Remarks by the President on ConnectED

Buck Lodge Middle School
Adelphi, Maryland

11:37 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody.  (Applause.)  Thank you so much.  Well, can everybody please give Nelson a big round of applause for the outstanding job that he did?  (Applause.)  So Nelson just told me backstage he plans on being a Navy SEAL.  So I was really nice to him now so he doesn’t mess with me later.  (Laughter.)  We are very proud of him, proud of all the students who are here today.

I want to thank Principal Richardson for the great job that he’s doing.  (Applause.)  And I want to thank all the wonderful teachers who are here at Buck Lodge Middle School.  Go, Vikings!  (Applause.) 

I brought along some people who very much care about the future of these young people.  We've got America’s Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, in the house.  (Applause.)  We've got the FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and two of his fellow commissioners who are here, doing great work.  (Applause.)  Congressman Steny Hoyer is in the house.  (Applause.)  County Executive Rushern Baker is here.  (Applause.)  And we've got some business leaders who’ve made some very big commitments today -- because they know that your education is the very best investment that all of us can make in America.

Now, last week, in my State of the Union address, I spent some time talking about opportunity for everybody, which is at the heart of this country -- the idea that no matter who you are, no matter what you look like -- if you have a chair feel free to sit down.  (Laughter.)  That wasn’t actually my line, but I thought -- (laughter.)  But at the core of America, the essence of it, what makes us exceptional is this idea, no matter what you look like, where you come from, what your last name is, if you're willing to work hard, if you're willing to live up to your responsibilities, you can make it here in America.

But each generation has to work hard to make sure that dream of opportunity stays alive for the next generation.  And the opportunity agenda that I laid out last week will help us do that.  It’s focused on four areas:  Number one, more new jobs; number two, training folks with the skills to fill those jobs;  number three, making sure our economy rewards hard work with decent wages and economic security; and number four, the piece I’m here to talk about today -- guaranteeing every child access to a world-class education.  Every child.  Not just some, but everybody.  (Applause.)

Now, I’m only standing here today because my education gave me a chance.  I’m not so different than a lot of these young people.  I was raised by a single mom, with the help of my grandma and my grandpa.  We didn’t have a lot of money, and for a while my mother was working and going to school at the same time as she was raising a couple of kids.  And there were times where times were tight.  But with a family who loved me, and with some hard work on my part -- although it wasn’t always consistent -- as my mother and my grandparents would point out.  And then, ultimately, with the help of scholarships and student loans, I was able to go to college.  I was able to go to law school.  And entire worlds of opportunity opened up to me that might not otherwise have been available. 

So the country invested in me.  My parents invested in me, my grandparents invested in me, but my country invested in me.  And I want America to now invest in you -- because in the faces of these students, these are future doctors and lawyers and engineers, scientists, business leaders.  We don’t know what kinds of products, services, good work that any of these students may do.  But I’m betting on them, and all of us have to bet on them.

So five years ago, we set out to change the odds on all of our kids.  Our Race to the Top challenge has helped raise expectations and performance in states all across the country.  Our high school graduation rate is the highest that it’s been in more than 30 years.  (Applause.)  That’s an achievement.  The dropout rate among Latino students has been cut in half since 2000 -- a really big deal.  (Applause.)  We reformed our student loan programs, so that more young people are able to afford to go to college, and now we’ve got more young people earning a college degree than ever before. 

Teachers and principals across the country are working hard to prepare students like you with the skills you need for a new economy -- not just the basics of reading and writing and arithmetic, but skills like science and technology, engineering, critical thinking, creativity -- asking, what do you think about that idea, and how would you do things differently.

Now, we still have more work to do to reach more kids and reach them faster.  And some of the ideas that I’ve presented will require Congress to act.  But while Congress decides what it’s going to do, I said at the State of the Union -- and I want to repeat here today -- I will act on my own.  Wherever I have the opportunity to expand opportunity for more young people, wherever I have a chance to make a difference in their lives, I’m going to act.  I’m going to act.  (Applause.) 

So in this Year of Action, we’re going to work with states and communities to help them make high-quality pre-K available to more young children.  We know it’s a good investment.  (Applause.)  We want to keep working to partner high schools with colleges and employers to offer real-world education experiences that can lead directly to jobs and careers.  And we want to do more to make sure no middle-class kid is priced out of a college education and, obviously, no poor kid is priced out of a college education.  That’s got to be a priority for us.  (Applause.)  

But today, we’re here to announce some big strides that we’re making to put the world and outer space at every child’s fingertips -- whether they live in a big city or a quiet suburb or in rural America.

Last year, I launched something called ConnectED -- a new initiative to close the technology gap in our schools and connect 99 percent of America’s students to high-speed broadband Internet within five years.  Now, this is something we can do without waiting for Congress.  We do need some help, though.  So we picked up the phone and we started asking some outstanding business leaders to help bring our schools and libraries into the 21st century.  Today, thanks to the leadership of some of these companies, we’ve got some big announcements to make.

But first, I want you to know why it matters that we make sure technology is available to every child.  Technology is not the entire answer, by the way, when it comes to educational excellence.  We’ve got to make sure we’ve got outstanding teachers.  (Applause.)  We’ve got to make sure that parents are doing what they need to do.  (Applause.)  We need young people to make the effort and to have high expectations for themselves.  (Applause.)  But technology can help; t’s a tool, it’s just one more tool.

So today, the average American school has about the same Internet bandwidth as the average American home, but it serves 200 times as many people.  Think about it.  So you’ve got the same bandwidth, but it’s a school -- it’s not your house.  Only around 30 percent of our students have true high-speed Internet in the classroom.  In countries like South Korea, that’s 100 percent.  We shouldn’t give that kind of competitive advantage over to other countries.  We want to make sure our young people have the same advantages that some child in South Korea has right now.  In a country where we expect free Wi-Fi with our coffee, we should definitely demand it in our schools.  (Applause.) 

Now, here at Buck Lodge, you are showing how we can use technology to teach our young people in innovative ways.  And by the way, the principal told me that part of how this got started was some of the stimulus dollars that we put in place almost five years ago now.  But every student here has access to their own iPad.  And you don’t just write papers or take tests; they’re animating movies, they’re designing blogs, they’re collaborating on multimedia projects.  In the word of an 8th grader, Annie Gomez, she says, “You can learn even more, you can take in more, and then you know more about the world.”

And new technologies are helping teachers.  So in Mr. Jeter’s science class, students take quizzes on their tablets; he then can check the answers in real time and he can figure out who needs extra help. In Ms. Galinat’s language arts class, students learn vocabulary not just with flashcards, but with online video. In Ms. Stover’s math class -- I was just over with Ms. Stover -- students bring their tablets home to watch lectures about concepts like ratios and rational numbers, and then use the next day’s classroom time applying those concepts to the real world.  So technology allows teachers here to spend more time being creative, less time teaching to the test, giving continual feedback, being able to pinpoint where a young person is having trouble because they’re able to see their work right away in a pretty efficient way. 

