The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 10, 2014

Remarks by the President on the Economy -- Austin, TX

Paramount Theatre
Austin, Texas

12:48 P.M. CDT
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Austin!  (Applause.)  Hey!  Hello, Austin!  (Applause.)  All right, everybody have a seat, have a seat. 
 
It’s good to be in Austin, Texas.  (Applause.)  Can everybody please give Kinsey a big round of applause for the great introduction?  (Applause.) 
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  That's because I love you.  (Applause.)  Everybody knows I love Austin, Texas.  (Applause.)  Every time I come here I tell you how much I love you.  I love Austin.  I love the people.  I love the barbecue -- which I will get right after this.  (Laughter.)  I like the music.  (Applause.)  I've got good memories here, I've got good friends. 
 
I was telling somebody the last time I walked a real walk where I was kind of left alone was in Austin, Texas.  (Applause.) Right before the debate here during the primary in 2007?  2008?  It must have been 2008.  And I was walking along the river and nobody noticed me, and I felt great.  (Laughter.)  And then on the way back somebody did notice me and Secret Service started coming around and -- (laughter) -- but that first walk was really good.  So let’s face it, I just love Austin.  (Applause.)  Love the people of Austin. 
 
I want to thank a proud Texan, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, for being here today.  We appreciate her.  (Applause.) 
 
It is great to play at the Paramount.  I think I finally made it.  I finally arrived.  (Applause.)  I've enjoyed the last couple of days, just getting out of Washington.  And we started in Colorado, in Denver, and then went to Dallas and then came down here.  And at each stop I've been able to just meet people and talk about people’s lives -- their hopes, their dreams.
 
I just had some coffee, as Kinsey may have mentioned, at the Magnolia Café, which is very nice.  (Applause.)  It was fun, too, because I had a chance to -- there were a bunch of folks there and some EMT folks were there on their break after the shift, and there were a group of high school kids who were getting together -- they were about to go on a two-weeklong service trip to Peru  -- which, by the way, reminds you, you should be optimistic whenever you meet young people because they’re full of energy and idealism.  And so they were going to do this service trip and they were going to go for two days, then, to Machu Picchu -- the old Inca ruins in Peru.  And I said, I always wanted to go there. And they said, well, you can come with us if you want.  (Laughter.)  And I said, I'm really tempted, but I think there are some things I've got to do.  (Laughter.) 
 
But I got them -- in exchange for a selfie with them, they promised that they would send me a picture of them when they get there.  So I'm going to hold them to it.  We got their email and if I don't get it I'll be upset.  (Laughter.) 
 
Anyway, so I was talking to Kinsey because she wrote me a letter and I wanted to reply in person.  Because, as some of you may know, every day, we get tens of thousands of letters or correspondence, emails at the White House.  And ever since the first day I was in office, what I've asked our Correspondence Office to do is to select 10 of them for me to read every night. And in these letters, people tell me their stories.  They talk about losing a job, or finding a job.  They talk about trying to finance a college education.  They talk about challenges because maybe they’re the children of immigrants and they’re worried about their status.  They talk about the hardships they’re going through, successes they’ve had, things they hope for, things that they’re afraid of when it comes to the future and their lives.  
 
Sometimes people say thank you for something I've done or a position I've taken, and some people say, “You're an idiot.”  (Laughter.)  And that’s how I know that I’m getting a good representative sampling because -- (laughter) -- half the letters are less than impressed with me.   
 
So Kinsey wrote me to tell me about her family.  Her mom was a preschool teacher, her dad was an engineer.  Together, obviously, they worked really hard, raised a family.  They were responsible, did all the right things, were able to put their kids through college.  Then they lost their jobs.  And because they lost their jobs as mid-career persons, a lot of their resumes didn’t get answered.  And their savings started to dwindle.  And Kinsey works to pay for school, but it’s not enough. 
 
And she told me that she’s always been passionate about politics and the issues of the day, but after last year’s government shutdown, all this stuff that's happened with her family, it doesn’t seem like anybody in Washington is thinking about them.  She wrote, “I became a disgruntled citizen.  I felt as if my government, my beloved government that’s supposed to look out for the needs of all Americans had failed me.  My parents have always supported my siblings and me,” she wrote, “now it’s my turn to help them.  I want to be involved.  President Obama, what can I do?”
 
So I wanted to meet with Kinsey to let her know that I had heard her, that I listened to what was happening with her family, and I was thinking about her parents and I was thinking about her and her sisters.  And I’m here today because of Kinsey.  And I’m here today because of every American who is working their tail off and does everything right and who believes in the American Dream and just wants a chance to build a decent life for themselves and their families. 
 
And you and folks like Kinsey are the reason I ran for President in the first place -- (applause) -- because your lives are the lives that I lived.  When I listen to Kinsey I think about me and Michelle trying to finance our college education.  When I think about somebody who didn't have health care, I think about my mom when she had cancer that would ultimately end her life at about the age I am now.  When I think about equal pay, I think about my grandmother working her way up at a bank with nothing but a high school education and becoming the vice president of the bank, but always being kind of passed over for the next stage by men who were less qualified than she was. 
 
So the stories that I hear in these letters, they're my story, and they're Michelle’s story, and they're the story that we had before I became senator -- worrying about child care, trying to figure out how to have a balanced life so that if Malia or Sasha got sick we could take time off, and how do you manage all that. 
 
So that's why these letters are so important to me.  And that's why whenever I’m out of Washington, part of what I want to do is just to remember and to connect with your stories so that you know that what I’m trying to do every single day is based on that experience.
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Thank you!  (Applause.)
 
THE PRESIDENT:  And when you see the trajectory of Kinsey’s family, in some ways, it’s a little bit a story of what’s happened to America. 
 
The crisis in 2008 hurt us all badly -- worse financial crisis since the Great Depression.  But you think about the progress we’ve made.  Today, our businesses have added nearly 10 million new jobs over the past 52 months.  (Applause.)  Our housing is rebounding.  Our auto industry is booming.  Manufacturing is adding more jobs than any time since the 1990s. The unemployment rate is the lowest point it’s been since September of 2008.  (Applause.)  Kinsey’s dad found a new job that he loves in the field he was trained for.  (Applause.)  So a lot of this was because of the resilience and hard work of the American people.  That's what happens -- Americans bounce back.
 
But some of it had to do with decisions we made to build our economy on a new foundation.  And those decisions are paying off. We’re more energy independent.  For the first time in nearly 20 years, we produce more oil here at home than we buy from abroad. (Applause.)  The world’s largest oil and gas producer isn’t Russia; it’s not Saudi Arabia -- it’s the United States of America.  (Applause.)
 
At the same time, we’ve reduced our total carbon pollution over the past eight years more than any country on Earth.  (Applause.)  We’ve tripled the amount of electricity we generate from wind.  We’ve increased the amount of solar energy we have by 10 times.  We’re creating jobs across the country in clean energy.  (Applause.) 
 
In education, our high school graduation rate is at a record high; the Latino dropout rate has been cut in half since 2000.  (Applause.)  More young people are graduating from college than ever before.
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Si se puede!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Si se peude.  (Laughter.) 
 
The Affordable Care Act has given millions more families peace of mind.  They won’t go broke just because they get sick.  (Applause.)  Our deficits have been cut by more than half. 
 
We have come farther and recovered faster, thanks to you, than just about any other nation on Earth.  (Applause.)  And so we’ve got a lot to be encouraged by, just as the story of Kinsey’s family makes us feel more encouraged.  For the first time in a decade, business leaders around the world have said the number-one place to invest is not China, it’s the United States of America.  So we’re actually seeing companies bring jobs back. (Applause.)  So there’s no doubt that we are making progress.  By almost every measure, we are better off now than we were when I took office.  (Applause.) 
 
But the fact is we’ve still got a long way to go.  We’ve still got a long way to go, because while we’re creating more jobs faster these first six months of this year than any time since 1999, we know there are still a lot of folks out there who are looking for work or looking for more full-time work or looking for a better-paying job.  Corporate profits are higher than ever.  CEOs make more than ever.  But you’re working harder than ever just to get by and pay the bills. 
 
So, as a whole, the country is doing better.  But the problem is, is that so much of the improved productivity and profits have gone to the folks at the very top, and the average person, their wages and incomes haven’t really gone up at all, and in some cases, haven’t kept up with the rising cost of health care or college or all the basic necessities that people need. 
 
And so, Austin, I’m here to say that this country is not going to succeed if just a few are doing well.  This country succeeds when everybody has got a shot.  (Applause.)  The country does better when the middle class does better, and when there are more ladders of opportunity into the middle class.  (Applause.) That’s the kind of economy that works here in America.  And that’s what’s at stake right now. 
 
Now, that’s why we’re fighting for an opportunity agenda that creates more good jobs and creates more good wages -- jobs in American manufacturing, jobs in construction.  We should be rebuilding infrastructure all across America, putting people back to work rebuilding roads and bridges and schools, creating a smart grid to transmit clean energy across the country more efficiently.  (Applause.)   
 
We can create good jobs in American energy -- (sneezes) -- bless me -- and innovation.  (Laughter.)  I’m okay, just haven’t had enough sleep.  (Laughter.) 
 
We’re fighting for an opportunity agenda that trains more workers with the skills to fill the jobs that are being created. I was talking to some folks from a community college before I came out here.  We’ve learned that if we reach out to businesses and help them design the training programs in the community colleges, then when somebody finishes that training, they know they can get a job right away.  (Applause.)
 
We’re fighting for an opportunity agenda that guarantees every child a world-class education from the time that they are three until the time that they graduate from college.
 
We’re fighting for an opportunity agenda that makes sure your hard work pays off with higher wages and equal pay for equal work, and workplace flexibility, and the overtime pay you’ve earned.  (Applause.)
 
We’re fighting for opportunity for all and the idea that no matter who you are and what you look like and where you come from and who you love, if you work hard in America, if you work hard in Austin, if you work hard in Texas, you can make it here.  (Applause.)  You can make it.  (Applause.)
 
So that's what we’re working for.  And the good news is, is that the things that we need to do are well within our capabilities, our grasp.  We know we can -- we know how to build roads.  We know how to put people back to work on infrastructure. We know that if we invest in early childhood education, every dollar we put in, we get seven dollars back, and fewer dropouts and fewer teen pregnancies, and fewer folks going into the criminal justice system.  (Applause.) 
 
We know that if we do some basic things, if we make some basic changes, we’ll see more jobs, faster economic growth, lift more incomes, strengthen the middle class.  They are common-sense things.  They're not that radical.  We know it’s what we should be doing.  And what drives me nuts -- and I know drives you nuts -- is Washington isn’t doing it.  (Applause.)
 
And let me be clear about why Washington is broken, because sometimes everybody says, well, you know what, all politicians are the same, he parties -- the Democrats, Republicans, it doesn't matter.  Look, Democrats are not perfect, I promise you. I know a lot of them.  (Laughter.)  And, yes, every member of Congress, they're thinking about, I’d like to be reelected and I’d like to keep my job.  That's human nature.  We all understand that.  But let me be clear.  On the common-sense agenda that would help middle-class families, the overwhelming number of Democrats are in favor of these things. 
 
