Statement by the President on the Departure of Danielle Gray

Ten years ago, Danielle Gray put a promising legal career on hold to join my campaign for the U.S. Senate – and I will always be grateful that she did.  Over the past decade, I’ve come to rely on Danielle’s brilliant legal mind, her mastery of complex policy, her sense of humor, her fundamental decency, and her passionate, persistent understanding of the hopes, dreams and challenges of the Americans we have the privilege to fight for.  Danielle has been instrumental in shaping policies that have helped grow our economy and create good jobs, ensuring that our veterans get the economic opportunities they deserve, helping to craft my American Jobs Act proposal and confirming two extraordinarily qualified women to the Supreme Court.  And over the past year, as Cabinet Secretary and a close advisor to me, she has not only helped make sure every agency in the federal government remains focused on giving hardworking Americans a fair shot at opportunity, but that our policies reflect the values we have always fought for.  While I will miss Danielle, I will continue to rely on her counsel, and I look forward to watching her help push our legal system and our country in the direction of justice for years to come.

Statement by the President on the Implementation of the First Step Agreement on the Islamic Republic of Iran's Nuclear Program

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 12, 2014

Statement by the President on the Implementation of the First Step Agreement on the Islamic Republic of Iran's Nuclear Program

Today’s agreement to implement the Joint Plan of Action announced in November marks the first time in a decade that the Islamic Republic of Iran has agreed to specific actions that halt progress on its nuclear program and roll back key parts of the program.  Beginning January 20th, Iran will for the first time start eliminating its stockpile of higher levels of enriched uranium and dismantling some of the infrastructure that makes such enrichment possible.  Iran has agreed to limit its enrichment capability by not installing or starting up additional centrifuges or using next-generation centrifuges.  New and more frequent inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites will allow the world to verify that Iran is keeping its commitments.  Taken together, these and other steps will advance our goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
 
In return, over the next six months the United States and our P5+1 partners -- the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, and China, as well as the European Union –- will begin to implement modest relief so long as Iran fulfills its obligations and as we pursue a comprehensive solution to Iran’s nuclear program.  Meanwhile, we will continue to vigorously enforce the broader sanctions regime, and if Iran fails to meet its commitments we will move to increase our sanctions.   
 
Unprecedented sanctions and tough diplomacy helped to bring Iran to the negotiating table, and I’m grateful to our partners in Congress who share our goal of preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.  Imposing additional sanctions now will only risk derailing our efforts to resolve this issue peacefully, and I will veto any legislation enacting new sanctions during the negotiation. 

With today's agreement, we have made concrete progress.  I welcome this important step forward, and we will now focus on the critical work of pursuing a comprehensive resolution that addresses our concerns over Iran’s nuclear program.  I have no illusions about how hard it will be to achieve this objective, but for the sake of our national security and the peace and security of the world, now is the time to give diplomacy a chance to succeed.

Statement by the Vice President on the Death of Ariel Sharon

                                                                                    THE WHITE HOUSE
                                                                                Office of the Vice President
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                                                                              FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                                                                       January 11, 2014
 
Statement by the Vice President on the Death of Ariel Sharon

Jill and I were saddened to hear of the passing of Ariel Sharon.  We send our condolences to his family and to his beloved nation of Israel.  I look forward to leading the U.S. delegation to his memorial service, to pay respects to the man and to pay tribute to the unshakeable partnership between the United States and Israel.

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Weekly Address: Ensuring 2014 is a Year of Action to Grow the Economy

WASHINGTON, DC— In this week’s address, President Obama called 2014 a year of action, which should start with Congress quickly passing emergency unemployment insurance for the 1.3 million Americans who lost this vital lifeline as they fight to find jobs and make ends meet.

The audio of the address and video of the address will be available online at www.whitehouse.gov at 6:00 a.m. ET, Saturday, January 11, 2014.

Remarks of President Barack Obama
As Prepared for Delivery
The White House
January 11, 2014

Hi, everybody.  Yesterday, we learned that in 2013, our businesses created 2.2 million new jobs – including 87,000 last month.  Our unemployment rate is the lowest it has been since October 2008.  And across our broader economy, there are signs of progress.  Our manufacturing and housing sectors are rebounding.  Our energy, technology, and auto sectors are booming.  Thanks in part to the reforms in the Affordable Care Act, health care costs now eat up less of our economy – over the past four years, costs have grown at the slowest rate on record.  And since I took office, we’ve cut our deficits by more than half. 

Thanks to the hard work and sacrifice of the American people, our economy is growing stronger.  But we know we’ve got more work to do together.  Our success as a country depends on more than the success of our broader economy – it depends on the success of the American people.  It depends on your ability to make ends meet, provide for your families, and, with a little hard work, feel like you can get ahead.

So we’ve got to keep our economy growing, and make sure more Americans have the opportunity to share in that growth.  We’ve got to keep creating jobs that offer new opportunity, and make sure those jobs offer the wages and benefits that let you rebuild some security.  We’ve got more kids to educate, and families to get covered with health insurance, and an immigration system to fix.  And we’ve got to make sure this recovery leaves no one behind. 

This will be a year of action.  I’ll keep doing everything I can to create new jobs and new opportunities for American families – with Congress, on my own, and with everyone willing to play their part.  And that action should begin by extending unemployment insurance for Americans who were laid off in the recession through no fault of their own.  This vital economic lifeline helps people support their families while they look for a new job.  And it demands responsibility in return by requiring that they prove they’re actively looking for work.  But Republicans in Congress just let that lifeline expire for 1.3 million Americans.  And if this doesn’t get fixed, it will actually hurt about 14 million Americans over the course of this year.  Earlier this week, Democrats and Republicans in the Senate took the first steps toward making this right.  But Congress needs to finish the job right away.  More than one million Americans across the country will feel a little hope right away.

Working folks are looking for the kind of stable, secure jobs that went overseas in the past couple decades.  So next week, I’ll join companies and colleges and take action to boost the high-tech manufacturing that attracts the kind of good new jobs a growing middle class requires. 

Business owners are ready to play their part and hire more workers.  So next week, I’ll be joined by college presidents as we lay out specific steps we can take to help more workers earn the skills they need for today’s new jobs.  Later this month I’ll host CEOs at the White House to announce commitments we’re making to put more of the long-term unemployed back to work. 

And at the end of the month, in my State of the Union Address, I will mobilize the country around the national mission of making sure our economy offers everyone who works hard a fair shot at opportunity and success.  As Americans, that’s what we should expect.  And after everything you’ve done to recover and rebuild from crisis these past five years – after all your hard work and sacrifice – that’s what you deserve.

Thanks, and have a great weekend. 

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