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Office of the Press Secretary
On Friday, October 21, 2011, the President signed into law:
H.R. 2944, the “United States Parole Commission Extension Act of 2011,” which extends the authority of the United States Parole Commission for an additional two years, until November 1, 2013.
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, at a ceremony at the White House, President Obama honored the recipients of the National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology and Innovation—the highest honors bestowed by the United States government on scientists, engineers, and inventors. In addition, the President announced additional steps that will help convert more ideas from America’s universities, research labs and companies into new products, expanding our economy and creating 21st century jobs.
“I’m pleased to recognize these extraordinary scientists, engineers, and inventors for their work exploring the very frontiers of human knowledge and making our world a better place,” President Obama said. “It’s important to recognize that work, and to help make it easier for inventors and innovators like them to bring their work from the lab to the marketplace and create jobs.”
Honoring Those Who Discover, Create, and Build
The National Medal of Science recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to science and engineering, and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation recognizes those who have made lasting contributions to America’s competitiveness and quality of life and helped strengthen the Nation’s technological workforce.
Today’s recipients in National Medal of Science include:
Today recipients in National Medal of Technology include:
Moving Ideas from Lab to Market
A New Online Resource to Speed Commercialization of Technologies: In support of the President’s goals for the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, the federal Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) will launch a new searchable, web-based resource to assist manufacturers, tech firms, and entrepreneurs to turn more of their ideas into products and businesses. Integrated into the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) MEP website, the site will enable businesses and entrepreneurs across the country to easily identify and contact more than 2,000 public-private organizations and initiatives designed to assist them. The site will profile more than 900 organizations that offer capital, intensive entrepreneurial support, technical assistance, and access to new markets. Among the users will be NIST MEP’s more than 1,400 technical experts located around the country who are focused on solving manufacturers’ challenges and identifying opportunities for growth. They will use the resource to improve the economic standing of the more than 34,000 manufacturers they work with annually, resulting in new sales and investments. This web resource will bring together in one place information that is currently scattered across the country.
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
On Friday, October 21, 2011, the President signed into law:
H.R. 2832, the “Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act of 2011,” which extends the Generalized System of Preferences program through July 31, 2013, and reauthorizes the Trade Adjustment Assistance program through December 31, 2013;
H.R. 3080, the “United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act,” which implements the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement;
H.R. 3078, the “United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act,” which implements the United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement and extends the Andean Trade Preference Act; and
H.R. 3079, the “United States-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act,” which implements the United States-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement.
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
Yesterday's announcement by ETA in Spain that it has renounced violence holds out the prospect of a historic step toward peace, although there is a long road ahead to realize this promise. In this moment of hope, our thoughts go out to the many victims who have suffered due to ETA's actions over many decades. We recognize the courage of the Spanish government and the Spanish people in their enduring efforts to advance democracy and freedom in Spain and around the world. Spain and the United States are close allies in NATO and work together to promote shared values and interests within Europe and beyond.
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
The full text of an op-ed by National Economic Council Director Gene B. Sperling is printed below. The piece, published in today’s Wall Street Journal, can be read online HERE.
The Case for the President's Jobs Act
Nearly 45% of unemployed Americans have been out of work for six months or longer.
By Gene Sperling
For all the political posturing and handicapping by pundits over President Obama's American Jobs Act, too little attention is being paid to the economic costs if Congress fails to act on bold measures to spark job creation and growth over the next 12 to 18 months.
Put simply, the economic challenges we face create an overwhelming imperative for action now. Setting aside the merits of taking out insurance against the possibility some forecasters see of a renewed downturn in the U.S. or financial instability in Europe, the current outlook suggests that the failure to pass bold measures would lead to serious harm to our economy, our small businesses and tens of millions of working families.
Indeed, the Blue Chip consensus is for only 2% growth in 2012. The International Monetary Fund predicts 1.8%. The Conference Board projects 1.1%. With growth at such anemic levels, all project unemployment to average 9% or higher next year.
In any recovery, that would be an unacceptable outcome. But the depth of the recession that began in 2007, combined with the fact that recessions induced by severe financial crises take a particularly long time to climb out of, has left us with the worst legacy of long-term unemployment in our lifetimes. Nearly 45% of the unemployed have been out of work for six months or longer. The average spell of unemployment is 40.5 weeks, the highest since this figure was first collected in 1948; the peak before this recession was in 1983, at just 21.2 weeks.
Economists have long worried that long-term unemployment produces "hysteresis" when workers lose their skills or become disconnected from the work force, causing lasting damage to the economy. Research by the University of Warwick's Andrew Oswald has shown—as paraphrased by Don Peck in an Atlantic Monthly article last year—that "no other circumstance produces a larger decline in mental health and well-being than being involuntarily out of work for six months or more."