They're in favor of minimum wage.  They're in favor of equal pay.  (Applause.)  They're in favor of extending unemployment benefits.  They're in favor of infrastructure.  They're in favor of investing in research and development.  They're in favor of making college more affordable.  They’ve got specific proposals. They're willing to compromise.  They're prepared to go forward. 
 
So when folks say they're frustrated with Congress, let’s be clear about what the problem is.  (Applause.)  I’m just telling the truth now.  I don't have to run for office again, so I can just let her rip.  (Applause.)  And I want to assure you, I’m really not that partisan of a guy.  My favorite President is the first Republican President, a guy named Abraham Lincoln.  You look at our history, and we had great Republican Presidents who  -- like Teddy Roosevelt started the National Park System, and Dwight Eisenhower built the Interstate Highway System, and Richard Nixon started the EPA. 
 
The statement I’m making is not a partisan statement, it is a statement of fact.  (Applause.)  So far this year, Republicans in Congress have blocked or voted down every serious idea to strengthen the middle class.  They have said no --
 
AUDIENCE:  Booo!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Don't boo now, because what I want you to do is vote.  (Applause.)
 
They’ve said no to raising the minimum wage.  They’ve said no to fair pay.  They said no to unemployment insurance for hardworking folks like Kinsey’s parents who have paid taxes all their lives and never depended on anything and just needed a little help to get over a hump.  They said no to fixing our broken immigration system that we know would strengthen our borders and our businesses and help families.  (Applause.)
 
Instead of investing in education that helps working families, they voted to give another massive tax cut to the wealthiest Americans.  Instead of creating jobs by rebuilding our infrastructure, our roads, our bridges, our ports that help every business, they’ve decided to protect tax loopholes for companies that are shifting jobs overseas and profits overseas. 
 
The best thing you can say about this Congress -- the Republicans in Congress, and particularly the House of Representatives -- the best you can say for them this year is that so far they have not shut down the government -- (laughter) -- or threatened to have America welch on our obligations and ruin our credit rating.  That's the best you can say.  But of course, it’s only July -- (laughter) -- so who knows what they may cook up in the next few months.
 
So even as they’re blocking policies that would help middle-class families, they keep on offering these theories of the economy that have failed over and over again.  They say, well, if we give more tax breaks to folks at the top that's going to be good.  If we make fewer investments in things like education, everything will work out.  If we loosen the rules for big banks and credit card companies and polluters and insurers, somehow that's going to make the economy better.  If we shrink the safety net and cut Medicaid and cut food stamps, and make sure that folks who are vulnerable and trying to get back on their suffer more hardship, somehow that's going to improve the economy.
 
Now, they believe these things -- sincerely, I assume -- that if they -- if we do these things, if we just take care of folks at the top, or at least if we don't empower our government to be able to help anybody, that somehow jobs and prosperity will trickle down and we’ll all be better off.
 
And that may work just fine for folks at the top.  It worked fine for me.  I don't need government.  (Laughter.)  Michelle and I now are in a position where we can pretty much finance Malia and Sasha’s college education.  But I remember when Michelle’s parents couldn’t, they needed help.  And I don't know about you, but I don't believe in pulling up the ladder once I’m up.  I believe in extending it down and making sure that everybody has a chance to climb up.  (Applause.)
 
The status quo certainly works for the special interests in Washington who like things just as they are.  They’ll be fine whether Congress ever passes a bill again or not.  But it doesn’t help you.  It doesn't help your neighbors.  It doesn't help your friends.  It doesn't help your communities.
 
And what it does, is it just feeds people’s cynicism about Washington.  It just makes people think, well, nothing can happen, and people start feeling hopeless.  And we have to understand, in the face of all evidence to the contrary in Washington, we can do better than we’re doing right now.  (Applause.)  We can do better than what we’re doing right now.
 
We know from our history, our economy does not grow from the top down, it grows from the middle up.  It grows from a rising, thriving middle class.  It grows when we got ladders of opportunity for everybody, and every young person in America is feeling hopeful and has a chance to do what they can with the God-given talents that they have.  That’s what we’re fighting for.  That is what you should be fighting for.  (Applause.)
 
And I will always look -- I’ll always look for ways to get Republicans and Democrats together in this effort.  But I’m not  -- I can't stand by with partisan gridlock that's the result of cynical political games that threaten the hard work of millions of Americans.  I’m not just going to stand by and say, okay, that's -- I guess that's the way it is.  Whenever and wherever I have the power, the legal authority to help families like yours, even if Congress is not doing anything, I will take that opportunity.  I will try to make something happen.  (Applause.)
And that’s the reason -- that's the reason why my administration has taken more than 40 different actions just this year to help working Americans -- because Congress won’t.
 
Congress won’t act to make sure a woman gets equal pay for equal work.  So I made sure more women have the protections they need to fight for fair pay in the workplace -- because I think when women succeed America succeeds.   So we went ahead and did that.  (Applause.)
 
Congress won’t act to create jobs in manufacturing or construction.  Well, I went ahead and speeded up permits for big projects.  We launched a new hub to attract more high-tech manufacturing jobs to America.  I want to make sure the next revolution in manufacturing is right here in America; it’s an American revolution, not a German or a Chinese revolution.  I want it happening right here in Austin, Texas.  (Applause.)
 
Congress so far hasn’t acted to help more young people manage their student loan debt.  So I acted with my lawful authority to give nearly 5 million Americans the chance to cap their student loan payments at 10 percent of their income so they can manage it better, so that if they go into teaching, or they go into social work, or they're doing something at a non-for-profit, that they're not encumbered by mountains of debt.  I don’t want our future leaders saddled with debt before they start out in life.  (Applause.)
 
And Republicans in Congress so far have refused to raise workers’ wages with a higher minimum wage.  So I acted to require that federal contractors pay their employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour -- (applause) -- which would give hundreds of thousands of workers a raise.  I asked business owners and governors and mayors and state legislators -- anybody I could work with -- do what you can on your own, I told them. 
 
Since the first time I asked Congress to raise the minimum wage, Congress hasn’t done anything, but 13 states have gone ahead and raised theirs.  (Applause.)  And, by the way -- this is important to remember just because folks are always trying to run the okey doke on you -- (laughter) -- the states that have increased their minimum wages this year have seen higher job growth than the states that have not increased their minimum wage.  (Applause.)  And more and more business owners are choosing to lift the wages for their workers because they understand that it’s going to be good to have productive workers, loyal workers, invested workers. 
 
Just yesterday, before I came down to Texas, when I was in Denver, I met with Carolyn Reed.  She owns six Silver Mine sub shops.  She started her own business.  She was working at UPS and decided she wanted to be a business owner, got her first franchise.  Her and her husband mortgaged their house.  Eventually, they got an SBA loan.  Now, she’s got six stores.  A wonderful woman.  And today, she decided to raise her hourly employees’ wages to a minimum of $10.10 an hour.  (Applause.)  She just went ahead and did it on her own, because she realized that she’ll have less turnover and she’s going to have more productive workers. 
 
As long as Congress will not increase wages for workers, I will go and talk to every business in America if I have to.  (Applause.)  There’s no denying a simple truth:  America deserves a raise, and if you work full-time in this country, you shouldn’t live in poverty.  That’s something that we all believe. (Applause.)   
 
Now, here’s where it gets interesting.  There are a number of Republicans, including a number in the Texas delegation, who are mad at me for taking these actions.  They actually plan to sue me.  (Laughter.)  Now, I don’t know which things they find most offensive -- me helping to create jobs, or me raising wages, or me easing the student loan burdens, or me making sure women can find out whether they’re getting paid the same as men for doing the same job.  I don’t know which of these actions really bug them.  (Laughter.) 
 
The truth is, even with all the actions I’ve taken this year, I’m issuing executive orders at the lowest rate in more than 100 years.  So it’s not clear how it is that Republicans didn’t seem to mind when President Bush took more executive actions than I did.  (Applause.)  Maybe it’s just me they don’t like.  I don’t know.  Maybe there’s some principle out there that I haven’t discerned, that I haven’t figure out.  (Laughter.)  You hear some of them -- “sue him,” “impeach him.”  Really?  (Laughter.)  Really?  For what?  (Applause.)  You’re going to sue me for doing my job?  Okay.  (Applause.)   
 
I mean, think about that.  You’re going to use taxpayer money to sue me for doing my job -- (laughter) -- while you don’t do your job.  (Applause.) 
 
There’s a great movie called “The Departed” -- a little violent for kids.  But there’s a scene in the movie where Mark Wahlberg -- they’re on a stakeout and somehow the guy loses the guy that they’re tracking.   And Wahlberg is all upset and yelling at the guy.  And the guy looks up and he says, “Well, who are you?”  And Wahlberg says, “I’m the guy doing my job.  You must be the other guy.”  (Laughter and applause.)  Sometimes, I feel like saying to these guys, I’m the guy doing my job, you must be the other guy.  (Applause.) 
 
So rather than wage another political stunt that wastes time, wastes taxpayers’ money, I’ve got a better idea:  Do something.  (Applause.)  If you’re mad at me for helping people on my own, let’s team up.  Let’s pass some bills.  Let’s help America together.  (Applause.)   
 
It is lonely, me just doing stuff.  I’d love if the Republicans did stuff, too.  (Laughter.)  On immigration issues, we’ve got -- and to their credit, there are some Republicans in the Senate who actually worked with Democrats, passed a bill, would strengthen the borders, would help make the system more fair and more just.  But the House Republicans, they haven’t even called the bill.  They won’t even take a vote on the bill.  They don’t have enough energy or organization or I don’t know what to just even vote no on the bill.  (Laughter.)  And then they’re made at me for trying to do some things to make the immigration system work better.  So it doesn’t make sense.
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)
 
THE PRESIDENT:  I’m sorry, what are you yelling about now?  Sit down, guys.  I’m almost done.  Come on, sit down.  I’ll talk to you afterwards, I promise.  I’ll bring you back.  I’m wrapping things up here.
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)
 
THE PRESIDENT:  I understand.  See, everybody is going to start -- I’m on your side, man.  Sit down, guys, we’ll talk about it later, I promise.
 
So, look, here’s what we could do.  We could do so much more -- you don’t have to escort them out.  They’ll sit down.  I promise, I’ll talk to you afterwards. 
 
We could do so much more if Republicans in Congress would focus less on stacking the deck for those on the top and focus more on creating opportunity for everybody.  And I want to work with them.  I don’t expect them to agree with me on everything, but at least agree with me on the things that you used to say you were for before I was for them.  (Applause.) 
 
You used to be for building roads and infrastructure.  Nothing has changed.  Let’s go ahead and do it.  (Applause.)  Ronald Reagan passed immigration reform, and you love Ronald Reagan.  Let’s go ahead and do it.  (Applause.)   
 
