The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
October 09, 2014

FACT SHEET: President Obama's Agenda for Creating Economic Opportunity for Millennials

A copy of the related report released by the President’s Council of Economic Advisors is available online HERE.

Last week, President Obama put forth his vision for continuing to build on the foundation we’ve laid for a strong, durable economy with secure middle class jobs. Thanks to the hard work and grit of the American people, we’re moving forward again and one generation in particular – Millennials – will shape our economy for decades to come.

Millennials came of age during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. In the face of these challenges, President Obama acted quickly to rebuild opportunity for all hardworking Americans, including Millennials. Together, we kept more teachers on the job to improve the quality of education for kids at our local schools. We cut subsidies to big banks so that we could make college more affordable by increasing Pell Grants. And we expanded health care coverage so that no one, including young people just getting their start, would go broke if they get sick. 

There are still challenges to meet, but no generation has been better equipped to overcome them than Millennials. They’re skilled with technology and more educated than any previous generation. Today’s White House report details some of the key characteristics of the Millennial Generation as well as the impact that the Administration’s policies have had on them.

To build on this progress, there is also a path forward. Acting with Congress and on his own where he can, President Obama will continue to invest in our teachers and schools, cut student loan debt, build on our technology boom, expand health coverage and homeownership, and train every hardworking American with the skills they need to find a good job that pays good wages.                                     

Making Higher Education More Affordable for Millennials: While college is more important than ever before, it is also more expensive. President Obama has taken steps to make college more affordable and increase financial aid – while Republicans have called for rolling back these expansions of student aid and opposed efforts to allow students to refinance student loans.

  • Increasing federal financial support for higher education. Higher education can be a pathway to the middle class for many people, but we have to ensure that students are able to afford this investment.
    • Creating the American Opportunity Tax Credit worth up to $10,000 over four years of college.
    • Increasing Pell Grant scholarships by $1,000 a year, while reaching millions more students each year.
    • Eliminating wasteful bank subsidies and passing along those savings to help more Americans afford college.
  • Making student loan payments more affordable. President Obama created a new repayment plan allowing students to cap their student loan payments at 10 percent of their discretionary income. In June 2014, the President directed the Department of Education to make this plan available to every direct student loan borrower, benefiting nearly 5 million current and former students. The President has also supported Congressional efforts to allow student loan borrowers to refinance their loans, saving thousands in interest costs, which Republicans in Congress have blocked.

Supporting Innovation: Millennials are more connected to technology than previous generations, both in school and in work, and their innovations in this area have the potential to impact all workers through our economy for years to come. The President’s policies have supported innovation that helps students learn and entrepreneurs create new businesses.

  • Digital Literacy for the Tech Generation.  The President’s policies are creating new opportunity for a nation where life and livelihood will demand digital literacy.  The ConnectED Initiative is transforming education by connecting every school to high-speed broadband and wireless, with over $4 billion in public and private funding announced since 2013. 
  • Empowering Innovation:  The President has been actively working to make sure that patent trolls, who use vague and misleading threats of lawsuits to extort money from young companies, do not strangle American technological innovation.  He is driving an agenda that has reformed how and when the government issues patents to improve their quality, limited abuse of certain trade courts to hold up new innovations, and continues to call on Congress to pass comprehensive reform to curtail patent trolls.
  • Unlocking Consumer Choice: The President is also working to make sure that consumers have real flexibility when it comes to choosing technologies, and how they use them — like unlocking cell phones to use them with the mobile network that meets your needs.  The Administration called last year to restore and safeguard this common-sense freedom, and this August, signed that bill into law.

Creating Opportunity and Supporting Good-Paying Middle-Class Jobs: Upon taking office, President Obama immediately took action to put Americans back to work. But while the unemployment rate for workers ages 18 to 34 has come down 4.7 percentage points, there is still work to do. The unemployment rate remains elevated, and wage growth for young workers has not kept pace with the past. The President is committed to taking steps to support stronger growth today and a stronger economy going forward:

