EMBARGOED: TODAY: Senior VA Officials to Hold Background Briefing to Preview New Policy on Veterans' Disability Benefits

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

FOR PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY

July 9, 2010

 

**EMBARGOED UNTIL 6:00AM EDT SATURDAY, JULY 10^th**

 

TODAY: Senior VA Officials to Hold Background Briefing to Preview New Policy on Veterans’ Disability Benefits

 

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Friday, July 9^th at 2:00pm ET, senior officials from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs will hold a background briefing to preview a new policy on Veterans’ disability benefits that will be released on Monday.  The briefing call will be on background and will be embargoed until 6:00am on Saturday, July 10^th.

 

WHAT: Background briefing call with senior VA officials on new policy regarding Veterans’ disability benefits

 

WHEN: TODAY, July 9^th at 2:00pm ET

 

DIAL-IN: Media interested in joining the call should dial (800) 398-9402 and ask for the “White House call.”  No pass code is necessary.

 

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EMBARGOED: Weekly Address: President Obama Touts Nearly $2 Billion in New Investments to Help Build a Clean Energy Economy

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________________________
EMBARGOED UNTIL 6:00 AM ET, SATURDAY, July 3, 2010

WEEKLY ADDRESS: President Obama Touts Nearly $2 Billion in New Investments to Help Build a Clean Energy Economy

 

WASHINGTON – In this week’s address, President Barack Obama announced that the Department of Energy is awarding nearly $2 billion in conditional commitments from the Recovery Act to two solar companies. Abengoa Solar has agreed to build one of the largest solar plants in the world in Arizona, which will create about 1,600 construction jobs with over 70 percent of the construction components and products manufactured here in the USA.  When completed, this plant will provide enough clean energy to power 70,000 homes.  And, Abound Solar Manufacturing is building two new plants, one in Colorado and one in Indiana.  These projects will create more than 2,000 construction jobs, and over 1,500 permanent jobs as the plants produce millions of state of the art solar panels each year. 

 

The full audio of the address is HERE. The video can be viewed online at www.whitehouse.gov.

 

Remarks of President Barack Obama

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Weekly Address

Washington, DC

 

This week, I spent some time in Racine, Wisconsin, talking with folks who are doing their best to cope with the aftermath of a brutal recession.

 

And while I was there, a young woman asked me a question I hear all the time: “What are we doing as a nation to bring jobs back to this country?”

 

Well, on Friday, we learned that after 22 straight months of job loss, our economy has now created jobs in the private sector for 6 months in a row.  That’s a positive sign.  But the truth is, the recession from which we’re emerging has left us in a hole that’s about 8 million jobs deep.  And as I’ve said from the day I took office, it’s going to take months, even years, to dig our way out – and it’s going to require an all-hands-on-deck effort.

 

In the short term, we’re fighting to speed up this recovery and keep the economy growing by all means possible.  That means extending unemployment insurance for workers who lost their job.  That means getting small businesses the loans they need to keep their doors open and hire new workers.  And that means sending relief to states so they don’t have to lay off thousands of teachers and firefighters and police officers. 

 

Still, at a time when millions of Americans feel a deep sense of urgency in their own lives, Republican leaders in Washington just don’t get it.  While a majority of Senators support taking these steps to help the American people, some are playing the same old Washington games and using their power to hold this relief hostage – a move that only ends up holding back our recovery.  It doesn’t make sense.

 

But I promised those folks in Wisconsin – and I promise all of you – that we won’t back down.  We’re going to keep fighting to advance our recovery.  And we’re going to keep competing aggressively to make sure the jobs and industries of the future are taking root right here in America.

 

That’s one of the reasons why we’re accelerating the transition to a clean energy economy and doubling our use of renewable energy sources like wind and solar power – steps that have the potential to create whole new industries and hundreds of thousands of new jobs in America.

 

In fact, today, I’m announcing that the Department of Energy is awarding nearly $2 billion in conditional commitments to two solar companies.

 

The first is Abengoa Solar, a company that has agreed to build one of the largest solar plants in the world right here in the United States.  After years of watching companies build things and create jobs overseas, it’s good news that we’ve attracted a company to our shores to build a plant and create jobs right here in America.  In the short term, construction will create approximately 1,600 jobs in Arizona.  What’s more, over 70 percent of the components and products used in construction will be manufactured in the USA, boosting jobs and communities in states up and down the supply chain.  Once completed, this plant will be the first large-scale solar plant in the U.S. to actually store the energy it generates for later use – even at night.  And it will generate enough clean, renewable energy to power 70,000 homes.