I mean, what changed?  I’m just saying.  (Laughter.)  That’s what made our country great, a sense of common purpose, a sense we’re all in it together as one nation, as one people.  We can debate the issues, we can have our differences, but let’s do something.  (Applause.)  Let’s rally around an economic patriotism that says, instead of giving more tax breaks to millionaires, let’s give tax breaks to working families to help pay for child care or college. 
 
Instead of protecting tax loopholes that let corporations keep their profits overseas,  let’s put some of that money to work right here in the United States rebuilding America.  (Applause.)  We can rebuild our airports, create the next generation of good manufacturing jobs, make sure those are made in America. 
 
Let’s rally around a patriotism that says we’re stronger as a nation when we cultivate the ingenuity and talent of every American, and give every 4-year-old in America access to high-quality education -- good-quality preschool.  (Applause.)  Let’s redesign our high schools to make them more relevant to the 21st century economy.  Let’s make college more affordable.  Let’s  make sure every worker, if you lose your job, you can get a good job training that gives you an even better job.  (Applause.) 
 
Let’s embrace the patriotism that says it’s a good thing when our fellow citizens have health care.  It’s not a bad thing. (Applause.)  That’s not a bad thing.  It’s a good thing when women earn what men do for the same work.  That’s an all-American principle.  (Applause.)  Everybody has got a mom out there or a wife out there or a daughter out there.  They don’t want them to not get treated fairly.  Why would you be against that? 
 
It’s a good thing when parents can take a day off to care for a sick child without losing their job or losing pay and they can’t pay their bills at the end of the month.  It’s a good thing when nobody who works full-time is living in poverty.  That is not radical.  It’s not un-American.  It’s not socialist.  That’s how we built this country.  It’s what America is all about, us working together.  (Applause.)   
 
So let me just wrap up by saying this:  The hardest thing to change in politics is a stubborn status quo.  Our democracy is designed where folks who have power, who have clout -- they can block stuff, they can keep things as they are.  It’s hard.  It’s even harder when Washington seems focused on everything but your concerns, Kinsey’s concerns. 
 
There are plenty of people who count on you getting cynical and count on you not getting involved so that you don’t vote, so you give up.  And you can’t give into that.  America is making progress, despite what the cynics say.  (Applause.)  Despite unyielding opposition and a Congress that can’t seem to do anything, there are workers with jobs who didn’t have them before; there are families with health insurance who didn’t have them before; there are students in college who couldn’t afford it before; there are troops who served tour after tour who are home with their families today.  (Applause.)   
 
Cynicism is popular.  Cynicism is popular these days.  It’s what passes off as wisdom.  But cynics didn’t put a man on the moon.  Cynics never won a war.  Cynics didn’t cure a disease, or start a business, or feed a young mind.  Cynicism didn’t bring about the right for women to vote, or the right for African Americans to be full citizens.  Cynicism is a choice. 
 
Hope is a better choice.  Hope is what gave young soldiers the courage to storm a beach.  Hope is what gave young people the strength to march for women’s rights and civil rights and voting rights and gay rights and immigrant rights.  (Applause.) 
 
Hope is what compelled Kinsey to sit down and pick up a pen, and ask “what can I do,” and actually think maybe the President might read that story and it might make a difference.  (Applause.)  And her voice rang out here in the Paramount Theatre.  And it’s her voice and your voice that’s going to change this country.  That’s how we’re going to make sure that we remain the greatest nation on Earth -- not by asking what we can do for ourselves, but what we can do for each other and what we can do for our country. 
 
And so, as President, I’m going to keep a promise that I made when I first ran:  Every day, I will keep asking the same question, and that is, how can I help you?  And I’ll keep treating your cares and your concerns as my own.  And I will keep fighting to restore the American Dream for everybody who’s willing to work for it. 
 
And I am going to need you to be right there with me.  (Applause.)  Do not get cynical.  Hope is the better choice. 
 
Thank you, Texas.  Thank you, Austin.  God bless you.  (Applause.) 
 
END
1:28 P.M. CDT
 

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 10, 2014

Statement by the President on the Confirmation of Shaun Donovan as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget

I am pleased that Republicans and Democrats in the Senate today confirmed Shaun Donovan as the next Director of the Office of Management and Budget. From his outstanding work at HUD helping to rebuild our housing market to his leadership in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Shaun has played a crucial role in our efforts to battle back from the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes and expand opportunity for more Americans. While we have made significant strides by investing in areas that are helping to grow the economy, creating good jobs, and promoting more effective and efficient management in government, Shaun knows there is more work to do, and today’s bipartisan vote ensures the dedicated professionals at OMB will have a proven, effective leader to build on the progress we’ve made.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 10, 2014

Remarks by the President at DNC Event -- Austin, TX

Private Residence
Austin, Texas

11:02 P.M. CDT
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, everybody.  Good to see you.  Good to be here.  (Applause.)  Good to be here.  Thank you.
 
Well, first of all, it’s just good to be back in Austin -- love this town.  (Applause.)  Love Austin, Texas.  I do.  I remember the first fundraiser I had down here in Austin when I was running for the U.S. Senate, and it was around this time of year -- it was so hot that when I was done, I had to get rid of the shirt.  (Laughter.)  It just never recovered.  (Laughter.)
 
The last time I took a walk unencumbered was in Austin, Texas.  True story.  This is before a debate in the primary.  And I walked along the river, and I got about probably a mile, mile and a half, and then some people started spotting me so that by the time -- Secret Service got nervous, and then by the time we got back, there was a big rope line and there was all the fuss.  And I have wistful memories of that walk.  (Laughter.) 
 
And I remember going to a bar or club, honkytonk around here and singing on stage.  (Laughter.)  I wasn’t very good, but people were enthusiastic anyway.  I’ve had really good barbecue here.  (Applause.)  But most importantly, I just love the people of Austin.  They’re just good people.  I forget, I actually got down into the Longhorn Stadium and tossed the football with Colt and Coach Brown.  Every time I come here, I have fun.  And tonight is no exception because we are in an extraordinary setting.
 
I’m going to use my creativity by taking off my jacket.  (Applause.)  And perhaps if the press wasn’t here, I’d be creative and jump in the pool.  (Laughter and applause.)  But the pool report might reflect bad judgment on my part.  (Laughter.)  There’s a fine line between creativity and bad judgment.  (Laughter.)  You want your President to be on the right side of that line.  So taking off the jacket -- creative.  Jumping in the pool -- bad judgment.  (Laughter.)
 
Obviously I want to thank Robert and Marci for making this incredible setting available -- (applause) -- and congratulate Robert on all the great work that he is doing on the new network and shows and the way that he is broadening I think everybody’s imaginations about what America is about and what it looks like, what it sounds like. 
 
I want to acknowledge a dear friend who has really been working hard on behalf of Democrats all across the country, and he is one of your own -- Henry Muñoz is here.  We’re very, very proud of Henry.  There he is.  (Applause.)  In addition to just being one of the finest people I know and a great friend, he’s also very stylish -- so I would advise people to take a look at his shoes before you leave and then see if you could pull it off. (Laughter.)
 
I’ve been doing a lot of stuff today.  I was in Denver to start with, and then I was in Dallas, hanging out with your Governor.  (Laughter.)  And then I’m ending up in Austin.  My message has been consistent, I think, throughout this day and throughout this trip -- and throughout my presidency.  What makes America special is the idea that no matter what you look like, where you come from, who you love, what your last name is, what manner you worship the Sacred, that you can make it here if you try.  If you work hard, you can make it.  (Applause.)
 
And when I came into office, we were in the midst of the worst crisis since the Great Depression.  And because of the resilience of the American people and the creativity of the American people, we pulled ourselves out of it. 
 
And also because my administration made some good decisions early that were tough and not always popular -- (applause) -- we’ve now seen 52 straight months of job growth, 10 million jobs created, unemployment rate the lowest it’s been since September of 2008.  First half of this year, jobs have grown faster than any time since 1999.  (Applause.)  We saved an auto industry, stabilized the financial system, put in place laws to make sure that predatory lending and some of the practices that got us into this mess in the first place don’t happen again. 
 
We’ve lowered the rate of uninsured through the Affordable Care Act and we’ve actually slowed the pace at which health care inflation increases, which is good for families and good for businesses.  We’ve cut the deficit by more than half.  We have seen a lowering of the dropout rate -- it’s been cut in half for Latino students.  We’ve seen the highest college attendance rate in history.  Our energy market is booming.  We’re producing more oil than we’re importing for the first time in a lot of years. We’ve tripled the amount of wind energy, increased by tenfold the amount of solar energy, lowered our carbon pollution.
 
It used to be before I came into office that China was determined as the best place to invest among the world’s investors and companies.  The United States is now back where it belongs as the number one country to invest and we’re actually seeing manufacturing come back to the United States.  (Applause.)
 
So the point is that we’ve made some remarkable progress.  The stock market is at an all-time high and obviously that benefits a lot of folks at the very top, but anybody who has a 401(k) has seen their retirement savings exceed where they were before I came into office and before the crash.  We’ve seen housing begin to recover.  We’ve made a lot of progress. 
 
But the reason we’re here is we know we’ve got so much more to do.  And there is anxiety around the country, and worry.  And the reason there is anxiety and the reason there is worry is because so much of the gains that we’ve made have gone to folks at the top.  Ordinary folks haven’t seen much of an increase in terms of their wages, their incomes.  There are families that work really hard every single day, do the right thing, are responsible, but at the end of the month it’s tough paying the bills.  There are young people who are dying to go to college but aren’t sure that they can afford it.  There are still folks who are desperate for work but find perhaps because they got laid off at the age of 50 or 55 that folks aren’t willing to hire them anymore.
 
We still have millions of people around the country who are our neighbors and our friends and the friends of our children, but who are still living in the shadows because we haven’t passed immigration reform.  There are children who are still in schools that aren’t teaching them, and they’re going to have a real hard time finding ladders into the middle class.
 
So we know that we’ve got more work to do.  Now, the good news is we also know what we could be doing about it.  We know that if we invest in infrastructure -- rebuilding our roads and our bridges and our ports and our airports and creating smart grids and new ways to transmit energy -- that all this would create jobs right now in the United States and increase our economic growth and set the course for future economic growth. 
 
We know that if we pass immigration reform, it’s not just good for the families, it’s good for the economy:  We attract the best and the brightest; they invest here, they create jobs.  It’s estimated that it would cut our deficit and the economy would grow by more than an extra trillion dollars.  We know these things. 
 
We know if we invest in basic research and technology that we’ll keep our edge and the dynamism of the U.S. economy, which has always been our advantage, that the pace of growth will accelerate.  We know that if we invest in early childhood education, that every dollar we invest helping a child get a good start means they’re less likely to drop out, more likely to go to college, less likely to have a teen pregnancy, less likely to go to jail.  We know it’s a good investment. 
 
So we know what to do.  The problem is that Washington is not working the way it’s supposed to.  And that’s part of the reason people feel anxious, because they’re thinking to themselves, we could be there, we could be making progress.  People sense -- they may not follow all the intricacies of the debates that go on, what passes for debates in Washington, but they know we could be doing better than we’re doing right now if folks were acting on behalf of middle-class families and people who are striving to get into the middle class; if folks were showing a seriousness of purpose as opposed to worrying about getting reelected or posturing on television. 
 