  • Supporting Equal Pay. The disparity in pay between women and men doesn’t just affect women’s financial well-being; it affects families and the nation’s overall economic health.  The first bill President Obama signed into law in 2009 was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. In 2014 he took executive actions to advance the cause of equal pay by requiring federal contractors to submit data on employee compensation, and to prohibit retaliation when an employee of a federal contractor reveals his or her pay.   These are all commonsense steps that move us down the road toward economic equality, even as Congress continues to debate the Paycheck Fairness Act, which the President strongly supports.  
  • Increasing the Minimum Wage:  President Obama has called on Congress to raise the national minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour, which would provide 28 million workers with a raise, benefiting millions of lower- and middle-class families. But while Republicans in Congress have blocked this effort, progress is being made across the country: 13 states and D.C. have raised their minimum wage since the beginning of 2013 – benefitting over 7 million workers – and cities and businesses are also taking action on their own to raise wages. The President also signed an executive order to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 for workers on federal contracts.
  • Expanding Tax Relief for Working Families: President Obama has expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit, benefitting 16 million families a year – and has proposed permanently extending these expansions. The President has also proposed expanding the EITC for workers without dependent children, including the 3.3 million young workers ages 21-24 who are currently ineligible for the credit.
  • Supporting Immigrants and Creating an Immigration System that Works: Millennials are more likely to be foreign-born than the previous two generations.  The President has been fighting for a fair, effective and common sense immigration reform that lives up to our heritage as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.  As that effort continues, the Administration is implementing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) which has benefitted some 600,000 young people who were brought to this country as children by their parents, and for whom the United States is home.  Though DACA is an exercise of enforcement authority that does not provide permanent status, it has enabled young people to work without fear of deportation, to get new jobs, open their first bank accounts, and obtain drivers licenses.   
  • Investing in Infrastructure, Research and Manufacturing to Support Middle-Class Jobs: The President has proposed targeted investments in areas such as infrastructure, research and manufacturing that will both help create jobs today and lay the groundwork for stronger long-run growth. By contrast, the House Republican-passed budget would require deep cuts to early education, research, job training, clean energy and other areas that support a stronger economy.

Connecting Students and Workers with the Skills They Need for College and Career: The Administration has worked to make sure that more Millennials get the training they need for today’s jobs, including by better linking secondary and post-secondary education with industry to determine skills needed and design curriculum.

  • Providing Every Child with a Complete and Competitive Education:  As they begin planning families of their own, the Administration is committed to building the high-quality education system Millennials and their children deserve by incentivizing investment and improvement. With Race to the Top, the Administration has brought significant change to our education system by encouraging states to raise standards and aligning policies that promote college and career readiness, improve teacher effectiveness, use data effectively in the classroom, and adopt new strategies to help struggling schools.
  • Redesigning High Schools: Earlier this year, the Administration awarded $100 million in grants this year to redesign high schools to more fully prepare youth with the knowledge, skills, and industry-relevant education needed to get on the pathway to a successful career.
  • Better Training Students through Community Colleges and Connecting Job-Seekers to Work: To support the 7.7 million community college students across the country who represent 45 percent of all undergraduates, the Administration has awarded nearly $2 billion of competitive grants since 2011 to community colleges to partner with employers to expand and improve their ability to help job seekers get the skills they need for in-demand jobs. The Administration is also taking steps to connect the long-term unemployed to jobs, including by working with employers to spread best practices for recruiting and hiring the long-term unemployed.
  • Expanding Access to Apprenticeships: The Administration has also been encouraging the expansion of apprenticeships as pathways to help young adults get into middle-class jobs. The Department of Labor will also soon be releasing an application for $100 million to create apprenticeship opportunities in high-growth fields and that award college credit.
  • Working to “Upskill” Youth Early in Their Careers: To support youth who are starting out in their careers, the Administration has kicked off a new public-private effort – working with employers, educators, tech innovators, unions, training providers, cities, states, and non-profits – to help turn low-wage and entry-level jobs across the country into stepping stones to the middle class.

Increasing Access to Affordable Health Care: In addition to the direct economic consequences of the Great Recession, millions of Millennials were at risk of poor health outcomes exacerbated by unaffordable or unattainable insurance. The Affordable Care Act expanded coverage, helping millions of Americans obtain quality insurance.  Yet House Republicans have voted on dozens of occasions to gut the law.

  • Expanding Coverage to Age 26. Before the President signed the Affordable Care Act into law, most health plans kicked young people off when they turned 19 or graduated from college, leaving many college graduates and others with no insurance. Now, most health plans that cover children must make coverage available up to age 26, making it easier and more affordable for young adults to get coverage.
  • Providing Preventive Care for Free. The Affordable Care Act requires most insurers to cover preventive care services without copays and deductibles. This means that, for the first time, important preventive services – including birth control – are available at no cost to millions of consumers who have private health insurance.
  • Providing Affordable Health Care Coverage. Young Americans often have the least access to employer sponsored health care plans, which previously left many without any reasonably priced insurance opportunities. The Health Insurance Marketplace lets consumers choose a private health insurance plan that fits their health needs and consumers can also qualify for financial assistance. In fact, most people who shop in the Marketplace pay an average of $69 per month for their coverage.

Supporting Access to Credit for First-Time Homebuyers and Affordable Rental Housing and Putting in Place New Protections for Consumers:  As the economy has recovered, the housing market has improved and more families are purchasing homes. But with Millennials becoming homeowners at lower rates than prior generations, the Administration is committed to taking steps to ensure more Americans have access to credit to buy a first home and the ability to find affordable rental housing.

