership of the governors and school chiefs who've joined together to get this done.  And because of these efforts, there will be a set of common standards that any state can adopt, beginning early next year.  And I urge all our states to do so and to upgrade what's taught in the classroom accordingly to meet these international standards.

I also challenge states to align their assessments with high standards -- because we should -- we should not just raise the bar, we should prepare our kids to meet it.  There's no point in having really high standards but we're not doing what it takes to meet those standards.  And I want to be clear.  This is not just about more tests, because I know that in the past people have been concerned about, you know, is this about standardized tests, or are we going to have our young people being taught to the test?  That's the last thing we want.  (Applause.)

But what we want to do -- what we want to do is finally get testing right.  So it's not about more tests, it's about being smarter about our assessments.  It's about measuring not only whether our kids can master the basics, but whether they can solve challenging tasks, do they have the skills like critical thinking and teamwork and entrepreneurship; assessments that don't just give us a snapshot of how a student is doing in a particular subject, but a big picture look at how they're learning overall; and assessments that will help tell us if our kids have the knowledge and the skills to thrive when they graduate.

So we're not just interested in can they fill out a bubble.  What we want to do is to take a look generally -- are kids learning and gaining the critical thinking skills that they need to succeed.  Now, these are the kinds of assessments that our states should be putting in place, and we're setting up a separate competition where they can win grants, extra grants to help them do just that.

So, standards and assessments, that's the first measure; are we doing that well?  If the state wants to get a Race to the Top grant, they've got to do that well.  And because we know that from the moment our kids enter a school, the most important factor in their success -- other than their parents -- is the person standing in front of the classroom, the teacher.  The second measure is whether a state is committed to putting effective teachers in its classrooms and effective principals at the helm of its schools. 

Now, it's time to start taking this commitment seriously.  We've got to do a better job recruiting and preparing new teachers.  We've got to do a better job of rewarding outstanding teachers.  And I've got to be honest, we've got to do a better job of moving bad teachers out of the classroom, once they've been given an opportunity to do it right.  (Applause.)

And that means creating alternate pathways to teaching for talented young people by expanding programs like the one used in Boston, where aspiring teachers work side-by-side with effective mentors in a year-long residency.  It means bringing quality teachers in -- it means bringing quality teachers to the neighborhoods that need them the most, because right now a lot of what happens is, is that some of the best teachers, as they get seniority, they move on to the places -- the school districts that pay better and, frankly, are easier to teach.  And we've got to give them some incentives to stay so that the kids who need the most help are getting some of the best teachers.  (Applause.)

It means boosting the number -- the numbers of quality teachers who can help our special education and English language learners meet high standards -- and you've done that here at Wright, so congratulations on that.  (Applause.)  It means improving instruction in science, technology, reading, math, and ensuring that more women and people of color are doing well in those subjects.  (Applause.)  So that's the second -- the second factor.

Third factor, third measure we'll use in this Race to the Top competition, is whether states are tracking the progress of our students and teachers to make sure every child graduates ready for college and a career.  (Applause.)  So as I said earlier -- as I said earlier, before a state can even apply for a grant, it has to change any laws that prevent us from factoring in the performance of students when they're evaluating their teachers.  But that's not enough.  If a state wants to increase its chances of actually winning a grant, it's going to have to do more.  It's going to have to collect information about how students are doing in a particular year and over the course of an academic career, and make this information available to teachers so they can use it to improve the way they teach.

One of the things that teachers get so frustrated about is these standardized tests come at a time when it's too late to use to actually help the students improve their performance.  (Applause.)  So if we're going to collect -- if we're going to collect data on how kids are doing, let's make sure the teachers have it in usable form so that they can actually start doing a better job.  (Applause.)

That's how teachers can determine what they should be doing differently in the classroom.  That's how principals can determine what changes need to be made in our schools.  And that's how school districts can determine what they need to be doing better to prepare our teachers and principals.

Now, even with stronger standards, better assessments, outstanding teachers, some schools will still be difficult to turn around.  I want us to be honest about this.  There are some schools that are starting in a tough position -- a lot of kids coming from impoverished backgrounds, a lot of kids coming in that may have not gotten the kind of head start that they needed; they start school already behind.  And even though there are heroic teachers and principals in many of these schools, the fact is that they need some extra help.

And that's why the fourth measure we'll use in awarding Race to the Top grants is whether a state is focused on transforming not just its high-performing schools, not just the middle-of-the-pack schools, but the lowest-performing schools.  (Applause.)  We'll look at whether they're willing to remake a school from top to bottom with new leaders and a new way of teaching, replacing a school's principal if it's not working, and at least half its staff -- (applause) --  close a school for a time and then reopen it under new management, even shut down the school entirely and send its schools -- send its students to a better school nearby.

There's always excuses for why these schools can't perform.  But part of what we want is an environment in which everybody agrees -- from the governor to the school superintendent, teachers, principals, and most importantly parents and students -- that there's no excuse for mediocrity.  And we will take drastic steps when schools aren’t working.  (Applause.)

So these are the kinds of vigorous strategies that are necessary to turn around our most troubled schools:  transforming our lowest-performing schools; using timely information to improve the way we teach our children;  outstanding teachers and principals in our classrooms and our schools that are getting the support they need; higher standards and better assessments that prepare our kids for life beyond a classroom.  These are the challenges, the four challenges that states have to take up if they want to win a Race to the Top award.

And these are the four challenges that our country has to meet for our children to outcompete workers around the world, for our economy to grow and to prosper, and for America to lead in the 21st century.

Now, let me just close by saying this -- I've said this before, but I never miss an opportunity to impress this upon an audience.  Lifting up American education is not a task for government alone.  It will take parents getting more involved -- (applause) -- it will take parents getting more involved in their child's education.  It will take schools doing more to reach out with parents.  It will take students -- students -- accepting more responsibility for their own education.

I was explaining to them that education is not saying where, you know, you just tilt your ear and you just pour it in your ear.  (Laughter.)  You've got to be an active participant in wanting to get an education.

These aren’t in my prepared remarks, but I think it's important to note that Malia and Sasha are just wonderful kids, and Michelle is a wonderful mother.  But in our own household, with all the privileges and opportunities that we have, there are times -- look, there are times when kids slack off.  There are times where they would rather be watching TV or playing a computer game than hitting the books.  And part of our job as parents -- Michelle and my job -- is not just to tell our kids what to do, but to start instilling in them a sense that they want to do it for themselves.

So Malia came home the other day.  She had gotten a 73 on her science test.  Now, she's a 6th grader.  There was a time a couple years ago when she came home with like an 80-something and she said, "I did pretty well."  And I said, "No, no, no.  That's" -- I said, "Our goal is" -- "Our goal is 90 percent and up."  (Applause.)