They know that.  And so what I’ve said to my team is, get me out of Washington.  (Laughter.)  Let me talk to people who are doing the right thing and struggling, so that they know they’re being heard by at least somebody in Washington.  Let’s remind the country what we should be focused on.  (Applause.)  So that we can also maybe prod Congress into doing the right thing.  Now --
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Good luck.
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I don’t need luck, I need work.   Because the challenge we’ve got -- and I said this earlier today and I’m going to keep on saying it -- I’m not actually -- I wasn’t raised sharply partisan.  My mom, she had good old-fashioned liberal, progressive values but she wasn’t involved in politics.  And my favorite President is a Republican named Abraham Lincoln.  (Applause.)  And so my attitude is that, historically, both parties have done really important work.  You have Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican, started the national parks, and Dwight Eisenhower build the Interstate Highway System, and Richard Nixon started the EPA.  There have been historically some great Republicans and some great Democrats who have helped lead this country in a good direction.  And for a big stretch of time, they’ve been able to work together on important projects. 
 
But right now, at this moment, the reason Washington doesn’t work is very simple:  You’ve got one party whose main goal seems just to say no:  Say no to immigration reform.  Say no to raising the minimum wage.  Say no to extending unemployment benefits for folks who are out there looking for work but can’t find it.  Say no to equal pay for equal work.  Don’t just say no to doing something about climate change, just deny climate change.  And definitely say no to me.
 
And so you don’t get a sense that you’ve got a party that’s serious about trying to do anything when it comes to the challenges that are facing the middle class.  It’s not just that they have a different theory about how to help, they just don’t seem to have any theory at all -- other than saying no, or a theory that says we’re going to help -- or just allow folks at the very top to do whatever the heck they want and somehow prosperity is going to trickle down onto everybody else.
 
And that’s, hopefully, why you are here, because that is not inevitable.  The American people agree with us on minimum wage.  They agree with us on equal pay for equal work.  They agree with us on immigration reform.  They agree that we should be doing more to help young people go to college.  Across the board, on the issues, the American people agree with us.  So why is it Congress isn’t working and the Republican Party can’t seem to respond?  It’s because, especially in midterms, half of us don’t vote. 
 
And so the reason we are here today is just to remind everybody -- here we don’t have to be that creative -- that if people participate and feel a sense of urgency and channel the frustration people feel constructively into these midterm elections, then we can get a Congress that’s responsive -- which doesn’t mean that we have to do everything that I think we should do -- I’m willing to compromise. 
 
I told Rick Perry today, I said, I’m happy to listen to your ideas, but right now, the main problem I’ve got with respect to these unaccompanied children is I’ve just put forward a piece of legislation before Congress that would give us the resources to care for them and help deal with the borders, all the things you say you want, Governor, and somehow I haven’t heard yet from the Republican delegation of Texas to say this is such an urgent problem that they’re going to move this quickly and get it done. So if you can’t even do the things you say you want to do, how are we going to get anything done? 
 
So we’ve got to feel a sense of urgency.  And if we do, Congress can change.  And if Congress changes, then America can change in ways that we all hope for -- not just for ourselves but for our kids and our grandkids.  (Applause.)
 
But we’ve got to feel a sense of urgency about it not just during presidential elections but during midterms.  And all of you are going to be critical in that endeavor.  So I hope you’ll join me.  Do not get cynical.  Cynics didn’t send men to the moon.  Cynics did not liberate slaves.  (Applause.)  Cynics did not transform this country.  Folks who are hopeful and creative did.  And that’s what we’ve got to constantly remember, we’ve got to guard against cynicism, embrace hope, work hard.  If we do, we’re going to be able to deliver the kind of Congress that the American people deserve. 
 
Thank you. 
 
END
11:19 P.M. CDT
 

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 10, 2014

Year of Action Updated Progress Report

Background from a White House Official:

Six months after the President declared 2014 a Year of Action, the White House will release an updated Progress Report today detailing the more than 40 actions the President and his administration have taken since January to build real, lasting economic security for the middle class and expand opportunities in order for every hardworking American to get ahead. A copy of that report can be found here.

Today in Austin, the President will discuss these actions and update the American people on the progress we’ve made, working with all who are willing to be a part of the solution – including state and local officials, companies large and small and ordinary citizens.

While Republicans in Congress – the least productive Congress in recent history – continue to block votes on key issues like raising the minimum wage and cutting student loan interest rates, and waste time and taxpayer dollars on political stunts like Speaker Boehner’s plan to sue the President for doing his job, the President will continue to do everything in his power to expand economic opportunity for all Americans.

That’s why the President will keep visiting with folks from across the country, to hear directly from them about what matters most and how we can continue to help their families get ahead. Today in Austin the President will meet with Kinsey, a student at the University of Texas, who took the time to write him about her family’s struggle to lead a middle class life.

Thanks to the grit and resilience of the American people, the American economy has come a long way since the President took office. But, there is much more progress to be made and the President won’t let Congress stand in the way. From helping to create new manufacturing jobs, to supporting workplace flexibility and equal pay, to cutting carbon pollution, and rallying support to raise the minimum wage in states across the country, the President is doing right by hardworking Americans.

The President’s taken the actions detailed in today’s report to help the folks for whom Washington should be working, Americans from all across the country – people like Kinsey and her family – who ask for nothing but a fair shot at their own American Dream, but often feel the system is rigged against them.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 09, 2014

Remarks by the President at DCCC Dinner

Dallas, Texas

7:40 P.M. CDT
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Well, to the whole Stanley family, because we’ve got a whole crew here, I want to say thank you.  Marc and Wendy have just been great friends for such a long time and great supporters not just to me but of good causes here in Texas and all across the country, and we couldn’t ask for better friends.  And we’re really thankful to all of them.  (Applause.)
 
And Marc is entirely right to say that my greatest accomplishments as President had to do with having a great Speaker of the House and I want her back with her hand on the gavel.  She is tough, she is smart, and she has a heart as big as Texas -- even though she’s from California.  (Laughter.)  Nancy Pelosi.  (Applause.)
 
I want to spend most of the time in conversation so I’m not going to make a long speech at the front end.  Let me offer just a simple proposition.  I’m not running for reelection.  (Laughter.)  Not just because of the Constitution but also because of my wife.  (Laughter.)  And so I think I can say this not because I’m trying to get votes but simply to state the facts. 
 
There’s almost no economic measure by which we are not better off now than we were when I took office.  (Applause.)  And let me -- just in case folks are wondering, let me just make sure everybody is clear.  When I came into office, Nancy was Speaker and we were facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression -- actually, the contraction was larger, we now know, than during the initial stages of the Great Depression. 
 
And because of the incredible resilience of the American people but because we made some smart decisions very early on, tough decisions, what we have now seen is 52 straight months of job growth, 10 million jobs created; unemployment rate is the lowest it has been since September of 2008 -- before I was elected.  This first six months of the year we’ve seen the fastest job growth since 1999.  Manufacturing job growth, highest since the ‘90s.  Deficit, been cut by more than half.  The uninsurance -- the number of uninsured has dropped because of the Affordable Care Act.  Health care inflation is the slowest it’s been in 50 years.  Energy production has gone off the charts.  We are now producing more oil than we import for the first time in a very long time.  Solar power we’ve increased by 10 times; wind power by three times.  We’ve reduced our carbon footprint faster than just about any industrialized country in the world.  Our dropout rate has gone down, Latino dropout rate has been cut by more than half.  College attendance rates are the highest they’ve ever been. 
 
So on measure after measure -- the auto industry comes surging back we passed legislation that firms up the financial system but also makes sure that if companies take excessive bets now, they’re the ones left holding the tab instead of taxpayers.  So by all outward appearances, we are indisputably better off than when I was elected -- in part because we took some really tough decisions early.
 
But what’s also true is, is that people are anxious out there.  Part of it is still feeling traumatized by the crisis and the scale of it, and people seeing their housing values plummet and the stock market taking a hit.  And even though the stock market is at record highs now and housing has recovered, people still feel things are a little more fragile.  And they had to go through a lot of deleveraging, getting rid of excess debt.
 
But a lot of it also just has to do with the fact that as things improve, a basic trend that’s been going on for quite some time continues, which is wages, incomes of ordinary folks not going up even though productivity is going up, corporate profits are going up.  The average person still feels, no matter how hard I work, I don’t feel like I’m getting ahead the way I should and I’m worried about the next generation and whether my child or grandchild is going to have the same opportunities that I have.
 
The good news is we actually know what to do about it.  We know that if we increase the minimum wage, millions of people would benefit.  We know that if we pass equal pay for equal work legislation, that that’s going to help not just women, it’s going to help families because when women succeed, America succeeds.  (Applause.)  We know that we’ve got $2 trillion worth of deferred maintenance to our infrastructure -- we could put people back to work all across the country and those jobs can’t be exported -- rebuilding our roads and our bridges and our ports, our airports.
 
If we implemented a plan that’s been sitting on the shelf for lack of funding but is technically feasible right now to redo our whole air traffic control system, we would reduce the fuel that airlines need by 30 percent which, with corresponding benefits to the environment, those savings could then be passed on to customers -- delays at airports would be drastically reduced. 
 
We know that early childhood education gives you a $7 benefit for every dollar you invest and would also help alleviate the challenges of child care.  I was in Minnesota with a young woman who had written me a letter, just a wonderful woman.  Her husband had lost a job in construction, he’s a carpenter, worked for a railway at drastically reduced pay.  She went back to school even though she had a small child, became an accountant.  Together, they dug themselves out of debt.  She’s doing pretty well now, but she says, you know, I’m paying $2,000 for my two little boys a month in child care costs -- there’s no way we can get ahead.  We could help her.  We could help all these young people. 
 
Yesterday, in Denver, a young person -- a young woman, math major, what you want to see, excelling in school but she’s worried about the kind of debt she is accruing.  There is legislation right now in the Senate and the House that would allow young people to be able to consolidate and refinance their debt, save themselves thousands of dollars.  We know things that would work. 
 
And there’s one reason they’re not happening.  And that is, is that you’ve got a Republican Party right now, particularly House Republicans, whose only agenda seems to be to say no.  They say no to minimum wage, they say no to fair pay, no to extending unemployment benefits and, so far, no to just renewing the Highway Trust Fund so people don’t get laid off of the projects that are already going on.  And, of course, no to immigration reform. 
 
So I enjoyed meeting with Governor Perry.  And, by the way, he had some suggestions that I said I actually agree with -- which is why they’re in the supplemental bill that I just sent to Congress.  (Laughter.)  Why don’t you get the Texas Republican Delegation to pass it.  Because the question is are we interested in political gamesmanship or are we actually trying to solve a problem.  And the problem we have right now is, is that there’s just a lot of political positioning but there’s a big, fat zero when it comes to action on the part of these folks to try to solve the problems that are on the minds of the American people right now.
 
