The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
March 23, 2015

FACT SHEET: President Obama to Announce New Steps to Attract Foreign Investors and Create Jobs through the Continued Expansion of the SelectUSA Initiative

The United States is the bright spot in the global economy, further proof that the President’s middle class economic agenda is working. More than 12 million jobs have been created over the last 60 months, and wages are beginning to rise again. In fact, U.S. businesses have added more than 200,000 jobs per month every month for 12 consecutive months—the first time that’s happened in 37 years.

Global investors have taken notice and are accelerating their investment in the United States, already home to more foreign direct investment than any other country in the world.  Foreign businesses have injected an average of $67 billion a quarter into the U.S. economy over the last three quarters, compared with an average of $49 billion quarterly from 2009 to 2013, according to Department of Commerce data released last week. 

To maintain this momentum, today the President will announce new Administration initiatives to bring job-creating investment from around the world to the United States at the second SelectUSA Investment Summit.

  • Investment Announcements: Summit participants have already announced at least $13 billion in U.S. investments over the last year and an estimated 32,500 new U.S. jobs, according to data compiled by fDi Markets.
  • Further Expansions to SelectUSA:  Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker will create the first-ever federal advisory committee focused on attracting and retaining foreign direct investment into the United States. SelectUSA will strengthen its partnership with states and expand customized trainings for first-time investors.
  • Administrative Actions to Recruit and Retain Global Talent: The Department of Homeland Security will clarify guidelines for global companies seeking to staff new and expanding U.S. operations with specialized knowledge related to their company or industry without impacting job opportunities for U.S. workers. 

Second SelectUSA Investment Summit

Established by the President in 2011, SelectUSA is the first-ever government wide program to promote and facilitate job-creating business investment into the United States. Today, more than 2,600 people—including 1,300 companies from more than 70 countries and over 500 U.S. economic development officials from across the country—will attend the second SelectUSA Investment Summit for two days of matchmaking, information sessions, and presentations.

The United States is the world’s premier destination for investment and home to more foreign direct investment than any other country in the world. During the past year alone, 170 of the foreign firms attending the Summit have announced U.S. investments valued at about $13 billion and expected to create more than 32,500 U.S. jobs, according to data compiled by fDi Markets. The announcements come as the U.S. enjoys accelerated inflows of foreign direct investment in recent quarters.

This surge in FDI follows President Obama’s 2013 announcement of an aggressive enhancement and expansion of his SelectUSA investment-promotion initiative—and the results are billions in returns on taxpayer investment.

Since 2011, SelectUSA has helped facilitate more than $20 billion of investments in the United States, generating thousands of jobs and spurring economic growth. The program doubled the number of investors and U.S. economic development organizations (EDOs) it served last year to over 1,000, and is on track to increase its client base by more than 50 percent this year.

Actions to Enhance SelectUSA and Increase U.S. Attractiveness to Investors

Today, the Administration will announce further expansion of its assistance to U.S. economic development organizations and to international investors, through new partnerships with states, enhanced online tools, and a SelectUSA training program that was piloted at the Summit. Specifically:

  • New partnership with state economic development organizations: SelectUSA will convene at the Summit the first semi-annual gathering of a collaborative platform for federal and state economic development officials. The partnership will improve state-federal coordination, inform SelectUSA services and programs, and promote high standards in investment-promotion activities across the country.
  • Federal advisory committee: Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker will establish the first-ever federal advisory committee to solicit formal input on the development and implementation of strategies and programs to attract and retain foreign direct investment in the United States.
  • Improved online tools for investors: SelectUSA has made available on its site for the first time a database of state-level incentives. The Department of Commerce has also made the website clustermapping.us, a joint project of the Harvard Business School and the Economic Development Administration, available to investors and economic developers. The Cluster Mapping website provides data and tools that make it easier for investors to identify regional concentrations of specific industries and locate potential economic partners. SelectUSA is committed to further improving online tools so that investors can more fully consider the advantages offered by the United States.
  • New and improved foreign direct investment data coming out this year:  The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) will begin to report new data this year about the impact of foreign direct investment on the U.S. economy, and FDI contributions to employment. The data will allow investors and policymakers to distinguish and assess patterns of “greenfield” investments that establish new U.S. businesses.
  • Launch of SelectUSA Academy:  Through 2014, SelectUSA provided consultation for U.S. economic developers, seminars in at least 25 countries for investors, and a 101 series of webinars on infrastructure investing.  This culminated in the first-ever SelectUSA Academy, held March 22nd, the evening before the Summit kick-off.  Building on the success of this effort, SelectUSA will expand online and on-site training programs for investors and EDOs.
  • U.S. to be featured at 2016 Hannover Messe: Today, U.S. and German officials announced that the United States, led by the Department of Commerce, will be the featured official “Partner Country” for the 2016 Hannover Messe. Hannover Messe is the largest industrial trade fair in the world, attracting approximately 6,500 exhibitors and 250,000 visitors every year. As Partner Country, the United States will be featured to a global audience as a supplier of high quality products and a prime location for business investment.
  • Policy Guidance for L-1B Visas:  Policy Guidance for L-1B Visas:   U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will increase clarity around the adjudication of the L-1B non immigrant visa that allows international companies to temporarily deploy workers with specialized knowledge to the United States when launching or conducting operations here. This long-anticipated policy guidance, which will be released for public feedback, is of particular interest to global companies participating in the SelectUSA Investment Summit.

Surging Interest in the U.S. as Place to Locate Businesses and Create Jobs

Record attendance at the Summit—more than twice as large as the inaugural 2013 event—reflects growing global interest in the United States as a place to launch and expand operations, invest in research and development, and create jobs.  In fact:

  • Foreign direct investments have surged the last three quarters of 2014, compared with the year-earlier period. New Commerce Department data released last week showed that global investors pumped an average of $67 billion every quarter into the U.S. economy in the last three quarters of 2014, compared with an average of $50 billion per quarter in recent years.
  • Surveys show investors rate the U.S. as top destination for investment. After eclipsing China, Brazil, and India in 2013 to take the top spot in A.T. Kearney’s FDI Confidence Index, the United States remains “the prime destination” for investment in the world, according to the consulting firm’s survey of C-suite executives. More than half of large manufacturers will increase U.S. hiring by 5 percent or more in 2015, according to an October survey by the Boston Consulting Group. 

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
March 23, 2015

FACT SHEET: Next Steps in Delivering Fast, Affordable Broadband

“Twenty-first century businesses need 21st century infrastructure -- modern ports, and stronger bridges, faster trains and the fastest Internet…I intend to protect a free and open Internet, extend its reach to every classroom, and every community, and help folks build the fastest networks so that the next generation of digital innovators and entrepreneurs have the platform to keep reshaping our world.”

                                                                        -President Obama, State of the Union, 2015

In January, the President traveled to Cedar Falls, Iowa to announce his plan to promote “Broadband that Works,” a public-private effort to help more Americans, in more communities around the country, get access to fast and affordable broadband.  Making good on the vision he outlined in his State of the Union Address means promoting investment and rewarding competition. Today, the Administration announced progress since January and new steps in that effort, including:

Reaching the National Goal of Providing 98 Percent of Americans with Access to High-Speed, Mobile Broadband.  In 2011, the President challenged the public and private sector to work together to expand wireless access and set the ambitious goal of providing 4th Generation (4G) mobile broadband to at least 98 percent of Americans.  Today, based on newly released data from the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), we are announcing that through significant private investment we have reached that goal — nearly two years ahead of schedule.  The Obama Administration put in place policies that have helped drive progress toward this milestone, and will continue to promote robust investment in wireless broadband connectivity, including:

  • Initiating the Most Successful Mobile Spectrum Auction in American History. Setting in motion the highest-grossing auction of mobile spectrum in American history — raising more than $41 billion. Freeing up this spectrum for private investment will lead to better mobile connectivity while funding important priorities like a first-responders network and reducing the deficit. This success will keep the momentum for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s upcoming “incentive auction” of television broadcast spectrum slated for early 2016.
  • Continuing to Free Up Wireless Spectrum. Concerted government efforts to successfully free up wireless spectrum previously held by government agencies have, to date, formally recommended or otherwise identified 335 Mhz of Federal and non-Federal spectrum for potential reallocation.
  • Expanding Access to Broadband in Rural and Underserved Areas.  Over $7 billion of Recovery Act funding went to increasing broadband connectivity, including to under-served areas, which is the foundation of high-speed wireless service.  In all, these efforts have installed or upgraded over 174,000 miles of high-speed broadband infrastructure.  The Administration will also continue to support the FCC’s Universal Service Fund (USF), which has invested over $25 billion since 2008, to encourage investment in high-cost and rural broadband, both fixed and mobile.

Standing up the Broadband Opportunity Council.  Today the President signed a new Presidential Memorandum making good on his promise in Cedar Falls to stand up a new Council singularly focused on increasing broadband investment and adoption. 

  • The Council, co-chaired by the Secretaries of Commerce and Agriculture, includes over twenty-five different government agencies and components, all united around clear policy objectives to:
    • Engage with industry and other stakeholders to understand ways the government can better support the needs of communities seeking broadband investment;
    • Identify regulatory barriers unduly impeding broadband deployment or competition;
    • Survey and report back on existing programs that currently support or could be modified to support broadband competition, deployment or adoption; and
    • Take all necessary actions to remove these barriers and re-align existing programs to increase broadband competition, deployment, and adoption.
  • The Council will report back to the President, within 150 days, with the steps each agency will take to advance these goals, including specific regulatory actions or budget proposals.
    • These steps will build on and expand several actions agencies have already taken during this Administration, such as developing a common application form for wireless broadband providers to lease space for their rooftop antennas, sharing of best practices for “dig once” policies by state and municipal governments nationwide, and offering new online tools for finding and leasing federal assets available for broadband networks.