Here is the interesting thing.  She started internalizing that.  So she came and she was depressed, "I got a 73."  And I said, "Well, what happened?"  "Well, the teacher -- the study guide didn't match up with what was on the test."  "So what's your idea here?"  "Well, I'm going to start -- I've got to read the whole chapter.  I'm going to change how I study, how I approach it."  So she came home yesterday, she was -- "I got a 95" -- right? -- so she's high-fiving.  (Applause.)

But here's the point.  She said -- she said, "I just like having knowledge."  That's what she said.  And what was happening was she had started wanting it more than us.  Now, once you get to that point, our kids are on our [sic] way.  But the only way they get to that point is if we're helping them get to that point.

So it's going to take that kind of effort from parents to set a high bar in the household.  Don't just expect teachers to set a high bar.  You've got to set a high bar in the household all across America.  (Applause.)

It will take teachers unions and parents and elected leaders working together as partners in common effort -- not seeing each other as antagonists, but all of us having the same goal.  It will take each and every one of us doing our part on behalf of our children and our country and the future that we share.

I'll never forget a moment many years ago -- this is long before I ran for President, before I ran for elected office.  I was just starting out as a community organizer in Chicago.  And we had set up a meeting to figure out how to rebuild our neighborhoods that I was working in -- very impoverished neighborhoods on the South Side.  And nobody showed up to the meeting.  This is my first big meeting -- nobody showed up.  So I was pretty depressed.  I had some community leaders, some volunteers who had helped me try to organize this thing, and they were depressed.  They felt so defeated they were talking about quitting.  Everybody was too apathetic, they said, there's no point in trying.

But then, I looked outside as I was listening to them talk and I saw some young boys playing in a vacant lot across the street, and they were just throwing rocks at an old apartment building that was boarded up.  And those boys reminded me of me, who didn't have a father in the house and who had gotten in some trouble when he was young.  And I turned to those volunteers and I said, "Before we quit, I want to ask you a question.  What's going to happen to those boys if we quit, if we give up on them?"  And I thought, if we can't see that we have got a stake in those young boys, if we're not willing to do our part on their behalf, if we fail to recognize that the fight for their future is the fight for our own future, well, who is going to do it?

So one by one, those volunteers, they stayed.  Family by family, we reached out to the community.  Slowly people started coming to meetings.  Block by block, we helped to turn those neighborhoods around and helped to improve some of those schools in the area.

And that's the common spirit -- the spirit of common purpose, that all of us have to have in America today.  And I'm absolutely confident that if we're all willing to come together and embrace that spirit -- in the living room, in the classroom, and the State House, on Capitol Hill -- then not only will we see our students reaching farther, not only will we see our schools performing better, not only are we going to help ensure our children outcompete workers abroad and that America outcompetes nations, but we're going to protect the dream of our founding and give all of our children, every last one of them, a fair chance and an equal start in the race to life.  (Applause.)

Thank you very much, everybody.  All right.  Thank you.  God bless, and God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)

END
2:13 P.M. CST
 

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
November 04, 2009

Remarks by The President and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in Discussion with Students

James C. Wright Middle School, Madison, Wisconsin

1:05 P.M. CST

SECRETARY DUNCAN:  Well, we're thrilled to be here and this is a school that's getting better and better, and you guys are working really, really hard.  And we've been lucky.  We have a President here who has got a tough, tough job.  Being President is tough without the -- he's fighting two wars, a really, really tough economy -- I like your shirt.

STUDENT:  Thanks.  (Laughter.)

SECRETARY DUNCAN:  And what amazes me is that week after week, month after month, he just keeps coming back to education, and he's absolutely passionate about it.  He and his wife, the First Lady Michelle Obama, received great educations.  Neither one was born with a lot of money, but they worked really hard and had great teachers and great principals and made the most of it.  And now he's our President.  So it's a pretty remarkable journey.  The only reason he's the President is because he got a great education.

So we're thrilled to be here.  He might want to say a few things, and looks like you guys have questions for him.  And so we'll be quick and we'll open up to your questions.

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, it is good to see all of you.  Thanks so much for having us.

First of all, I've got a great Secretary of Education in Arne Duncan.  So he helps school districts all across the country in trying to figure out how to improve what's going on in the schools.  And let me just pick up on something that Arne said earlier.

I was really lucky to have a great education.  I didn't have a lot of money.  My parents weren't famous.  In fact, my father left when I was two years old, so I really didn't grow up with a father in the house; mostly it was my mom and my grandparents.  But they always emphasized education and they were able to send me to good schools, and by working hard I was obviously in a position to do some good stuff.

My wife, Michelle, same thing.  She grew up on the South Side of Chicago.  Her dad was actually disabled, he had multiple sclerosis, but he still worked every day in a blue collar job.  And her mom didn't work, and when she did she was a secretary.  But because she worked really hard in school she ended up getting a scholarship to Princeton and to Harvard Law School and ended up really being able to achieve a lot.

So that's the reason why we are spending a lot of time talking to folks like you, because we want all of you to understand that there's nothing more important than what you're doing right here at this school.  And Wright has a great reputation, this school is improving all the time, but ultimately how good a school is depends on how well you guys are doing. 

And the main message that I just wanted to deliver to you is, every single one of you could be doing the same kinds of things that Arne is doing or I'm doing or you could be running a company or you can be inventing a product or you could -- look, anything you can imagine, you can accomplish, but the only way you do it is if you're succeeding here in school.  And we are spending a lot of money to try to improve school buildings and put computers in and make sure that your teachers are well trained and that they are getting the support they need. 

So we're working really hard to try to reform the schools, but ultimately what matters most is how badly you want a good education.  If you think that somehow somebody is just going to -- you can tilt your head and somebody is going to pour education in your ear, that's just not how it works.  The only way that you end up being in a position to achieve is if you want it, if inside you want it. 

And part of the reason why we wanted to talk to you guys is, you're right at the point now in your lives where what you do is really going to start mattering.  My daughters are a little younger than you -- Malia is 11, Sasha is eight -- but when you're in grade school, you're playing -- hopefully somebody is making sure you're doing your homework when you get it, but to some degree you're still just kind of learning how to learn. 

By the time you get to middle school, you're now going to be confronted with a lot of choices.  You're going to start entering those teenage years where there are a lot of distractions and in some places people will say you don't need to worry about school or it's uncool to be smart or -- you know, all kinds of things.  And, look, I'll be honest, I went through some of that when I was in high school and I made some mistakes and had some setbacks. 

So I just want everybody to understand right now that nothing is going to be more important to you than just being hungry for knowledge.  And if all of you decide to do that, then there are going to be teachers and principals and secretaries of education who are going to be there to help you.  So hopefully you guys will take that all to heart.

All right.  Okay.  Now we're going to kick out everybody so I can let you -- you guys can ask me all the really tough questions without having the press here.