  • Making It Easier For Americans to Obtain Affordable Mortgage Financing Payments through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).  Today, the credit score that the typical borrower needs to get a government-guaranteed loan is significantly higher than in the past – and higher than we would expect given economic fundamentals. This leaves many responsible borrowers unable to find lenders willing to give them a mortgage at an affordable rate. In response, the Administration has launched a “Quality Assurance” framework to provide mortgage lenders with greater confidence to lend, while reducing FHA premiums for homeowners who obtain housing counseling. The Administration is also exploring additional reforms to drive progress and strengthen our housing market today.
  • Supporting Affordable Rental Housing. In June, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced an initiative to help provide low-cost financing to state and local housing finance agencies that provide multifamily mortgage loans insured by FHA. This will reduce interest rates for affordable housing, savings that will be passed on to renters. The Administration continues to explore administrative and legislative reforms to promote access to affordable rental housing for middle class families and those aspiring to be.
  • Protecting the Financial Well-Being of Consumers through Wall Street Reform. Through Wall Street Reform, the Administration has created the strongest consumer protections in history while reducing American taxpayer exposure to future crises. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has finalized rules and simplified disclosures to protect consumers from irresponsible mortgage lending, secured billions of dollars in relief for millions of consumers who were wronged, and launched a consumer response center to give people in need a place to turn. Efforts to undermine the CFPB by imposing structural or funding limitations – as supported by Republicans in Congress – would weaken important consumer protections and leave the economy more vulnerable to another devastating financial crisis.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
October 08, 2014

Readout of the President’s Meeting with the National Security Council on ISIL

This afternoon at the Pentagon, the President met with his National Security Council to discuss the implementation of the comprehensive U.S. strategy to counter ISIL.  He received an update on military operations by the United States and our international partners in Iraq and Syria.  He was also briefed on the security and political situation in both countries.  The President discussed with his team the importance of supporting Iraqi efforts to reconstitute their security forces, including their plan to create a new National Guard structure to more effectively integrate local security elements to combat ISIL.  He also discussed the importance of increasing support for the Syrian moderate opposition in the campaign to counter ISIL in Syria.  The President was briefed on coalition contributions to date, including ongoing conversations with key partners as we work closely to integrate their unique capabilities into the broader strategy to combat ISIL in Iraq and Syria. 

Participants in today’s meeting included:

  •          The President
  •          John Kerry, Secretary of State
  •          Jacob Lew, Secretary of the Treasury
  •          Chuck Hagel, Secretary of Defense
  •          Eric Holder, Attorney General
  •          Jeh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security
  •          Denis McDonough, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff
  •          Susan Rice, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
  •          Shaun Donovan, Director of the Office of Management and Budget
  •          Amb. Samantha Power, Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations
  •          John Podesta, Counselor to the President
  •          Neil Eggleston, Assistant to the President and Counsel to the President
  •          James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence
  •          Antony Blinken, Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor
  •          Lisa Monaco, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism
  •          Benjamin Rhodes, Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting
  •          Katie Fallon, Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Legislative Affairs
  •          William Burns, Deputy Secretary of State
  •          Robert Work, Deputy Secretary of Defense
  •          Christine Wormuth, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
  •          James Comey, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (via secure video)
  •          John Brennan, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
  •          GEN Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
  •          ADM James Winnefeld, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
  •          GEN Lloyd Austin, Commander, U.S. Central Command
  •          Nicholas Rasmussen, Acting Director of the National Counterterrorism Center
  •          John Allen, Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL (via secure video)
  •          Brett McGurk, Deputy Special President Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL (via secure video)
  •          Colin Kahl, Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor to the Vice President
  •          Philip Gordon, Special Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa, and Gulf Region

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
October 08, 2014

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

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

  • William J. Hybl – Member, United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy
  • Michael P. O’Rielly – Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission

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

William J. Hybl, Nominee for Member, United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy

William J. Hybl concurrently serves as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of El Pomar Foundation in Colorado Springs, Colorado; Chairman of Garden City Company in Garden City, Kansas; and Vice Chairman of Broadmoor Hotel, Inc. in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  He has held these positions since 1973.  Mr. Hybl has served as Chairman of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy since 2008, and has been a Member of the Commission since 1990.  He has served as a Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army for Colorado.  From 2001 to 2002, he was a U.S. Representative to the 56th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, and served as President of the United States Olympic Committee from 1991 to 1992 and from 1996 to 2000.  Mr. Hybl served as Special White House Counsel to President Ronald Reagan in 1981.  He was a State Representative in the Colorado State House of Representatives as well as a Law Partner with Murphy, Morris & Hybl in Colorado Springs, Colorado from 1972 to 1973.  Earlier in his career, he was an Assistant District Attorney in the 4th Judicial District of Colorado from 1969 to 1972.  Mr. Hybl served as a Major in the U.S. Army Reserves from 1969 to 1973 after serving as a Captain in the U.S. Army from 1967 to 1969.  He received a B.A. from The Colorado College and a J.D. from the University of Colorado. 

