BREAKING NEWS: Statement by the Press Secretary on Violence in Syria

Statement by the Press Secretary on Violence in Syria

We condemn and deplore the use of violence against citizens demonstrating in Syria, and applaud the courage and dignity of the Syrian people.  We urge all parties to maintain calm and avoid violence, and call on the Syrian government to respect human rights and to allow for peaceful demonstrations.  The Syrian government has an important opportunity to be responsive to the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people.  President Bashar al-Assad has a responsibility to promptly take concrete steps and actions that deliver on his promises and advance a meaningful reform agenda.  Violence is not the answer to the grievances of the Syrian people.  What is needed now is a credible path to a future of greater freedom, democracy, opportunity, and justice.

 

 

Statement by CEA Chairman Austan Goolsbee on the Employment Situation in March

Statement by CEA Chairman Austan Goolsbee on the Employment Situation in March

 

WASHINGTON – Today, the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers Austan Goolsbee posted the following statement to the White House blog on the employment situation in March. You can view the statementHERE.

The Employment Situation in March

Posted by Austan Goolsbee on April 01, 2011

Today’s employment report shows that private sector payrolls increased by 230,000 in March, marking 13 consecutive months of private employment growth. Private sector employers added 1.8 million jobs over that period, including more than half a million jobs in the last three months. The unemployment rate fell for the fourth straight month to 8.8 percent. The full percentage point drop in the unemployment rate over the past four months is the largest such decline since 1984, and, importantly, it has been driven primarily by increased employment, rather than people leaving the labor force.

As long as millions of people are looking for jobs, there is still considerable work to do to replace the jobs lost in the downturn. Nonetheless, the steep decline in the jobless rate and the solid employment growth in recent months are encouraging. The last two months of private job gains have been the strongest in five years. We are seeing signs that the initiatives put in place by this Administration – such as the payroll tax cut and business incentives for investment – are creating the conditions for sustained growth and job creation.   We will continue to work with Congress to find ways to reduce spending, so that we can live within our means and focus on the investments that are most likely to help grow our economy and create jobs – investments in education, infrastructure, and clean energy.

In addition to the increases last month, the estimates of private sector job growth for January (now +94,000) and February (now +240,000) were revised up significantly. Overall payroll employment rose by 216,000 in March. Payroll employment grew in almost every sector. Solid employment increases occurred in professional and business services (+78,000), education and health services (+45,000), leisure and hospitality (+37,000), wholesale and retail trade (+31,800), and manufacturing (+17,000). Local government experienced a decline of 15,000, and has shed jobs in 16 of the past 17 months.

The overall trajectory of the economy has improved dramatically over the past two years, but there will surely be bumps in the road ahead.  The monthly employment and unemployment numbers are volatile and employment estimates are subject to substantial revision.  Therefore, as the Administration always stresses, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report.

 

Statement by National Security Council Spokesman Tommy Vietor on Strategy 31 Protests in Russia

Statement by National Security Council Spokesman Tommy Vietor on Strategy 31 Protests in Russia

 

The United States is concerned by reports of the detention on March 31 of many Russian citizens who were participating in peaceful rallies throughout Russia to demonstrate their support for Article 31 of the Russian Constitution, which guarantees Russian citizens the right to peaceful assembly. The United States reiterates the importance of embracing and protecting universal values, including freedoms of expression and assembly, enshrined in the Russian Constitution as well as in international agreements Russia has signed. Freedom of assembly and freedom of expression are not only vital ingredients of sound political systems, they are essential for economic modernization and broad-based prosperity. Without freedom of assembly, it will be impossible to foster genuine competition during Russia’s upcoming parliamentary elections in December.

 

 

President Obama Nominates Corinne Ann Beckwith to be an Appellate Judge for the District of Columbia Court of Appeals

President Obama Nominates Corinne Ann Beckwith to be an Appellate Judge for the District of Columbia Court of Appeals

 

 

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Obama nominated Corinne Ann Beckwith to be an appellate judge for the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

President Obama said, “Corinne Ann Beckwith has proved herself to be not only a first-rate legal mind but a faithful public servant.  It is with full confidence in her ability, integrity, and independence that I nominate her to the bench of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.”

