Earlier today, the White House issued the following statement from President Obama on the Iraqi elections:

I congratulate the people of Iraq for casting their ballots in this important parliamentary election. I have great respect for the millions of Iraqis who refused to be deterred by acts of violence, and who exercised their right to vote today. Their participation demonstrates that the Iraqi people have chosen to shape their future through the political process.

I commend the Iraqi government and Iraqi Security Forces for providing security at nearly 50,000 voting booths at more than 8,000 polling stations across Iraq. We mourn the tragic loss of life today, and honor the courage and resilience of the Iraqi people who once again defied threats to advance their democracy.  Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi poll workers contributed to the effort, as well as domestic party and civil society observers. Iraqi citizens around the world also participated in these elections, including Iraqis living in the U.S. who voted in Arlington (VA), Chicago, Dallas, Dearborn, Nashville, Phoenix, San Diego, and San Francisco.

The important work of Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) will continue in the days to come as it counts ballots, tabulates results and investigates complaints. We also salute the invaluable assistance provided by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI).

The statement is also available in Arabic: Download the PDF.

During his speech in Cairo on June 4, 2009, the President articulated a vision for a New Beginning with Muslims around the world — one based on mutual respect and the pursuit of partnerships in areas of mutual interest.  Around the world, from Rabat to Jakarta, the United States is engaging Muslim communities around the world and building mutually beneficial partnerships that expand opportunity.  As part of our commitment to dialogue, our embassies have held roundtables with thousands of students, civil society leaders and entrepreneurs, among others, and senior officials like Secretary Clinton have held televised townhalls. 

Over the past nine months, the Administration has been delivering on the specific commitments the President made in his speech – from appointing science envoys, creating a Technology and Innovation Fund, and expanding exchanges to hosting a Summit on Entrepreneurship in April.  But, the U.S. Government has done far more than deliver the specific commitments from President Obama’s speech.  For example, while we have partnered with the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to eradicate polio, we also worked with Saudi Arabia to prevent the spread of H1N1 influenza during hajj. 

The speech in Cairo expressed an overarching vision for our engagement.  To help pursue that vision, the President recently appointed Rashad Hussain to be his Special Envoy to the OIC.  Rashad has played an important role in developing the New Beginning we seek with Muslim communities around the world.  In his new position, he will continue to play a key role in expanding our engagement with Muslims around the world. Get to know Rashad in this video:

Click here to see the video.

And in case you missed it last year, Rashad was profiled with two other Muslim Americans working in the Federal Government:

Click here to see the video.

Pradeep Ramamurthy is the Senior Director for Global Engagement with the National Security Council
 

The last few days have brought even more evidence that the health care status quo is working out great for the insurance companies – at the same time as it continues to fail American families and businesses. No wonder the insurance companies are spending millions and millions of dollars to block reform.

On Wednesday, a leading insurance broker laid out in clear terms what many Americans could already guess: the insurers’ monopoly is so strong that they can continue to jack up rates as much as they like – even if it means losing customers – and their profits will continue to soar under the status quo.

There’s only one show on television that can claim to have captured more than 1,050 fugitives and brought home more than 50 missing children. "America’s Most Wanted" has become a broadcast institution over the last 22 years, telling the stories of wanted fugitives with the hope that viewers will assist law enforcement in the manhunt. President Obama appeared on the 1,000th episode of the series tonight. The show’s host, John Walsh, and President sat down this week at the White House to discuss, among other things, how the Recovery Act has kept cops on the streets across the country and the need to properly fund the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.

Click here to see the video.

John Walsh last came to the White House in 2006 to watch President Bush sign the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act which was named after his son who was abducted and murdered in 1981. Since his son’s death, he has dedicated himself to fighting on behalf of children and all crime victims. Walsh’s work led to the creation of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) which provides resources to parents, children, and law enforcement officials. Walsh has been honored five times by four presidents: Ronald Reagan (twice), George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.

In this week’s address, President Obama describes how American families will have more control over their health care this year, after health reform passes. 

Click here to see the video.

Here are a few more points about how health insurance reform measures will benefit Americans this year:
 
Hold Insurance Companies Accountable:

Eliminate lifetime limits and restrictive annual limits on benefits in all new plans;
Prohibit rescissions of health insurance policies in all individual plans;
Prohibit pre-existing condition exclusions for children in all new plans;
Require premium rebates to enrollees from insurers with high administrative expenditures and require public disclosure of the percent of premiums applied to overhead costs;
Establish a process for the annual review of unreasonable increases in premiums, requiring State insurance commissioners to work with the HHS Secretary and States.

Protect Consumers:

Provide grants to States to support health insurance consumer assistance and ombudsman programs to help consumers;
Ensure consumers have access to an effective internal and external appeals process to appeal new insurance plan decisions;
Require all insurance plans to use uniform coverage documents so consumers can make easy comparisons when shopping for health insurance;
Establish an internet portal to assist Americans in identifying coverage options;
Prohibit insurers from discriminating in favor of highly compensated employees by charging them lower premiums.

