Statement from Press Secretary Robert Gibbs
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Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate, 4/19/10
Donald M. Berwick, of Massachusetts, to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, vice Mark B. McClellan.
William J. Boarman, of Maryland, to be Public Printer, vice Robert Charles Tapella, resigned.
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President Obama Nominates Dr. Donald Berwick for Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Today, President Obama nominated Dr. Donald Berwick to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services (CMS). Dr. Berwick currently serves as President and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and is a professor at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health.
“Dr. Berwick has dedicated his career to improving outcomes for patients and providing better care at lower cost,” President Obama said. “That’s one of the core missions facing our next CMS Administrator, and I’m confident that Don will be an outstanding leader for the agency and the millions of Americans it serves.”
Dr. Donald Berwick: Nominee for Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Dr. Donald Berwick is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and Health Care Policy at the Harvard Medical School and Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health. He is also a pediatrician, adjunct staff in the Department of Medicine at Boston’s Children’s Hospital and a consultant in pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital.
He has served as Chair of the National Advisory Council of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and as an elected member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM). Dr. Berwick served on the IOM’s governing Council from 2002 to 2007. In 1997 and 1998, he was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Healthcare Industry. Dr. Berwick is the recipient of numerous awards and honors for his work, including the 1999 Ernest A. Codman Award, the 2001 Alfred I. DuPont Award for excellence in children’s health care from Nemours, the 2002 American Hospital Association’s Award of Honor, the 2006 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award for Individual Achievement from the National Quality Forum and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the 2007 William B. Graham Prize for Health Services Research, and the 2007 Heinz Award for Public Policy from the Heinz Family Foundation.
A summa cum laude graduate of Harvard College, Dr. Berwick holds a Master in Public Policy degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School, where he graduated cum laude.
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Statement by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs
On Thursday, President Obama will travel to New York City where he will deliver remarks at Cooper Union on Wall Street reform. Almost two years after the crisis hit and almost one year after the Administration first laid out a detailed plan for holding Wall Street accountable and protecting consumers, he will call for swift Senate action. The crisis has already wiped out trillions of dollars in family wealth and cost over 8 million jobs. The President will also remind Americans what is at stake if we do not move forward with changing the rules of the road as a part of a strong Wall Street reform package.
More details will be announced when they become available.
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Statement by the President on Travel to Poland
"I spoke with acting President Komorowski and told him that I regret that I will not be able to make it to Poland due to the volcanic ash that is disrupting air travel over Europe. Michelle and I continue to have the Polish people in our thoughts and prayers, and will support them in any way I can as they recover from this terrible tragedy. President Kaczynski was a patriot and close friend and ally of the United States, as were those who died alongside him, and the American people will never forget the lives they led."
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WEEKLY ADDRESS: President Obama Says We Must Move Forward on Wall Street Reform
WASHINGTON – In his weekly address, President Barack Obama said that in the wake of the economic crisis Wall Street reform is too important an issue for inaction. The plan moving through Congress will end bailouts, hold Wall Street accountable, and protect consumers, taxpayers and the economy from the kind of abuses that helped bring about the economic crisis. Every day without reform, those abuses, and the system which allowed them, remain in place. It is time to move forward with real reforms for Wall Street.
The audio and video will be available online at www.whitehouse.gov at 6:00 am ET, Saturday, April 17, 2010.
Remarks of President Barack Obama
As Prepared for Delivery
The White House
April 17, 2010
There were many causes of the turmoil that ripped through our economy over the past two years. But above all, this crisis was caused by failures in the financial industry. What is clear is that this crisis could have been avoided if Wall Street firms were more accountable, if financial dealings were more transparent, and if consumers and shareholders were given more information and authority to make decisions.
But that did not happen. And that’s because special interests have waged a relentless campaign to thwart even basic, common-sense rules – rules to prevent abuse and protect consumers. In fact, the financial industry and its powerful lobby have opposed modest safeguards against the kinds of reckless risks and bad practices that led to this very crisis.
The consequences of this failure of responsibility – from Wall Street to Washington – are all around us: 8 million jobs lost, trillions in savings erased, countless dreams diminished or denied. I believe we have to do everything we can to ensure that no crisis like this ever happens again. That’s why I’m fighting so hard to pass a set of Wall Street reforms and consumer protections. A plan for reform is currently moving through Congress.
Here’s what this plan would do. First, it would enact the strongest consumer financial protections ever. It would put consumers back in the driver’s seat by forcing big banks and credit card companies to provide clear, understandable information so that Americans can make financial decisions that work best for them.
Next, these reforms would bring new transparency to financial dealings. Part of what led to this crisis was firms like AIG and others making huge and risky bets – using things like derivatives – without accountability. Warren Buffett himself once described derivatives bought and sold with little oversight as “financial weapons of mass destruction.” That’s why through reform we’d help ensure that these kinds of complicated financial transactions take place on an open market. Because, ultimately, it is a marketplace that is open, free, and fair that will allow our economy to flourish.
