Hi, all. Today's report features:
• West Wing Week: This week, President Obama released his federal budget, discussing the need to take responsibility for our deficits while investing in education, to prepare our children to be competitive in the global economy and win the future. He also responded to the situation in Egypt, chatted with some Boy Scouts, and honored some of our greatest Americans.
• Recovery Act: The Vice President and Cabinet officials discuss ways to apply the Race to the Top competition-based model to new education, infrastructure and energy initiatives. Overview of Recovery Act achievements.
• White House Press Briefing: Mr. Carney takes questions on the First Couple’s state visit to the UK in May, Bahrain, Israel, the 2012 Budget, the Recovery Act and other issues.
• National HIV/AIDS Strategy: Update on the work of the Federal agencies since the release of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy and discussion of the President's HIV/AIDS priorities as embodied in his fiscal year 2012 Budget.
• Honoring Citizen Diplomacy: Secretary Clinton’s remarks at the National Council of International Visitors reception.
And that's the Report. See you again Monday, Feb. 21.
• WEST WING WEEK •
White House, Feb. 17, 2011:
West Wing Week: 2/18/11 or "Goodbye, Gibbs"
Welcome to the West Wing Week, your guide to everything that's happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. This week, President Obama released his federal budget, discussing the need to take responsibility for our deficits while investing in education, to prepare our children to be competitive in the global economy and win the future. He also responded to the situation in Egypt, chatted with some Boy Scouts, and honored some of our greatest Americans.
• RECOVERY ACT •
White House, Feb. 17, 2011:
Recovery Act Cabinet Meeting
Vice President Joe Biden meets with Cabinet officials to discuss ways to apply the Race to the Top competition-based model to new education, infrastructure and energy initiatives.
Office of the Vice President, Feb. 17, 2011:
Vice President Biden, Cabinet Highlight New Competitive Programs Based on Success of Race to the Top
New Report from Vice President Details Recovery Act Lessons Learned to Make Government More Transparent, Effective
WASHINGTON, DC– At today’s Recovery Act Cabinet Meeting, Vice President Joe Biden and Members of the Cabinet will discuss ways the Administration plans to build on the success of the Recovery Act’s Race to the Top program by applying the competitive-based model to new education, infrastructure and energy initiatives to spur innovation and reform. The importance of competitive programs was one of the key findings of a new report the Vice President delivered to President Obama earlier today, “A New Way of Doing Business: How the Recovery Act Is Leading the Way To 21st Century Government.” The full report can be viewed HERE.
The Department of Education’s Race to the Top program began under the Recovery Act and is a key element of the Administration’s effort to win the future by out-educating the rest of the world. Using less than 1 percent of the nation’s education spending, this competition-based model has now generated more education reform in the last two years than the country has seen in a generation by encouraging political and education leaders in 46 states and the District of Columbia to build comprehensive education reform plans....
The Recovery Act -- By the Numbers
Since the Recovery Act was signed into law by President Obama two years ago today:
Recovery Act and the Economy
• Recovery Act Jobs: According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the Recovery Act is responsible for as many as 3.6 million jobs nationwide and reducing the unemployment rate by as much as 2 percent.
• Overall Job Growth: In the year leading up to the Recovery Act, the economy lost 5 million private sector jobs. In 2010, the private sector gained over 1 million jobs.
• GDP/Economic Growth: In the quarter before the Recovery Act was passed, our economy was shrinking by almost 7 percent. Today, it has grown for six straight quarters at an average rate of 3 percent – in large part due to the Recovery Act.
- In fact, the Congressional Budget Office says the Recovery Act alone is responsible for expanding our economy by as much as 4.5 percent.
Recovery Act Projects
• Overall Projects: More than 75,000 Recovery Act projects have been started across the country.
• Transportation Projects– More than 15,000 Recovery Act transportation projects have been started across the country.
• Military Base Projects– More than 4,000 Recovery Act DOD construction and improvement projects have been started at over 350 military facilities nationwide. This includes:
- Construction of two Warrior-in-Transition Complexes to assist in the recovery of wounded soldiers.
- Construction of two new military hospitals and major alterations to a third hospital.
- Construction or improvements to 25 child development centers at military sites around the country that will be able to provide care to more than 4,400 additional military children.
- Over 70 military family housing improvement or construction projects
- Over 150 maintenance projects at military medical facilities.
• Superfund Projects: Recovery Act resources supported 61 Superfund cleanup projects at 51 sites across the U.S.
• National Parks Projects: Over 800 Recovery Act improvement projects have been started at 260 National Parks nationwide.
• Homes Weatherized: More than 300,000 families nationwide have had home improvements made to reduce their energy use and cut their utility bills thanks to the Recovery Act weatherization program and over 600,000 families will have benefited by spring 2012.
• Over 15,000 workers have been hired to make these home improvements which save homeowners an average of over $400 on their first-year heating and cooling bills.