END
1:09 P.M CST

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
___________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                                                                               November 3, 2009
 

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA,
PRIME MINISTER FREDRIK REINFELDT OF SWEDEN,
EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT JOSÉ MANUEL BARROSO,
AND EUROPEAN COUNCIL HIGH REPRESENTATIVE JAVIER SOLANA
AFTER MEETING

Cabinet Room

4:11 P.M. EST

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, I want to welcome, for the second day in a row, Prime Minister Reinfeldt.  I also want to recognize President Barroso and Javier Solana.  These three gentlemen obviously represent the leadership and the increasing integration -- successful integration that's been taking place in Europe.

I congratulated them on the conclusion of the Lisbon Treaty, which will further move Europe in the direction of integration not only on economic policy but also on a number of security issues.  I believe that a strengthened and renewed EU will be an even better transatlantic partner with the United States.  And so we are extraordinarily appreciative and supportive of the efforts that they've made and the leadership of these three gentlemen.

Our discussions today built on my April meeting with all 27 EU leaders in Prague.  We discussed our shared commitment to success in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where EU civilian assistance has played an absolutely critical role. 

We discussed climate change extensively, and all of us agreed that it was imperative for us to redouble our efforts in the weeks between now and the Copenhagen meeting to assure that we create a framework for progress in dealing with what is a potential ecologic disaster.

We discussed the situation in Iran and emphasized how important it is for the United States and the European Union to coordinate carefully and closely in sending a clear message to Tehran that we want them to be a full member of the community of nations, but that they have to act consistent with international rules and responsibilities with respect to their nuclear program.

We reaffirmed our commitment to strong, sustained economic growth that was articulated by the G20 in Pittsburgh, and reaffirmed our intent to continue to expand trade and resist protectionist measures between the United States and the European Union.

And we spoke about how we can actually coordinate more effectively in preventing terrorism from spreading between our various countries.  We also had a discussion about the Middle East and how we can work together closely on that front.

Over all, I want to say a special congratulations to President Barroso, who's been reelected for another five-year term.  He has done an excellent job in his role with the Commission.  And I want to thank Fredrik for the leadership that he's shown on a wide range of issues, not just within Europe but around the globe as well.  Javier has been a critical partner with us in dealing with the Iran issue.

So these three gentlemen have shown global leadership.  I'm glad they had a chance to visit the United States, and I'm absolutely committed to continuing to strengthen the transatlantic partnership that this meeting represents.

PRIME MINISTER REINFELDT:  Well, thank you very much, Barack.  Thank you for the hospitality.  This is also very important for Europe to value this trust, cooperation with the United States, and since we share the same values.  And I think we had a very good meeting. 

We had at length a discussion about climate change.  And I want to say that we need an agreement that can deliver on the 2-degree target that could give us a solution on financing and that is global and that keeps -- puts everyone together.  That is what we need to see.

And I want to say that I think President Obama has shown real leadership on this issue.  When we talk to people here in the United States they all come back to this, that President Obama himself is very committed.  He has great knowledge in this item and we have great hopes for your leadership in this issue.

When it comes to Afghanistan, we also have a close partnership in Afghanistan.  We have a huge representation also on European Union side; we have 35,000 troopers there and more than a billion euros a year that we actually invest in development resources given to Afghanistan.  So of course we need to have a close working relation when it comes to finding a way for Afghani ownership of the development in Afghanistan.

We actually have also delivered on four points.  We have a start on cooperating on energy and launched an EU-U.S. ministerial energy council.  Our foreign energy ministers will have their first meeting tomorrow, which we welcome.  Secondly, we intensify our cooperation and dialogue on transatlantic economic integration in order to reduce the barriers of trade.

Third, deliverance is restored on dialogue and development on global food security, climate change litigation, and the Millennium Development Goals; and last, to intensify the EU-U.S. cooperation on anti-microbio resistance.  So we are very glad for all of these deliverances as well.

Thank you.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Excellent.

PRESIDENT BARROSO:  I think President Obama and Prime Minister Reinfeldt already made the most important points regarding this very productive meeting we just had.  I'd like to thank President Obama for his very kind words to the European Union.  In fact, we believe that is more important than ever, this relationship.

In this age of globalization it is quite obvious that the United States and Europe can make a real difference.  There are so many issues on the global agenda, from climate change to financial and economic cooperation, to trade -- many issues that we have discussed today.

Regarding climate change I want to tell that I am more confident now than I was in days before.  The Copenhagen -- this issue has been slow, but I would like once again to pay tribute to President Obama's leadership.  As I said earlier, President Obama changed the climate on the climate negotiations because with the strong leadership of United States we can indeed make an agreement.  We are working toward a framework agreement in Copenhagen that will be an important agreement for the world.

And we had particularly a very good discussion on this today and I think it was one of the most important points of our exchange. 

Of course I want to repeat what President Obama and Prime Minister Reinfeldt just said, it is extremely important on the other issues like Afghanistan and Pakistan and the issue of global security also we work together, now negotiating it with the Lisbon Treaty -- the Lisbon Treaty, the treaty that we will give the European Union a reinforced capacity to act, a more clear position also, externally working with our main partners, and of course working especially with our American friends.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Javier.

PRESIDENT SOLANA:  I have nothing to add, Mr. President. (Laughter.)  Mr. President, thank you very much for your hospitality.  We appreciate it.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, thank you very much.  You should understand that the rule in Washington is even if you don't have anything to say -- (laughter) -- you should take a long time to say it.  (Laughter.)  So obviously we'll have to give you more training.  (Laughter.)

Thank you very much, everybody.

END
4:19 P.M. EST

The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
November 03, 2009

Remarks by President Obama and Chancellor Merkel of Germany before Meeting

Oval Office

9:14 A.M. EST

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Hello, everybody.  Well, I'm just going to make a brief statement.  I am thrilled to have Chancellor Merkel here today.  I want to congratulate her again for her victory in her recent election, the formation of a government, and we are honored to have her visit the Oval Office. 

But the main reason she's here is that a great honor has been bestowed upon her.  She is going to be the first German chancellor in 50 years to address Congress -- the first chancellor ever to address a joint session of Congress.  And it is, I think, a very appropriate honor that's been bestowed on Chancellor Merkel.  Obviously the alliance between the United States and Germany has been an extraordinary pillar of the transatlantic relationship. 

We are now moving towards the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down and Germany being reunified after so many painful years.  And this is a special moment for Chancellor Merkel, as somebody who grew up in East Germany, who understands what it's like to be under the shadow of a dictatorial regime, and to see how freedom has bloomed in Germany, how it has become the centerpiece for a extraordinarily strong European Union.

I think all of these things converge, and we are very pleased that she's going to be here to spread her view of what's taking place in the world, the many challenges we face, to members of Congress and the American people.

I should just note that Germany has been an extraordinarily strong ally on a whole host of international issues.  We appreciate the sacrifices of German soldiers in Afghanistan, and our common work there to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan and to create the environment in which the Afghan people themselves can provide for their own security.