Now, I always say, Democrats are not perfect.  There are times where we’ve got our own ideological blind spots.  There are times where we don’t act as boldly as we should on issues that are important but tough politically.  Everybody in Washington, they have to be reelected and sometimes it takes the public a while to get to places even when it’s the right thing to do.  And so Democrats aren’t perfect.  And, by the way, my favorite President happened to be the first Republican President -- a guy named Abraham Lincoln.  (Laughter.)
 
But right now, at this moment in our history, the reason we’re not making progress is because you’ve got a party on the other side that has become so ideologically rigid, so invested in an economic theory that says if folks at the top do well and there are no regulations on banks or insurance companies or credit card companies or polluters, that somehow everybody does well.  You’ve got a party that is so invested in obstruction than compromise and producing on behalf of the American people that truthfully this is not an issue of “a plague on both your houses.” 
 
Democrats are prepared to act on behalf of middle-class families and their concerns.  We’re prepared to do hard things on behalf of that young woman who needs help on child care and on behalf of that young woman who needs help on her college education.  And we’re willing to do some tough things on behalf of making sure that we have secure borders as well as making sure that we’ve got a smarter system of legal immigration and that we lift people out of the shadows who have lived here, oftentimes, for a very long time.
 
We’re prepared to do tough things.  And we’d love to have a partner on the other side.  But we don’t right now.  And that means that the American people are going to have to call to question, and they’re going to have to say to the other side, you know what, if you guys don’t have a single idea to help us on anything and you can’t compromise on anything, and the only thing you’ve produced during the four years that you’ve been in power is a government shutdown and us coming to the brink of defaulting for the first time in 200 years and affecting the full faith and credit of the American people -- if that’s all you’ve got to offer, well, maybe you need to reflect for a while on why it is that you’re in politics and what public service means.
 
So we’ve got one problem, and the problem is cynicism.  The problem is Democrats congenitally vote at lower rates during midterms because of gerrymandering -- you know something about that here in Texas -- and population distribution.  Even though on every issue we enjoy a majority position, the House Republicans don’t have to respond to that -- they’re responding to their primary tea party voters.  Nothing happens, that makes our folks even more cynical, we’re less likely to vote, and you get this vicious spiral where there’s a lot of cynicism and a lot of unhappiness but nothing changes.
 
And the reason I hope everybody is here today is because we actually can change that, but we can only change it if we feel some urgency about this midterm election.  I want an effective, successful Republican Party.  I want a loyal opposition.  But the only way that the message is sent that you’ve got to do some common-sense things and act based on facts and reason as opposed to politics and ideology is if they have a sense that people are paying attention and that voters vote.  And that’s where the DCCC, it’s got its work cut out for it but it can do it because we’re on the right side of this. 
 
We’ve got to work hard.  You’ve got to work not just -- we don’t have to just work as hard as we did during the presidential election; we’ve got to work harder.  And I know nobody is working harder than Nancy Pelosi.  And I’m working hard.  I need you all to work hard.  And if you do, then we can deliver on behalf of all those folks who write me letters every single day, because they’re good people and they feel hopeful.  But they need a little help and I want to give it to them, and Nancy wants to give it to them, and I know you do, too.
 
Thanks.  Thank you.  (Applause.)
 
END  
7:54 P.M. CDT
 

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 09, 2014

Statement by the President on Immigration

Dallas Love Field
Dallas, Texas

6:00 P.M. CDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody.  I just had a good meeting with Governor Perry, local officials, and faith leaders to talk about the steps that we have taken and that we need to take to address the humanitarian situation on the border.  And I want to thank everybody who’s been involved for taking the time to talk to me.

It’s important to recognize two things.  First, the surge of unaccompanied children, and adults with children, are arriving at one sector of the border, and that's the Rio Grande Valley.  Second, the issue is not that people are evading our enforcement officials.  The issue is that we’re apprehending them in large numbers.  And we’re working to make sure that we have sufficient facilities to detain, house, and process them appropriately, while attending to unaccompanied children with the care and compassion that they deserve while they’re in our custody.

While we intend to do the right thing by these children, their parents need to know that this is an incredibly dangerous situation and it is unlikely that their children will be able to stay.  And I’ve asked parents across Central America not to put their children in harm’s way in this fashion.

Right now, there are more Border Patrol agents and surveillance resources on the ground than at any time in our history.  And we deport almost 400,000 migrants each year.  But as soon as it became clear that this year’s migration to the border was different than in past years, I directed FEMA to coordinate our response at the border.  Members of my Cabinet and my staff have made multiple trips to facilities there.  And we’re also addressing the root of the problem.  I sent Vice President Biden and Secretary Kerry and Secretary Johnson to meet with Central American leaders, as well as working with our international partners to go after smugglers who are putting their kids’ lives at risk. 

And earlier this week, Mexico announced a series of steps that they’re going to take on their southern border to help stem the tide of these unaccompanied children.

Last week, I sent a letter to Congress asking them to increase penalties on smugglers and to give us flexibility to move migrants through the system faster.

Yesterday, I asked Congress to fund these efforts.  About half of the resources would go to border security, enforcement, and expedited removal of people who don’t qualify for a humanitarian claim.  About half would go to make sure we’re treating children humanely.  We’d also make investments to further tackle the root problems in Central America.

So right now, Congress has the capacity to work with us, work with state officials, local officials, and faith-based groups and non-for-profits who are helping to care for these kids -- Congress has the capacity to work with all parties concerned to directly address the situation.  They’ve said they want to see a solution.  The supplemental offers them the capacity to vote immediately to get it done.

Of course, in the long run, the best way to truly address this problem is for the House of Representatives to pass legislation fixing our broken immigration system, which, by the way, would include funding for additional thousands of Border Patrol agents -- something that everybody down here that I've talked to indicates is a priority. 

The Senate passed a common-sense, bipartisan bill more than a year ago.  It would have strengthened the border, added an additional 20,000 Border Patrol agents.  It would have strengthened our backlogged immigration courts.  It would have put us in a stronger position to deal with this surge and, in fact, prevent it.

So let me just close by indicating the nature of the conversation that I had with Governor Perry, which I thought was constructive.  Governor Perry suggested four specific areas of concern.  He was concerned about how many patrol agents were directly at the border.  He was concerned that some of the positioning of Border Patrol agents is too far from the border to be effective in deterring folks from coming in as opposed to simply apprehending them.  I indicated to him that what he said sounded like it made sense and that, in fact, if we pass the supplemental we would then have the resources to carry out some of the very things that he’s requesting. 

On a broader policy level, he indicated concern that right now kids who come to the border from Mexico are immediately deported, but because it's non-contiguous, folks who are coming from Central America have to go through a much lengthier process. I indicated to him that part of what we're looking in the supplemental is some flexibility in terms of being able to preserve the due process rights of individuals who come in, but also to make sure that we’re sending a strong signal that they can’t simply show up at the border and automatically assume that they’re going to be absorbed.

He also expressed concerns about how the immigration judicial system works, how the administrative processing works, how long it takes and the fact that oftentimes people appear, are then essentially released with a court date that might be six months out or nine months, and a sizable number, not surprisingly, don’t show up. 

I indicated to him that if we had more administrative judges, more administrative capacity, we can shrink those wait times.  This administrative practice predates my administration and, in fact, has been going on for quite some time, and a lot of it has to do with the fact that there’s not enough capacity, both in terms of detention facilities, but also in terms of judges, attorneys, space in order to process these things more quickly and expeditiously.

So the bottom line is, actually, that there’s nothing that the Governor indicated he’d like to see that I have a philosophical objection to.  I’ve asked Jeh Johnson to contact his head of Health and Human Services when he comes down for the sixth time at the end of this week to coordinate and make sure that some of the suggestions that the Governor has are technically feasible and what kind of resources might be needed. But what I emphasized to the Governor was the problem here is not a major disagreement around the actions that could be helpful in dealing with the problem.  The challenge is, is Congress prepared to act to put the resources in place to get this done.

Another way of putting it -- and I said this directly to the Governor -- is are folks more interested in politics, or are they more interested in solving the problem?  If they’re interested in solving the problem, then this can be solved.  If the preference is for politics, then it won’t be solved. 

And I urged the Governor to talk to the Texas delegation, which is obviously at the heart of the Republican caucus both in the House and has great influence in the caucus in the Senate.  If the Texas delegation is in favor of this supplemental -- which, by the way, does not include some things that I know many of them object to around dealing with undocumented workers who have been in this country for quite some time -- this is just a very narrow issue, this supplemental, in terms of dealing with the particular problem we have right now -- if the Texas delegation is prepared to move, this thing can get done next week.  And we can have more Border Patrol agents on the border, as the Governor has requested; we can shorten the timetables for processing these children or adults with children, as the Governor thinks is important; we can make sure that some of the public health issues that were raised in the meeting that I just had are addressed so that we’ve got enough folks vaccinating and checking on the health status of these children to make sure that not only are they safe, but also our communities are safe. 

The things that the Governor thinks are important to do would be a lot easier to do if we had this supplemental.  It gives us the resources to do them.  And so, the only question at this point is why wouldn’t the Texas delegation or any of the other Republicans who are concerned about this not want to put this on a fast track and get this on my desk so I can sign it and we can start getting to work? 

I suggested to the Governor he has, I suspect, some influence over the Texas delegation, and that might be helpful to call on them to pass this supplemental right away.

The final point I’ll make is I just want to thank some of the faith-based groups that I just met with, as well as mayors, commissioners, local officials.  Dallas has been incredibly compassionate in looking at some sights, some facilities in which they can accommodate some of these children.  And I indicated in hearing the stories of churches that are prepared to not just make donations but send volunteers to help construct some of these facilities or fix them up, and their willingness to volunteer in providing care and assistance to these children -- I told them thank you, because it confirmed what I think we all know, which is the American people are an incredibly compassionate people and when we see a child in need we want to care for them. 

But what I think we all agreed on is, is that the best thing that we can do is to make sure that the children are able to live in their own countries safely.  And that’s why it’s going to be important, even as we solve the short-term problem here, for us to be able to direct attention and resources and assistance -- as we’re doing, but not at a sustained and high enough level -- back in Honduras and Guatemala and El Salvador and other places, so that parents don’t think that somehow it’s safer for their children to send them thousands of miles just so that they don’t get harmed. 

With that, I’ll take a couple of questions.  Yes, go ahead.

Q    There are increasing calls not just from Republicans, but also from some Democrats for you to visit the border during this trip.  Can you explain why you didn’t do that?  And do you see any legitimate reason for you to actually do that at some point, or do you think those calls are more about politics than anything else?

THE PRESIDENT:  Jeh Johnson has now visited, at my direction, the border five times.  He’s going for a sixth this week.  He then comes back and reports to me extensively on everything that's taking place.  So there’s nothing that is taking place down there that I am not intimately aware of and briefed on.

