THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

____________________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release May 22, 2009

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT SIGNING OF
THE WEAPONS SYSTEMS ACQUISITION REFORM ACT

Rose Garden

9:06 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, everybody. Please have a seat. Well, long before I took office, I argued that meeting our greatest challenges would require not only changing policies in Washington, but changing the way we do business in Washington. It would require reforming a culture where the influence of lobbyists too often trumps the will of the people, rethinking government so that it works as effectively and efficiently as possible, and renewing our sense of common purpose so that we can bring people together in common effort.

That's exactly what we've done this week. On Tuesday, we brought auto executives, labor unions, environmental groups, Democrats, and Republicans together to set a national fuel-efficiency standard for our cars and trucks for the first time in history. On Wednesday, I signed bipartisan legislation to help homeowners and to crack down on the predatory lenders who seek to take advantage of them. And later this afternoon, I'll sign bipartisan legislation that protects consumers from the unfair rate hikes and abusive fees levied by many credit card companies.

And this morning, I'm proud to join Democratic and Republican members of Congress for the signing of a bill that will eliminate some of the waste and inefficiency in our defense projects -- reforms that will better protect our nation, better protect our troops, and save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars.

Now, let me be clear: As Commander-in-Chief, I will do whatever it takes to defend the American people, which is why I've increased funding for the best military in the history of the world. We'll continue to make new investments in 21st century capabilities to meet new challenges. And we will always give our men and women in uniform the equipment and the support that they need to get the job done.

But I reject the notion that we have to waste billions of taxpayer dollars to keep this nation secure. When it comes to purchasing weapons systems and developing defense projects, the choice we face is between investments that are designed to keep the American people safe and those that are simply designed to make a defense company or a contractor rich.

Last year, the Government Accountability Office, or the GAO, looked into 95 major defense projects and found cost overruns that totaled $295 billion. Wasteful spending comes from exotic requirements, lack of oversight, and indefensible no-bid contracts that don't make our troops or our country any safer. To put this in perspective, these cost overruns would have paid our troops' salaries and provided benefits for their families for more than a year.

At a time when we're fighting two wars and facing a serious deficit, this is unexcusable and unconscionable. As Secretary Gates has said, one dollar of waste in our defense budget is a dollar we can't spend to support our troops, or prepare for future threats, or protect the American people. Well, it's finally time to end this waste and inefficiency.

Already, I've announced reform that will greatly reduce no-bid defense contracts and save the government billions of dollars. And Secretary Gates, working with our military leadership, has also proposed a courageous set of reforms in our defense budget that will target waste and strengthen our military for the future. In taking on this enormously difficult task, he's done a tremendous job, and I want to publicly commend Secretary Gates for that.

The bill I'm signing today, known as the Weapons System Acquisition Reforms Act, represents an important next step in this procurement reform process. It reforms a system where taxpayers are charged too much for weapons systems that too often arrive late -- a system that suffers from spending on unproven technologies, outdated weapons, and a general lack of oversight.

The purpose of this law will be to limit cost overruns before they spiral out of control. It will strengthen oversight and accountability by appointing officials who will be charged with closely monitoring the weapons systems we're purchasing to ensure that costs are controlled. If the cost of certain defense projects continue to grow year after year, those projects will be closely reviewed, and if they don't provide the value we need, they will be terminated. This law will also enhance competition and end conflicts of interest in the weapons acquisitions process so that American taxpayers and the American military can get the best weapons at the lowest cost.

And this legislation is long overdue, and it's been a long time coming. But we're finally signing it into law because of the dedication and commitment of a few key members of Congress who've been fighting for years for this reform: Senators Carl Levin and John McCain; Representatives Ike Skelton, John McHugh, Rob Andrews, and Mike Conaway. I'm very proud of the extraordinary work that all these gentlemen have done who are standing behind me today. Senator McCain couldn't be here today because he's making sure he has a good seat to watch his son graduate from the Naval Academy in a few hours, and that's where I'm headed as soon as I catch my ride over here.

But I will tell you that defense procurement reform was one of the issues that John McCain and I discussed in our first meeting after the election. We pledged to work together to get it done, and today I'm extraordinarily proud to stand here and sign a bill that passed with unanimous support from both parties at every step of the way.

What all the gentlemen standing behind me, as well as Senator McCain, knows, what Secretary Gates knows, what all members of Congress who have worked on this legislation understand, is that we have no greater responsibility than to ensure that our men and women in uniform have everything they need to do their jobs. And every penny we waste on this effort because of no-bid contracts or cost overruns is not only an affront to American taxpayers, it's an affront to our military. And while we have a long way to go to end this waste once and for all, the legislation I'm about to sign is a very important step in creating a government that is more efficient, more accountable, and more responsible in keeping the public's trust.

So once again, I want to thank all these members of Congress who did extraordinary work, not only to pass the bill but to get it here on time. I'm proud of them. I'm proud of Congress for sending me this legislation. That's why I'm going to go sign it right now. Thank you very much. (Applause.)

(The bill is signed.)

END
9:14 A.M.EDT

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 22, 2009

BILL SIGNING CEREMONY for The Weapon Systems
Acquisition Reform Act of 2009

ROSE GARDEN

9:00 AM

President Obama will sign the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009 (S. 454) into law in the Rose Garden.

The President will be joined on stage by the following Members of Congress:

Senator Carl Levin (D-MI)
Representative Robert Andrews (D-NJ)
Representative Mike Conaway (R-TX)
Representative John McHugh (R-NY)
Representative Ike Skelton (D-MO)

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
_________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release May 20, 2009

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT THE SIGNING OF
THE HELPING FAMILIES SAVE THEIR HOMES ACT
AND THE FRAUD ENFORCEMENT AND RECOVERY ACT

East Room

4:38 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, everybody -- good afternoon. Please, everybody, have a seat. Everybody have a seat. It is wonderful to see all of you. Four months ago today, we took office amidst unprecedented economic turmoil. And ever since that day we've worked aggressively across all fronts to end this crisis and to build a new foundation for our lasting prosperity. Step by step, I believe we're moving in the right direction.

I know my administration will be judged by various markers. But there's only one measure of progress that matters to me, and that's the progress that the American people see in their own lives, day to day, because right now, despite progress, too many Americans are hurting. They're Americans desperate to find a job, or unable to make ends meet despite working multiple jobs; Americans who pay their bills on time but can't keep their heads above water; Americans living in fear that they're one illness or one accident away from losing their home -- hardworking Americans who did all the right things, met all of their responsibilities, yet still find the American Dream slipping out of reach.

