Friday, February 1, 2013

White House Womens Update: Its About People.

Greetings AllWe hope this message finds you well. This week, President Obama delivered remarks from Del Sol High School in Las Vegas on the urgency of comprehensive immigration reform. He emphasized that now is the time to build a fair, effective and commonsense immigration system: Remember that this is not just a debate about policy. Its about people. Its about men and women and young people who want nothing more than the chance to earn their way into the American story. On Wednesday, together with Secretary Clinton, President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum-- Coordination of Policies and Programs to Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women and Girls Globally. This memorandum strengthens and expands U.S. government capacity and coordination across all agencies to better promote gender equality and empower women and girls. At the White House, the conversation about reducing gun violence continues. This week Vice President Biden sat down with Americans from around the country in a live Google+ Hangout. During the virtual roundtable, participants from all different backgrounds asked the Vice President about topics ranging from an assault weapons ban to the Second Amendment and from mental health checks to making our schools safer. If you missed the event live, you can still check out the full video and learn more about the plan. Also, today is National Freedom Day, a day that commemorates the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and celebrates freedom for all Americans. Yet almost 150 years after the abolishment of legalized slavery in the United States, a modern form of slavery -- trafficking in persons -- continues to quietly flourish around the world. From forced labor to sex trafficking to the use of child soldiers, modern slavery entails the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purposes of exploitation. Check out this blog to hear some of what the Obama Administration is doing to fight what President Obama has called one of the great human rights causes of our time. Best wishes, The White House Council on Women & Girls

President Obama's Four Part Plan for Comprehensive Immigration Reform

On Tuesday, President Obama spoke from Las Vegas about creating a fair and effective

immigration system that lives up to our heritage as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. "Im here because most Americans agree that its time to fix a system thats been broken for way too long." President Obama said. "Im here because business leaders, faith leaders, labor leaders, law enforcement, and leaders from both parties are coming together to say now is the time to find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as the land of opportunity. Now is the time to do this so we can strengthen our economy and strengthen our countrys future." The good news, President Obama said, is that for the first time in many years, there is bipartisan support for comprehensive immigration reform. But action must follow. "We can't allow immigration reform to get bogged down in an endless debate. We've been debating this a very long time," he explained. "As a consequence, to help move this process along, today Im laying out my ideas for immigration reform." President Obama's proposal for immigration reform has four parts. First, continue to strengthen our borders. Second, crack down on companies that hire undocumented workers. Third, hold undocumented immigrants accountable before they can earn their citizenship; this means requiring undocumented workers to pay their taxes and a penalty, move to the back of the line, learn English, and pass background checks. Fourth, streamline the legal immigration system for families, workers, and employers. You can watch the President's full remarks on this plan for common sense immigration reform.

President Barack Obama delivers remarks on immigration at Del Sol High School in Las Vegas, Nev., Jan. 29, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama Signs New Directive to Strengthen our Work to Advance Gender Equality Worldwide
President Obama knows that promoting gender equality and empowering women and girls at home and abroad is not only the right thing to do, but the smart thing to do, as Secretary Clinton has said. Thats why weve taken steps to achieve that simple and profound goal, from establishing the White House Council on Women and Girls, to launching a multilateral initiative to expand womens political and economic participation, to developing a new strategy to prevent and respond to violence against women, to implementing a national action plan to promote the inclusion of women in conflict resolution and peace processes, to focusing on women and girls for greater impact in our global health and food security initiatives. This week, President Obama took a critical step to institutionalize all these efforts by signing a Presidential Memorandum to strengthen and expand U.S. government capacity and coordination across all agencies to better promote gender equality and empower women and girls. In the Memorandum, President Obama reaffirmed that promoting gender equality and advancing the status of all women and girls around the world remains one of the greatest unmet challenges of our time, and one that is vital to achieving our overall foreign policy objectives. You can read the entire Memorandum here.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton watches as President Barack Obama signs a Presidential memorandum, "Coordination of Policies and Programs to Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women and Girls Globally," in the Oval Office, Jan. 20, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Fireside Hangouts: Vice President Biden Joins a Conversation on Reducing Gun Violence

On Thursday, January 24th, Vice President Biden sat down with Americans from around the country to talk about proposals to reduce gun violence in a live Google+ Hangout. During the virtual roundtable, participants from all different backgrounds asked the Vice President about topics ranging from an assault weapons ban to the Second Amendment and from mental health checks to making our schools safer. In case you missed the event live, check out the full video below, and learn more about the plan. On January 16, President Obama and Vice President Biden released a plan to help protect our children and our communities by reducing gun violence. The plan outlines specific, common-sense steps we can take right now to help keep guns out of the wrong hands, ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, make our schools safer, and increase access to mental health services. Learn more about the plan here. We'll continue to host hangouts with key members of the Presidents cabinet on a range of second term priorities. Follow us on Google+ for updates from the Administration and opportunities to participate in upcoming hangouts. You can watch the full video of the hangout with Vice President Biden:

National Freedom Day

Today is National Freedom Day, commemorating President Lincolns signing of the joint resolution that led to the Constitutions 13th Amendment banning slavery in the United States. It is a day when freedom for all Americans is celebrated. Yet, almost 150 years later, while one form of slavery has been abolished in our country, another has quietly flourished around the world. From forced labor to sex trafficking to child soldiers, modern slavery entails the use of force, fraud, or coercion of another for the purposes of exploitation. An estimated 20 million men, women and children around the world, including thousands in the United States, are living in bondage, confirming that the fight to end slavery is far from over. Today we reflect on what weve accomplished and recommit ourselves to what President Obama called one of the great human rights causes of our time.

You can read more about the National Day of Freedom and the White Houses work to combat trafficking here.

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