Chancellor Merkel has been an extraordinary leader on the issue of climate change.  And the United States, Germany, and countries around the world I think are all beginning to recognize why it is so important that we work in common in order to stem the potential catastrophe that could result if we continue to see global warming continuing unabated.

And on economic issues, on issues like nuclear proliferation, consistently I found Chancellor Merkel to be thoughtful, to be energetic, and to have a strong vision of how we can move forward in the future.

So I am very pleased to be working with her as a partner.  We are thankful, Chancellor, for your leadership not just in Europe but around the world.  And I'm looking forward to many more years in which the American people and the German people are working together to expand the boundaries of freedom and to create prosperity for ordinary men and women on both sides of the Atlantic.

So thank you so much for coming.

CHANCELLOR MERKEL:  (Speaking in German.)

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  I think what she said was good.  (Laughter.)  I'm teasing.

CHANCELLOR MERKEL:  (As translated.)  First of all, I would like to thank you very much for the opportunity to be able to be here again today.  I would also like to say that it is obviously a very great honor for me to address today the joint session of Congress, both houses of Congress, as it were. 

But I'm also very much looking forward to having an exchange of view with the President again.  We have always had very intensive discussions and we're going to have those today again on issues that are of mutual interest to us and that we have been working on almost daily.  We are working and discussing issues, for example, related to climate change, Afghanistan, Iran, and obviously also the world economic situation.
    
But I wanted to use this opportunity today also to express our gratitude, my gratitude, to the American people for the support that the American people have given us throughout the process leading up to German reunification, and I think it something that I would like to later on say it very clearly also in my speech to both houses of Congress.  And let me tell you that this is something that we, the Germans, shall never forget.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  All right, thank you guys.

                                                              
END  
9:20 A.M. EST 

 

    

 

 

 

 

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
November 02, 2009

Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Reinfeldt of Sweden after meeting

Oval Office

2:45 P.M. EST

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  I am thrilled to have the Prime Minister of Sweden with us here today.  We have had occasion to meet fairly frequently this year between all the various summits that we've participated in.  I've always been struck by the Prime Minister's thoughtful, measured approach to some of the most important global challenges that we face.

We had a very constructive discussion on a range of issues.  At the top of the list was the issue of climate change.  We are approaching the Copenhagen negotiations that will be taking place in December, and both Sweden, the United States, and I think it's fair to say the EU as a whole, and the world as a whole, are interested in an outcome that can start moving us down the path of a sustainable economy that is not accelerating the potential catastrophe of climate change.

Sweden has been a real leader in this.  We appreciate their leadership.  We are confident that if all countries involved recognize this is a unique opportunity that we can get an important deal done, not that solves every problem on this issue but takes an important step forward and lays the groundwork for further progress in the future.

We also discussed Afghanistan.  I thanked Fredrik for the contributions of Sweden to the very important effort of stabilizing a country that has been war-torn and is a source of security concerns for all of us.  And to the extent that the European Union continues to make contributions on the civilian front, on the training of police, on development issues like agriculture, then we think that we can see real progress.

I should use this moment to say that about an hour ago I spoke with President Karzai and I congratulated him on his election for a second term as President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.  Although the process was messy, I'm pleased to say that the final outcome was determined in accordance with Afghan law, which I think is very important, not only for the international community that has so much invested in Afghan success, but most importantly, is important for the Afghan people that the results were in accordance with and followed the rules laid down by the Afghan constitution.

I did emphasize to President Karzai that the American people and the international community as a whole want to continue to partner with him and his government in achieving prosperity and security in Afghanistan.  But I emphasized that this has to be a point in time in which we begin to write a new chapter based on improved governance, a much more serious effort to eradicate corruption, joint efforts to accelerate the training of Afghan security forces so that the Afghan people can provide for their own security.  That kind of coordination and a sense on the part of President Karzai that after some difficult years in which there has been some drift, that in fact he's going to move boldly and forcefully forward and take advantage of the international community's interest in his country to initiate reforms internally, that has to be one of our highest priorities.

He assured me that he understood the importance of this moment, but as I indicated to him, the proof is not going to be in words, it's going to be in deeds.  And we are looking forward to consulting closely with his government in the weeks and months to come to assure that the Afghan people are actually seeing progress on the ground.

The last point I would just make, the European Union obviously is an important trading partner of ours.  We are seeing a world economy stabilize after a very difficult period of time.  I think Fredrik would agree that it is absolutely critical that we continue to coordinate closely when it comes to our economic policies to assure that we are moving in a direction of more robust growth that creates more jobs in the United States and in Europe and that we continue to shy away from any protectionist measures that might actually reverse some of these positive trends. 

So once again, welcome.  Thank you for your outstanding work both as Prime Minister and as President.  And please communicate the very warm feelings that the United States people have towards the people of Sweden.

PRIME MINISTER REINFELDT:  Yes, we will.

Well, thank you very much, Barack.  As you said, we have met on several occasions.  We share excellent bilateral relations.  And this is also a strong transatlantic link, which is very important for us. 

We have discussed, as mentioned, the Afghanistan situation.  And the European Union has also said that we're glad that we now can see a second term for Karzai, that it's now concluded. 
    
We talked about long-term commitment in Afghanistan.  We actually have 500 Swedish troops there.  We're up to 35,000 now on the European Union side.  It's very important, as Barack mentioned, to see this as both creating security but also governance issues, which would be of utmost importance to have ownership of their own, and creating sustainable working conditions, living conditions for the people of Afghanistan.

The main issue was, as it often is, the climate issue.  We need to work together.  We need to find ours -- find each other in the process to meet the two-degree target when it comes to Copenhagen and the time thereafter.  And we have spoken today I think about that again.

So I thank you very much for your leadership on that issue.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Thank you for the visit.
    
PRIME MINISTER REINFELDT:  Thank you.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Okay, guys, thank you.

END
2:53 P.M. EST

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
November 02, 2009

Remarks by the President during the meeting of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board

Roosevelt Room

11:24 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody.  I am pleased to be joined this morning by my Economic Recovery Advisory Board.  Each of these men and women have extraordinary and diverse expertise in the economy.

I want to especially thank Paul Volcker, who has been a terrific advisor to me since the transition and has continued to help steer this group in ways that are providing us some very practical advice as we move forward.

I've said before, but I think it bears repeating, that we have come a long way since January, when at that time we were losing 700,000 jobs per month and across the political spectrum I think there was fear of the possibility of another Great Depression.  We have pulled the economy back from the brink.  We got good news last week showing that for the first time in over a year the economy was actually growing once again.  And we have seen some other indicators that manufacturing is beginning to pick up.  That's all good news and we are pleased that the actions that we took swiftly through the Recovery Act helped to stem what could have been a disastrous situation for the economy and we are starting to see stabilization and, indeed, some improvement.

