Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney, OMB Acting Director Jeffrey Zients, CEA Chairman Alan Krueger, NEC Director Gene Sperling, and Director of Domestic Policy Council Cecilia Muñoz on the Fiscal Year 2014 Budget, 4/10/13

Remarks by the First Lady at the Joint Luncheon Meeting: Working Together to Address Youth Violence in Chicago

Hilton Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

1:54 P.M. CDT

MRS. OBAMA: Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. It’s good to be home. It is. Even though it’s freezing cold in April, it’s good to be home.

It is certainly a pleasure to be here with all of you today. I want to start by thanking Rahm for that very kind introduction and that very powerful statement of what our kids in this city need, and also for his outstanding leadership here in this city.

I also want to acknowledge Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. Thank you all for being here. It’s good to see you. You’re all looking good. It’s very good.

And of course, I want to recognize Jim Reynolds as well as Tom Wilson for taking the lead as co-chairs of the Public Safety Action Committee. Thank you both for your leadership, for your words, for your service. We are so very proud of you.

And most of all, I want to thank all of you for coming here today on behalf of this city’s young people. I want to thank you for your commitment to their safety, their wellbeing, and their God-given potential. And I know that many of you aren’t new to this work. For years, you have been sponsoring sports leagues, afterschool programs, summer jobs and more.

So you in this room know firsthand the impact that we can have when this city truly invests in our children. And that’s something I know from my own experience, which is why it was so important for me to be here today.

I’m here today because Chicago is my home. I was born and raised here. I built my career here. Several of my bosses are here -- former bosses are here. I met and married the love of my life here. I raised my children here, who, by the way, still refer to Chicago as home. They believe it gives them a little more credibility.

So let me tell you, when it comes to ensuring the health and development and success of young people in this city, for me, this is my passion, it is my mission. And for me, this is personal because my story would not be possible without this city.

And that’s where I want to start today -– by talking about our city and the neighborhoods that make us who we are. As you all know, Chicago is truly a city of neighborhoods, separated by parks and boulevards. It’s a city where walking just a few blocks can put you into an entirely different world of experiences. Cut through a park, and you go from English to Spanish, black to white, Puerto Rican to Polish. Cross a few streets, and you go from historic homes and manicured lawns to abandoned buildings and dark street corners.

So the opportunities available to a child growing up in one neighborhood in this city might be vastly different than a child growing up just five blocks away. And that difference can shape their lives and their life prospects from the moment they’re born.

That was certainly the case for me. As Rahm said, I was born and raised in South Shore. Our neighbors were teachers and secretaries, city workers; also a few professionals, doctors, lawyers, business owners. Most folks weren’t wealthy. A lot of people never went to college. And we generally couldn’t afford things like private music lessons or tutoring.

But thanks in part to this city, our lives were still rich with opportunities. We had decent public schools. I am a product of our public schools. We attended the Chicago Park District summer camps. Got a lot of ribbons from those camps I’m quite proud of. Played basketball on city courts. Our churches ran programs to expose us to music and the arts. So we didn’t have to be children of privilege to get the opportunity to enrich ourselves.

And back then, our parents knew that if they loved and encouraged us, if they kept us off the streets and out of trouble, then we’d be okay.; They knew that if they did everything right, we’d have a chance.

But today, for too many families and children in this city, that’s simply no longer the case. Today, too many kids in this city are living just a few El stops, sometimes even just a few blocks, from shiny skyscrapers and leafy parks and world-class museums and universities, yet all of that might as well be in a different state, even in a different continent.

Because many of our children have never been to the Art Institute or Millennium Park. Many of them don’t even know that the University of Chicago exists, let alone dream of attending that university -– or any university for that matter. They haven’t strolled along Navy Pier. Some of them have probably never even seen the lake. Because instead of spending their days enjoying the abundance of riches this city has to offer, they are consumed with watching their backs. They’re afraid to walk alone, because they might get jumped. They’re afraid to walk in groups, because that might identify them as part of a gang and put them at risk.

At Harper High School in Englewood, where I’ll be visiting later on today, a newly-hired teacher noticed that when classes ended in the afternoon, kids would leave the building and walk right down the middle of the street. Now, at first, she thought this was just typical adolescent misbehavior. But one student explained that it’s actually safest that way, even with all the cars whizzing by, because it gives them the best view of any fights or shootings, and they have more time to run.

Thousands of children in this city live in neighborhoods where a funeral for a teenager is considered unfortunate, but not unusual; where wandering onto the wrong block or even just standing on your own front porch can mean putting yourself at risk.

Those are the odds that so many young people are facing in this city –- young people like Hadiya Pendleton, whose funeral I attended back in February. And we all know Hadiya’s story. She was 15 years old, an honor student at King College Prep. And she came from a good family -– two devoted parents, plenty of cousins, solid godparents and grandparents, an adoring little brother. The Pendletons are hardworking people. They’re churchgoing folks. And Hadiya’s mother did everything she could for her daughter. She enrolled her in every activity you could imagine -– cheerleading, majorettes, the praise dance ministry -– anything to keep her off the streets and keep her busy.

And as I visited with the Pendleton family at Hadiya’s funeral, I couldn’t get over how familiar they felt to me. Because what I realized was Hadiya’s family was just like my family. Hadiya Pendleton was me, and I was her. But I got to grow up, and go to Princeton and Harvard Law School, and have a career and a family and the most blessed life I could ever imagine.

And Hadiya? Oh, we know that story. Just a week after she performed at my husband’s inauguration, she went to a park with some friends and got shot in the back because some kid thought she was in a gang. Hadiya’s family did everything right, but she still didn’t have a chance. And that story -– the story of Hadiya’s life and death –- we read that story day after day, month after month, year after year in this city and around this country.

So I’m not talking about something that’s happening in a warzone halfway around the world. I am talking about what’s happening in the city that we call home, the city where we’re raising our kids, the city where your businesses operate.

This kind of violence is what so many young people like Hadiyah Pendleton are dealing with every single day. And those two boys charged with her shooting -– this is the violence they were facing as well. And you have to wonder: What if, instead of roaming around with guns, boys like them had access to a computer lab or a community center or some decent basketball courts? Maybe everything would have turned out differently.

Maybe they would be doing their homework, or taking jump shots, or learning a new program instead of looking for trouble. Maybe if these kids saw some kind of decent future for themselves, instead of shootings, there would just be fistfights, some angry words exchanged.; And then maybe -- just maybe -- today, more of our young people would be in classrooms and at jobs, instead of in custody, facing even worse odds than they started out with.

See, at the end of the day, this is the point I want to make -– that resources matter. They matter. That what it takes to build strong, successful young people isn’t genetics, or pedigree, or good luck. It’s opportunity. And I know from my own experience. I started out with exactly the same aptitude -– exactly the same intellectual, emotional capabilities -– as so many of my peers. And the only thing that separated me from them was that I had a few more advantages than some of them did. I had adults who pushed me. I had activities that engaged me, schools that prepared me to succeed. I had a community that supported me and a neighborhood where I felt safe.

And in the end, that was the difference between growing up and becoming a lawyer, a mother, and First Lady of the United States, and being shot dead at the age of 15. And that is why this new fund that you’ve created here in Chicago is so important. It is so important.

As you’ve heard, this fund will help create those ladders of opportunities for all of our kids. It will give our children mentors who push them and nurture them. It will teach them the life skills they need to succeed. It will give them alternatives to gangs and drugs -- safe places where they can learn something and stay out of trouble.

Because we know that every single child in this city has boundless promise no matter where they live. And whether we give them the chance to fulfill that promise and grow into productive adults who lead meaningful lives -– see, that’s on us. That’s our job. And our kids know when we’re fulfilling that obligation. They know. They know the difference between lip service and reality. They see it and feel it every single day.

So we can host all the luncheons and make all the announcements we want. But at the end of the day, if our kids keep waking up in neighborhoods where they don’t feel safe on their own front porches, if they’re still attending schools with crumbling ceilings and ripped-up textbooks, if there’s nowhere safe for them to go when that afternoon bell rings, then nothing speaks louder than that. Nothing.

So let’s be clear. This is going to take a serious and sustained investment over a very long period of time, people. This is forever. And I am here today to join the call to all of you -– Chicago’s most distinguished business and community leaders -– to take up this challenge with fervor. And I hope that communities across America will follow Chicago’s lead to get our young people off the streets and back on track to successful lives.

Right now, my husband is fighting as hard as he can, and engaging as many people as he can, to pass common-sense reforms to protect our children from gun violence. And these reforms deserve a vote in Congress.

As he has said, we can’t stop all the violence in the world. But if there is even one thing we can do, even one step we can take to save another child, or another parent from the grief that’s visited families like Hadiya’s and so many others here today, then don’t we have an obligation to try?

But we all know that these reforms must be just one part of a comprehensive effort to rebuild our neighborhoods and build a better future for our children. And if anyone can make that happen, it’s all of you. You all are some of the most creative, innovative, influential people not just in this city, but in the entire country. You have brought together folks from all across Chicago to do great things for this city, like build Millennium Park, host the NATO Summit -- quite well, by the way -- make the lakefront the cultural jewel of the Midwest.

And today, we need you to dig deep and apply that same passion, determination and civic pride to this city’s most precious asset –- our children. Now, we all take great pride in this city. And I don’t just mean the center of it; I mean every single one of the 77 neighborhoods that make us who we are. Each of these neighborhoods is a vital part of this city, as is every single child.

And as business leaders, you all know that this city’s young people are your future workers, your future customers. Their success is critical to the success of your businesses, which is critical to the success of this city.

But you all are also here, I know, today because you know that this is about more than just fulfilling a business obligation or a civic obligation. You all know that this is a moral obligation. Because ultimately, this city and this community will be judged not just by the beauty of our parks and lakefront, or the vitality of our businesses, but by our commitment to our next generation.

