The executive is the branch of a government charged with implementing, or executing, the law and running the day-to-day affairs of the government or state. The de facto most senior figure in an executive is referred to as the head of government. The executive may be referred to as the administration, in presidential systems, or simply as the government, in parliamentary systems.

In some constitutional monarchies, such as the United Kingdom, the monarch, who is the Head of State, is the de jure and theoretical head of the executive, and the Prime Minister, whom he or she technically appoints, is the head of the monarch's government (i.e. "Her Majesty's Government"). In practice, however, a symbolic or figurehead Head of State does not actively exercise executive power, though decisions may be formally made in his or her name.

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Presidential Memorandum--Closure of Dentention Facilities at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
The White House Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:07:00 -0000
MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE THE ATTORNEY GENERAL SUBJECT: Directing Certain Actions with Respect to Acquisition and Use of Thomson Correctional Center to Facilitate Closure of Detention Facilities at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base By the authority vested in me as President and as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107-40, 115 Stat. 224), and in order to facilitate the closure of detention facilities at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, I hereby direct that the following actions be taken as expeditiously as possible with respect to the facility known as the Thomson Correctional Center (TCC) in Thomson, Illinois: 1. The Attorney General shall acquire and activate the TCC as a United States Penitentiary, which the Attorney General has determined would reduce the Bureau of Prisons' shortage of high security, maximum custody cell space and could be used for other appropriate inmate or detainee management purposes. The Attorney General shall also provide to the Department of Defense a sufficient portion of the TCC to serve as a detention facility to be operated by the Department of Defense in order to accommodate the relocation of detainees by the Secretary of Defense in accordance with paragraph 2 of this memorandum. 2. The Secretary of Defense, working in consultation with the Attorney General, shall prepare the TCC for secure housing of detainees currently held at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base who have been or will be designated for relocation, and shall relocate such detainees to the TCC, consistent with laws related to Guantanamo detainees and the findings in, and interagency Review established by, Executive Order 13492 of January 22, 2009. This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. The Secretary of Defense is authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register. BARACK OBAMA
Remarks by The President on Energy Efficiency and Job Creation
The White House Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:16:30 -0000
Home Depot Alexandria, Virginia 11:09 A.M. EST THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody.  Hello!  Hello!  (Applause.)  Thank you guys.  Thank you.  Everybody, please have a seat. We've got a couple of special guests here today.  First of all, the outstanding senator from the great Commonwealth of Virginia, Senator Mark Warner is here.  Where's Mark?  Right there.  (Applause.)  We've got a couple of champions for job creation here in Northern Virginia -- Gerry Connolly and Jim Moran.  (Applause.) Can I just ask, how come they got the Home Depot thing and you guys don't have it?  (Laughter.)  What, the senators are too cool to put it on?  What's going on here? (Laughter.) Working to jumpstart our retrofit efforts around the country, Senator Jeff Merkley and Congressman Peter Welch are here as well.  (Applause.)  We've got Alexandria Mayor William Euille.  Where's William?  There he is.  Good to see you, Bill.  (Applause.)  And we've got Frank Blake and his team here at Home Depot.  Where's Frank?  There he is.  (Applause.) So seeing how Christmas is just around the corner, and we’re at Home Depot, I thought I might knock out some of my holiday shopping.  (Laughter.)  I figure my Energy Secretary wants a few million energy-efficient light bulbs.  (Laughter.)  My Press Secretary wants something that will prevent leaks. AUDIENCE:  Ooooh! THE PRESIDENT:  Come on, guys.  (Laughter.)  It took a while there for -- (laughter.)  But I’ve also come here to spend some time with workers and contractors and manufacturers and small business owners who've been especially hard hit by our economic downturn.  A few of us just spent some time at a roundtable talking about the role they want to play in job creation and in our economic recovery, and how government can best help to give them a boost. I don’t need to remind them or any of you about the situation we found ourselves in at the beginning of this year.  The economy was in a freefall.  As a result of our financial crisis, folks couldn’t access affordable credit to run their businesses, or take out an auto loan or a student loan or, in some cases, pay their mortgages.  