But the reason we're here today is because we just are not where we need to be yet.  We've got a long way to go.  We are still seeing production levels that are significantly below peak levels and most distressing is the fact that job growth continues to lag.  Now, we all know that in every economic recovery there is going to be a lag between the economy growing again, businesses investing again and businesses hiring again.  But given the severity of the job losses that took place at the beginning of the year and the need for us to make up a whole lot of job loss, is going to require I think some bold, innovative action on our part and on Congress's part and on the private sector's part.

It's also going to require that we look at new models for where future growth is going to come from, because one of the I think key understandings coming out of this past financial crisis is that a lot of our growth was debt-driven -- credit cards being maxed out, home equity loans being taken out to finance a lot of purchases.  Consumers I think wisely recognized that they can't get that overextended any more and businesses are going to be more cautious in terms of how they approach taking on a lot of debt.  The government is going to have to get serious about reducing our debt levels.

And so one of our challenges now, and I've been speaking about this for many months now, is how do we get what I call a post-bubble growth model, one that is sustainable.  That's what we're going to be discussing here today.  As I said, we've got experts from a wide range of business sectors, and what we're going to talk about is, are there mechanisms that we can start putting in place where we see the kind of growth that used to characterize the U.S. economy -- export-driven growth, manufacturing growth, growth that pays high wages and provides high living standards for a broad-based middle class.

And I think that there are some excellent ideas that are already on the table.  Some of them are being talked about in Congress.  It's likely this week that we start seeing some discussion about potential tax cuts and credits that could make some difference in hiring, but we want to go beyond just tax policy.

So, for example, we've got John Doerr sitting next to me, who has been one of the leading venture capitalists in the innovation economy and helped to spur on the revolution in the computer industry.  John has unequal passions for the possibilities of green job growth in the future, and how, through projects like weatherization and retrofitting of buildings, we could generate millions of jobs and create huge prospects for growth over the long term.

Jeff Immelt of GE -- down at the end -- has been at the helm of one of our greatest manufacturers, an international company.  Jeff, I think, recognizes that if we don't do more to export, we are not going to succeed in a global competition.  And so how we coordinate more effectively in our trade policies, in our approaches to working with manufacturing here in the United States -- if we don't do that effectively, we're not going to succeed.

Rich Trumka has been talking about infrastructure for a long time, as have I, and I think my team will testify when we got several trillion dollars worth of infrastructure that is falling apart, we need to put people to work, doing the work that America needs done.  But we're also in an era of fiscal constraint, which means that we've got to start finding more creative, new approaches to financing these projects.

So those are the discussions we're going to be having, not just today but in the weeks and months to come.  This is my administration's overriding focus.  Having brought the economy back from the brink, the question is how are we going to make sure that people are getting back to work and able to support their families.  It's not going to happen overnight, but we will not rest until we are succeeding in generating the jobs that this economy needs.

And I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to bounce ideas off of, and we are going to be soliciting ideas from the private sector, from businesses large and small, from academia and from all political persuasions.  If somebody can show me a strategy that's going to work, then we are happy to consider it.

And just -- I want to end by saying this.  We anticipate that we're going to continue to see some job losses in the weeks and months to come.  As I said before, there is a -- always a lag of several months between businesses starting to make profits again and investing again, and then actually rehiring again.  But I want to emphasize I am confident that having moved the economy on the right track, that if we apply some good common sense and some -- and reinvigorate that sector of our economy that's based on innovation and dynamism and entrepreneurship, that there's no reason why we're not going to be able to not only create jobs, but the kind of sustainable economic growth that everybody is looking for.

So, thank you very much, everybody.

END
11:33 A.M. EST
 

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
October 30, 2009

Remarks by the President at Signing of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009

Diplomatic Reception Room

11:58 A.M. EDT

     THE PRESIDENT:  Good morning, everybody.

     AUDIENCE:  Good morning.

     THE PRESIDENT:  We often speak about AIDS as if it's going on somewhere else.  And for good reason -- this is a virus that has touched lives and decimated communities around the world, particularly in Africa.  But often overlooked is the fact that we face a serious HIV/AIDS epidemic of our own -- right here in Washington, D.C., and right here in the United States of America.  And today, we are taking two important steps forward in the fight that we face here at home.

     It has been nearly three decades since this virus first became known.  But for years, we refused to recognize it for what it was.  It was coined a "gay disease."  Those who had it were viewed with suspicion.  There was a sense among some that people afflicted by AIDS somehow deserved their fate and that it was acceptable for our nation to look the other way.

     A number of events and advances over the years have broadened our understanding of this cruel illness.  One of them came in 1984, when a 13-year-old boy from central Indiana contracted HIV/AIDS from a transfusion.  Doctors assured people that Ryan White posed no risk to his classmates or his community.  But ignorance was still widespread.  People didn't yet understand or believe that the virus couldn't be spread by casual contact.  Parents protested Ryan's attendance in class.  Some even pulled their kids out of school.  Things got so bad that the White family had to ultimately move to another town.

     It would have been easy for Ryan and his family to stay quiet and to fight the illness in private.  But what Ryan showed was the same courage and strength that so many HIV-positive activists have shown over the years and shown around -- show around the world today.  And because he did, we didn't just become more informed about HIV/AIDS, we began to take action to fight it.

     In 1990, the year Ryan passed away, two great friends and unlikely political allies, Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch, came together and introduced the Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act -- the CARE Act -- which was later named after Ryan.

     In a few minutes, I'm going to sign the fourth reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act.  Now, in the past, policy differences have made reauthorizations of this program divisive and controversial.  But that didn't happen this year.  And for that, the members of Congress that are here today deserve extraordinary credit for passing this bill in the bipartisan manner that it deserves:  Tom Harkin and Mike Enzi in the Senate, we are grateful to you for your extraordinary work; Speaker Pelosi, who's always leading the charge on so many issues; Frank Pallone, Jr., Joe Barton, Barbara Lee and Donna Christensen in the House, thank you for your extraordinary work -- oh don't worry, I'm getting to Henry.  (Laughter.)  Nancy is always looking out for members, but we've got a special section for Henry.

And Chairman Henry Waxman, who began holding hearings on AIDS in 1982, before there was even a name for AIDS, was leading here in Washington to make sure that this got the informed attention that it deserved and who led the House in passing the original Ryan White legislation in 1990.

     I also want to acknowledge the HIV community for crafting a consensus document that did so much to help move this process forward.  Some of the advocates so important to this legislation are with us here today:  Ernest Hopkins from Cities Advocating for Emergency AIDS Relief; Frank Oldham, Jr., President and CEO of the National Association of People with AIDS; and Julie Scofield, Executive Director of the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors.

     And I'm especially honored that Ryan's mother, Jeanne White-Ginder, is here today.  For 25 years, Jeanne had an immeasurable impact in helping ramp up America's response to this epidemic.  While we lost Ryan at too young an age, Jeanne's efforts have extended the lives and saved the lives of so many others.  We are so appreciative to you.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

     You know, over the past 19 years this legislation has evolved from an emergency response into a comprehensive national program for the care and support of Americans living with HIV/AIDS.  It helps communities that are most severely affected by this epidemic and often least served by our health care system, including minority communities, the LGBT community, rural communities, and the homeless.  It's often the only option for the uninsured and the underinsured.  And it provides life-saving medical services to more than half a million Americans every year, in every corner of the country.