We would also close loopholes to stop the kind of recklessness and irresponsibility we’ve seen. It’s these loopholes that allowed executives to take risks that not only endangered their companies, but also our entire economy. And we’re going to put in place new rules so that big banks and financial institutions will pay for the bad decisions they make – not taxpayers. Simply put, this means no more taxpayer bailouts. Never again will taxpayers be on the hook because a financial company is deemed “too big to fail.”
Finally, these reforms hold Wall Street accountable by giving shareholders new power in the financial system. They’ll get a say on pay: a vote on the salaries and bonuses awarded to top executives. And the SEC will ensure that shareholders have more power in corporate elections, so that investors and pension holders have a stronger voice in determining what happens with their life savings.
Now, unsurprisingly, these reforms have not exactly been welcomed by the people who profit from the status quo – as well their allies in Washington. This is probably why the special interests have spent a lot of time and money lobbying to kill or weaken the bill. Just the other day, in fact, the Leader of the Senate Republicans and the Chair of the Republican Senate campaign committee met with two dozen top Wall Street executives to talk about how to block progress on this issue.
Lo and behold, when he returned to Washington, the Senate Republican Leader came out against the common-sense reforms we’ve proposed. In doing so, he made the cynical and deceptive assertion that reform would somehow enable future bailouts – when he knows that it would do just the opposite. Every day we don’t act, the same system that led to bailouts remains in place – with the exact same loopholes and the exact same liabilities. And if we don’t change what led to the crisis, we’ll doom ourselves to repeat it. That’s the truth. Opposing reform will leave taxpayers on the hook if a crisis like this ever happens again.
So my hope is that we can put this kind of politics aside. My hope is that Democrats and Republicans can find common ground and move forward together. But this is certain: one way or another, we will move forward. This issue is too important. The costs of inaction are too great. We will hold Wall Street accountable. We will protect and empower consumers in our financial system. That’s what reform is all about. That’s what we’re fighting for. And that’s exactly what we’re going to achieve.
Thank you.
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President Obama Signs New York Disaster Declaration
The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of New York and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe storms and flooding during the period of March 13-15, 2010.
Federal funding is available to State and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storms and flooding in the counties of Nassau, Orange, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester.
Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.
W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Albert Lewis as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.
FEMA said additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the State and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FEMA (202) 646-3272.
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Statement by the Vice President on the Passing of Dr. Benjamin Hooks
Jill and I are deeply saddened by the loss of a true civil rights hero, Benjamin Hooks. As head of the NAACP from 1977-1992, and throughout a distinguished legal career, his voice stood out among a generation of African-American men and women seeking together to eliminate racism and create a fairer, more just America for our nation’s children than the one Benjamin inherited as a child in Memphis, Tennessee. He was an ordained minister and he used the power of faith to inspire others to believe in the importance of civil rights—not just for the sake of black men and women, but for America as a whole. Benjamin once said that, “You can read the history of a country through its actions.” Benjamin’s actions helped write a better history. Those who follow his lead will help build a better future.
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President Obama Signs Pennsylvania Disaster Declaration
The President today declared a major disaster exists in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and ordered Federal aid to supplement the Commonwealth and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe winter storms and snowstorms during the period of February 5-11, 2010.
Federal funding is available to the Commonwealth and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe winter storms and snowstorms in the counties of Adams, Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Huntingdon, Indiana, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry, Philadelphia, Somerset, Westmoreland, and York.
In addition, assistance is available to the Commonwealth and eligible local governments on a cost-sharing basis for emergency protective measures, including snow assistance, for a continuous 48-hour period during or proximate to the incident period in the counties of Adams, Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Huntingdon, Indiana, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry, Philadelphia, Somerset, Westmoreland, and York and for a continuous 72-hour period during or proximate to the incident period in Delaware County.
Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures in the counties of Adams, Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Huntingdon, Indiana, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry, Philadelphia, Somerset, Washington, Westmoreland, and York.
W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Regis Leo Phelan as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.
FEMA said additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the Commonwealth and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FEMA (202) 646-3272.
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Readout by the Press Secretary on the President’s Monthly Update on Afghanistan and Pakistan
The President met with his national security team for his monthly update on Afghanistan and Pakistan. The President and his team began with a discussion on Afghanistan, including the progress that’s been made in the security situation following the Marjah offensive, the training of Afghan Security Forces, and efforts to support fair and effective governance at the national and sub-national level. The President and his team also discussed the progress made by the Pakistani military through its offensive, continued U.S. support for Pakistani people, and the continuation of our Strategic Dialogue with the Pakistani government.
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