And I will say, I was just in a classroom -- there was a lesson plan that was organized around the Curiosity Rover on Mars.  And the young people there were doing some amazing stuff  -- making their own iBooks with video and multimedia.  And as I was walking out, I was talking to Steny Hoyer about how I remember using gluesticks -- (laughter) -- and scissors to cut stuff out and it didn’t look very good.  (Laughter.)  These guys were making books you could publish.  (Laughter.) 

But it makes learning exciting, it makes it interesting.  If you’re studying science and you are actually seeing the engineers who built Rover talk about what it is -- or the Curiosity Rover  -- talking about what they’re doing and how they did it, and being able to see the Rover on the Martian landscape, it makes vivid and real math and science in a way that is more interesting to students, which means that they’re more likely to be engaged and can potentially do better.

And this is how it should be for every student and every teacher at every school and library in the country.  That’s how it should be for everbody, not just some.  (Applause.)

Today, almost eight months after we launched ConnectED, we can announce some very big commitments that are going to go a long way towards realizing that vision where every child has the access to the technology that they can use to help them learn.  So, under Tom Wheeler’s leadership, the FCC is announcing a down payment of $2 billion to connect more than 15,000 schools and 20 million students to high-speed broadband over the next two years -- (applause) -- 15,000 schools, 20 million students.  (Applause.)  It won’t require a single piece of legislation from Congress.  It won’t add a single dime to the deficit.

And even better, some of America’s biggest tech companies have decided to join this effort, with commitments worth more than three-quarters of a billion dollars.  So let me just give you some examples. 

Apple will donate $100 million worth of iPads, MacBooks, and other products to schools across the country.  (Applause.)  That’s an enormous commitment.
Sprint will provide free wireless service for up to 50,000 low-income high school students over the next four years, so their 21st century education isn’t confined to the classroom.  (Applause.)

AT&T will donate over $100 million worth of wireless service to middle-school students, so that they can continue to do homework when they get home.  (Applause.)

Autodesk will make its 3D-design software available for free to every high school in the country.  (Applause.)

Microsoft will offer products like Windows to students and teachers at a deep discount, and provide 12 million free copies of Office to our schools.  (Applause.)

O’Reilly Media and Safari Books Online will donate more than $100 million worth of eBooks that will help students learn technology skills like coding and web design.  (Applause.)

And finally, because no technology will ever be as important as a great teacher, Verizon will expand a program to help train educators to use all these new tools in all 50 states.  (Applause.)

So I want to thank all the business leaders who are here today for stepping up.  Why don’t you stand up?  Let’s give them a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  We’re very proud of them. Thank you.  (Applause.)

Now, this is an extraordinary commitment by these business leaders, but they’re business leaders, so they’re not just doing it out of the goodness of their heart.  They want the country to do well, but they also understand that they want educated customers.  They want customers who are able to get good jobs, who are going to be using these tools in the future.  They want that next young architect coming out of here to be familiar with using that iPad so that they’re designing buildings and using their products. 

They know that the entire economy will be lifted if more of our young people are doing better.  So they’re doing good, but it will also help them succeed from a bottom-line perspective by this kind of participation.  They are united in their support of young people like you, even though sometimes they compete against each other -- because all of us have a stake in your education and in your future.

And that’s why we have to build on this progress together.  Later this year, I’m going to ask Congress to do its part and give teachers using cutting-edge technologies the training they deserve.  (Applause.)  Because it’s important -- as I said before, technology is not a silver bullet.  It’s only as good as the teachers who are there using it as one more tool to help inspire and teach and work through problems. 

And although I’ve noticed that these days when I visit schools, most teachers are much younger than I am -- (laughter)  -- I’m getting on in years, obviously, which means that I’m not always as familiar with iPads and technology as I need to be.  We want every teacher in every school to understand from soup to nuts how you can potentially use this technology.  And that oftentimes requires a training component that makes sure that the technology is not just sitting there, but is actually used and incorporated in the best way possible.

So I’m going to ask every business leader across America to join us in this effort.  Ask yourself what you can do to help us connect our students to the 21st century.  Ask yourselves what you can do to support our teachers and our parents and give every young people every shot at success. 

And we can make this happen.  And just imagine what it will mean for our country when we do.  Imagine what it could mean for a girl growing up on a farm to be able to take AP Biology or AP Physics even if her school is too small to offer it, because she’s got the access to technology that allows her to take those classes online.  Imagine what it means for a boy with an illness that confines him sometimes to home where he can join his classmates for every lesson with FaceTime or Skype.  Imagine what it means for educators to spend less time grading tests and papers, more time helping young people learn.  Imagine more businesses starting here and hiring here, because they know for a fact that the young people here are going to be equipped with the skills that are better than anybody else on Earth. 

That’s the future we’re building.  That’s what these companies are investing in.  And if America pulls together now -- if we do our part to make sure every young person can go as far as their passion and their hard work will take them, whether it’s to Mars or to the bottom of the ocean or to anywhere on this planet where you’ve got an Internet connection -- if we commit ourselves to restoring opportunity for everybody, then we can keep the American Dream alive for generations to come. 

That’s our main project.  That’s our main obligation.  That’s why I ran for President.  That’s what I’m going to be working on for the next three years.  (Applause.)  

Thank you for all the work that you’re doing here at this outstanding school.  God bless you.  God bless America.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

END
12:04 P.M. EST

FACT SHEET: Opportunity For All – Answering the President’s Call to Enrich American Education Through ConnectED

Year of Action: Making Progress Through Executive Action

FURTHER DETAIL ON ANSWERING THE PRESIDENT’S CALL TO
ENRICH AMERICAN EDUCATION THROUGH CONNECTED

In his State of the Union address, President Obama set an ambitious agenda to make 2014 a year of action: using his pen and his phone to take steps that increase prosperity and opportunity for America’s middle class – including helping more kids prepare for college, gain career-ready skills, and compete in a global economy.

Last June, the President traveled to Mooresville, NC to announce ConnectED, an initiative designed to enrich K-12 education for every student in America – empowering teachers with the best technology and the training to make the most of it, and empowering students though individualized learning and rich, digital content.  At the center of that program was a challenge to connect 99% of students to next-generation connectivity within five years, as a foundation for a transformation in the classroom.

Today, fewer than 30% of schools have the broadband they need to teach using today’s technology; under ConnectED, 99% of American students will have access to next-generation broadband by 2017.  That connectivity will be the bedrock of a transformation in the classroom experience for all students, regardless of income.  As the President said in June, “In a Nation where we expect free WiFi with our coffee, why shouldn’t we have it in our schools?”   