I think my husband put it best when he spoke to the people of Newtown, Connecticut back in December, and he said this is –- and this is a quote: “This is our first task, caring for our children. It’s our first job. If we don’t get that right, we don’t get anything right. That’s how, as a society, we will be judged. And by that measure, can we truly say, as a nation, that we’re meeting our obligations?”

That is the question my husband asked -– are we truly meeting our obligations to our children? It’s a question we should also be asking in Chicago and in every corner of this country.

And it was the question weighing on my heart when I met with Hadiya Pendleton’s classmates on the day of her funeral. Dozens of them later spoke at the service, each referring to her as “my best friend.” And let me tell you, it is hard to know what to say to a room full of teenagers who are about to bury their best friend.

But I started by telling them that Hadiya was clearly on her way to doing something truly worthy with her life. I told them that there is a reason that we’re here on this Earth -– that each of us has a mission in this world. And I urged them to use their lives to give meaning to Hadiya’s life. I urged them to dream as big as she did, and work as hard as she did, and live a life that honors every last bit of her God-given promise.

So today, I want to say the exact same thing to all of you. I want to urge you to come together and do something worthy of Hadiya Pendleton’s memory and worthy of our children’s future.

Join me and Hadiya’s classmates and young people across this city who, by the way, even in the face of so much hardship and such long odds, are still fighting so hard to succeed.

We need to show them -– not just with words, but with action -– that they are not alone in this struggle. We need to show them that we believe in them, and we need to give them everything they need to believe in themselves.

I would not be here if it weren’t for that kind of belief. And I know that together, we can do this. So let me tell you this: I look forward to the work that you do. I look forward to you hitting this goal and surpassing it. I look forward to this city being the model of what communities can do to wrap their arms around our youth and make them the best they can be, to embrace all of our neighborhoods and every last one of our children.

Thank you so much. Good luck, and God bless.

Statement from the President on Senate Background Checks Agreement

I applaud Senators Joe Manchin and Pat Toomey for their leadership on forging a bipartisan agreement around commonsense background checks that will make it harder for dangerous people to get their hands on a gun.

This is not my bill, and there are aspects of the agreement that I might prefer to be stronger. But the agreement does represent welcome and significant bipartisan progress. It recognizes that there are good people on both sides of this issue, and we don’t have to agree on everything to know that we’ve got to do something to stem the tide of gun violence.

Of course, a lot of work remains. Congress needs to finish the job. The Senate must overcome obstruction by defeating a threatened filibuster, and allow a vote on this and other commonsense reforms to protect our kids and our communities. Any bill still has to clear the House. So I’m going to keep asking the American people to stand up and raise their voices, because these measures deserve a vote – and so do the families and communities they’re designed to protect.

Statement by NSC Spokesperson Caitlin Hayden on Earthquake in Southern Iran

The American people extend condolences to the people of Iran for the devastation that resulted from the recent earthquake and aftershocks in southern Iran, particularly to those whose loved ones were injured or lost their lives. We are deeply saddened by the loss of life and the destruction that’s been caused by this disaster, and stand ready to help the Iranian people in this time of need.

Dr. Jill Biden Announces Sheila Nix as Chief of Staff

Washington, D.C.—The Office of the Vice President today announced that Sheila Nix, who most recently served as Chief of Staff for Vice President Biden at Obama for America, will serve as Dr. Jill Biden’s new Chief of Staff.

Dr. Biden said: “I am thrilled to have Sheila take on this new role. She’s a terrific leader and I know that her wide-ranging experience, strategic vision, and passion will continue to move us forward.”

Sheila Nix comes to the White House from a broad range of leadership positions, including serving as ONE’s U.S. Executive Director, where she was responsible for ONE’s advocacy, communications, and campaign activities in the United States. Before joining ONE, she was a senior vice president for the Strategy Group, focusing on direct mail strategy and production for presidential, Congressional, and state races.

Nix brings a wealth of experience having worked in federal and state government and politics for more than 20 years. Her public service career includes serving as the first Chief of Staff to Senator Bill Nelson of Florida and serving as Chief of Staff and Legislative Director to Senator Bob Kerrey. She also served as the Budget Director at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

She earned her BSBA in Accounting from Creighton University and her JD from the University of Chicago Law School.

Remarks by the President Announcing the Fiscal Year 2014 Budget

Rose Garden

11:00 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, everybody. Please, please have a seat. Well, as President, my top priority is to do everything I can to reignite what I consider to be the true engine of the American economy: a rising, thriving middle class. That’s what I think about every day. That’s the driving force behind every decision that I make.

And over the past three years, our businesses have created nearly 6.5 million new jobs. But we know we can help them create more. Corporate profits are at an all-time high. But we have to get wages and incomes rising, as well. Our deficits are falling at the fastest pace in years. But we can do more to bring them down in a balanced and responsible way.

The point is, our economy is poised for progress -- as long as Washington doesn’t get in the way. Frankly, the American people deserve better than what we’ve been seeing: a shortsighted, crisis-driven decision-making, like the reckless, across-the-board spending cuts that are already hurting a lot of communities out there -- cuts that economists predict will cost us hundreds of thousands of jobs during the course of this year.

If we want to keep rebuilding our economy on a stronger, more stable foundation, then we’ve got to get smarter about our priorities as a nation. And that’s what the budget I’m sending to Congress today represents -- a fiscally responsible blueprint for middle-class jobs and growth.

For years, the debate in this town has raged between reducing our deficits at all costs, and making the investments necessary to grow our economy. And this budget answers that argument, because we can do both. We can grow our economy and shrink our deficits. In fact, as we saw in the 1990s, nothing shrinks deficits faster than a growing economy. That’s been my goal since I took office. And that should be our goal going forward.

At a time when too many Americans are still looking for work, my budget begins by making targeted investments in areas that will create jobs right now, and prime our economy to keep generating good jobs down the road. As I said in my State of the Union address, we should ask ourselves three questions every day: How do we make America a magnet for new jobs? How do we give our workers the skills they need to do those jobs? And how do we make sure that hard work leads to a decent living?

To make America a magnet for good jobs, this budget invests in new manufacturing hubs to help turn regions left behind by globalization into global centers of high-tech jobs. We’ll spark new American innovation and industry with cutting-edge research like the initiative I announced to map the human brain and cure disease. We’ll continue our march towards energy independence and address the threat of climate change. And our Rebuild America Partnership will attract private investment to put construction workers back on the job rebuilding our roads, our bridges and our schools, in turn attracting even more new business to communities across the country.

To help workers earn the skills they need to fill those jobs, we’ll work with states to make high-quality preschool available to every child in America. And we’re going to pay for it by raising taxes on tobacco products that harm our young people. It’s the right thing to do. (Applause.)

We’ll reform our high schools and job training programs to equip more Americans with the skills they need to compete in the 21st century economy. And we’ll help more middle-class families afford the rising cost of college.

To make sure hard work is rewarded, we’ll build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class for anybody who is willing to work hard to climb them. So we’ll partner with 20 of our communities hit hardest by the recession to help them improve housing, and education, and business investment. And we should make the minimum wage a wage you can live on -- because no one who works full-time should have to raise his or her family in poverty. (Applause.)

My budget also replaces the foolish across-the-board spending cuts that are already hurting our economy. And I have to point out that many of the same members of Congress who supported deep cuts are now the ones complaining about them the loudest as they hit their own communities. Of course, the people I feel for are the people who are directly feeling the pain of these cuts -- the people who can least afford it. They’re hurting military communities that have already sacrificed enough. They’re hurting middle-class families. There are children who have had to enter a lottery to determine which of them get to stay in their Head Start program with their friends. There are seniors who depend on programs like Meals on Wheels so they can live independently, but who are seeing their services cut.

That’s what this so-called sequester means. Some people may not have been impacted, but there are a lot of folks who are being increasingly impacted all across this country. And that's why my budget replaces these cuts with smarter ones, making long-term reforms, eliminating actual waste and programs we don’t need anymore.

So building new roads and bridges, educating our children from the youngest age, helping more families afford college, making sure that hard work pays. These are things that should not be partisan. They should not be controversial. We need to make them happen. My budget makes these investments to grow our economy and create jobs, and it does so without adding a dime to our deficits.

Now, on the topic of deficits, despite all the noise in Washington, here’s a clear and unassailable fact: our deficits are already falling. Over the past two years, I’ve signed legislation that will reduce our deficits by more than .5 trillion -- more than two-thirds of it through spending cuts and the rest through asking the wealthiest Americans to begin paying their fair share.

That doesn’t mean we don't have more work to do. But here’s how we finish the job. My budget will reduce our deficits by nearly another trillion, so that all told we will have surpassed the goal of trillion in deficit reduction that independent economists believe we need to stabilize our finances. But it does so in a balanced and responsible way, a way that most Americans prefer.

Both parties, for example, agree that the rising cost of caring for an aging generation is the single biggest driver of our long-term deficits. And the truth is, for those like me who deeply believe in our social insurance programs, think it's one of the core things that our government needs to do, if we want to keep Medicare working as well as it has, if we want to preserve the ironclad guarantee that Medicare represents, then we’re going to have to make some changes. But they don't have to be drastic ones. And instead of making drastic ones later, what we should be doing is making some manageable ones now.

The reforms I’m proposing will strengthen Medicare for future generations without undermining that ironclad guarantee that Medicare represents. We’ll reduce our government’s Medicare bills by finding new ways to reduce the cost of health care -- not by shifting the costs to seniors or the poor or families with disabilities. They are reforms that keep the promise we’ve made to our seniors: basic security that is rock-solid and dependable, and there for you when you need it. That's what my budget represents.

My budget does also contain the compromise I offered Speaker Boehner at the end of last year, including reforms championed by Republican leaders in Congress. And I don’t believe that all these ideas are optimal, but I’m willing to accept them as part of a compromise -- if, and only if, they contain protections for the most vulnerable Americans.

But if we're serious about deficit reduction, then these reforms have to go hand-in-hand with reforming our tax code to make it more simple and more fair, so that the wealthiest individuals and biggest corporations cannot keep taking advantage of loopholes and deductions that most Americans don’t get. That's the bottom line.