 

The second company is Abound Solar Manufacturing, which will manufacture advanced solar panels at two new plants, creating more than 2,000 construction jobs and 1,500 permanent jobs.  A Colorado plant is already underway, and an Indiana plant will be built in what’s now an empty Chrysler factory.  When fully operational, these plants will produce millions of state-of-the-art solar panels each year.

 

These are just two of the many clean energy investments in the Recovery Act.  Already, I’ve seen the payoff from these investments.  I’ve seen once-shuttered factories humming with new workers who are building solar panels and wind turbines; rolling up their sleeves to help America win the race for the clean energy economy.

 

So that’s some of what we’re doing.  But the truth is, steps like these won’t replace all the jobs we’ve lost overnight.  I know folks are struggling.  I know this Fourth of July weekend finds many Americans wishing things were a bit easier right now.  I do too.

 

But what this weekend reminds us, more than any other, is that we are a nation that has always risen to the challenges before it. We are a nation that, 234 years ago, declared our independence from one of the greatest empires the world had ever known.  We are a nation that mustered a sense of common purpose to overcome Depression and fear itself.  We are a nation that embraced a call to greatness and saved the world from tyranny.  That is who we are – a nation that turns times of trial into times of triumph – and I know America will write our own destiny once more.

 

I wish every American a safe and happy Fourth of July.  And to all our troops serving in harm’s way, I want you to know you have the support of a grateful nation and a proud Commander-in-Chief.  Thank you, God Bless You, and God Bless the United States of America.

 

EMBARGOED FOR 12:01 AM EDT FRIDAY: Background on the President's Recovery Act Announcement Tomorrow

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

_______________________________________________________________________________________

EMBARGOED UNTIL JULY 2, 2010, 12:01 AM EDT

July 1, 2010

 

Background on the President’s Recovery Act Announcement Tomorrow

**Embargoed Until July 2, 2010, 12:01 AM EDT**

 

Tomorrow, President Obama will announce investment in sixty-six new Recovery Act broadband projects nationwide that, according to the grantees, will not only directly create approximately 5,000 jobs up front, but will also help spur economic development in some of the nation’s hardest-hit communities, helping create jobs for years to come.  In total, tens of millions of Americans and over 685,000 businesses, 900 healthcare facilities and 2,400 schools in all fifty states stand to benefit from the awards.  The $795 million in grants and loans through the Departments of Commerce and Agriculture have been matched by over $200 million in outside investment, for a total public-private investment of more than $1 billion in bringing broadband service to these communities, most of which currently have little or no access, to help them better compete and do business in the global marketplace.

 

Broadband Impact

According to analysis released by the National Economic Council last year, overall Recovery Act investments in broadband are expected to create tens of thousands of jobs in the near term and expand economic development and job opportunities in communities that would otherwise be left behind in the new knowledge-based economy.  Recovery Act broadband projects help bring down the cost of private investment, attract Internet service providers to new areas, improve digital literacy among students and workers, and help create new opportunities in employment, education, and entrepreneurship by wiring homes and businesses.  With new or increased broadband access, communities can compete on a level playing field to attract new businesses, schools can create distance learning opportunities, medical professionals can provide cost-efficient remote diagnoses and care, and business owners can expand the market for their products beyond their neighborhoods to better compete in the global economy.

 

Broadband and the Recovery Act

The grants and loans are part of an overall $7.2 billion investment the Recovery Act makes in expanding broadband access nationwide – $4.7 billion through the Commerce Department and $2.5 billion funded through the Department of Agriculture.  With the awards being announced tomorrow, more than $2.7 billion in Recovery Act broadband grants and loans will have been awarded to more than 260 projects across the country since December 2009.  Overall, the Recovery Act is making a $100 billion investment in science, innovation and technology that is not only creating jobs today, but laying a foundation for economic growth for years to come. 

 

Tomorrow’s Awards

There are two types of awards being announced tomorrow:

• Infrastructure – Middle mile awards build and improve middle mile connections to communities lacking sufficient broadband access and last mile awards connect end users like homes, hospitals and schools to their community’s broadband infrastructure (the middle mile).
• Public Computing Centers - Expand computer center capacity for public use in libraries, community colleges and other public venues.

 

A roster of the broadband awards being announced by the President tomorrow are attached.