     It's helped us to open a critical front on the ongoing battle against HIV/AIDS.  But let me be clear:  This is a battle that's far from over, and it's a battle that all of us need to do our part to join.  AIDS may no longer be the leading killer of Americans ages 25 to 44, as it once was.  But there are still 1.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States, and more than 56,000 new infections occur every single year.

     Some communities still experience unacceptably high rates of infection.  Gay men make up 2 or 3 percent of the population, but more than half of all new cases.  African Americans make up roughly half of all new cases.  Nearly half of all new cases now occur in the South.  And a staggering 7 percent of Washington, D.C.'s residents between the ages of 40 and 49 live with HIV/AIDS -- and the epidemic here isn't as severe as it is in several other U.S. cities.

     So tackling this epidemic will take far more aggressive approaches than we've seen in the past -- not only from our federal government, but also state and local governments, from local community organizations, and from places of worship.

     But it will also take an effort to end the stigma that has stopped people from getting tested; that has stopped people from facing their own illness; and that has sped the spread of this disease for far too long.  A couple of years ago Michelle and I were in Africa and we tried to combat the stigma when we were in Kenya by taking a public HIV/AIDS test.  And I'm proud to announce today we're about to take another step towards ending that stigma.

     Twenty-two years ago, in a decision rooted in fear rather than fact, the United States instituted a travel ban on entry into the country for people living with HIV/AIDS.  Now, we talk about reducing the stigma of this disease -- yet we've treated a visitor living with it as a threat.  We lead the world when it comes to helping stem the AIDS pandemic -- yet we are one of only a dozen countries that still bar people from HIV from entering our own country.

     If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it.  And that's why, on Monday my administration will publish a final rule that eliminates the travel ban effective just after the New Year.  Congress and President Bush began this process last year, and they ought to be commended for it.  We are finishing the job.  It's a step that will encourage people to get tested and get treatment, it's a step that will keep families together, and it's a step that will save lives.  (Applause.)

     We are continuing the work of crafting a coordinated, measurable national HIV/AIDS strategy to stem and suppress this epidemic.  I'm pleased to report that the Office of National AIDS Policy, led by Jeffrey Crowley, has already held eight in a series of 14 community discussions in cities across the country.  They've brought together faith-based organizations and businesses, schools and research institutions, people living with HIV and concerned citizens, gathering ideas on how to target a national response that effectively reduces HIV infections, improves access to treatment, and eliminates health disparities.  And we are encouraged by the energy, the enthusiasm, and great ideas that we've collected so far.

     We can't give Ryan White back to Jeanne, back to his mom.  But what we can do -- what the legislation that I'm about to sign has done for nearly 20 years -- is honor the courage that he and his family showed.  What we can do is to take more action and educate more people.  What we can do is keep fighting each and every day until we eliminate this disease from the face of the Earth.

     So with that, let me sign this bill.  (Applause.)

     (The Act is signed.)  (Applause.)

END

12:07 P.M. EDT

The White House

Office of the First Lady

For Immediate Release
October 29, 2009

Remarks by the First Lady at Garden Harvesting Event

White House Kitchen Garden

2:14 P.M. EDT

MRS. OBAMA:  So how's everybody doing?

CHILDREN:  Fine!

MRS. OBAMA:  So we've got some Bancroft students -- and what other school do we have here?

CHILDREN:  Kimball!

MRS. OBAMA:  Yes, Kimball.  You guys are a new school.  So we're happy to have you guys.  So you know why we're here?

CHILD:  For the garden.

MRS. OBAMA:  To garden.  Well, more importantly we're going to harvest, right, because we've got all this food that is ready to be picked and eaten.  So just -- especially for the Kimball students, because Bancroft students -- you guys are new, even though the school isn't new.  Many of you haven't been here before, right?

CHILDREN:  Yes.

MRS. OBAMA:  Yes, yes.  So you remember how this all started.  If you remember that it was -- in March, right -- we decided we were going to plant this garden.  So this garden wasn't here before.  Nothing was here.  This was grass like everything else.  So we thought, well, wouldn't it be great if we could use this garden to talk about the importance of healthy eating and what good, fresh foods taste like?

So we had Bancroft students, who were fifth graders then -- many of them have gone on to sixth grade, a new school -- but they helped us till the soil, get the soil ready.  So we had to pull up all the grass and make sure that the soil was ready and healthy.  And then they came back and we actually planted. 

We planted -- remember planting these -- all these herbs and some of the lettuces.  So some of them were seeds, but some of them were little plants.  And then they grew, and then in the spring and the summer we harvested. So there was food just like this, ready to be picked.  And then we ate together.

So then the summer went by, and now it's fall, and there's a whole new crop of food here that's ready to be harvested.  And actually we've done a little bit of that.  My girls and I, we got a couple of the sweet potatoes, and we're going to do some of those -- these sweet potatoes are huge!  They're huge.  So hopefully you guys will be able to pull up some of these huge sweet potatoes.

So that's why we've invited you all here.  So you're going to help us do our fall/winter harvest.

Yes, young man, you have a question?  Oh, you're just fanning your hair?  (Laughter.)  That's good, that's good.

But we also have some other guests in addition to our students.  We've got somebody very special -- the first time he's been down with us to help harvest, Jim Adams.  And Jim is the chief horticulturalist here at the White House.  Do you know what a horticulturalist does, or what he did for this garden?  He really was responsible for how productive this garden was, because, you know, we sort of know a little bit of something about gardening, but how do you know what to plant where, and what's going to grow well here in this soil? 

Well, Jim helped us figure out where to put things, how to make it beautiful and to make sure that the food was going to grow, and we were going to get the right types of fruits at the right period of the season.  So Jim, really, we have to give him a big round of applause because -- (applause) -- thanks to Jim we have a very productive garden.

Do you know how much food has come out of this garden so far?  Over 740 pounds of food have come out of this little piece of land. 

And do you know how much it costs to plant all this?  How much do you all think it would cost to plant this?  Give me a figure.

CHILD:  Three hundred dollars.

MRS. OBAMA:  What?

CHILD:  Three hundred dollars.

MRS. OBAMA:  Three hundred dollars?  I have three hundred here!  (Laughter.)

CHILD:  Eight hundred.

MRS. OBAMA:  Eight hundred.  I've got eight hundred.  One thousand.  Six thousand dollars.  One more guess.

CHILD:  Five hundred.

MRS. OBAMA:  Five hundred.  All right, it costs less than two hundred dollars.  It was about a hundred and eighty dollars.  It cost a hundred dollars to get the -- a hundred-and-twenty-something dollars to get the soil ready, and about fifty-five dollars for all of these seeds.