If you're serious about deficit reduction, then there's no excuse to keep these loopholes open. They don't serve an economic purpose. They don't grow our economy. They don't put people back to work. All they do is to allow folks who are already well-off and well-connected game the system. If anyone thinks I’ll finish the job of deficit reduction on the backs of middle-class families or through spending cuts alone that actually hurt our economy short-term, they should think again.

When it comes to deficit reduction, I’ve already met Republicans more than halfway. So in the coming days and weeks, I hope that Republicans will come forward and demonstrate that they’re really as serious about the deficits and debt as they claim to be.
So growing our economy, creating jobs, shrinking our deficits. Keeping our promise to the generation that made us great, but also investing in the next generation -- the next generation that will make us even greater. These are not conflicting goals. We can do them in concert. That’s what my budget does. That’s why I’m so grateful for the great work that Jeff Zients and his team have done in shaping this budget. The numbers work. There’s not a lot of smoke and mirrors in here.

And if we can come together, have a serious, reasoned debate -- not driven by politics -- and come together around common sense and compromise, then I’m confident we will move this country forward and leave behind something better for our children. That’s our task.

Thank you, God bless you. God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)

END
11:11 A.M. EDT

Remarks by the President at "In Performance at the White House: Memphis Soul"

East Room

7:40 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Everybody, please have a seat. And give it up for our musical director, Booker T. -- (applause) -- and the Memphis Soul All-Stars. (Applause.) I just want everybody to know that it is now my second term, so rather than “Hail to the Chief,” we're going with that from here on out. (Laughter and applause.) Little change in tradition.

Now, before we get started, I am going to exercise some presidential prerogative to say a few words about two very special people who are here tonight -- this will humiliate them, but I'm going to go ahead and do it anyway. Jess Wright and Kenny Thompson both work on my staff -- crucial members of my team since way back in Iowa in 2007.

Over the weekend, Kenny popped the question and Jess said yes. (Applause.) So I want to congratulate -- publicly -- Kenny Thompson and Jess Wright. A beautiful couple. (Applause.) We love them. They are wonderful. They've been loyal, shown such great friendship to me, and I'm so glad that they have gone ahead and taken the plunge.

By the way, guys, Justin Timberlake just got married to this lovely young lady right here, Jessica Biel. (Applause.) So Justin can probably offer you a few pointers. And, Justin, they are looking for a wedding singer. (Laughter.) I'm just saying.

Tonight, I am speaking not just as a President, but as one of America’s best-known Al Green impersonators. (Laughter.) So I have a new appreciation for what Al once said about the Memphis Soul sound that he helped create -- “We don’t even know ourselves how that music has endured for so long and how that came out of us.”

All I know is I’ve been looking forward to tonight because, let’s face it, who does not love this music? (Applause.) These songs get us on the dance floor. Even the governor of Tennessee said he's going to dance tonight. (Laughter.) They get stuck in our heads. We go back over them again and again. And they’ve played an important part in our history.

In the sixties and seventies, Memphis knew its share of division and discord and injustice. But in that turbulent time, the sound of Hi, and Duke, and Sun, and Stax Records tried to bridge those divides -- to create a little harmony with harmony. The great Memphis musician Don Nix went to an all-white school, and he described what it was like. He said, “If you could imagine, nobody’s ever heard R&B music before. White kids had never heard it. And you can imagine what that did to us.”

So he and others kept playing music that everybody could get into. They created a whole new sound, and as they did, they broke down barriers. On McLemore Avenue, in the heart of a segregated city, Stax Records was integrated from the studio musicians all the way to upper management. Booker T. Jones and Steve Cropper, who are both here tonight, helped form one of the city’s first integrated bands. They weren’t allowed to go to school together. They weren’t always allowed to travel or eat together. But no one could stop them from playing music together.

And that was the spirit of their music -- the sound of Soulsville, U.S.A., a music that, at its core, is about the pain of being alone, the power of human connection, and the importance of treating each other right. After all, this is the music that asked us to try a little tenderness. It’s the music that put Mr. Big Stuff in his place. (Laughter.) And it’s the music that challenged us to accept new ways of thinking with four timeless words: “Can you dig it?” (Laughter.)

So it’s really no surprise that Memphis Soul swept the nation, and it has stood the test of time. And tonight, we bring it to the White House.

We’ve got folks here who were there at the beginning, legends like Mavis Staples, Charlie Musselwhite, William Bell, and Eddie Floyd. We’ve got artists like Cyndi Lauper, and Ben Harper, and Queen Latifah, who still turn to Memphis for inspiration. We’ve got Justin Timberlake, a proud son of Memphis who’s never forgotten his roots, and the Alabama Shakes, who are bringing the Muscle Shoals sound to a new generation.

So to all of you, even more than for the music you’ve created, I want to say a special thank you for the difference that you’ve made in our lives. More than half a century after Soulsville, U.S.A. first opened its doors, you still bring us together. You still remind us how much we have in common. You still help us imagine a better place. And you promise, through your beautiful music, that you can take us there.

So tonight, we’re going to start things off with two extraordinary artists who span the generations -- one is a Memphis legend who’s been around just about forever, the other an American Idol who’s turning 21 today. In the heyday of soul music, no band had more hits than the group known simply as “Sam and Dave.” Here to perform his classic “Soul Man” along with Joshua Ledet, please welcome the great Sam Moore. (Applause.)

END
7:47 P.M. EDT

Readout of President Obama’s Telephone Call with President Karzai

Earlier today, the President spoke with President Karzai of Afghanistan as a part of their regular consultations. They discussed a range of issues, including security transition, preparations for Afghanistan’s 2014 elections, and Afghan-led peace and reconciliation efforts. The leaders welcomed Afghan security forces’ increasingly assuming lead security responsibility across the country. They also look forward to the spring 2013 milestone, which will mark a shift in ISAF’s mission from combat to support, as Afghan forces assume the operational lead across the country. President Karzai affirmed his support for an inclusive process of preparing for Afghanistan’s 2014 elections, and the leaders noted that free, fair, and credible elections would be critical to Afghanistan’s future and continued international support. The President welcomed President Karzai’s recent discussions in Doha with Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani regarding Afghan-led peace and reconciliation. President Karzai welcomed the March 25 handover of the Parwan detention facility to Afghan control. The leaders committed that their teams would continue to keep dangerous detainees off the battlefield and work in partnership at the facility, consistent with Afghan sovereignty.

Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate

Harry I. Johnson, III, of Virginia, to be a Member of the National Labor Relations Board for the term of five years expiring August 27, 2015, vice Terence Francis Flynn, resigned.

Philip Andrew Miscimarra, of Illinois, to be a Member of the National Labor Relations Board for the term of five years expiring December 16, 2017, vice Brian Hayes, term expired.

Mark Gaston Pearce, of New York, to be a Member of the National Labor Relations Board for the term of five years expiring August 27, 2018. (Reappointment)

President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key Administration posts:

• Tammie Kahn – Member, National Museum and Library Services Board
• George Kerscher – Member, National Museum and Library Services Board
• Jacquelyn K. Sundstrand – Member, National Museum and Library Services Board
• Rabbi Samuel N. Gordon – Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council
• Maureen Schulman – Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council
• Melanie N. Roussell – Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Department of Housing and Urban Development

President Obama said, “I am grateful that these impressive individuals have chosen to dedicate their talents to serving the American people at this important time for our country. I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”

President Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to key Administration posts:

Tammie Kahn, Appointee for Member, National Museum and Library Services Board
Tammie Kahn is the Executive Director of the Children’s Museum of Houston, a position she has held since 1995. In this role, she has overseen an expansion of the museum and the creation of an Institute for Family Learning. She is a past President of the Houston Museum District Association and served as the Associate Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. She has served on the boards of the Association of Children’s Museums, the Institute for Learning Innovation, the Greater Houston Collaborative for Children, and the Houston Holocaust Museum. Ms. Kahn received a B.S. from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.B.A. from the University of Houston.

George Kerscher, Appointee for Member, National Museum and Library Services Board
George Kerscher is Secretary General of the DAISY Consortium, an international organization dedicated to facilitating access to information for persons with disabilities. He is President of the International Digital Publishing Forum, Senior Officer of Accessible Technology at Learning Ally, and serves on the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard Board. He was named an Innovator of the Year by U.S. News and World Report in 1998, received the Harry Murphy Catalyst Award in 2004, and recognized as a White House Champion of Change in 2012. Mr. Kerscher received a B.A. from Northeastern Illinois University.

Jacquelyn K. Sundstrand, Appointee for Member, National Museum and Library Services Board
Jacquelyn K. Sundstrand is an associate professor at the University of Nevada, Reno and the Manuscripts and Archives Librarian in the University Libraries’ Special Collections Department. Previously, she was the Library and Archives Coordinator at the Southern Oregon Historical Society from 1993 to 2001, and the Special Collections Librarian and Archivist at California State University, Dominquez Hill from 1985 to 1993. She is a member of the Nevada State Historic Resources Advisory Board, the Society of American Archivists, the Society of California Archivists, the Conference of Intermountain Archivists, and the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress. Ms. Sundstrand received a B.A. from California State University, Fullerton, an M.S.L.S. from the University of Southern California, and an M.A. from the University of California, Riverside.

Rabbi Samuel N. Gordon, Appointee for Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council
Rabbi Samuel N. Gordon is the founding rabbi of Congregation Sukkat Shalom in Wilmette, Illinois. He is a Vice President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and served as Financial Secretary from 1996 to 2001. Rabbi Gordon is a member of the President’s Advisory Council of the Hebrew Union College and a Senior Rabbinic Fellow of the Hartman Institute of Jerusalem. He is a former member of the Citizen’s Committee of the Cook County Juvenile Court and the Reform Pension Board. Rabbi Gordon received a B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh, an M.A. in Hebrew Letters and Ordination from Hebrew Union College, and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Maureen Schulman, Appointee for Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Council
Maureen Schulman is President of Maureen Schulman Public Relations, Inc., and Director of Public Relations for The Eli’s Cheesecake Company. Ms. Schulman is President of the Board of The Happiness Club and a Director of the Magnificent Mile Charitable Foundation. Previously, she served as a director of the Women’s Board of Lincoln Park Zoo, the Chicago Children’s Museum, and as Chairman of the Junior Medical Research Institute Council. Ms. Schulman received a B.F.A. from the University of Miami and an M.S.J. from the Medill School of Northwestern University.

