GovBlog: UC Berkeley » obama

U.S. President’s Speeches and Remarks

Susana Hinojosa — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:29:01 +0000

President Obama has given several very important policy speeches during this month of September 2009. In general transcripts of President Obama’s speeches are easily found on the White House Speeches and Remarks site. A few of the September 2009 speeches are highlighted here:

Remarks by the President in a National Address to America’s Schoolchildren (Sept. 8th, Wakefield High School, Arlington, VA)

Remarks by the President to a Joint Session of Congress on Health Care (Sept. 9th, U.S. Capital, Washington, D.C.)

Remarks by the President on Financial Rescue and Reform (Sept. 14th, Federal Hall, New York, NY)

Sonia Sotomayor Supreme Court Nominee

Susana Hinojosa — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:37:03 +0000

The Library of Congress ‘Find Legal Resources’ section has created a short list of resources on Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor. The list includes citations to articles and books, her two confirmation hearings in Congress, and case opinions. Web Resources include links to special reports (CNN), newpaper articles (NYT), and more. Of special interest is the link to GPO Access to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Supreme Court Nomination Hearings, 1971 to present. Check out the hearings for Justices Alito, Roberts, Thomas, Scalia, etc.

Recovery.gov

Susana Hinojosa — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:19:21 +0000

Recovery.gov is the Obama administration’s website that tracks the money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 1) that was signed into law on February 17, 2009. The President promised full transparency and accountability. Recovery.gov is the site that will track the Recovery Act’s progress. A Timeline is part of the site - for example March 3, 2009, is when Federal Agencies will begin to report use of the funds. Links to text of H.R. 1 are included. One interesting feature allows users to share their personal ‘recovery story’.

Obama Signs Executive Order to Close Gitmo!

Jesse Silva — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:01:32 +0000

This morning, President Barack Obama signed executive orders to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center, review military war crimes trials and ban the harshest interrogation methods. At the time of this posting, the orders are not available on the White House website. When they are available, they will be located on the executive orders page.

Obama Issues Executive Order on Presidential Records

Jesse Silva — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 01:07:18 +0000

One of President Obama first executive orders deals the public’s access to presidential records. This order reverses EO 13233, which signed by then president George W. Bush on November 1, 2001. EO 13233 limited access to records from past presidents, restricting the public’s right to access the records. This order limited the work of various academic disciplines, from history to political science. Over the past 7+ years organizations like the American Library Association and the Society of American Archivists have worked to overturn EO 13233. Congress was even working on a bill to overturn this order. With the stroke of a pen, President Obama did what years of work could not do, and his executive order will allow the public greater access to presidential records.

Change.gov

Jesse Silva — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:05:26 +0000

President-elect Barack Obama has launched a new website: change.gov. This site provides information on his transition to the White House, his agenda, and an area where you can share your story working on the campaign or your vision for where the government should proceed. Information about Obama and Biden is also available as well as official government information on the transition.