Home values were plummeting.  And we were hemorrhaging about 700,000 jobs per month. Today, the economy is growing for the first time in more than a year, and November’s job report was the best that we’ve had in nearly two years. But the fact is, even though we’ve stopped the rapid job losses that we were seeing just a few months ago, more than seven million Americans have lost their jobs in the two years since this recession began.  Unemployment still stands at 10 percent.  So we’re not finished with our task -- far from it.  We've got a lot of work to do.  And I promise you, in the White House we're hard at work every single day, until every single person who wants a job can find a job. That's why last week, I announced some additional targeted steps to spur private sector hiring and give an added boost to small businesses by building on the tax cuts in the Recovery Act and increasing access to the loans desperately needed for small businesses to grow.  We'll rebuild and modernize even more of our transportation and communication networks across the country.  And I called for the extension of emergency relief like unemployment insurance and health benefits to help those who've lost their jobs, while boosting consumer spending and promoting job growth. We also want to take some strategic surgical steps in areas that are going to generate the greatest number of jobs while generating the greatest value for our economy.  From the moment we took office, even as we took immediate steps to deal with the financial crisis, we began investing in newer, stronger foundations for lasting growth -- one that would free us from the cycle of boom and bust that has been so painful; one that can create good jobs and opportunities for a growing middle class.  That's at the heart of our efforts, and clean energy can be a powerful engine for creating that kind of growth. That's why the Recovery Act included the single biggest investment in job-creating clean energy in our history:  in renewable sources of energy; in advanced manufacturing; in clean vehicle technology; in a bigger, better, smarter electric grid that can carry clean, homegrown energy from the places that harness it to the places that need it. And after these investments have been given the better part of a year to take root, a picture of their impact is starting to emerge.  I just received a report from Vice President Biden that confirms that as a result of the steps that we've taken, a major transformation of our economy is well underway.  We are on track to double renewable energy production, and double our capacity to manufacture clean energy components like wind turbines and solar panels right here in the United States by the year 2012 -- doubling it.  (Applause.) But there's a lot more that we can do, and that's what I've come to Home Depot to talk about. In our nation's buildings -- our homes and our office consume almost 40 percent of the energy we use and contribute almost 40 percent of the carbon pollution that we produce and everybody is talking about right now in Copenhagen.  Homes built in the first half of the last century can use about 50 percent more energy than homes that are built today.  And because most of our homes and office aren't energy-efficient, much of that energy just goes to waste, while costing our families and businesses money they can't afford to throw away. The simple act of retrofitting these buildings to make them more energy-efficient --insulation new windows and doors, insulation, roofing, sealing leaks, modernizing heating and cooling equipment -- is one of the fastest, easiest and cheapest things we can do to put Americans back to work while saving families money and reducing harmful emissions. As a result of a variety of investments made under the Recovery Act, including state and local energy grants, we're on pace to upgrade the homes of half a million Americans by this time next year -- half a million Americans:  boosting the economy, saving money and energy, creating clean energy jobs that can't be outsourced.  But this is an area that has huge potential to grow.  That's why I'm calling on Congress to provide new temporary incentives for Americans to make energy-efficiency retrofit investments in their homes.  And we want them to do it soon. I know the idea may not be very glamorous -- although I get really excited about it.  We were at the roundtable and somebody said installation is not sexy.  I disagree.  (Laughter.)  Frank, don't you think installation is sexy stuff?  (Applause.)  Here's what’s sexy about it:  saving money.  Think about it this way:  If you haven't upgraded your home yet, it's not just heat or cool air that's escaping -- it's energy and money that you are wasting.  If you saw $20 bills just sort of floating through the window up into the atmosphere, you'd try to figure out how you were going to keep that.  But that's exactly what's happening because of the lack of efficiency in our buildings. So what we want to do is create incentives that stimulate consumer spending, because folks buy materials from home improvement stores like this one, which then buys them from manufacturers.  