White House Blog

This weekend, the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Russia will join President Obama at Camp David. The G8 is a gathering of eight of the world's leading economies, which meets annually. This will be the first meeting in the United States since 2004, and it will be the largest gathering of world leaders ever to assemble at Camp David.  

Their agenda for this weekend includes talks on growing the world economy, the nuclear situations in Iran and North Korea, and energy and climate issues. We’ll broadcasting a number of events from the weekend live on WhiteHouse.gov. Check out the schedule below:

Tonight at 7:40 PM – The Leaders Greeting
Saturday at 10:45 AM – The Family Photo
Saturday at 5:45 PM – A Statement from President Obama

Safety is the number one priority at the US Department of Transportation (DOT), so National Transportation Week is the perfect time for DOT to help launch the Obama Administration's critical Safety Data Initiative--an historic effort to make government data relating to every aspect of safety, from transportation to crime to consumer products, much more accessible, and to stimulate the development of innovative apps and services fueled by those data.

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Welcome to the West Wing Week, your guide to everything that's happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. This week, the President discussed his plan to help responsible homeowners in Reno, gave the commencement address at Barnard College, honored law enforcement officers, awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for heroism in the Vietnam War, and continued to call on Congress to act on a "To Do List" that will create jobs and help restore middle class security, highlighting the need to invest in small businesses and jumpstart new hiring. That's May 11th to May 17th, or "Reach High and Hope Deeply."

This has been an exciting week for Let’s Move! On Monday, First Lady Michelle Obama joined Team USA to announce new programs that will help connect more than 1.7 million kids with athletic opportunities in their communities.

Today, we launched a new section on LetsMove.gov dedicated to helping schools, communities and families start their own gardens. Find out how you can get started on a garden of your own with checklists for schools, communities and kitchens.

Do you have questions about the Let’s Move! initiative or how to get your garden growing this spring?

On Friday, May 18th at 1:00 pm ET, we’re holding a special session of White House Office Hours with Sam Kass, White House Chef and Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives, to answer your questions on Twitter.

Join Sam for Office Hours at 1:00 p.m. ET on Friday, May 18th. Here's how it works:

• Ask your question on Twitter with the hashtag #WHChat
• Sam Kass, Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives, responds to your questions in real-time via Twitter from @LetsMove
• Follow the Q&A through the @WHLive or @LetsMoveTwitter accounts
• If you miss the live event, the full Q&A will be posted on LetsMove.gov and Storify.com/LetsMove

First Lady Michelle Obama and Sam Kass, Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives, join students for the spring White House Kitchen Garden planting on the South Grounds, March 26, 2012. Helping here are girls from Girl Scout Troop 60325 in Fairport, N.Y. March 26, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Sonya N. Hebert)

Today, as many as 5.1 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s. As the baby boomers march past age 65, that number could more than double in just a few decades.

We’ve made considerable progress in the fight against Alzheimer’s and other dementias, but much more needs to be done right away, because people who face the challenges of caring for someone with Alzheimer’s need help now.

The Obama administration has announced an historic $156 million commitment to address what is needed to confront Alzheimer’s disease. The National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease is a roadmap that will help us meet our goal to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s disease by 2025. This is a truly national plan, based on a strong partnership with every part of the Alzheimer’s community, including scientists, patient advocates, and people living with the disease.

This plan lays out a blueprint for expanding research in prevention and treatment and getting the most-promising drugs from discovery into clinical trials. We will also figure out ways to move best practices out of the research journals and into exam rooms as soon as possible.

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Summer Jobs+ is a call to action for businesses, non-profits, and government to work together to provide pathways to employment for young people in the summer of 2012. It's about helping people find their first jobs.

Today Jon Carson is the Director of the Office of Public Engagement at the White House. In the video below, he talks about his first job -- working on a farm in Wisconsin. He bailed hay, which meant spending his summer days unloading hay onto an elevator in a hot and dusty barn. His hard work paid off however, because this job is where he also earned his first raise.