Now, much of what caused this crisis was an era of recklessness where short-term gains were too often prized over long-term prosperity. And too often in our nation's capital, we said the right words, we patted ourselves on the back, but ultimately failed to do what we were actually sent here to do -- and that is to stand up to the special interests, and stand up for the American people.

Well, standing up for the American people is exactly what we're doing here today with two bills that I'm about to sign -- The Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, and The Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act. These landmark pieces of legislation will protect hardworking Americans, crack down on those who seek to take advantage of them, and ensure that the problems that led us to this crisis never happen again.

Thanks in large part to some of the men and women here, both onstage as well as in the audience, each bill passed by overwhelmingly bipartisan majorities. But we wouldn't be here without the leadership of my good friend, Chris Dodd. And I want to thank him and Senator Richard Shelby. (Applause.) Chris and Richard Shelby over on the Senate side; and then on the House side, Chairman Barney Frank and Representative Maxine Waters -- have done a great job. (Applause.) And I want to thank Senators Patrick Leahy and Chuck Grassley, as well as Representatives Conyers and Bobby Scott for leading the way on the fraud enforcement bill. (Applause.)

These two laws, together with the comprehensive credit card reforms that I hope to sign later this week, represent fundamental change that will help ensure a fair shake for hardworking Americans. And I think it's important for people to understand the significance of this week. This has been one of the most productive congressional work periods in some time. And I am grateful to have Harry Reid here, as well as Nancy Pelosi, who could not be here, and the other key members of Congress for assigning these measures the urgency that they deserve and that the times demand.

Let me talk a little bit about the housing bill. The Helping Families Save Their Homes Act advances the goals of our existing housing plan by providing assistance to responsible homeowners and preventing avoidable foreclosures. Last summer, Congress passed the HOPE for Homeowners Act to help families who found themselves "underwater" as a result of declining home values -- families who owed more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. But too many administrative and technical hurdles made it very difficult to navigate, and most borrowers didn't even bother to try.

This bill removes those hurdles, getting folks into sustainable and affordable mortgages, and more importantly, keeping them in their homes. And it expands the reach of our existing housing plan for homeowners with FHA or USDA rural housing loans, providing them with new opportunities to modify or refinance their mortgages to more affordable levels.

Because many responsible renters are being unfairly evicted from homes that go through foreclosure because the owners haven't been paying their mortgages, it requires banks to honor existing leases, or provide at least 90 days notice for renters on month-to-month leases.

And because far too many Americans go homeless on any given night, this bill provides comprehensive new resources for homeless Americans, focusing specifically on families with children -- the fastest-growing segment of the homeless population.

So altogether, it's a bill that builds on the housing plan we already put into action to stabilize the housing market and stem foreclosures. And because of that plan, all of you should know that interest rates are down, refinancings are up, and Americans who participate can save up to $2,000 a year -- in effect, a $2,000 pay cut per family -- tax cut -- excuse me. They don't need pay cuts. (Laughter.) That wouldn't be a good bill. (Laughter.)

Any American who wants to learn more about this plan should visit makinghomeaffordable.gov. And thanks to the efforts of the men and women gathered up here, more families will stay in their homes, more neighborhoods will remain vibrant and whole, more dreams will be defended, and America will take another step from recession to recovery.

So what I'm going to do now is I'm going to sign the housing bill, and then I'll talk a little bit about the anti-fraud bill. All right.

(The bill is signed.) (Applause.)

Let's get the rest of this crew up here.

The other bill that I'm signing today gives prosecutors and regulators new tools to crack down on what's helped cause this crisis in the first place -- and that's the twin scourges of mortgage fraud and predatory lending.

Last year, the Treasury Department received 62,000 reports of mortgage fraud -- more than 5,000 each month. The number of criminal mortgage fraud investigations opened by the FBI has more than doubled over the past three years. And yet, the federal government's ability to investigate and prosecute these frauds is severely hindered by outdated laws and a lack of resources.

And that's why this bill nearly doubles the FBI's mortgage and financial fraud program, allowing it to better target fraud in hard-hit areas. That's why it provides the resources necessary for other law enforcement and federal agencies, from the Department of Justice to the SEC to the Secret Service, to pursue these criminals, bring them to justice, and protect hardworking Americans affected most by these crimes. It's also why it expands DOJ's authority to prosecute fraud that takes place in many of the private institutions not covered under current federal bank fraud criminal statutes -- institutions where more than half of all subprime mortgages came from as recently as four years ago.

And furthermore, it allows DOJ to prosecute anyone who fraudulently obtains Recovery Act or TARP funds -- precious taxpayer dollars we've carefully invested in order to turn this crisis around. And finally, it creates a bipartisan Financial Markets Commission to investigate the financial practices that brought us to this point, so that we make sure a crisis like this never happens again.

Our current troubles were born of eroding home values and portfolio values, but also an erosion of our common values. So if we want to fully dig ourselves out of this crisis, we're going to need to do more than just change policy. We need all of us to live up to our responsibilities. Government must set the rules of the road that are fair and fairly enforced. Banks and lenders must end the practices that added to this mess. Individuals must take responsibility for their own actions. And all of us must learn to live within our means again.

I believe we're moving in the right direction. But I want to remind everybody that it took many years and many failures to get us here, and it's going to take some time to get us out. The stock market will rise and fall. The job market has taken a beating and won't be back immediately. The housing market still has a long way to go. But I'm confident we will get there. And if we keep at it, if we all do our part to usher in a new era of responsibility, then I'm convinced that we will recover from this recession, and we're going to come out on the other side stronger and more prosperous as a nation and as a people.

So with that, I'm going to sign The Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act, along with these extraordinary legislators who helped to make it happen. Give them a big round of applause. (Applause.)

(The bill is signed.) (Applause.)

END
4:50 P.M. EDT

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________
For Immediate Release May 17, 2009

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT KEEP INDIANA BLUE FUNDRAISER

The Westin
Indianapolis, Indiana

6:36 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, Indiana! (Applause.) It's good to see you guys. It's good to see you. Hello, hello, hello! (Applause.) It is good to be here. (Applause.) And it's a pleasure to be with your outstanding representatives in Congress -- Andre Carson, Joe Donnelly, Brad Ellsworth, Baron Hill -- give it up for these outstanding members of Congress. (Applause.) We're here to make sure they can stay right where they belong: in the United States Congress, representing your hopes, representing your dreams, carrying your voices to Washington, DC. (Applause.)

It's good to be back in Indiana. (Applause.) We spent a little time in Indiana. It reminds me of why I like getting out of Washington so much. People are friendly. (Laughter.) It brings back a lot of memories from all those days out here on the campaign trail. So I want to start out tonight by saying thank you -- thank you to all of you here in Indiana. (Applause.) I know that I'm here tonight because of you, and folks like you across this country who made the phone calls, and knocked on the doors, and registered voters, and dug deep and gave whatever you could, because you were hungry for new ideas and new leadership and a new kind of politics. And that's what we are trying to deliver right now in Washington. (Applause.)