To make matters even worse, the National Employment Legal Program recently found, in a span of four weeks, over 150 Internet job postings that include "do not apply" notices discriminating against those who are currently unemployed.
To see this type of economic hardship and choose not to put forward any immediate measures for job creation means turning a blind eye to the national crisis of long-term unemployment. It means saying that it is acceptable to sit on our hands in the face of projections of 1.5% to 2% growth in an economy where over 14 million people are already out of work and high unemployment is feeding weakness in the housing market. President Obama categorically disagrees. His American Jobs Act attacks this challenge in two ways.
First, it provides a strong and immediate boost to demand that could create up to 1.9 million jobs, increase growth by up to 2%, and lower unemployment, according to independent economists such as Moody's Analytics. It does so by cutting payroll taxes in half for nearly all workers and small businesses, preventing teacher and first-responder layoffs, and creating jobs rebuilding our infrastructure, our schools and our blighted neighborhoods.
Second, it is specifically designed to take on the problem of long-term unemployment. It includes a tax credit for hiring the long-term unemployed and veterans, and a ban on hiring discrimination against the unemployed. It also calls for major reforms to our unemployment-insurance system, including wage insurance to assist workers whose new job pays less than their old, a "Bridge to Work" program to help the unemployed reconnect with the labor force through temporary work, job-search assistance for all long-term unemployed, and support for unemployed workers looking to become entrepreneurs.
Certainly, we are disappointed that Republicans have so far blocked passage of the American Jobs Act. Yet what is most surprising and disturbing is that Republicans have thus far made no serious attempt to put forward a strategy that would ensure that growth is strong enough over the next 12 to 18 months to start bringing the unemployment rate down.
Some of our Republican friends protest this depiction because they've repackaged a variety of long-term measures and stuck a "jobs plan" label on them. Yet while we agree with some of these ideas and have signed them into law, such as patent reform and free trade agreements, they are not designed to create jobs in the immediate term or to address the current crisis of long-term unemployment.
In fact, Gus Faucher, the director of macroeconomics at Moody's Analytics, after reviewing the latest Republican jobs plan (the Jobs Through Growth Act), told the Washington Post that it would do nothing to create jobs in the short-term and could even make matters worse. Likewise, Macroeconomic Advisers wrote just this week that the bill "would not materially change our forecasts for either economic growth or employment through 2013."
This aversion to measures designed to move the needle on jobs and growth is particularly disappointing given that many Republicans supported them only a short time ago.
Earlier this year, the heads of the AFL-CIO and U.S. Chamber of Commerce came together to support increased infrastructure investment and back the same bipartisan Senate proposal for a new infrastructure bank—sponsored by Sens. John Kerry and Kay Bailey Hutchison—that is included in the American Jobs Act.
The president's proposal to cut payroll taxes in half for workers and small businesses closely resembles a provision included last year in the Economic Freedom Act put forward by 50 House Republicans, including Michele Bachmann and Jeb Hensarling.
It simply cannot be the case in a serious economic moment like this that good ideas are transformed into bad ideas solely because President Obama supports them.
Our economy cannot afford Republicans to both say no to the American Jobs Act and to have no meaningful alternative. The moment is too serious. The stakes are too high.
Mr. Sperling is director of President Obama's National Economic Council.
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
NOMINATIONS SENT TO THE SENATE:
Bonnie L. Bassler, of New Jersey, to be a Member of the National Science Board, National Science Foundation for a term expiring May 10, 2016, vice Steven C. Beering, term expired.
David James Chard, of Texas, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the National Board for Education Sciences for a term expiring November 28, 2015, vice Jonathan Baron, term expiring.
Carol J. Galante, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, vice David H. Stevens, resigned.
Larry V. Hedges, of Illinois, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the National Board for Education Sciences for a term expiring November 28, 2015, vice Frank Philip Handy, term expiring.
Thomas Hoenig, of Missouri, to be Vice Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, vice Martin J. Gruenberg.
Thomas Hoenig, of Missouri, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for a term expiring December 12, 2015, vice Thomas J. Curry, term expired.
Carla M. León-Decker, of Virginia, to be a Member of the National Credit Union Administration Board for a term expiring August 2, 2017, vice Gigi Hyland, term expired.
Mark William Lippert, of Ohio, to be an Assistant Secretary of Defense, vice Wallace C. Gregson, resigned.
Hirokazu Yoshikawa, of Massachusetts, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the National Board for Education Sciences for a term expiring November 28, 2015, vice Sally Epstein Shaywitz, term expiring.
