The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 09, 2013

Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate

NOMINATIONS SENT TO THE SENATE:

Madeline Hughes Haikala, of Alabama, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Alabama, vice Inge Prytz Johnson, retired.

Gregory Howard Woods, of New York, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York, vice Barbara S. Jones, retired.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 09, 2013

Readout of the President's Call with King Mohammed VI of Morocco

President Obama and King Mohammed spoke by phone today and reaffirmed the historic relationship between the United States and Morocco.  The two leaders discussed the importance of continuing to deepen our bilateral cooperation, especially on regional security matters of mutual concern.  The President invited King Mohammed to Washington and said he looked forward to continuing their conversation in person.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 09, 2013

President Obama Nominates Two to Serve on the United States District Court

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama nominated Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala and Gregory Howard Woods for District Court judgeships.

“I am pleased to nominate these distinguished individuals to serve on the United States District Court bench,” said President Obama.  “I am confident they will serve the American people with integrity and a steadfast commitment to justice.”

Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala has served as a United States Magistrate Judge in the Northern District of Alabama since 2012.  Previously, she was a partner at the law firm Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC in Birmingham, Alabama, where she worked for 22 years.  In private practice, Judge Haikala handled a broad range of commercial litigation at both the trial and appellate levels, before both federal and state courts.  From 1998 to 2005, she taught Appellate Law at Cumberland School of Law as an adjunct professor.  Judge Haikala received her J.D. magna cum laude in 1989 from Tulane University Law School and her B.A. in 1986 from Williams College.

Gregory Howard Woods:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Gregory Howard Woods is currently the General Counsel at the United States Department of Energy, having served in that position since his Senate confirmation in 2012.  From 2009 to 2012, he served as Deputy General Counsel at the United States Department of Transportation.  From 1998 to 2009, Woods worked at the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in New York, where he became partner in 2004.  He began his legal career working as a trial attorney in the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice from 1995 to 1998.  Woods received his J.D. in 1995 from Yale Law School and his B.A. magna cum laude in 1991 from Williams College.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 09, 2013

Obama Administration Launches Competition for Three New Manufacturing Innovation Institutes

WASHINGTON, DC – The Obama Administration today announced that it is launching competitions to create three new manufacturing innovation institutes with a Federal commitment of $200 million across five Federal agencies – Defense, Energy, Commerce, NASA, and the National Science Foundation.  To build off the initial success of a pilot institute headquartered in Youngstown, Ohio, the President announced in the State of the Union that his Administration would move forward and launch three new manufacturing innovation institutes this year.  The President will continue to call on Congress to act on his proposal for a one-time $1 billion investment to create a network of 15 manufacturing innovation institutes across the country. 

President Obama is committed to making America a magnet for jobs and manufacturing so we continue to build things the rest of the world buys. After shedding jobs for a decade, our manufacturers have added about 500,000 over the past three years. Manufacturing production has grown since the end of the recession at its fastest pace in over a decade.  To build on this momentum, the President has outlined a concrete and comprehensive agenda to invest in American manufacturing. 

The President’s manufacturing agenda starts with his vision for a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI).  The President’s FY14 Budget includes a $1 billion investment at the Department of Commerce to create the NNMI, a model based on approaches that that other countries have successfully deployed.  Each institute would serve as a regional hub designed to bridge the gap between basic research and product development, bringing together companies, universities and community colleges, and Federal agencies to co-invest in technology areas that encourage investment and production in the U.S.  This type of innovation infrastructure provides a unique ‘teaching factory’ that allows for education and training of students and workers at all levels, while providing the shared assets to help companies, most importantly small manufacturers, access the cutting-edge capabilities and equipment to design, test, and pilot new products and manufacturing processes.

The Department of Defense will lead two of the new Institutes, focused on “Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation” and “Lightweight and Modern Metals Manufacturing”, and the Department of Energy will be leading one new institute on “Next Generation Power Electronics Manufacturing”.  

All three institutes will be selected through an open, competitive process, led by the Departments of Energy and Defense, with review from a multi-agency team of technical experts.  Winning teams will be selected and announced later this year.  Federal funds will be matched by industry co-investment, support from state and local governments, and other sources.  Like the pilot institute, these Institutes are expected to become financially self-sustaining, and the plan to achieve this objective will be a critical evaluation criterion in the selection process.  DOD and DOE are opening the competition for the three new institutes immediately.  For more information:
• Department of Defense –  “Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation”
• Department of Defense –  “Lightweight and Modern Metals Manufacturing”
• Department of Energy – “Next Generation Power Electronics Manufacturing”

Additional Background:

President Obama’s Plan to Make America a Magnet for Jobs by Investing in Manufacturing
Following the State of the Union address, the Administration released the President’s plan for investing in manufacturing, a comprehensive agenda to build on the momentum in the U.S. manufacturing sector.