You believed that after an era of selfishness and greed, we could reclaim a sense of responsibility from Main Street to Wall Street to Washington. You believed that instead of huge inequalities and bubbles that bust, we could restore a sense of fairness and stability to our economy, and build a new foundation for lasting growth and prosperity. You believed that at a time of war and turmoil, we could stand strong against our enemies, stand strong for our ideals, and show a new face of American leadership around the world. (Applause.) That's the change you believed in; that's the trust you placed in me; that's something that I will never forget.

But we know that winning that election was just the beginning of our work. It wasn’t the end, it was just the start -- it was the end of the beginning. That victory alone was not the change that we sought -- it was just the opportunity to make the change. And I don't know about you, but I think it's fair to say that over these past four months, we have seized this opportunity.

To jumpstart job creation and get our economy moving again, we passed the most ambitious economic recovery package in our nation's history. We gave tax cuts to 95 percent of working Americans and put back people to work modernizing our health care system; and rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges and transit systems; and investing in renewable energy that could help boost our economy and preserve our planet.

We launched plans to stabilize our housing market and unfreeze our credit markets, and to ensure the survival of our auto industry in this new century. We passed a budget that will cut our deficit in half while making investments to spur long-term growth. (Applause.)

We lifted the ban on federal funding for stem cell research. We expanded the Children's Health Insurance Program to cover 11 million children in need. (Applause.) We passed a national service bill to create hundreds of thousands of opportunities to serve. We passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act -- the first bill I signed into law, because we believe in equal pay for equal work. (Applause.)

So we're making progress. And I'm pleased with how far we've come -- but I'm not satisfied. I'm confident in the future, but I am not content. Not when there's still workers who are out of a job, and families who can't pay the bills. Not when too many Americans can't afford health care, and so many of our kids are being left behind. Not when our nation has failed to lead the world in developing 21st century energy. We've come a long way, we can see some light on the horizon, but we've got a much longer journey ahead.

That's why all of you are here tonight. That's why you're digging deep again, even when times are a little tight -- why I know you're going to make those calls and knock on those doors and get to the polls again next November -- (applause) -- because we've got to make sure these four leaders continue their devoted service to Indiana and to America. (Applause.)

And that's why I'm here tonight. That's why I'm here, because I can't bring the change I promised all by myself. I can't rebuild our economy, and reform our health care system and our education system, and preserve our environment, and keep our nation safe if I'm all alone in the Oval Office. That's not how our democracy works.

I need partners in Congress -- people who are going to work hard every day to move this country forward. That's why I'm supporting these gentlemen. That's why I believe in Andre Carson and Joe Donnelly and Brad Ellsworth and Baron Hill. (Applause.) They serve their constituents and this nation with dedication and intelligence and compassion and pride. They're determined to make a difference for the people they represent.

More than ever before, we need their help -- America needs their help. We need their help to build schools that meet high standards, and close achievement gaps, and prepare our children for the 21st century challenges that they'll confront; where we reward teachers for performance and give them new pathways for advancement. And we need their help to reach the goal that I've set for higher education in this country: that by the year 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. We used to have that distinction; we don't anymore. We are going to get it back with the help of these four gentlemen right here. (Applause.)

We need their help to pass a comprehensive energy plan and climate bill that will finally reduce our dependence on foreign oil, cap carbon pollution that threatens our health and our climate -- (applause) -- a plan that will create millions of new jobs producing wind turbines and solar panels and the alternative fuels that will power the future. Because we know that the nation that leads on energy, on clean energy in the 21st century, that's the nation that will lead economically -- and America can and must be that nation.

I need these gentlemen's help to create a 21st century health care system that's cutting costs for families and businesses. (Applause.) I've already met with representatives from the insurance and drug companies, from doctors and hospitals and labor unions. These groups, some of them used to be fierce critics of health care reform back in 1993. But today, they've pledged to do their part to reduce the annual health care spending growth rate by 1.5 percent. And coupled with comprehensive reform, that could save us up to $2 trillion -- $2,500 per family every year. And working with these congressmen, we're going to do everything we can to achieve comprehensive health care reform by the end of this year. (Applause.)

Are we going to get it done, gentlemen? (Applause.) This is the year to get it done.

And we need these gentlemen to help give working people in this country a fair shake again. (Applause.) To make sure our workers can be paid fairly and treated fairly for the work that they do. I've got to say a few words about where we're gathered tonight. It's a fine establishment. But there are workers here from Indianapolis hotels who are seeking to unionize -- (applause) -- including some right here at the Westin. And I want to recognize these workers and offer my support for their efforts. Where are they? Raise your hands, guys. Right here. (Applause.) We appreciate you.

In these difficult times, our country will be stronger if management and workers come together to resolve disputes and work together to provide quality service. And workers should never be punished for demanding the right to collectively bargain -- (applause). That's not right; we won't stand for it. (Applause.)

And finally, we need these four leaders to help us restore fiscal discipline in Washington so we don't leave our children and grandchildren with a mountain of debt. These are some of the leaders in trying to get Washington to take those responsibilities seriously. Already, my administration has identified more than 100 government programs that we can reduce or eliminate, save $17 billion next year alone. We're going line by line through the budget, page by page, looking for even more cuts.

I've personally asked the leadership in Congress to reinstate the pay-as-you-go rule that we followed during the 1990s, a rule that will help start -- (applause) -- a rule that helped us start this new century with a $236 billion surplus. You remember that? The idea is very simple: You don't spend what you don't have. If you want to spend, you need to find someplace else to cut. That's the rule that families across this country follow every single day -- and there's no reason why their government shouldn't do the same.

So, look, Indiana, we're living through some extraordinary times. We didn't ask for the challenges we face, but we're determined to answer the call to meet them; to cast aside the old arguments, overcome the stubborn divisions, to move forward as one people.

It won't be easy and there's going to be setbacks. It's going to take time. This is going to be a hard year -- and next year is not going to be so easy either. But I promise you that we will get through this. I'll always tell you the truth about the challenges we face and the steps that we're taking, and I'll continue to measure my progress by the progress the American people are seeing in their own everyday lives. (Applause.)

And if you stand with me, if you stand with Andre Carson and Joe Donnelly and Brad Ellsworth and Baron Hill -- (applause) -- then I know we will look back on this moment, at the time that we came together to reclaim America's future, to write the next great chapter in the American story. (Applause.)

Thank you, everybody. God bless you. God bless America. (Applause.)