Melanie N. Roussell, Appointee for Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Department of Housing and Urban Development
Melanie N. Roussell is the National Press Secretary for the Democratic National Committee, a position she has held since August 2011. From February 2009 to July 2011, she was Press Secretary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Prior to that, Ms. Roussell served as Spokesperson for the Presidential Inaugural Committee and Southern Regional Communications Director for Obama for America. From February 2007 to July 2008, she was Communications Director for the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives under Chairman John Conyers, Jr. She was honored as one of Florida A&M University’s “40 under 40” Young Alumni in 2011. Ms. Roussell received a B.S. in Broadcast Journalism from Florida A&M University and an M.A. in Public Communication from American University.

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney, 4/9/2013

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

11:52 A.M. EDT

MR. CARNEY: Welcome, everyone. Thanks for your patience. I have a couple of quick announcements. As you may have seen already, President Obama is announcing his intent to nominate three members of the National Labor Relations Board -- Mark Gaston-Pearce to serve another term as member and to be designated chairman. And then, Harry I. Johnson, III and Philip Miscimarra both to be members of the NLRB.

These nominations -- if all, including the two that we’ve nominated prior, are acted on by the Senate -- would bring the NLRB up to full operating level, ensuring that it continues to function and fulfill its responsibilities to look after workers’ rights. This would be a bipartisan board. The two nominees, Harry Johnson and Philip Miscimarra, are Republican nominees and you would have a balanced, bipartisan board, and we urge the Senate to move on those nominations efficiently.

Separately, I’d also like to say that this afternoon the Senate will vote to confirm Judge Patty Shwartz to the Third Circuit. Judge Shwartz was reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 8, 2012, making her way to 397 days for what should be a bipartisan confirmation vote. After her expected confirmation, there will still be 14 other judicial nominees awaiting floor votes. Of these 14, 13 were approved by the Judiciary Committee unanimously, and five nominees would fill judicial emergencies. They have been waiting on the Senate floor for an average of 67 days for a vote. That’s nearly twice as long as President Bush’s judicial nominees. We urge the Senate to move on these nominees without further delay.

Julie.

Q Thank you. North Korea is urging all foreigners to evacuate South Korea, saying that the two countries are on the verge of a nuclear war. Does the U.S. take this latest threat seriously in any way? Or do you think that this is just more bluster?

MR. CARNEY: North Korea’s statement advising foreigners to make plans to evacuate Seoul is more unhelpful rhetoric that serves only to escalate tensions. This kind of rhetoric will only further isolate North Korea from the international community and we continue to urge the North Korean leadership to heed President Obama’s call to choose the path of peace and to come into compliance with its international obligations. We have seen this kind of bellicose rhetoric, these kinds of provocative statements consistently -- obviously, in recent days and weeks -- but also as part of a pattern of behavior that we’ve seen over the years from the North Korean leadership.

The end result of this kind of behavior has only been to further isolate North Korea from the rest of the world and to do harm to the North Korean people. The North Korean leadership would be wiser to focus on developing its economy and assisting the North Korean people, who suffer under this kind of leadership that chooses development of missile programs and nuclear weapons rather than the feeding of its own people.

Q Whether related to this latest statement or just more broadly the situation there, are there any discussions happening within the administration about revising any travel warnings for Americans in South Korea?

MR. CARNEY: Well, travel warnings are issued by the State Department, so that’s your best source for information on that. In general, again, we are taking prudent measures in response to the stepped-up rhetoric and actions by the North Koreans. Those have been reported on -- some of the flights that we flew, the repositioning of missile defense, assets, and the like. So those actions continue to be taken and to ensure both the defense of the homeland, as well as our allies.

Q And then on a separate topic, there’s going to be a protest outside the White House shortly with several liberal groups and a couple of lawmakers who are going to be delivering a petition. They’re upset about some of the positions the President has taken in his upcoming budget and on other issues. Is there any concern that the President may be alienating some of his liberal allies, particularly those who were such a crucial part of his reelection?

MR. CARNEY: The President’s budget represents a good-faith attempt to reach a deal with Congress that would achieve this President’s number-one objective, which is economic growth and job creation. That has to be the first priority of everyone in Washington who’s focused on our budget issues.

What his budget proves -- will prove, when you see it tomorrow -- is that you can invest in our economy, protect our seniors, make sure that we’re making crucial investments in areas like infrastructure, education, and innovation that help our economy grow in the future, and responsibly reduce our deficit. We need to grow the economy and create jobs. That’s the number-one objective.

We have come a long way since the depths of the Great Recession, but we have a long way to go. We’ve created 6.5 million private sector jobs -- the United States of America, the American people have -- since we emerged from the recession.

Since the depths of the recession, we have emerged to create 6.5 million private sector jobs. We have seen quarter after quarter of positive economic growth, but we are a long way from where we need to be. We need to move forward through a budget process that ensures that we protect the middle class; provide ladders of opportunity to those who aspire to the middle class; that we invest in education, and infrastructure, and innovation; and that we, as part of a broad budget approach, continue to reduce our deficit.

I know you know, Julie, because you’ve been here, the President signed into law .5 trillion in deficit reduction thus far, and he’s done it in a way that has allowed our economy to continue to grow, despite some of the disruptions we’ve faced because of recalcitrance on Capitol Hill by Republicans, most notably in the summer of 2011. But we have more work to do.

If the President’s budget were to become law, that would include not just the measures that allow for economic growth and job creation, but in concert with that, an additional .8 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years, bringing the total to .3 trillion. That in turn would -- for the wonks out there -- create a deficit to GDP ratio under 3 percent, which is what economists say we need to stabilize our debt. All of this is part of a broad, holistic approach to our budget challenges.

Q So does that mean you’re not concerned about the worries of some allies?

MR. CARNEY: I think Democrats and allies understand that this budget the President will put forward tomorrow is not his ideal budget. It is a document that recognizes that to achieve a bipartisan solution to our budget challenges we need to make tough choices. It demonstrates, in stark contrast to the House Republican budget, that you can invest in our economy and protect our middle class and protect our seniors, and reduce the deficit.

You don’t have to go the route of Chairman Ryan, which is to eviscerate or devastate programs that help the middle class, block grant, and eviscerate or slice down Medicaid, so that families that rely on Medicaid, including families who have children who are disabled, you don’t have to voucherize Medicare and shift thousands of dollars of cost annually onto vulnerable seniors just to reduce the deficit. And you certainly don’t need to give .7 trillion in tax cuts to the wealthiest of Americans and then pay for it by all these cuts to programs that help the middle class.

There is a better way. There is a balanced way, and that's the way the President will put forward tomorrow.

Yes.

Q Senator Baucus is saying that he wants to produce a tax reform plan by August. Is that something that's included in the President’s vision for a grand bargain on the deficit? Does it include comprehensive tax reform? And is he interested in making reforms to the individual tax code as well as the corporate tax code?

MR. CARNEY: Well, the outlines of the President’s budget have gotten out, but I will urge you to wait until tomorrow, and we’ll have just a day-long budget-palooza filled with details for you to examine.

But the fact is the President’s balanced approach to deficit reduction does include revenues through tax reform, closing of loopholes, and capping of deductions -- very much in the manner that Speaker Boehner proposed late last year. The difference being that, at least now anyway, the President believes we need to take the savings from that, the revenue generated from tax reform, and apply it to deficit reduction rather than turning it into tax cuts for the wealthy and well-connected.

So that is tax reform, and that will be part of our budget. But for the details of that I would urge you to wait until tomorrow.

Q What can you tell us about the dinner planned for tomorrow night?

MR. CARNEY: Well, as was the case the first time the President had dinner with a dozen Republican senators, this will be a private dinner where the President looks forward to discussing a range of subjects, including, of course, budget and fiscal matters, but also immigration reform and the effort to pass common-sense legislation to reduce gun violence and other issues, I’m sure.

He looks forward to this. As I think you know, Senator Isakson took on the task of compiling the invitation list, and I would refer you to his office or to the individual senators’ offices to ask about who is attending. We won’t put that out, but it’s up to them to say whether or not they're attending, or to Senator Isakson to decide whether or not he’ll put out his list.

This will be, hopefully, in the President’s view, the same kind of constructive conversation that he had the first time with a different group of senators. And he believes that there is a common-sense caucus in Washington that embraces the idea that compromise requires moving off of your absolutist positions, accepting that you don't get everything you want; that ideological purity is not achievable legislatively when you have a divided government as we do in Washington.

And that's what the President’s budget embodies. And he knows -- because he’s had conversations with Republican senators who have expressed this -- that there is at least an element of the Republican conference in the Senate that believes that bipartisan compromise is possible on a whole range of issues, including budget issues. So he’s hoping to continue that conversation, and he hopes it will be productive.

Q Is it going to be here or outside?

MR. CARNEY: I think it has been reported that it will be at the White House, and that is correct, it’s going to be here.

Brianna.

Q Jay, is he going to make a direct appeal at that dinner tomorrow for some Republican senator there to allow debate on gun legislation?

MR. CARNEY: Well, I can't predict. There’s no script. But I think as you heard last night when the President was in Hartford, Connecticut, he feels very passionately about the obligation of each individual senator to allow a vote on each of the components of these gun violence measures.

It would be a shame, as he said, that those who applauded the idea that every one of these measures should have a vote in honor of Gabby Giffords, or the children of Newtown, or the victims of Aurora, those senators who applauded in January at the State of the Union address hopefully will, in keeping with their applause then, not take any action to try to hide behind procedural measures to avoid a vote.