This isn’t theater.  This is a problem.  I’m not interested in photo ops; I’m interested in solving a problem.  And those who say I should visit the border, when you ask them what should we be doing, they're giving us suggestions that are embodied in legislation that I’ve already sent to Congress.  So it’s not as if they're making suggestions that we’re not listening to.  In fact, the suggestions of those who work at the border, who visited the border, are incorporated in legislation that we’re already prepared to sign the minute it hits my desk.

There’s a very simple question here, and that is Congress just needs to pass the supplemental.  There is a larger issue that I recognize involves a lot of politics, which is why aren’t we passing comprehensive immigration reform, which would put an additional 20,000 Border Patrol agents and give us a lot of additional authorities to deal with some of these problems.  That should have been done a year ago; should have been done two years ago.  It’s gotten caught up in politics.  And I understand that.

One of the suggestions I had for Governor Perry was that it would be useful for my Republican friends to rediscover the concept of negotiation and compromise.  The Governor’s one concern that he mentioned to me was, is that setting aside the supplemental, I should go ahead and authorize having National Guard troops surge at the border right away.  And what I told him is we’re happy to consider how we could deploy National Guard down there, but that's a temporary solution, that's not a permanent solution.  And so why wouldn’t we go ahead and pass the permanent solution, or at least a longer-term solution?  And if the Texas delegation said, for us to pass the supplemental we want to include a commitment that you’re going to send some National Guard early, we’d be happy to consider it. 

So this should not be hard to at least get the supplemental done.  The question is are we more interested in politics, or are we more interested in solving the problem?  If we’re interested in solving the problem, then there’s actually some broad consensus around a number of the issues.  There may be some controversies and differences between Democrats and Republicans on some of the policy issues, but on a whole bunch of this stuff, there’s some pretty broad consensus.  Let’s just get that done.  Let’s do the work.

Q    Mr. President, did the Governor give any indication that he would ask the Texas delegation to get behind the supplemental?  And it sounds like you are concerned that this supplemental will fall victim to partisan politics.

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I think it’s fair to say that these days in Washington, everybody is always concerned about everything falling victim to partisan politics.  If I sponsored a bill declaring apple pie American, it might fall victim to partisan politics.  I get that. 

On the other hand, this is an issue in which my Republican friends have said it’s urgent and we need to fix it.  And if that's the case, then let’s go ahead and fix it. 

As I indicated to Governor Perry -- he suggested, well, maybe you just need to go ahead and act, and that might convince Republicans that they should go ahead and pass the supplemental. And I had to remind him I’m getting sued right now by Mr. Boehner, apparently, for going ahead and acting instead of going through Congress.  Well, here’s a good test case.

This is something you say is important, as I do.  This is an area that you have prioritized, as I have.  Don't wait for me to take executive actions when you have the capacity right now to go ahead and get something done.  I will sign that bill tomorrow.  We’re going to go ahead and do what we can administratively, but this gives us the tools to do many of the very things that Republicans are seeking.

At the same time, I will just repeat that if we got a comprehensive bill done, it doesn't just solve this problem for a year; it solves it potentially for 20 years.  And I would urge those who so far at least have failed to act on the comprehensive bill to take another look at it.

Q    It didn't sound like he made any promises, though.

THE PRESIDENT:  I didn't get any promises, but it was a constructive conversation.  And I just want to emphasize that I think that it was a good exchange of ideas.  And he did have some specific suggestions in terms of how we align border agents that I’ve asked Jeh Johnson to take a look at, because I think there may be ways in which we can use the resources that we already have more effectively than we’re currently doing.  And I think it is important that we make sure we’ve got a strong federal-state collaboration on the issue.

I’m going to take just two more questions, then I got to go. Go head.

Q    Mr. President, Governor Perry put out a statement shortly before you spoke, saying that he “pressed” -- his verb -- for you to secure the border. 

THE PRESIDENT:  Yes.

Q    Does that statement in any way indicate that he’s interested in compromise?

THE PRESIDENT:  I’m interested in securing the border.  So as I explained, as far as I could tell, the only disagreement I had with Governor Perry was, is that he wanted me to go ahead and do it without Congress having to do anything. 

We’ll do what we can administratively.  I think the useful question not simply for the Governor, but for John Boehner and Mitch McConnell, and the other members of the Texas delegation is why wouldn’t you go ahead and pass a bill to give us additional resources to solve the very problem that you say is urgent?

Jackie.

Q    Mr. President, there’s been a number of Republicans who have said that DACA, the deferred action executive order from 2012 that you signed, is to blame, that it was an invitation -- 

THE PRESIDENT:  Right.

Q    -- that other children are now taking up on.  What do you say to that?

THE PRESIDENT:  If you look at the pattern of immigration into our country, we are at actually a significantly lower level in terms of overall immigration flow -- illegal immigration flow than we were when I took office. 

I think that the challenge we have that has really caused a spike is the significant security challenges in these Central American countries themselves and the fact that you’ve got smugglers who are increasingly recognizing that they can make money by transporting these folks, often in very dangerous circumstances, to the border, and taking advantage of the compassion of the American people -- recognizing that we’re not going to simply leave abandoned children who are left at our doorstep, but that we’ve got to care for them and provide them some basic safety and security while we determine where we can send them.

But I think one of the most important things that we’re going to have to recognize -- this is not going to be a short-term problem.  This is a long-term problem.  We have countries that are pretty close to us in which the life chances of children are just far, far worse than they are here.  And parents who are frightened or are misinformed about what’s possible are willing to take extraordinary risks on behalf of their kids.  The more that we can do to help these countries get their acts together, then the less likely we are to have a problem at the borders.

And the fact of the matter is, is that DACA and comprehensive immigration reform generally would allow us to reallocate resources precisely because all the budget of DHS -- instead of us chasing after families that may have been living here for five or 10 years and have kids who are U.S. citizens and are law-abiding, save for the fact that they didn't come here legally -- if they have to earn citizenship, paying taxes, learning English, paying a fine, going to the back of the line, but they are no longer a enforcement priority, that suddenly frees up a huge amount of resources to do exactly the kinds of things that many Republicans have been calling for us to do and that we’ve tried to within the resource limitations that we have.

All right?  Thank you, everybody.  Appreciate it.

END  
6:24 P.M. CDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 09, 2014

Statement by the President on the Passage of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014

I applaud the overwhelming majority of lawmakers from both parties who came together on behalf of America’s workers to pass the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014. This bipartisan compromise will help workers, including workers with disabilities, access employment, education, job-driven training, and support services that give them the chance to advance their careers and secure the good jobs of the future. Today’s vote helps ensure that our workers can earn the skills employers are looking for right now and that American businesses have the talent pool it takes to compete and win in our global economy.  I look forward to signing it into law and hope Congress will continue to come together to make progress for America’s working families.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 09, 2014

Gaggle by Press Secretary Josh Earnest en route Dallas, TX, 07/09/14

Aboard Air Force One
En Route Dallas, Texas 

2:10 P.M. MDT

MR. EARNEST:  Good afternoon, everybody.  I just wanted to note a couple of things before I get to your questions. 

In advance of the President’s meeting with state and local officials in Dallas to discuss the urgent humanitarian situation on the southwest border, I wanted to highlight three recent developments for you.  The first is that Deputy Attorney General Jim Cole is on the southwest border today, specifically in McAllen, Texas, to tour the Customs and Border Patrol facility that is literally on the front lines of this situation.  He'll also be discussing today’s announcement from the Department of Justice that they are, at the President’s direction, shifting additional resources from the interior of the country to the border.  These resources will be refocused on prioritizing the cases of recent migrants that DHS has placed in removal proceedings.  Making this process more efficient is an important part of solving this problem, so we're asking Congress for additional resources to do more of the same.

Importantly, the Department of Justice is also adding resources and assets that can be deployed to investigate and disrupt criminal networks that are trafficking people to the border.

Second, I want to give credit where it is due to the government of Mexico that earlier this week announced five new border control centers along its southern border with Guatemala. This will allow the Mexicans to ramp up their effort to tighten security and more effectively monitor border activity.  This announcement is the result of a longstanding effort on their part to improve their border security and to crack down on human trafficking and other criminal networks.  We've been working with the Mexicans on this issue and will continue to support their efforts moving forward.

Third, and finally, the Vice President today, following up on his June 20th meeting to Central America, telephoned Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, and Salvadoran President Salvador Sanchez Ceren.  This is part of our ongoing collaboration to stem the flow of illegal migration at the source.

So as you can see, this administration, at the specific direction of the President, is moving forward with a sense of urgency on multiple fronts to address the situation at the border.  We're calling on Congress to act with a similar sense of urgency to make sure we have the additional resources to ramp up these efforts.

So, with that, I'll get to your questions.

Q    -- give us a little more detail on what the President is planning to do in Dallas as it relates to immigration, who is going to be in this meeting, and whether we should plan to hear from him after the meeting?

MR. EARNEST:  Yes, let me give you a sense of what our tick-tock is looking like here.  At this point, we anticipate that Governor Perry will meet the President at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport when we land there in a couple of hours.  From there, the President and Governor Perry will board Marine One and they will fly to Dallas Love Field. 

When they arrive at Love Field, there is a building onsite where the President will convene a roundtable meeting with some local elected officials in Dallas, including the county judge and the mayor.  Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson will also participate in that meeting in addition to the Dallas County judge and the mayor of Dallas. 

Q    Is Perry on the chopper with the President?

MR. EARNEST:  Yes.

Q    Okay.  So he is at both meetings, at the airport and over at Love Field?

MR. EARNEST:  Why don’t I start over.  The President will arrive at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.  When he arrives, the President will be greeted by Governor Perry at the steps of the airplane.  The two men, along with some members of the President’s staff, will board Marine One and they’ll helicopter over to Dallas Love Field.  It’s about a 15-minute ride.  I anticipate that the President and the Governor will have the opportunity to visit while they’re onboard the helicopter.

Q    -- one-on-one meeting on the helicopter?

MR. EARNEST:  I do anticipate they’ll have a chance to have a conversation there, yes. 

Q    Is that a separate one-on-one meeting --

MR. EARNEST:  If there’s a need after they arrive at Dallas Love Field for them to continue their conversation, then we'll give them the opportunity to do that before they start the roundtable discussion.

Q    What does he want to hear from Governor Perry?

MR. EARNEST:  Why don't I finish the tick-tock, and then I'll get into that.

So then the President will convene this roundtable meeting
-- it's something that's been in the works for a couple of days. So there will be a range of local elected officials -- the Dallas mayor, the Dallas County judge; Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson will also attend.  We’ll get you a full list of the participants of the meeting when we arrive.

In addition, there are some faith leaders from the Dallas area that have been active in mobilizing some resources to meet some of the humanitarian need of those who’ve been apprehended along the southwest border.  So this is an opportunity to sort of bring people together who’ve been actively engaged in trying to address this problem at the local level. 

At the conclusion of that meeting -- and I should say that as I’ve discussed with some of you, we’ll have a photojournalist spray at this roundtable meeting.  So there won’t be any statements from any of the participants, but there will be an opportunity for photographers and at least a television cameraman from the network pool to lay eyes on the meeting briefly at the top.  Just cameras. 