It spurs hiring because local contractors and construction workers do the installation.  It saves consumers money -- perhaps hundreds of dollars off their utility bills each year -- and it reduces our energy consumption in the process. In other words, most of this stuff is going to pay for itself.  You put in the insulation, you weatherize your home now, you will make up that money in a year or two years or three years, and then everything after that is just gravy.  But the challenge for a lot of people is getting that money up front.  They know that this is a smart thing to do, but times are tight right now and it's hard to afford making that capital investment. And that's where the government can come in to provide the incentive to help people make that initial investment so that they can recover that money over the long term. These incentives will build on the work that my administration is doing to eliminate existing barriers to retrofitting millions of homes across the country.  My Middle Class Task Force and the Council on Environmental Quality recently released a report titled "Recovery Through Retrofit," that explains some of these hurdles and how we can overcome them: providing homeowners with straightforward and reliable information on retrofitting their homes, reducing their costs to do it, and ensuring that we've got a well-trained workforce ready to make it happen. So I think this is an extraordinary idea.  All the ideas that we've discussed were talked about at the jobs forum we held at the White House a couple of weeks ago.  And in fact, Frank Blake was there and mentioned that 30 percent of Home Depot's business is made up of small contractors of five or fewer employees who often do this kind of work.  And they and the folks that I met with earlier know just how important a program like this could be. The economic downturn hit both small contractors and our broader construction industry especially hard.  Construction unemployment reached 21 percent in the beginning of this year.  The investments we made under the Recovery Act has helped, but obviously there's a lot more work to do to put construction workers and millions of other Americans who are ready and eager to help rebuild America and move our recovery forward back on the job again.  And we're not going to rest until we do it. So it's fitting that we're here today at Home Depot with folks who play a vital role in helping America's families build strong homes and strengthen the ones that they've got, because that's exactly what we're trying to do -- rebuild our -- rebuild America's house on a stronger foundation of growth and prosperity.  It's not going to be easy, but we've got the concrete poured.  And one thing is clear:  We're moving in the right direction.  So I promise you we are going to get this job done.  Together, we can leave something for future generations that makes America that much stronger. And I just want to emphasize one last point.  There's a lot -- a lot of times there's an argument about economic growth versus the environment.  And in the debate that's going on about climate change right now, a lot of people say we can't afford to deal with these emissions to the environment.  But the fact of the matter is energy efficiency is a perfect example of how this can be a win-win.  Manufacturers like Owens Corning, whose CEO is here today, they win because they produce this stuff.  And those are American jobs.  And right now -- I just heard from the CEO, because Australia put an incentive to do exactly what we're talking about, they’ve seen a huge increase in their volume of experts -- exports to Australia.  Well, why can't we do the same thing here? When it comes to contractors, contractors all around the country know that this is work they can do, they can do effectively, they can do well, and it's a reliable business.  It's not going to be subject to as many of the vacillations as home sales are in the current environment where you've got a soft housing market.  So this can help fill the void in a major industry that's taken a big hit. And the workers, we have somebody who just got trained and is already on the job crawling through attics and putting all this stuff together.  Over the course of six months or a year, somebody can get trained effectively.  And LIUNA is doing terrific work with this -- its apprenticeship program.  And what this means is that people who are unemployed right now, they can get a marketable skill that they can take anywhere. So this is a smart thing to do, and we've got to get beyond this point where we think that somehow being smart on energy is a job destroyer.  It is a job creator.  But it's going to require some imagination and some foresight, and it requires us to all work together.  That's what this White House is committed to doing.  I know that's what all of you are committed to doing. We are going to generate so much business for you, Frank.  We are going to generate so much work for you guys from LIUNA. We're going to create so much business -- so many business opportunities for contractors here that over the course of the next several years, people are going to see this I think as an extraordinary opportunity, and it's going to help America turn the corner when it comes to energy use. I'm excited about it.  I hope you are, too.  See, I told, insulation is sexy.  Thank you very much, everybody.  (Applause.) END 11:23 A.M. EST