The President challenged the FCC, Federal agencies, Congress, the private sector, and communities to rise to this challenge and deliver connectivity, professional development for teachers, low-cost learning devices, high-quality educational software, and home access.

Private Sector Commitments to Deliver Next-Generation Teaching and Learning

American companies are answering the President’s challenge to support the enriched K-12 education, expanded opportunity, and the better-trained workforce that ConnectED can help deliver.  These commitments amount to over $750 million in direct commitments, and many times more in discounted products and services for America’s students and teachers.

ConnectED is about more than wires and wireless; it’s about getting tablets and laptops into students’ hands, loading them with high-quality educational software and content, training educators on how to use technology to enrich the classroom experience, and ensuring students can continue this learning at home through wireless connectivity. 

These commitments will help deliver the ConnectED vision more quickly to more classrooms around the country — particularly those serving low-income students.  They will also help make the most of the government and investment in broadband infrastructure by ensuring it is put to the best educational use.

$750 Million in New Private-Sector Commitments: Today, the President highlighted some of the most impressive examples of companies rising to meet this challenge, including:

• Apple – In an unprecedented commitment for the company, Apple has pledged $100 million in iPads, MacBooks, and other products along with content and professional development to enrich learning in disadvantaged schools, including interactive learning tools and ongoing support that can have a profound impact for students and teachers in the communities that need it most.
• AT&T – To ensure that when schools embrace the ConnectED vision, the learning does not stop at the school walls, AT&T is committing to provide $100 million in mobile broadband services over three years to enable educational access for middle school students and related teacher professional development to help them implement technology into the classroom.
• Autodesk – Autodesk, a designer of leading advanced software products in design, drafting, and engineering, has committed to expand the company’s “Design the Future” program to be available to every secondary school in the country in 2014.  The program, which offers free 3D design software, project-based curricula, training, and certification, will help secondary school teachers teach critical problem-solving and technical skills in demand, in high-paying STEM fields like engineering and architecture – offering for free over $250 million in value to American schools.
• Microsoft – Microsoft Corp. is committing to a substantial affordability program open to all U.S. public schools by deeply discounting the price of its signature Windows operating system, which will substantially bring down the cost of Windows-based devices, and by increasing access to a range of software and services tailored for education, including Bing for Schools, Office 365 Education (making more than 12 million copies of Office available to students for free at qualifying institutions), and Microsoft’s Partners in Learning teacher training resources.  For the roughly 2000 at-risk designated schools in the U.S., Microsoft will give away Microsoft’s IT Academy program and training – and will donate over $1 million to cover certification exams for students from these schools.
• O’Reilly Media – Through a partnership with Safari Books Online, O’Reilly Media will commit to making over $100 million in educational content and tools such as technology books and publications available, for free, to every school in America. This commitment can provide students at a range of grade levels with the technological skills they need to be prepared in a globalized, digital economy.
•  Sprint – Sprint is committing to offer free wireless service for up to 50,000 low-income high school students over the next four years using schools’ existing or new educational devices provided by other partners.  Sprint will begin providing these services beginning with the 2014-2015 school year and provide up to 3 GB per month on the Sprint network per student on its most advanced network platforms.
• Verizon – The Verizon Foundation announced a multi-year program to support the ConnectED vision through up to $100 million in cash and in-kind commitments, significantly expanding existing and launching new digital learning initiatives.  These include expanding the Innovative Learning Schools program to all fifty states, the creation of an Innovative App Challenge to drive more development in underserved curricular areas, and new professional development opportunities for teachers.

Connecting Over 20 Million Students with a Major Down-payment by the FCC: The Federal Communications Commission is announcing a new plan to direct $2 billion over the next two years to dramatically expand its investment in high-speed connectivity for America’s school and libraries.  That investment will begin flowing to schools in 2014, and will focus specifically on the broadband connection and Wi-Fi that too many schools lack, and will be the foundation of the ConnectED transformation of schools.  This is an essential down-payment on reaching the President’s goal of connecting 99% of students to high-speed broadband and wireless over the next five years.

Investing in Next-Generation Professional Development: To support teachers as they use new technology to improve learning enabled by ConnectED, the President will request new funding in his FY2015 Budget for school districts and schools to provide high-quality professional development as they transition to digital learning and high-speed connectivity.  This funding will enable more school districts to support teachers with tools including instructional coaches, high-quality digital content, blended learning models, and online communication and collaboration.  In addition, today the Department of Education is releasing guidance to states, school districts, and schools on ways that existing federal funds can be best leveraged immediately to support schools and educators in the transition to digital learning in support of the President's ConnectED Initiative.  Specifically, the guidance letter outlines ways in which current federal education funding available to states and school districts can be used to provide professional development, access to high-quality digital content, and devices for learning.

About Buck Lodge Middle School

The President made these announcements at Buck Lodge Middle School, a diverse school “on the move” that is on the path to realize the President’s ConnectED vision.

In 2011, Buck Lodge Middle School was selected as one of four Prince Georges County Public Schools to integrate tablets into the classroom through a program called the Transforming Education through Digital Learning project.  Each student receives a tablet as a learning tool to allow access to digital instructional content.  The school also leverages two computer labs to round out its technology education. 

Every class uses technology every day and lessons are designed around integration of technology to help students create and collaborate using the highest level of technology.  Teachers receive training on how to integrate the technology into their classroom instruction, including through a summer academy workshop.  Principal James Richardson was named an Apple Distinguished Educator for his work integrating technology at Buck Lodge.

Statement by the President and First Lady on the Passing of Joan Mondale

Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to former Vice President Walter Mondale and his family on the passing of Joan Adams Mondale.  America first came to know Joan through her husband; she was his devoted partner in public service, from Minnesota to Washington.  A lifelong patron of the arts, Joan filled the Vice Presidential mansion with works by dozens of artists, including many unknowns, and later did the same at the U.S. embassy in Japan during her husband’s tenure as ambassador.  Through her contributions to the Federal Council on the Arts and Humanities and the Kennedy Center, she passionately advocated for the role of art in the life of our nation and the promotion of understanding worldwide.  Our thoughts and prayers are with Vice President Mondale and his family today as we remember with gratitude “Joan of Art” and her service to our nation. 

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney, 2/3/14

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

1:19 P.M. EST

MR. CARNEY:  Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.  Happy Monday to you.  I don’t have any announcements to make at the top of this briefing, so we’ll get right to questions.

Josh.

Q    Thanks, Jay.  I wanted to ask you about the President’s upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia.  As you know, this is coming at a time of some tense relations with Saudi Arabia and some concerns that the Saudis have about how the U.S. has handled the situation in Iran and Syria and some other countries in the neighborhood.  So is one of the goals of this trip to do some damage control and to reassure the Saudis that we're still on the same page with them?