• Housing: The Department of Housing and Urban Development has rehabilitated over 409,000 homes, built 5,700 new homes, and completed over 38,000 new energy efficient homes or retrofits.
• Bonds: The Build America Bonds program issued more than $181 billion in bonds, representingover 23 percent of the overall municipal bond market between April 2009 and December 2010.
• Water and Waste Disposal: More than 850 water and waste disposal projects, benefiting more than 1.7 million people.
• Federal Buildings: More than700 companies in construction and related fields have been put to work on green construction projects at Federal buildings nationwide.
- Tens of thousands of solar panels are being installed on and around Federal buildings to cut utility costs and save taxpayer dollars.
Innovation and Technology
• Electric Drive Vehicles: 70 private companies and researchersin over 30 states have received grants to help build the American advanced battery and electric vehicle manufacturing industry from the ground up.
- Thirty new advanced battery and electric vehicle component plants are opening across the country as a result of these investments.
- All of the recipients of this seed money matched the government investment at least dollar for dollar.
- Before the Recovery Act, a 100 mile range electric vehicle battery was $33,000. Because of the high-volume manufacturing the Recovery Act is spurring, those batteries could cost about $16,000 by the end of 2013 and $10,000 by the end of 2015.
- Before the Recovery Act, there were less than 500 electric vehicle charging stations in the U.S. Because of the Recovery Act, there will be over 20,000 by 2012.
• Renewable Energy: Because of the Recovery Act’s $90 billion investment in clean energy, the Administration is on-track to meetits target ofdoubling U.S. renewable energy generation capacity by 2012 and to dramatically increase domestic clean energy manufacturing.
- Clean energy tax incentives were provided to more than 4,700 business nationwide to support clean energy projects and create jobs in 48 states and Puerto Rico, including more than 4,200 solar projects and250 wind projects.
- Recovery Act loan programs are helping jump-start:
-- The world’s largest photovoltaic solar plant.
-- Two of the world’s largest solar thermal projects that will double the amount of solar thermal power in the U.S.
-- The world’s largest wind farm to date.
-- A biodiesel project that will nearly triple the amount of renewable diesel produced domestically.
• Smart Energy Grid: Recovery Act seed money for smart grid projects in 46 states is helping build a more stable, secure nationwide electrical grid that facilitates access to renewable energy sources and allows consumers to better manage their energy bills.
- Already, more than 3 million smart meters have been installed in homes and businesses nationwide to help consumers better manage and reduce their energy use and lower their utility bills– and 15 million meters will be installed overall as a result of the Recovery Act.
• Carbon Capture: Recovery Act funding is supporting nearly 100 projects in 33 states to accelerate and meet the goal of having 5-10 commercial Carbon Capture and Storage demonstration projects online by 2016, and to train the next generation of scientists and engineers.
• Health IT: Recovery Act seed money is helping make health information technology available to over 100,000 hospitals and primary care physicians by 2015 and grow an emerging industry expected to support tens of thousands of jobs.
• Leverage: Recovery Act projects that leverage outside funding – many of which are innovation and technology-related – are drawing nearly $300 billion in outside capital off the sidelines, or an average of $3 of outside capital for every $1 of government investment.
• Clean Cars: More than 17,000 cars and trucks in Federal service were replaced with more fuel-efficient models, including alternative-fuel and hybrid cars, saving nearly 17 million gallons of gas and $40 million in fuel costs.
Infrastructure
• Broadband: Recovery Act seed money is being put to work on over 500 projects nationwide to bring broadband access to underserved communities – a critical step in local economic growth and development.
- From USDA’s program alone, more than 7 million rural Americans and 360,000 rural businesses stand to benefit from investments in broadband.
• Roads: Overall, the Recovery Act is improving more than 40,000 miles of roads across the country – the equivalent of 13 cross-country trips.
• High Speed Rail: Recovery Act seed money is being put to work on projects in 31 states to help lay a foundation for a high-speed rail network here in the U.S. – including down-payments on 13 new, large-scale high speed rail corridors.
• Levees: The Recovery Act is modernizing over 236 miles of aging flood control levees to meet FEMA standards.
• Water: The Recovery Act has made improvements to 346 drinking water systems across the nation to bring them in compliance with Safe Drinking Water Act standards. These systems serve over 23 million Americans. In addition, rural water projects will provide 400,000 individuals with new access to clean water by expanding or constructing 17 water treatment plans.
• Brownfields: Recovery Act Brownfields cleanup investments have supported the assessment of nearly 500 properties, the commencement of 22 property cleanups and the revitalization of 50 properties to spur economic development.
Relief for Hard-Hit Families and Businesses
• Middle Class Tax Cut: More than 110 million – or 95 percent of – working families have been receiving a boost in their paychecks each week through the Making Work Pay Tax Credit.
• Home Ownership: The First-time Homebuyer Tax Credit helped nearly 2.5 million Americans buy their first home. The Recovery Act also made or guaranteed home loans for more than 90,000 rural families.
