Category: December 2009

National Building Museum Washington, D.C. THE PRESIDENT: Good evening, and Merry Christmas. Thank you, George Lopez. Thank you to all the incredible performers for sharing your wonderful holiday spirit with us this evening — Mary J. Blige, Neil Diamond, Sugarland, Rob Thomas, Usher and Justin Bieber — Bieber. He was just discovered. (Laughter.) The American…

Michelle and I send our warmest wishes to all who are celebrating Hanukkah around the world. The Hanukkah story of the Maccabees and the miracles they witnessed reminds us that faith and perseverance are powerful forces that can sustain us in difficult times and help us overcome even the greatest odds. Hanukkah is not only…

WASHINGTON – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key administration posts: Sharon E. Burke, Director of Operational Energy Plans and Programs, Department of Defense Marilyn A. Brown, Member, Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority President Obama said, “I am pleased that these talented individuals have joined…

Today, President Obama released the National Strategy for Countering Biological Threats. This Strategy outlines the President’s vision for addressing the challenges from proliferation of biological weapons or their use by terrorists. It highlights the beneficial nature of advances in the life sciences and their importance in combating infectious diseases of natural, accidental, and deliberate origin.…

Diplomatic Reception Room 12:26 P.M. EST THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. Sorry I’m a little late. I have just concluded an informative and constructive discussion with Republican and Democratic leaders about job creation and our economic future. We spoke about the challenges facing our families, our businesses, and our country as a whole, and what we…

The President today declared a major disaster exists in the Commonwealth of Virginia and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe storms and flooding associated with Tropical Depression Ida beginning on November 11, 2009, and continuing. Federal funding is available to Commonwealth and eligible local governments…

Program to Create Jobs in Low-Income Communities, Help CHCs Serve More Than 500,000 Additional Patients WASHINGTON – Today President Obama announced nearly $600 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) awards to support major construction and renovation projects at 85 community health centers nationwide and help networks of health centers adopt Electronic Health…

WASHINGTON – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key administration posts: Patricia A. Hoffman, Assistant Secretary for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Department of Energy Mari Del Carmen Aponte, Ambassador to the Republic of El Salvador, Department of State Donald E. Booth, Ambassador to the Federal Democratic Republic…

Today, the President laid out some of the broad steps that he believes should be at the heart of our efforts to help put Americans back to work and get businesses hiring again. This announcement is part of the President’s ongoing effort to take every responsible step to accelerate the pace of job growth. The…

“Today, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Attorney General Eric Holder announced that, at long last, a settlement has been reached in the Cobell class-action lawsuit. This suit was originally filed in 1996 over the United States government’s trust management and accounting of hundreds of thousands of individual American Indian trust accounts. With this announcement, we…