If they are opposed to background checks, they should stand up and say so, and vote no. The American people demand at least that. They elected members of the Senate to vote. That is their principal job. That's what they get paid for. They don't get paid to block votes. They get paid to vote and to make decisions about what they believe is right or wrong for the country.

And if they think background checks, for example -- that 90 percent of the American people support -- are wrong, if they're with the 10 percent, they ought to stand by their convictions, but explain why.

Q I mean, there is a difference between saying that in a speech and sitting over a dinner table and personally --

MR. CARNEY: Oh, I don't think the President will be shy about expressing his views on this matter. I’m just not -- I’m telling you there’s not a script, so I can't guarantee the direction of the conversation. But I can assure you that the need to make progress on legislation that is very common-sense, that is supported in each of its components by a majority of the American people, will be a topic of conversation. It will certainly be something the President wants to discuss.

Q But on this issue of this Florida couple who allegedly abducted their children from their grandparents, who had custody of the kids, and are now apparently in Cuba. CNN has now, it appears, seen and spoken to the father of the children --

MR. CARNEY: I’m afraid I’ll have to take the -- I’m not aware of this story. I’ll have to take the question. I didn’t have CNN tuned on.

Q You’re aware of the story, though. You’re aware of the story of the Florida couple?

MR. CARNEY: Just a little bit. I just don’t have anything to say on it.

Q Will the U.S. be demanding that Cuba turn over the family?

MR. CARNEY: I’ll have to take the question, Brianna.

Yes, Ann.

Q Thanks, Jay. On the gun legislation, is the President reaching out at all to Senator Manchin or Senator Toomey? Does he hold out hope that some kind of language on the actual background checks could be reached? And in his talks with the Newtown parents, would background checks have made any difference in Newtown?

MR. CARNEY: I’ll start with the first part. The President and his team here at the White House is actively engaged -- or the President and his team are actively engaged in the effort to work with those members of the Senate who are trying to forge bipartisan compromise on the various components of the gun legislation that’s up there.

I don’t have specific conversations to read out, but we are obviously continuing to work with members of the Senate. We remain hopeful that bipartisan compromise can be achieved. We remain insistent that legislation be voted on and not blocked through filibuster or other procedural measures or manners. But we are engaged in this process from the top down.

What the President has said about and said again last night about the comprehensive set of proposals that he put forward in January is that, even if they all pass, we would not eliminate all violent acts using firearms. There would still be gun violence in America, there’s no question. But it is incumbent upon those lawmakers who were sent here by their constituents and incumbent upon the President and the Vice President who were elected by the entire country to do whatever they can that is sensible and common-sense that will reduce gun violence; that will save the lives of children like the children of Newtown.

It won’t eliminate the problem, but the problem needs to be addressed. We need to reduce the number of these horrific events and the number of the often unreported or little reported events that take the lives of so many Americans every day of the week.

Major.

Q I want to take up something that was discussed last week that I think you might want to clarify, because there’s been a lot of reporting on it. When the President’s budget comes out it will replace the sequester. There are Republican contentions that the net deficit reduction will only therefore be 0 billion, and there were those who concluded from your briefing last week that you said as much.

MR. CARNEY: No, the --

Q Would you walk us through the math, as the White House sees it, on net deficit reduction, how the sequester is replaced, and what the budget will say about 10-year deficit reduction numbers?

MR. CARNEY: The budget will say about 10-year deficit reduction numbers that if the President’s budget is enacted, it will reduce the deficit by .8 trillion. Added to the .5 trillion that’s already been signed into law by the President, that brings us -- even for those of us who didn’t go far in math -- to .3 trillion.

The President’s budget will replace the sequester, which was designed to be bad policy for everyone with not just .2 trillion in deficit reduction, but .8 trillion in deficit reduction. In other words, it will go further than the sequester.

Now, if the proposition is that the sequester is policy that we want to embrace, I encourage members of Congress to stand up and say so -- that they believe in the defense cuts; that they believe in the fact that there are no entitlement savings; that they believe in the across-the-board, indiscriminate nature of the sequester, which was designed by Congress to force Congress to do its job.

I mean, it was an admission by Congress, essentially, or at least posited by those who designed it, that we would design the sequester to reduce the deficit in an arbitrary, indiscriminate way because it is our job, members of Congress, to do it in a thoughtful way, to do it in the best possible way in terms of policy. So the whole proposition has been, as you know, Major, since you covered it, since the summer of 2011, to achieve further deficit reduction not through the sequester but through better policy, and that’s what the President’s budget does.

Q And is it your contention that when we look at the numbers tomorrow, what we will see is .8 trillion in deficit reduction --

MR. CARNEY: Yes.

Q -- that is composed of 0 billion in new revenue and .2 trillion in spending cuts? And interest that is --

MR. CARNEY: Roughly, that is the breakdown. It’s more than 2 to 1, as is the case with the President’s overall .3 trillion in deficit reduction. More than of that deficit reduction -- for every dollar in revenue, more than of it comes in spending cuts.

In the President’s budget tomorrow -- again, I urge you to examine the details when it is put out -- there will be revenue achieved through tax reform, closing of loopholes, and capping of deductions that go to the well-off and well-connected, and that will produce revenue. I think as we’ve talked about, the offer the President made to Speaker Boehner is incorporated within the budget. That offer included roughly 0 billion in revenue gleaned from tax reform, capping of deductions, and closing of loopholes. That will be included in the budget.

The rest will come from savings elsewhere in the budget, including through entitlement reforms that we’ve proposed and we’ve talked about, and including those that were in the Boehner offer, the offer to the Speaker of the House.

It will also include entirely paid-for measures that demonstrate our need to invest in our economy so that it grows and it creates jobs. Because if there’s one thing that I think economists of all stripes would agree on, it is that we cannot reduce our deficit effectively if our economy is not growing. We need to make sure that we take a balanced approach that allows us to continue to invest so that our middle class is expanding and our economy is creating jobs.

Q There are many things we don’t know about the budget, but one of the things we don’t know is how the administration intends to protect those it only describes as most vulnerable from the superlative CPI or chained CPI alteration the President is now embracing. Is it your message to those who will soon be protesting here at the White House that they will be pleasantly surprised when they see the contours of these specifics?

MR. CARNEY: Well, I won’t speak for them. I think in some of the reporting on this, already, you’ve seen noted experts in the field who have said that should a proposal to make this technical adjustment to how we calculate cost-of-living increases -- across the board in government programs, not just with social insurance programs -- be made with -- paired with a proposal to protect vulnerable groups of citizens, that that would be a positive thing. And that is, in fact, what the President’s budget will do.

Q And we’ll see specific details of how that would be done, tomorrow?

MR. CARNEY: Correct.

Q I want to ask you about your reaction, if the administration has any, to comments over the weekend from both Xi Jinping and the Chinese Foreign Minister about North Korea, and if in any way, shape, or form, Jay, they reflect conversations which I gather have been rather consistent and persistent between this administration and Chinese officials.

MR. CARNEY: We welcome the comments by the new Chinese President and by the Chinese leadership that reflect, I think, China’s concern about North Korean actions and rhetoric. We have absolutely been consulting with the Chinese about the need to use their influence on the North Koreans to help bring about a reduction in this behavior and rhetoric from the North Koreans. We’ve also been in discussions with Moscow about this, with the Russian leadership about this.

So, yes, we’ve been very open about the fact that we’re having these conversations and our call on the Chinese to use their unique influence with North Korea on this matter. It is in the interest of regional stability, in the interest of every nation in the region as well as the world that the situation there stabilize and that North Korea begin to take seriously its international obligations.

Q Can I follow on that, Jay?

MR. CARNEY: Sure.

Q What’s your take on this warning, if you will, to countries to evacuate their embassies? What’s the purpose of that?

MR. CARNEY: Look, we have seen a series of statements from the North Korean regime that are bellicose in nature and designed to ratchet up tension in the region. This is in keeping with a pattern of behavior that is familiar to those who have worked on the North Korean issue over the past many years. Veterans from the George W. Bush administration and the Clinton administration can certainly fill you in on the history of this kind of behavior that we’re seeing from the North Koreans.

What we have said is that it is unhelpful, it is concerning, it is provocative. We are taking necessary, prudent measures to ensure that we are -- as we are -- able to defend the homeland our allies. We are working with our allies in Seoul and Tokyo on this matter and consulting with the Chinese and Russians to urge them to use their influence to prevail upon the North Koreans.

Q What’s your understanding of the purpose of these threats? Do you see them as intended to convince America’s allies that it should dial -- that this country should dial back the pressure?

MR. CARNEY: I wouldn’t venture into analyzing the motivations of the North Koreans.

Q Let me ask you then, if any of our allies have said, hey, tone it down a little bit?

MR. CARNEY: I think you’ve seen from our international partners and our allies in the region a great consistency in our approach to this both in the actions that we’ve taken and in our response to it from this podium and elsewhere. We are concerned about it, but we also have made clear that this is not an unusual patter of behavior when it comes to the North Koreans.

Q And on gun violence, some fairly mainstream conservative groups are now supporting the idea of filibustering even expanded background checks. Does that concern you?

MR. CARNEY: It would be appalling if common-sense legislation supported by 90 percent of the American people, by something like 80 percent of Republicans, 80 percent of gun owners were to be filibustered. Have the courage of your convictions and allow a vote, and vote no. If you want to vote no, vote no.

How you can tell the families of Newtown victims, some of whom are here today trying to urge members of the Senate to pass -- or at least vote on these common-sense measures -- that the memory of their children doesn't deserve at least that -- I can't even imagine that conversation.

We fully expect and hope that individual senators will be see the rightness in allowing votes on these measures, even if they believe that they need to vote no for whatever reason. The victims of Newtown and of Aurora, of Oak Creek and Tucson, of Virginia Tech and the countless other victims of other shootings deserve that.

Kristen.