END
6:47 P.M. EDT

Coming Together, Bringing Down Costs

Jesse Lee

May 11, 2009
01:21 PM EDT

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download .mp4 (114.4 MB) | read the transcript

Today the President hosted a meeting that marked one of the most promising signs for health reform to date, and not only because the topic was saving more than $2 trillion on health care costs. Representatives from hospitals, the insurance industry, medical device and pharmaceutical companies, labor and physicians came to the White House to discuss major steps being taken to lower health care costs across the board.

Graph showing how health care costs can be cut by $2 trillion by 2019

The President explained the significance of having so many diverse stakeholders at the table:

And that's what makes today's meeting so remarkable -- because it's a meeting that might not have been held just a few years ago. The groups who are here today represent different constituencies with different sets of interests. They've not always seen eye to eye with each other or with our government on what needs to be done to reform health care in this country. In fact, some of these groups were among the strongest critics of past plans for comprehensive reform.

But what's brought us all together today is a recognition that we can't continue down the same dangerous road we've been traveling for so many years; that costs are out of control; and that reform is not a luxury that can be postponed, but a necessity that cannot wait. It's a recognition that the fictional television couple, Harry and Louise, who became the iconic faces of those who opposed health care reform in the '90s, desperately need health care reform in 2009. And so does America.

(President Barack Obama meeting with healthcare stakeholders in the Roosevelt Room at White House May 11, 2009. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

In short, the coalition has agreed to reduce the annual health care spending growth rate by 1.5 percentage points for the next 10 years, a change that could result in savings of roughly $2,500 for American families. Some of the changes the coalition is working on, explained fully in the fact sheet, include:

Improving Care after Hospitalizations and Reduce Hospital Readmission Rates.
Reducing Medicare Overpayments to Private Insurers through Competitive Payments.
Reducing Drug Prices.
Improving Medicare and Medicaid Payment Accuracy.
Expanding the Hospital Quality Improvement Program.

The President closed his remarks making clear that this was just the beginning, and certainly no stopgap measure: "So the steps that are being announced today are significant. But the only way these steps will have an enduring impact is if they are taken not in isolation, but as part of a broader effort to reform our entire health care system." And while so much debate over politics and policy can get lost in the mire of facts and figured, the President made clear that his focus is squarely on one thing:

Ultimately, the debate about reducing costs -- and the larger debate about health care reform itself -- is not just about numbers; it's not just about forms or systems; it's about our own lives and the lives of our loved ones. And I understand that. As I've mentioned before during the course of the campaign, my mother passed away from ovarian cancer a little over a decade ago. And in the last weeks of her life, when she was coming to grips with her own mortality and showing extraordinary courage just to get through each day, she was spending too much time worrying about whether her health insurance would cover her bills. So I know what it's like to see a loved one who is suffering, but also having to deal with a broken health care system. I know that pain is shared by millions of Americans all across this country.

Today is a hopeful day.

Related Topics: Fiscal Responsibility, Health Care

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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 11, 2009

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
ON REFORMING THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM
TO REDUCE COSTS

State Dining Room

12:35 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everyone. All right. Well, I just concluded a extraordinarily productive meeting with organizations and associations that are going to be essential to the work of health care reform in this country -- groups that represent everyone from union members to insurance companies, from doctors and hospitals to pharmaceutical companies. It was a meeting that focused largely on one of the central challenges that we must confront as we seek to achieve comprehensive reform and lay a new foundation for our economy -- and that is, the spiraling cost of health care in this country.

They're here because they recognize one clear, indisputable fact: When it comes to health care spending, we are on an unsustainable course that threatens the financial stability of families, businesses and government itself.

This is not news to the American people, who, over the last decade, have seen their out-of-pocket expenses soar, health care costs rise, and premiums double at a rate four times faster than their wages.

Today, half of all personal bankruptcies stem from medical expenses. And too many Americans are skipping that check-up they know they should get, or going without that prescription that would make them feel better, or finding some other way to scrimp and save on their health care expenses.

What is a growing crisis for the American people is also becoming an untenable burden for America's businesses. Rising health care costs are commanding more and more of the money that our companies could be using to innovate and to grow, making it harder for them to compete around the world. These costs are leading the small businesses that are responsible for half of all private sector jobs to drop coverage for their workers at an alarming rate.

And, finally, the explosion in health care costs has put our federal budget on a disastrous path. This is largely due to what we're spending on Medicare and Medicaid -- entitlement programs whose costs are expected to continue climbing in the years ahead as baby boomers grow older and come to rely more and more on our health care system. That's why I've said repeatedly that getting health care costs under control is essential to reducing budget deficits, restoring fiscal discipline, and putting our economy on a path towards sustainable growth and shared prosperity.

We, as a nation, are now spending a far larger share of our national wealth on health care than we were a generation ago. At the rate we're going, we are expected to spend one fifth of our economy on health care within a decade. And yet we're getting less for our money. In fact, we're spending more on health care than any other nation on Earth, even though millions of Americans don't have the affordable, quality care they deserve, and nearly 46 million Americans don't have any health insurance at all.

This problem didn't just appear overnight. For decades, Washington has debated what to do about this. For decades, we've talked about reducing costs, improving care, and providing coverage to uninsured Americans. But all too often, efforts at reform have fallen victim to special interest lobbying aimed at keeping things the way they are; to political point-scoring that sees health care not as a moral issue or an economic issue, but as a wedge issue; and to a failure on all sides to come together on behalf of the American people.

And that's why these groups are voluntarily coming together to make an unprecedented commitment. Over the next 10 years -- from 2010 to 2019 -- they are pledging to cut the rate of growth of national health care spending by 1.5 percentage points each year -- an amount that's equal to over $2 trillion. Two trillion dollars.

Their efforts will help us take the next and most important step -- comprehensive health care reform -- so that we can do what I pledged to do as a candidate and save a typical family an average of $2,500 on their health care costs in the coming years. Let me repeat that point. What they're doing is complementary to and is going to be completely compatible with a strong, aggressive effort to move health care reform through here in Washington with an ultimate result of saving health care costs for families, businesses and the government. That's how we can finally make health care affordable, while putting more money into the pockets of hardworking families each month. These savings can be achieved by standardizing quality care, incentivizing efficiency, investing in proven ways not only to treat illness but to prevent them.

This is a historic day, a watershed event in the long and elusive quest for health care reform. And as these groups take the steps they are outlining, and as we work with Congress on health care reform legislation, my administration will continue working to reduce health care costs to achieve similar savings. By curbing waste, fraud, and abuse and preventing avoidable hospital re-admissions and taking a whole host of other cost-saving steps, we can save billions of dollars, while delivering better care to the American people.

