Category: Feb-2014

East Room 2:18 P.M. EST THE PRESIDENT:  Well, welcome to the White House, everybody. I know you had to come here before you go buy some shovels and some salt.  (Laughter.)  It sounds like we may get a little snow. But I very much appreciate everybody being here.  I want to thank, first and foremost,…

Raising the Minimum Wage through Executive Order to $10.10 for Federal Contract Workers & Calling on Congress to Finish the Job for All Workers by Passing the Harkin-Miller Bill Today, continuing to fulfill his promise to make 2014 a year of action, the President will sign an Executive Order to raise the minimum wage to…

On Monday, March 3, President Obama will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.  The President looks forward to discussing with the Prime Minister progress in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, developments in Iran, and other regional priorities.  Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit is a demonstration of the deep and enduring bonds between the United States…

The Vice President hosted His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan for breakfast at the Naval Observatory.  The Vice President and the King discussed ongoing efforts to bring about a political transition and an end to the conflict in Syria.  They spoke about how best to address the growing threat of violent extremism fueled by…

On Wednesday, February 12, 2014, the President signed into law: H.R. 2860, the “OPM IG Act,” which provides authority to the Inspector General of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to use amounts in OPM’s revolving fund to audit, investigate, and provide oversight for the activities of that fund; and S. 1901, the “Support for…

Cyber threats pose one the gravest national security dangers that the United States faces.  To better defend our nation against this systemic challenge, one year ago I signed an Executive Order directing the Administration to take steps to improve information sharing with the private sector, raise the level of cybersecurity across our critical infrastructure, and…

Today the Obama Administration is announcing the launch of the Cybersecurity Framework, which is the result of a year-long private-sector led effort to develop a voluntary how-to guide for organizations in the critical infrastructure community to enhance their cybersecurity.  The Framework is a key deliverable from the Executive Order on “Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity” that…

The President will travel to Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines in late April as part of his ongoing commitment to increase U.S. diplomatic, economic and security engagement with countries in the Asia-Pacific region. In Japan, the President will meet with Prime Minister Abe to highlight the historic steps the United States…

MS. LUCAS MAGNUSON:  Hi, good morning, everyone.  We’re just delighted today to launch the Cybersecurity Framework in an event at 1:00 p.m.  This call will be to preview that event and the framework itself.  Just as a reminder, the information in this call is embargoed until that event begins at 1:00 p.m.  All information is…

Today, the President declared an emergency in the State of South Carolina and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from a severe winter storm beginning on February 10, 2014, and continuing. The President’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),…