So for less than two hundred dollars we have planted enough food to feed not just the folks at the White House, but we've also given a lot of food to some of our neighbors, and we're going to do that today. 

We've got some of the staff and our friends from Miriam's Kitchen, who are here.  Miriam's -- you guys raise your hands.  The Miriam's Kitchen team.  You guys know about Miriam's Kitchen?  It's a place where folks can go and get help if they need it.  You know, if moms and kids and families are hitting on hard times and they don't have a place to get food, they can go to Miriam's Kitchen.  And Miriam's Kitchen specializes in making sure that everyone who comes there has access to really healthy food. 

So everything that you guys pick here today, we're donating it to the Miriam's Kitchen.  So it makes it even extra special, okay?

So I want to thank you guys for coming and for sharing this with us.  And I also want to introduce all our chefs at the White House.  Everybody, raise your hands, all of our chefs at the White House who are -- who have helped to make sure that this garden grows and that we get good food, and they make it, and it's good, and it's healthy.  You know, it's all that good stuff.

So are you guys ready to do some work?

CHILDREN:  Yes!

MRS. OBAMA:  Are you ready to work really hard?

CHILDREN:  Yes!

MRS. OBAMA:  Are you ready to get dirty?

CHILDREN:  Yes!

MRS. OBAMA:  All right, let's go!  Let's go, let's do it, let's do it!

END
2:20 P.M. EDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
October 29, 2009

Remarks by President Obama and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore before Meeting

Oval Office

1:47 P.M. EDT

     PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Hello, everybody.  I just want to welcome the Minister Mentor of Singapore.  This is one of the legendary figures of Asia in the 20th and 21st centuries.  He is somebody who helped to trigger the Asian economic miracle.  Singapore has been an outstanding friend and ally of the United States for many, many years, and so I am very much looking forward to the opportunity to hearing from the Minister Mentor his views on the evolving situation in Asia, as I prepare for my upcoming trip both to Singapore and to other key nations in the region.

     And so I'm very grateful that he took the time.  Welcome.  And on behalf of the American people, we want to say thank you to the people of Singapore for being such outstanding friends.

     MINISTER MENTOR LEE:  Thank you, Mr. President, for those very warm words.  I'm especially privileged to see you at a time of renewal and change in America, and during a period of transition where the world order is changing.  And I look forward to hear your views on how you see the world evolving in a manner -- (inaudible) -- which is crucial to the stability and prosperity of East Asia. 

     PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Thank you very much.

     All right, everybody.

     Q    Sir, can we ask about your visit to Dover Air Force Base last night?  Will it influence your decision on Afghanistan?

     PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, obviously it was a sobering reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices that our young men and women in uniform are engaging in every single day -- not only our troops, but their families as well.  And so Michelle and I are constantly mindful of those sacrifices. 

     And obviously the burden that both our troops and our families bear in any wartime situation is going to bear on how I see these conflicts.  And it is something that I think about each and every day. 

     All right?

END

1:50 P.M. EDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
October 29, 2009

Remarks by the President on Small Businessess and Health Insurance Reform

South Court, Eisenhower Executive Office Building

11:51 A.M. EDT

     THE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon, everybody.  Please, have a seat.  Before I begin, I want to just acknowledge two people who are working extraordinarily hard on behalf of small businesses.  First of all, the administrator of our Small Business Administration, Karen Mills, is here.  (Applause.) 

     The other individual who is on his way and will be here in a hot second but we didn't want to keep everybody waiting is a dear friend of mine, a great former governor of Virginia, is now the senator from the great state of Virginia, and a huge supporter of small business and trying to figure out how to help all of you control your costs, and that's Senator Mark Warner.  So when he comes in, please give him a smile.  (Applause.)

     I asked you here today to talk about health insurance reform and why it's so critical to the success of small businesses across our country.  But before I do, let me talk a minute just briefly about the new economic numbers that were released this morning.

I am gratified that our economy grew in the third quarter of this year.  We've come a long way since the first three months of 2009, when our economy shrunk by an alarming 6.4 percent.  In fact, the 3.5 percent growth in the third quarter is the largest three-month gain we have seen in two years.  This is obviously welcome news and an affirmation that this recession is abating and the steps we've taken have made a difference.

But I also know that we got a long way to go to fully restore our economy and recover from what's been the longest and deepest downturn since the Great Depression.  And while this report today represents real progress, the benchmark I use to measure the strength of our economy is not just whether our GDP is growing, but whether we're creating jobs, whether families are having an easier time paying their bills, whether our businesses are hiring and doing well.  And that's what I'm here to talk with you about today.

     I know many of you have come from different corners of our country to be here, and looking out at all of you I'm reminded of the extraordinary diversity of America's small businesses.  You're owners of coffee shops, and diners, and hotels.  You're florists, exterminators, builders.  Each of your shops and firms reflects different passions, and different ideas, and different skills.

But what you share is a willingness to pursue those passions, take a chance on those ideas, and make the most of those skills.  What you share is an entrepreneurial spirit, a tireless work ethic, and a simple hope for something better that lies at the heart of the American ideal.  Businesses like yours are the engines of job growth in America.  Over the past decade and a half, America's small businesses have created 65 percent of all new jobs in this country.  And more than half of all Americans working in the private sector are either employed by a small business or own one.

Now, even in good times, starting a business, as all of you know, is not easy.  It takes moxie, it takes gumption, it takes ingenuity, and failure is often more likely than success.  But I don't have to tell you that it's been particularly difficult over the past few years.  From the middle of 2007 through the end of 2008, small businesses lost 2.4 million jobs.  Thousands have shut their doors altogether.  And because of the credit crunch, banks have shrunk back from lending, making it harder to get loans to branch out, or finance your inventories, or maybe even to make payroll.  Maybe you've had to forgo raises.  Maybe you've had to do the unthinkable and lay off friends or family.

So we know how tough times have been for small businesses.  That's why I made sure the Recovery Act included a number of measures to help small businesses weather this economic storm.  We've put a tax cut -- a tax cut, not a tax hike -- a tax cut into the pockets of the vast majority of small business owners and employees.  We've supported nearly 65,000 [sic] loans to small businesses -- more than $13 billion in new lending.  More than 1,200 banks and credit unions that had stopped issuing SBA loans when the financial crisis hit are lending again today.  And just last week, we proposed increasing the cap on what are called 7(a) and 504 loans -- some of the loans most frequently handed out by the SBA.

But given the enormous problems small businesses and all Americans are facing today, we're aware that these steps are by no means enough.  If we're serious about strengthening small businesses, if we're serious about creating a climate where our entrepreneurs can succeed, if we're serious about giving you the chance to prosper and grow, I believe, this administration firmly believes, that we need to pass health insurance reform in the United States of America.

Now, few have a bigger stake in what happens than all of you.  Few have a bigger stake than the men and women who own a small business, work at a small business, or rely on someone who does.  Few have a bigger stake in what happens because few are struggling more under the status quo.  You all know the story.