Ensure Affordable Choices and Quality Care:

Provide immediate access to insurance for uninsured Americans who are uninsured because of a pre-existing condition through a temporary high-risk pool;
Create a temporary re-insurance program for early retirees;
Require new plans to cover an enrollee’s dependent children until age 26;
Require new plans to cover preventive services and immunizations without cost-sharing;
Offer tax credits to small businesses to purchase coverage;
Facilitate administrative simplification to lower health system costs.

This week Tina Tchen and Valerie Jarrett traveled to New York City to participate in the 54th session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the U.N. Headquarters. The Commission was created in 1946 to advise the United Nations Security Council on the promotion of women’s rights. Every year representatives from UN Member States, joined by their civil society counterparts, meet to evaluate our global efforts on gender equality, identify challenges, and set policies for continuing to further women’s advancement. This year’s conference is being attended by more than 2,000 women from around the world who have come together to review progress on women’s rights in the 15 years since the signing of the Beijing Declaration and subsequent Platform for Action. As part of the events, Valerie Jarrett met with the U.S. public delegation to the Commission and Tina Tchen met with civil society groups and UN agency leaders to discuss challenges and opportunities and explore areas for collaboration.

Read about the week’s activities from Kristin M. Kane, Public Diplomacy Officer for the Bureau of International Organization Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

Jayne Thomisee is Associate Director of the Office of Public Engagement
 

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Earlier this week the White House posed a question on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn as part of the “Education in Focus” feature on WhiteHouse.gov. We asked “What Does a 21st Century education mean to you?”and you had some really interesting answers.

Here’s a sample of what our fans, followers and group members had to say:

From our Facebook fans:

Kate Knott Stotler Twenty first century education moves us out of the industrial-era, one-size-fits-all education model and acknowledges that all students are different, learn in different ways and at different speeds. Twenty first century education is focused on creating relevance to the real world into which students will enter. It teaches students how to think, not what to think. It establishes a two-way conversation between teachers and students. It draws on community resources to enhance the learning process. It employs technologies that students will use beyond the classroom. It encourages students to ask questions which continue their learning instead of settling for answers that stop it.

Ellie Doble Slaven I think a 21st century education means that you give the students the tools needed to ALWAYS continue learning. They should have the fundamentals down pat, reading, writing and arithmetic. Education should be a life long pursuit and if you have a strong foundation, you can continue building all your life. And, if we hope to succeed as a country, we should give that opportunity to all, not just to those that can afford a quality education.

Chris Hrobak 21st century education means realizing that even 4th grade science classes translates into increased American competitiveness. Investing properly in education will bring some of the highest returns anyone, anywhere, could ever hope for.

Courtney R. Unruh-Flores A 21st Century education means that we look forward and create new ideas using new technologies rather than teaching the same way we have been teaching for the last 100 years. It means more than replacing the chalkboard with an interactive white board; it will take an entire shift of focus away from the 3 R’s of Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic and put that focus on a more holistic approach that educates the whole child and also makes sense in light of our global economy and world.

Wyatt Nyman It means being able to afford college. I am a Junior in High school, and a student who is worried about tuition. I want to make something of myself, and i know in order to do that, i need to have a higher level education. The only thing that is holding me back now is being able to pay for it. I really liked the idea of community service in exchange for a free(or even cheaper) college education. If something like that is possible, it would be greatly appreciated by not only myself, but thousands of other high performing students who are inhibited by their financial restraints due to this recession. The two things that would be most beneficial to me are healthcare reform (not only in insurance agencies, but also in the hospitals as well), and an affordable education to be able to compete in the business world.

From our Twitter followers:

KelleyCalvert: @whitehouse a 21st century education equips the mind with an enormous capacity to adapt, create, and engage the world compassionately.
 

chadkafka:@whitehouse 21stCenturyEd=students having skills, tools, & knowledge to be competitive in global economy.
 

jenn_nelson:@whitehouse 21st Century Education: individualized, continuous, adaptable, multi-sensory, active, current, applied, rigorous, self-motivated
 

BarbInNebraska:@whitehouse as a teacher, I want my students to easily be able to create, collaborate, and communicate their ideas using technology.

From LinkedIn:

Jodi Diderrich: Aside from the usual subjects and the need to further expand our techology, math, and science programs, we need to be teaching our students about creating balance. Both in life and in business, many of our citizens just don’t understand that they are not only capable of creating balance, but must do so in order to live well. It is the balance of personal life with job life, of eating with activity, of giving with taking that creates a healthy human being. In the same way, it is the balance of risk taking with building a financial cushion in business affairs that prevents one difficulty from destroying a person’s financial security. Being moral, honest, and fair would be so much easier to do if people felt they’d been given the tools in their youth to survive the hard times and to enjoy the times of abundance with an eye on both the present and the future.

Thanks for participating — keep reading the blog and stay connected on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin for upcoming questions.