Now, none of these steps can be taken by our federal government or our health care community acting alone. They'll require all of us coming together, as we are today, around a common purpose -- workers, executives, hospitals, nurses, doctors, drug companies, insurance companies, members of Congress. It's the kind of broad coalition, everybody with a seat at the table that I talked about during the campaign, that is required to achieve meaningful health care reform and that is the kind of coalition which -- to which I am committed.

So the steps that are being announced today are significant. But the only way these steps will have an enduring impact is if they are taken not in isolation, but as part of a broader effort to reform our entire health care system. We've already begun making a down payment on that kind of comprehensive reform. We're extending quality health care to millions of children of working families who lack coverage, which means we're going to be preventing long-term problems that are even more expensive to treat down the road. We're providing a COBRA subsidy to make health care affordable for 7 million Americans who lose their jobs. And because much of every health care dollar is spent on billing, overhead, and administration, we are computerizing medical records in a way that will protect our privacy, and that's a step that will not only eliminate waste and reduce medical errors that cost lives, but also let doctors spend less time doing administrative work and more time caring for patients.

But there's so much more to do. In the coming weeks and months, Congress will be engaged in the difficult issue of how best to reform health care in America. I'm committed to building a transparent process where all views are welcome. But I'm also committed to ensuring that whatever plan we design upholds three basic principles: First, the rising cost of health care must be brought down; second, Americans must have the freedom to keep whatever doctor and health care plan they have, or to choose a new doctor or health care plan if they want it; and third, all Americans must have quality, affordable health care.

These are principles that I expect to see upheld in any comprehensive health care reform bill that's sent to my desk -- I mentioned it to the groups that were here today. It's reform that is an imperative for America's economic future, and reform that is a pillar of the new foundation we seek to build for our economy; reform that we can, must, and will achieve by the end of this year.

And that's why I was committed to health care reform as a presidential candidate; that's why health care reform is a key priority to this presidency; that's why I will not rest until the dream of health care reform is finally achieved in the United States of America. And that's why I'm thrilled to have such a broad, diverse group of individuals from all across the health care spectrum representing every constituency and every political predisposition who feel that same sense of urgency and are committing themselves to work diligently to bring down costs so we can achieve the reforms that we seek.

So thank you very much to all of you for being here. Thank you very much everybody.

END
12:46 P.M. EDT

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
_______________________________________________________________
EMBARGOED UNTIL 6:00 AM ET, SATURDAY, MAY 10, 2009

WEEKLY ADDRESS: President Obama Calls on Congress to Pass Credit Card Reform Bill

WASHINGTON – In his weekly address, President Barack Obama called on Congress to pass a credit card reform bill, so that he can sign it into law by Memorial Day. The American people know that they must act responsibly and fairly, and credit institutions must do the same. Sudden rate hikes, unfair penalties, and hidden fees are too common and are hurting too many people. The set of principles the President has advocated will bring strong and reliable protections to consumers and strengthen monitoring, enforcement, and penalties for credit card companies that attempt to take advantage of ordinary Americans.

The full audio of the address is HERE. The video can be viewed online at www.whitehouse.gov.

Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
Washington, D.C.

Good morning. I want to briefly share some news about our economy, and talk about the work that we’re doing both to protect American consumers, and to put our economy back on a path to growth and prosperity.

This week, we saw some signs that the gears of America’s economic engine are slowly beginning to turn. Consumer spending and home sales are stabilizing. Unemployment claims are dropping and job losses are beginning to slow. But these trends are far from satisfactory. The unemployment rate is at its highest point in twenty-five years. We are still in the midst of a deep recession that was years in the making, and it will take time to fully turn this economy around.

We cannot rest until our work is done. Not when Americans continue to lose their jobs and struggle to pay their bills. Not when we are wrestling with record deficits and an over-burdened middle class. That is why every action that my Administration is taking is focused on clearing away the wreckage of this recession, and building a new foundation for job-creation and long-term growth.

This past week, we acted on several fronts. To restart the flow of credit that businesses and individuals depend upon, we completed an unprecedented review of the condition of our nation’s largest banks to determine what additional steps are necessary to get our economy moving. To restore fiscal discipline, we identified 121 programs to eliminate from our budget. And to restore a sense of fairness to our tax code and common sense to our economy, I have asked Congress to work with me in closing the loopholes that let companies ship jobs and stash profits overseas – reforms will help save $210 billion over the next ten years.

These important steps are just one part of a broad effort to get government, businesses and banks to act more responsibly, so that we are creating good jobs and making sound investments instead of spending recklessly and padding false profits. Because American institutions must act with the same sense of responsibility and fairness that the American people aspire to in their own lives.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in our credit card industry. Americans know that they have a responsibility to live within their means and pay what they owe. But they also have a right to not get ripped off by the sudden rate hikes, unfair penalties, and hidden fees that have become all-too common in our credit card industry. You shouldn’t have to fear that any new credit card is going to come with strings attached, nor should you need a magnifying glass and a reference book to read a credit card application. And the abuses in our credit card industry have only multiplied in the midst of this recession, when Americans can least afford to bear an extra burden.

It is past time for rules that are fair and transparent. That is why I have called for a set of new principles to reform our credit card industry. Instead of an "anything goes" approach, we need strong and reliable protections for consumers. Instead of fine print that hides the truth, we need credit card forms and statements that have plain language in plain sight, and we need to give people the tools they need to find a credit card that meets their needs. And instead of abuse that goes unpunished, we need to strengthen monitoring, enforcement, and penalties for credit card companies that take advantage of ordinary Americans.

The House has taken important steps toward putting these principles into law, and the Senate is poised to do the same next week. Now, I’m calling on Congress to take final action to pass a credit card reform bill that protects American consumers so that I can sign it into law by Memorial Day. There is no time for delay. We need a durable and successful flow of credit in our economy, but we can’t tolerate profits that depend upon misleading working families. Those days are over.

This economic crisis has reminded us that we are all in this together. We can’t prosper by putting off hard choices, or by protecting the profits of the few at the expense of the middle class. We are making steady progress toward recovery, but we must ensure that the legacy of this recession is an American economy that rewards work and innovation; that is guided by fairness and responsibility; and that grows steadily into the future.

Thanks.

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release May 8, 2009

TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:

I have the honor to transmit to you the Budget of the United States Government for Fiscal Year 2010.

In my February 26th budget overview, A New Era of Responsibility: Renewing America's Promise, I provided a broad outline of how our Nation came to this moment of economic, financial, and fiscal crisis; and how my Administration plans to move this economy from recession to recovery and lay a new foundation for long-term economic growth and prosperity. This Budget fills out this picture by providing full programmatic details and proposing appropriations language and other required information for the Congress to put these plans fully into effect.