El Grupo de Trabajo del Presidente sobre el Estatus de Puerto Rico realiza primera reunión
The White House Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:04:00 -0000
Grupo de trabajo también examinará asuntos que afectan el desarrollo económico de Puerto Rico El Grupo de Trabajo del Presidente sobre el Estatus de Puerto Rico realizó su primera reunión hoy, continuando la importante labor de examinar el asunto del estatus de la isla e informar al respecto, pero también amplió su alcance para incluir asuntos que afectan el desarrollo económico de Puerto Rico. El Presidente Obama promulgó un decreto ejecutivo el 30 de octubre, 2009 para que el Grupo de Trabajo conserve su misión original y emita consejos y recomendaciones al Presidente y Congreso sobre medidas de política para promover la generación de empleo, educación, cuidado de salud, energía limpia y desarrollo económico en la isla. “El Presidente Obama reconoce la importancia de avanzar con el asunto del estatus de Puerto Rico y trabajar, a su vez, a fin de crear mayores oportunidades económicas para todos nuestros ciudadanos”, afirmó Cecilia Muñoz, copresidenta del Grupo de Trabajo y directora de asuntos intergubernamentales de la Casa Blanca. “Estamos deseosos de continuar trabajando estrechamente con funcionarios y partes interesadas en Puerto Rico para seguir mas allá de las inversiones que hemos hecho por medio de la Ley para la Recuperación, que están ayudando al pueblo puertorriqueño y, a la vez, generando y preservando empleos en todos los sectores, desde centros comunitarios de salud hasta proyectos de infraestructura”. Conforme al compromiso del Presidente Obama con un gobierno que responde a las necesidades del pueblo y le rinde cuentas, los miembros del Grupo de Trabajo votaron para tener audiencias públicas en Puerto Rico y en Estados Unidos continental sobre una gran variedad de asuntos ante ellos y solicitar los comentarios del público. “A medida que el Grupo de Trabajo ponga en práctica un proceso para avanzar con respecto a estos importantes asuntos de política, trabajaremos dedicadamente para involucrar al pueblo puertorriqueño e incluirlos en el proceso”, afirmó Tom Perrelli, copresidente del Grupo de Trabajo y fiscal general adjunto. El Presidente Clinton creó inicialmente el Grupo de Trabajo cuando promulgó el Decreto Ejecutivo 13183 en diciembre del 2000. El Grupo de Trabajo está compuesto por personas designadas por cada miembro del gabinete presidencial y los copresidentes del Grupo Interagencial del Presidente sobre Puerto Rico. Son miembros: Copresidentes • Casa Blanca, Cecilia Muñoz, directora de asuntos intergubernamentales de la Casa Blanca • Departamento de Justicia, Tom Perrelli, fiscal general adjunto Miembros • Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos, Paul Dioguardi, director de asuntos intergubernamentales • Departamento de Transporte, Joanna Turner, subsecretaria adjunta de asuntos intergubernamentales • Agencia de Protección Ambiental, Judith Enck, administradora de la región 2 • Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano, Mercedes Márquez, secretaria adjunta de planificación comunitaria y desarrollo • Departamento de Educación, Eric Waldo, asesor especial del secretario • Departamento de Agricultura, Tammye Treviño, administradora del Servicio de Vivienda Rural • Departamento del Interior, Anthony Babauta, secretario adjunto del Interior para asuntos insulares • Departamento de Trabajo, Gabriella Lemus, asesora principal y directora de la Oficina de Participación Pública • Departamento de Energía, Joe García, director de la Oficina de Impacto Económico • Departamento de Defensa, Patrick O'Brien, director de la Oficina de Ajuste Económico • Consejo de Asesores Económicos, Cecilia Rouse, miembro • Departamento de Comercio, Rick Wade, subjefe de gabinete • Departamento de Asuntos de Veteranos, Langley Koby, asesor especial del secretario • Departamento del Tesoro, Matthew Kabaker, finanzas nacionales • Departamento de Estado, Julissa Reynoso, subsecretaria adjunta de Asuntos del Hemisferio Occidental • Departamento de Seguridad Nacional, Juliette Kayyem, secretaria adjunta de programas intergubernamentales ###  
Background on The President's Meeting on Energy Efficiency & Job Creation
The White House Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:55:00 -0000