• Unemployment Benefits: More than 24 million Americans have received unemployment benefits through the Recovery Act.
• Nutritional Assistance: Provide food assistance formore than 43 million Americans during tough economic times.
• Higher Education Assistance– More than 9 million Americans have taken advantage of the American Opportunity Tax Credit, the Recovery Act’s $2,500 tax credit for each year of higher education.
• Small Businesses– Over 60,000 small businesses nationwide have received over $30 billion in loan assistance through the Recovery Act. More than 2,800 loans to farmers and rancherswere guaranteed through the Act.
• Business Tax Cuts: Overall, business have received over $30 billion in tax relief through the Recovery Act to spur job creation and drive growth.
• WHITE HOUSE PRESS BRIEFING •
White House, Feb. 17, 2011:
2/17/11: White House Press Briefing
White House Press Briefings are conducted most weekdays from the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room in the West Wing.
Office of the Press Secretary, Feb. 17, 2011:
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney, 2/17/201
MR. CARNEY: .... All right, I just have a couple things I want to start with. Some of you have asked so I just thought I'd throw it out there at the top that the President and First Lady have both filled out their absentee ballots and those are being mailed to Chicago. I won't -- so they’re exercising their franchise and are glad to do it, but I won't be giving copies of those ballots. So you don't need to ask for that.
Second announcement is the White House is pleased to confirm that President and Mrs. Obama have accepted the invitation of Her Majesty the Queen, and will travel to the United Kingdom for a state visit on May 24-26 of this year. This trip will be President Obama’s first European state visit, a sign of the strength of the special relationship between our two countries, and of the United States’ enduring commitment to its European and NATO allies and partners.
Further details of the trip will be made available at a later time. I hope you all can join us....
Q: Thanks, Jay. I wanted to ask you about Bahrain. Can you give us the President’s personal reaction to what’s happening there, the crackdown in which men and women have been beaten and shot simply for protesting?
MR. CARNEY: I spoke with the President not long ago about this, before his lunch. And his view is that we oppose the use of violence by the government of Bahrain just as we oppose the use of violence by other governments in the region against peaceful protesters. We offer condolences to the families of those who were killed and injured.
And we've said repeatedly the United States believes strongly that violence is not an appropriate reaction when the peoples of this region, or any region, are peacefully protesting and airing their grievances and making reasonable demands about wanting to engage in a political process.
We believe that people have universal rights, including the right to peaceful assembly. So we continue to urge the government of Bahrain to show restraint in responding to peaceful protests. The government of Bahrain has the responsibility to maintain peace and security for its citizens and to hold accountable those who utilize excessive use of force against peaceful demonstrators.
As you know, I think it’s been reported that Secretary of State Clinton has been in touch, and other officials of the administration are obviously reaching out to members of the government of Bahrain to communicate this message to them.
Q: Do you have any sense of how those calls are going? I'm wondering whether this is another case where the U.S. makes its stand clear, as you just did, but the leverage here is limited to actually influence these events.
MR. CARNEY: Well, Ben, I would step back and point out that our position here is reflective in many ways of what it was with the demonstrations in Egypt. We supported the people of Egypt. We didn’t dictate events in Egypt. What unfolded in Egypt was the result of the actions of hundreds of thousands and millions of Egyptians. And we're not looking to dictate events or outcomes, but we are making clear what our position is -- because we believe, and the President said as long ago as his speech in Cairo, that the governments in the region need to be more responsive to their peoples in order to live up to the hopes and dreams of their people and also to -- that instability comes from not responding to the legitimate grievances and democratic aspirations of their people.
Q: What gives you any confidence that making clear what your position is is going to have an effect?
MR. CARNEY: Look, this is a process that, again, is about the people, in this case, of Bahrain. Our position is clearly stated and it is applicable to countries throughout the region. And, again, as with other countries, we’re not looking to dictate events but we are making very clear the values that we hold.
Q: And then finally, one last one, I’m sorry. On the Fifth Fleet, any contingencies being made for that?
MR. CARNEY: I don’t have anything for you on that at all, Ben.
Q: Jay, we’re seeing protests in many countries across the region. How does the White House analyze what is going on? Are we witnessing a full-scale revolution across North Africa and the Middle East?
MR. CARNEY: Well, each country is different. Each country has different traditions, Steve. And there is a commonality, clearly, to some of the demonstrations and the unrest we’ve seen, and it’s reflective of a yearning by the peoples of the region, the peoples of these countries, to have a greater participation in the political process in their countries. And we support that.
And that’s why we have urged the governments in the region for a long time now to respond and get ahead of that -- those demands and those aspirations expressed by their peoples, and respond to it and open up their societies in a way that will allow those countries to become more prosperous and their people to improve their lot in life.
Q: In the case of Egypt, you were very vocal in calling for a peaceful transition there. Are you anywhere close to doing that for Bahrain or any of these other countries?