 

 

 

Embargoed: Remarks of President Barack Obama at G-20 Press Conference--As Prepared for Delivery

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

_______________________________________________________________________________________

EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY

June 27, 2010

 

Remarks of President Barack Obama—As Prepared for Deliver

G-20 Press Conference

Toronto, Canada

Sunday, June 27, 2010

 

As Prepared for Delivery—

 

Good evening. I want to thank our wonderful hosts—my friend and partner President Harper, as well as the Canadian people, for their hospitality.  The success of these summits—the G-8 in Muskoka and the G-20 here in Toronto—is a tribute to Canadian leadership.  I also want to thank my fellow leaders for the sense of purpose that they brought to this summit. 

 

The G-20 is now the premier forum for international economic cooperation.  We represent East and West, North and South, advanced economies and those still emerging.  Our challenges are as diverse as our nations.  But together we represent some 85 percent of the global economy, and we have forged a coordinated response to the worst global economic crisis of our time.

 

In London last year, we took unprecedented action—to prevent an even larger economic catastrophe, to put our economies on the path to recovery and to begin reforming our financial system so that a crisis like the one we’re emerging from never happens again.          

 

In Pittsburgh we went further—moving beyond the old economic cycles of boom and bust by committing our nations to a new framework for growth that is balanced and sustained, as well as specific financial reforms.

 

Our bold action succeeded.  In the United States, we are committed – above all – to leading by example. Because of the steps that we’ve taken to get our economy moving, we are growing again, and this growth is beginning to translate into job creation. And we are now also poised to pass the toughest financial reform since the aftermath of a Great Depression.

 

Globally, economic contraction has given way to economic growth.  Trade that had plummeted is rebounding.  Emerging economies in particular are seeing impressive growth. So we have pulled ourselves back from the brink, and begun to move forward with economic recovery.

 

But as we all know, this is not good enough.  In the United States and around the world, too many people are still out of work.  In too many economies, demand for goods and services is still weak.  As we have been reminded in recent months, a financial crisis in one country can have consequences far beyond its borders.  And as history teaches us, growth and prosperity is never guaranteed.  It requires constant effort.  It requires continued leadership.

 

So we came to Toronto with three specific goals—to make sure the global recovery is strong and durable; to continue reforming the financial system; and to address the range of global issues that affect our prosperity and security.  And we made important progress in each of these areas.

 

First, to ensure the recovery is strong and durable, we agreed to continue coordinating our efforts so we are creating jobs.  This is my highest economic priority as President. And that is why we are focused on increasing global demand.  Every economy is unique, and every country will chart its own unique course, but make no mistake—we’re moving in the same direction.

 

As I reiterated to my colleagues, after years of taking on too much debt, Americans cannot—and will not—borrow and buy the world’s way to lasting prosperity.  No nation should assume its path to prosperity is paved with exports to America.  Indeed, I’ve made it clear that the United States will compete aggressively for the jobs and industries and markets of the future. 

 

That is why I have set the goal of doubling our exports over the next five years—an increase that would support millions of jobs in the United States.  It’s why I have launched a National Export Initiative to help meet this goal.  It’s why we focused earlier this week on deepening our economic cooperation with Russia – which would benefit both of our countries – including restarting our poultry exports, and accelerating our efforts to support Russia’s entry into the WTO. And it’s why I announced that my Administration will work to resolve outstanding issues regarding the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement by my visit to Korea in November.  This will create new jobs and opportunity for people in both our countries, and enhance America’s competitiveness in the 21^st century.

 

A strong and durable recovery also requires countries not having an undue advantage. So we also discussed the need for currencies that are market-driven.  As I told President Hu yesterday, the United States welcomes China’s decision to allow its currency to appreciate in response to market forces.

 

And because a durable recovery must also include fiscal responsibility, we agreed to balance the need for continued growth in the short-term and fiscal sustainability in the medium-term. In the United States, I’ve set a goal of cutting our deficit in half by 2013. A number of our European partners are making difficult decisions.   But we must recognize that our fiscal health tomorrow will rest in no small measure on our ability to create jobs and growth today.

 

Second – we advanced our goal of financial reform. Just as we are on the verge of passing financial reforms at home, our European partners have committed to the process we went through in the U.S.—a new level of transparency and stress tests for banks to rebuild confidence. 