Building on the FCC’s Landmark Decision to Promote Local Choice. The FCC last month independently decided to take action against two of the nineteen state laws that restrict communities from deciding what broadband solutions fit their needs.  This step forward helped unserved and under-served communities, many of whom have no way to stay economically competitive absent a municipal provider of broadband. 

  • As a result, communities in two states — Tennessee and North Carolina — will no longer be held back from setting up municipal networks like successful examples in Chattanooga and Wilson, where those networks affordably deliver broadband speeds around 100 times the national average.

Continued Support to Communities & Competitors Expanding Broadband Offerings. The Administration continues to build on the momentum we began earlier this year with the standup of Commerce’s BroadbandUSA program. Later this year, the Department of Agriculture will reopen a revamped broadband loan program, which offers financing to eligible rural carriers that invest in bringing high-speed broadband to unserved and under-served rural areas.

  • Today the Department of Agriculture is announcing a total of $35 million in broadband infrastructure loans in Arkansas, New Mexico, and Iowa to deliver enhanced services to help attract and grow businesses, as well as to improve educational and health care services.  Time and again, studies show that affordable broadband offers increased economic opportunities in rural areas, which is why Rural Development is committed to delivering high-speed Internet service to these communities.
  • Through the BroadbandUSA program, the Department of Commerce has followed through on its promise to support more communities seeking to learn from the experts on how to increase broadband investment and competition — including through municipal broadband. Since January, Commerce has provided ongoing one-on-one advice to communities across the U.S. including in Ohio, Kansas, Florida, California, and West Virginia; organized a regional summit in Jackson, Mississippi; and held a national webinar to introduce BroadbandUSA and present the new Guide to Public-Private Partnerships for Broadband Investment.

Announcing the Community Broadband Summit.  To carry forward the momentum, help communities leaders learn from one another, and report out the progress of our broadband initiatives, the White House will in June host the Community Broadband Summit.  Details will follow soon at WhiteHouse.gov.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
March 23, 2015

NEW DETAILS: President Obama Hosts 5th White House Science Fair

WASHINGTON, DC – President Obama will host the 2015 White House Science Fair today and celebrate the student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions from across the country.

As part of the Fair, President Obama will announce over $240 million in new private sector commitments to get more girls and boys, especially those that are under-represented, inspired, and prepared to excel in the STEM fields. With the commitments being made today, the President’s “Educate to Innovate” campaign has resulted in over $1 billion in financial and in-kind support for STEM programs.

Additional details on the White House Science Fair

Senior Administration officials and leading STEM communicators, advocates, and educators will also attend the White House Science Fair and meet the students. Attendees include:

Senior Administration Officials
Charles F. Bolden, Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Francis Collins, Director, National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Jo Handelsman, Associate Director for Science, White House Office of Science & Technology Policy
John Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director, White House Office of Science & Technology Policy
Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President
Suzette Kimball, Acting Director, U.S. Geological Survey
Michelle Lee, Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO)
Willie May, Acting Director, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Megan Smith, U.S. Chief Technology Officer

Leading STEM and Media Communicators
Victor Cruz, Wide Receiver, New York Giants
Susan Desmond-Hellmann, CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Mariette DiChristina, Editor in Chief of Scientific American
Jim Gates, Member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)
Rush Holt, Retired U.S. Congressman, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Dean Kamen, Entrepreneur, Founder of FIRST
Mary Mazzio, Award-winning Director and Producer of the Documentary “Underwater Dreams”
Leland Melvin, NASA Astronaut, National Football League (NFL) Alum, Media Personality
Talia Milgrom-Elcott, Executive Director and Co-Founder of 100Kin10
Dan Mote, President of the National Academy of Engineering
Bill Nye, Bill Nye the Science Guy
Saul Perlmutter, 2011 Nobel Laureate in Physics
Cierra Ramirez, Actress, Singer, Star in ABC Family’s The Fosters
Linda Rosen, CEO of Change the Equation
Robert Tjian, President of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Oscar Vazquez, Dreamer, Veteran, Star of the Documentary “Underwater Dreams”

Exhibits at the White House Science Fair Include: (More information can be found here.)

Teen uses Tech to Tackle Cyber-bullying (Trisha Prabhu, 14, Naperville, Illinois). Illinois teen Trisha Prabhu learned about research showing that the human brain’s decision-making region is not fully developed until age 25 and got inspired to help teens rethink how they treat others. She developed a computer program called “Rethink” that alerts users when an outgoing message contains language that is potentially abusive and hurtful. Preliminary analysis showed that adolescents who use “Rethink” system are 93% less likely to send abusive messages than those who are not warned about the consequences of their actions prior to sending a message. Trisha earned a spot in the 2014 Google Science Fair to showcase her innovative project.

Scoliosis Patient Designs Implant to help Kids avoid Spinal Surgeries (Harry Paul, 18, Port Washington, NY). 18-year-old Harry Paul was born with congenital scoliosis, a curvature of the spine that, when congenital, restricts the size of the thorax preventing the heart and lungs from developing. Growing up, Harry endured more than a dozen spinal surgeries to help correct the problem. Now, he’s working to help other young people with scoliosis avoid the burdensome operations that can get in the way of living life. He designed a new type of spinal implant that expands over time, helping developing spines stay straighter as they grow, and lengthening the time young patients can go between surgeries. Harry’s implant could potentially help lower the number of risky procedures needed from over a dozen to less than five over the course of child’s surgical treatment. His design earned him numerous awards, including the Grand Awards of First Place, Best in Category (Bioengineering), and the Innovation Exploration Award at the 2014 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

Solar-Heating System Brings Warmth to Communities off the Grid (Kelly Charley, 15, Farmington, NM). Kelly Charley, 15, noticed that communities lacking electricity often build fires to stay warm, but that particles and ash from wood-burning fireplaces can be dangerous to breathe. She developed a solar-powered radiation system that circulates air and heats the interior of buildings. It can run without access to electricity or running water. Kelly, a sophomore at Navajo Preparatory School in Farmington, New Mexico, received a United National Indian Tribal Youth 25 under 25 Youth Leadership Award for her work to promote spiritual, mental, physical, and social well-being. Her heater design made her a finalist at the 2014 International Science and Engineering Fair.

Kid Inventor Designs Wearable Monitor for Grandfather with Alzheimer’s (Kenneth Shinozuka, 16
New York, NY). More than half of the 5.2 million Americans with Alzheimer’s wander, which can lead to injury or death. Kenneth Shinozuka became acutely aware of this problem while caring for his grandfather, who was afflicted with the disease. Kenneth developed a sensor device that can detect when a wanderer stands up, apply pressure on his or her foot, and send an alert to the caregiver’s smartphone via Bluetooth. During six months of use, the device detected every instance when Kenneth’s grandfather got out of bed at night, without any false positives, ensuring his whereabouts were always known. Kenneth’s device won the Science in Action award at the 2014 Google Science fair.

Truly Flashy Fashion Accessories Use Tech to make Exercise Look Good (Maureen Botros, 15, Wichita, KS). Maureen Botros wants to make physical activity not just feel good, but also look good. Her invention, Illumi-cize, uses a pulse meter to measure heart rate and sends that information to a battery-powered computer chip. The chip is programmed to illuminate light-up accessories based on the intensity of a person’s physical activity. The wearable device includes a SD card that collects and stores the data gathered during a workout, which can be analyzed and tracked by the user. For those with more conservative styles, Maureen developed a less flashy wristband that can be programmed to shine red, yellow, or green to signal whether and how much person’s heart rate is elevated beyond its normal resting range. The invention took the top prize at the Kansas Junior Academy of Science competition and will be presented at the upcoming joint national meeting of the American Junior Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Girl Scouts Build Page-Turning Device out of Legos for Readers with Arthritis (Emily Bergenroth, Alicia Cutter, Karissa Cheng, Addy Oneal, and Emery Dodson, all age 6, Tulsa, OK). After chatting with their school librarian, the “Supergirls” Junior FIRST Lego League Team from Daisy Girl Scouts’ troop 411 discovered that some people have disabilities that make it difficult to turn the pages of a book. They came up with the concept of a battery-powered page turner that could turn pages for people who are paralyzed or have arthritis. The Supergirls sketched out a design concept and culled through motorized Lego components and gears to figure out how to build a working prototype. They discovered that the friction from rubber Lego tires could be used to lift and turn the pages of a book. They honed the device with a second motorized component that forces pages to lay flat after being turned over. The Supergirls’ creation was selected by the statewide FIRST program director to be the only project exhibited at an educational conference for librarians and educators in the region.

With Novel Battery, Pittsburgh Teen Turns Pollution into Power (Sahil Doshi, 14, Pittsburgh, PA). Inspired by the global energy crisis and the lack of electricity around the world, Pittsburgh ninth-grader Sahil Doshi designed an innovative carbon-dioxide powered battery called PolluCell. Comprised of multiple electrochemical cells wired in parallel circuits, PolluCell harnesses the power of carbon dioxide and waste materials to generate electricity, reducing the environmental effects of pollution. The battery earned him $25,000 and the title of America’s Top Young Scientist at the 2014 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge. Sahil’s invention has been featured in national press outlets on TV, in print, and online.