MR. CARNEY: Steve, I would say, again, that each country is different. What is the same is what we believe about these universal values and universal rights. And we have urged governments in the region -- the Egyptian government, the Bahraini government, but, in general, to be responsive and to open up their societies and to get ahead of the process in order to respond to the aspirations of their people.
Q: Lebanon on the U.N. Security Council is working on a resolution, or has drafted a resolution, that would condemn Israel for what it calls “illegal settlement activity.” Now, I know Dr. Rice has been working on an alternative up there, a presidential statement that would call the settlement activity illegitimate, not illegal. But that seems to be going nowhere. If it does come up for a vote in the U.N. Security Council, how will the United States vote on a resolution calling Israeli settlement activity illegal?
MR. CARNEY: Well, first of all, no resolution, Jake, has been put forward for a vote, and I would not want to speculate on what action the United States would take -- may or may not take on that matter. But I would also say that I’m not going to get into details of ongoing private diplomatic discussions in New York at the United Nations regarding this matter.
We, like every administration for decades, do not accept the legitimacy of continued settlement activity. We believe their continued expansion is corrosive not only to peace efforts and a two-state solution, which we strongly support, but to Israel’s future itself. And finally, we have long said that we believe direct negotiations are the only path through which the parties will ultimately reach an agreement. And that’s what we believe strongly today as we have in the past.
Q: So it’s the position of the White House as it has been for several White Houses that settlement activity in Israel is illegitimate, is corrosive to the peace process. Do you think it’s illegal?
MR. CARNEY: What we have said is we believe it’s illegitimate, and we’ve been very clear about that. And we also believe that the best form for making progress in the negotiations, in the peace process, is in direct negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians in order to reach that goal of a two-state solution with security for both states, and that it’s far better to pursue that path than others.
Q; Jay, I want to go back to Bahrain, because The New York Times has a story this morning saying that as far back as last summer the President ordered up a report on potential unrest in the Mideast and that that report concluded that without major change places like Egypt, Bahrain, others could face serious revolt.
And so my question is if the administration was doing all these preparations for months now, why does it seem like you’re struggling still to react to various developments there?....
MR. CARNEY: Well, Ed, I definitely do not accept the idea that we’re struggling. I think if you look at the way that the events in Egypt unfolded and the consistency of our message in public and in private, that was, we believe, the right way to handle that situation. And I’m sure that along the way, as the President mentioned -- there were questions to my predecessor and others about why haven’t you resolved this today or why didn’t what you say yesterday produce a result overnight. And I would remind you again that this is not a process that we’re looking to dictate, but we can make clear our positions and express our support for the people in the region who are peacefully demonstrating and asking for their voices to be heard.
And that’s what we’re doing with Bahrain and with all the countries in the region that are experiencing this unrest. We’re being very consistent about where we stand. And I really think that in a moment like this with such incredible events unfolding, 24 hours is a pretty short time period to expect things to change....
We’ve made very clear our opposition. I think I, at the top of this daily briefing, expressed our strong displeasure with violence being used against peaceful demonstrators. We simply think it is the wrong way to go. It does not -- the long-term future of any country is not made more stable or more prosperous or better for its people if a government responds in a violent way to peaceful demonstrators.
So we think our voice matters in this, and that’s why we have been very clear in stating our opposition and our disappointment and displeasure with the use of violence.
Q: .... Speaker Boehner is out today saying that the second anniversary of the stimulus law shows that it was a failure, that it spent too much money. And last night he was on FOX saying -- criticizing the President about the deficit....
MR. CARNEY: I think I said yesterday and I’d like to reiterate that this President has taken on enormous challenges and led in major ways. He has done big things. He has taken on tough issues. And he’s continuing to do it. And I would point to the budget that he laid out on Monday, which is actually quite an extraordinary document. It proposes $400 billion in cuts through a freeze on non-defense discretionary spending. It proposes cuts in programs that the President quite explicitly says he supports and would not in normal times want to see cut, but he’s willing to make tough choices.
And he also is very clear in his call for the need to invest in new industries, to innovate, and to focus on the education of our children -- precisely in order to grow the economy and create the jobs that will enable us not just to lead in the 21st century but to seriously deal with our long-term fiscal issues....
But the fact is, the President’s budget proposal is the only budget proposal on the table that reduces spending and reduces the deficits. Okay? And it is a -- we acknowledge that there is more to be done, especially on the long-term fiscal issues. But this is an extraordinary proposal and an important proposal that the President wants and believes the Congress will take seriously. And that is why he is engaged in conversations with members of Congress of both parties.
As you know, he’s having lunch today with House Democratic leaders. Yesterday he had meetings also. And so -- and if I could, coming where I do from the Vice President’s office prior to this, I just want to make clear that the Recovery Act, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, is responsible for as many as 3.6 million jobs and for lowering unemployment by as much as 2 percent. We understand that unemployment is still too high. We wake up every morning focused on the need to create more jobs and have the economy grow even faster and to continue to grow out of this recovery. But it is simply impossible not to acknowledge where we were versus where we are.
