President Obama to Honor MLS Cup Champion Los Angeles Galaxy and Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings at The White House

Teams to Host a Let’s Move! Clinic on the South Lawn Following the Ceremony for children from Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, March 26, President Obama will welcome the Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings and the Major League Soccer champion LA Galaxy to the White House to honor their 2012 championship seasons in a ceremony at the White House.  This visit will also continue the tradition begun by President Obama of honoring sports teams for their efforts to give back to communities as part of their trip to Washington.

After the ceremony, the teams will host a Let’s Move! clinic on the South Lawn of the White House for youth sport participants from across the country.  The clinic is supported by MLS WORKS, MLS’s community outreach initiative that promotes the importance of living a healthy lifestyle, and the Kings Care Foundation, the club’s community outreach initiative that is focused on providing and enhancing educational, recreational, and health-related programs for the youth of Los Angeles. The children participating in the clinic come from the U.S. Soccer Foundation’s Soccer for Success program in Philadelphia, America SCORES programs in Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland and Washington, D.C. and NHL’s Hockey is for Everyone programs in Washington, D.C., Columbus, Detroit and Philadelphia.

Background information on youth sports programs participating:

MLS WORKS
MLS WORKS is Major League Soccer's community outreach initiative dedicated to addressing important social issues and serves as a platform for both League and club philanthropic programs. MLS WORKS seeks to establish Major League Soccer as a leader for improving the lives of people through sport.

LA Galaxy Foundation 
The LA Galaxy Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to helping children through educational, health and soccer based initiatives and programs.  LA Galaxy Foundation will continue to support organizations and activities dedicated to encouraging, educating and empowering the children in our community.

Kings Care Foundation
The Kings Care Foundation is the award-winning, non-profit children’s charity of the Los Angeles Kings. Formed in 1996, the Kings Care Foundation is dedicated to providing children in the Greater Los Angeles area with educational and recreational opportunities and has donated nearly $8 million in monetary and in-kind donations. The Kings Care Foundation is proud to support the local community by making a direct impact on the lives of nearly one million children
throughout Southern California each year.

Soccer for Success
The U.S. Soccer Foundation, the major charitable arm of soccer in the United States, runs the national after-school program Soccer for Success.  Soccer for Success provides children in urban underserved areas with structured physical activity, nutrition education and mentorship, for 90 minutes a day, three times per week for 24 weeks per year, at no cost to their families. Soccer for Success ensures that children in under-resourced communities have easy and affordable access to a  high quality out-of-school program that supports their physical and personal development. The children participating in the event are from a Better Tomorrows community in Philadelphia, where the U.S. Soccer Foundation partners with the JT Dorsey Foundation to implement the program.

America SCORES
America SCORES provides innovative afterschool and summer programming which combine soccer, poetry and spoken word, and service-learning every day for over 24 weeks each year. America SCORES participants receive ten times more exercise than the national average and lower their BMI by 2% by the end of each season. Using soccer as a tool to encourage fitness, sportsmanship, and leadership, America SCORES inspires the life-long appreciation of sports and health-enhancing behaviors like choosing to eat more fruit and vegetables, participating in organized sports and spending less time watching television and playing video games. Each year, America SCORES serves 8,000 students at 150 schools through fourteen affiliates located in major urban centers across the United States.

NHL’s Hockey is for Everyone
Hockey is for Everyone™ (HIFE) is the National Hockey League's official youth development program. HIFE provides support and unique programing to non-profit youth hockey organizations across North America that are committed to offering children of all backgrounds opportunities to play hockey. The HIFE initiative leverages the sport of hockey as a catalyst to help children learn essential life skills, education and the core values of hockey: commitment, perseverance, and teamwork.
 

President Obama Nominates Two to Serve on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, President Obama nominated Michael Kenny O’Keefe and Robert Okun to serve on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. 

“Throughout their careers, these nominees have displayed unwavering commitment to justice and integrity,” said President Obama.  “Their records are distinguished and impressive and I am confident that they will serve the American people well from the bench of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.  I am honored to nominate them today.”

Michael Kenny O’Keefe:  Nominee for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia

Michael Kenny O’Keefe is a sole practitioner with a focus on criminal defense and family law.  He has represented individuals in over 2,000 cases in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, and litigated over 200 trials.  He served as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Baltimore School of Law in 2010.  Prior to starting his private practice, O’Keefe was a consultant to the District of Columbia law firm O’Connor & Hannan, where he also served as a law clerk.  O’Keefe earned his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and his J.D. from American University’s Washington College of Law, where he was an Associate Editor of the Law Review.  Prior to law school, he served as a Legislative Aide to United States Senator Christopher J. Dodd.

Robert D. Okun:  Nominee for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia

Robert D. Okun is Chief of the Special Proceedings Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, which handles all post-conviction motions filed in D.C. Superior Court and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.  He also has served as Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney for Operations, and as Special Counsel to the U.S. Attorney for Professional Development and Legal Policy, and he advises and trains Assistant U.S. Attorneys on issues involving ethics and the Rules of Professional Conduct.  Prior to his service at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Okun served as a trial attorney in the Department of Justice’s Office of Consumer Litigation and in the Fraud Section of the Civil Division, as well as in the Office of Policy and Evaluation at the Federal Trade Commission.  Okun earned his B.A. magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School.  Following law school, he served as a law clerk for the Honorable Frank E. Schwelb, then-Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate

NOMINATIONS SENT TO THE SENATE:

Thomas Edward Perez, of Maryland, to be Secretary of Labor, vice Hilda L. Solis, resigned.

Catherine M. Russell, of the District of Columbia, to be Ambassador at Large for Global Women's Issues.

President Obama Announces A Key Administration Post

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

• Cathy Russell - Ambassador at Large for Global Women’s Issues, Department of State

“Cathy is a longtime advocate for justice and fairness and has worked on preventing violence against women here in America and around the world,” said President Obama. “She served as Chief of Staff to Dr. Jill Biden for my entire first term, and has worked tirelessly alongside Michelle and Jill to make sure our military families get the honor and support they’ve earned.  I’m certain that Cathy will continue to be a powerful advocate for women and girls in her new role.”

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

Cathy Russell, Nominee for Ambassador at Large for Global Women’s Issues, Department of State
Cathy Russell is the Chief of Staff to Dr. Jill Biden.  Previously, she served in the U.S. Senate on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as the Senior Advisor on International Women’s Issues from 2007 to 2008.  She served as an Associate Deputy Attorney General in the Justice Department from 1995 to 1996.  From 1993 to 1995, she served as the Staff Director of the Senate Judiciary Committee and from 1989 to 1993, she was Senior Counsel to Senator Patrick Leahy for the Senate Judiciary Committee, Technology Subcommittee.  She was also a member of the Communications Advisory Council of Women for Women International from 2006 to 2008.  Ms. Russell received a B.A. from Boston College and a J.D. from George Washington University.