Quad-Lingual Kid-Team Creates Sustainable City of the Future (Jose Valdez III, 12, Casandra D. Dauz, 11, Jaleena Rolon, 11, Española, NM). Jose Valdez, Casandra Dauz, and Jaleena Rolon are a team of elementary school students who competed in last year’s Future City Regional Competition, which challenges students to tackle infrastructure and natural resource challenges by designing cities of the future. The team created the “City of Crystal Water,” where agricultural “fish pens” separate industrial, commercial, and residential zones and vehicles travel along dams equipped with paddles that produce hydro energy. Recognizing the importance of connecting their idea with their rural, desert community’s cultural diversity, the team incorporated four languages into their City presentation: Spanish, English, American Sign Language, and Tewa, a Tanoan language spoken by Pueblo Native Americans. The team earned recognition for Most Unique Architectural Model at the New Mexico Regional Future City Competition.

Middle-Schooler’s Device Measures Strength of Sewn Stitches (Holly Jackson, 14, San Jose, CA). Californian Holly Jackson investigated the ancient art of sewing from a unique, architectural point of view. After learning to sew in the 4th grade from her grandmother, Holly’s scientific curiosity led her to explore the relative strength and compatibility of threads and fabrics, important information to better understand innovative sewn materials for the 21st century. She engineered a device to measure the capacity and strength of stitched fabric, and designed experiments and procedures to yield precise measurements. Her research has potential applications in the design of high-performance protective gear, hazmat and space suits, parachutes, and more. Her work won the top award of $25,000 at the 2014 Broadcom MASTERS competition.

Teen Finds Keystrokes May be Key to Password Authentication (Nikhil Behari, 14, Sewickley, PA). After hearing about major data breaches at retail chains, Pennsylvania teen Nikhil Behari got inspired to create a security system that is easy to use, versatile, and effective in protecting online data. Nikhil wondered if the manner in which people type could be used as a means of secondary authentication for safer passwords. He connected sensors to a microprocessor he had programmed to detect keystroke pressure, and used a separate program to measure action and pause time as users type. By analyzing data from these devices, Nikhil discovered that keystroke-based authentication is a potentially powerful technique for distinguishing and authenticating individuals. Nikhil won a second place award in Technology at the 2014 Broadcom MASTERS national finals.

Overcoming Setbacks, St. Louis Teen heads to Silicon Valley to Pitch Businesses Idea (Joschula Page, 16, St. Louis, MO). Joschula Page designed a business plan around a bracelet that wirelessly charges the battery of a cell phone, called UNPLUGGED. Her idea was born when she needed to plug her dying cell phone into a wall all the way across the room from her desk. She asked herself “what if I could charge my phone from exactly where I’m sitting?” The plan earned her the opportunity to travel to Silicon Valley for the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge last October. In addition to her innovative idea, Joschula overcame setbacks in order to compete in California. Her house was broken into one week before the competition and the computer containing her business plan presentation was stolen, making preparations extremely difficult. With support from her community and mentors, she made it to Silicon Valley and competed as a semi-finalist, learning about other youth businesses and networking with employees of large tech companies along the way.

Inspired by Relatives in Ethiopia, Teens Builds Novel Water Purification System (Bluyé DeMessie, 18, Cincinnati, OH). During the summer before ninth grade, Bluyé DeMessie, 18, visited his relatives in Northern Ethiopia and was shocked by the lack of clean water. Over the last four years, Bluyé developed a novel method to convert agricultural waste into a bio-charcoal that is capable of removing pollutants from water within a short contact time. Bluyé’s potentially game-changing work earned him grand prizes at the 2013 and 2014 Intel International Science and Engineering Fairs and 2014 Siemens Competition in Math, Science, and Technology. Bluyé has presented his research at national and international conferences including the 246th and 248th American Chemical Society National Meetings. Bluyé wants to create an efficient and high-capacity water filtration system that can be maintained by villagers in remote areas of third world nations. He plans to study chemistry as a freshman at Harvard University in the fall.

5th Grader Designs Stable Drinking Cup for Patients with Parkinson’s (Lily Born, 11, Chicago, IL). Eleven year old Lily Born saw her grandfather, who was suffering from Parkinson’s disease, struggle to use a regular cup, spilling his drink in the process. Inspired to find a solution, Lily used moldable plastic to develop a prototype that was more stable and comfortable to use. The Kangaroo Cup can be used by individuals who suffer from muscular control issues, as well as young children. With the help of her father, she launched a crowdsourcing campaign and eventually raised enough funds to help bring the Kangaroo Cup to market. She launched product directly to the market on the crowdfunding sites Indiegogo and Kickstarter, where she successfully pre-sold over 10,000 cups. She was chosen as a member of the Independent Youth Teen Network, Selected as Business Insider's Top 11 year old in Tech, and was honored as a "Young Wonder" in CNN's Heroes Tribute. She is the youngest member of the Catalyze Chicago's Hardware Incubator.

Team from the U.S. Virgin Islands Launch into STEM with Rockets (Stephanie Bullock, 16; Shimeeka Stanley, 15; Gabriel St. Kitts, 13; Maria Heywood, 13; Amari DeSouza, 12, U.S. Virgin Islands). Under-represented minorities make up only 9.5% of American STEM workers. Determined to demonstrate that hard work and dedication can trump statistics, Elena L. Christian Jr. High School in the U.S. Virgin Islands inspires students to pursue higher education and careers in STEM through the Team America Rocketry Challenge. Their commitment has paid off, with teams qualifying and competing in the national finals four out of the last five years. Team Caribbean Splash was also selected to submit a scientific proposal to participate in the Small Satellites for Secondary Students (S4) Payload Contest. Their proposal was one of only five that was accepted. The team will be contending in the competition in Nevada this June.

New Mexico High Schooler Morphs Algae into Bio-Fuel (Sophia Sánchez-Maes, 16 Las Cruces, NM). When Sophia Sánchez-Maes learned that algae has the potential to yield 5000 gallons of biodiesel annually per acre, she wondered how best to harness that promise. She computationally modeled algae growth in order to optimize that phase of the biofuel-production process. Then she began work as a National Science Foundation Young Scholar, investigating how to convert a particular extremophile algae from Yellowstone into biofuel, with promising results. She found her algae holds the potential to fuel an energy positive wastewater treatment system, and also demonstrated lower cost conversion of the algae to fuel compared to traditional methods. Her work earned her a place at the Supercomputing expo in Los Alamos.

Young Researcher Harnesses Precision Medicine to Improve Cancer Diagnosis (Natalie Ng, 19, Cupertino, CA). Harnessing the power of Precision Medicine, Natalie Ng developed two micro-RNA-based prognostic models that can predict metastasis in breast cancer, and identified two micro-RNAs that independently impact the ability of breast cancer cells to metastasize. Ng’s project has important implications for breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer diagnosed in women worldwide, according to the latest WHO report. A frustrating reality about cancer is that even when initial hormonal treatment seems to work, metastatic cancer cells can survive and spread to distant sites in the body. Therefore, accurate prediction of metastatic outcome, such as with the aid of genetic signatures, can significantly improve the ability to predict the recurrence risk and to devise appropriate treatment strategies for individual cancer patients. Ng won First Place at the 2013 International BioGENEius Challenge.

High-School Senior Taps Precision Medicine to Improve Cardiac Health Diagnostics (Ruchi Pandya, 18, San Jose, CA). Combining nanotechnology, biology and electrochemistry, Ruchi Pandya’s research requires small biological samples – only a single drop of blood – to test for specific cardiac biomarkers. She developed a one-square centimeter carbon nanofiber electrode-based biosensor that has the potential to improve cardiac health diagnostics for patients around the world. Ruchi takes her passion for STEM education beyond the lab by mentoring 9th and 10th grade students on research and engineering as a teaching assistant for her school’s STEM-research class. She has competed at the California State Science Fair every year, and has won 18 category and special awards for scientific research. After graduation, Ruchi intends to major in materials science and engineering, and hopes to pursue a career as a technology entrepreneur.

6th Grade Engineers Design Earthquake-Safe Structures for Developing World (Julia Bray, 13; Luke Clay, 13; Ashton Cofer, 12, New Albany and Gahanna, OH). A team of Ohio 6th graders got inspired after befriending some Haitian students in 2010, right before the region’s devastating earthquake. Team “Quake Safe” wanted to find a solution to help make the many structurally unsound buildings in Haiti safer. The students experimented with materials that could withstand pressure and unique construction shapes to find a building design that would be both cost effective and structurally sound. Their hyperbolic bamboo creation takes on a paraboloid shape, inspired by the shape of Pringle chips, and uses bamboo – a fast growing renewable resource that is easily accessed by most in the region. The team won first place in the National eCybermission competition – a U.S.-Army run online contest that challenges student groups to submit detailed science or engineering project plans that solve a specific community-based challenge.

Crustacean-Derived Bio-filter removes Antibiotics from Drinking Water (Valerio, 16; Anthony Archuleta, 15; Julia Johnson 15, Andrea Chin-Lopez, 15, Ranchos de Taos and Taos, NM). 9th-grade “Craybiotics” team member James Valerio is severely allergic to penicillin and other common antibiotics derived from penicillin. For him, exposure to water supplies that are potentially contaminated with these substances could be a matter of life and death. Using chitosan, a polymer that can be derived from the shells of crustaceans, he and his teammates developed a bio-filter system to remove antibiotic drugs from drinking water. The team tested different forms of commercially available chitosan and also created their own from natural sources: crabs. Their promising research could help solve the growing problem of antibiotics in the water sources.

Connecticut Teen Patents Hiccup-Curing Lollipop (Mallory Kievman, 16, Manchester, CT). Hiccups are a nuisance for most, and a little-known side effect of chemotherapy, kidney dialysis, anesthesia, and other medical treatments—affecting quality of life for already-suffering patients. After enduring recurring bouts of hiccups over an extended period in the 7th grade, Mallory Kievman researched the physiology of hiccups and the associated folk remedies that have persisted over time. Mallory identified three approaches that worked to soothe her own hiccups: consuming apple cider vinegar, consuming sugar, and sucking on a lollipop. Mallory combined all three approaches and coined her invention the “Hiccupop.” Mallory is now a patented inventor (US Patent #8,563,030). Her creation appears to work by over-stimulating a set of nerves in the throat and mouth that may be responsible for the hiccup reflex arc. Her work earned her the honor of ringing the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange and presenting at the Inc. 500 Awards Ceremony. Further research to test the efficacy of her invention is being conducted in 2015.

