Barack Obama
2009-01-20
1
PUBLIC PAPERS OF THE PRESIDENTS
OF THE
UNITED STATES
Barack Obama
2009
(IN TWO BOOKS)
BOOK I--JANUARY 20 TO JUNE 30, 2009
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 2010
Published by the
Office of the Federal Register
National Archives and Records Administration
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
• Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov • Phone: (202) 512-1800 • Fax: (202) 512-2250
• Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20401
Foreword
I was sworn into office during a period of great consequence in America. Abroad, we were waging two wars while fighting a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. At home, a financial crisis threatened to plunge our economy into another Great Depression. Amid job losses, foreclosures, and soaring costs, Americans felt like the dream of our founding was slipping out of reach.
Our immediate responsibility was to end the worst economic crisis in generations. That is why we took necessary, but not necessarily popular, steps to shore up the financial system and America's auto industry. And that is why we enacted the Recovery Act--a bill that put Americans to work, offered relief to individuals, families, and States, and helped prevent an even greater economic catastrophe.
Even as we took these steps, we also pursued a broader effort to bring about meaningful change. We helped guarantee equal pay for equal work for men and women; expand health insurance for children; protect our great outdoors; broaden opportunities to serve this country; protect consumers with a Credit Card Bill of Rights; safeguard children from being targeted by tobacco companies; and remove barriers to responsible stem cell research. To curb the influence of special interest lobbyists, we enacted tougher ethics and transparency rules than any administration in history. And I nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court of the United States.
This is what we did to secure and strengthen America in the short-run. But we also needed to lay a new foundation for growth and prosperity over the long-term. That's why we sought to reform our health insurance system to bring down costs, make coverage affordable, and get our fiscal house in order. That's why we began to transition to a clean energy economy to free America from the grip of foreign oil, and clean up our air, while creating millions of quality jobs. That's why we began the work of putting in place tough, common-sense rules of the road for Wall Street so that we never find ourselves in a similar crisis again. And that's why we launched a historic effort to improve our education system to prepare America to compete and win in the 21st century.
Abroad, we began to responsibly end the war in Iraq, laying out a clear timetable for the drawdown of our forces. We strengthened our commitment to fighting al Qaeda in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and around the world, with increased resources. We banned torture without exception or equivocation. We advanced the cause of nuclear nonproliferation, laying out an ambitious agenda to secure vulnerable nuclear materials, reduce nuclear arsenals, and stop the spread of nuclear weapons. And we reaffirmed American leadership in the international effort to combat climate change, while working through the G-20 to coordinate a global response to the economic crisis.
None of this has been easy. As I said on the campaign trail, real change never is. But over these past 6 months, I have been inspired, again and again, by the persistence and perseverance of the American people. And I am absolutely confident that we will not only meet these challenges, at home and abroad, but come out on the other side, as we always have, more prosperous, more secure, and more hopeful, as a people.
Preface
This book contains the papers and speeches of the President of the United States that were issued by the Office of the Press Secretary during the period January 1-June 30, 2009. The material has been compiled and published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration.
The material is presented in chronological order, and the dates shown in the headings are the dates of the documents or events. In instances when the release date differs from the date of the document itself, that fact is shown in the textnote. Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy: Remarks are checked against an audio recording, and signed documents are checked against the original. Textnotes and cross references have been provided by the editors for purposes of identification or clarity. Speeches were delivered in Washington, DC, unless indicated. The times noted are local times. All materials that are printed in full text in the book have been indexed in the subject and name indexes and listed in the document categories list.
The Public Papers of the Presidents series was begun in 1957 in response to a recommendation of the National Historical Publications Commission. An extensive compilation of messages and papers of the Presidents covering the period 1789 to 1897 was assembled by James D. Richardson and published under congressional authority between 1896 and 1899. Since then, various private compilations have been issued, but there was no uniform publication comparable to the Congressional Record or the United States Supreme Court Reports. Many Presidential papers could be found only in the form of mimeographed White House releases or as reported in the press. The Commission therefore recommended the establishment of an official series in which Presidential writings, addresses, and remarks of a public nature could be made available.