 

Here in Toronto, we reaffirmed our commitment to the highest global standards. To maintain momentum, we directed our teams to finalize for our meeting in Seoul a global framework to ensure that banks hold enough capital to withstand the stresses of government intervention.  Rules must clear.  Oversight must be strong.  Complex trades—like derivatives—must be brought into the light of day.  Excessive risk-taking and abusive practices must be prevented.  Consumers must be protected.  In short, we have to do everything in our power to avoid a repeat of the recent financial crisis.

 

Finally, we made progress on a range of global challenges that are critical to shared prosperity.  We’re moving forward with the food security initiative that we announced last year, including by launching a special fund at the World Bank which will strengthen farmers' productivity in the poorest countries. And we made progress toward a new coordinated approach so that we can invest more than $20 billion to reduce hunger and promote agricultural development. 

 

The G-20 leaders renewed our commitment, made in Pittsburgh, to phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. The United States has laid out our plans for achieving this goal, and we’re urging our G-20 partners to do so as well. This would be one of the most important steps we can take to create clean energy jobs, increase our energy security and address the threat of climate change.

 

And I am pleased we endorsed my proposal to broaden the G-20 agenda to include the fight against corruption.  In too many places, the culture of the bribe is a brake on development and prosperity. It discourages entrepreneurship, destroys public trust, undermines the rule of law and stifles economic growth.  With a new commitment to strengthening and enforcing rules against corruption, economic opportunity and prosperity will be more broadly shared. 

  

Let me conclude by saying that I know that much of the focus coming into these meetings was on whether our nations would be divided by different approaches. But as we have proven repeatedly over the last 18 months, our nations can come together through the G-20, and build on the foundation of our shared interests. Indeed, that is the purpose of these meetings. We can bridge our differences. We can coordinate our approaches. And we can continue our relentless focus on durable growth that puts our people to work, and broadens prosperity for the world. Thank you.

 

###

 

EMBARGOED: Weekly Address: President Obama Urges Congress to Complete Work on Wall Street Reform Bill

 

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________________________
EMBARGOED UNTIL 6:00 AM ET, SATURDAY, June 26, 2010

WEEKLY ADDRESS: President Obama Urges Congress to Complete Work on Wall Street Reform Bill

 

WASHINGTON – In this week’s address, President Barack Obama asks Congress to pass historic Wall Street reform which will make the toughest financial reforms since the Great Depression the law of the land.  The Wall Street reform bill, which reflects 90 percent of what the President originally proposed, includes the strongest consumer financial protections in history with an independent agency to enforce them.  It ensures that the trading of derivatives, which helped trigger the crisis, will be brought into the light of day, and enacts the “Volcker Rule,” which will make sure banks protected by safety nets like the FDIC cannot engage in risky trades. And, this bill will create a resolution authority to wind down firms whose collapse would threaten the entire financial system.  Wall Street reform will end taxpayer funded bailouts and make sure Main Street is never again held responsible for Wall Street’s mistakes.

 

The full audio of the address is HERE. The video can be viewed online at www.whitehouse.gov.

 

Remarks of President Barack Obama

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Weekly Address

Washington, DC

 

This weekend, I’m traveling to Toronto to meet with members of the G20. There, I hope we can build on the progress we made at last year’s G20 summits by coordinating our global financial reform efforts to make sure a crisis like the one from which we are still recovering never happens again. We’ve made great progress toward passing such reform here at home. As I speak, we are on the cusp of enacting the toughest financial reforms since the Great Depression.

 

I don’t have to tell you why these reforms are so important. We’re still digging ourselves out of an economic crisis that happened largely because there wasn’t strong enough oversight on Wall Street. We can’t build a strong economy in America over the long-run without ending this status quo, and laying a new foundation for growth and prosperity.

 

That’s what the Wall Street reforms currently making their way through Congress will help us do – reforms that represent 90% of what I proposed when I took up this fight. We’ll put in place the strongest consumer financial protections in American history, and create an independent agency with an independent director and an independent budget to enforce them.

 

Credit card companies will no longer be able to mislead you with pages and pages of fine print. You will no longer be subject to all kinds of hidden fees and penalties, or the predatory practices of unscrupulous lenders.

 

Instead, we’ll make sure credit card companies and mortgage companies play by the rules.  And you’ll be empowered with easy-to-understand forms, and the clear and concise information you need to make the financial decisions that are best for you and your family.