All-Girl Developer Team Codes App to help Teens Cope (Stephanie Lopez, 17; Chloe Westphal, 17; Amanda Arellano, 18, Kennewick, WA). Inspired by their own experiences with the difficult emotions that accompany adolescence, team “Safe & Sound” developed an app concept to provide a way for teens to manage anxiety and feelings of depression by sharing their feelings in a private journal. Following the tragic suicide of 15 year old student in their community, the girls teamed up with their Health Informatics teacher to find a way to harness technology to promote teens’ health and wellbeing. Their app concept was chosen from over 1,000 submissions by a panel of judges, ultimately earning the team a place as one of 8 National Winners of the Verizon Innovative App Challenge. Over the next few months, trainers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab will give the team onsite and virtual training on coding and app development, helping them to publish the app.

Wearable Breathalyzer Wristband Encourages Responsible Drinking. (Jonathan Hernandez, 17; Fanta Sinayoko, 18, Lancaster, CA). Jonathan Hernandez and Fanta Sinayoko represent their California high-school’s Lemelson-MIT “InvenTeam”—which designed and provisionally patented a unique blood alcohol content (BAC) detection wristband, called ëris. The apparatus, which sits on the underside of the wrist, is 1/8th the size of traditional breathalyzer technologies and, at $20, about 13% of the price of comparable breathalyzers. Upon blowing onto a miniature sensor in the wristband, the presence of ethanol triggers an analog voltage charge that is converted into a light-emitting diode (LED) reaction. Easily discernible colors indicate blood alcohol results to the wearer; green indicates the user is safe to drive (below legal limit BAC), and red indicates the user is not safe to drive (above legal limit BAC). The wristband is designed to be an appealing, viable option for adults and of-age college students who wish to drink responsibly. The team is currently working to file a utility patent, with at least one company expressing interest in a licensing agreement. Jonathan’s father emigrated from Mexico and his mother from Vietnam. Fanta’s mother and father emigrated from Guinea, West Africa.

Harnessing Wave Energy to Purify Ocean Water for Drinking (Joseph Santana, 12; Sophia Nobles, 11, Tampa and Land O Lakes, FL). A team of Florida grade schoolers set out to find a renewable way of generating safe drinking water from ocean water – currently a costly process. The team designed WateRenew, a conceptual system that uses wing-like structures to harness energy from the vacillating hydroelectric forces of the underwater swells. WateRenew converts energy from the elliptical motion of waves into electrical energy that can power desalination of ocean water into drinking water. The desalination process incorporates a special “reverse osmosis” membrane made out of graphene to trap salt while allowing water molecules to flow through.

Young Patent-Holder Solves Challenges for Athletes, the Elderly, and New Parents (Lilianna Zyszkowski, 14, Norfolk, CT). Driven to invent things that help people, 9th grader Lilianna Zyskowski developed a series of inventions that use networked sensors to "mind" things for people.
The PillMinder was created with a grandparent in mind. It uses capacitive touch sensors, LED lights, and a networked microcontroller to remind people to take their medications on schedule. The device also alerts caregivers via Twitter and SMS whether the proper pills have been taken on time. Her second invention, Dolphin Swim Goggles, was inspired by a swim teammate's concussion and are designed to prevent head, neck, and hand injuries. The Dolphin Goggles used an ultrasonic distance sensor (like the ones used in car bumpers) and LED lights to alert swimmers before they hit the pool wall – and earned Lilianna ESPN’s Sports Invention Award. Her most recent invention, the BabyMinder uses conductive fabric to monitor a baby's temperature, diaper status, and distance from the parents—and then alerts the parents’ cell phones. As a Next Step Inventor with the Connecticut Invention Convention, Lilianna is also working with a Silicon Valley firm to bring the PillMinder technology to market.

Teen “Teaches” Software to Distinguish Cancer-Causing Gene Mutations (Nathan Han, 16, Boston, MA). Nathan Han developed a machine-learning software tool to study mutations of a gene linked to breast cancer. Using data from publicly available databases, Nathan examined detailed characteristics of multiple mutations of the BRCA1 tumor suppressor gene in order to “teach” his software to differentiate between mutations that cause disease and those that do not. Nathan was awarded the Gordon E. Moore Award of $75,000 at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in 2014. He enjoys reading, Ping-Pong, and has been playing the violin since kindergarten.

Sophomore Student Transforms Old Piano into Interactive Jukebox (Sierra Seabrease, 15, Baltimore, MD). Sierra Seabrease, a Baltimore high-school sophomore, transformed an old, deserted piano into a fully functioning jukebox that pulls songs from an ever-changing Spotify playlist. Sierra’s “Jukebox Piano” has helped her discover a personal passion for interactive technology. Sierra continually updates both the appearance and functionality of the Jukebox Piano. Most recently, she used LEDs, a microphone, and other technology to create interactive lights that correspond to the music being played. Sirerra is a founder of and active participant in the Makerettes, a group that aims to expand the role of young women within the larger Baltimore tech community. She has given two TEDxYouth@Baltimore talks and is an active participant in tech outreach through “reverse mentoring” opportunities, such as helping to answer tech questions from new Teach for America teachers.

Students Send Science Project to the International Space Station (Anthony Holmes, 13; Jacob Rubio, 11; Kalista Ybarra, 12; Madelyn Hickman, 11, Antonio, TX). In 2015, “Crystal Tetris,” an experiment designed by students from Hobby Middle School in San Antonio, Texas, blasted off to orbit at approximately 220 miles above the Earth’s surface aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The project examined and concurrently compared the growth of ice crystals aboard the ISS and during a ground-truthing experiment on Earth at their school. Originally scheduled for an October 2014 launch, the students experienced a set-back when the rocket carrying their experiment exploded a few seconds after takeoff. The students regrouped and were able to recreate their experiment, which successfully launched in January 2015 and returned to Earth in February 2015.

Colorado Teen Branches out with Leaf-Imagery Project (Tiye Garret-Mills, 17, Denver, CO). High-school senior Tiye Garrett-Mills overcame a personal struggle with severe depression and anxiety. Inspired to make a change her life, Tiye started joining clubs and organizations, including participating in various science fairs. She began to research more economically viable and efficient ways to create images of the vein systems in leaves. Using an HP deskjet scanner, Tiye engineered several different methods to produce leaf images that could help reduce the cost and time it takes to procure these images professionally. She was recently accepted as a 2014 Recipient in the Teen Science Scholars program and participates in both the National Society of Black Engineers and the International Baccalaureate Black Student Organization.

Students Design Sustainable Low-Cost Lantern to the Light the Way along a Lake (Corine Peifer, 17; Kristian Sonsteby, 18, Wallenpaupack, PA). Today, the extension of shore electricity onto docks on Lake Wallenpaupack, PA is prohibited by lake regulations, resulting in poorly lit docks. Corine Peifer and Kristian Sonsteby, as part of a broader “InvenTeam”, designed a generator that uses the movement of a boat dock on Lake Wallenpaupack to produce electricity. The device consists of modified gear motors acting as generators attached to an arm that reciprocates when waves cause the dock to rise and fall. The produced through the wave motion is stored in a battery and used to power an LED lantern. This device uses safer low-voltage electricity, which is allowed on the Lake. Their device mounts directly onto the dock instead of floating as a buoy like most other wave-powered generators. It can be easily adapted for use on other lakes with floating docks. The generator produces enough power to maintain the 4.8 volts at 700 milliamp-hours. The lantern can be powered for 8 hours with an output of 30 lumens when fully charged. The first prototype cost just $300 to fabricate. The team’s invention is on display at the nearby Wallenpaupack Environmental Learning Center and earned first place in the Pennsylvania Entrepreneurship Challenge sponsored by EconomicsPA.

In North Carolina, Students Step Up to Protect Honeybees (Claudia Button, 12; Nathan Button, 12; Kate Fitzpatrick, 14, Banner Elk, Boone, and Mountain City, NC). The “Bee Aware” team from North Carolina is working to help revitalize honey bee populations and to inform the public and businesses about the harmful effects of specific chemicals on honey bee populations and the harmful ramifications to human, animal, and plant life. As part of their project, the group has presented to local garden clubs, Christmas tree farms, businesses, visitors, and tourists about honeybee science. They’ve also presented scientific information about honeybees to schools across the region, educating more than a thousand High Country elementary schoolers on the importance of honeybees and what can be done to protect them. The Bee Award Team was awarded the $25,000 Columbus Foundation Community Grant for their project, which will include the opening of a bee sanctuary in their community this spring.

Raised in Family of Farmers, Student Seeks Sustainable Alternative to Ethanol (Eric Koehlmoos, 18, Granville, Iowa). Eric Koehlmoos’s conducted three years of research with prairie cordgrass and switchgrass to better understand their impact in the cellulosic ethanol industry. Coming from a farming family, Eric has always been interested in the biofuel industry and in the new cellulosic ethanol plants being built near his home. Working with professors at South Dakota State University, Eric conducted experiments with cordgrass and switchgrass, discovering that both grasses produce nearly 200 more gallons of ethanol per acre than corn and wheat straw, two mainstream methods for ethanol production. He also discovered that when these grasses are pretreated with calcium hydroxide, ethanol yields are increased by as much as 80% and byproducts have higher protein values than corn distiller grains. Eric placed first in the National FFA Agriscience Fair and hopes to one day use these grasses to commercially produce ethanol in the Southern Plains, providing a sustainable solution to meet agriculture needs while avoiding competition with the food supply.