So far, employers have listed more than 300,000 jobs, mentorships, and other employment opportunities this summer through Summer Jobs+.

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Thursday is the fourth day of National Women’s Health Week. Women often play a leading role in making medical decisions for their families, but their own health needs are often unmet, which is why President Obama worked to make health care more accessible and affordable for women across the country through his health reform law, the Affordable Care Act.

For example, women who purchase health insurance on the individual market pay an additional $1 billion each year because insurance companies charge them more than men, simply because of their gender. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, health insurers will be prohibited from discriminating against women by charging higher premiums.

President Obama’s health reform law also requires new health insurance plans to cover preventive services such as mammograms, pap smears, and well-woman visits with no co-pay or deductible. Because of this provision in the Affordable Care Act, more than 20.4 million women with private health insurance have received preventive health services at no additional cost.

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Ed note: This was cross-posted from tradeology, the official blog of the International Trade Administration

Today Commerce Secretary John Bryson presented 41 U.S. companies and organizations with “E” Awards and “E Star” Awards recognizing their significant contributions to the expansion of U.S. exports. These awards fall into two categories. The “E” Award for Exports honors manufacturers and service businesses, demonstrating a sustained increase over several years in selling U.S. products and services to overseas consumers. The “E” Award for Export Service honors export service providers that demonstrate how over several years they have assisted businesses to increase their exports.

The “E” Award was created by President John F. Kennedy on December 5, 1961, “to award suitable recognition to persons, firms, and organizations making significant contributions to the increase of American exports.” The “E Star” Award, which was authorized by the Secretary of Commerce in 1969, recognizes previous “E” Award winners for their continuing significant contributions to U.S. export expansion.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the “E” Award and since its inception, more than 2,500 companies and organizations have been recognized for their excellence in exporting. The honorees this year are the largest group to be recognized with the “E” Awards and “E Star” Awards for their export achievements and the diversity of industries and communities represented is impressive. The 2012 recipients come from across the United States, from Bakersfield, Calif., to Baton Rouge, La., Bolingbrook, Ill., and Bradford, Pa. Of the companies recognized at today’s ceremony, 35 are small or medium-sized enterprises, 20 are manufacturers, and 17 companies are both.

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Today, join Ambassador Susan E. Rice and New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof as they break ground on the frontier of social media and U.S. foreign policy. In a live Google+ Hangout, Ambassador Rice and Mr. Kristof will discuss the world’s most pressing challenges and America’s role in an increasingly interconnected world. They will be joined live by a selection of citizens who will ask questions from the U.S. and overseas. 

Watch the conversation live at 2:30 p.m. EST on The Times’s homepage or on the New York Times Google+ page, and join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #NYTHangout. For more work on U.S. work at the United Nations, follow @AmbassadorRiceand @USUN on Twitter and ‘Like’ Ambassador Rice on Facebook.

Ed. Note: Follow the White House on Google+ for news, behind-the-scenes photos and chances to join White House Hangouts with administration officials.

President Barack Obama presents the Medal of Honor to Rose Sabo-Brown, widow of Specialist Leslie H. Sabo, Jr., U.S. Army, in the East Room of the White House, May 16, 2012. Specialist Sabo received the Medal of Honor posthumously for his heroic actions in combat on May 10, 1970, while serving in Se San, Cambodia. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

In a poignant ceremony today in the East Room, President Obama awarded a Medal of Honor for valor above and beyond the call of duty to an Army Specialist who died while serving in Cambodia in 1970. 

The story of Leslie H. Sabo, Jr.'s courage and sacrifice was almost lost to history. In 1999, Alton Mabb, a Vietnam veteran from the 101st, was doing research at the National Archives when he found a file that included a proposed citation for the Medal of Honor for Leslie Sabo. Mabb began the work to make sure Sabo was recognized for the heroic actions that saved the lives of his comrades, who meant more to him than life.