Michael P. O’Rielly, Nominee for Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission

Michael P. O’Rielly is a Commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission, a position he has held since November 2013.  Prior to this, he was a Policy Advisor in the Office of the Senate Republican Whip led by U.S. Senator John Cornyn in 2013.  He held various positions in the Republican Whip Office led by Senator Jon Kyl from 2010 to 2012, including Deputy Chief of Staff, Policy Director, and Advisor.  Mr. O’Rielly worked for the Republican Policy Committee in the United States Senate as the Banking, Technology, Transportation, Trade, and Commerce Analyst from 2009 to 2010.  He worked in the Office of U.S. Senator John Sununu as the Legislative Director from 2007 to 2009 and as a Senior Legislative Assistant from 2003 to 2007.  Mr. O’Rielly served as a Professional Staff Member on the Committee on Energy and Commerce in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003.  He began his career as a Legislative Assistant to U.S. Congressman Tom Bliley from 1994 to 1995.  Mr. O’Rielly received a B.A. from the University of Rochester.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
October 08, 2014

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

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

  • Walter Barrows – Member, Railroad Retirement Board
  • Sim Farar – Member, United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy
  • David S. Shapira – Governor, Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service

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

  • Denise Moreno Ducheny – Member, Board of Directors of the Border Environment Cooperation Commission and the North American Development Bank
  • Kyle Hipsley – United States Commissioner, International Boundary Commission, United States and Canada
  • Robert Stanton – Member, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
  • Jody Williams – Commissioner, Bear River Commission

President Obama said, “These men and women bring extraordinary dedication to their roles and will serve the American people well.  I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.”

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

Walter Barrows, Nominee for Member, Railroad Retirement Board

Walter Barrows currently serves as the Member of the Railroad Retirement Board representing employees, a position he has held since 2011.  From 2004 to 2011, he served as a labor trustee overseeing the National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust Fund.  Mr. Barrows served as Secretary-Treasurer of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS) from 1999 to 2011.  He served as a Trustee on BRS’ Grand Board of Trustees from 1996 to 1999.  Mr. Barrows also served the BRS as the General Chairman and General Secretary-Treasurer for the Norfolk Southern General Committee from 1991 to 1999 and as the Norfolk Southern General Committee’s Assistant General Chairman from 1987 to 1990.  From 1974 to 1979, Mr. Barrows worked for the Norfolk & Western Railroad in various positions including Signal Helper, Signal Maintainer and Signal Test Man.

Sim Farar, Nominee for Member, United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy

Sim Farar is currently a private investor at JDF Investment Company, LLC., a position he has held since 2000.  He has served as a Member of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy since 2011.  Mr. Farar was President of IFC Financial Services Inc. from 1984 to 2010, and served as U.S. Representative to the 54th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations from 1999 to 2000.  He was President of American Home Developers Co., Inc. from 1985 to 1998 and served as a Member of the Advisory Committee on the Arts for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts during the Clinton Administration.  Mr. Farar received an A.A. from the College of the Desert.

David S. Shapira, Nominee for Governor, Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service

David S. Shapira is Executive Chairman of Giant Eagle, Inc., a position he has held since 2012.  Previously, he was CEO and Chairman of Giant Eagle from 1980 to 2012 and was also the company’s President from 2005 to 2012.  He serves as a Trustee of Oberlin College and is past Chair and a current Trustee of Carnegie Mellon University.  He is a Director of EQT Corporation and a member of the Advisory Board of Aquatech International.  He is a former Director of Mellon Bank Corporation.  He previously served on the boards of the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.  Mr. Shapira received a B.A. from Oberlin College and an M.A. from Stanford University.

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

Denise Moreno Ducheny, Appointee for Member, Board of Directors of the Border Environment Cooperation Commission and the North American Development Bank

Denise Moreno Ducheny currently serves as a Senior Policy Advisor for the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at the University of California,  San Diego, a position she has held since 2013.  From 2012 to 2013, Ms. Ducheny was a Senior Analyst for Sustainable Economic Development with the University of San Diego’s Trans-Border Institute.  In 2011, she served as a Member of the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board.  Prior to this position, Ms. Ducheny served as a Member of the California State Senate from 2002 to 2010, during which she also chaired the Border Legislative Conference in 2010.  From 2000 to 2002, Ms. Ducheny was a Presidential Fellow with San Diego State University and a Regents Lecturer at the University of California.  She served as a Member of the California State Assembly from 1994 to 2000.  From 1979 to 1994, she was a practicing attorney focusing on immigration, family law, criminal defense, and juvenile dependency cases.  Ms. Ducheny received a B.A. in History from Pomona College and a J.D. from Southwestern University Law School.