At the conclusion of the meeting, we’ll move to the lobby of the building where a podium will be set up and you’ll have an opportunity to hear from the President directly about what he heard in meeting.  And that’s what we’re looking at.

Q    He'll speak to us, or do we get to ask questions?

Q    What does he want to hear from Governor Perry?

MR. EARNEST:  Well, I think what you -- the fact that the President invited Governor Perry to participate in this meeting is an indication of this President’s determination to put aside partisan politics and focus on solutions.  I mean, after all, Governor Perry is a Republican; Governor Perry ran for President with the aspiration to take on the President in the 2012 election, so they disagree on many issues.  But if there is an opportunity for us to set aside partisan labels and focus on solutions, then that’s what the President is going to do. 

The focus here is going to be on what common ground can we find to address this difficult challenge.  So that’s why he’s going to be meeting with local elected officials, with some faith leaders.  The other thing that I would note is I read the comments today of the Republican Attorney General of the state of Texas, who -- and I’m paraphrasing here, but I think I’m being faithful to his intent -- who said that the resources that the President has requested in the supplemental appropriations request is exactly what Texas needs. 

So there should be an opportunity for Congress to act with some dispatch to make progress on that supplemental appropriations request.  It would be a real shame if that priority request were to get bogged down in ideological amendments that are completely unrelated to the situation at the southwest border.

We need Congress to do something that they don't often do, which is to act quickly to meet this urgent need.  After all, if they take these steps, they would be acting in what the President believes is the best interest of the country, and what the Republican Attorney General of Texas believes would be in the best interest of the Lone Star State.

Q    -- distinguish between the kind of enforcement resources that you’re asking for and the kind of enforcement resources that Governor Perry has talked about, which I think are sort of more traditional Border Patrol officers, which Jeh Johnson and others have said that's not really what’s needed because the kids are turning themselves in to the first officer they see -- is there a difference between the kind of enforcement you’re talking about and the kind of enforcement that the Secretary has said isn’t really what’s needed?

MR. EARNEST:  I’m not intimately familiar with the details of the kinds of resources that Governor Perry suggests should be added to the border.  Let me just start by reminding everybody that the compromise immigration proposal that passed the Senate includes an historic investment in resources to continue to secure our border.  So it’s important for us to start from the baseline that right now Republicans are blocking what would be an historic investment in the border.

Now, separately from that, there are some resources included in our supplemental appropriations request that I think are the kinds of things that Governor Perry believes would be a good idea.  There are some additional surveillance resources that we deploy to the border.  I think that this is something that Governor Perry has talked about in the past.  That's included in our supplemental appropriations request.

So I can get you some more details about our request in the fact sheet.  And you can sort of see for yourself whether or not -- how that aligns with Governor Perry’s recommendations.

That said, the problem that we -- that is most acute right now as it relates to this spike that we’ve seen from Central America is less about the number of Border Patrol officers and more about the kinds of immigration judges and ICE prosecutors and others who can process the cases of those who have been referred by those CBP officers to DHS for removal proceedings.  That's where the backlog exists.

And we've, again, devoted some additional resources, including from the Department of Justice, to try to address that backlog.  We’re going to prioritize the cases of those who’ve recently been apprehended at the border to try to whittle this down.  But a large percentage of the resources that we're requesting in this supplemental appropriations request would allow us to hire additional judges, hire additional asylum officials, and hire additional prosecutors to more efficiently and effectively process those who have been apprehended along the southwest border.

Q    There’s been a lot of talk about his not visiting the border today.  A number of Democrats today saying -- Joaquin Castro, one of them; Henry Cuellar -- saying they wished the President would visit at some point.  Maybe it didn’t fit in this schedule on this trip.  Are you guys considering that?  And why not, given that this is a humanitarian crisis and the other humanitarian tragedies, human crises he’s visited in the past, wouldn’t he go?

MR. EARNEST:  Well, as you know, the President has traveled to the border a couple of times, both as a candidate for President and as President of the United States.  You’d also note that the Secretary of Homeland Security who’s responsible for the border has traveled to the border region four or five times in just in the last couple of weeks.  Senior White House officials have traveled to the border.  The Secretary of HHS has traveled in the last couple of weeks to the border.  And I’d point out, as I mentioned at the top, that the Deputy Attorney General is on the border today, as we speak, touring the CBP station and talking about how additional Department of Justice resources can be deployed to assist the ongoing effort there.

So the President’s team is very focused on what’s going on the southwest border.  They're very interested in continuing to have a detailed understanding of the flow of illegal migration that we’re seeing.  They also are seeking to understand exactly how the federal government response is meeting the need that's evident there. 

So the President is well aware of exactly what’s happening. What the President is most focused on is providing the leadership that's necessary to address this problem quickly and give it the urgent attention that it requires.

Q    -- seeing firsthand in any way for him, or is that something that's still on the table?

MR. EARNEST:  I think the way I would describe it is the President has sufficient visibility to the problems there to understand what kinds of solutions are going to work best, and the kinds of solutions that are going to work best are the same kinds of solutions that are supported by the Republican Attorney General; these are the same kinds of solutions that include -- that are similar to the recommendations that Governor Perry himself has made. 

So what the President is hopeful [for] is that we will find partners in Congress who, like the President, are willing to set aside political party identification and focus on common ground and focus on the kinds of solutions that are in the best interests of the country and what many Republican officials [say] are in the best interests of the state of Texas

Q    There’s been a report out of Germany about a second person there who may have been spying for the U.S.  Can you fill in any details about the U.S. side?  And now that there’s a second report of this, does the President have any plans to discuss this with Angela Merkel?

MR. EARNEST:  Julie, as you’ve heard me say in recent days, I'm not in a position to confirm or deny or even comment on reports related to reported intelligence activities.  It is a longstanding tradition of White House press secretaries when asked about intelligence matters to decline to comment on them.  That's true of my predecessors in this administration; it's also true of my predecessors in previous administrations.  The reason for that is there’s an important principle at stake, which is declining to comment on them publicly allows for the sufficient protection of our national interests, in some cases the intelligence assets, and more generally, American national security.

So I'm not in a position to comment on those specific reports.   I'll repeat what I did say earlier, though, which is that this administration and this country values the important partnership that we have with German national security officials. That working partnership enhances the national security of Germany; it also enhances the national security of the United States of America.

So that relationship continues to be strong and that cooperation is ongoing.  As I mentioned earlier, there are a couple of conversations between German and American diplomats and law enforcement/intel officials to try to appropriately resolve some of the circumstances that you’ve seen in these recent news reports.  But in terms of this case, specifically, I'm not in a position to comment on them.

Q    -- Obama and Merkel at this point?

MR. EARNEST:  I don't have any -- I don't know of any calls with the Chancellor that are on the President’s schedule at this point.

Q    -- situation might affect the relationship between these two leaders who have worked very closely together in recent months?

MR. EARNEST:  Well, as you point out, there is a very strong working relationship, not just between the President and Chancellor Merkel, but between the broader United States government and the German government, on a variety of issues.  Certainly as it relates to the situation in Ukraine, U.S. officials have been in regular touch with their German counterparts as we seek to take coordinated efforts to impose economic costs on the Russian regime for their actions in Ukraine.

There are a whole host of intelligence-sharing and national security relationships that exist between the U.S. national security infrastructure and the German infrastructure.  Those relationships are very strong, they’re sound, and they continue.
And the reason for that is those relationships are critical to American national security and they’re critical to German national security.

And it's also why we'll take the necessary steps to resolve this situation appropriately.

Q    Does it feel like you're getting traction with the supplemental request?  What’s been the reaction so far?

MR. EARNEST:  Well, I think we're reading the reaction the same way that you are.  There have been some conversations between White House officials and officials on Capitol Hill about this.  I think the request the President has put forward is very specific, it's common sense, and as Scott pointed out, I think it overlaps at least a little bit with the suggestions made by knowledgeable leaders in the other party.

So the other thing that we've heard from Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill over the last several weeks is widespread acknowledgement that this is a pretty serious problem that needs urgent attention.  The President has already used his executive authority to devote additional resources to this situation and we're hopeful that Congress can play a constructive role in ensuring the administration has all the resources that are necessary to deal with the situation.

Let me just reiterate that it would be a real shame if Republicans were to use or try to capitalize on this urgent situation to add the kind of ideological amendments that have nothing to do with immigration reform or meeting this urgent need along the southwest border that would cause this request to be delayed or even derailed.

Q    Is that happening?

MR. EARNEST:  I think that we're legitimately concerned that that could happen.  It's happened in the past, and like I said, given the seriousness of this situation, it would be a real shame if it happened as it relates to this piece of legislation.

Q    --on the most recent arrivals, is the hope that you get to a point where you could hold a hearing and deport young people before they’re actually released to the custody of family members, that they might just stay in a detention facility throughout that process?

MR. EARNEST:  Well, some of the supplemental appropriations request that we've made has been to open up additional detention facilities.  These are the detention facilities that would be used to house not just unaccompanied minors who arrived at the southwest border, but also adults who have arrived at the border with children.

The other thing that the Department of Justice is considering is implementing a range of alternatives to detention, things like ankle bracelets that would allow law enforcement officials to monitor the whereabouts of these individuals as their claims are processed through the immigration system. 

So there are a wide range of things that we can do to more efficiently and effectively enforce the law.  That, after all, is what this administration is determined to do.  It’s very important to respect the basic due process rights to which these individuals are entitled.  It’s important to meet the basic humanitarian needs of these individuals.  That’s not just in line with the law, it’s also in line with our values as a country. 

But the bottom line is those individuals who were apprehended at the border, if they’ve gone through a due process system that determines they don’t have a legal basis for remaining in this country, they’ll be removed.  And what we are seeking is additional authority that can be exercised by the Secretary of Homeland Security to conduct that removal more efficiently.  And we’re also seeking the necessary resources to process these claims through the immigration system more quickly, so that when it’s determined that an individual doesn’t have a legal basis for remaining here, they’ll be sent home. 

Other questions?

Q    One other thing.  When you hear these comments from like Henry Cuellar, is the President frustrated by that sort of criticism, insisting that he go to the border?  And what -- I mean, what do you say to that?  What motivates -- what do you think is motivating these criticisms?

MR. EARNEST:  Honestly, I don’t know what is motivating the public comments we’ve seen from some members of Congress.  I can certainly tell you what’s motivating this President.  And this President is motivated by the need to find some solutions to this urgent humanitarian situation. 

We’re focused on solving problems.  That’s been a hallmark of this President’s leadership, his willingness to work with Democrats and Republicans who share his interests in addressing some of these urgent matters.  It’s clear that there are consequences for the state of Texas, for example, for not giving the administration and the federal government all the necessary resources to deal with this problem.

So we certainly welcome the comments from the Republican Attorney General, and we’d welcome the support of people like Governor Perry.  As I mentioned I think in a briefing earlier this week, Governor Perry has a reputation for being a pretty persuasive fellow.  And if he wants to use the power of persuasion to encourage House Republicans to support the supplemental appropriations request, that would be welcomed.  After all, Governor Perry considers himself to be a leader of the National Republican Party, and we’d certainly welcome him putting that leadership to work and joining the President in encouraging members of both parties to support the supplemental appropriations request.  The President is going to make that case, both privately and publicly.  And we’d welcome others who are willing to make that case, as well.