And the Recovery Act was a major reason why we are now in a situation where we’ve been growing consistently for many consecutive quarters and why we have created more than a million jobs in the last year. And remember, that first month, I believe it was January of 2009 when we came in, 740,000 jobs lost in just one month. There’s quite a different atmosphere now. It’s not good enough and there’s more work to do, but the steps that were taken in the early parts of this President’s term were vital to helping turn this around....
Look, I don’t have the breakout. What we do know is that there has been month after month of private sector job growth that has been critical to this economic recovery. And a substantial portion of that private sector job growth has been as a result of the President’s policies -- the Recovery Act and other policies that he pursued to save this economy from turning a horrible situation into a catastrophic situation in our country, with the kind of unemployment that we haven’t seen since the Great Depression. He would not -- he did not want that to happen and he took the actions he saw necessary to prevent it from happening.
But this is now February of 2011, and we are focused, he is focused, the President is focused on continued economic growth, continued job creation. And he has proposed a budget that reinforces those goals and also recognizes the need, now that we’re in recovery, to tighten our belts and live within our means precisely so we can continue to invest.
Q: Back on Bahrain, does the President believe .... that this is an historic development -- excuse me, a positive development, a good thing?
MR. CARNEY: He thinks that democracy is a good thing. He thinks that the future of governments around the world will be more secure and more prosperous -- of states and countries around the world -- if democratic principles are pursued, if pluralism is permitted, if participation is encouraged and allowed.
So again, recognizing that each country is different, each country has different circumstances, different populations, different traditions, the overall desire for greater democratic participation for their voices to be heard is absolutely a good thing and an understandable thing.
Q: And on Egypt he made very clear and Robert Gibbs made very clear that we can’t dictate, we can’t take sides. But clearly we’ve taken sides in Iran, right?
MR. CARNEY: We take sides with the people of countries who are expressing their opinions peacefully, who are making legitimate grievances known peacefully, who are assembling peacefully. And we took sides with the people of Iran. We continue to. And we take sides with the people of other regions who are trying to do that. We find very -- extraordinarily hypocritical the reaction of the Iranian government to -- on the one hand, supporting the demonstrators in Egypt and on the other hand brutally repressing their own people and preventing them for expressing their same –
Q: And that's in Libya and Bahrain, too? Are we taking sides?
MR. CARNEY: Well, we have made clear -- it’s not a binary choice. We are on the side of --
Q: It’s sounding like in Iran it’s a binary choice. We’re taking sides with the people against the government. Are we taking sides with the people in Bahrain and Libya?
MR. CARNEY: We are taking sides against violence, the use of violence against peaceful protesters. And we have -- it’s pretty clear from what we’ve said about how we feel about the use of violence in Bahrain and how we felt about it in Egypt. And that’s the side we’re taking.
Q: Last question. The other uprising -- Wisconsin -- could you weigh in on that? Is the President monitoring what’s happening there with the public employees?
MR. CARNEY: I think -- I know when I read out yesterday that the President was giving some regional interviews that he spoke about this in one of his interviews and was very clear that while he understands the needs that -- the challenges that governors face to deal with their own fiscal issues and the need to make tough budget decisions, as he is making here at the federal level, what he sees happening in Wisconsin -- making it harder for public employees to collectively bargain -- seems more like an assault on unions. And he doesn’t see that as a good thing.
So what he would encourage, and I think he did yesterday, and what Secretary Duncan has been doing today, is, first of all, not to vilify public employees-- because it’s easy to sort of paint public employees as faceless bureaucrats, but we're talking about teachers and nurses and policemen and firemen. And he believes -- the President believes, the Secretary of Education believes that the best way to deal with this is for people to address these problems by sitting down at the table to collaborate and work out a solution.
Q: So he’s taking sides on that one.
MR. CARNEY: He expressed his opinion directly. You got it from the President yesterday.
Q: Jay, was the stimulus package oversold up front?
MR. CARNEY: The stimulus package, the Recovery Act, contained within it goals to improve -- to basically -- as part of a number of measures that were taken, to prevent a staggering economy from collapsing into depression; to save or create jobs; to invest in areas where future growth would help drive the overall economy. And those goals have been met.
Now, economic -- as I said yesterday, I'm not an economist but I do know that the business of predicting the future in terms of economics is tricky. And as we see all the time, some of the numbers we depend on most and cite most in the press and in the government -- GDP statistics, unemployment statistics -- are constantly being revised when new information and new data comes in.
The bigger point is there was a crisis that had to be responded to and this President did that by leading. And we believe it worked....
Mike, we've said and I'll repeat that we don't want to relitigate the battles of the past, but this is what I was getting at in my answer. The projections that the economic team made at the time were based on the numbers that everybody had at the time, and were reflected in the projections made by a lot of outside economic analysts and institutions. The reality as time passed was that the hole we were in, this country was in as President Obama was sworn into office was much deeper than even we knew in December or November prior to that. The job loss was much more extreme, the shrinking of the economy much greater.