MR. CARNEY:  Josh, Saudi Arabia is a close partner of the United States and we have a bilateral relationship that is broad and deep and covers a range of areas.  And the President very much looks forward to the visit where all of those areas will be discussed in his meetings.  And whatever differences we may have do not alter the fact that this is a very important and close partnership. 

Q    And I wanted to ask you about some comments that Secretary Kerry reportedly made to some senators about Syria, suggesting that the current U.S. policy in Syria is not going to work and may need to be adjusted.  So I guess the question for you is, is President Obama still confident in our current policy on Syria?

MR. CARNEY:  I think the stories you’re referring to actually appear to be a reflection of what Senators McCain and Graham think of our Syria policy, not what Secretary Kerry thinks.

Q    They we're talking about what Kerry said to them about --

MR. CARNEY:  Well, again, it’s a characterization, I think, that reflects how Senator Graham and Senator McCain view our policy, not how Secretary Kerry views it.  As you know, the State Department has already responded to this, and as they said, it’s no secret that some members of Congress support arming the rebels, but at no point during Secretary Kerry’s meeting in Munich with members did he raise a lethal assistance for the opposition.  He was describing a range of options that the administration has always had at its disposal, including more work within the structure of the international community, and engaging with Congress on their ideas is an important part of that process.

As the State Department said, this is a case of members projecting what they want to hear and not stating the facts of what was discussed.  And again, I think that the position that Senator Graham and Senator McCain have vis-à-vis our policy has been clearly stated and broadcast many times.

Q    But does the President feel that the current policy that we're pursuing in Syria is the right one?

MR. CARNEY:  Absolutely.  We believe that it is absolutely necessary to press for a negotiated political resolution to this conflict.  There is no other alternative.  And you know the President has spoken about this issue on a number of occasions and his view that we should not be putting American troops on the ground in Syria and that we need to pursue a policy that presses both sides on the basis of the Geneva Communiqué to resolve this conflict through a negotiated settlement.  There is no other path ultimately for Syria that does not include or is not driven by a negotiated political settlement.

Q    And was there any reaction from the President to the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman?  Was he a fan of the actor?

MR. CARNEY:  I haven’t spoken with the President about that tragic piece of news so I don’t know.  It’s hard to imagine, if you are a fan of incredibly powerful acting, you weren’t a fan of Philip Seymour Hoffman who was just a remarkable talent, in my view, although, again, I’m speaking for myself.  I haven’t spoken with the President about it.  It’s very sad news.

Q    Jay, back on Syria, arming the rebels, forming a coalition against al Qaeda -- do those remain options that you could move toward?

MR. CARNEY:  Again, that was not a discussion that Secretary Kerry had.  We have a variety of forms of assistance that we provide to the Syrian people, to the opposition, and to the military coalition.  But the policy that we have in place is the policy that we’re pursuing.  And as I just said to Josh, there is not an alternative here to resolving this conflict that does not come through a negotiated settlement.  We saw small progress, but progress nonetheless, made when both sides sat down in one room across from one another for the first time in three years of bloody civil war.

And as the Joint Special Representative Brahimi has said, it’s very important that this process continue.  A date has been set for another round of negotiations.  This is going to be a hard and complicated process.  There will not be a straight line from here to the ultimate resolution that has to come, but there really is no other path.  And the President is committed to providing the assistance to the international community that is pressing for a negotiated settlement, to the Syrian people as the single-largest donor of humanitarian aid, and in our support for the opposition and the coalition that we’ve described many times.

Q    Last week, the U.S. was insisting that Russia put pressure on Syria to speed up the delivery of chemical weapons.  Do you know if that’s happened or not?

MR. CARNEY:  What I can tell you is that our view is that Syria must live up to its commitments and everyone involved in helping bring about the acknowledgement by Syria, by the Syrian regime, for the first time that it possessed chemical weapons, in fact, it possessed one of the largest stockpiles of chemical weapons in the world, and then their agreement to give up those weapons for destruction needs to help see it through.  And we are going to continue to work with all our partners to make that happen.

Q    And last thing, on Keystone, the President has insisted that the Keystone pipeline not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution.  Based on the State Department report, does it meet that test?

MR. CARNEY:  Steve, as you know, and as I think we made clear on Friday -- both I in my briefing and afterwards -- the submission of the Environmental Impact Statement is a point in the process that now continues.  It’s an important piece of it, but it is only part of a process that must continue, and that process now includes a period -- 90 days, I believe -- in which the public and relevant Cabinet agencies weigh in on this process.  And that’s where we are now.  So the President’s view is we don’t interfere with that process, we let it play itself out.

His views, I think you properly noted, were expressed last June, I think it was, in his speech at Georgetown, in which he said:  “Allowing the Keystone pipeline to be built requires a finding that doing so would be in our nation’s interest, and our national interest will be served only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution.”  So we have a piece of this process completed and now the process is moving forward.

Q    Follow-up?

MR. CARNEY:  Let me move around a little bit here.  Jessica.

Q    On Keystone, I caught the word “interfere” there in what you just said, that the President’s view is that we shouldn’t interfere with the process.  As you probably are aware, the House has already passed legislation that would automatically permit Keystone.  The Senate also has a bill.  And over the weekend, Mitch McConnell said he would like to see that bill get to the floor.  If such a bill passed both Houses of Congress, would the President sign it?

MR. CARNEY:  Well, that’s a big if, first of all.  And secondly, I think we have seen interference, political interference in this process already, and that’s helped delay a process that by tradition has been run out of the State Department through administrations of both parties.  And it’s important that everyone let that process be carried out appropriately on the merits and not -- rather than allowing it to be subjected to ideological or political influence. 

So we’re going to let the process run its course and I think it’s important to note, as we did on Friday, that this is a step along the way.  It is not the completion of the process.

Q    Is it fair to conclude from what you just said that the President –-

MR. CARNEY:  I’m not going to speculate about -- I mean, I think our views on interference by Congress in this matter are pretty clear.

Jon.

Q    Jay, in the President’s interview with Bill O’Reilly last night, he said that there was “not even a smidgen of corruption,” regarding the IRS targeting conservative groups.  Did the President misspeak?

MR. CARNEY:  No, he didn’t.  But I can cite -- I think have about 20 different news organizations that cite the variety of ways that that was established, including by the independent IG, who testified in May and, as his report said, that he found no evidence that anyone outside of the IRS had any involvement in the inappropriate targeting of conservative -- or progressive, for that matter -- groups in their applications for tax-exempt status.  So, again, I think that this is something --

Q    Jay, isn’t there an active Justice Department investigation into this matter?