Again, this is the kind of situation that I think transcends party politics.  The need to meet the basic humanitarian needs of someone who is seeking to enter this country I think is the kind of thing that transcends party lines.  The need to follow the law and enforce the law and to allow our removal proceedings to operate more efficiently, that's the kind of thing that Democrats and Republicans should be able to agree on.  Ensuring that the federal government has the resources to confront a humanitarian situation that's having a negative impact on communities along the southwest border, that's something that Democrats and Republicans should be concerned about.  And if you listen to their public comments, Democrats and Republicans are concerned about it.

What we need is we need members of Congress to pay more than just lip service to solving these problems.  We need to actually see them take action.  The President has taken a wide range of actions.  We’ve adopted a whole-of-government approach to dealing with this situation, everything from cracking down on human trafficking networks to opening up additional facilities for detaining these individuals.  So the President has certainly been leaning forward in confronting this problem, and we’d like to see Congress take the simple, common-sense steps that are required to making sure that the federal government has the resources it needs to do this job.

Q    Thanks, Josh.

MR. EARNEST:  Okay, thanks, guys. 

END
2:35 P.M. MDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 09, 2014

Statement by the President on the Resignation of Matt Olsen

Most Americans may not know Matt Olsen’s name, but every American is safer because of his service.  As Director of the National Counterterrorism Center for the past three years, Matt and the dedicated professionals he has led at the NCTC have been absolutely critical to our success in disrupting terrorist cells, thwarting attacks and protecting the American people from evolving threats at home and abroad.  I’ve relied on Matt’s wise judgment and counsel, and I am especially grateful for his work to ensure that our counterterrorism efforts remain consistent with the rule of law and our values as a nation.  As he concludes 24 years of federal service, I thank Matt for a distinguished career that has left our nation more secure and even better prepared to meet the threats of our time.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 09, 2014

Remarks by the President at DSCC Lunch -- Denver, CO

Westin Denver Downtown
Denver, Colorado

12:02 P.M. MDT
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, everybody.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you so much.  Everybody have a seat, have a seat.  It is good to be back here.  (Laughter.)  I love Colorado, love Denver.  Everybody looks good in Denver, too.  (Laughter.)  I don't know what it is -- the hair or sun, altitude?  I don't know.  (Laughter.)  It's just a bunch of good-looking people in Denver, Colorado.  (Laughter.) 
 
We've got some great friends here and I just want to mention some of them.  First of all, nobody has a bigger heart, nobody did better work on behalf of the natural resources of this amazing country of ours, nobody has been a better friend to me than the person who just introduced me.  Love him dearly.  We came into the Senate together and our lives have crossed paths ever since and I'm so very, very proud of him and Hope.  So please give Ken Salazar a big round of applause.  (Applause.)
 
To Maggie Fox and Tess Udall, thank you for putting up with somebody in politics.  (Laughter.)  That's always rough, but you do it with grace, and we're so grateful to you.
 
To your wonderful former governor, Bill Ritter, who continues to do great work on behalf of the environment.  (Applause.)  My dear friend, who was actually on the steering committee for my first race in ’08, one of our national board members -- Federico Peña, your former mayor.  (Applause.)  Somebody who helped begin the tradition of great Democratic senators from Colorado -- Gary Hart is here.  There he is.  (Applause.)  Former mayor, Wellington Webb is here in the house. (Applause.)  Andrew Romanoff, who is running for Congress, is here.  (Applause.)  My good friend, Betsy Markey, who is running for treasurer, is here.  There’s Betsy.  (Applause.)
 
And all of you are here.  (Laughter.)  And I'm happy about that.  This is actually the hotel that I stayed in for the convention in 2008.  So as I walked in, the manager says, “Hey, it's great to see you.  Do you remember me?  How are those wonderful girls?  I’ll bet they changed a lot.”  (Laughter.)  And when we were here, Sasha was I think about this big.  (Laughter.) And I had to break the news to the manager that, yes, Sasha is taller than you now.  (Laughter.)  So, yes, things have changed. (Laughter.)
 
But what hasn’t changed is my incredible faith in the American people.  I just came from that gorgeous park of yours, and after having had dinner with some letter writers, people who wrote me letters just telling me about their hopes, their dreams, the challenges that they were facing -- we had pizza.  Somebody bought me a beer.  I walked over -- blocked traffic, but I walked over to Hickenlooper’s old joint.  (Laughter.)  Hickenlooper was there.  He challenged me to pool.  (Laughter.)  You can ask him how that went.  (Laughter.)  I took his lunch money.  (Laughter and applause.)
 
But in each of these conversations, what I'm always inspired by is the fundamental decency and goodness of the American people -- how they work hard, how they care for their families; they’re resilient and buoyant; how they’re inventive and entrepreneurial. And it's because of all that the country has changed in many ways as much as Sasha has changed since I was last here.  When we were here for the convention we were in a free fall.  The economy was actually contracting faster, we now know, in ’08 than it did at the outset of the Great Depression.  We were losing 800,000 jobs a month. 
 
What we've now seen is 52 straight months of job growth, 10 million jobs created.  We've seen the unemployment rate drop faster than any time in the last 30 years.  Employment growth actually in this first six months has been the fastest since 1999.  Housing market has steadily improved, and the stock market and people’s 401(k)s restored.  Financial system stabilized. 
 
On energy, we produce three times as much wind energy as we did when I came into office, ten times as much solar energy as when I came into office.  We have reduced our carbon emissions faster than any other developed country in the world; make greater investments in green energy than any administration in history.  We're actually now producing more than we import for the first time in over a couple of decades.
 
The high school dropout rate gone down; Latino dropout rate actually has been cut in half.  College attendance rate at an all-time high.  Uninsured keeps going down because of the Affordable Care Act and health care inflation is actually going up slower than any time in the last 50 years. 
 
We've been able to bring troops home and make sure that our veterans are able to get the kind of education they need to succeed in this new marketplace.  Exports are up, farm incomes are up.  Things have changed over these last five years.  There are very few measures by which we are not fundamentally better off than we were when I took office.
 
But the reason we're here, the reason every race across the country is going to be challenging, including this one, and the reason that your support is going to be so important is that despite the decency of the American people, despite the fact that we have made progress, everybody senses, everybody understands that we've still got some fundamental challenges that have not yet been addressed, and Washington is not addressing them.  And it makes people cynical and it makes people frustrated.
 
And when I talked to folks last night eating pizza, or see them and have a chat with them shooting pool, they all tell me the same thing:  We're doing okay, we're making it, but it feels like at the end of every month, no matter how hard we work, it's still kind of a struggle.  And when you look at it from a macroeconomic perspective, it's true.  The economy is growing, corporate profits soaring, productivity up, but wages and incomes have flat-lined.  So although our job growth is as good as anything we've seen since 1999, a lot of people’s incomes are the same as they were in 1999, at the same time as costs for college or other necessities have gone up.
 
So everything I do, everything Mark does, everything that Michael Bennet does, our agenda is how do we make sure that we are providing ladders of opportunity to people who are willing to work hard, and for folks who are in the middle class, how are we making sure that they can have some basic security and get ahead if they’re working hard, if they’re doing the right thing.
 
That’s why we’re fighting for raising the minimum wage.  That’s why we think that equal pay for equal work is fundamental. That’s why we think that creating workplace flexibility is so critical.  That’s why trying to make sure that we’ve got high-quality, accessible, quality pre-K is so critical.  That’s why making sure that families are getting help when it comes to child care or a college education is so important.  That’s why redesigning our high schools to give young people more opportunity in this 21st century economy and making sure we’ve got outstanding job training for people who have to start second careers are in place.
 
Everything we do, our entire agenda is designed around a very simple premise, which is if you are willing to work hard it shouldn’t matter what you look like, where you come from, who you love -- you can succeed, you can make it.  That’s what Mark is fighting for every single day. 
 
And the challenge we have is that the other side is -- the only thing they seem to be fighting for is for power, or their patrons, or on behalf of an economic idea, an economic theory that has been proven wrong time and time and time again.  This has been, since the Republicans took over the House, the least productive Congress I don’t know when, perhaps in history.  Their single accomplishment was shutting down the government and threatening the full faith and credit of the United States of America. 
 
They’ve said no to minimum wage.  They’ve said no to fair pay legislation.  They’ve said no to unemployment insurance extensions.  They’ve said no to basic things like infrastructure, rebuilding our roads and our bridges and our airports, things that used to be bipartisan. 
 
And so, understandably, people get frustrated and they get cynical.  They should be frustrated, but they shouldn’t be cynical.  If nothing else, the main message I want to leave you today is the same one that I said in the park.  Cynicism passes for wisdom these days.  I think it’s a sorry kind of wisdom.  It’s easy being cynical and doesn’t get you anything.  Cynicism doesn’t get a man to the moon.  Cynicism didn’t expand civil rights to people.  Cynicism didn’t make us an economic superpower.  Hope is a better choice.  But it’s got to be a hope that is backed by action and hope that is backed by organizing and hope that’s backed by effort.  And it’s got to be hope that is supported by outstanding members of Congress who are there for the right reasons and who are serious.
 
And Mark Udall is a serious person who is trying to do the right thing and who has the values that we share.  He is not an ideologue.  He doesn’t agree with me on everything.  But he believes in the core idea that I think should be what Democrats are all about, this idea that if you work hard you should be able to make it.  And he’s there on behalf of working families all across Colorado.  And that’s worth supporting.
 
I’ll just close by saying 2008 was sort of lightning in a bottle.  The convention was pretty fun.  (Laughter.)  It was exciting and the weather was good.  But one challenge that I always offered to Democrats is we do have one congenital disease, which is we’re not very good during off-year elections.  We don’t think it’s flashy enough -- I don’t know.  There aren’t enough celebrities involved?  I mean, I don’t know what’s going on, but a lot of times we don’t vote at the same rates.  We don’t pay attention.
 
Our positions on every major issue enjoys majority support across the country:  Immigration reform, supported by a majority of Americans.  Minimum wage, supported by a majority of Americans.  Equal pay for equal work, supported by the majority of Americans.  Being good stewards of the environment and dealing with climate change in a serious way, supported by the majority of Americans.  We have the support of the majority.  It’s just the majority doesn’t always vote.
 
So the one thing I want to urge everybody here is to feel the same urgency about this race -- about Mark’s race, about all the Senate races, about the state treasurer’s race, about the Romanoff race -- feel that same urgency as you feel about my race back in 2008.  Because, ultimately, this is not about one person, it’s not about a handful of people; it’s about all of us.  And we’ve got to be invested in this.  And I know all of you are, and I appreciate you very, very much for that.
 
All right, let me take a couple of questions.  We’re going to get the press out of here.  (Laughter.)
 
END
12:20 P.M. MDT