Barack Obama
2014-01-01
1
Barack Obama
2014-01-01
1
PUBLIC PAPERS OF THE PRESIDENTS
OF THE
UNITED STATES
Barack Obama
2014
(IN TWO BOOKS)
BOOK 1--JANUARY 1 TO JUNE 30, 2014
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 2019
Published by the
Office of the Federal Register
National Archives and Records Administration
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office
• Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov • Phone: (202) 512-1800 • Fax: (202) 512-1204
• Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20401
Foreword
We began 2014 confident that it would be a breakthrough year for America.
The year prior, our businesses continued to recover from the Great Recession, creating another two million new jobs. Implementation of the Affordable Care Act was poised to send the uninsured rate plummeting. A fairer tax code helped bring our deficits to less than half of what they were when I took office. Our high school graduation rate reached its highest level on record, and more people earned college degrees than ever before. And as our economy grew, we redoubled our efforts to raise wages and place more Americans in better, higher-earning jobs. Overseas, we led the fight against emerging threats, and after more than 12 years in Afghanistan, we began bringing home more of our troops from the longest war in our history. With the shadow of economic crisis passing, and countries around the world looking to us for leadership, America was now better-positioned for the 21st century than any other nation on Earth.
The unemployment rate at the beginning of 2014 reached a 5-year low. But even as more Americans went back to work, long-term economic trends kept wages stagnant. So, with a Congress stubbornly opposed to taking action, my Administration executed a worker-focused agenda with the mission of restoring opportunity for all using tools within our control. I issued an Executive Order that raised the minimum wage for all workers on Federal service and construction contracts and worked with States and cities to raise their minimum wages when the Congress refused to raise the Federal minimum wage. We built new high-tech manufacturing hubs that will use the results of scientific research and technological innovation to attract 21st-century jobs to our shores and to rebuild our infrastructure, and we proposed a substantial increase in the Federal Budget for research and development activities. In the absence of congressional action to improve the Federal child care program, which was more than 10 years overdue for revision, we proposed a number of changes to expand access to high-quality, affordable child care--an investment that not only pays off by giving parents greater flexibility today, but can continue to pay off over the course of a child's entire lifetime.
We established initiatives to give working Americans a greater sense of security. The Affordable Care Act's major coverage provisions took effect, providing coverage options to millions of Americans through the Health Insurance Marketplace and an expanded Medicaid program. More than 10 million Americans, and more than 3 million young people who were able to stay on their family's plan, knew the peace of mind that comes with having quality, affordable health insurance--numbers that would only grow. At the same time, a number of the Act's policies to slow health care cost growth had taken effect, providing early dividends for employers, the Federal budget, and the economy.
As we worked to make life better and more secure for families here at home, we kept up our efforts to keep Americans safe and to secure peace and prosperity for people around the world. In coordination with our allies and the Afghan government, we agreed to begin the process of concluding our combat mission in Afghanistan while upholding our enduring commitment to disrupt ongoing threats, support Afghan security forces, and give the Afghan people the chance to succeed as they stand on their own. Additionally, the United States stood in solidarity with Ukraine when its sovereignty was threatened by Russia's occupation and attempted annexation of Crimea and aggressive actions in Eastern Ukraine, ramping up sanctions on Russia and pledging our support for the Ukrainian people. America forged and led a global coalition to enable our partners in Iraq and Syria to degrade and destroy the terrorist organization known as ISIL. And while very real threats demanded more than ever from our intelligence agencies, I announced reforms designed to ensure their activities are carried out with appropriate oversight and respect for Americans' civil liberties and privacy while retaining key capabilities to keep us safe. Through it all, our steadfast commitment to caring for our selfless men and women in uniform and their families remained stronger than ever. When allegations of misconduct at Veterans Affairs facilities were brought to my attention, I initiated an investigation of our procedures and any existing problems at VA medical centers across our country, and we brought in new leadership to help improve VA services.
The first half of the year ushered in new and serious challenges. But if we work together, in common purpose, then a future in which honest work is plentiful, communities are strong, prosperity is widely shared, and opportunity is open to all will be firmly within our reach. In spite of these challenges, my faith in the American people continues to grow stronger than ever.
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, 2014. 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 otherwise 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 printed Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents was superseded by the online Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents. The Daily Compilation 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 in the printed edition 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 John Hyrum Martinez, Director of the Publications and Services Division, Office of the Federal
Register. The series is produced by the Presidential and Legislative Publications Unit. The Chief Editor of this book was Joseph K. Vetter; the Managing Editor was Joshua H. Liberatore, assisted by Amelia E. Otovo.
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 Publishing Office under the direction of John Crawford, Acting Deputy Director and Managing Director of Plant Operations.
Oliver A. Potts
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 1-June 30, 2014 . . . 1
Appendix A
Digest of Other White House Announcements . . . 821
Appendix B
Nominations Submitted to the Senate . . . 861
Appendix C
Checklist of White House Press Releases . . . 885
Appendix D
Presidential Documents Published in the Federal Register . . . 903
Subject Index . . . A-1
Name Index . . . B-1
Document Categories List . . . C-1
Cabinet
|
Vice President
|
Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
|
|
Secretary of State
|
John F. Kerry
|
|
Secretary of the Treasury
|
Jacob J. Lew
|
|
Secretary of Defense
|
Charles T. Hagel
|
|
Attorney General
|
Eric H. Holder, Jr.
|
|
Secretary of the Interior
|
Sarah M.R. "Sally" Jewell
|
|
Secretary of Agriculture
|
Thomas J. Vilsack
|
|
Secretary of the Commerce
|
Penny S. Pritzker
|
|
Secretary of Labor
|
Thomas E. Perez
|
|
Secretary of Health and Human Services
|
Kathleen Sebelius
(resigned June 5)
Sylvia Matthews Burwell
(confirmed June 5)
|
|
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
|
Shaun L.S. Donovan
|
|
Secretary of Transportation
|
Anthony R. Foxx
|
|
Secretary of Energy
|
Ernest J. Moniz
|
|
Secretary of Education
|
Arne Duncan
|
|
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
|
Eric K. Shinseki
(resigned May 30)
Sloan D. Gibson, Acting
|
|
Secretary of Homeland Security
|
Jeh C. Johnson
|
|
Chief of Staff
|
Denis R. McDonough
|
|
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
|
Regina McCarthy
|
|
United States Trade Representative
|
Michael B. Froman
|
|
Director of the Office of Management and Budget
|
Sylvia Mathews Burwell
(resigned June 5)
Brian C. Deese, Acting
|
|
Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers
|
Jason L. Furman
|
|
United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations
|
Samantha Power
|
|
Administrator of the Small Business Administration
|
Maria Contreras-Sweet
(confirmed March 27)
|
Administration of Barack Obama
2014