 

Wall Street reform will also strengthen our economy in a number of other ways. We’ll make our financial system more transparent by bringing the kinds of complex trades that helped trigger this crisis – trades in a $600 trillion derivatives market – finally into the light of day.

 

We’ll enact what’s called the Volcker Rule to make sure banks protected by a safety net like the FDIC can’t engage in risky trades for their own profit. We’ll create what’s called a resolution authority to help wind down firms whose collapse would threaten our entire financial system. Put simply, we’ll end the days of taxpayer-funded bailouts, and help make sure Main Street is never again held responsible for Wall Street’s mistakes.

 

Beyond these reforms, we also need to address another piece of unfinished business. We need to impose a fee on the banks that were the biggest beneficiaries of taxpayer assistance at the height of our financial crisis – so we can recover every dime of taxpayer money.

 

Getting this far on Wall Street reform hasn’t been easy. There are those who’ve fought tooth and nail to preserve the status quo. In recent months, they’ve spent millions of dollars and hired an army of lobbyists to stop reform dead in its tracks.

 

But because we refused to back down, and kept fighting, we now stand on the verge of victory. And I urge Congress to take us over the finish line, and send me a reform bill I can sign into law, so we can empower our people with consumer protections, and help prevent a financial crisis like this from ever happening again.

 

 

EMBARGOED: Weekly Address: President Obama Says Republicans in Congress Blocking Important Progress

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________________________
EMBARGOED UNTIL 6:00 AM ET, SATURDAY, June 19, 2010

WEEKLY ADDRESS: President Obama Says Republicans in Congress Blocking Important Progress

 

WASHINGTON – In this week’s address, President Barack Obama called on Congress to put scoring political points aside, and instead to focus on solving the problems facing the nation.  The Republican leadership is currently blocking progress on a bill to boost the economy, retain jobs for teachers and cops, and help people buy their first home; another bill which would hold oil companies accountable for any disasters they cause by removing the current $75 million liability cap; and 136 highly qualified men and women who have been nominated to government positions.  In these challenging times, elected leaders in Washington need to remember that they have an obligation that goes beyond upcoming elections – an obligation to care for the next generation.

 

The full audio of the address is HERE. The video can be viewed online at www.whitehouse.gov.

 

Remarks of President Barack Obama

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Weekly Address

Washington, DC

 

At this moment, our nation is facing a host of big and difficult challenges.   And more than anything else, what’s required to meet those challenges right now is a sense of cooperation and common purpose among our leaders.  What we need is a willingness in Washington to put the public’s interests first – a willingness to score fewer political points so that we can start solving more problems. 

 

That’s why I was disappointed this week to see a dreary and familiar politics get in the way of our ability to move forward on a series of critical issues that have a direct impact on people’s lives.

 

In the United States Senate, we have legislation that would boost our economic recovery and help Americans who’ve been affected by the worst recession in generations.  We’ve certainly made progress since we were losing 750,000 jobs per month around the time I took office.  Our economy is growing again, and we’ve added jobs for five straight months.   But there are still millions of Americans out of work, and millions more who are struggling to pay the bills.  The legislation in the Senate right now would extend unemployment benefits to those workers who lost their job through no fault of their own.  It would provide relief to struggling states that would help save the jobs of thousands of teachers and cops and firefighters.  There are also provisions in this legislation that would extend the tax credit for first-time homebuyers, as well as tax cuts to keep research and development jobs here in the United States.

 

Unfortunately, the Republican leadership in the Senate won’t even allow this legislation to come up for a vote.  And if this obstruction continues, unemployed Americans will see their benefits stop.  Teachers and firefighters will lose their jobs.  Families will pay more for their first home. 

 

All we ask for is a simple up or down vote.  That’s what the American people deserve.  Just like they deserve an up or down vote on legislation that would hold oil companies accountable for the disasters they cause – a vote that is also being blocked by the Republican leadership in the Senate.  Right now, the law places a $75 million cap on the amount oil companies must pay to families and small businesses who suffer economic losses as a result of a spill like the one we’re witnessing in the Gulf Coast.  We should remove that cap.  But the Republican leadership won’t even allow a debate or a vote.

 

And as we speak today, 136 men and women who I’ve nominated for key positions in the federal government are awaiting a vote on the floor of the Senate.  All are highly qualified.  Very few are controversial.  The vast majority already have support from both parties.  But most of them are seeing their nominations intentionally delayed by Republican leaders, or even blocked altogether.  They cannot get a vote.  What this means is that, at a moment when our country is facing so many challenges – a time when we need all hands on deck – we cannot get the qualified people we need to start the jobs they were appointed to do. 