National Network for Manufacturing Innovation
In January 2013, the Administration released a report that details the President’s proposal for a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation. 

Technology Areas for New Institutes:
Consistent with existing authority, Federal agencies have selected technology areas that have broad commercial applications but meet critical mission needs.  The selected technology areas also build off existing multi-agency priority initiatives like the Materials Genome Initiative.  The three topic areas are:

• Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation: Advanced design and manufacturing tools that are digitally integrated and networked with supply chains can lead to  'factories of the future' forming an agile U.S. industrial base with significant speed to market advantage. A national institute focusing on the development of novel model-based design methodologies, virtual manufacturing tools, and sensor and robotics based manufacturing networks will accelerate the innovation in digital manufacturing increasing U.S. competitiveness.

• Lightweight and Modern Metals Manufacturing: Advanced lightweight metals possess mechanical and electrical properties comparable to traditional materials while enabling much lighter components and products. A national institute will make the U.S. more competitive by scaling-up research to accelerate market expansion for products such as wind turbines, medical devices, engines, armored combat vehicles, and airframes, and lead to significant reductions in manufacturing and energy costs.

• Next Generation Power Electronics:  Wide bandgap semiconductor based power electronic devices represent the next major platform beyond the silicon based devices that have driven major technological advances in our economy over the last several decades.  Wide bandgap technology will enable dramatically more compact and efficient power electronic devices for electric vehicles, renewable power interconnection, industrial-scale variable speed drive motors and a smarter more flexible grid; in addition to high-performance defense applications (e.g. reducing the size of a sub-station to a suit case).

Pilot Institute

In August 2012, the Administration announced the winner of an initial $30 million Federal award to create a pilot institute, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII).  Headquartered in Youngstown, Ohio, NAMII consists of a consortium of manufacturing firms, universities, community colleges, and non-profit organizations primarily from the Ohio-Pennsylvania-West Virginia ‘Tech Belt’.  NAMII was selected from amongst twelve teams from around the country that applied for the award.  The members of NAMII will co-invest $40 million against the initial Federal award. 

Additive manufacturing, often referred to as 3D printing, is a new way of making products and components from a digital model, and will have implications in a wide range of industries including defense, aerospace, automotive, and metals manufacturing. Like an office printer that puts 2D digital files on a piece of paper, a 3D printer creates components by depositing thin layers of material one after another using a digital blueprint until the exact component required has been created. The Department of Defense envisions customizing parts on site for operational systems that would otherwise be expensive to make or ship. The Department of Energy anticipates that additive processes would be able to save more than 50% energy use compared to today’s ‘subtractive’ manufacturing processes.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 09, 2013

Obama Administration Releases Historic Open Data Rules to Enhance Government Efficiency and Fuel Economic Growth

The Obama Administration today took groundbreaking new steps to make information generated and stored by the Federal Government more open and accessible to innovators and the public, to fuel entrepreneurship and economic growth while increasing government transparency and efficiency.

Today’s actions—including an Executive Order signed by the President and an Open Data Policy released by the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy—declare that information is a valuable national asset whose value is multiplied when it is made easily accessible to the public.  The Executive Order requires that, going forward, data generated by the government be made available in open, machine-readable formats, while appropriately safeguarding privacy, confidentiality, and security.

The move will make troves of previously inaccessible or unmanageable data easily available to entrepreneurs, researchers, and others who can use those files to generate new products and services, build businesses, and create jobs.

“One of the things we’re doing to fuel more private sector innovation and discovery is to make vast amounts of America’s data open and easy to access for the first time in history.  And talented entrepreneurs are doing some pretty amazing things with it,” said President Barack Obama. “Starting today, we’re making even more government data available online, which will help launch even more new startups.  And we’re making it easier for people to find the data and use it, so that entrepreneurs can build products and services we haven’t even imagined yet.”        

