Posts Tagged ‘White House’

December 7, 2011: Beyond the Border: A Shared Vision for Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011

I have just come from the Oval Office, where President Obama and Prime Minister Harper took our relationship to the next level as they announced the Action Plans for Beyond the Border: A Shared Vision for Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness.

The United States and Canada have long been the best of neighbors, friends, partners, and allies. Based on foundations of mutual reliance and respect we have built prosperity at home while standing shoulder-to-shoulder defending our shared values around the world. We have long understood that if we work together we are stronger, more prosperous, and more competitive.

President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrive to speak in the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011


Building on that spirit, in February we set forth a plan for the future of North America. We committed to a shared vision for perimeter security and economic competitiveness. We agreed to work together within, at, and away from our borders to enhance our security, better coordinate our regulatory systems, and accelerate the legitimate flow of people, goods and services. We rejected the false choice between security and efficiency at the border. We realized that by improving the efficiency of the border in smart ways we would enhance the security of North America while lifting the standard of living of our people. We promised to consult with our citizens and to deliver a detailed Action Plan to realize our vision. Today we deliver on that promise.

In 1961, President Kennedy had the opportunity to address the Canadian Parliament. He famously said: “what unites us is far greater than what divides us.” With the actions we take today between our two great countries that statement was never more true.

I invite you to read all about the action plans and what they involve here. We’ve posted all the documents and fact sheets from the United States Government and I’m writing to invite you to learn as much as you can about the plan and what it involves. I invite your comments here and welcome your suggestions and support.

DJ

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Posted in December 2011 |

January 7, 2011 — Ottawa

Monday, January 10th, 2011

I get a lot of questions about the White House.  I thought the President’s decision yesterday to pick Bill Daley to serve as his new Chief of Staff was a good excuse to talk a little about what it’s like there.

Actually there are about 460 people who work in the White House.  They are the hardest working and most able group of people I have ever had the honor to work with.  They range from the President, the Vice President, and the Chief of Staff to researchers, staff assistants and analysts. 

A tiny handful have offices in the West Wing.  The rest are in the Old Executive Office Building next door or in a couple of other buildings scattered around Pennsylvania Avenue.

Everyone in the Executive Branch of the Government, all 4 million of them, work for the President.  The White House Staff acts on behalf of the President to interact with the Cabinet Departments, the Administrative Agencies, the Military, the Boards and Commissions, and other agencies and instrumentalities of the Executive Branch. 

The Chief of Staff manages the 460 people on the White House Staff and in turn the rest of the 4 million members of the Executive Branch. 

So if you have business with the President and the Executive Branch of Government, you have business with the Chief of Staff.  It’s a crushing job.  The Chief of Staff must be both a manager and an advisor – he works with the President to identify people to staff the government, controls the flow of people and paper into the Oval Office and often serves as an honest broker between the White House, the Executive Branch, the Congress, and the rest of the world.  Above all, he serves the interests of the President. 

It is not unusual for a President to change his Chief of Staff.  Both Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan had four chiefs of staff.  Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush each had two. 

With Bill Daley, President Obama has called on a seasoned and experienced person.  A person who is respected by Business and Labor.  By Republicans and Democrats on the Hill.  He’s a great guy who – as the President noted yesterday – has politics in his blood. He’ll bring a lot to the White House….even if he is a White Sox fan!

DJ

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Posted in January 2011 |

October 12, 2010 – Ottawa

Thursday, October 14th, 2010

This afternoon I met with Dick Pound and Marc Paris, of the Partnership for a Drug Free Canada (PDFC).  The name Dick Pound might sound familiar to you.  He was one of Canada’s great athletes in the Sixties.  He was a swimming finalist at the 1960 Olympic Games and later became President of the Canadian Olympic Association and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).  He has been active in various IOC committees ever since and is also founding President of the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA).  Now, he’s taken on the duties of the Chair of the Partnership for a Drug Free Canada (PDFC).  His colleague, Marc Paris, is PDFC’s executive director and works out of Toronto. 

The mission of PDFC is a critical one: to educate Canadian parents and youth about the issue of illegal drug use – particularly as it relates to driving and drugs – and the abuse of prescription drugs.  PDFC plans to accomplish this through campaigns of media-delivered drug prevention education messages.  Their strategy is modeled on that of the Partnership for a Drug free America (PDFA) which was founded in 1986.  PDFA has had a significant impact in helping to reduce the trail of illicit drugs in my own country.  Hopefully PDFC will have the same effect in Canada.

I was surprised at some of the facts Dick and Marc shared with me.  One that caught my attention was that approximately twenty percent of Canada’s youth have abused prescription drugs from their parents’ medicine cabinets in order to get high.  Dick said that there is a critical need for drug prevention education in Canada… drug use among youths is NOT just a problem south of the border…and usage in Canada is increasing.  You can see read about the PDFC at www.canadadrugfree.org.  By coincidence, the White House just announced a new study about drug use in the U.S.  That study is available at http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/.

DJ.

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Posted in October 2010 |