Q Jay, politically, has it become a case of where the President is trying to just get a vote? There has been so much focus on vote -- this up-or-down vote on this legislation. Is that now the focus of just getting a vote?

MR. CARNEY: The focus is on turning these common-sense proposals into common-sense laws. The first hurdle is to ensure that they get voted on. All of these legislative initiatives have, based on the data, majority support in the country. Some of them, like universal background checks, have overwhelming support. As the President said last night, how many issues do you know where the breakdown is 90-10? Ninety percent on one side and 10 percent on the other.

Wouldn’t it be shocking -- how would you explain to your constituents and for those in leadership, to the entire country, why you voted -- why you took action to block a vote, a simple majority vote on a piece of legislation that more than 90 percent of the American people support; that Democrats, Republicans and independents support; that Americans from all over the country -- both in cities and in rural areas -- support; that gun owners support in substantial majority? I’m not sure. It’s a task I can't even imagine trying to accomplish.

So I hope, the President hopes, as you heard last night, that that's not the path that they will take. And then we’ll see what happens. The President strongly supports every element of this legislation. He believes that, as the majority of the American people do, that they're all common-sense measures, that they all protect Second Amendment rights, and that they will as a package reduce the scourge of gun violence in America. But we have to get to a vote.

Q Politically, it seems like the assault weapons ban, limiting high-capacity magazines, though, doesn't have a whole lot of political viability. So is the focus -- has it changed to just getting a vote on those? Or is he going to direct his focus on getting a vote on expanding background checks?

MR. CARNEY: We are focused, as you heard the President last night, on every element of this. Every element of this package enjoys majority support. So, generally speaking, something is politically viable if a majority supports it.

Q Do you believe you have majority support in the Senate?

MR. CARNEY: We’ll see. But we won’t find out if we don't get a vote. And that's why the first hurdle here is to make it clear to members of the Senate that it is their obligation, if they -- well, whether or not they stood up at the State of the Union and applauded when the President said that Gabby Giffords and the victims of Newtown and the victims of Tucson and Oak Creek and Virginia Tech deserved a vote -- it is their obligation, because they were sent here to vote, to fulfill their responsibility and to show the courage of their convictions, and to explain why they're voting no if they're voting no, as the President said.

And then we’ll see where the votes -- how the votes come out. But we can't test the principle about whether or not there’s majority support if some senators decide to prevent a vote.

Q And, Jay, on North Korea, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command said that North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and missile program represents a “clear and direct threat to the United States and its allies in the region.” Does the President share that assessment? And doesn't that suggest that there is concern that these latest provocations are more than just bluster?

MR. CARNEY: Our North Korean policy is based upon the premise, with our allies and partners internationally, on the proposition that North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons is a threat, is a problem. North Korea’s violation of its international obligations when it comes to developing missile capacity is a threat. And that is why we work so closely with our partners to isolate and pressure North Korea and to bring about a change in behavior. So there’s no inconsistency with that.

And I have said that the latest developments in North Korea are a matter of concern and that is why we have taken the steps that we’ve taken. But it is important also to remember the history here and the patterns that we have seen in behavior and rhetoric from the North Koreans. So both are true.

Q But some veterans have said that the patterns are different, that this leader is younger and more unpredictable, and that there has been a consistency to these provocations that haven’t been seen in the past.

MR. CARNEY: Well, I think much of what you have seen thus far from the North Koreans has occurred in the past, whether it’s testing missiles or weapons, or shutting down or threatening to shut down Kaesong, the joint facility. These are actions that have been taken in the past. Clearly, there’s a new leader, but the regime is very much what it was.

Scott, and then Jackie.

Q Thanks, Jay. Tomorrow -- could you speak a little bit about the First Lady’s appearance in Chicago on the gun issue? I don’t recall her getting this directly involved on a political issue of the day. And just some of the White House thinking behind putting her out front right now.

MR. CARNEY: I urge you to listen to what the First Lady has to say and assess it once you have. The First Lady obviously is a native of Chicago, born and raised in Chicago, and as has been discussed, there was a very high-profile shooting in Chicago -- Hadiya Pendleton. And Hadiya’s parents were in attendance at the State of the Union address. And I think that is something that the First Lady has spoken to -- has spoken about and will likely speak about.

But the legislative effort, the working with Congress, the political effort, if you will, is being undertaken and led by the President.

Q How unusual is this? I mean, you’ve been in Washington a long time. I don’t recall, other than perhaps Secretary Clinton in her husband’s administration, getting directly involved in a major issue like this.

MR. CARNEY: Well, again, I think before you -- I think it’s important to wait and listen to what the First Lady will say. And then, also understand that, as I just said, the negotiations with Congress, the legislative effort that’s underway, the attempt to convince senators directly that they should not filibuster these bills is being led by and undertaken by the President and his team.

Jackie.

MR. CARNEY: I have a question on guns and also on budget. On the guns subject, could you address the critics who, especially yesterday, were saying that the President is exploiting the Newtown tragedy and that were questioning how he came to -- tell us a little about how the family members came to be on Air Force One and brought back to town with him? And a little of what transpired between him and them on the plane for the roughly hour that they were in the air.

MR. CARNEY: Sure. Well, first of all, the families that you’re talking about are here in Washington expressing their views about the need to pass common-sense legislation to reduce gun violence, and I think nobody can speak better for them than they can for themselves.

When we looked at having an event in Connecticut -- Connecticut being a state that recently passed bipartisan legislation to reduce gun violence at the state level -- it was always our intention to meet with Newtown families. The President has met with them in the past. And some of those families were scheduled to come to Washington for this effort that they’re undertaking today, and that’s where the -- when that confluence of our intention to travel and their intention to visit Washington came about, that we offered to give them a ride on Air Force One.

Q Was it the President’s idea?

MR. CARNEY: I’m not quite sure whose idea it was. The President was very supportive of it.

Q And on the subject of the budget, will the President be meeting either today or in the near future with some of these representatives of liberal, left groups, who are especially concerned about Social Security? Or how exactly are you handling the protest from the base?

MR. CARNEY: Well, we meet with allies all the time, both in Congress and representatives of outside groups, and that will continue. I don’t have a meeting with the President to announce or preview, but that’s a dialogue that of course continues regularly. And we are discussing with Democrats on Capitol Hill what’s in the budget; why it is shaped in the fashion that it is; why it represents the President’s top priority, which is economic growth and job creation; and why it embodies the simple fact that you can grow the economy, create jobs, invest in and protect the middle class, protect our seniors, and still reduce the deficit responsibly. It is not one or the other, an either/or proposition.

If you take a balanced approach to deficit reduction, you can do all the things we have to do to invest in our economy. You do not need to do what the House Republican budget does, which is just institute deep, deep cuts in investments that will help our economy grow in the future, and building our roads and bridges and airports and schools; investing in innovation and job training and other aspects of our economy that help the American people take the jobs that will be available in this 21st century economy.

Instead, they cut these programs dramatically. They block grant Medicaid, leaving families who have kids with disabilities in the lurch. They voucherize Medicare and shift costs. And the President is interested in reducing the cost of health care, because the cost of health care drives our long-term deficit and debt challenges. That is one of the aspects of the Affordable Care Act that is often underreported, that it addresses the costs and lowers the costs long term of health care. And the President is interested in that and has taken action on that, and will continue to take action on that.

He is not interested in the proposition that we should just dump costs onto our seniors who can’t afford it, which is what the House Republican budget does. And this is the irony of this thing -- it’s almost like an alternate universe that House Republicans are living in, as if we hadn’t had this debate; as if the American people hadn’t made clear their views on budget proposals like the one the House passed; as if the American people hadn’t made clear their absolute preference for balance in our deficit reduction, and their absolute focus, primarily, on jobs and the economy -- not on doing great harm to our social welfare programs that protect seniors, and giving huge tax cuts to the most fortunate in America.

We had this debate. It would be a little more interesting, I guess, if it weren’t a case of d�j� vu. Because we already know what’s in that proposition. We know how the American people feel about it.

Q I know that he’s including the CPI/cost-of-living formula in his budget, not because he favors it but as a sort of overture toward compromise with Republicans. But now that he’s doing so, can you say why he also didn’t include, say, an increase in -- raising the taxable wage base for Social Security, which is, polls show, a really popular idea that would raise revenues for Social Security as well as reduce benefits --

MR. CARNEY: Well, there are other things besides so-called chained CPI that we’ve talked about, that were in the Boehner offer, first of all. Secondly, there are a host of proposals that are out that the President doesn’t support that unnecessarily burden seniors. On others, he’s obviously open to discussion. He’s made that clear. He’s open to negotiation with Republicans about proposals that deal with cost but do not shift costs and burdens to seniors who can't afford it.

Overall, it’s important to remember that this is a holistic document. This is a budget that demonstrates that if we do all of this together, we can -- if we do all of it together, for those watching on TV, there was a little sideshow, but -- (laughter) -- that if we move forward; if we move all of it together; if we make the necessary investments; if we make sure that the middle class is growing and that there are ladders of opportunity for those who aspire to the middle class; if we reform our tax code in a way that asks the well-off and well-connected to give up special provisions in the tax code that benefit them disproportionately, then we can also make sensible reforms in our entitlements and, taken as a package, reduce our deficit enough so that we exceed the -trillion mark over 10 years that economists say will put our debt situation on a stable path, and that is key to longer-term economic growth, which is the objective.

Economic growth and job creation is the objective. Everything else is a means to achieving that objective.

Alexis, then Cheryl, and then April.

Q Jay, a question on guns and then a quick question on the budget. On guns, you’ve used the term “block” to describe what Senate opponents of the gun legislation are trying to do. But I just want to clarify, are you saying that if 15 senators begin a filibuster, there is not enough support or any technique to break the filibuster and then proceed to move to votes on something that 90 percent, you’re saying, Americans are supportive of, that the families are here to lobby for? You’re saying that if they begin a filibuster, it will be blocked?