MR. CARNEY:  I would refer you to the Justice Department, but I think that every look at this, every investigation into this, and everything we’ve learned about this is that this is not something that in any way reached outside of the IRS.  There’s been a concerted attempted --

Q    But, Jay, what the President said is there isn’t even a “smidgen of corruption.”  He didn’t give a qualifier outside the IRS --

MR. CARNEY:  Right.

Q    -- and there’s an active Justice Department investigation -- unless it has been concluded without anybody telling the news media, I mean, there’s an active Justice Department investigation.  Doesn’t the President prejudge that investigation when he tells Bill O’Reilly there’s not a smidgen of corruption --

MR. CARNEY:  -- learned through the independent Inspector General and through the testimony that we’ve seen completely backs up what the President said.  And a lot of that has been well reported on by you and your colleagues and your news organizations over the course of the last several months.  Some people must have missed those reports.

Q    So the Justice Department should pull the plug --

MR. CARNEY:  That’s not -– obviously, we do not interfere with Justice Department investigations. 

Major.

Q    What in the President’s opinion is working with the Syria policy?

MR. CARNEY:  I think I just –

Q    What’s working?  Not what is, but what’s working?  What’s succeeding?

MR. CARNEY:  For the first time in three years, the two sides sat down in the same room as part of the Geneva process.  That is significant.  It is not by any means a resolution to the conflict.  It does not mean that we will not see enormous obstacles that still need to be overcome as negotiations continue.  But it was a significant development.  And we are hopeful, and we will press for that process to continue.  There’s no other avenue besides a negotiated political settlement.

Q    Casualties keep going.  The process could go on for a very long time.  You correctly stated they sat down and talked, but you can’t conclude that they’ve moved deep into an agenda toward resolution, can you?

MR. CARNEY:  Well, I am certainly not suggesting, and I agree with Joint Special Representative Brahimi on this that there were not major breakthroughs.  But our commitment to the process is unwavering.  To state that the situation in Syria continues to be serious and dire is to reinforce the need for a negotiated political settlement. 

Obviously others have different ideas about how this could be approached, including direct U.S. military involvement, but we reject that.  We think the American people don’t support that.  But what we can do as the United States of America is bring our efforts to bear, together with other parties, to this matter to try to push forward on a negotiated political settlement, as we support the opposition, as we support the Syrian people.

Q    The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said today he believes that Syria will step up and accelerate the process of getting rid of its chemical weapons stockpiles.  But he also said it’s understood by everyone involved in this the June 30th deadline was unrealistic to begin with.  Does the United States agree with that?

MR. CARNEY:  We understand that the Syrian regime as a party to this agreement has obligations that it has committed to making.  And we are –- “we” being the international community –- is poised and ready to remove and destroy Syria’s chemical weapons as soon as the chemicals have reached the Syrian port of Latakia.  And it is the Assad regime’s responsibility to fulfill its commitment to make sure that those chemicals are transported.

As I noted last week, the suggestion that they don’t have the capacity to move the chemicals is belied by the fact that they have moved the chemicals.  They have demonstrated their ability to transport these chemicals already.  So obviously these are ambitious deadlines, but there are obligations here that can and should be met.

Q    Can we be any more specific on the agenda the President will take to the Saudi Arabia trip and meetings?  I mean, it’s --

MR. CARNEY:  I think it’s wide-ranging. 

Q    Yes, but obviously there’s some very important --

MR. CARNEY:  Obviously, the Middle East peace process, matters involving security situations across the region, important economic issues with our bilateral relationship -- this is an important meeting between two close partners and I’m sure the whole panoply of issues will be discussed.

Q    Why is it significant, why is it important for the President to be by himself with Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader?  And how much will trade promotion and the disagreement between the two factor into that meeting?

MR. CARNEY:  The President looks forward to meeting with the Senate Majority Leader.  As you know, the President will be meeting with the full Senate caucus, Senate Democratic caucus later this week.  And I’m sure the President and Senator Reid will discuss an agenda for that meeting.  And I think that this is part of a process in which the President and Senate Democrats and House Democrats discuss a way to move forward on an agenda that is focused on expanding opportunity, rewarding hard work and responsibility, and the ways that we can do that.

And I think it shows that, while appropriately so, a lot of focus has been placed on the President’s determination to use all of his powers to advance that agenda, including executive authority, including non-legislative means and methods, there’s an important amount of business that can and should be done with and through Congress.  So that will be part of the discussion, both today and later in the week.

Q    Trade?

MR. CARNEY:  Trade is an important issue on the President’s agenda because of its capacity to expand American exports.  If we can successfully bring to conclusion trade agreements with Europe and Asia, that’s good for American workers, good for the American economy.  Jobs that are related to exports in this country pay better than the average job.  And the agreements the President seeks to reach are designed inherently to protect American workers and to protect the environment.  So that’s obviously something the President counts as among his priorities.

John, in your new capacity.

Q    Moving up a little bit, moving up.  Getting closer to you.

MR. CARNEY:  Getting closer.  (Laughter.)  It’s okay, I can take it.

Q    With regards to Syria, you said there wasn’t any direct U.S. military involvement on the table, and a couple times you talked about the structure of the international community.  Will the United States push international partners to become more engaged in Syria’s civil war militarily?    

MR. CARNEY:  Obviously, we have a lot of discussion with a

range of our partners internationally on this issue.  And many nations assist the opposition in different ways.  We have made clear the approach that we’re taking.  And let’s be clear that, broadly speaking -- we’ve been clear about American troops on the ground.  As a matter of principle on issues like this, the President doesn’t take options off the table, but our firm belief is that this has to be resolved through a political negotiation, and we are unwavering in our support and commitment to that process.

Q    Would the President support greater military intervention by our international partners?

MR. CARNEY:  The President believes that we are not going to resolve this -- this is not going to be resolved through force; that the civil war, the conflict that is taking such a terrible toll on the Syrian people can only be resolved ultimately through a negotiated settlement.  So that’s what we’re focused on.  Obviously, other countries approach this challenge in different ways.  We’re focused on what we can do as the leading provider of humanitarian aid and a very leading -- in the very leading role that we play in helping press forward, the process started in Geneva.

Q    A follow on trade.  To our trading partners in Asia and Europe, Harry Reid’s comments were taken as kind of a death blow for fast track, but Michael Froman seemed very positive that it would get done somehow.  Does the President think the lame duck is a better place for this legislation, a better time?

MR. CARNEY:  The President thinks that one way to create good, high-paying jobs in the United States and to level the playing field with our competitors like China is to open the fastest-growing markets in Asia and deepen our trade ties with Europe.  That’s why he’s pursued the trade agreements known for aficionados as TPP and T-TIP.  