Using Machine Learning Techniques, Teen Demystifies Proteins Involved in Cancer and Ebola (Anvita Gupta, 17, Scottsdale, Arizona). Anvita Gupta used machine learning to “teach” a computer to identify potential new drugs for cancer, tuberculosis, and Ebola. She combined artificial intelligence techniques, 3D visualization, and biomimicry to systematically discover which drugs might inhibit the interactions of intrinsically disordered proteins with other proteins. These proteins make up 70% of all cancer proteins and are mutated in tuberculosis and Ebola. She’s also an advocate for getting more girls in science fields, starting an after-school computer science group to teach middle school girls programming and app development. Forty girls enrolled the first year. Anvita’s research earned her Third Place Medal of Distinction for Global Good at the 2015 Intel Science Talent Search.

Phoenix Teens Lead Award-Winning Robotics Team (Sergio Corral, 17; Isela Martinez, 17, Phoenix, AZ). Phoenix high school seniors Sergio Corral and Isela Martinez are the president and vice-president, respectively, of the Carl Hayden Community High School Robotics Team. This team continues a winning tradition (and history of sending its students into collegiate engineering schools) ever since its remarkable 2004 first place finish in a sophisticated underwater robotics competition (defeating the likes of MIT and other college programs.) The story of this team, which features Sergio and Isela, was chronicled in the documentary film, Underwater Dreams, released last summer. Sergio and Isela, like many other Carl Hayden Robotics team members, have shown grit, resilience, and perseverance to achieve their goals and have inspired other students, especially those from immigrant communities, to pursue science. Carl Hayden Robotics, a member of the FIRST Hall of Fame, has won four consecutive Arizona FIRST Robotics regional competitions – and they compete in the prestigious AUVSI Robosub competition against universities.

Classmates Team up to Give Wheelchair 3D-Printed Upgrade (Mohammed Sayed, 16 and Kaitlin Reed, 16, Cambridge and Dover, MA). Mohammed Sayed is a wheelchair-bound student at NuVu experimental high school in Massachusetts, which encourages students to solve real-world problems through hands-on apprenticeship opportunities and studio-teaching. Mohammed and classmate Kaitlin Reed used a 3D printer to transform his wheelchair into a cutting-edge piece of technology. First, Kaitlin built and added a “hand-drive”, a lever-powered attachment that can propel the wheelchair both forwards and backwards, snap on and off the wheelchair easily, is entirely 3D printable, and completely open source. Then, Mohammed added a Universal Arm – a 3D-printed modular arm that can be used as a food tray, camera tripod, rain canopy, laptop holder, and cup holder.

Team of Students in Foster Care System will Compete in Georgia Robitics Regionals (Taj Rhodes, 14; Malachi Williams, 16; Johnny Manuel, 18; Illya Wynn, 15; Virginia Wynn, 13; Stephan Ellis, 10, Atlanta, GA). A rookie First Robotics team from Atlanta will be the first in the state of Georgia to participate as a group of kids from the state’s Foster Care System. The entire team is comprised of extraordinary students in the Georgia Foster Care System. These students are working on a robot on site at Johnson Research and Development and are being mentored by Dr. Lonnie Johnson, best known as the inventor of the Supersoaker. These students will experience their First Robotics Competition and compete at the Peachtree Regional FRC competition this spring.

With 3D-Printed Prosthetic Paws, Pup can now Run and Play (Derby the Dog, 18 months). Tara Anderson works at a South-Carolina-based company focused on 3D printing. When she took in a disabled foster dog named Derby, who was born with deformed front legs, she decided to take action. Tara worked with colleagues to design custom-made prosthetics for Derby using data from CAT scans and 2D photos of the dog’s legs. She was then able to 3D-print the new limbs. The pup, who has since been adopted by a loving family, can now run and play. He is reported to enjoy accompanying his owners on a 2-mile jog every morning.

In addition to those exhibiting, honored students invited to the White House Science Fair include:

  • Therechel Abad, 14, McAllen, TX, Rio Grande Valley Science and Engineering Fair
  • Ernald Jules (E.J.) Aloria, 17, Wetumpka, AL, BEST Robotics
  • Sreya Atluri, 18, Centreville, VA, Aspirations in Computing
  • Zena Marie Banker, 17, Wetumpka, AL, BEST Robotics
  • Karen Bonilla, 16, Miami, FL, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge
  • Ian Elijah Coolidge, 14, Hollis, NH, Christopher Columbus Awards
  • Shemar DaCosta, 14, Bronx, NY, C/I Hackathon
  • Mackenzie Dix, 12, Tipp City, OH, Invention Convention
  • Audrey Gallier, 13, Brookfield, IL, You Be The Chemist Challenge
  • Swapnil Garg, 14, Sunnyvale, CA, MATHCOUNTS Competition Series
  • Craig Hammond, 12, Las Vegas, NV, eCYBERMISSION NANOS
  • Terrence Jackson, 16, Washington, DC, Team America Rocketry Challenge
  • Ariel Jordan-Zamora, 18, Chicago, IL, State of Illinois Science Fair
  • Robert Kancans, 17, White Bear Lake, MN, University of Pittsburg Cancer Institute Academy
  • Kevin Liu, 14, Carmel, IN, MATHCOUNTS Competition Series
  • Bethany Macz, 10, Los Angeles, CA, Curiosity Machine
  • Naren Manoj, 18, Houston, TX, Zero Robotics High School Tournament
  • Esi McAllen, 17, New York, NY, Verizon App Challenge
  • Ryan McCrystal, 11, Leesburg, VA, CyberPatriot: The National Youth Cyber Defense Competition
  • Matthew Meadows, 14, Atlanta, GA, MATHCOUNTS Math Video Challenge
  • Dalilah Medina, 9, Los Angeles, CA, Curiosity Machine
  • Sabrina Melendez, 15, Alexandria, VA, Team America Rocketry Challenge
  • Alon Millet, 17, Franklin Lakes, NJ, USAID Innovation Award
  • Garret Minor, 15, Fairburn, GA, MATHCOUNTS Math Video Challenge
  • Joshuah Andreas Noel, 18, Wetumpka, AL, BEST Robotics
  • Erick Patterson, 14, College Park, GA, MATHCOUNTS Math Video Challenge
  • Terrell Prince, 15, Atlanta, GA, MATHCOUNTS Math Video Challenge
  • Lauren Prox, 18, Newport News, VA, Girl Scout Gold Award Project
  • Austin Roberts, 16, South Charleston, WV, Zero Robotics High School Tournament
  • Bhavjeet Sanghera, 12, Great Falls, VA, CyberPatriot: The National Youth Cyber Defense Competition
  • Monica Saraf, 13, Herndon, VA, CyberPatriot: The National Youth Cyber Defense Competition
  • Toni-Chanelle Suncar, 10, Chelsea, MA, Citizen Schools SCRATCH Apprenticeship Program with Digitas
  • Heather Sweeney, 15, Katy, TX, Science Olympiad
  • Peter Christopher Szczeszynski, 13, Hollis, NH, Christopher Columbus Awards
  • Steven Patrick Szczeszynski, 11, Hollis, NH, Christopher Columbus Awards
  • Lucero Varela, 17, Chicago, IL, Public School Science Fair
  • Katie Wiesner, 12, Las Vegas, NV, eCYBERMISSION NANOS
  • Rahul Yesantharao, 15, Houston, TX, Zero Robotics High School Tournament
  • Jingze (Erik) Yu, 15, Katy, TX, Science Olympiad

###

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
March 23, 2015

FACT SHEET: President Obama Announces Over $240 Million in New STEM Commitments at the 2015 White House Science Fair

WASHINGTON, DC – President Obama will host the 2015 White House Science Fair today to celebrate the student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions from across the country.

As part of the Fair, President Obama will announce over $240 million in new private-sector commitments to inspire and prepare more girls and boys – especially those from underrepresented groups – to excel in the STEM fields. With the commitments being made today, the President’s “Educate to Innovate” campaign has resulted in over $1 billion in financial and in-kind support for STEM programs.

The announcements being made today include, among others:

  • $150 million philanthropic effort  to empower a diverse cadre of promising early-career scientists to stay on track to become scientific leaders of tomorrow;
  • $90 million “Let Everyone Dream” campaign to expand STEM opportunities to under-represented youth;
  • $25 million Department of Education competition to create science and literacy themed media that inspires students to explore;
  • 120 universities and colleges committing to train 20,000 engineers to tackle the “Grand Challenges” of 21st century; and,
  • CEO coalition Change the Equation committing expand effective STEM programs to an additional 1.5 million students this year.

Details on the White House Science Fair

This year’s White House Science Fair has a specific focus on diversity and includes students from under-represented backgrounds who are excelling in STEM and inspiring the next generation with their work.

The 2015 Fair will feature more amazing women and girls in science than ever before, with over 100 students from more than 30 states, representing more than 40 different STEM competitions and organizations that recognize the talents of America’s next generation of scientists, engineers, inventors, and innovators. A number of these competitions and teams are supported by the federal agencies, in addition to others.

As part of the Fair, approximately 35 student teams will have the opportunity to exhibit their projects at the White House. The President will personally view some of these projects, which range from breakthrough basic research to new inventions. The President will also deliver remarks to the students, along with invited science educators and business leaders, on the importance of STEM education to our Nation’s economic future.

Additional information on the projects, students, and competitions recognized at the Fair can be found HERE.