Kyle Hipsley, Appointee for United States Commissioner, International Boundary Commission, United States and Canada

Kyle Hipsley is currently the U.S. Deputy Commissioner of the International Boundary Commission (IBC), U.S. and Canada, a position he has held since 2002.  He has served as Acting U.S. Commissioner since 2009.  Mr. Hipsley served as the Lead Engineering Technician with the IBC from 2001 to 2002, having worked as an engineering technician with the Commission since 1986.  He has also led each of the three IBC field offices in Maine, Minnesota, and Montana.  He was a geodetic surveyor while serving in the U.S. Army, and subsequently worked for the National Geodetic Survey, the State of Florida, and the Defense Mapping Agency. 

Robert Stanton, Appointee for Member, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

Robert Stanton is a Visiting Executive Professor at Texas A&M University.  Previously, he served as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the Department of the Interior from 2010 to 2014.  He also served on the Board of Trustees of the American Folklife Center from 2011 to 2012.  Mr. Stanton was an Executive Professor at Texas A&M University from 2004 to 2009, a Visiting Professor at Howard University in 2005 and 2007, and a Visiting Professor at Yale University in 2002.  He served as Director of the National Park Service from 1997 to 2001 and as Regional Director of the National Park Service’s National Capital Region from 1988 to 1997.  He received the Chair’s Award from the Natural Resources Council of America, the Founder’s Award from the Student Conservation Association, and the Distinguished Service Award from the Department of the Interior.  Mr. Stanton received a B.S. from Huston-Tillotson University.

Jody Williams, Appointee for Commissioner, Bear River Commission

Jody Williams is currently a Partner at Holland & Hart LLP, a position she has held since 2011.  Prior to joining Holland & Hart LLP, she served as a Partner and Executive Committee Member for Holme Roberts & Owen LLP from 2002 to 2011.  From 1993 to 2002, Ms. Williams was a Director at Kruse Landa & Maycock LLC.  She was Counsel to Anderson & Watkins from 1992 to 1993.  Ms. Williams acted as an attorney and in-house counsel for PacifiCorp from 1981 to 1992.  In 1981, she was an attorney at Giauque & Williams.  From 1980 to 1981, Ms. Williams served as a Law Clerk for the Honorable David K. Winder in the United States District Court for the District of Utah.  She was a Research Attorney for the Honorable D. Frank Wilkins of the Utah Supreme Court from 1978 to 1980.  She has served as a Member of the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission since 1996.  Ms. Williams received a B.A. and a J.D. from the University of Utah.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
October 08, 2014

Readout of the President's Phone Call with President Santos of Colombia

President Obama and Colombian President Santos spoke by phone today. The President underscored continued strong U.S. support for the work done so far by the Colombian government to bring an end to the longest running conflict in the Americas and expressed U.S. readiness to work closely with Colombia during the post-conflict period. The President also lauded Colombia’s announcement of September 26 that it would contribute troops to U.N. Peacekeeping. Both leaders committed to continue working closely to promote security and prosperity in the Americas and around the world.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
October 07, 2014

Statement by the Press Secretary on the Canadian Decision to Authorize Military Force Against ISIL

The United States welcomes the Canadian government’s deployment of fighter and refueling aircraft,  as well as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft to participate in the campaign to degrade and destroy ISIL in Iraq.  We are also grateful for Canada’s deployment of troops to Iraq to advise and assist Iraqi Security Forces as well as Canada’s continued provision of vital humanitarian assistance.  With these deployments, Canada demonstrates its continued leadership and resolve in addressing the urgent and critical security challenges that threaten Canada, its people, and the broader international community.  Canadians and Americans have fought alongside each other in several major conflicts over the past century, and we are grateful for Canada’s further contribution against terrorism.

We will continue to work with our international partners to expand our sustained and comprehensive approach to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL through a variety of means, including military actions, efforts to stop terrorist financing, countering flows of foreign fighters into the region, and delegitimizing ISIL's extremist ideology.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
October 06, 2014

President Obama Signs New Mexico Disaster Declaration

The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of New Mexico and ordered federal aid to supplement state, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the area affected by severe storms and flooding during the period of July 27 to August 5, 2014.

 Federal funding is available to state, tribal, and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storms and flooding in the counties of Guadalupe, Rio Arriba, and San Miguel and the Pueblo of Acoma.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures in all areas within the state.

W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Nancy M. Casper as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.

FEMA said additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
October 06, 2014

FACT SHEET: The U.S. Response to the Ebola Epidemic in West Africa

Since the first cases of Ebola were reported in West Africa in March 2014, the United States has mounted a whole-of-government response to contain and eliminate the epidemic at its source, while also taking prudent measures at home. The President last month outlined a stepped-up U.S. response, leveraging more thoroughly the unique capabilities of the U.S. military to support the civilian-led response in West Africa. Domestically, we have prepared for the diagnosis of an Ebola case on U.S. soil and have measures in place to stop this and any potential future cases in their tracks. 

Specifically, our strategy is predicated on four key goals:

  • Controlling the epidemic at its source in West Africa;
  • Mitigating second-order impacts, including blunting the economic, social, and political tolls in the region;
  • Engaging and coordinating with a broader global audience; and,
  • Fortifying global health security infrastructure in the region and beyond, including within the United States.