Securing these trade agreements and increasing exports is key to promoting our economic recovery.  It’s key to creating better paying jobs here in the United States, the kinds of jobs that allow for the middle class to expand and for families in the middle class to feel more secure.  Every $1 billion in exports of U.S. goods and services supports between 4,000 and 5,000 U.S. jobs.  And those jobs pay between 13 and 18 percent higher than the national average wage.  So these trade agreements would significantly boost our exports, and the President is going to push hard for this because he believes it’s the right thing to do for our economy, the right thing to do for American workers.

Q    Is he okay with waiting until after the election?

MR. CARNEY:  Again, I’m not going to -- how things play out in Congress is obviously something that is decided by leaders in Congress.  The President’s commitment to this is firm because he knows that and believes that it’s the right thing to do for our economy and the middle class.

Peter.

Q    I may have missed it and apologize, but did you say that the President will actually raise this with Senator Reid today?

MR. CARNEY:  Senator Reid and President Obama speak and meet with great frequency.  They talk about a range of subjects. There’s no pre-planned topic, and I assume anything that either individual wants to discuss will be discussed. 

Q    There’s not an agenda?

MR. CARNEY:  Again, they meet all the time.  They talk all the time.

Q    When is the last time they met just without other members, other leaders?

MR. CARNEY:  I don’t have that date at the tip of my tongue, but I can tell you that they talk, just the two of them, frequently, and they meet frequently.

Q    When was this meeting scheduled?

MR. CARNEY:  I’m not sure.

Q    Do you know if it was before or after his comments -- Senator Reid’s comments last week?

MR. CARNEY:  I’m not sure, Peter.  But again, we’ve been pretty explicit about the fact that Senator Reid’s expression of his views on this matter should not have come as a surprise to anyone familiar with his views.  And the President’s position is that we ought to press forward on reaching the kinds of trade agreements that can expand our exports and create jobs here in the United States that pay better than your average job.

Q    Is it possible to find out when this meeting was scheduled?

MR. CARNEY:  You can ask Senator Reid’s office.  We’ll see what we can find out.

Brianna.

Q    Thanks, Jay.  A question about the ACA.  There was a report over the weekend that tens of thousands of people are finding themselves in the position where the government is unable to fix errors in their enrollment -- some people who think their subsidies have been miscalculated; some people who think that they’ve been funneled into the wrong plan.  Has President Obama been briefed specifically on this?  And what direction is he giving to HHS to try to help these people who find themselves in this situation?

MR. CARNEY:  Well, I think you refer to the story about 22,000 appeals of determinations.  And of the millions who have applied for coverage, only around 22,000 asked for help by filing an appeal, and we are going to get them help.

So we are talking here about a very small percentage of the number of people who have applied for coverage.  We believe that many of the issues that caused people to file appeals are left over from when the website was not working well and many of those problems have since been fixed.  CMS has been reaching out to people who have filed an appeal via phone and email, and so far have seen that many of the problems were related to those earlier system errors that have now been fixed.  In many cases they’ve been able to help these consumers move forward with a new application, and without having to continue their appeal.  I think CMS has more details on this issue.

So, again, it’s a portion that’s relatively small as a percentage of the number of people who have applied for coverage, and it is being addressed aggressively by CMS.  And what we’re finding -- or what they’re finding, rather, is that a lot of the troubles are related to that period of time when the website was malfunctioning and that a lot of these issues have been fixed or are being fixed.

Q    And I mean, that’s the point in time when you would say that a lot of the people who were most in need were signing up, so are you saying that --

MR. CARNEY:  Nobody could get coverage before January 1st. 

Q    Yes, for the actual trying to enroll.  You’re saying some of it has to do with the trouble -- the more troubled time period --

MR. CARNEY:  Right, in October and November the website was significantly underperforming and was rife with errors, and there were a lot of troubles that that created, including, as it turns out, a number of the errors that are related to this issue.

Q    But you don’t think then that 22,000 is an accurate number?  Or you think a lot --

MR. CARNEY:  Well, I would refer you to CMS for more details.  What I’m saying is that overall, 22,000 --

Q    Is a small percentage.

MR. CARNEY:  -- roughly, asked for help by filing an appeal. So that’s overall, since the -- I believe since the process was launched on October 1st.  And what we’re finding is that a number of these issues are related to the problems with the website, and have since or are now being addressed and fixed without having to continue that appeal.

Q    But you have some people detailed in this Washington Post article who have had to go -- they have had surgeries they’ve had to go ahead with out of pocket; they really don’t have the money to pay for it, but they do it anyway.  They’re in really particular financial straits because of it.  Does this kind of thing mesh with what President Obama said over the weekend when he said that the program is working the way it’s supposed to?

MR. CARNEY:  I think he was referring to the website.  We were talking about the website.  Secondly, one of the commitments we have made -- and I think it was demonstrated through a very rocky rollout of the website -- is that where there are problems, we’re going to address them.  And where there are issues like --

Q    But this is part of the website, the appeals process, isn’t it?

MR. CARNEY:  If I may, Brianna -- and I know the Washington Post appreciates you in their absence, speaking up for them -- but as I just said, this is a very slim percentage of the population of people who have applied.  And what is turning out is that so many of the problems we’ve seen -- and this had to do with problems in other areas -- are related to the troubles with the website in October especially, and also November.  And as the website has begun performing as envisioned, effectively, for the vast majority of those who seek insurance through it, we have been able to resolve a lot of these problems.  And CMS is directly reaching out to individuals from that group whose issues haven’t been resolved yet through email and by phone to help them resolve those issues. 

Peter.

Q    Thanks, Jay.  What sort of input would you expect the President will have on the final decision on Keystone?  Is this the President’s decision, or is it Secretary Kerry’s decision?

MR. CARNEY:  Peter, as you know as a veteran of Washington who has covered these matters for many years, this is a process that’s run out of the State Department because it’s a pipeline that crosses an international boundary.  And that’s what we’re seeing take place now.  And with the release of an EIS, one stage in the process has been accomplished, and now we move onto other stages.  The public gets to weigh in.  There are other agencies and agency heads that weigh in.  And then a recommendation is reached. 

The President believes that we ought to and he ought to allow that process to run its course.  And as I said last week, there’s no question about the President’s views on this matter.  I even read the whole paragraph for Wendell, for you,  from the speech at Georgetown in June.  So the president’s views are clear.  And we’re going to wait for the process to complete itself.

Q    So ultimately it’s the White House’s decision?

MR. CARNEY:  Again, if you look at the process, it is done at the State Department and a recommendation is reached.  It’s the President’s administration; the President’s views were clearly set forth in the speech in June.  But in keeping with past practice, this is a process that’s run by the State Department that includes input from the public, includes input from other agencies, not just the State Department.  And we’re not going to get ahead of that process.