The White House Science Fair is a key part of the President’s Educate to Innovate campaign to inspire more girls and boys to excel in STEM subjects. As the President has noted, “If you win the NCAA championship, you come to the White House. Well, if you're a young person and you produce the best experiment or design, the best hardware or software, you ought to be recognized for that achievement, too.”

New Steps Being Taken by the Administration

The Department of Education will launch a $25 million grant competition to support the creation of science and literacy themed media that inspires children, especially those from low-income homes, to play and explore. The Department of Education’s Ready-to-Learn Television program is announcing a new competition for five-year grants to support the development of educational television and digital media for young children and their parents. This is the first time in Ready-to-Learn’s history that the program will include a specific emphasis on science programming. The new TV shows, interactive learning games, websites, and mobile apps produced by Ready-to-Learn grantees will engage children in the world of science, and help them learn and put into practice the skills they need for success in school. Applicants are also encouraged to develop new models of embedded assessment and learning systems that adapt as children use them. This new competition will build on Ready-to-Learn’s prior success in creating high-quality educational programming, including shows like Word World, Super Why!, and Peg + Cat.

The Administration will host a series of roundtables in 2015 that will feature diverse voices in science and technology, with the goal of inspiring the next generation. Starting at the Science Fair itself, the White House will launch a series of roundtables in 2015 that will feature diverse voices in science and technology. Building on the recent launch of “Untold Stories of Women in Science and Technology” on the White House website, the roundtables are intended both to celebrate the work of outstanding individual contributors to science and technology and raise their visibility as role models for the next generation of students. These roundtables will advance the Administration’s commitment to having more underrepresented groups, including women and girls, excelling in expanding and well-paying STEM fields: a commitment previously demonstrated in signature initiatives like Race to the Top, which gave competitive preference to states that demonstrated efforts to close the STEM gap for students from underrepresented groups.

Major Commitments in Response to the President’s Call to Action

More than 120 universities are committing to train more than 20,000 engineers to tackle the “Grand Challenges” of the 21st century. To power the pipeline of talent that will fuel America’s future technological breakthroughs, more than 120 deans of engineering programs at American universities are announcing their plans to expand or launch “Grand Challenge” Scholars Programs on their campuses. Students in these programs will be able to structure their undergraduate experience around a pressing Grand Challenge, including such diverse topics as reverse engineering the brain, making solar energy economical, and providing access to clean water for nearly a billion people who lack it. These programs give students the opportunity to engage in a research or design project in their Grand Challenge topic area, develop entrepreneurship skills, and gain valuable field experience though service learning and projects in other countries. Each participating university will graduate at least 20 students per year from its program, meaning that more than 20,000 Grand Challenge Scholars trained in these interdisciplinary skills will be entering the workforce over the next decade. Participating universities are also committing to develop and share open educational resources that will inspire and enable more students to address Grand Challenges.

Philanthropies are launching $150 million effort to empower a diverse cadre of promising early-career scientists to stay on track to become scientific leaders of tomorrow. Responding to the President’s call to action and recognizing the need to build a pipeline of diverse and innovative scientific talent, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Simons Foundation are launching a new Faculty Scholars Program. The initiative will support direct grants to early career scientists, giving them appropriate resources, scientific interactions, and mentoring to reach their potential and become leaders in their fields. Over the program's first five years, the philanthropies will invest a total of approximately $150 million in research support. With support at the critical early stage of their careers, these Faculty Scholars will feel empowered to ask new questions, pursue new and exciting research directions, and do the types of high-risk, high-reward research that can lead to scientific breakthroughs. The initiative will also include an emphasis on diversity, given that the scientific disciplines benefit when they are representative of the American population more broadly, and America’s ability to innovate is enhanced when it builds on that diversity.

A multi-sector coalition is launching a more than $90 million “Let Everyone Dream” campaign to expand STEM opportunities. Building on the documentary Underwater Dreams, which depicts the unlikely and inspiring story of a group of under-resourced Hispanic high school students taking on a MIT team in an underwater robotics competition, the “Let Everyone Dream” coalition will focus on getting more under-represented students inspired to succeed in STEM subjects. The coalition launches with over $90 million in supporting commitments, including:

  • Youth and family focused media campaign: Televisa, a Mexican multimedia company, will invest $4 million into national television campaign to raise the visibility of Latinas in STEM, and American media company EPIX will invest $4 million to support distribution of the Underwater Dreams documentary to students and families. In addition, as part of the National Robotics Week in April, the White House screen the Underwater Dreams documentary on April 7 for an audience including local students from the area and from the Society for Hispanic Professionals Engineers (SHPE). SHPE will organize an additional 150 screenings for students across the country.
  • Expanding access for under-represented students: 3M will commit $15 million to STEM programs for women and underserved populations; Motorola Solutions Foundation will commit $4 million for innovative hands-on STEM programming for underserved students; and Rockwell Automation and the i.am.angel foundation will support more FIRST robotics teams in under-represented areas. FIRST is also committing resources to substantially increase the number of girls, minorities, and underrepresented youth that have access to its programs and support the formation of new teams from communities that serve underrepresented youth.
  • Strengthened connections with higher education: Building on its $25.5 million commitment at the College Opportunity Day of Action, CUNY is announcing a $10 million commitment to support internship and STEM career-readiness programs for first-generation college students. MIT, in order to ensure that more underrepresented STEM students have access, is increasing the financial aid it will provide to students next year by $8.4 million. Wellesley College is committing $20 million to support women in STEM from pre-college to graduate training.

A CEO coalition will expand high-quality STEM education programs to additional 1.5 million students this year. In 2010, CEOs from some of the largest American companies answered President Obama's call by forming Change the Equation, with the goal to drive corporate philanthropy into the most effective STEM programs and ensure students of all backgrounds succeed in STEM subjects. To achieve that goal, Change the Equation created STEMworks, which identifies programs that meet the coalition’s rigorous principles for effectiveness and impact. Building on its expansion of the reach of these effective STEM education programs to an additional 330,000 students in 2014, Change the Equation is committing to enlarge the reach of some of the Nation’s best, most proven STEM education opportunities to an additional 1.5 million young people this year, with a focus on expansion in lower-income communities. Among others, programs designated for potential expansion include Engineering is Elementary, the MIND Research Institute’s ST Math, the National Math and Science Initiative’s College Readiness Program, Project Lead the Way, and efforts to build excellent STEM-focused high schools.

Growing Community of Organizations Answering President’s All Hands on Deck Call to Action

Creating Learning Opportunities Outside of the School Day

Youth-serving organizations that annually reach over 18 million children are launching a five-year commitment to bring more under-represented students into STEM. Four of the Nation’s largest youth development organizations – Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Girls Inc., National 4-H Council, and YMCA of the USA – are forming a multi-year partnership to tackle jointly the challenge of engaging under-represented youth in STEM learning. This includes a five-year collaboration agreement to operate new, high quality, and community-based STEM programming that captivates and inspires children ages 8-14, with a special emphasis on reaching low-income, African-American, and Latino youth, as well as girls. The effort will develop new STEM programming at community-based sites for times and places where options are typically limited. Programming will include the use of mobile STEM labs, 1-2 day STEM challenges and expos, and multi-week STEM-themed summer camps. The youth-serving organizations committing to partner collectively serve more than 18 million students every year, meaning that this programming  effort has the potential to be one of the largest-ever nationally-coordinated expansions of community-based STEM learning for youth in need. The partnership’s new afterschool and summer STEM learning program, Imagine Science, will pilot jointly-operated activities this summer in Dallas, TX, Omaha, NE, and Orange County, CA, with nation-wide expansion planned for 2016.

Federal agencies, companies, and others are creating new ways to engage students in citizen science. Citizen science and crowdsourcing projects can be powerful tools for engaging students in STEM learning, giving them the ability to gain hands-on experience doing real science, and in many cases take that learning outside of the traditional classroom setting. New commitments to give more students these hands-on experiences include:

  • Science is everywhere, including the White House: The White House will showcase that anyone can participate in citizen science by installing a new rain gauge in the First Lady’s Kitchen Garden, and becoming part of the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow (CoCoRaHS) citizen-science network of over 20,000 active participants who serve as the largest source of daily precipitation data in the United States.
  • Making use of Federal lands and parks: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Exological Observatory Network’s “Project BudBurst” will offer a new online course to support citizen science at wildlife refuges, and the President’s “Every Kid in a Park” Initiative will work with organizations and universities such as the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to enable tens of thousands of families and school groups to contribute citizen-science data from Federal lands during the 2015-2016 school year.
  • New “create your own” citizen-science project app: Building on its ConnectED commitment to provide its software for free to all K-12 schools, and responding to the President’s call to action, Esri will release this year a free open crowdsourcing app designed to empower citizen science.  Teachers, students, and youth groups will be able to easily create their own projects and use this app in the field to report observations and explore them on a dynamic map.
  • Lending library of citizen-science instruments: Arizona State University's Center for Engagement and Training in Science and Society, the Museum of Science Boston, Public Lab, and SciStarter will create a Citizen Science Tool Library, to increase access for students, parents, and other adults to citizen science data collection tools.

More details on the efforts to empower students through citizen science is available HERE. 