The Commission's recommendation was incorporated in regulations of the Administrative Committee of the Federal Register, issued under section 6 of the Federal Register Act (44 U.S.C. 1506), which may be found in title 1, part 10, of the Code of Federal Regulations.
A companion publication to the Public Papers series, the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, was begun in 1965 to provide a broader range of Presidential materials on a more timely basis to meet the needs of the contemporary reader. Beginning with the administration of Jimmy Carter, the Public Papers series expanded its coverage to include additional material as printed in the Weekly Compilation. On January 20, 2009, the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents was superseded by the Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents. The Daily Compiliation provides a listing of the President's daily schedule and meetings, when announced, and other items of general interest issued by the Office of the Press Secretary. Also included are lists of the President's nominations submitted to the Senate, materials released by the Office of the Press Secretary that are not printed in full text in the book, and proclamations, Executive orders, and other Presidential documents released by the Office of the Press Secretary and published in the
Federal Register
. This information appears in the appendixes at the end of the book.
Volumes covering the administrations of Presidents Herbert Hoover, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, William J. Clinton, and George W. Bush are also included in the Public Papers series.
The Public Papers of the Presidents publication program is under the direction of Michael L. White, Managing Editor, Office of the Federal Register. The series is produced by the Presidential and Legislative Publications Unit. The Chief Editor of this book was Stacey A. Mulligan, assisted by Lois M. Davis, Michael J. Forcina, Joseph Frankovic, Gwendolyn J. Henderson, Diane Hiltabidle, Alfred Jones, Joshua H. Liberatore, Heather N. McDaniel, Amelia E. Otovo, D. Gregory Perrin, Matthew R. Regan, and Joseph Vetter.
The frontispiece and photographs used in the portfolio were supplied by the White House Photo Office. The typography and design of the book were developed by the Government Printing Office under the direction of Robert C. Tapella, Public Printer.
Raymond A. Mosley
Director of the Federal Register
David S. Ferriero
Archivist of the United States
Contents
Foreword . . . v
Preface . . . vii
Cabinet . . . xi
Public Papers of Barack Obama,
January 20-June 30, 2009 . . . 1
Appendix A
Digest of Other White House Announcements . . . 939
Appendix B
Nominations Submitted to the Senate . . . 977
Appendix C
Checklist of White House Press Releases . . . 997
Appendix D
Presidential Documents Published in the Federal Register . . . 1013
Subject Index . . . A-1
Name Index . . . B-1
Document Categories List . . . C-1
Cabinet
|
Vice President
|
Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
|
|
Secretary of State
|
Hillary Rodham Clinton
|
|
Secretary of the Treasury
|
Timothy F. Geithner
|
|
Secretary of Defense
|
Robert M. Gates
|
|
Attorney General
|
Eric H. Holder, Jr.
|
|
Secretary of the Interior
|
Kenneth L. Salazar
|
|
Secretary of Agriculture
|
Thomas J. Vilsack
|
|
Secretary of Commerce
|
Gary F. Locke
|
|
Secretary of Labor
|
Hilda L. Solis
|
|
Secretary of Health and Human
Services
|
Kathleen Sebelius
|
|
Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development
|
Shaun L.S. Donovan
|
|
Secretary of Transportation
|
Raymond H. LaHood
|
|
Secretary of Energy
|
Steven Chu
|
|
Secretary of Education
|
Arne Duncan
|
|
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
|
Eric K. Shinseki
|
|
Secretary of Homeland Security
|
Janet A. Napolitano
|
|
Chief of Staff
|
Rahm I. Emmanuel
|
|
Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency
|
Lisa P. Jackson
|
|
United States Trade Representative
|
Ronald Kirk
|
Cabinet (Continued)
|
Director of the Office of Management and Budget
|
Peter R. Orzag
|
|
Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers
|
Christina D. Romer
|
|
United States Representative to the United Nations
|
Susan E. Rice
|
Administration of Barack Obama
2009