 

Look, the nature of our democracy is that we’ll always have disagreements and debates -- even heated ones.  That’s healthy and it’s important.  But let’s argue over genuine differences – over ideas and policies.  And let’s go into those debates with an open mind – a willingness to find common ground and a conviction that, in the end, one way or another, we will have a vote to decide them.  Next week, I’ll be meeting with a bipartisan group of Senators to discuss how we can transition away from our dependence on fossil fuels and embrace a clean energy future.  I don’t expect that we’ll agree on a solution right away.  In fact, I know that there will be plenty of disagreement and different ideas.  But at least it shows that Republicans and Democrats can still sit down together in an attempt to tackle the big challenges facing our nation. 

 

I know the political season is upon us in Washington.  But gridlock as a political strategy is destructive to the country.  Whether we are Democrats or Republicans, we’ve got an obligation that goes beyond caring about the next election.  We have an obligation to care for the next generation.  So I hope that when Congress returns next week, they do so with a greater spirit of compromise and cooperation.  America will be watching.   

 

Thanks.

 

 

EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY: Remarks of President Barack Obama's Address to the Nation on the BP Oil Spill--As Prepared for Delivery

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

_______________________________________________________________________________________

EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY

June 15, 2010

 

 

Remarks of President Barack Obama-As Prepared for Delivery

Address to the Nation on the BP Oil Spill

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Oval Office

 

As Prepared for Delivery—

 

Good evening.  As we speak, our nation faces a multitude of challenges.  At home, our top priority is to recover and rebuild from a recession that has touched the lives of nearly every American.  Abroad, our brave men and women in uniform are taking the fight to al Qaeda wherever it exists.  And tonight, I’ve returned from a trip to the Gulf Coast to speak with you about the battle we’re waging against an oil spill that is assaulting our shores and our citizens.

 

On April 20^th, an explosion ripped through BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, about forty miles off the coast of Louisiana.  Eleven workers lost their lives.  Seventeen others were injured.  And soon, nearly a mile beneath the surface of the ocean, oil began spewing into the water.

 

Because there has never been a leak of this size at this depth, stopping it has tested the limits of human technology.  That is why just after the rig sank, I assembled a team of our nation’s best scientists and engineers to tackle this challenge – a team led by Dr. Steven Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and our nation’s Secretary of Energy.  Scientists at our national labs and experts from academia and other oil companies have also provided ideas and advice.

 

As a result of these efforts, we have directed BP to mobilize additional equipment and technology.  In the coming days and weeks, these efforts should capture up to 90% of the oil leaking out of the well.  This is until the company finishes drilling a relief well later in the summer that is expected to stop the leak completely. 

 

Already, this oil spill is the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced.  And unlike an earthquake or a hurricane, it is not a single event that does its damage in a matter of minutes or days.  The millions of gallons of oil that have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico are more like an epidemic, one that we will be fighting for months and even years. 

 

But make no mistake:  we will fight this spill with everything we’ve got for as long it takes.  We will make BP pay for the damage their company has caused.  And we will do whatever’s necessary to help the Gulf Coast and its people recover from this tragedy. 

 

Tonight I’d like to lay out for you what our battle plan is going forward:  what we’re doing to clean up the oil, what we’re doing to help our neighbors in the Gulf, and what we’re doing to make sure that a catastrophe like this never happens again. 

 

First, the cleanup.  From the very beginning of this crisis, the federal government has been in charge of the largest environmental cleanup effort in our nation’s history – an effort led by Admiral Thad Allen, who has almost forty years of experience responding to disasters.  We now have nearly 30,000 personnel who are working across four states to contain and cleanup the oil.  Thousands of ships and other vessels are responding in the Gulf.  And I have authorized the deployment of over 17,000 National Guard members along the coast.  These servicemen and women are ready to help stop the oil from coming ashore, clean beaches, train response workers, or even help with processing claims – and I urge the governors in the affected states to activate these troops as soon as possible. 

 

Because of our efforts, millions of gallons of oil have already been removed from the water through burning, skimming, and other collection methods.  Over five and a half million feet of boom has been laid across the water to block and absorb the approaching oil.  We have approved the construction of new barrier islands in Louisiana to try and stop the oil before it reaches the shore, and we are working with Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida to implement creative approaches to their unique coastlines. 