MR. CARNEY: I’m saying that senators who decide that it is appropriate to use the filibuster or other procedural methods to prevent a simple vote on these measures are doing a disservice to 90 percent of the American people who support -- in the case of background checks, universal background checks. They are doing a disserve to the memory of the victims of gun violence across the country who deserve at least a vote on these common-sense measures that do not infringe upon our Second Amendment rights.

The President said last night if you support the Second Amendment rights of the American people, as he does, you can also support common-sense measures that do not infringe upon those Second Amendment rights but simply make the job of law enforcement easier, and that close gaping loopholes in our background check system that allow for those who should not by law obtain weapons from obtaining them.

Q But I’m just saying -- there is no other way to get a vote once they begin to filibuster?

MR. CARNEY: Look, I’m saying that this issue has and continues to be challenging enough that if senators don't have the guts to go on the record to vote how they feel on this issue -- background checks or the other issues -- that would be a shame. And that would be a disservice to their constituents and to the 90 percent of the American people who want this passed.

Q Quick question, to follow up on Major’s question about sequestration: I may be confused about this, but sequestration, the billion, is in this fiscal year. The President’s budget is talking about the next fiscal year, which begins in October. So when you talk about replacing the sequester, can you just clarify for me, we’re talking about two separate fiscal years. The sequester has gone into effect --

MR. CARNEY: The sequester -- the .2 trillion of the sequester is over 10 years. This budget would replace the .2 trillion of the overall sequester over --

Q So we sustain the impact of the sequester for this fiscal year, but the President is talking about in the next fiscal year we would hook that money back in?

MR. CARNEY: That’s an excellent question. I believe if the President submitted the budget Wednesday and the Congress were to pass it right away, we’d probably deal with the sequester right away. But that’s an interesting technical question about the imposition of the sequester for this fiscal year when we’re talking about a budget for the next.

Our interest, obviously, is and has been consistently in eliminating the sequester today as well as for the next 10 years.

Q perhaps without negotiating something that would be retroactively --

MR. CARNEY: I think -- it’s a technical question that I think is smart, but I’ll have to get the answer for.

Yes. Yes, sir. Oh, I’m sorry. Cheryl, April, then you. Sorry, short-term memory.

Q Thanks, just real quick about Keystone. A Canadian official, Alison Redford, is in Washington this week to lobby on Keystone. Is she meeting with anyone here at the White House?

MR. CARNEY: Not that I’m aware of. I just don’t know. I think the State Department is probably the fruitful place to have discussions about the process that the State Department is running on that decision.

April.

Q Jay, two questions on the budget. One, you talk a lot about middle-income Americans. What about low-income Americans when it comes to this budget? We’re already seeing cuts to programs, furloughs, and things of that nature. What happens with low-income America with this budget?

MR. CARNEY: There will be investments in our budget that demonstrate the President’s commitment to expanding the middle class by providing what he calls ladders of opportunity to those who are not in the middle class but aspire to be there. And, again, I will ask you to look at the details tomorrow.

But, I mean, this has been a theme that’s been consistent throughout this President’s time in office, which is the necessity of investing in our people, investing in our economy so that it grows and creates jobs, and that the benefits of growth are not enjoyed by only the wealthiest, but that our middle class expands and those who aspire to it, who are struggling, can enter the middle class and go beyond that. So that will be an element of our budget.

I mean, I think that’s a great question because it goes to the point, which is the President’s priority is -- the North Star is how do we help the middle class, how do we expand the middle class. We have to do that through necessary investments. We have to do that through economic growth and job creation. That’s the purpose, he sees, of budgeting; and that, as part of that process, for the strongest economy possible, we can reduce our deficit -- as we have already -- in a way that does not prevent further economic growth or restrict it and that allows for greater job creation.

We can meet that -trillion target over 10 years without doing harm to our economy or our middle-class families or our seniors. That’s the whole enchilada as far as the President is concerned. That’s the purpose of his budget.

Q And then, in this White House, is there a fear that since the GOP is for less government, less spending, that sequestration has fallen into their lap is what they really want?

MR. CARNEY: Well, that’s an interesting theory. I think there are a variety of ways to answer that. I have said in the past that it is ironic, of course, that those who decried the sequester last year have embraced it as a political or tea party victory. But it is also true that the sequester itself does not achieve any of the stated goals of conservatives who want to see long-term reductions in entitlement spending, who don’t generally support across-the-board, damaging cuts to our defense spending.

On the broader proposition, like the idea of shrinking the government, it is interesting to note that -- I was just looking at a table that compared this -- that in the recoveries from the most two recent recessions -- the Great Recession that was in full bloom when this President took office and then the milder recession in 2001, when President Bush was in office -- a huge portion of the job creation in what was otherwise an anemic recovery under President Bush was in government jobs.

As you know, under this President, we’ve had 6.5 million private sector jobs created during the recovery, but we have lost substantial state and local government jobs. That was of course not the case under President Bush, nor was it the case under President Reagan or President Clinton, for that matter.

So this has been a unique recovery that has been made more difficult in the jobs area by the layoffs of teachers and police officers as well as other state and local government workers, a problem that the President has attempted to address in the past through the American Jobs Act and through his budget proposals, but Republicans have rejected -- ironically, because of course they celebrated it back when it happened in the past.

Q I’m going to go back to the original question.

MR. CARNEY: Yes, ma’am.

Q Is there a fear around this White House that you gave -- that this administration, the sequestration gave the Republicans exactly what they wanted?

MR. CARNEY: Again, if the Republicans are saying that exactly what they wanted is the severe, across-the-board reductions in our defense spending, the throwing-off of people on Head Start and the indiscriminate cuts that have resulted in furloughs and layoffs in other parts of the government, I think it would be interesting to hear them say so.

Q Thanks, Jay.

MR. CARNEY: I did promise you a question.

Q Yes, real quick on the furloughs. About 70,000 employees, or at least 70,000 federal employees got letters last month indicating they were -- their agencies intended to furlough them. The letter started this 30-day clock. Have any actually been furloughed?

MR. CARNEY: Are you talking about administration-wide? I would have to direct you to the agencies. You may be able to contact the OMB and they can help direct you to the agencies. It’s an agency by agency -- because they each have their own budgets and they have to both make the notices; the notices go out and then the action is taken.

Q On Thatcher?

MR. CARNEY: Sure.

Q Who’s going to represent the U.S. at the funeral?

MR. CARNEY: I have no updates on that at this time.

Q President Obama, has he been critical of her stand on unions? She was pretty tough of on the unions.

MR. CARNEY: I’m sorry, I didn’t hear that, Connie?

Q President Obama, has he been critical -- had he been critical of her stand on the unions? She was very tough on the unions in the U.K.

MR. CARNEY: Well, obviously we’re talking about a different country and a different leader and a different time. I have noted with some irony the fact that -- well, I won’t even go there. (Laughter.) The President put out a statement about mourning the loss of a great British leader who was much admired by many Americans.

Thanks.

END
12:44 P.M. EDT

Exxon oil pipeline floods Arkansas town, concerns grow about Keystone (Americablog)

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Exxon Oil Spill in Arkansas: Thousands of Barrels of Oozing Goo (Firedoglake)

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More Stockman (New York Times - Paul Krugman)

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Quote of the Day (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)

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The ECB and the Austerity Trap (New York Times - Paul Krugman)

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Medical Marijuana Coming to Florida in 2014? (Firedoglake)

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Obama wades back into debates over drones, Gitmo

"History will cast a harsh judgment on this aspect of our fight against terrorism," he says.

Why leaks controversy could linger

Questions for the Obama administration could stay on the scene for a long time to come.

New gay-rights battleground: Virginia

A once-right leaning state is the newest focal point in the debate over same-sex relationships.

Weiner makes a scene on campaign trail

The New York City mayorial candidate says it's possible more lewd photos of him will emerge.

McCain hits GOP on budget, again

He says that objections to moving on with the budget carry dramatic implications for future bills.

Obama 'troubled' by DOJ probes

The president says he's concerned that it could have a chilling effect on investigative journalism.

Obama prom photo revealed

The future president sported a white suit jacket; his date, Megan Hughes, wore a light blue gown.

Boehner: Parties scuttle immigration

The group has been stuck on what kind of health subsidies undocumented immigrants should receive.

Cuomo on Weiner: 'Shame on us'

The governor responds to possibility of Weiner win.

Immigration talks: Now or never

A self-imposed deadline is looming in the House.

Hemp debate hits farm bill

McConnell fights for legalization behind the scenes.

Weekly Address: America Stands with the City of Boston

President Obama speaks to the American people about the act of terror at the Boston Marathon that wounded dozens and killed three innocent people on Monday, and says that through it all, Boston’s spirit remains undaunted and Americans have proven they refuse to be terrorized.

Transcript | Download mp4 | Download mp3

Learn more:

• President Obama's statement following the Boston bombings (4/15)
• President Obama updates the American people on developments in Boston (4/16)
• President Obama speaks at an interfaith prayer service in Boston (4/18)
• President Obama: We've Seen the Character of Our Country Once More (4/19)

President Obama: "We've Seen the Character of Our Country Once More"

President Barack Obama makes a statement at the White House following the capture of the second suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing, April 19 2013. Seated in the background are Jay Carney, Lisa Monaco, Christine Abizaid, and Ben Rhodes. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

After a daylong manhunt that saw police searching door-to-door through Boston, law enforcement officials captured the remaining suspect believed to be responsible for Monday's bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. He was ultimately found in Watertown, Massachusetts.

In a statement from the James Brady Briefing Room after the arrest, President Obama commended the response from the state and local police and federal investigators.

"We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to all our outstanding law enforcement professionals," he said. "These men and women get up every day, they put on that uniform; they risk their lives to keep us safe -- and as this week showed, they don't always know what to expect. So our thoughts are with those who were wounded in pursuit of the suspects and we pray for their full recovery."

While tonight's arrest closes one chapter in this tragedy, we're still left with many questions about these young men. President Obama pledged to put the full weight of the federal government behind finding answers.