We all know that family premiums have skyrocketed more than 130 percent over the past decade.  They have more than doubled.  But small businesses have been hit harder than most.  A story in the paper just the other day said that many small businesses may see their premiums rise about 15 percent over the coming year -- twice the rate they rose last year.  And in part because small businesses pay higher administrative costs than larger ones, your employees pay up to 18 percent more in premiums for the very same health insurance.

In one national survey, nearly three-quarters of small businesses that don't offer benefits cited high premiums as the reason -- and that's not surprising.

The bottom line is that too many Americans like you can't afford to build the kinds of businesses you'd been hoping to build.  Too many budding entrepreneurs can't afford to take a gamble on a smart idea because they can't give up the health insurance they get in their current job.  Too many of you not only can't afford to provide health insurance to your employees, too many of you are having a tough time just affording health insurance for yourselves.  That's bad for our economy, it's bad for our country, and that's what we'll change when health insurance reform becomes law.

Just this morning, the House of Representatives released its version of health reform legislation, and I want to commend Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Caucus for their leadership in achieving this critical milestone.  They forged a strong consensus that represents a historic step forward.  This bill includes reforms that will finally help make quality insurance affordable.  Importantly, this bill is also fully paid for and will reduce the deficit in the long term. 

Now, there is no doubt that this legislation, and the legislation that's being drafted in the Senate, would benefit millions of small businesses.  It's being written with the interests of Americans like you and your employees in mind.

And yet, there are those who have a vested interest in the status quo who are claiming otherwise, and they're using misleading figures and disingenuous arguments.  So I want to try to explain as clearly as I can exactly what health reform would mean for small business owners like you and the workers you employ.

The first thing I want to make clear is that if you are happy with the insurance plan that you have right now, if the costs you're paying and the benefits you're getting are what you want them to be, then you can keep offering that same plan.  Nobody will make you change it.

     What we will do is make the coverage that you're currently providing more affordable by offering a tax credit to small businesses that are trying to do the right thing and provide coverage for their employees.  Under the House and Senate bills, millions of small businesses would be eligible for a tax credit of up to 50 percent of their premiums.  That's in the legislation that's already been proposed.

We'll also make your coverage more stable and more secure.  Right now, if just one of your workers falls seriously ill, it could spell disaster for your entire business.  You could see your premiums shoot up and you face a painful choice:  Do you eat the costs and ask your workers to contribute more?  Do you seek another insurance plan, without any guarantee that you'll be able to find one that's affordable?  Or do you just scale back benefits or drop coverage altogether?

I don't think that you should have to make that choice in the United States of America.  Under health insurance reform, we put an end to the days when an insurance company could use one worker's illness to justify jacking up premiums for everybody.  We'll crack down on excessive overhead charges by setting strong standards on how much of your premium can go towards administrative costs and requiring insurers to give you a refund if they violate those standards.  It'll be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a preexisting condition.  And it will be against the law for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it the most. 

They'll no longer be able to place some arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or a lifetime.  If you get your insurance through your employer, we'll change the cutoff on how old your kids can be to remain on your plan -- we'll raise that to 26 years old.  We'll place a limit on how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses.  And insurance companies will be required to cover, with no extra charge, routine checkups and preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies -- because there's no reason we shouldn't be catching diseases like breast cancer and colon cancer before they get worse and cost more money.  That makes sense, it saves money, and it saves lives. 

So that's what we'll do for all the small businesses that have insurance, that are currently providing insurance.  And for all the small businesses that can't afford to provide insurance right now, and small business owners who can't even afford to get coverage themselves, we'll finally make quality coverage affordable.  And here's how we'll do it. 

One of the biggest problems in our health care system right now is if you're a small business owner or if you're self-employed, you often have such a small number of workers that insurance companies aren't all that interested in your business.  It's basic economics.  You don't have a lot of leverage as a small customer.  And as a result, you end up paying higher costs than big businesses that can get better deals because they've got more workers -- they got more purchasing power. 

     So what we'll do is to set up what we're calling an exchange that will pool small businesses together.  And that will mean it's not just you bargaining with insurance companies, it's you and many other small business owners and self-employed individuals all across the country.  And with all that additional leverage, you'll be able to get better deals than you could have ever received on your own.  In fact, small businesses that choose one of the plans in this exchange could save 25 percent on their premiums by 2016 -- only two years after the exchange has been set up. 

     And we'll also offer tax credits to make insurance even more affordable for millions of small businesses.  So meanwhile, by expanding coverage for more Americans, we're going to help eliminate the "hidden tax" of more than a thousand dollars that the average worker is paying to cover the medical expenses of the uninsured.

Now, nothing is free, and it's true that when reform becomes law, businesses of a certain size who do not offer their workers health care coverage may be required to contribute to the costs -- and that makes a lot of small business owners nervous.  Opponents of reform have tried to say that you'd be subject to this penalty and it could potentially drive up your costs. 

But here are the facts, because this has been analyzed repeatedly.  About 90 percent -- 90 percent of all small businesses, regardless of what version of this plan you're talking about that's currently going through Congress -- 90 percent of all businesses would be exempt from this requirement.  So if your business is anything like the vast majority of small businesses out there, this requirement simply won't apply to you -- because I don't think it's fair to impose a penalty on small businesses that are already operating at very narrow margins.

So that's what health insurance reform would mean for you and for all our small businesses.  It would reduce your costs.  It would prevent small business owners from facing exorbitant rate hikes.  It will make coverage affordable for all small businesses that can't afford it right now.  And if you're providing health insurance to your employees, it gives you more predictability, more security, more stability.

It will help remove the worry that if you have the courage to strike out on your own and open a business, you'll be doomed from the start.  It will help give entrepreneurs and all Americans the assurance of knowing they won't go broke when they get sick.  It will help ensure that no small business owner in America has to choose between being a successful employer and an employer who cares deeply about the well-being of his employees, or her employees.  It will help us be the kind of country we know ourselves to be.

So what's at stake isn't just the success of our businesses or the strength of our economy or even the health of our people.  What's at stake is that most American of ideas -- that this is a place where you can make it if you try; where you can be your own boss; where the only limits to what you can achieve are your smarts, your savvy, your dreams, your willingness to work hard; where you can pass on to your children a better life than you inherited.

That's what's at stake.  That's what we're fighting for.  And I'm absolutely confident that if we do what has to be done, if we can build an economy that works for all Americans, if we can promote innovation, and foster growth, and build a better health care system that is not a drag on each and every one of you, then not only will we ease the burdens on entrepreneurs, not only will we give our small businesses a huge boost, not only will we produce the kind of growth we so desperately need in this country, but we'll secure the blessings of America for our children and our grandchildren.

That's what we're fighting for.  I need your help to make it happen.  Thank you very much, everybody.  Thank you.  God bless America.  (Applause.)

END

12:07 P.M. EDT