 

As the clean up continues, we will offer whatever additional resources and assistance our coastal states may need.  Now, a mobilization of this speed and magnitude will never be perfect, and new challenges will always arise.  I saw and heard evidence of that during this trip.  So if something isn’t working, we want to hear about it.  If there are problems in the operation, we will fix them. 

 

But we have to recognize that despite our best efforts, oil has already caused damage to our coastline and its wildlife.  And sadly, no matter how effective our response becomes, there will be more oil and more damage before this siege is done.  That’s why the second thing we’re focused on is the recovery and restoration of the Gulf Coast. 

 

You know, for generations, men and women who call this region home have made their living from the water.  That living is now in jeopardy.  I’ve talked to shrimpers and fishermen who don’t know how they’re going to support their families this year.  I’ve seen empty docks and restaurants with fewer customers – even in areas where the beaches are not yet affected.  I’ve talked to owners of shops and hotels who wonder when the tourists will start to come back.  The sadness and anger they feel is not just about the money they’ve lost.  It’s about a wrenching anxiety that their way of life may be lost. 

 

I refuse to let that happen.  Tomorrow, I will meet with the chairman of BP and inform him that he is to set aside whatever resources are required to compensate the workers and business owners who have been harmed as a result of his company’s recklessness.  And this fund will not be controlled by BP.  In order to ensure that all legitimate claims are paid out in a fair and timely manner, the account must and will be administered by an independent, third party. 

 

Beyond compensating the people of the Gulf in the short-term, it’s also clear we need a long-term plan to restore the unique beauty and bounty of this region.  The oil spill represents just the latest blow to a place that has already suffered multiple economic disasters and decades of environmental degradation that has led to disappearing wetlands and habitats.  And the region still hasn’t recovered from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  That’s why we must make a commitment to the Gulf Coast that goes beyond responding to the crisis of the moment. 

 

I make that commitment tonight.  Earlier, I asked Ray Mabus, the Secretary of the Navy, a former governor of Mississippi, and a son of the Gulf, to develop a long-term Gulf Coast Restoration Plan as soon as possible.  The plan will be designed by states, local communities, tribes, fishermen, businesses, conservationists, and other Gulf residents.  And BP will pay for the impact this spill has had on the region.  

 

The third part of our response plan is the steps we’re taking to ensure that a disaster like this does not happen again.  A few months ago, I approved a proposal to consider new, limited offshore drilling under the assurance that it would be absolutely safe – that the proper technology would be in place and the necessary precautions would be taken.

 

That was obviously not the case on the Deepwater Horizon rig, and I want to know why.  The American people deserve to know why.  The families I met with last week who lost their loved ones in the explosion – these families deserve to know why.  And so I have established a National Commission to understand the causes of this disaster and offer recommendations on what additional safety and environmental standards we need to put in place.  Already, I have issued a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling.  I know this creates difficulty for the people who work on these rigs, but for the sake of their safety, and for the sake of the entire region, we need to know the facts before we allow deepwater drilling to continue.  And while I urge the Commission to complete its work as quickly as possible, I expect them to do that work thoroughly and impartially.       

 

One place we have already begun to take action is at the agency in charge of regulating drilling and issuing permits, known as the Minerals Management Service.  Over the last decade, this agency has become emblematic of a failed philosophy that views all regulation with hostility – a philosophy that says corporations should be allowed to play by their own rules and police themselves.  At this agency, industry insiders were put in charge of industry oversight.  Oil companies showered regulators with gifts and favors, and were essentially allowed to conduct their own safety inspections and write their own regulations.  

 

When Ken Salazar became my Secretary of the Interior, one of his very first acts was to clean up the worst of the corruption at this agency.  But it’s now clear that the problems there ran much deeper, and the pace of reform was just too slow.  And so Secretary Salazar and I are bringing in new leadership at the agency – Michael Bromwich, who was a tough federal prosecutor and Inspector General.  His charge over the next few months is to build an organization that acts as the oil industry’s watchdog – not its partner. 

 

One of the lessons we’ve learned from this spill is that we need better regulations better safety standards, and better enforcement when it comes to offshore drilling.  But a larger lesson is that no matter how much we improve our regulation of the industry, drilling for oil these days entails greater risk.  After all, oil is a finite resource.  We consume more than 20% of the world’s oil, but have less than 2% of the world’s oil reserves.  And that’s part of the reason oil companies are drilling a mile beneath the surface of the ocean – because we’re running out of places to drill on land and in shallow water. 