Later today, President Obama will meet with entrepreneurs at the Capital Factory—a startup incubator—who are already leveraging open government data to create new products and services as part of his new series of Middle Class Jobs & Opportunity Tours to highlight how a growing, thriving middle class is critical to America’s economic future. 

The American economy has consistently benefited when government data have been released to entrepreneurs and other innovators.  The public release of weather data from government satellites and ground stations generated an entire economic sector that today includes the Weather Channel, commercial agricultural advisory services, and new insurance options.  Similarly, the decision by the US Government to make the Global Positioning System (GPS), once reserved for military use, available for civilian and commercial access, gave rise to GPS-powered innovations ranging from aircraft navigation systems to precision farming to location-based apps, contributing tens of billions of dollars in annual value to the American economy. 

And the Administration’s current Health Data Initiative, which has opened government-held data on hospitals, drugs, insurance products, healthcare costs, and more in machine-readable form, has already contributed to hundreds of new products and companies that are transforming health care delivery and improving patient health.  Just yesterday, Medicare published data that for the first time gives consumers information on what hospitals charge for common inpatient procedures, signaling a major step forward for hospital price transparency and accountability.

Along with the Executive Order and Open Data Policy, the Administration announced a series of complementary actions:

• A new Data.Gov.  In the months ahead, Data.gov, the powerful central hub for open government data, will launch new services that include improved visualization, mapping tools, better context to help locate and understand these data, and robust Application Programming Interface (API) access for developers.

• New open source tools to make data more open and accessible.  The US Chief Information Officer and the US Chief Technology Officer are releasing free, open source tools on Github, a site that allows communities of developers to collaboratively develop solutions.  This effort, known as Project Open Data, can accelerate the adoption of open data practices by providing plug-and-play tools and best practices to help agencies improve the management and release of open data.  For example, one tool released today automatically converts simple spreadsheets and databases into APIs for easier consumption by developers.  Anyone, from government agencies to private citizens to local governments and for-profit companies, can freely use and adapt these tools starting immediately.

• Building a 21st century digital government.  As part of the Administration’s Digital Government Strategy and Open Data Initiatives in health, energy, education, public safety, finance, and global development, agencies have been working to unlock data from the vaults of government, while continuing to protect privacy and national security.  Newly available or improved data sets from these initiatives will be released today and over the coming weeks as part of the one year anniversary of the Digital Government Strategy.

• Continued engagement with entrepreneurs and innovators to leverage government data.  The Administration has convened and will continue to bring together companies, organizations, and civil society for a variety of summits to highlight how these innovators use open data to positively impact the public and address important national challenges.  In June, Federal agencies will participate in the fourth annual Health Datapalooza, hosted by the nonprofit Health Data Consortium, which will bring together more than 1,800 entrepreneurs, innovators, clinicians, patient advocates, and policymakers for information sessions, presentations, and “code-a-thons” focused on how the power of data can be harnessed to help save lives and improve healthcare for all Americans.

For more information on open data highlights across government visit: http://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/eop/ostp/library/docsreports

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 08, 2013

Readout of the President’s Meeting with Electric Utility CEOs and their Trade Associations

Today, the President, joined by senior members of his response team, attended a meeting with electric utility executives and trade association representatives at the Department of Energy to discuss lessons learned during the response to Hurricane Sandy, as well as discuss ongoing preparations for the 2013 hurricane season which begins June 1st. In the meeting, the President thanked the utility executives for their efforts during the response to Hurricane Sandy and noted the strong working relationship demonstrated between industry and the federal government as companies worked to restore power to millions of customers in Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern States, including the resources and personnel shared to assist these efforts by a number of companies who were outside of the affected region. The President discussed that in the wake of major disasters like Hurricane Sandy extended power outages can have major impacts on communities and recovery efforts, and that beyond the lifesaving and life sustaining efforts which are the immediate priority in any response, one of the most important steps is power restoration.

In the meeting, utility executives discussed lessons learned during the Hurricane Sandy response that the industry and the federal government can apply to large power restoration efforts in the future.  The President thanked them for their partnership in these efforts and for their work with his emergency response team to coordinate and share best practices.  He made clear that his administration is committed to working closely with industry on suggestions that could further improve future response efforts.

At the meeting the President was joined by Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromonaco, Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Heather Zichal, Acting Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman, Assistant Secretary for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability Patricia Hoffman, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy Bill Bryan, Administrator of the U.S. Energy Information Administration Adam Sieminski and other members of his response team.