Specifically, this Budget details the pillars of the stable and broad economic growth we seek: making long overdue investments and reforms in education so that every child can compete in the global economy, undertaking health care reform so that we can control costs while boosting coverage and quality, and investing in renewable sources of energy so that we can reduce our dependence on foreign oil and become the world leader in the new clean energy economy.

Fiscal discipline is another critical pillar in this economic foundation. My Administration came into office facing a budget deficit of $1.3 trillion for this year alone, and the cost of confronting the recession and financial crisis has been high. While these are extraordinary times that have demanded extraordinary responses, it is impossible to put our Nation on a course for long-term growth without beginning to rein in unsustainable deficits and debt. We no longer can afford to tolerate investments in programs that are outdated, duplicative, ineffective, or wasteful.

That is why the Budget I am sending to you includes a separate volume of terminations, reductions, and savings that my Administration has identified since we sent the budget overview to you 10 weeks ago. In it, we identify programs that do not accomplish the goals set for them, do not do so efficiently, or do a job already done by another initiative. Overall, we have targeted more than 100 programs that should be ended or substantially changed, moves that will save nearly $17 billion next year alone.

These efforts are just the next phase of a larger and longer effort needed to change how Washington does business and put our fiscal house in order. To that end, the Budget includes billions of dollars in savings from steps ranging from ending subsidies for big oil and gas companies, to eliminating entitlements to banks and lenders making student loans. It provides an historic down payment on health care reform, the key to our long-term fiscal future, and was constructed without commonly used budget gimmicks that, for instance, hide the true costs of war and natural disasters. Even with these costs on the books, the Budget will cut the deficit in half by the end of my first term, and we will bring non-defense discretionary spending to its lowest level as a share of GDP since 1962.

Finally, in order to keep America strong and secure, the Budget includes critical investments in rebuilding our military, securing our homeland, and expanding our diplomatic efforts because we need to use all elements of our power to provide for our national security. We are not only proposing significant funding for our national security, but also being careful with those investments by, for instance, reforming defense contracting so that we are using our defense dollars to their maximum effect.

I have little doubt that there will be various interests -- vocal and powerful -- who will oppose different aspects of this Budget. Change is never easy. However, I believe that after an era of profound irresponsibility, Americans are ready to embrace the shared responsibilities we have to each other and to generations to come. They want to put old arguments and the divisions of the past behind us, put problem-solving ahead of point-scoring, and reconstruct an economy that is built on a solid new foundation. If we do that, America once again will teem with new industry and commerce, hum with the energy of new discoveries and inventions, and be a place where anyone with a good idea and the will to work can live their dreams.

I am gratified and encouraged by the support I have received from the Congress thus far, and I look forward to working with you in the weeks ahead as we put these plans into practice and make this vision of America a reality.

BARACK OBAMA

THE WHITE HOUSE,
May 7, 2009.

The President Announces Key Spending Cuts in His Budget

May 7, 2009 | 10:55

The President discusses his budget reductions a change in the way Washington does business. May 7, 2009. (Public Domain)

Download mp4 (117MB) | mp3 (71.6MB)

Read the Transcript

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
_______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release May 7, 2009

PRESS BRIEFING
BY OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET DIRECTOR PETER ORSZAG
TO DISCUSS FY2010 BUDGET APPENDIX AND TERMINATIONS,
REDUCTIONS, AND SAVINGS

Via Conference Call

11:35 A.M. EDT

DIRECTOR ORSZAG: Good morning. As many of you know, we face an unsustainable fiscal path out over time. I've said before and I'll say again this morning that the single most important thing that affects that long-term fiscal path is health care, which is why we are so committed to getting health care reform done this year in a way that brings down costs not only for the federal government but also for families.

The dominance of health care to our fiscal future does not, however, mean that we should be indifferent to making the rest of government work better. Just like a broken window has been shown to lead to increased crime because of the signal it sends, perpetuating inefficient programs with a shrug of the shoulders undermines confidence in government and wastes resources. We can no longer afford broken-window budgeting.

That's why in addition to pursuing contract reform, efficiencies in the defense budget, agency savings that the Cabinet have been tasked with reporting back to the President on, the most recent installment in this effort is released today, our volume on terminations, reductions, and savings, which include $17 billion in savings in next year alone, fiscal year 2010 alone.

The spirit is to eliminate duplications and to measure what works and what doesn't and put additional resources into the things that are working while eliminating or cutting back on the things that are not. I think you've already all received the volume or it's already up on the web site, so I won't go into the details. But let me just make two other comments quickly. One is that we are encouraged by the spirit that Congress is bringing to this task also. I would emphasize that the Speaker of the House has specifically asked her committee chairs to report back by the beginning of June on potential savings in both budget resolutions -- I mean the budget resolution, I'm sorry -- also asked committees to seek out efficiencies in savings.

And then the second point that I would make is just to remind everyone of where we are in the budget process because a transition year is an unusual year. As you'll remember, we released our overview document in February. We now do have a budget resolution that has been adopted. We're releasing today, in addition to the Terminations volume, the appendix to the budget, which is a 1,400-page document that fills in the subaccount details that is consistent with the February overview topline numbers that we released. And then early next week we will release the Analytical Perspectives volume, which provides a variety of information about the nation's fiscal condition, and also our set of historical tables, which provides a sense of the historical evolution of a variety of budgetary indicators.

So with that, I will open it up for questions and turn it back for the question period.

Q Hi. Director, I just wanted to confirm that there would be revenue raisers from cap and trade in what is coming out Monday or Tuesday and that would still be the $650 billion that was called for in the outline that you released in February, which means 100 percent auction. Is that correct?

DIRECTOR ORSZAG: We're not going to provide the full details of what will be released on Monday, but I will say that you should anticipate no changes in our climate proposal.

Q Okay.

Q Hi, Peter. You mentioned yesterday that there might be some small changes in economic assumptions on some of the larger issues, and I'm wondering -- I'm not sure where they would be. But could you go through any changes that you made in economic assumptions in deficit forecasts to take into account changes since February when the initial volume was released?

DIRECTOR ORSZAG: Jonathan, that's something that we can talk about on Monday, because we will re-release the summary tables and the Analytical Perspectives volume. But what I would say is that, as I said yesterday, we will be revising our economic assumptions as part of the mid-session review later in the year. Even without changes in the economic assumptions, there are always technical revisions that happen every time we update projections, and we can have a more extensive discussion next week when the summary tables are re-released.

Q Okay, then can I ask another question?

DIRECTOR ORSZAG: Sure.