Fact Sheet on The Vice President Biden’s Memo to The President on Progress Building a Clean Energy Economy BACKGROUND ON THE PRESIDENT’S MEETING ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY & JOB CREATION 10:45 AM As a follow up to his speech last week, the President will visit a Home Depot in Alexandria, Virginia this afternoon to highlight the importance of providing incentives to consumers who retrofit their homes save money,  reduce the pollution and create jobs.  He will first meet with a group representing the labor, small business and manufacturing communities, all stakeholders in the shift to a more energy efficient economy. Following the event, the President will have lunch at the White House with business leaders representing different parts of the supply chain; manufacturing, retail and in-home audits and implementation to discuss the opportunities for creating jobs through incentivizing home energy efficiency upgrades.  The Vice President also sent a memo to the President yesterday afternoon on the positive impact of the energy components of the Recovery Act.   Through the Recovery Act and more effective use of programs already in existence, the administration is taking the critical steps to transform the United States into a global clean energy leader. The energy components of the Recovery Act represent the largest single investment in clean energy in American history and are leveraging private investment and fostering American innovation and ingenuity. They are jumpstarting a major transformation of our energy system including unprecedented growth in the generation of renewable sources of energy, enhanced manufacturing capacity for clean energy technology, advanced vehicle and fuel technologies, and a bigger, better, smarter electric grid.     Background on meeting participants below: Stephon Burgess, Ardently Green Stephon Burgess is a 23 year old DC resident who was unemployed for 12 months. Recently, Stephon was retrained and hired to work on installing weatherization and energy efficiency solutions in existing homes. He was recruited to the LIUNA Weatherization Training Center by Washington Interfaith Network, a local DC clergy organization and is supported by WeatherizeDC, a non-profit developing community interest in weatherization. Stephon now works full time for Ardently Green, a local small business Home Performance Contractor and Energy Star partner focused on making existing homes more energy efficient. Gerald Palmer, President, Southland Insulators Gerald Palmer is the President of Southland Insulators, an insulation and home performance contractor in Northern Virginia. Southland works in residential, commercial and building retrofit.  In addition to insulation, Southland has crews trained in Home Performance with Energy Star.  Southland has been named “Contractor of the Year” twice by the National Association of Home Builders. Southland currently employs about 100 office and field staff in its Manassas headquarters, and conducts energy efficiency work in about 5000 homes per year. John R. Shields, Jr., Sheet Metal Workers' International Association John R. Shields, Jr. grew up in the Washington, DC metropolitan area and currently resides in Crofton, MD. He has been a sheet metal worker since 1977, and came in through their residential program. After working for two years as a residential mechanic, installing sheet metal ductwork in single family homes and townhouses, Mr. Shields entered the apprenticeship program. He completed his four year sheet metal apprenticeship, and has also graduated from the National Labor College with a Bachelor of Arts in Labor Studies. Mr. Shields was a full time instructor for Sheet Metal Workers Local Union #100 for two and one half years, and he currently serves as Business Manager/Financial Secretary for Local Union #100 and the Financial Secretary for the Maryland State and Washington, D.C. Building and Construction Trades Council. A. Tamasin Sterner, Founder, Pure Energy Tamasin Sterner has been working on energy efficiency in buildings for 30 years. She is the founder of Pure Energy, an energy services firm that develops, designs, and implements energy efficiency programs for homeowners, utilities, and state energy efficiency agencies. Ms. Sterner is certified by the Building Performance Institute, and she has taught hundreds of courses on energy efficiency strategies for individuals and organizations. Ms. Sterner and Pure Energy are based in Lancaster, PA. Michael Thaman, Chairman and CEO, Owens Corning Michael H. Thaman is the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Owens Corning, a world leader in building materials and composite systems. He started with Owens Corning in 1992, and has held positions in manufacturing, corporate development and international business. Mr. Thaman earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering and computer science from Princeton University where he graduated with highest honors. Mr. Thaman is a member of the Business Roundtable where he chairs the Energy Efficiency Task Force and serves on the Executive Committee of the Policy Advisory Board of the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. REMARKS ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY & JOB CREATION HOME DEPOT ALEXANDRIA, VA 11:10 AM After the meeting, President Obama will deliver remarks on energy efficiency and job creation. The audience will be composed of approximately 40 individuals working on different aspects of energy efficiency – small businesses, labor representatives, contractors, community members, environmental groups, and home retrofit workers, including a group currently being trained in home retrofit and weatherization. The following officials are also expected to attend: Senator Mark Warner, D-VA Senator Jeff Merkley, D-OR Representative Jim Moran, D-VA Representative Gerry Connolly, D-VA Representative Peter