Readout of the President’s Call with President-elect Danilo Medina of the Dominican Republic

Earlier today, President Obama called President-elect Danilo Medina of the Dominican Republic to congratulate him on his recent electoral victory and to commend the Dominican people for their dedication to democracy.  The Leaders discussed the shared responsibility for enhancing citizen security, reducing illicit drug trafficking, and underscored the importance of economic growth in advancing the well-being of all Dominicans.  President Obama also highlighted the strong bonds of friendship between the American and Dominican people, noting that he looked forward to working with President-elect Medina on bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest.

WEEKLY ADDRESS: It’s Time for Congress to Get to Work

WASHINGTON, DC— In this week’s address, President Obama spoke to the American people from a Honeywell manufacturing facility in Minnesota about his proposal to make it easier for companies to hire our returning service members for jobs that utilize their skills and help grow our economy.  This week, the President called on Congress to get to work on his proposals to grow the economy and create jobs like getting our construction workers back on the job, giving small business owners a tax break for hiring more workers, giving responsible homeowners the opportunity to refinance their mortgages, and ensuring that women have equal pay for equal work. 

The audio of the address and video of the address will be available online at www.whitehouse.gov at 6:00 a.m. ET, Saturday, June 2, 2012 

Remarks of President Barack Obama
Jobs for America’s Veterans
Golden Valley, Minnesota
June 2, 2012

Today I’m at one of Honeywell’s manufacturing facilities in Golden Valley, Minnesota, where I just announced a step that will make it easier for companies to hire returning service members who have the skills our country needs right now.  It’s another part of our effort to make sure that no American who fights for this country abroad has to fight for a job when they come home.  That’s why businesses like Honeywell are answering our challenge to hire 100,000 post-9/11 veterans and their spouses by the end of next year.  That’s why I’ve directed the government to hire over 200,000 veterans so far – because our economy needs their tremendous talent, and because millions of Americans are still looking for a job.   

Right now, this country is still fighting our way back from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.  The economy is growing again, but it’s not growing fast enough.  Our businesses have created almost 4.3 million new jobs over the last twenty-seven months, but as we learned in this week’s jobs report, we’re not creating them fast enough.  And just like last year at this time, our economy faces some serious headwinds.  Gas prices are starting to come down again, but when they spiked over the last few months, it hit people’s wallets pretty hard.  The crisis in Europe’s economy has cast a shadow on our own.  And all of this makes it even more challenging to fully recover and lay the foundation for an economy that’s built to last. 

But from the moment we first took action to prevent another depression, we knew the road to recovery wouldn’t be easy.  We knew it would take time, that there would be ups and downs along the way.  But we also knew that if we were willing to act wisely, and boldly, and together; if we were willing to keep at it, and never quit, we would come back stronger. 

Nothing has shaken my faith in that belief.  We will come back stronger.  We do have better days ahead.  And that’s because of you.  I would place my bet on American workers and American businesses any day of the week.  You’re the reason our auto industry has come roaring back.  You’re the reason manufacturing is hiring at its fastest pace since the 1990s.  You work hard. You play by the rules. And what you deserve are leaders who will do the same; who will do whatever it takes to fight for the middle-class and grow this economy faster.  Because while we can’t fully control everything that happens in other parts of the world, there are plenty of things we can control here at home.  There are plenty of steps we can take right now to help create jobs and grow this economy. 

I sent Congress a jobs bill last September full of the kinds of bipartisan ideas that would have put our fellow Americans back to work and helped reinforce our economy against those outside shocks.  I sent them a plan that would have reduced the deficit by $4 trillion in a way that’s balanced – that pays for the job-creating investments we need by cutting unnecessary spending and asking the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more in taxes.

Since then, Congress has only passed a few parts of that jobs bill, like a tax cut that’s allowing working Americans to keep more of your paycheck every week.  That was important.  But Congress hasn’t acted on enough of the other ideas in that bill that would make a difference and help create jobs right now. And there’s no excuse for that.  Not when so many people are looking for work.  Not when so many people are struggling to pay the bills. 

So my message to Congress is, get to work.   

Right now, Congress should pass a bill to help states prevent more layoffs, so we can put thousands of teachers and firefighters and police officers back on the job.  Congress should have passed a bill a long time ago to put thousands of construction workers back on the job rebuilding our roads and our bridges and our runways.  Instead of just talking a good game about job creators, Congress should give small business owners a tax break for hiring more workers and paying them higher wages.  Let’s get that done. 