International Response 

In support of national government efforts in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea—and alongside the international community—the U.S. response builds upon the measures we have had in place since the first cases of Ebola were reported. The United States already has committed more than $350 million toward fighting the outbreak in West Africa, including more than $111 million in humanitarian aid, and the Department of Defense (DoD) is prepared to devote more than $1 billion to the whole-of-government Ebola response effort. As a further indication of our prioritization of this response, the United States convened a special UN Security Council session on the epidemic, and President Obama called the world to action during a subsequent UN session called by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. These U.S. actions have galvanized millions of dollars in international funding and in-kind support. 

Among the specific response efforts, the United States has:

  • Deployed to West Africa more than 130 civilian medical, healthcare, and disaster response experts from multiple U.S. government departments and agencies as part of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Disaster Assistance Response Team as well as approximately 350 U.S. military personnel, constituting the largest U.S. response to an international public health challenge;
  • Increased the number of Ebola treatment units (ETU) in the region, including supporting ETUs in Sierra Leone and Liberia, and one of our new ETUs in Liberia discharged its first four Ebola survivors last week;
  • Increased to 50 the number of safe burial teams, which are now working across every county in Liberia to safely and respectfully dispose of bodies;
  • Deployed and commenced operation of five mobile Ebola testing labs in the region, two of which opened this week in Liberia and have doubled lab capacity in the country—reducing from several days to just a few hours the time needed to determine if a patient has Ebola;
  • Provided more than 10,000 Ebola test kits to the Liberian Institute of Biological Research and Sierra Leone’s Kenema Government Hospital;
  • Received and passed to interested humanitarian organizations information from nearly 2,200 volunteers willing to provide healthcare in the affected countries;
  • Delivered approximately 2,200 rolls of USAID heavy-duty plastic sheeting for use in constructing Ebola treatment units across the region;
  • Procured 140,000 sets of personal protective equipment, 10,000 of which have already been delivered,  along with hundreds of thousands of medical gloves and thousands of protective coveralls, goggles, face shields, and other personal protective supplies;
  • Delivered an initial 9,000 of 50,000 community care kits to Liberia;
  • Supported aggressive public education campaigns reaching every Liberian county with life-saving information on how to identify, treat and prevent Ebola;
  • Administered nutritional support  to patients receiving care at Ebola treatment units and in Ebola-affected communities across the region; and
  • Provided technical support to the Government of Liberia’s national-level emergency operation center.

In the days and weeks to come, U.S. efforts will include:

  • Scaling-up the DoD presence in West Africa.  Following the completion of AFRICOM’s assessment, DoD announced the planned deployment of 3,200 troops, including 700 from the 101st Airborne Division headquarters element to Liberia. These forces will deploy in late October and become the headquarters staff for the Joint Forces Command, led by Major General Gary Volesky. The total U.S. troop commitment will depend on the requirements on the ground;
  • Overseeing the construction of and facilitating staffing for at least 17 100-bed Ebola treatment units across Liberia;
  • Deploying additional U.S. military personnel from various engineering units to help supervise the construction of ETUs and provide engineering expertise for the international response in Liberia;
  • Establishing a training site in Liberia to train up to 500 health care providers per week, enabling them to provide safe and direct supportive medical care to Ebola patients;
  • Setting up and facilitating staffing for a hospital in Liberia that will treat all healthcare  workers who are working in West Africa on the Ebola crisis should they fall ill;
  • Operating a training course in the United States for licensed nurses, physicians, and other healthcare providers intending to work in an ETU in West Africa;
  • Leveraging a regional staging base in Senegal to help expedite the surge of equipment, supplies, and personnel to West Africa;
  • Continuing outreach by all levels of the U.S. government to push for increased and speedier response contributions from partners around the globe; and,
  • Sustaining engagement with the UN system to coordinate response and improve effectiveness.

Domestic Response

We have been prepared for an Ebola case in the United States and have the healthcare system infrastructure in place to respond safely and effectively. Upon confirming the Ebola diagnosis, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and our interagency team activated plans that had been developed.

Our public health officials have led the charge to prepare and fortify our national health infrastructure to respond quickly and effectively to Ebola cases domestically. Their efforts include:

  • Enhancing surveillance and laboratory testing capacity in states to detect cases; in the last three months, 12 Laboratory Response Network labs have been validated to perform Ebola diagnostic testing throughout the United States;
  • Authorizing the use of a diagnostic test developed by DoD to help detect the Ebola virus.
  • Providing guidance and tools for hospitals and health care providers to prepare for and manage potential patients, protect healthcare workers, and respond in a coordinated fashion;
  • Developing guidance and tools for health departments to conduct public health investigations;
  • Providing recommendations for healthcare infection control and other measures to prevent disease spread;
  • Disseminating guidance for flight crews, Emergency Medical Services units at airports, and Customs and Border Protection officers about reporting ill travelers to CDC;
  • Providing up-to-date information to the general public, international travelers, healthcare providers, state and local officials, and public health partners;
  • Advancing the development and clinical trials of Ebola vaccines and antivirals to determine their safety and efficacy in humans;
  • Monitoring by the Food and Drug Administration for fraudulent products and false product claims related to the Ebola virus and implementing enforcement actions, as warranted, to protect the public health; and,
  • Issuing by the U.S. Department of Transportation, in coordination with CDC, an emergency special permit for a company to transport large quantities of Ebola-contaminated waste from Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, Texas as well as from other locations in Texas for disposal.