Q    And also, do you expect that this topic, Keystone, will come up today in the meeting between Harry Reid and the President?

MR. CARNEY:  As I said, in answer to any question, I don’t think there’s a written agenda.  These men meet frequently and speak frequently, so they decide what they talk about.

Peter.

Q    Jay, can you give us a ballpark when -- obviously, the process has to play out, but a ballpark of when we can expect to have some resolution of the Keystone issue from this administration?

MR. CARNEY:  I think I would refer you to the State Department for where they are in that process and when they expect it to be completed. 

Q    But after the report is done then basically we’re just waiting for John Kerry, after the communication with other Cabinet members, as you just indicated, right?

MR. CARNEY:  There’s a 90-day period, I think, created by executive order -- 90, whatever it is.  So that’s not an insignificant part of the process, and it’s not insignificant that it includes public comment as well as input from other agencies.

Q    Following up on some of the other questions, Brianna asked about the Affordable Care Act and about the website problems.  Acknowledging that some of the roughly 22,000 people who were indicating some errors and roadblocks they’ve run into are problems that you indicate come from the initial rollout of healthcare.gov, what problems still remain to be fixed with the website?  How close to fixed is it?

MR. CARNEY:  Well, that is a question I think you really need to ask CMS, because I’m not up to speed on every --

Q    The President said it’s fixed.  But we also acknowledge there are still some fixes it needs, so I’m wondering what they are.

MR. CARNEY:  I think what the President said is that the website is now functioning as it should have functioned from day one, which is effectively for the vast majority of people who use it to search for and sign up for quality, affordable health insurance.  I think that the numbers we have seen of late testify to that fact.  In fact, you see very little reporting on that precisely because everybody now acknowledges and agrees that enrollment has surged significantly in December and January.  And we certainly are working every day to make sure that the site and all the other component pieces that go into getting the information that people need in making this choice are working effectively.

What is unquestionable is that the numbers prove the demand for quality, affordable health insurance around the country.  And we’re going to keep at this during this open enrollment period and beyond.  As you know, open enrollment extends all the way to March 31st.  So there’s a lot of work to be done.

And I would never say, and nor did the President say, that the website is perfect.  I doubt that there’s any website that’s perfect.  So there are always going to be issues, and that’s why we have a team of experts on top of it.  We have a superbly qualified successor to Jeff Zients overseeing this process.  And that, again, demonstrates the commitment that the President has made and others have made to ensuring that this works effectively for all those millions of Americans who are looking for the website as a means of reaching what they seek, which is affordable, quality health insurance.

Because the goal here isn’t to make the website great; the goal is to make sure that people get what they’re looking for and get what’s available to them.

Q    During the Bill O’Reilly interview yesterday, he quoted a viewer in asking why the President has chosen to –- I think the language was “fundamentally transform this country.”  Denis McDonough yesterday, the President’s Chief of Staff, was defending at times what was described as a more modest agenda of the President’s.  So they're sort of opposite world views in some ways.  I guess I’m curious, how would you characterize, how would the White House characterize the President’s agenda at this time?

MR. CARNEY:  The President’s agenda remains one that is ambitiously focused on expanding opportunity and rewarding hard work.  That was the objective he had when he took office, when the country was facing a catastrophic economic collapse.  The President never had as a goal simply surviving the Great Recession for the country, but creating an economic foundation for the middle class that would allow for some of the stress that had been placed on the middle class over a period of 30 years, even prior to the Great Recession, to be reduced so that the middle class could expand and more and more American families could feel secure in their ability to have and maintain a job that paid them enough to get their kids educated and to allow them to put away savings for retirement.  So this is part of a broad project that reflects the President’s agenda from the day he took office.

Q    Very quickly, Janet Yellen was sworn in today.  The President didn’t participate in today’s swearing-in.  Past Presidents have at times participated in swearing-ins.  I’m curious why that was that he didn’t participate.

MR. CARNEY:  The President nominated Janet Yellen to be Chair of the Federal Reserve and is very pleased to see that she’s been sworn in.

Q    Jay?

MR. CARNEY:  Yes, Wendell.

Q    On the problems of the Affordable Care Act, as you point out, you have another couple of months of open enrollment. Is the President confident there will be an appeals process for these people who feel their subsidies were mistakenly calculated before the end of that?

MR. CARNEY:  Again, CMS is already –- is and has been for some time reaching out to people who have filed an appeal via phone and email.  And so far CMS has seen that many of the problems were related to those earlier system errors that have been fixed.

CMS is also working to implement fully an automated appeals system.  Until they have that functionality, we put in place a manual review process –- again phone and email wherever possible –- and expect hearings to begin soon on the appeals process.  So CMS is reaching out to consumers.  They're finding that a number of the problems here are related to the earlier system errors that occurred because of the problems with healthcare.gov.  But in every instance, they're reaching out and making sure that every individual or family that is part of this process –- appeals process –- is being taken care of.

Q    Also on the Affordable Care Act, restaurant workers, some construction workers who are covered under what’s called the Taft-Hartley insurance situation where their employer pays part and the union pays part are still upset with what they say is an unacceptable arrangement that leaves them out of subsidies for the exchanges.  They're threatening not to support Democratic candidates in the fall.  Does that concern you?

MR. CARNEY:  Well, the Affordable Care Act, Wendell, provides great protections for all Americans and gives workers and their families the security of knowing that they will always have quality, affordable coverage available to them.  The law also strengthens employer-based coverage by making it more affordable, by slowing health care cost growth, and providing new tax credits to small employers to help them provide coverage.

When it comes to multi-employer plans, which is what you’re referring to, the Affordable Care Act does not make changes to the law for multi-employer plans.  These plans like other employer plans are continuing to offer coverage. 

So, again, the purpose of the Affordable Care Act is to provide greater protections to all Americans, those who have employer-based coverage, those who have multi-employer plans, and obviously those who were in the individual market or those millions who had no insurance at all.

Q    I think what these union leaders are saying is that they want changes to multi-employer plans that would essentially reduce their costs.

MR. CARNEY:  Well, again, you would have to address your question to unions in terms of what issues they have raised.  What I can tell you is that the law strengthens employer-based coverage.  And on multi-employer plans, the ones you’re talking about, there are not changes to law for them.  So the purpose here is to make sure that these protections are available to all Americans.

Q    Some conservative groups, at least one, notes that OMBC figures show that roughly a 1.5 billion additional hours of paperwork for regulations went into effect between 2010 and 2012, right after the President signed an executive order that aimed to reduce the paperwork of regulations.  Was the order a failure?

MR. CARNEY:  The administration is committed to a regulatory strategy that maintains a balance between protecting the health, welfare and safety of Americans, and promoting economic growth, job creation, competitiveness and innovation.  Our goal is to maximize the effectiveness and benefit of the rules we complete. 