"I've instructed the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security and our intelligence community to continue to deploy all the necessary resources to support the investigation, to collect intelligence, and to protect our citizens," he said. "We will determine what happened. We will investigate any associations that these terrorists may have had. And we'll continue to do whatever we have to do to keep our people safe."

It's been a long week, and the events in Boston have in some ways overshadowed another tragedy -- the explosion that took the lives of at least 14 people in West, Texas and wounded more than 200. Before the President closed, he made sure to remind the people of that community that they hadn't been forgotten.

"Our thoughts, our prayers are with the people of West, Texas, where so many good people lost their lives; some lost their homes; many are injured; many are still missing," he said. "I've talked to Governor Perry and Mayor Muska and I've pledged that the people of West will have the resources that they need to recover and rebuild. And I want everybody in Texas to know that we will follow through with those commitments."

Read the full remarks here. Watch the video here.

Learn more

• President Obama's statement following the Boston bombings (4/15)
• President Obama updates the American people on developments in Boston (4/16)
• President Obama speaks at an interfaith prayer service in Boston (4/18)

West Wing Week: 04/19/13 or “Selflessly. Compassionately. Unafraid.”

This week, the President responded to the terror attack in Boston, met with AmeriCorps volunteers, invited the Wounded Warrior riders to the White House, and for the first time, asked a citizen to deliver the weekly address.

read more

In the Face of Evil, Boston Has Shown that Americans Will Lift Up What Is Good

President Barack Obama delivers remarks at an interfaith prayer service at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston, Mass., April 18, 2013. The service was dedicated to those who were gravely wounded or killed in the bombings in Boston. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama today were at Boston's Cathedral of the Holy Cross to attend Healing Our City, an interfaith service dedicated to those who were gravely wounded or killed in Monday’s bombing near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

In his remarks, the President paid tribute to those whose lives were taken by the bomb blasts on Boylston Street -- to Krystle Campbell, 29, who was "always smiling." And to Lingzi Lu, a 23-year-old graduate student from China who had come to "experience all this city has to offer." And finally to Martin Richard, the 8-year-old boy from Dorchester whose mother and sister remain in the hospital, fighting to recover from their own injuries. Martin, said President Obama, leaves us with two enduring images, 'forever smiling for his beloved Bruins, and forever expressing a wish he made on a blue poster board: 'No more hurting people. Peace.'"

President Obama also praised the people of Boston, a city both he and the First Lady once called home. Like thousands every year, the two lived there as students -- just one of the many reasons, the President said, that Boston has a hold on so many hearts. "Every fall, you welcome students from all across America and all across the globe, and every spring you graduate them back into the world -- a Boston diaspora that excels in every field of human endeavor," he said. "Year after year, you welcome the greatest talents in the arts and science, research -- you welcome them to your concert halls and your hospitals and your laboratories to exchange ideas and insights that draw this world together."

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Courage, Strength, Resilience: Women Fight AIDS

On Monday, I attended the launch of EMPOWERED, Alicia Keys’ new campaign with Greater than AIDS to reach and inform women about HIV/AIDS, at an event hosted by the Kaiser Family Foundation. This is the second event that Alicia Keys and I have attended at Kaiser within the last year, both focused on ending AIDS.

The women were thrilled to meet Alicia Keys, and Alicia, who was deeply moved by their stories, committed to add her powerful international voice to helping to end the epidemic here in the U.S. Alicia and I intended to lift up the women. But really, it was their strength, courage, resilience, good spirit, and humor that lifted us up.

The HIV crisis touches every corner of the globe. And it’s personally touched so many of us, including here at home. We all have tragic stories about how HIV/AIDS has affected our family and friends, and these stories propel us all to continue to fight to end this disease.

Monday's event addressed one of the tragic realities of HIV in our country. The HIV epidemic continues in the United States, with about 50,000 new HIV infections each year. And while about one-quarter of new HIV infections are among women, three-quarters of new infections among women occur among black and Latina women.

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Senate Votes to Block Expanded Background Checks for Gun Sales

Surrounded by Americans whose lives and families had been forever changed by gun violence, President Obama spoke from the Rose Garden about today’s Senate vote on expanded background checks for gun sales.

A few months ago, in response to too many tragedies -- including the shootings of a United States Congresswoman, Gabby Giffords, who’s here today, and the murder of 20 innocent schoolchildren and their teachers –- this country took up the cause of protecting more of our people from gun violence.

Families that know unspeakable grief summoned the courage to petition their elected leaders –- not just to honor the memory of their children, but to protect the lives of all our children. And a few minutes ago, a minority in the United States Senate decided it wasn’t worth it. They blocked common-sense gun reforms even while these families looked on from the Senate gallery.

“A majority of senators voted “yes” to protecting more of our citizens with smarter background checks,” President Obama said. “But by this continuing distortion of Senate rules, a minority was able to block it from moving forward."

read more

President Obama Hosts Wounded Warriors Taking Part in the "Soldier Ride" at the White House

Thanks to your courage and your resolve, we've been able to end one war, and begin winding down another. But for you, and for all our wounded warriors, coming home doesn't mean that the fight is over. In some ways, it's only just begun -- President Barack Obama, April 17, 2013

Today we are privileged to celebrate the upcoming journey of some of our amazing Wounded Warriors. These inspiring Veterans will accomplish the daunting task of riding over the next three days and inspiring us all. For these combat-wounded veterans, Soldier Ride uses cycling and the bonds of service to overcome physical, mental, or emotional wounds of war. It’s a wonderful connection as they return to an active lifestyle.

President Barack Obama gives a high-five to a rider as he and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki welcome the Wounded Warrior Project’s Soldier Ride to the South Lawn of the White House, April 17, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

President Obama is committed to caring for our wounded warriors by expanding access to the best health care available and helping them to overcome their injuries, assisting in pursuing employment, and connecting them to the best education available to meet their personal goals. The Administration understands that a successful recovery requires access and connection to quality care and services. That is why in August of last year the President signed a Military Mental Health Executive Order that increases the number of VA mental health professionals and peer-to-peer support counselors.

read more

States Step Up to Help Veterans and Spouses Get Back to Work

First Lady Michelle Obama watches Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley sign the Veterans Full Employment Act of 2013 during a ceremony at the State House in Annapolis, Md., April 17, 2013. Seated, from left are, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., Gov. Martin O'Malley, and House Speaker Michael Busch. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

President Obama and the First Lady are committed to doing everything in their power to assist the brave men and women who have served our country in re-entering civilian life and finding employment. Over the last year and a half, the President has overseen the first re-design of the military’s transition assistance program in twenty years; created new tax credits to spur veteran hiring; expanded re-employment services, including the Veterans Job Bank and the Veterans Gold Card; and launched a series of initiatives to expand the number of veterans that get jobs in healthcare and first responder fields. Additionally, under the great leadership of the First Lady and Dr. Biden, Joining Forces has expanded hiring and training partnerships with the private sector in an effort to help our veterans and their spouses get back to work.

Yet, our veterans still face major hurdles as they transition out of the military and into the civilian workforce. According to a 2012 survey by Prudential and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, 60 percent of survey respondents said they had trouble translating their military skills into civilian job experience, creating a significant barrier to employment. Many high-demand, good-paying jobs like paramedics, truck drivers, nurses, and welders, require either a national certification or state occupational license to be hired, and currently our national and state systems make it very difficult for service members and veterans to obtain these civilian certifications and licenses that directly translate to their military training. Often times service members and veterans are required to repeat education or training in order to receive these occupational credentials, even though much, and in some cases, all, of their military training and experience overlaps with credential training requirements. And employers, many with significant needs for skilled workers, are left waiting for these military members to complete these, oftentimes lengthy, credentialing training programs – programs that many veterans could have taught themselves.

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Dan Pfeiffer: "When it matters most"

This afternoon, Dan Pfeiffer sent the message below to the White House email list asking people to pledge to speak out in favor of reducing gun violence. If you didn't get the email, be sure to sign up.

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White House Hangout: Vice President Biden and Mayors Discuss Reducing Gun Violence

Update: The Hangout with Vice President Biden has concluded. Watch the full video below or on YouTube.

This week, Vice President Biden will host a virtual conversation with mayors around the country to discuss commonsense steps to reduce gun violence. Mayors know first hand the impact of gun violence on communities across the country – and they've come together to demand action.

On Wednesday, April 17th, at 2:45 p.m. EDT, the Vice President and mayors will discuss how we can protect our children and communities by reducing gun violence. We hope you'll tune in.

During the Google+ Hangout, Vice President Biden will be joined by:

• Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, Gary, IN
• Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Baltimore, MD
• Mayor R.T. Rybak, Minneapolis, MN
• Mayor Steve Scaffidi, Oak Creek, WI

Watch the hangout with Vice President Biden and mayors live on Wednesday, April 17th, at 2:45 p.m. EDT on WhiteHouse.gov, or tune in to the White House's Google+ page or YouTube channel.

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President Obama: "The American People Refuse to be Terrorized"

President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the explosions that occurred in Boston, in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, April 16, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Following a briefing from FBI Director Mueller, Attorney General Holder, Secretary Napolitano, and homeland security advisor Lisa Monaco, President Obama went to the Brady Press Briefing Room to update Americans on developments in Boston, following two explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday afternoon.

"We continue to mobilize and deploy all appropriate law enforcement resources to protect our citizens, and to investigate and to respond to this attack," the President said in a televised address. "Obviously our first thoughts this morning are with the victims, their families, and the city of Boston. We know that two explosions gravely wounded dozens of Americans, and took the lives of others, including a 8-year-old boy.

"This was a heinous and cowardly act. And given what we now know about what took place, the FBI is investigating it as an act of terrorism. Any time bombs are used to target innocent civilians it is an act of terror. What we don’t yet know, however, is who carried out this attack, or why; whether it was planned and executed by a terrorist organization, foreign or domestic, or was the act of a malevolent individual."

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