 

For decades, we have known the days of cheap and easily accessible oil were numbered.  For decades, we have talked and talked about the need to end America’s century-long addiction to fossil fuels.  And for decades, we have failed to act with the sense of urgency that this challenge requires.  Time and again, the path forward has been blocked – not only by oil industry lobbyists, but also by a lack of political courage and candor.  

 

The consequences of our inaction are now in plain sight.  Countries like China are investing in clean energy jobs and industries that should be here in America.  Each day, we send nearly $1 billion of our wealth to foreign countries for their oil.  And today, as we look to the Gulf, we see an entire way of life being threatened by a menacing cloud of black crude. 

 

We cannot consign our children to this future.  The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now.  Now is the moment for this generation to embark on a national mission to unleash American innovation and seize control of our own destiny. 

 

This is not some distant vision for America.  The transition away from fossil fuels will take some time, but over the last year and a half, we have already taken unprecedented action to jumpstart the clean energy industry.  As we speak, old factories are reopening to produce wind turbines, people are going back to work installing energy-efficient windows, and small businesses are making solar panels.  Consumers are buying more efficient cars and trucks, and families are making their homes more energy-efficient.  Scientists and researchers are discovering clean energy technologies that will someday lead to entire new industries.     

 

Each of us has a part to play in a new future that will benefit all of us.  As we recover from this recession, the transition to clean energy has the potential to grow our economy and create millions of good, middle-class jobs – but only if we accelerate that transition.  Only if we seize the moment.  And only if we rally together and act as one nation – workers and entrepreneurs; scientists and citizens; the public and private sectors.  

When I was a candidate for this office, I laid out a set of principles that would move our country towards energy independence.  Last year, the House of Representatives acted on these principles by passing a strong and comprehensive energy and climate bill – a bill that finally makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy for America’s businesses. 

 

Now, there are costs associated with this transition.  And some believe we can’t afford those costs right now.  I say we can’t afford not to change how we produce and use energy – because the long-term costs to our economy, our national security, and our environment are far greater. 

 

So I am happy to look at other ideas and approaches from either party – as long they seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels.  Some have suggested raising efficiency standards in our buildings like we did in our cars and trucks.  Some believe we should set standards to ensure that more of our electricity comes from wind and solar power.  Others wonder why the energy industry only spends a fraction of what the high-tech industry does on research and development – and want to rapidly boost our investments in such research and development.   

 

All of these approaches have merit, and deserve a fear hearing in the months ahead.  But the one approach I will not accept is inaction.  The one answer I will not settle for is the idea that this challenge is too big and too difficult to meet.  You see, the same thing was said about our ability to produce enough planes and tanks in World War II.  The same thing was said about our ability to harness the science and technology to land a man safely on the surface of the moon.  And yet, time and again, we have refused to settle for the paltry limits of conventional wisdom.  Instead, what has defined us as a nation since our founding is our capacity to shape our destiny – our determination to fight for the America we want for our children.  Even if we’re unsure exactly what that looks like.  Even if we don’t yet know precisely how to get there.  We know we’ll get there.   

 

It is a faith in the future that sustains us as a people.  It is that same faith that sustains our neighbors in the Gulf right now.        

 

Each year, at the beginning of shrimping season, the region’s fishermen take part in a tradition that was brought to America long ago by fishing immigrants from Europe.  It’s called “The Blessing of the Fleet,” and today it’s a celebration where clergy from different religions gather to say a prayer for the safety and success of the men and women who will soon head out to sea – some for weeks at a time. 

The ceremony goes on in good times and in bad.  It took place after Katrina, and it took place a few weeks ago – at the beginning of the most difficult season these fishermen have ever faced. 

 

And still, they came and they prayed.  For as a priest and former fisherman once said of the tradition, “The blessing is not that God has promised to remove all obstacles and dangers.  The blessing is that He is with us always,” a blessing that’s granted “…even in the midst of the storm.” 

 

The oil spill is not the last crisis America will face.  This nation has known hard times before and we will surely know them again.  What sees us through – what has always seen us through – is our strength, our resilience, and our unyielding faith that something better awaits us if we summon the courage to reach for it.  Tonight, we pray for that courage.  We pray for the people of the Gulf.  And we pray that a hand may guide us through the storm towards a brighter day.  Thank you, God Bless You, and may God Bless the United States of America.

 

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