President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts:

• Rachel Elise Barkow – Commissioner, United States Sentencing Commission
• Judge Charles R. Breyer – Commissioner, United States Sentencing Commission

The President also announced his intent to appoint the following individual to a key Administration post:

• Thomas Murray – Member, Cultural Property Advisory Committee

President Obama said, “These dedicated individuals bring a wealth of experience and talent to their new roles and I am proud to have them serve in this Administration.  I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.”

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

Rachel Elise Barkow, Nominee for Commissioner, United States Sentencing Commission
Rachel Elise Barkow is the Segal Family Professor of Regulatory Law and Policy at the New York University School of Law, where she focuses her teaching and research interests on criminal and administrative law.  She also serves as the Faculty Director of the Center on the Administration of Criminal Law at the law school.  Ms. Barkow has been a member of the faculty at the New York University School of Law since 2002 and was the Beneficial Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School in Fall 2008.  Previously, she worked at the law firm of Kellogg Huber Hansen Todd Evans & Figel, PLLC, in Washington, D.C., from 1998 to 2002.  Ms. Barkow began her legal career by clerking for the Honorable Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of the United States, from 1997 to 1998, and for the Honorable Laurence H. Silberman of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, from 1996 to 1997.  She received her J.D. magna cum laude in 1996 from Harvard Law School, where she won the Sears Prize, and her B.A. with distinction in 1993 from Northwestern University.

Judge Charles R. Breyer, Nominee for Commissioner, United States Sentencing Commission
Judge Charles R. Breyer currently serves as a United States District Judge in the Northern District of California, a position he has held since 1998.  Previously, he worked at the law firm now known as Coblenz, Patch, Duffy & Bass LLP from 1974 to 1997, with a brief stint as Chief Assistant District Attorney for San Francisco in 1979.  From 1973 to 1974, Judge Breyer spent a year working as an Assistant Special Prosecutor on the Watergate Special Prosecution Force.  He also served as an Assistant District Attorney in San Francisco from 1967 to 1973.  Judge Breyer began his legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Oliver J. Carter of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.  He received his J.D. in 1966 from the University of California at Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law and his B.A. cum laude in 1963 from Harvard College. 

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

Thomas Murray, Appointee for Member, Cultural Property Advisory Committee
Thomas Murray is an expert in Indonesian sculpture and textiles and the founder of Thomas Murray Asiatica-Ethnographica, a private gallery of tribal, Asian and textile art in Mill Valley, California.  In addition, he is a contributing editor of HALI, a quarterly international art magazine focused on antique carpets and textiles, and serves as their editorial consultant on ethnographic textiles.  Mr. Murray frequently lectures on textiles and has been published extensively on the subject in the United States and abroad.  Works of art from his collection have been placed in more than 30 museums on four continents.  Mr. Murray is past President of the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association.

President Obama Announces Presidential Delegation to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Attend the Funeral of Baroness Margaret Thatcher

President Barack Obama today announced the designation of a Presidential Delegation to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to attend the Funeral of Baroness Margaret Thatcher.   

The Honorable George Shultz, former Secretary of State, and The Honorable James A. Baker, III, former Secretary of State, will lead the delegation.

Members of the Presidential Delegation:

The Honorable Barbara Stephenson, Charge d’Affaires to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Department of State

The Honorable Louis Susman, former Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 

Statement by the Press Secretary on S. 716

On Monday, April 15, 2013, the President signed into law:

S. 716, which eliminates the requirement in the STOCK Act to make available on official websites the financial disclosure forms of employees of the executive and legislative branches other than the President, the Vice President, Members of and candidates for Congress, and several specified Presidentially nominated and Senate-confirmed officers; and delays until January 1, 2014, the date by which systems must be developed that enable public access to financial disclosure forms of covered individuals.

U.S. and Mexican Officials Discuss Border Management in High-Level Meeting

On Thursday, April 11, the U.S.-Mexico 21st Century Border Management Executive Steering Committee (ESC) met at the Department of State to discuss their shared interest in creating a border that promotes economic competitiveness and enhances security through the secure, efficient, rapid, and lawful movement of goods and people.  The Steering Committee approved a report summarizing the Actions completed during 2012, and adopted Action Items for 2013.  This was the first meeting of the ESC under the Pena Nieto Administration.
 
The Governments of the United States and the United Mexican States reiterated their commitment to fundamentally restructure the way both countries manage their shared border.  This new approach to border management is designed to increase economic competitiveness, enhance public safety, welcome lawful visitors, encourage trade, strengthen cultural ties, reduce the cost of doing business in North America, steward our shared resources, and promote economic development.
 
For 2013, the ESC -- which on the U.S. side includes representatives from the Departments of Commerce, Justice, Homeland Security, State, Transportation, and Treasury -- together with their Mexican Government partners, committed to work in three areas:  infrastructure, secure flows, and law enforcement and security cooperation.

In the area of infrastructure, the ESC agreed on the importance of coordinated infrastructure planning and the use of public-private partnerships and other innovative arrangements to support border travel and trade.  Under secure flows, the ESC agreed on the benefits of expanding participants in and use of trusted traveler and shipper programs, continuing to implement pre-screening of commercial goods and travelers, identifying strategies to reduce border wait times, and exploring the use of technology towards the development of an entry/exit data exchange capability.  The ESC also discussed our shared responsibility in securing our borders, including our continued efforts towards implementing the Border Violence Prevention Protocols, as well as strategies to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal networks engaged in trafficking and smuggling of drugs, weapons, money and people.  The ESC proposed and adopted concrete objectives to achieve these goals, and agreed to continue regular engagement to monitor and promote joint progress in achieving these goals.
 
The Committee agreed on the importance of stakeholder input to the process through vigorous outreach, including hosting roundtables and meetings at the border as well as in interior U.S. and Mexican states where the U.S.-Mexico relationship and the border play a critical role to trade and exports.