This week, we launched “Education in Focus” on Whitehouse.gov to shine a spotlight on what we are doing across the administration to improve our education system. And what a week it was:

You joined Alma and Colin Powell, the President and myself in launching GradNation, an initiative to give more students the opportunity to go to college.
You learned about the Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge, which gives schools the opportunity to have the President speak at their graduation.
You engaged in a live web chat with Melody Barnes and me about how the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA) can help students like you go to college.
You heard from Dr. Jill Biden about the importance of community colleges. 
You read about Secretary LaHood’s experience as a teacher and his involvement in Teach For America Week.
You joined our web discussion around the question: What does a 21st century education mean to you?
You read along with the First Lady as she commemorated Dr. Seuss’ birthday by reading “The Cat in the Hat” aloud at the Library of Congress.
You learned about the Education Department’s Investment in Innovation as they launched their Open Innovation portal.

Though this feature comes to a close today, our work is not done. The urgency to improve our children’s schools has never been greater.

Whether you’re still a student or your days in the classroom have long been over, we all have a moral and economic imperative that requires us to act.  Go to www.ed.gov to learn more about what we are doing, and ways you can get involved.

Arne Duncan is Secretary of Education

At the 1939 World’s Fair in New York, General Motors unveiled "The Futurama" exhibit, a captivating model that displayed a vision for the not-so-distant "future" of 1960. Visitors to the exhibit, most of whom did not own cars, were left in awe of the “ideal city of tomorrow,” imagining themselves riding in a vehicle amidst breathtaking skyscrapers on concrete multi-lane highways, speeding toward a previously untouchable countryside with a sense of personal freedom.

The exhibit proved prescient, perhaps inspirational, but with many unforeseen and adverse effects on the American city. Today, our cities are faced with overdevelopment that has simultaneously damaged our environment, isolated low-income communities in the urban core, and maintained an unsustainable economic model.

Government has a responsibility to make smart investments and encourage smart planning. We can no longer continue developing our cities and metros with 20th century plans. We need to fundamentally change the pattern of urban development to reflect the way people live – a 21st century vision based on new realities, both in America and around the world.

By mid-century, 70% of the world’s population, approximately 6.4 billion people, will live in cities and metros. There will also be 27 megacities with populations greater than 10 million, and that doesn’t just include Tokyo, New York, London, and Paris; it also includes Sao Paulo, Mumbai, Seoul, Buenos Aires, and Lagos.

President Obama understands the importance of rising to these challenges today, because tomorrow will be too late. He understands that urban and metropolitan areas are the engines of our national and global economy, and will be the foundation of a more sustainable future. That’s why on February 19, 2009, the President took a bold step toward realizing a new vision by signing an Executive Order that created the White House Office of Urban Affairs.
 
Our new urban agenda will focus on making regions and urban areas more economically competitive, environmentally sustainable, and expand opportunity for everyone. And our new approach will no longer look at urban problems in isolation. Instead, it will coordinate federal investments to address the reality at the local level, encouraging local leaders to develop comprehensive strategies to build strong regional economies, responsible and sustainable infrastructure, and opportunity-rich communities that bridge the social and economic divide.

I am thrilled to join the senior United States delegation to UN-HABITAT’s Fifth World Urban Forum because for President Obama, the Forum is about innovation, sharing ideas, listening to best practices, and building consensus on how, as global partners, we can most sustainably and inclusively plan our future.

Adolfo Carrión, Jr. is the Director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs and Deputy Assistant to the President

I am so pleased to participate in this week’s “Education in Focus”– since education is always my focus!  Yesterday I was in the classroom for most of the day – doing what I love – teaching community college students who are eager to learn, and who are pursuing their dreams of getting a college education. Our spring semester is well underway, and I am gratified to watch my students achieve what some of them never thought was possible.

It’s an exciting time for students and teachers all over the country, as Congress and the Administration are working to increase student access and success.  The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), which includes a historic investment in community colleges, is currently pending in the Senate.  If passed, this legislation would improve our higher education system by reforming the Nation’s student loan system, raising the maximum Pell Grant award, and increasing the availability of Perkins loans.  These provisions could have a real impact on community colleges and students by increasing federal financial aid, and allowing colleges to compete for funds to bolster student success and completion. It also includes an opportunity for them to apply for funding, through their states, to expand and upgrade facilities so that they can better meet the needs of their students. 

Last month, I attended the President’s State of the Union Address, where he spoke about the importance of the SAFRA, and reminded the audience that community colleges are a career pathway for the children of many working families.  I was honored to have Julia Frost, a student at Coastal Carolina Community College, join me that night as my guest.  I am truly inspired by Julia’s commitment to her country as a former Marine and current Marine Corps spouse, and her commitment to completing her education. 

Being on a campus or in a classroom always feels like home to me, and I can’t wait to visit more students and teachers this year.  It is truly an honor to spend time with students like Julia and the dedicated faculty who are helping her make her dream of becoming a teacher a reality.

– Jill