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Jon Bon Jovi is a singer, a songwriter, an actor -- and a member of the President's Council for Community Solutions. President Obama tasked the Council with finding ways to bring the best resources of the public, private, non-profit and philanthropic sectors in communities across the country together to work on solving local problems.

Following extensive outreach and research, the Council determined that providing opportunities for employment for disconnected youth was key, and that if these communities could pull together to move these young people onto critical pathways toward education, employment, and ongoing civic participation, the benefits would be far-reaching. The result is Summer Jobs Plus:

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Nearly 2 million companies that make new hires or increase wages would receive a tax credit under the small business hiring income tax credit President Obama is calling on Congress to pass.

The tax credit, the third item on President Obama’s job-creating To-Do List for Congress, would encourage more than $200 billion in new hiring and pay raises by providing a 10 percent income tax credit on wages added in 2012. The credit would be available to all companies, but would be capped at $500,000 per business to specifically spur small business hiring. And, companies that claim the credit would be able to do so on a quarterly basis, which means businesses would see tax relief sooner rather than later after making new hires.

By providing targeted tax relief to the businesses that are expanding and making investments in their workforce, the Small Business Hiring Credit will grow the economy, create jobs, and strengthen the recovery. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office recently found that this type of targeted credit is the single most effective business tax option for boosting hiring and spurring economic growth.

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President Barack Obama and Small Business Administrator Karen Mills, left, participate in a roundtable with small business owners at Taylor Gourmet in Washington, D.C., May 16, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

When Casey Patten and David Mazza moved from Philadelphia to Washington, DC, they were consistently disappointed by their inability to find a decent hoagie. So the two friends decided to take matters into their own hands. In 2008, they opened Taylor Gourmet -- with all the sandwiches named after streets in their former hometown. And it became a hit.

They've since expanded operations to three additional locations and seen their hoagies reviewed in the Washington Post, New York Times, and Travel & Leisure.

Today, they got a visit from President Obama.

He stopped by their newest restaurant on 14th Street in Washington, DC to talk about how his To-Do List for Congress would help small business owners like Patten and Mazza.

Before ordering a Spruce Street (roast turkey, prosciutto, roasted red peppers and sharp provolone), the President said:

One of the items on that “To-Do” list would be to provide tax breaks for companies like these that are hiring new employees or raising the wages and salaries of their existing employees. Either way, what that does is it gives them an incentive as their expanding to say, maybe we hire an extra two people. Maybe we hire an extra three people. Maybe we hire an extra ten people. 

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President Barack Obama welcomes Major League Soccer champions, the LA Galaxy, to honor their 2011 season and their MLS Cup victory, to the East Room of the White House, May 15, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

President Obama welcomed the LA Galaxy to the White House this afternoon to congratulate the team on its 2011 Major League Soccer Cup Championship.

The team, which has three of soccer’s biggest stars on its roster-- David Beckham, Landon Donovan, and Robbie Keane--won a tough championship match after going undefeated at home all season long.

“So everyone who's a part of this club -- the staff, the players, the fans back in L.A. -- together you pulled off one of the toughest feats in team sports:  You lived up to the hype.  You combined star power, hard work; it paid off,” President Obama said.

After the ceremony in the East Room, the team took questions from young soccer players as part of a Let’s Move! event encouraging kids to take up sports as part of a healthy, active lifestyle.

Summer Jobs+ is a call to action for businesses, non-profits, and government to work together to provide pathways to employment for young people in the summer of 2012. It's about helping people find their first jobs.

Today Gene Sperling is the Director of the National Economic Council. In the video below, he talks about his first job as a ball boy. He swept the court and cleaned up after the players, which he thought was "way cool." More importantly, he learned what makes you stand out as a great employee.  

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As we celebrate Armed Forces Week, this is a particularly important time to pay tribute to the men and women who serve our country and safeguard our freedom.  

Today, just one percent of Americans are fighting our wars, but we need 100% of Americans to be supporting our troops and their families –not just during Armed Forces Week, but all year long. That’s why we launched the Joining Forces Initiative last year to encourage all Americans to find ways to honor, recognize and support our veterans and military families.  