Q I mean, you have $17 billion of savings in the eliminations and cutbacks. But I saw quite a few new starts, as well. And I wonder if you've calculated how much more spending you're going to have in some of these new starts, like there's a new housing trust fund and some new education programs. I saw a new program -- it looked like a new program for health care workers in underserved areas.

DIRECTOR ORSZAG: Again, I want to just emphasize, what we're trying to do is reorient government activity towards things that work. So let me give you an example. In early childhood education, we do invest significant amounts -- the Recovery Act had $5 billion in Early Head Start and Head Start and related early childhood education. But at the same time, as you know -- and by the way, I'd be happy to follow up on the evidence on the program that we're eliminating that does not seem to work well, Even Start. That's an example where if you wanted to say, okay, the Even Start is down $66 million -- if I remember correctly -- and yet we put $5 billion into Early Head Start and Head Start, there was a net increase. But that misses the -- I guess the broken-window budgeting point, which is there is no reason to be perpetuating an inefficient program, and what we're trying to do is move resources towards the things that do work.

Q Hi, Peter. Just a couple of quick things on the appendix itself, which I think we're all going to try to wade through to some degree. What would you call attention to in any of the line-by-lines, any of the things that you would want to call attention to, particularly, as Jonathan said, plus-ups or new programs? And then on the $17 billion, how much of that actually goes to deficit reduction and how much goes to other programs? Are you saying, in a sense, that all of it goes to other programs?

DIRECTOR ORSZAG: Well, money is fungible so you can -- on the latter question -- you can obviously cut and -- slice and dice a flow of money in different ways. I think the key point on deficit reduction is the budget resolution does get down within four years to 3 percent of the economy, cuts the deficit in half -- that is our target. And the budget resolution is consistent with that and fulfills that.

And then, as you know, as you go out over time, as I said at the beginning of my remarks, health care is the key. And we can have a longer discussion about the impact of the rate of growth of health care costs per beneficiary on our long-term fiscal future.

In terms of -- boy, I don't know that I could -- I wouldn't want to single out any single page out of the 1,400 more than any other because I'm sure you'll find them all scintillating. But I would note that the budget funds the things that we believe are crucially important: key investments in education, investments in clean energy, investments in health care reform, and finally, other areas like investments in veterans' benefits and making good on promises to, in that case, for example, people who have served in our military.

Q Can I just ask one quick follow on the $17 billion? There are a lot of programs -- say, in the field of education -- that Bush went after that you are not going after. And I'm wondering if that's because if we went through, say, Bush's last list, would all of those programs that you're not going after be good programs? Or are you doing sort of a reality test on what you can actually have a prayer of getting through Congress in some of those cases?

DIRECTOR ORSZAG: Well, the approach that we tried to adopt here was to make sure that reductions and eliminations were not ideologically based, but rather based on the evidence. So if a program was not working or was duplicative of other things or was simply unnecessary, then it wound up on our list. And I'm encouraged that we took something like a fifth of the money out of the $17 billion -- reflects proposals that the previous administration had. And I view that as a good thing because that suggests that where they had good ideas and where it was evidence-based, we adopted it too, and that strikes me as being exactly the way it should be.

Q A lot of this money comes from eliminating funding for accounts that have been earmarked in the past. But when the omnibus was signed you seemed to suggest that you would be scrubbing that bill and possibly proposing a rescissions package. Why not go after the actual earmarks themselves, rather than anticipating future earmarks by Congress?

DIRECTOR ORSZAG: Well, a few things. First, the issue with many of the programs that we are proposing to eliminate that are heavily earmarked is when they are not based on sound science or a rigorous approach. And so it's not necessarily the earmarks per se, but rather the outcomes that then come from the lack of a consistent approach to evaluating projects, for example, that causes the issue.

The President has already said -- and the leadership in the House, for example, have made it clear -- that we will seek to make earmarks more transparent, to make sure that their number continues to be reduced relative to the peaks that we saw a couple years ago. And I think you will see that playing out throughout the appropriations process this year.

Q But if they're bad earmarks in 2010, they're also bad earmarks in 2009, so why not go after them?

DIRECTOR ORSZAG: I think we've sort of -- I think we've discussed the approach to the omnibus last year, for fiscal year '09 almost ad nauseam and I'd rather kind of move forward.

Q So there won't be a rescissions bill is what you're saying.

DIRECTOR ORSZAG: I didn't say that. What I did say was that at the time the omnibus was adopted we were trying to be forward-looking. We will be reevaluating all spending, including spending that was embodied in the omnibus, as we always do.

Q Well, I mean, I hate to beat a dead horse, but you have an appropriations bill that's rapidly moving. If you're going to do rescissions, now would be the time to do it, don't you think?

DIRECTOR ORSZAG: I believe we can send up a rescissions package at any time. And so we have flexibility to do so. If we decide that there are opportunities for rescissions we will send up a package at the appropriate time if that's a course that we choose to pursue.

Q Peter, hi. I was just curious, in your original budget you had this $250 billion placeholder in '09 for Treasury and the TARP program. Do you still have that in there?

DIRECTOR ORSZAG: I don't know that there's anything in the appendix. What you will see in the documents that we release next week -- or maybe in the appendix -- but we are retaining that placeholder even though, again, that placeholder was out of an abundance of caution and it's very likely -- or it's our hope that it will not be necessary to call upon it.

Q But you'll still keep that placeholder?

DIRECTOR ORSZAG: We do keep -- we do have the placeholder. I'm actually having someone check as to whether it's printed in the appendix somewhere. But even if it's not in the appendix it will be printed in the documents that are released next week -- and I'm told that it is printed on page 988 of the appendix.

But again, I want to emphasize that placeholder was put in as a precautionary measure and, in general, we have not changed policies. So there are a whole variety of proposals that we put forward in February. The world has evolved a bit since then. We have incorporated those proposals in the new document as a matter of principle. So you shouldn't read anything into the fact that we continue to put forward the same proposals other than we felt like it was the appropriate principle to embody in the full budget what was embodied in the February document.

Q I just wanted to follow up on Jonathan Weisman's question about the economic assumptions. Is it possible that there might be some small changes on that? And the overall deficit figure, will that change?

DIRECTOR ORSZAG: Well, the overall deficit figure would change even without a change in economic assumptions because of changes in what's called the technical assumptions. So the way budgeteers typically evaluate things, for a given macro-economy, a given GDP, for example, if -- I don't know -- capital gains realizations are lower than projected, given that level of GDP, or incoming tax revenue is -- on income taxes or other taxes is different from what historical relationships the GDP would suggest, there often are technical revisions that occur.

So you should anticipate some modest changes in the numbers that we put out next Monday, but I would not anticipate massive changes.

Q Okay, so just to clarify then, the numbers that you put out on Monday will attempt to reflect what's happened in the two months since you released the February estimates?