Right now, Congress should give every responsible homeowner the opportunity to save an average of $3,000 a year by refinancing their mortgage.  Next week, there’s a vote in Congress on a bill that would give working women the tools they need to demand equal pay for equal work.  Ensuring paycheck fairness for women should be a no brainer.  And they need to pass that bill. 

Right now, Congress also needs to extend the tax credits for clean energy manufacturers that are set to expire at the end of the year – so that we don’t walk away from 40,000 good jobs.  And it’s long past time for Congress to end the tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, and use that money to cover moving expenses for companies that are bringing jobs back to America.

It’s not lost on anyone, least of all me, that this is an election year.  But we’ve got responsibilities that are bigger than an election.  We’ve got responsibilities to you.  With so many people struggling to get by, now is not the time to play politics.  Now is not the time for Congress to sit on its hands.  The American people expect their leaders to work hard, no matter what year it is.  That’s what I intend to do.  And I expect Democrats and Republicans to join me.   

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Letter from the President Regarding Sanctions on Foreign Narcotics Kingpins

Attached is the text of a letter from the President to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Committees on Armed Services and the Judiciary, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Senate Committees on Foreign Relations and Finance, and the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence regarding sanctions on foreign narcotics kingpins.

Statement on the Employment Situation in May

WASHINGTON, DC – Alan B. Krueger, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, issued the following statement today on the employment situation in May. You can view the statement HERE.
  
The Employment Situation in May
Posted by Alan B. Krueger on June 1, 2012 at 9:34AM EDT
 
Problems in the job market were long in the making and will not be solved overnight.  The economy lost jobs for 25 straight months beginning in February 2008, and over 8 million jobs were lost as a result of the Great Recession.  We are still fighting back from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. 
 
Today we learned that the economy has added private sector jobs for 27 straight months, for a total of 4.3 million payroll jobs over that period.  The economy is growing but it is not growing fast enough. BLS’s establishment survey shows that private businesses added 82,000 jobs last month, and overall non-farm payroll employment rose by 69,000.  The unemployment rate ticked up from 8.1% in April to 8.2% in May, according to BLS’s household survey.  However, the labor force participation rate increased 0.2 percentage point to 63.8%, and employment rose by 422,000 according to the household survey. 

There is much more work that remains to be done to repair the damage caused by the financial crisis and deep recession that began at the end of 2007.  Just like last year at this time, our economy is facing serious headwinds, including the crisis in Europe and a spike in gas prices that hit American families’ finances over the past months.  It is critical that we continue the President’s economic policies that are helping us dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession. 
 
In the American Jobs Act and in the State of the Union Address, the President put forward a number of proposals to create jobs and strengthen the economy, including proposals that would put teachers back in the classroom and cops on the beat, and put our nation’s construction workers back on the job rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure.  The President has also proposed a “To-Do List” of actions that Congress should take to create jobs and help restore middle-class security.  This includes eliminating tax incentives to ship jobs overseas, cutting red tape so responsible homeowners can refinance, giving small businesses that increase employment or wages a 10 percent income tax credit, investing in affordable clean energy, and helping returning veterans find work.  The President is in Minneapolis today to announce a new executive action that will establish private sector partnerships to help military service members acquire recognized occupational credentials—as welders, as machinists, and ultimately in a broader range of occupations.  These partnerships will help service members find private sector jobs once they leave the military, and they will help firms in manufacturing and other industries that need workers to fill their vacant positions. 
 
Manufacturing employment continues to expand and manufacturers added 12,000 jobs in May.  After losing millions of good manufacturing jobs in the years before and during the recession, the economy has added 495,000 manufacturing jobs since January 2010--the strongest growth for any 28-month period since April 1995.  To continue the revival in manufacturing jobs and output, the President has proposed tax incentives for manufacturers, enhanced training for the workforce, and measures to create manufacturing hubs and encourage the growing trend of insourcing.

Other sectors with net job increases included education and health services (+46,000), transportation and warehousing (+35,600), wholesale trade (+15,900), and temporary help services (+9,200).  Construction lost 28,000 jobs, accounting services lost 14,000 jobs, government lost 13,000 jobs, and leisure and hospitality lost 9,000 jobs.  State and local governments shed 8,000 jobs, mostly in education.

As the Administration stresses every month, the monthly employment and unemployment figures can be volatile, and employment estimates can be subject to substantial revision.  Therefore, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report and it is helpful to consider each report in the context of other data that are becoming available.