Corinne Ann Beckwith:  Nominee for the District of Columbia Court of Appeals

Corinne Ann Beckwith has been an attorney in the Appellate Division of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia since 1999. She has been a supervisor in that office since 2009. In this capacity, Ms. Beckwith handles the appeals of indigent criminal defendants who have been convicted of serious offenses. Prior to that, she worked as an appellate attorney at Michigan’s State Appellate Defender Office and taught criminal appellate practice at Wayne State University Law School in Detroit, Michigan. Prior to law school, Ms. Beckwith worked as a newspaper reporter and also taught journalism and English composition at Central Michigan University. Ms. Beckwith has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Kalamazoo College and a Master of Science degree in journalism from the University of Illinois. She earned her law degree from the University of Michigan Law School, where she was editor-in-chief of the Michigan Law Review. After law school, Ms. Beckwith served as a law clerk to Judge Richard D. Cudahy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and then to Associate Justice John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court of the United States.

 

PRESIDENT OBAMA NOMINATES GEORGE L. BECK TO SERVE AS U.S. ATTORNEY

 

WASHINGTON- Today, President Obama nominated George L. Beck  to serve as U.S. Attorney for the state of Alabama.

“For his diligence and relentless pursuit of justice, I have named George L. Beck to serve as a U.S. Attorney,” President Obama said. “I am confident he will serve the people of Alabama with distinction.”

George L. Beck:  Nominee for United States Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama

George Beck has been a shareholder of Capell & Howard, P.C. since 2004.  Mr. Beck was a sole practitioner from 1986 to 2003 and from 1979 to 1982, and was a partner at Baxley, Beck, Dillard & Dauphin from 1982 to 1986.  From 1971 to 1979, he served as Deputy Attorney General for the State of Alabama.  Prior to this, Mr. Beck worked as an associate at St. John & St. John from 1966 to 1971.  Mr. Beck has served our country honorably, enlisting in the Alabama Army National Guard in 1966 and rising through the ranks to be honorably discharged as a Colonel in 2001.  Mr. Beck is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of Alabama School of Law.

 

 

White House Announces Nominations Sent to the Senate

NOMINATIONS SENT TO THE SENATE:

 

George Lamar Beck, Jr., of Alabama, to be United States Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama for the term of four years, vice Leura Garrett Canary, term expired.

 

Corinne Ann Beckwith, of the District of Columbia, to be an Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals for the term of fifteen years, vice Inez Smith Reid, retired.

 

Gary Locke, of Washington, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the People’s Republic of China.

 

David L. McNulty, of New York, to be United States Marshal for the Northern District of New York for the term of four years, vice James Joseph Parmley, term expired.

 

Alison J. Nathan, of New York, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York, vice Sidney H. Stein, retired.

 

 

Statement by the Press Secretary on U.S. contribution to the United Nations Trust Fund for Global and Regional Disarmament

Statement by the Press Secretary on U.S. contribution to the United Nations Trust Fund for Global and Regional Disarmament

 

The United States announced this morning that it will make a voluntary contribution of $3 million this year to the United Nations Trust Fund for Global and Regional Disarmament to aid in preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

 

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 is an important tool for preventing access to the materials and resources needed to acquire or develop the world’s most dangerous weapons and the means to deliver them.  Ensuring the Resolution’s effective implementation through the work of the Committee established pursuant to UNSCR 1540 is an important objective of U.S. non-proliferation and counter-terrorism policies.   The 1540 Committee helps countries around the world design, adopt, and enforce laws prohibiting the spread of WMD to non-state actors, and enforce effective measures to control transfers of WMD, their means of delivery, related materials, funding, and contributing services.  The U.S. contribution is intended to support the vital work of the 1540 Committee, in keeping with the President’s commitment at the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit to help countries meet the obligations UNSCR 1540 places on them, and to match them up with a wide range of national, international, and nongovernmental sources of assistance.