The administration has continued to make significant progress in the President’s unprecedented regulatory retrospective review, or regulatory look-back initiative, where we are streamlining, modifying or repealing regulations to reduce unnecessary burdens and costs.  Federal agencies have issued look-back plans detailing over 500 initiatives that would reduce cost, simplify the regulatory system, and eliminate redundancy and inconsistency.  This effort is already on track to save more than $10 billion in regulatory costs in the near term, with more savings to come.  And I have a lot more detail on that.

One important thing to note, especially given the source of this analysis, is that the net benefits of regulations issued through the fourth fiscal year of the Obama administration were $159 billion.  This amount, including not only monetary savings but also lives saved and injuries prevented is approximately four times the net benefits of regulations issued through the fourth fiscal year of the previous administration.

Q    The source of the figures is the Office of Management and Budget.  And if the cost --

MR. CARNEY:  The analysis of the figures is from a think tank affiliated with a Republican leadership PAC.

Q    That is true.  But if the cost increased by $10 billion, how can you be on track to reduce the cost?

MR. CARNEY:  We have a lot of data for you, Wendell, and I’ll get it to you.

Mark.

Q    Jay, on Keystone, is the White House responding in any way to public expressions of impatience from Canada?

MR. CARNEY:  Mark, our answer to that question is the same as to other questions about the process, which is it’s important to let a process that was established in the past, that has been used by administrations of both parties, to be carried out without interference from outside quarters.  There is a period now where public comment is taken, as well as input from agencies and agency heads outside of the State Department.  So that’s where the process is now.  And we’re going to stand back and let the process move forward.

Q    The Canadian Foreign Minister said the other day that he feels like his country is in a state of limbo waiting for indefinite periods of time for a decision to be made one way or the other.  Do you understand his complaint?

MR. CARNEY:  Well, there’s no question that this process was prolonged in part by the political gamesmanship that we saw, the partisan gamesmanship that we saw around it earlier in the process.  It was delayed in part also by the concerns of members of both parties, including a Republican governor, about the pipeline and the direction it was taking at the time.  So I think the history here is worth looking at.  What I can tell you is the speediest way -- the way to a speedy conclusion here is to allow a process that’s been in place for several -- many administrations now of both parties to take its course and not to interfere with it in any way, because that’s the surest way to disrupt it.

Alexis.

Q    I wanted to make sure I understand what you’re saying. Senator Reid last week was saying that he was warning folks not to push it, and you’re saying that the President does want to push it.  I’m just trying to understand -- is the President eager to find a way, separate and apart from Senator Reid’s objections -- because he’s not the only one -- to find some middle ground to adjust fast track so that it would be more amenable to members of the Senate and then come to the floor?  Or is he saying he wants to persuade opponents like Harry Reid and others to see things his way?

MR. CARNEY:  The President believes we need to move forward on trade agreements that expand exports, that create jobs here for Americans, that pay better than other jobs.  Trade Promotion Authority is a means to getting those trade agreements done, and therefore he believes it’s important to pursue it in order to get the best possible deal and to play the leadership role that we should be playing around the world.

Now, he’s going to work with members of Congress of both parties, members of the Senate of both parties in pressing for his view that we need to move forward on these trade agreements and expanding trade for the American economy and American workers.

Q    But is your answer that he is open to the --

MR. CARNEY:  I’m not -- in terms of renegotiating legislation, our view is that we ought to move forward on this agenda because it’s the right thing for the American economy and the American people.  Obviously, we’re going to work with Congress to do that, work with the Senate to do that.  And we understand that there are differing views here.  That has always been the case on these issues.  But the President’s view is clear and his view that it’s the right thing to do for the economy and for American workers is clear, and so he’s going to continue to work with Congress to move this priority forward.

David.

Q    Jay, thanks.  The Washington Times has a report today that Homeland Security Secretary Johnson is choosing as his chief of staff a man called Christian Marrone, who was involved several years ago in a major corruption case in Philadelphia.  He was not charged himself, but he was the right-hand man of a state senator who went to prison, and people have called his judgment into question in the case.  Does the White House feel he is an appropriate choice for a highly sensitive government job?

MR. CARNEY:  As you know, Dave, we do not get into our internal vetting process, A.  B, but I can tell you that as the article you're asking about makes clear, Mr. Marrone was a Defense Department official in the Bush administration, and I don’t remember any of these concerns coming up or being raised then by your paper or others.  And at that time, Mr. Marrone served as a special assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense, a very senior role.  So you can be assured that the White House and Secretary Johnson have complete confidence and look forward to his service as chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security.

Q    And just to follow up, as I understand it, his involvement in this corruption case while he was a member of the Bush administration didn’t come to light until his vetting process was through in the previous administration.  So do you have any additional concerns --

MR. CARNEY:  Again, I don’t remember these issues being raised then, and I can tell you that we’re not going to get into -- as we never do -- our internal personnel vetting process.

Q    Thank you.  In Afghanistan, the presidential election campaign has officially kicked off now.  Is the President willing to wait until the new president is elected for the PSA to be signed?

MR. CARNEY:  We’ve been very clear that in order to move forward with planning for a post-2014 troop presence with NATO -- a presence that would be one envisioned after the end of the combat mission, one in which U.S. troops and NATO troops would be focused solely on two missions, training and supporting the Afghan forces and counterterrorism -- depends on the Bilateral Security Agreement being signed.  And the longer there is a delay, the harder it is for NATO and U.S. military forces to plan for a post-2014 presence. 

This is a matter of weeks, not months.  And I think that that’s a way of saying this can’t wait for very long because it’s impossible to ask our NATO allies or our U.S. military commanders to plan on a contingency -- this is a complicated piece of business and there cannot be and will not be U.S. troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014 without a signed Bilateral Security Agreement.

Q    Yes, but given the significance this agreement has, why to insist on a leader whose mandate is left for only two months now to sign the BSA rather than to wait for a new president who has a longer mandate, five years?

MR. CARNEY:  Well, again, you’re presupposing that somehow that process would move quickly, both the electoral process and the process after.  Secondly, you’re missing the fact that this agreement was negotiated in good faith over a long period of time with the current Afghan government.  It was endorsed by the loya jirga.  We think the loya jirga was correct. 

We’re not renegotiating the Bilateral Security Agreement.  It needs to be signed in a matter of weeks, at most, not months, because you can’t hold in abeyance the need for NATO and U.S. military commanders to plan for a post-2014 presence in Afghanistan should there be one, and there will not be one absent of BSA.

Q    The current week or few weeks, or how long this be --

MR. CARNEY:  We’ll let you know. 

Thanks very much.

END
2:02 P.M. EST