DIRECTOR ORSZAG: There will be some partial reflection, but again, I want to come back -- we do the full update of the entire set of assumptions behind the budget in the context of the mid-session review. So you should not anticipate a full update of all the assumptions in the document that's released on Monday.

Q Thank you.

Q Good morning, Peter.

DIRECTOR ORSZAG: Good morning.

Q It looks like defense takes a pretty big hit out of the total terminations and reductions in discretionary spending. Even though defense accounts for about 49 percent of discretionary spending in 2010, it takes 81 percent of the terminations and reductions. And while defense accounts for about 19 percent of the total budget, it takes about 55 percent of the cuts in the terminations and reductions. Do you think you ganged up on defense?

DIRECTOR ORSZAG: No, not at all. First, a couple things: The defense budget goes up by 4 percent in fiscal year 2010 relative to 2009. Second, if you look at the overall numbers out of the $17 billion, about half of that in total is coming from defense and about half from non-defense, which is roughly in proportion to -- at least with regard to the discretionary budget -- the shares of defense and non-defense.

And finally, Secretary Gates himself has said that procurement reform and changes in the way the Pentagon does business is absolutely essential and we cannot continue on the path that we were on. So I will defer to the Secretary for further comment, but I would just again note that he has said the defense budget needs reform, and that's why he has put forward a set of changes in weapons systems and also, perhaps just as importantly, has embraced the contracting reform that is I believe on the floor of the Senate as we speak.

Q Thank you.

Q Hey, Peter, thanks for doing this this morning.

DIRECTOR ORSZAG: Hi, Lori.

Q Two questions. I noticed that the payments to high-income farmers is in here, something that Congress has already pretty much rejected. And my question is, what happens if -- what's the result if a good number of these things are not accepted by Congress? And the second part of my question is, I was talking to Bob Reischauer yesterday who said that he really didn't think it was fair to give you guys a grade on this yet because a lot of these decisions have to come up from the agencies where the Obama administration is really not staffed up yet. Do you think that you guys are likely to produce a much more comprehensive list next year?

DIRECTOR ORSZAG: Let me answer that second question first. A transition year is always a challenging one with regard to the budget. This is, as the President has said and as I tried to say, just a step in our ongoing process. I would anticipate that as we have a full year to go through the normal budget process we will find yet more efficiencies and we will have additional things to say and additional items to put on the list over time.

With regard to congressional reaction and, for example, you asked about the ag proposals -- let me just say Chairman Conrad, Chairman Peterson, other leaders with regard to agricultural policy have all said that agricultural savings are possible. We have -- and I already said earlier with regard to the placeholder for financial stabilization that as a general principle we have included all of our previous proposals in this document also. I think that's particularly relevant in agriculture because it's clear that some savings are possible. I think that's particularly important given that child nutrition legislation is up for reauthorization this year. And, for example in the Senate, the Senate Agriculture Committee, that to the extent that it finds savings in agriculture that it could plow back into healthier meals and healthier foods for kids would accomplish a variety of objectives.

And then finally I would say, look, we, again, realize that this is a cooperative process with the Congress. I was particularly heartened in the various meetings that we had to brief congressional leadership on the budget that's being released that they are also actively seeking a variety of savings. And perhaps their list will vary a little bit from ours and that's to be expected, and we look forward to working with them to get as much done as possible.

Q Thank you, Peter.

Q Hi. Thanks for taking the call. I have two questions. One is on the issue of the criminal alien program. Can you explain a little bit more about why you would want to zero that out altogether? I think California spent something like a billion dollars incarcerating aliens.

And then the second question is about the attaché in Paris. I'm just curious, isn't the thing that's more scandalous there not that they had a attaché there but that it would cost $600,000 to have a single body there? And have you looked at all at what those overhead costs are and whether those are reflected across the board in other agencies that may have operations overseas? Thanks.

DIRECTOR ORSZAG: Okay. First, with regard to the SCAAP program, let me just first say the administration is very committed to a strong border security agenda. The budget includes $27 billion for border and related security, which is an 8 percent increase over last year; funds 27,000 border patrol agents, 33,000 detention beds; a whole variety of other initiatives. We have a southwest border initiative expansion.

So one of the key things is we do view it as the responsibility of the federal government to strengthen border enforcement and to get at the problem in the first place, in a sense.

With regard to the specific program under question, the evidence suggests that the funds are often used in a variety of ways that are tangential to the direct cost associated with imprisoning unauthorized immigrants. And the reason that we proposed terminating that program is precisely that it is not well targeted to the problem at hand, in addition to the desire on our part to focus our efforts and attention on reducing unauthorized immigration in the first place.

With regard to the Department of Education, the $632,000 includes $77,000 to rent living quarters for the representative, $21,000 in travel expenses, and then there also are office costs. So, yes, there is overhead.

One of the difficulties in foreign representation is that there often are higher overhead costs than with personnel domestically, which is why we want to make sure that our personnel operating abroad are in key priority areas. And an example is that while we are reducing and cutting back on this office, the State Department is investing in additional Foreign Service Officers and AID officers to help us reengage with the world in a constructive way, in a higher priority way, than this position.

Q Hello, Peter. I'm going to shift on you a little bit. The last administration used the performance assessment rating tool, the PART, to really look at about 1,000 programs. You guys haven't talked much about your process to look at these programs and make decisions. You said we're going to address what works, what doesn't work. How much of the PART tool are you going to use? How much are you really looking at some of the research that has been done over the last few years -- beyond GAO, but really what the last administration did to make some of these decisions?

DIRECTOR ORSZAG: We are in the midst of overhauling the performance metric system. I've said before and I'll say again, I think the PART system was well intentioned but was flawed both in terms of implementation and in terms of design. In implementation, there was not enough buy-in from the people who were supposed to use it. And in terms of design, it was much too input-oriented rather than output-oriented.

As you know, the President has put forward Jeff Zients as the chief performance officer and deputy director of management nominee here at OMB, and one of his highest priorities once he's confirmed is to overhaul that performance metric system. While we await his confirmation, we are doing the legwork that would be necessary to make that move as quickly as possible once he's in office.

Q And a quick follow-up. I'm hearing that there is some problems with his nomination. Can you comment on that?

DIRECTOR ORSZAG: I have not heard of any such problems, and again, the President has made it clear that Jeff Zients is a very well-qualified individual for this job.

MR. BAER: Great. Thank you very much, everyone, for the call. And if you need anything else, you know to call our office. Thank you.

END
12:03 P.M. EDT

Coming Together, Bringing Down Costs

The President Announces Key Spending Cuts in His Budget

Remarks by the President on Reducing Spending in the Budget