Welch, D-VT Alexandria Mayor William Euille LUNCH WITH CEOS PRIVATE DINING ROOM 12:00 PM ***Note: this event is closed press*** President Obama will continue his ongoing dialogue with American business leaders. The President will discuss the opportunities for creating jobs through incentivizing home energy efficiency upgrades with the following business leaders: Frank Blake, Chairman and CEO, The Home Depot Andrew Liveris, President and CEO, The Dow Chemical Company Steve Cowell, Chairman and CEO, Conservation Services Group Mark Savan, President, Simonton Windows FACT SHEET: VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN’S MEMO TO THE PRESIDENT ON PROGRESS BUILDING A CLEAN ENERGY ECONOMY Vice President Biden has delivered a progress report to President Obama on how the Recovery Act is helping build a cleaner, more energy-efficient economy by tapping homegrown sources of energy.  In his memo to the President, the Vice President details the transformation of our economy underway as a result of the clean energy foundation the Administration has laid through the Recovery Act and other initiatives. The Vice President’s memo can be viewed HERE.  Renewable Energy Renewable Energy Where we were on January 1, 2009 Where we are headed by 2012 Gigawatts of renewable energy 27.8 GW Meet or exceed 55.6 GW Renewable Manufacturing Capacity 6 GW Meet or exceed 12 GW Vehicles of the Future Vehicles of the Future Where we were on January 1, 2009 Where we are headed by 2015 Number of electric vehicle factories in the US 0 3 factories Advanced Battery Manufacturing Capacity Negligible Enough advanced battery manufacturing capacity to support 500,000 Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles a year Number of Advanced Battery and electric drive component factories in the US 2 3 factories EV Charging Locations Less than 500 More than 10,000 Number of Advanced Biofuel Refineries 0 commercial scale refineries 19 pilot, demonstration, and commercial scale refineries by 2012 Average Fleet Fuel Economy 25.1 mpg Uncertainty around three national standards 27.3 mpg by end of 2010 Proposed harmonized standards of 35.5 mpg by 2016 Smart Grid Smart Grid Where we were on January 1, 2009 Where we are headed by 2013 Homes with Smart Meters 8 million 26 million by 2013, headed to 40 million by 2015 Sensors installed to monitor grid conditions 160 sensors installed Incomplete grid coverage 877 sensors installed Visibility across the entire U.S. transmission system[1] Energy Efficiency Energy Efficiency Where we were on January 1, 2009 Where we are headed by 2012 Home Energy Efficiency Retrofits 100,000 per year 1 million[2] Average Number of Appliance Standards set per year 1 per year (2001-2008) 6 per year (2009-2012) Carbon Capture Carbon Capture Where we were on January 1, 2009 Where we are headed by 2015 Number of commercial scale power plants operating with large CCS facilities 0 5 Tons of carbon dioxide sequestered per year Negligible Over 12 million tons per year[3] Science and Innovation Science and Innovation Where we were on January 1, 2009 Where we are headed by 2012 Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy $0 Up to 100 high-risk, high reward advanced energy technology research projects
Readout of the President’s calls with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh and Prime Minister Meles of Ethiopia
The White House Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:26:00 -0000
As President Obama continues to lay the foundation for an international political agreement on climate change in Copenhagen, he is reaching out personally to his counterparts around the world. Yesterday, the President spoke with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh and Prime Minister Meles of Ethiopia. President Obama encouraged Prime Minister Hasina to help reach robust agreement at the Leaders summit later this week in Copenhagen.  The President reviewed efforts by the United States on climate change and reiterated his commitment to making progress.  He emphasized his desire to reach a pragmatic solution that encompasses action by all countries.  For her part, Prime Minister Hasina expressed appreciation for the efforts of the United States and noted that 80% of Bangladesh’s 150 million people could be negatively affected by climate change.  The two leaders agreed on the importance of working closely with the Danish Prime Minister to reach an appropriate agreement and of encouraging all developed and developing countries to play a constructive role.  The President also expressed support for Bangladesh’s efforts to combat terrorism in South Asia. With Prime Minister Meles, the President reviewed efforts by the United States on climate change and reiterated his commitment to making progress.  He expressed his appreciation for the leadership role the Prime Minister was playing in work with African countries on climate change, and urged him to help reach agreement at the Leaders summit later this week in Copenhagen.  For his part, Prime Minister Meles stressed the importance of success in Copenhagen, and the need to find ways to make suitable progress on the mitigation, adaptation, and the provision of finance for the developing countries.  