That was the reality that was not apparent to economists of all stripes, and it is -- was revised as we went along. The overall purpose and focus of the President’s economic plans and policies were to stop the bleeding, get us into recovery, begin to grow the economy, save and create jobs. There is no question that’s what he achieved...
Q: Jay, can you give us a readout of the President’s call to Palestinian President Abbas? Secretary Clinton just informed the press that that happened.
MR. CARNEY: The President did speak with President Abbas this morning. They discussed the situation in Egypt, the events in Egypt as well as the region, and the issues at the Security Council. That's all.
Q: Anything about the peace process? Is there anything -- any progress that can be added on this?
MR. CARNEY: Well, you know we’re committed to moving the peace process forward. We know it’s a difficult issue. If it were not, if it were easy it would have been solved a long time ago.
Q: When was the last time he spoke to Prime Minister Netanyahu?
MR. CARNEY: (Information provided later: President Obama last spoke with PM Netanyahu on January 29 and Vice President Biden spoke with King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa of Bahrain on February 12.)....
Q: .... now that Florida has rejected (high-speed rail funding) and three other states have rejected infrastructure spending, what does that say about the administration’s broader infrastructure plans?
MR. CARNEY: Well, our support for these plans -- the President could not have been clearer in the State of the Union about the absolute importance of investing in infrastructure in order to allow us to compete and win the future in the 21st century. The decisions by individual states are the decisions they can certainly make. We think it’s -- we don’t support those decisions because we think it’s harmful to the economic growth of those states. And certainly there are other states that are eager to participate in these programs. I know that the high-speed rail, in particular, was heavily oversubscribed in terms of the states that wanted to participate....
The fact is that in this area there has long been bipartisan support for the funding of our highways, roads, and ports, and in this case, some airport spending. And the -- we believe that that’s necessary, again, for the continued growth of the economy and for the platform that's needed to move goods and people around the country in a way that's competitive.
It’s very hard to win the economic battles of the 21st century with third-rate or third-class infrastructure....
Q: The House work on the continuing resolution ... Boehner apparently saying that there is not going to be another CR unless there is some substantial budget -- substantial spending reductions in there....
MR. CARNEY: Well, as I think I said yesterday, we are committed, the President is committed to cutting spending and reducing the deficit. That's why he put forward a tough budget. It’s important that we address the budget like any family would -- got to live within your means in order to have the money you need to invest, to pay for your child’s education, to fix, as the President -- I've heard him say anyway -- fix a leaky roof or a broken boiler.
We've also made clear that we can't support arbitrary or irresponsible cuts that affect the essential functions of the government or hurt our ability to grow the economy, create jobs. That would be unbelievably counterproductive, because we need to grow the economy and create jobs in order to out-educate, out-build and out-innovate the rest of the world, as you’ve probably heard.
So we wait for Congress. We look forward to working with Congress. The President looks forward to working with Congress on the continuing resolution and on his budget and the other issues on the table....
Q: .... if Speaker Boehner is calling (the 2012 budget) “dead, gone, over,” there seems to be quite a disconnect there between your view and his....
MR. CARNEY: I would remind you, Mark, that a lot of things were said in the aftermath of the midterm elections about the prospects for bipartisan cooperation on some issues that seemed really hard to resolve, where there were pretty big differences -- what we saw through the reasonable approach taken by leaders in Congress, by the President, was an ability to work through some tough issues, to compromise, to give a little on each side to get something done that the American people wanted done. And that has improved our prospects for growing the economy this year, has increased the amount of money that Americans have in their paychecks right now, and has positioned us better for growing in the future, and positioned us better, more broadly speaking, in terms of the environment that we’re in for more bipartisan cooperation and compromise.
We believe that’s possible. We believe that there is enough common ground and agreement on the need to grow the economy and create jobs, to be responsible and cut spending, that we can find common ground and get it done. That’s what the American people want us to do. There was no clearer message that was sent in the midterm elections than that....
Q: What does the President want to get out of tonight’s meetings with executives....
MR. CARNEY: As you know -- I think I mentioned yesterday -- you’re talking about the dinner tonight in California? He’s going to gather a group of business leaders to talk about technology and innovation. These are -- this is part of our economy that has been a huge contributor to economic growth in the last several decades, and we expect it will continue to be. It is a remarkable demonstration of the American capacity for creativity and innovation and leadership, and a model, really, for that kind of economic activity that we want to see in other cutting-edge industries in the United States where jobs can be created in America and kept in America. And that’s what he wants to talk about.
I don’t have specifics. I’m sure there will be a variety of issues discussed. But we have -- the President is committed to making investments in research and development. It’s key to education. There’s a lot of support among leaders of this industry for our education agenda. There’s a great need in the technology industry for well-educated, appropriately educated Americans in science and technology, engineering and math. And as you know, the President is very focused on that....
Q: Jay, the White House has been studying these historic examples of democracy emerging in countries around the world. Can you talk about any of the lessons that the White House has gleaned from looking at those other countries?