A list of attendees is below:

Tom Kuhn                             EEI
David Owens                       EEI
Brian Wolff                             EEI
Jo Ann Emerson                   NRECA
Joe Nipper                             APPA
Joy Ditto                                APPA
Jim Burpee                            Canadian Electric Association
Nick Akins                            AEP
Tony Alexander                   FirstEnergy
John Bilda                              Norwich, CT
Kevin Burke                          ConEd
Mel Coleman                        North Arkansas Electric Corp.
Chris Crane                           Exelon
Anita Decker                         BPA
Ken DeFontes                       BGE
Leo Denault                           Entergy
Charles Freni                        Central Hudson
Mark Gabriel                        WAPA
Lew Hay                                NextEra Energy
Tom King                              National Grid
Bob Kump                             Iberdrola
Ralph LaRossa                      PSE&G
Ron Litzinger                        Southern California Edison
Len McMillan                       Hydro One
Lee Olivier                            NSTAR
Paul Pallas                             Rockville Centre, NY
Mary Powell                         Green Mountain Power
Bob Powers                           AEP
Gil Quiniones                       NYPA
Joe Rigby                               PEPCO
Eric Silagy                             Florida Power & Light
Bill Spence                             PPL
Jim Torgerson                       UIL Holdings
Keith Trent                            Duke Energy
Geisha Williams                   PGE Corps
Rod West                               Entergy

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 08, 2013

Statement by the Press Secretary on the Visit of Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom

On Monday, May 13, President Obama will welcome Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the White House.  The visit will highlight the fundamental importance of the U.S.-UK relationship -- a relationship through which together we address a broad range of shared global and regional security concerns.  The President looks forward to discussing these issues with the Prime Minister, to include Syria, trade and economic cooperation, countering terrorism, and priorities for the upcoming G-8 Summit in Northern Ireland.  The Prime Minister’s visit underscores the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom that has been crucial in advancing our shared security and prosperity, and the tremendous strategic importance we place on broadening and strengthening our collaboration on global challenges.  The President looks forward to visiting Northern Ireland in June, where Prime Minister Cameron will host the G-8 Summit.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 08, 2013

Readout of the President’s Meeting With Asian American and Pacific Islander National Leaders

This afternoon, the President met with a group of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) national leaders to discuss his call for commonsense immigration reform that will strengthen the economy and grow the middle class.  The President emphasized that commonsense immigration reform continues to be a top legislative priority and that he looks forward to working with the AAPI community to achieve that goal.  The leaders expressed their support for the principles that the President and key Senators working on immigration reform have laid out and their strong desire for a bill that provides a pathway to earned citizenship and supports family unity.  The leaders also expressed their commitment to working with Congress to strengthen the legislation that is being considered.  The President and the leaders also discussed a number of issues of importance to Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, including efforts to provide affordable, accessible health care to AAPI communities.  Finally, the President thanked participants for their leadership and commitment to ensuring that the American Dream remains attainable for all communities and families, as well as generations to come.

Participants in the meeting included:
 
• Jeffrey Caballero, Executive Director, Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations
• Gregory Cendana, Executive Director, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance
• Kathy Ko Chin, President and CEO, Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum
• Robin Danner, President and CEO, Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement
• Lisa Hasegawa, Executive Director, National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development
• Tom Hayashi, Executive Director, OCA National Center
• Bill Imada, Chairman, Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship
• Deepa Iyer, Chair, National Council of Asian Pacific Americans & Executive Director, South Asian Americans Leading Together
• Daphne Kwok, Chair, President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
• Floyd Mori, President and CEO, Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies
• Mee Moua, President and Executive Director, Asian American Justice Center
• Priscilla Ouchida, Executive Director, Japanese American Citizens League
• Doua Thor, Executive Director, Southeast Asia Resource Action Center
• Miriam Yeung, Executive Director, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum
• Dae Joong “DJ” Yoon, Executive Director, National Korean American Service & Education Consortium
 

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 08, 2013

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individual to a key Administration post:

• Davita Vance-Cooks – Public Printer, Government Printing Office

The President also announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key Administration posts:

• Margaret W. Burcham – Commissioner, Mississippi River Commission
• Leonard Forsman – Member, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

President Obama said, “I am confident that these outstanding individuals will greatly serve the American people in their new roles and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.”