Readout of Vice President Biden's Meeting with President Sleiman of Lebanon
The White House Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:09:00 -0000
Earlier today, Vice President Biden met with Lebanese President Michel Sleiman at the White House. During the meeting, Vice President Biden expressed his appreciation for President Sleiman’s efforts during the formation of the new Lebanese government and welcomed the opportunity to work with the new government on a broad range of security, economic, and political issues. The Vice President reiterated the United States’ continued support for a sovereign, independent Lebanon and stressed that our efforts to achieve our goals in the Middle East will not come at Lebanon’s expense. The Vice President emphasized the Administration’s support for Lebanon’s institutions, including the office of the Presidency, and a military capable of safeguarding its independence. Toward this end, the Vice President pledged the United States’ support for full implementation of relevant UN Security Council Resolutions. The Vice President thanked President Sleiman for his leadership and commitment to the people of Lebanon.

FEMA: News Releases

Skagit County Receives Preliminary Flood Maps
Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:42:02 -0400
SEATTLE, Wash. -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is releasing preliminary flood risk maps to communities in Skagit County, Wash. The preliminary draft maps will help local officials and residents identify known flood risks, and when finalized, will be used for flood insurance, land use planning and development decisions. According to FEMA Acting Regional Administrator Dennis Hunsinger, the preliminary maps revise and update information on the existence and severity of flood hazards in Anacortes, Burlington, Concrete, Hamilton, La Conner, Lyman, Mount Vernon and Sedro-Woolley, as well as unincorporated areas of Skagit County.
Tuscola County Flood Risk Open House To Take Place Dec. 16
Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:17:55 -0400
CHICAGO, Ill -- Representatives from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in partnership with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, will host a flood risk information open house on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2009, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Tuscola Technology Center, 1401 Cleaver Road in Caro, Michigan
FEMA Administrator Fugate Meets With HBCU Leadership To Discuss Partnership In Preparedness
Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:49:22 -0400
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate today addressed presidents, provosts, chancellors, and deans from a number of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) from across the country at FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute (EMI) in Emmitsburg, Md.
Briefings Begin For Public Assistance Work
Tue, 15 Dec 2009 11:58:52 -0400
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Briefings to help local officials understand the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) application process for infrastructure losses began this week and will continue through Thursday, Dec. 17. Federal disaster aid was made available on Dec. 3 for 37 Arkansas counties to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe storms, tornadoes and flooding beginning on Oct. 29, 2009. The incident period closed on Nov. 8.
Disaster Service Center To Change Saturday Hours
Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:01:58 -0400
Disaster Service Center To Change Saturday Hours
Disaster Service Center Will Close At 4 P.M. On Wednesday Dec. 16th To Accommodate Memorial Service
Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:00:39 -0400
Disaster Service Center Will Close At 4 P.M. On Wednesday Dec. 16th To Accommodate Memorial Service

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