MR. CARNEY: Without getting into specifics about which models, I think the lessons are that you want governments, opposition movements, civil society to come together and to work out the changes that can bring about greater democracy, greater pluralism, greater participation around the table, and negotiations, rather than in any violent way. And I think that the successes -- the countries where those kind of -- the progress has been most evident, that that’s been the model that we think is the best....
Q: Thank you, sir. Two questions about Great Britain. How closely has the President been consulting with Prime Minister Cameron, especially the fact that the United States Navy’s Fifth Fleet is in the region?
MR. CARNEY: What I can tell you -- I believe we read out the fact that the President spoke with the Prime Minister over the weekend. I don’t have anything more for you on that.
Q: And the other is about the invitation, obviously. It’s a very rare occurrence for any President to be invited to stay, literally, in Buckingham Palace. Can you tell us --
MR. CARNEY: Only the staff can go, too. (Laughter.) ....
I confess that I do not know the precedence for this. But he is obviously honored by the invitation and it is reflective, he believes, of the special relationship that our two countries have long had, and a special relationship that will endure....
Q:... I was listening to the President speak at the press conference when he was urging this uncharacteristic patience on journalists, I had the distinct impression that he was talking not about the specific episode in Egypt, but in general -- have patience; it will work.... Is what happens in the Middle East these days, do you see at the White House, do you see this as a vindication of the President’s approach to the region and to international relations in general?
MR. CARNEY: What you said about the counseling of patience I think applies in many ways to many issues. And that’s what the President was talking about. These are -- in the same way that big problems come -- the problems that come to a President’s desk are all hard. The easy ones come to desks in smaller offices to people of lower rank, and they get solved there. And the issues that dominate these briefings, that dominate his press conferences, are all thorny and tough and they take time to resolve. And I think being focused, clear about your principles, pragmatic in your approach, but, again, guided by your principles, that you can achieve big things.
That’s his goal, to achieve big things on behalf of the American people. He’s focused on that, whether it’s in international affairs or whether it’s -- or when it’s dealing with domestic and economic affair.
Q: And you do feel that this is connected to what you’ve been doing and saying?
MR. CARNEY: I do, yes....
Q: The President is meeting today with lawmakers on the committees that deal with education. First of all, do you have any -- do you know anything about that meeting? Can you read it out at all?
MR. CARNEY: I can, if I can find it here. Bear with me. I know it’s here somewhere. There it is. Yes, that he met -- he had a bipartisan -- speaking of bipartisanship, working together on goals that are commonly held by members of both parties -- the President had a meeting today with -- if I could just find my paper on it -- with Senators Tom Harkin, Mike Enzi, Jeff Bingaman, and Lamar Alexander -- Republicans and Democrats.
In that meeting, the President reiterated his strong belief that the nation’s economic future is being decided every day in classrooms across the country and that reforming education through the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is a key priority this year. As you know, education is an absolute priority of this President and his commitment to reform is really quite profound.
During the bipartisan meeting, the President discussed his desire to find common ground on the need to redefine the federal role in education so that it is more flexible and better focused on responsibility, reform, and results. He discussed raising expectations for students and schools, boosting teacher effectiveness, and providing greater flexibility to support innovation and improvements throughout public education, including fostering a Race to the Top in our schools and providing incentives and rewards to help students make significant strides and to succeed.
The President looks forward to continuing this vital bipartisan work to ensure America’s students have the skills they need to out-educate and out-compete the world and win the future. And I’ll add a little bit: It was a good meeting. (Laughter.)....
Q: Will you talk to the pool tomorrow? Are you going to California?
MR. CARNEY: Oh, yes. I am going to California with the President. I’m very disappointed you’re all not coming -- I know some of you are. But I will gaggle on the flight in the morning.
Q: Thanks, Jay.
MR. CARNEY: Thanks.
• NATIONAL HIV/AIDS STRATEGY •
White House, Feb. 17, 2011:
White House Briefing on Federal Agency Operational Plans to Implement the National HIV/AIDS Strategy
Update on the work of the Federal agencies since the release of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy and to discussion of the President's HIV/AIDS priorities as embodied in his fiscal year 2012 Budget.
• HONORING CITIZEN DIPLOMACY •
Department of State, Feb. 17, 2011:
Secretary Clinton Celebrates 50 Years of Citizen Diplomacy
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers opening remarks at the National Council of International Visitors reception celebrating the 50th anniversary of citizen diplomacy at the State Department in Washington, DC, February 17, 2011.
Department of State, Feb. 17, 2011:
Reception Honoring the National Council of International Visitors During its 50th Anniversary Year
Remarks by Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton
SECRETARY CLINTON: Good evening. Oh, thank you very much, Assistant Secretary Ann Stock. And I’d like to welcome all of you as well. This is an exciting time for us because what we have in this room are representatives of the staff, friends, and supporters of the National Council for International Visitors around the world. And it’s not only who is in the room, but who is following us online. So we are connected tonight.