 

 

President Obama Announces Ambassador Princeton N. Lyman as U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan

President Obama Announces Ambassador Princeton N. Lyman

as U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan

 

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Ambassador Princeton N. Lyman as the new U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan.  With a lifetime of experience working on some of Africa’s most pressing challenges, Ambassador Lyman is uniquely qualified to sustain our efforts in support of a peaceful and prosperous future for the Sudanese people. I also want to thank my friend Scott Gration for his tireless and effective work as my previous Special Envoy. As the State Department’s Senior Advisor on Sudan North-South Negotiations since last August, Ambassador Lyman worked closely with General Gration, as part of the American diplomatic effort that led to an historic and peaceful independence referendum for South Sudan.

 

I was proud to nominate General Gration as our next ambassador to Kenya, and I am grateful that Ambassador Lyman has agreed to take on this new assignment and sustain the progress that has been made.  In his new capacity, Ambassador Lyman will oversee our support for full implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, reduced tensions between north and south over the status of Abyei, the birth of an independent South Sudan on July 9, 2011, and a definitive end to the conflict in Darfur.  In those efforts, he has my full support and confidence.

 

Just as the United States depended on his diplomatic skills to help support the peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy when he was U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, I am confident that Ambassador Lyman’s deep knowledge of the African continent will advance U.S. interests and the aspirations of the Sudanese people during this time of transformative change in Sudan.

 

 

Statement by the Press Secretary Regarding Press Office Policy

Statement by the Press Secretary

 

As is common practice for this and all Administrations, I am not going to comment on intelligence matters. I will reiterate what the President said yesterday – no decision has been made about providing arms to the opposition or to any group in Libya. We’re not ruling it out or ruling it in. We’re assessing and reviewing options for all types of assistance that we could provide to the Libyan people, and have consulted directly with the opposition and our international partners about these matters.

 

 

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY H.R. 658 – FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2011

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY

H.R. 658 – FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2011
(Rep. Mica, R-Florida and 24 others)

 

The Administration supports House passage of H.R. 658 as a necessary step in the enactment of a multiyear reauthorization of the Department of Transportation’s aviation programs to enhance safety, increase capacity, reduce passenger delays, and provide for the timely development and implementation of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen).  The restoration of predictable long-term funding for aviation programs is not only critical to the safety of the traveling public, but will improve the Nation’s transportation infrastructure and generate new jobs and economic growth.  While the Administration supports the enactment of a multiyear reauthorization bill, the funding levels in the bill for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) operations and air traffic modernization represent significant reductions from levels proposed by the Administration.  If funding were appropriated at the levels proposed in the bill, the safe and efficient movement of air traffic in the air and on the ground would be degraded – today and in the future.

 

The Administration reiterates its strong opposition to Section 903 of H.R. 658 which, like legislation that the Administration strongly opposed last year, would undermine a fundamental principle of fairness in union representation elections – that outcomes should be determined by a majority of the valid ballots cast.  By treating non-votes as “no” votes, the provision would prohibit workers in the airline and railroad industries from voting whether to join a union on the same basis – majority rule – as most other industries.  The Administration is committed to help working Americans exercise their right to organize under a fair and free process and bargain for a fair share of the wealth their efforts help to create.  The fairest and most effective way to determine the outcome of a union representation election is by the majority of votes cast.

 

If the President is presented with a bill that would not safeguard the ability of railroad and airline workers to decide whether or not they would be represented by a union based upon a majority of the ballots cast in an election or that would degrade safe and efficient air traffic, his senior advisers would recommend that he veto the bill.  The Administration wishes to address these and other concerns as FAA reauthorization legislation moves through the legislative process.

 

BREAKING NEWS: Statement by the President Following the Attack on UNAMA

Statement by the President Following the Attack on UNAMA

 

I condemn in the strongest possible terms the attack on the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan today. Together with the American people, I offer my deepest condolences to those injured and killed, as well as to their loved ones. The brave men and women of the United Nations, including the Afghan staff, undertake their work in support of the Afghan people. Their work is essential to building a stronger Afghanistan for the benefit of all its citizens. We stress the importance of calm and urge all parties to reject violence and resolve differences through dialogue.