Organizations are helping more students answer the President’s “Nation of Makers” call to action.  A diverse array of organizations will support making and innovation across the country by giving more students access to hardware tools like 3D printers, peer networks, and opportunities to showcase their work, including:

  • 3D Systems, the Youth Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), and the Association of Science-Technology Centers are forming a network of libraries and museums focused on 3D digital design and fabrication, which will support increased access to 3D printers and relevant educational materials. The first 100 libraries and museums in this network have been awarded Cube 3D printers, and have committed to run over 1,000 3D printing programs across the United States.
  • Aleph Objects will be donating over $30,000 worth of LulzBot 3D printers to schools, libraries, and educational organizations.
  • Digital Harbor Foundation, with the Perpetual Innovation Fund, is establishing a new program to provide educators with free 3D printers and training in order to start youth enterprises for 3D printing at their schools. Participants commit to pay forward a portion of the proceeds from these enterprises to other schools to launch their own programs.
  • The Exploratorium will offer a free online course during summer 2015 focused on the “how, what, and why” of tinkering and making activities as a follow up to the success of its first course, “The Fundamentals of Tinkering,” which enrolled over 10,000 participants. The Exploratorium is also helping to bring more hands-on STEM learning opportunities to students through the Department of Education’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers.
  • littleBits is launching a campaign to create local “chapters” in 100 cities by end of 2015, giving students, designers, engineers, and others an easy-to-access peer group of fellow makers in the open hardware community.
  • United Negro College Fund, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, and the White House Initiative on HBCUs, with support from SparkFun Electronics and 3D Hubs, will engage students at more than ten Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in maker activities. This will include the first-ever Making for Change Showcase, which will highlight innovative solutions to community-based challenges.
  • The Urban Libraries Council (ULC) and its public library members are expanding their commitment to making technology-driven STEM education widely available to all students, including through its annual Innovations Initiative which recognizes individual library success and provides a growing database of leading practices.

Finding new and exciting ways to get students interested in the STEM fields, and helping parents find these opportunities. Many organizations are answering the President’s call to find new and exciting ways to engage students around their passions: 

  • The American Association of University Women (AAUW) and Verizon, building on a pilot last summer, will embed a new coding course for girls within their 21-week-long STEM summer camps that will be held on college and university campuses across ten states in summer 2015.
  • CA Technologies, in partnership with Boys and Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), will host Tech Girls Rock workshops throughout the U.S., with the goal of encouraging young women to discover exciting and emerging careers in STEM fields.
  • Galileo Learning, a provider of STEM and innovation education, will engage students in creating projects ranging from catapults and rockets to 3D printing and fashion lines, starting with four cities this summer.
  • Iridescent, in response to President’s “Every Kid in a Park” Initiative, will provide online curriculum and mentors to each participating child, teacher, and parent, helping them to explore the physics and engineering in the amazing things they will see in our Nation’s parks.
  • Microsoft is announcing opportunities for youth to become part of the “Big Dream Movement,” through a new documentary called the Big Dream, which will follow the stories of seven young women who are breaking barriers and overcoming personal challenges to follow their passion in science, math, computing, and engineering.
  • The National Girls Collaborative Project, with support from Time Warner Cable, is launching The Connectory, a database of over 8,000 STEM programs from all 50 states. When the site fully launches in April 2015, organizers estimate that it which will be the most comprehensive collection of STEM opportunities and programs in the country and a resource for families to connect their kids to STEM learning opportunities, while enabling providers to promote their programs and find collaborators. In close partnership with The Connectory, Maker Ed will host a subset of the directory specific to DIY and maker programs and opportunities on its online Resource Library.
  • The New York Academy of Sciences, with support from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, is announcing plans to create a “Junior Academy” – a STEM-focused social network for students aged 15-19, which will offer students access to leading research scientists and real-world challenges that expand their imaginations.
  • Society for the Science & the Public is announcing a new campaign to reach more under-served and socio-economically challenged students by providing micro-grants to key adults – teachers, counselors, and mentors – who agree to mentor a “posse” of 3-5 such students. This campaign will enable students to compete in science competitions while building their capabilities to achieve future success in academic and career pursuits in STEM.
  • Producers of the Teen Choice Awards are partnering with the National Science Teachers Association, and the National Center for Women and Information Technology to launch a nationwide multi-media campaign aimed at closing the female engagement gap in STEM education. This will include the release of FabLab, a new network broadcast series that will debut this fall. Mayim Bialick will participate in the initiative by leading a series of science-oriented question and answer segments with students across the county.
  • Victor Cruz Foundation will partner with BGCA, to create STEM activities that build off student interest in sports such as football and make the connection to topics such as materials science, basic physics, and kinesiology. Inspired by his attendance at the 2013 White House Science Fair, the New York Giants wide receiver and BGCA alum Victor Cruz has made a commitment to connect underrepresented young people to hands-on STEM learning through the work of his foundation, and his new program will start this fall with students in New York and New Jersey.

Supporting STEM Teachers

100Kin10 is adding over 30 new contributors to its campaign to prepare 100,000 excellent STEM teachers. More than 230 organizations have now come together under the banner of “100Kin10,” a network created in response to the President’s 2011 State of the Union call to action to prepare 100,000 excellent STEM teachers over 10 years. These organizations have collectively made nearly 350 new commitments to hiring, developing, and retaining excellent STEM teachers to achieve the 100Kin10 goal.  The more than 30 new businesses, schools, and organizations joining the network are adding over 40 ambitious commitments to the shared goal, including Business Innovation Factory’s online platform to empower STEM teachers to design solutions in their schools, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ digital badge credentialing program for pre-service STEM teachers, Guilford County School’s training of 150 new STEM teachers in partnership with local HBCUs, and the launch of an annual educators’ award by the Science Friday Initiative. 100Kin10 provides resources and opportunities for collaboration and learning to the network, including continuing to grow the research base. This year, it is awarding its annual Research Design competition to the Charles A. Dana Center and Agile Mind, which will launch a trial this summer to test the effectiveness of teacher-training techniques that incorporate the psychology of student success in math.

Researchers are fielding the largest-ever “growth mindset” study. Researchers at Stanford University and the University of Texas at Austin are announcing that they will field the largest-ever randomized control study of “growth mindset” interventions, pulling from a random sample of over 100 high schools nationwide. Previous research shows that these interventions, which emphasize that intelligence is not an innate trait but rather an attribute that can grow with hard work and perseverance, can significantly improve academic performance. This national study will enable investigators to estimate what proportion of underperformance in American classrooms is attributable to student mindsets. The researchers will also test a web-based intervention designed for rapid national scale-up.  The effort is supported by Bezos Foundation, the Character Lab, the Houston Endowment, the Raikes Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the President and Dean for Humanities and Social Sciences at Stanford University.

Organizations are giving educators new resources and training they need to engage in cutting-edge STEM teaching and learning. Supporting commitments include:

  • 100Kin10, working with NOAA, NASA, and DOE, will launch a climate and energy challenge for educators later this year, which will ask grade-level teams to develop projects showcasing interdisciplinary approaches to addressing climate change.
  • Discovery Communications’ Science Channel and Discovery Education are partnering with the Planetary Society, Girls Inc., and Maker Ed, to kick off a multi-year “Support our Science” campaign, beginning with providing two high-need schools with professional development opportunities, hands-on resources, and educational equipment. A third winning school will be selected through a national competition.
  • Edmodo, with over 49 million users, will create a dedicated STEM teacher community on its platform, allowing easy sharing of curriculum, connecting with peers, and sharing best practices.
  • Pittsburgh’s Grable Foundation, is committing $2 million to support innovative professional development and 21st century classrooms, benefiting up to 150,000 students regionally.
  • The National Environmental Education Foundation, with support from Samsung North America, is expanding access to dome-shaped schoolyard STEM labs, which provide year-round outdoor environmental classroom space.
  • Project Lead The Way, which currently serves more than 6,500 schools across the nation, will in 2015-2016 school year become the first organization to deliver project-based K-12 pathways – including content and teacher training – in computer science, biomedical science, and engineering.
  • The National Student Clearinghouse will include graduation rates by high school socio-demographics characteristics as well as STEM degree completions in its 2015 High School Benchmarks Report, providing a new resource for local school leaders.
  • Udemy will launch a $5 million philanthropic Teacher Tech initiative to help teach programming skills to K-12 teachers nationwide. As a first step, it will offer free web development courses to 1,000 teachers and up to 95 percent discount to any additional teachers this year. 
  • Unity Technologies is launching a new program to help high school teachers develop and deliver courses in interactive application and videogame development. The program will include access to no-charge educational licenses of the Unity 5 engine and editor, a 40-page professional skill standard document, and a 200 page curricular framework.

Fostering College and Adult Success in the STEM Fields

10 universities are partnering to expose their first-year students to design thinking and STEM experiences. Sixty percent of students who arrive at college intending to major in STEM subjects switch to other subjects, often in their first year. To combat this trend, the University Innovation Fellows program is partnering with ten universities and colleges to launch “#uifresh” (University Innovation Freshmen), a campaign to expose all incoming freshmen at a school to the types of experiences in design thinking, entrepreneurship, and innovation that will attract and retain more incoming students in the STEM disciplines. As a first step, the Fellows will work with orientation week organizers to hold experiential learning opportunities that connect first-year students to peer communities of makers and innovators on campus. The University of Virginia, University of Minnesota, and University of Florida are among the universities already participating in this effort.

A research partnership will help thousands of low-income students make the transition into college. Too often, low-income and under-represented students arrive at college fearing that they will not belong or cannot succeed, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of underperformance. Promising research shows that younger students show greater resilience and persistence in college when exposed to stories that older classmates share of their own, similar experiences and fears of when they started college. The College Transition Collaborative, a partnership of researchers and 13 universities and with support from the Raikes Foundation, is announcing plans to deliver and evaluate “belonging” interventions that feature these stories to approximately 40,000 incoming college students this summer.

Expanding access to open educational resources. John Wiley & Sons is committing to lowering costs for STEM students and is partnering with OpenStax College to develop Bio Principles and Bio Concepts, two low-cost teaching and learning solutions in biology based on openly licensed content that will be piloted at 40 institutions this spring and will be available for use in fall 2015.