And I would like to extend a special welcome to Dr. Sherry Mueller, president of NCIV, Mark Rebstock, vice president of NCIV, Alan Durtka, chair of the board of directors, and Jim Stockton, who chairs the 2011 National Meeting Planning Committee, who is also a board member of the Arkansas Council for International Visitors.
Now, as Ann said, we are celebrating two big milestones tonight – the 50th anniversary of the National Council, which now has more than 90 chapters connecting leaders from around the world with their American counterparts, and the 70th year of the International Visitor Leadership Program, the State Department’s premier professional exchange program, through which 80,000 American hosts – or we like to call you citizen diplomats – have cultivated relationships. And every year, 200 international visitors, either individually or in a group, come to the United States for programs designed to reflect their professional interests, from business entrepreneurs, aspiring politicians, civil servants, human rights activists, teachers, and so much more.
And you know so well that our visitors are able to learn about American Government at the national, state, and local levels; they visit very representative American institutions from the Library of Congress to Walmart. And while – (laughter) – our visitors are experiencing America firsthand, Americans learn about their countries.
Now, this is all part of our larger effort to broaden the reach of our diplomacy. I believe very strongly that in the 21st century, statecraft cannot just be government-to-government. It has to be government-to-people, and most importantly, people-to-people. So we are always looking for opportunities to engage civil society, women, youth, and everyone else. And that’s why the work of the International Leadership Program and the National Council are so vital.
I really think diplomacy is a conversation, and the conversation needs to go on around the clock. You can tell I’ve been talking a lot. (Laughter.) And joining us tonight are 18 leaders who are alumni of the International Visitors Leadership Program. We have called them our “IVLP Gold Stars,” and we’ve invited them back to celebrate their achievements. I know that Ann recognized them earlier at the Marriott, but their achievements are really worth celebrating. They come from every corner of the globe, from Afghanistan to Nigeria, from Cambodia to Uruguay.
And since completing the exchange program, they’ve helped women get breast cancer treatment in Kosovo, they’ve started a news radio program in Afghanistan, they’ve stood up for LGBT youth in China, they’ve worked in civic education and environmental justice. One is the foreign affairs advisor to the president of the Czech Republic. They have all contributed their experiences, and we congratulate one and all.
Now, I was looking back and getting the statistics, and these are amazing. Nearly 200,000 people have participated in the International Visitors Leadership Program, including – yes, indeed – (applause) – including more than 320 current and former heads of state and heads of government. And as Secretary, I get to meet so many of them and I’m always so proud when they say, “Oh, I was a Visitor,” and then they tell me their experience about where they went and where they lived and who they met. For example, Brazil’s new president – first woman president – right – (applause) – and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan. So we have a very good relationship with people who know something about us and we know something about them.
But I also meet visitors who work beyond the spotlight. Last month, for example, I was at a town hall in Yemen to talk about civil society and human rights. (Applause.) Yay, Yemen. (Laughter.) And one of the alumni there was a young woman named Nadwa. (Applause, laughter.) And she’s an activist who works in conflict resolution and peace-building, and for her program, she had visited Minot, North Dakota. (Applause, laughter.) And she has returned several times since to talk to students of the community – (applause, laughter) – about Islam and about the work of women mediators in resolving tribal disputes in Yemen.
Now, I’m told that on Nadwa’s first visit, she was on the road with a group of other international visitors when they got caught in a classic North Dakota hailstorm. And at the time, they were passing through a small town called Max – maximum population 287 – (laughter) – so they pulled their vans over and knocked on the door of the nearest house. Now, it’s not every day in North Dakota or really anywhere in America that you open your front door and you see a group of young people from Yemen, Uganda, Ecuador, and Kazakhstan. But the couple answering the door were typically goodhearted Americans. They invited them all in out of the rain and they sat down for a chat, and I think it’s safe to say that that couple became instant citizen diplomats.
This is just one story, and there are hundreds and thousands of such stories, and it really illustrates why programs such as this are so important. By helping people engage in people-to-people diplomacy, they help us deepen the fundamental goal of American public diplomacy, which is to promote mutual understanding between Americans and the people of other nations.
So I hope the National Council for the International Visitors Program and the International Visitor Leadership Program continue for many, many more years to come. I will not be around on the 140th anniversary – (laughter) – or the hundredth anniversary, but our successors in all walks of life, including here in the State Department, will. And hopefully, we will see the results of all of this dedicated effort – greater understanding, a greater commitment to peace, an effort to try to give every person in the world a chance to fulfill his or her God-given potential. And we will do it all in the name of a country that believes so strongly in the value of each individual. And that is really at the core of what makes this program successful, because it relies on volunteer help. It relies on individuals across America who are willing to take time out of their busy schedules to invite people into their lives. And we are so grateful to all of you who have done that year after year.
I thank you for what you do not only for the United States of America, but for what you do for the world. Thank you all and God bless you.