President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individual to a key Administration post:

Davita Vance-Cooks, Nominee for Public Printer, Government Printing Office
Davita Vance-Cooks is currently Deputy Public Printer of the Government Printing Office (GPO), a position she has held since December 2011.  Ms. Vance-Cooks has served in a number of other roles at GPO since 2004, including Chief of Staff, Managing Director of the Publications and Information Sales Business Unit, and Deputy Managing Director of Customer Services.  Prior to joining GPO, she was the General Manager at HTH Worldwide Insurance Services from 2001 to 2004.  Previously, she served as the Vice President of Consumer Services at Digital Insurance from 2000 to 2001.  From 1993 to 2000, Ms. Vance-Cooks served in several roles with NYLCare Health Plans of the Mid-Atlantic, which was purchased by Aetna during her tenure.  Ms. Vance-Cooks received her B.S. from Tufts University and an M.B.A. from Columbia University. 

President Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key Administration posts:

Brigadier General Margaret W. Burcham, USA, Appointee for Commissioner, Mississippi River Commission
Brigadier General Margaret W. Burcham is Commanding General of the United States Army Engineer Division, Great Lakes and Ohio River, a post she has held since 2011.  Previously, she served as Division Chief of the Joint Capabilities Division, J-8, Joint Staff in Washington D.C. In addition, she served as a District Commander of the Army Corps of Engineers in the North District of the Gulf Region Division in Operation Iraqi Freedom.  Brigadier General Burcham’s earlier tours include Chief of the Commanding General’s Initiatives Group and Commander of the 94th Engineer Combat Battalion in Germany.  She was awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, and the Bronze Star.  Brigadier General Burcham received a B.S. from the United States Military Academy, an M.S. from Kansas State University, and an M.S. from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

Leonard Forsman, Appointee for Member, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
Leonard Forsman is Chairman of the Suquamish Tribe, a position he has held since 2005.  Previously, he was a research archaeologist for Larson Anthropological/Archaeological Services in Seattle, Washington from 1992 to 2003.  From 1984 to 1990, he was Director of the Suquamish Museum in Suquamish, Washington, and has served on the Museum Board of Directors since 2010.  He has been Vice President of the Washington Indian Gaming Association 2010 and has been a member of the Washington State Historical Society Board since 2007, the Suquamish Tribal Cultural Cooperative Committee since 2006, and the Tribal Leaders Congress on Education since 2005.  Mr. Forsman received a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Washington and an M.A. in Historic Preservation from Goucher College.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 08, 2013

President Obama Nominates Joseph W. Nega and Michael B. Thornton to the United States Tax Court

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Joseph W. Nega and Michael B. Thornton as Judges to the United States Tax Court.

“These two individuals have demonstrated unwavering integrity and a firm commitment to public service throughout their careers,” said President Obama.  “I am proud to nominate them to serve on the United States Tax Court.”

Joseph W. Nega, Nominee for Judge, United States Tax Court
Joseph W. Nega is a Senior Legislation Counsel to the Joint Committee on Taxation of the United States Congress, a position he has held since 2008.  His primary areas of responsibility are the individual income tax, tax exemption requirements for state and local bonds, tax credit bonds, and employment taxes.  Mr. Nega has served on the Joint Committee staff since 1985.  Prior to his current position, Mr. Nega served as a Legislation Counsel from 1989 to 2008, and as a Legislation Attorney from 1985 to 1989.  Mr. Nega received a B.S.C. in Accounting from DePaul University, a J.D. from DePaul University School of Law, and an M.L.T. (Taxation) from Georgetown University School of Law.

Judge Michael B. Thornton, Nominee for Judge, United States Tax Court
Judge Michael B. Thornton currently serves as a Judge of the United States Tax Court, a position held since March 1998.  From June 2012 to March 2013 he served as Chief Judge of the Tax Court.  Previously, Judge Thornton served in the U.S. Department of the Treasury as Deputy Tax Legislative Counsel in the Office of Tax Policy from 1995 to 1998, first joining the Department  as an Attorney-Adviser in February 1995.  He served with the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means as Chief Minority Tax Counsel in 1995, and as Tax Counsel from 1988 to 1994.  Judge Thornton was an Associate Attorney with Miller and Chevalier from 1985 to 1988 and Sutherland, Asbill, and Brennan from 1982 to 1983.  He was a Law Clerk to the Honorable Charles Clark, Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit from 1983 to 1984.  Judge Thornton received a B.S. and M.S. from University of Southern Mississippi, an M.A. from University of Tennessee, and J.D. from Duke University School of Law.