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individual to a key Administration post:
President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individual to a key Administration post:
Dr. Thomas M. Hoenig, Nominee for Vice Chairman, Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Dr. Thomas M. Hoenig was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City from 1991 to 2011. As the President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Dr. Hoenig directed Federal Reserve activities in the Tenth Federal Reserve District. Dr. Hoenig first joined the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City in 1973 as an economist in the banking supervision area. He was named a Vice President in 1981 and Senior Vice President in 1986. In addition to his work at the Federal Reserve, he has served as an instructor of economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Dr. Hoenig is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and serves on the boards of directors of Midwest Research Institute and Union Station. He received a B.A. in Economics and Mathematics from Benedictine College and a M.A. and a Ph.D. in Economics from Iowa State University.
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
As Secretary of Commerce, John Bryson will be a key member of my economic team, working with the business community to promote job creation, foster growth, and help open up new markets around the world for American-made goods. At such a critical time for our economy, I nominated John because I believe his decades of experience both in the public and private sector have given him a clear understanding of what it takes to put America on a stronger economic footing and create jobs. I’m confident he will help us do that, and I look forward to working closely with him in the months and years ahead.
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts:
President Obamasaid, “Our nation will be greatly served by the talent and expertise these individuals bring to their new roles. I am grateful they have agreed to serve in this Administration, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”
President Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts:
Bonnie Bassler, Nominee for Member, National Science Board, National Science Foundation
Bonnie Bassler is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and the Squibb Professor of Molecular Biology at Princeton University. She is the Immediate Past President of the American Society for Microbiology and the Chair of the Board of Governors of the American Academy of Microbiology. Her research focuses on the molecular mechanisms that bacteria use for intercellular communication. Professor Bassler is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2009, she received the Wiley Prize in Biomedical Science. Professor Bassler received the 2011 Richard Lounsbery Award, one of the highest honors bestowed by the National Academy of Sciences. She is a 2002 MacArthur Fellow. She received her B.S. from the University of California, Davis and her Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University.
Carla M. León-Decker, Nominee for Member, National Credit Union Administration Board
Carla M. León-Decker is the President and CEO of the D.C. Federal Credit Union. From 1994 to 2000, Ms. León-Decker served at the PAHO/WHO Federal Credit Union, initially as Operations Manager and later as President and CEO. Before that, she was a branch manager at the Transportation Federal Credit Union where she served from 1988 to 1994. Ms. León-Decker is a credit union development educator and Co-Founder and Director of the Network of Latino Credit Unions & Professionals. She received her B.A. from Southeastern University and her M.A. in International Commerce and Policy from George Mason University.
Mark William Lippert, Nominee for Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, Department of Defense
Mark William Lippert is currently serving on active duty as an Intelligence Officer in the United States Navy Reserve. Previously, he was Chief of Staff for the National Security Council in 2009. In 2008, he was Deputy Director for Foreign Policy on the Obama-Biden Transition Team and Senior Foreign Policy Adviser on the Obama for America campaign. From 2007 to 2008, Mr. Lippert served as an Intelligence Officer with SEAL Team One in Iraq. Previously, he worked as a foreign policy adviser for then-Senator Obama from 2005 to 2008. From 2000 to 2005, he was a professional staff member on the Senate Appropriations Committee, where he advised Senator Patrick Leahy. From 1999 to 2000 he was a foreign and defense policy adviser to Senator Tom Daschle and the Senate Democratic Policy Committee. Mr. Lippert is a recipient of a Bronze Star Medal for his service in Iraq and a Joint Commendation Medal for his service in Afghanistan. He holds a B.A. and M.A. from Stanford University.
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
President Obama hosted Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg for a meeting in the Oval Office on October 20. The visit underscored the close ties between the United States and Norway, which are grounded in our common heritage, values, ideals and interests. The leaders renewed their commitments in the following areas:
Defense and Security Cooperation: As NATO allies, the United States and Norway are committed to each other’s defense and partner in critical crisis areas around the world.
Diplomatic Cooperation and Global Development: The United States and Norway cooperate closely on some of the world’s most intractable challenges. We share a commitment to democracy and development cooperation, as highlighted by Norway’s generous $4.6 billion foreign aid budget in 2011, which constitutes more than 1% of the country’s GDP. The United States and Norway are two of the eight founding members of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a multilateral effort that supports national efforts to promote transparency, fight corruption, strengthen accountability, and empower citizens.
Economic, Energy, and Environmental Cooperation: The United States and Norway have a dynamic economic partnership that is creating jobs, driving the development of safe and secure energy sources, and fostering a healthy environment.
Cultural Ties: Nearly five million Americans claim Norwegian ancestry, almost equal to Norway’s own population. Our cultural relations are rich and dynamic, and both countries are working to encourage greater educational exchange opportunities.
Educational and Scientific Exchange: More than 2,500 Norwegian students studied in the United States during the last academic year, ranking the United States as the third most popular destination for Norwegian students studying abroad. The U.S.-Norway Fulbright program exchanges over 100 students and scholars annually, including the prestigious Fulbright Arctic Chairs Program supported by a $1 million contribution from the Norwegian government.