Passenger Screening

On top of these domestic measures, we recognize that passenger screening efforts in West Africa and at domestic airports represent another line of defense. We have developed and supported a stringent screening regimen both at home and abroad, and we are constantly evaluating the effectiveness of these and other potential measures. We will make adjustments as deemed prudent by health professionals and the appropriate U.S. departments and agencies.

Exit screening measures are routinely implemented in the affected West African countries, and U.S. government personnel have worked closely with local authorities to implement these measures. Since the beginning of August, CDC has been working with airlines, airports, ministries of health, and other partners to provide technical assistance for the development of exit screening and travel restrictions in countries with Ebola. This includes:

  • Assessing the capacity to conduct exit screening at international airports;
  • Assisting countries with procuring supplies needed to conduct exit screening;
  • Supporting with development of exit screening protocols;
  • Developing tools such as posters, screening forms, and job-aids;
  • Training staff on exit screening protocols and appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) use; and,
  • Preparing in-country staff to provide future trainings.

All outbound passengers are screened for Ebola symptoms in the affected countries. Such primary exit screening involves travelers responding to a travel health questionnaire, being visually assessed for potential illness, and having their body temperature measured.

  • If a person has a fever above 101.5 or is suspected to be ill, the passenger will be taken aside for a more detailed health assessment – a secondary screening - to determine if he or she should be isolated.
  • Airport employees must wear latex gloves, use alcohol-based hand sanitizer, and monitor their own body temperature daily, among other measures.

Once passengers arrive in the United States they are subject to additional measures.

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the CDC have closely coordinated to develop policies, procedures, and protocols to identify travelers who may have a communicable disease, responding in a manner that minimizes risk to the public. These procedures have been utilized collaboratively by both agencies on a number of occasions with positive results. Among these measures:

  • CBP personnel review all travelers entering the United States for general overt signs of illnesses (visual observation, questioning, and notification of CDC as appropriate) at all U.S. ports of entry, including all federal inspection services areas at U.S. airports that service international flights.
  • When a traveler is identified with a possible communicable disease or identified from information that is received from the CDC, CBP personnel will take the appropriate safety measures by referring the traveler to a secondary, isolating the traveler from other travelers, and referring to CDC or public officials for a medical assessment.  CBP personnel may don personal protective equipment (PPE), to include gloves and surgical masks, which are readily available for use in the course of their duties.
  • CBP personnel receive training in illness recognition, but if they identify an individual believed to be infected, CBP will contact CDC along with local public health authorities to help with further medical evaluation.
  • CBP is handing out fact sheets to travelers arriving in the U.S. from Ebola- affected countries, which detail information on Ebola, health signs to look for, and information for their doctor should they need to seek medical attention in the future.
  • Secretary Johnson has also directed Transportation Security Administration to issue an Information Circular to air carriers reinforcing the CDC’s message on Ebola and providing guidance on identifying potential passengers with Ebola.  DHS is closely monitoring the situation and Secretary Johnson will consider additional actions as appropriate.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
October 06, 2014

Statement by the Press Secretary on H.R. 4994

On Monday, October 6, 2014, the President signed into law:

H.R. 4994, the "Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act" or the "IMPACT Act of 2014," which creates a standardized Medicare assessment tool for comparing patient data across the various types of post-acute care settings for purposes of quality, payment, and discharge planning, and makes other changes to Medicare current law relating to post-acute care.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
October 06, 2014

FACT SHEET: Administration Announces New Executive Actions to Improve Quality of Care for Medicare Beneficiaries

Today, the Administration announced new executive actions and the President signed into law legislation that will improve the quality of care for nursing home and home health patients. The President signed the Improving Medicare Post Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 (IMPACT Act), bipartisan legislation that puts in place new and streamlined quality measures for nursing homes, home health agencies, and other post-acute care providers participating in Medicare. The Administration also took additional steps to improve care for nursing home and home health patients through new executive actions that will:

  • Expand and strengthen Medicare’s widely-used Five Star Quality Rating System for Nursing Homes, also known as Nursing Home Compare.
  • Improve quality home health care received by Medicare beneficiaries through a proposed rule that strengthens patient rights, improves communication, and focuses on patient well-being.