Today, we are pleased to announce that we have a new way to thank those who serve their country in the military. 

Starting on Armed Forces Day, this Saturday, May 19, we will be offering all active duty military a free annual pass that will grant access to service members and their dependents, to more than 2,000 sites across the country, including National Parks. 

The annual pass will be accepted at all public land sites that charge entrance or standard amenity fees, including those managed by the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Army Corps. 

Vice President Joe Biden, with son Hunter Biden, and granddaughters Naomi, Finnegan, and Maisy Biden, on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, July 27, 2010. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

From Yosemite to Acadia to the Grand Canyon, we are putting out a welcome mat for our military families at America’s most beautiful and storied sites.  

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President Barack Obama, with Chuck Canterbury, president, Grand Lodge Fraternal Order of Police, arrives at the National Peace Officers Memorial Service, an annual ceremony honoring law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty in the previous year, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. May 15, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama was at the U.S Capitol today for a ceremony where he paid tribute to law enforcement officials who were killed in the line of duty in the previous year. The serive is part of the annual Peace Officers Memorial Day and National Police Week. 

In his remarks, the President acknowledged and thanked the families of those who have fallen, and highlighted the courageous acts of those we lost. He also praised the bravery of all those who serve as law enforcement officers across our country:

Every American who wears the badge knows the burdens that come with it -- the long hours and the stress; the knowledge that just about any moment could be a matter of life or death.  You carry these burdens so the rest of us don’t have to. 

And this shared sense of purpose brings you together, and it brings you to our nation’s capital today.  You come from different states and different backgrounds and different walks of life, but I know that you come here as a community:  one family, united by a quiet strength and a willingness to sacrifice on behalf of others. 

The rest of us can never fully understand what you go through.  But please know that we hold you in our hearts -- not just today, but always.  We are forever in your debt.  And it is on behalf of all of us, the entire American people, that I offer my thoughts, my prayers, and my thanks.

Ed note: This was originally published on tradeology, the official blog of the International Trade Administration

Today more than 80 percent of U.S. exports of consumer and industrial products to Colombia become duty-free as part of the U.S. – Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement. This includes agricultural and construction equipment, building products, aircraft and parts, fertilizers, information technology equipment, medical scientific equipment, and wood. Also, more than half of U.S. exports of agricultural commodities to Colombia become duty-free, including wheat, barley, soybeans, high-quality beef, bacon, and almost all fruit and vegetable products.

The agreement also provides significant new access to Colombia’s $180 billion services market, supporting increased opportunities for U.S. service providers. For example, Colombia agreed to eliminate measures that prevented firms from hiring U.S. professionals, and to phase-out market restrictions in cable television.

Prior to the enactment of this agreement, the average tariff that U.S. manufactured goods faced entering Colombia was 10.8 percent. With entry into force today, Colombia’s average tariff rate for manufactured goods from the United States has been reduced to 4 percent.

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Today, the President and Vice President released their 2011 financial disclosure reports. 

The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 requires high-level federal officials to publicly disclose their personal financial interests. The public filing system serves to prevent financial conflicts of interest by providing for a systematic review of the finances of government officials. Those finances are set forth in annual disclosures which are reviewed and certified by ethics officials.  Neither the President nor the Vice President have any conflicts of interest, and their reports have been reviewed and certified by the independent Office of Government Ethics. We are continuing this Administration's practice of posting these forms online here in the interests of transparency:

• View the President's 2011 financial disclosure report (pdf)
• View the Vice President's 2011 financial disclosure report (pdf)

White House staff are also completing their forms and we anticipate they will be available here next month, also in electronic form.

True to his roots as a frontier farm boy, on May 15, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation to create the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Over the next two months - in the midst of the Civil War - he signed additional legislation that expanded and transformed American farming, including the Homestead Act, and the establishment of the Land Grant agricultural university system.

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