Creating Regional and Local Support Networks

US2020 is expanding its city-level STEM mentoring network. The long-term goal of US2020 is to mobilize 1 million STEM mentors annually by the year 2020, with an emphasis on reaching underrepresented students. A core component of reaching that goal is building regional networks that connect STEM employers with local schools and non-profits, and building a culture of service and mentorship within STEM companies. Today, US2020 is announcing that its US2020 city network is nearly doubling in size to include 13 cities and over 250 partners. This network helps connect passionate employees with schools and non-profits. US2020 is also announcing the launch of new STEM mentoring awards to celebrate and document adoption of best practices, as well as a major commitment by Cisco to mobilize 20 percent of its workforce to engage in STEM mentoring, starting with a company-wide STEM Mentoring week in April. Major companies such as Texas Instruments continue to join the US2020 effort, building on the example of companies like Chevron, Cisco, Cognizant, Discovery Communications, Raytheon, SanDisk and Tata Consultancy Services, among others.

STEM AmeriCorps is continuing to grow. The Corporation for National and Community Service’s (CNCS) STEM AmeriCorps initiative, launched in 2013, has connected tens of thousands of students with the types of engaging STEM experiences that expand their horizons for their future. To build on this momentum, STEM was included as a priority in the overall AmeriCorps application this year, and CNCS will expand its STEM AmeriCorps Summer program to additional states. Key businesses and funders are joining as well, including:

  • Best Buy, which will place up to 20 AmeriCorps VISTA members in eight locations, and will support the ability of low-income teens to participate in the FIRST robotics competition.
  • STEM Funders Network, a collaboration of 17 foundations and funders, who are working together with the on-the-ground coordination of AmeriCorps members to create STEM learning ecosystems in 25 communities.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
March 23, 2015

Statement by the Press Secretary on the Visit of Prime Minister Abe of Japan

President Obama will host Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan for an official visit to the White House on April 28, including a State Dinner that evening.  The two leaders will celebrate the strong global partnership that the United States and Japan have developed during the 70 years since the end of World War II, and underscore the common values and principles that have made the bilateral relationship so enduring.  President Obama and Prime Minister Abe will discuss a range of economic, security, and global issues, including progress on the Trans Pacific Partnership, Japan's expanding role in the Alliance, and climate change.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
March 23, 2015

Statement by the Press Secretary on the Visit of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq

President Obama will host Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi at the White House on Tuesday, April 14.  The Prime Minister’s visit underscores the strategic partnership between the United States and Iraq and the strong U.S. commitment to political and military cooperation with Iraq in the joint fight against ISIL.  The President and Prime Minister will discuss a range of issues, including continued U.S. support to Iraq to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL, the Government of Iraq’s actions to address the needs of the Iraqi people and to strengthen cooperation between all communities in Iraq, and advancing a broad U.S.-Iraqi partnership through expanded political, commercial, and cultural relations under the U.S.-Iraq Strategic Framework Agreement.

The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
March 22, 2015

Statement by the Vice President on the Death of Lee Kuan Yew

Jill and I were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Singapore’s founding father, Lee Kuan Yew. Lee was a visionary leader who spearheaded Singapore’s economic growth and helped it become one of the most prosperous countries in the world today. He understood the importance of economic integration and effective governance to building a thriving, modern economy. He was a pragmatist, and sometimes uncompromising. But his commitment to delivering excellence in public service was exemplary. I valued his insights on Asia, geopolitics, and economics, which have shaped the thinking of many around the world. I will always cherish the wisdom he imparted on me when I had the honor to sit and talk with him in Singapore in July 2013. Then just shy of ninety years old, he remained formidable. Lee’s legacy lives on in the nation of Singapore. He was a believer in the importance of America’s enduring role as a resident Pacific power and a friend and admirer of the United States. Jill and I offer our condolences to Lee’s family and join the people of Singapore in mourning his loss. 

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
March 22, 2015

Key Facts and Reports: The Fifth Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act

Until President Obama fought for and signed the Affordable Care Act, for decades, millions of Americans lacked the security of health care coverage they deserve. 

Five years after the ACA became law, millions of working and middle class families have the economic security of knowing that they won’t go broke if they get sick. 

Thanks to the ACA, millions of Americans who already had health insurance now have better coverage because women can no longer be charged higher premiums than men for the same plan, people with pre-existing conditions can no longer be denied coverage, and young adults won’t age off their parent’s policy when they turn age 19 or graduate from college. 

Despite this progress, Republicans in Congress continue to fight for special interests, not middle class families. They have voted more than 50 times to repeal the ACA, which would eliminate tough rules, including those that guarantee health coverage even if you have a pre-existing condition.

It’s time to move forward and our economy, and country, would be stronger if Republicans stopped fighting old political battles.

The Affordable Care Act is Working:

1)      Improving Coverage: After five years of the Affordable Care Act, more than 16 million Americans have gained health coverage. Since 2013, we have seen the largest decline in the uninsured rate in decades, and the Nation’s uninsured rate is now at the lowest level ever recorded.  Just since October 2013, the uninsured rate for non-elderly adults has fallen by 35 percent.

2)      Improving Affordability: Since the Affordable Care Act was enacted, health care prices have risen at the slowest rate in nearly 50 years.  Thanks to exceptionally slow growth in per-person costs throughout our health care system, national health expenditures grew at the slowest rate on record from 2010 through 2013.   

3)      Improving Quality: The Affordable Care Act has helped improve the quality of health care, contributing to 50,000 fewer patient deaths  in hospitals due to avoidable harms, like an infection or medication error. 

Accomplishments of the Affordable Care Act; A 5th Year Anniversary Report: http://go.wh.gov/GBhus2

Charts and graphs on the Affordable Care Act from the Council of Economic Advisors: http://go.wh.gov/J8E6BS

Key facts on how the Affordable Care Act has benefitted young adults, women, Latinos, African Americans, and seniors: http://go.wh.gov/rD89dU

Affordable Care Act Anniversary Video: https://youtu.be/jGQFdad__OU

State by State impact of the Affordable Care Act: http://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/facts/bystate/statebystate.html

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
March 22, 2015

Statement by the President on the Fifth Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act

On the five-year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, one thing couldn’t be clearer:  This law is working, and in many ways, it’s working even better than anticipated.

After five years of the Affordable Care Act, more than 16 million uninsured Americans have gained the security of health insurance – an achievement that has cut the ranks of the uninsured by nearly one third.  These aren’t just numbers.  Because of this law, there are parents who can finally afford to take their kids to the doctor.  There are families who no longer risk losing their home or savings just because someone gets sick.  There are young people free to pursue their dreams and start their own business without worrying about losing access to healthcare.  There are Americans who, without this law, would not be alive today.

For Americans who already had insurance before this law was passed, the Affordable Care Act has meant new savings and new protections.  Today, tens of millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions are no longer at risk of being denied coverage.  Women no longer have to worry about being charged more just for being women.  Millions of young people have been able to stay on their parents’ plan until they turn 26.  More than 9 million seniors and people with disabilities have saved an average of $1,600 per person on their prescription medicine, over $15 billion in all since the Affordable Care Act became law.  More than 70 million Americans have gained access to preventive care, including contraceptive services, with no additional out-of-pocket costs.  And the law has helped improve the quality of health care: it’s a major reason we saw 50,000 fewer preventable patient deaths in hospitals over the last three years of data. 

The cynics said this law would kill jobs and cripple our economy.  Despite the fact that our businesses have created nearly 12 million new jobs since this law was passed, some still insist it’s a threat.  But a growing body of evidence – actual facts – shows that the Affordable Care Act is good for our economy.  In stark contrast to predictions that this law would cause premiums to skyrocket, last year the growth in health care premium costs for businesses matched its lowest level on record.  If premiums had kept growing over the last four years at the rate they had in the last decade, the average family premium would be $1,800 higher than it is today.  That’s $1,800 that stays in your pocket or doesn’t come out of your paycheck.  And in part because health care prices have grown at their slowest rate in nearly 50 years since this law was passed, we’ve been able to cut our deficits by two-thirds.  Health care costs that have long been the biggest factor driving our projected long-term up deficits up are now the single biggest factor driving those deficits down. 

The Affordable Care Act has been the subject of more scrutiny, more rumor, more attempts to dismantle and undermine it than just about any law in recent history.  But five years later, it is succeeding – in fact, it’s working better than even many of its supporters expected.  It’s time to embrace reality.  Instead of trying yet again to repeal the Affordable Care Act and allowing special interests to write their own rules, we should work together to keep improving our healthcare system for everybody.  Instead of kicking millions off their insurance and doubling the number of uninsured Americans, as the House Republican budget would do, we should work together to make sure every American has a chance to get covered.

Five years ago, we declared that in America, quality, affordable health care is not a privilege, it is a right.  And I’ll never stop working to protect that right for those who already have it, and extend it to those who don’t, so that all of us can experience the blessings of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in this country we love.  

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
March 22, 2015

Statement by the President on the Death of Lee Kuan Yew

I was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Singapore’s Minister Mentor, Lee Kuan Yew.  On behalf of the American people, Michelle and I offer our deepest condolences to the Lee family and join the people of Singapore in mourning the loss of this remarkable man.  A visionary who led his country from Singapore’s independence in 1965 to build one of the most prosperous countries in the world today, he was a devoted public servant and a remarkable leader.  Minister Mentor Lee’s views and insights on Asian dynamics and economic management were respected by many around the world, and no small number of this and past generations of world leaders have sought his advice on governance and development.  I personally appreciated his wisdom, including our discussions during my trip to Singapore in 2009, which were hugely important in helping me formulate our policy of rebalancing to the Asia Pacific.  He was a true giant of history who will be remembered for generations to come as the father of modern Singapore and as one the great strategists of Asian affairs.