Actions to Improve Medicare’s Five Star Quality Rating System for Nursing Homes

Today, the Administration announced plans to expand and strengthen Medicare’s widely-used Five Star Quality Rating System for Nursing Homes, also known as Nursing Home Compare.  The rating system is a consumer service that offers useful information to the public about the quality of care in the 15,800 nursing homes that participate in Medicare or Medicaid.  Users may sort through nursing homes in their area through an online tool at CMS’ Nursing Home Compare website. 

The Five Star Quality Rating System offers the most comprehensive overview of nursing home quality in the U.S., in an easy to understand format, based on data from onsite inspections conducted by trained, objective surveyors from state public health departments and CMS; Quality Measures submitted by the nursing homes is used to calculate certain quality measures, such as the prevalence of pressure ulcers, use of restraints, and the extent of injurious falls; and information about the staffing levels in nursing homes.

While the onsite inspections form the core of the rating system, CMS has been concerned that the quality measures and information about staffing levels rely on self-reported data from nursing homes that have been difficult to verify.

Beginning in January 2015 CMS will initiate the following steps to improve the reliability and utility of data displayed on Nursing Home Compare as well as to help nursing homes improve: 

  • Nationwide Focused Survey Inspections:  In FY 2014 CMS piloted special surveys of nursing homes that focused on verifying performance on resident assessments and the data set that is used in the quality measures.  Effective January 2015, CMS and states will implement these focused survey inspections nationwide for a sample of nursing homes nationwide.  Expansion of these inspections will enable better verification of both the staffing and quality measure information that is part of the Five-Star Quality Rating System.
  • Payroll-Based Staffing Reporting: Using new funding provided by the IMPACT Act of 2014, signed by the President today, CMS will implement a system of quarterly electronic reporting that is auditable back to payrolls to verify staffing information.  This new system will increase accuracy, improve the timeliness of the data, and allow for the calculation of quality measures for staff turnover, retention, types of staffing, and levels of different types of staffing.  This data will not only allow for better information available to the public, but may equip nursing homes with better data by which to improve staffing and quality of care.  CMS expects that pilot testing will occur in fiscal year (FY) 2015, with nationwide reporting by all nursing homes by the end of FY2016.
  • Improved Scoring Methodology: CMS will revise the scoring methodology by which we calculate each facility’s Five Star rating. The revised scoring methods will place more emphasis on data that is verified by independent sources rather than data that is self-reported by nursing homes.
  • Timely and Complete Inspection Data: CMS will also strengthen requirements to ensure that states complete inspections of nursing homes in a timely and accurate manner, and maintain a user-friendly website for public viewing.
  • Additional Quality Measures: CMS will increase both the number and type of quality measures used in Nursing Home Compare.  The first additional measure starting January 2015 in the ratings system will be the extent to which anti-psychotic medications are in use. More measures will be added later, including data on re-hospitalization and rates of returning beneficiaries to home that use Medicare claims as the source of information. 

Actions to Improve Quality Home Health Care Received by Medicare Beneficiaries

In conjunction with today’s efforts to improve the quality of care received by Medicare beneficiaries in nursing homes, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today issued a proposed rule that strengthens patient rights, improves communication, and focuses on patient well-being. These rules are designed to improve the quality of home health services for Medicare beneficiaries.

These updates to home health agency conditions of participation (CoPs) make substantial revisions to the existing CoPs.  They focus on the care needs of patients and will clarify the operational and quality expectations for the approximately 12,500 home health agencies participating in Medicare. There are more than five million people with Medicare and Medicaid benefits who receive home health care services each year.

The proposed regulation, will include these proposed updates:

  • A clear explanation of patient rights, including a requirement to communicate with patients in a language and manner that they understand, and a requirement that home health agencies must take measures to assure and protect those rights.
  • An expanded comprehensive patient assessment requirement that focuses on all aspects of patient well-being.
  • An integrated communication system, increasingly enabled by health information technology, that ensures that patient needs are identified and addressed, care is coordinated among all disciplines, and that there is active, timely, needs-based communication between the home health agency and the physician.
  • A data-driven, agency-wide quality assessment and performance improvement program that continually evaluates and improves agency care for patients.
  • An expanded patient care coordination requirement that makes a licensed clinician responsible for all patient care services, such as coordinating referrals and assuring that plans of care meet each patient’s needs at all times.

Comments and feedback are requested to inform final rulemaking in 2015.

IMPACT Act

The President signed the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014, bipartisan legislation that puts in place new and streamlined quality measures for nursing homes, home health agencies, and other post-acute care providers participating in Medicare.

The Act will facilitate patients comparing outcomes across different care settings, supporting better choices and better outcomes for patients. In addition, the IMPACT Act funds a key improvement to nursing home oversight, the collection of staffing data. Nursing and other staffing levels are closely correlated with quality in nursing homes and current data collection efforts have produced data of uneven reliability. The IMPACT Act also institutes more routine surveys of hospice providers, ensuring program standards are met for the benefit and safety of patients.