president obama

Three months ago, President Obama celebrated the 20^th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act with poignant remarks, and the signing of an Executive Order on Increasing the Federal Hiring of Individuals with Disabilities. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) will soon release guidance to agencies on how to meet the requirements of the Executive Order.  Meanwhile, Federal agencies hosted celebrations and educational events throughout October as part of National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). Now, more than ever, people understand the importance of ensuring equal treatment and access for individuals with disabilities.

As we mark the beginning of National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month I would like to make a request of everyone reading this blog:  Take time today to learn more about the culture and history of the first people of this country.    There will be events across the Nation, including here in Washington.  I hope you’ll take the time to attend one.

It is an iconic fixture of rural America – the local diner. Not just a restaurant, but a social hub for a community, and when the local café in Sunburst, Montana closed in 2007 it seemed one more nail in the coffin of a small town facing decline.

Saturday, October 23, 2010 -- This morning dawned a beautiful, crisp, autumn day here in the District of Columbia.  As the sun climbed above the horizon, over 500 volunteers gathered to build a playground at the Hyde Leadership Charter School in northeast DC.  Among the volunteers were Secretary and Mrs. Vilsack along with Education Secretary Arne Duncan and his wife, Karen.  Mrs. Duncan works with a non-profit group called KaBoom which advocates development of play areas for children and openspace for communities.  Both Mrs. Vilsack and Mrs. Duncan are teachers and have gained an excellent rapport over the past year advocating healthy, nutritious meals in the National School Lunch Program and also promoting the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative. 

Cross-posted from the White House blog.

Our country needs a strong, vibrant rural economy.  Advanced biofuel production will help create it. Not only will biofuel production from non-food sources create new jobs and new streams of farm income, it will improve environmental quality and reduce our dependence on fossil fuel imported from foreign countries.

Jefferson County in Mississippi, a rural county with a population of almost 10,000, was the site of an event last week commemorating a USDA Rural Development Community Facilities grant and loan combination that will bring a modern, state-of-the-art library to that county.

Yesterday marked the official launch of the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) at USDA for the Washington, D.C. metro area. This year, USDA has set a goal of raising just under $2 million from our employees in the national capital area. We have chosen the theme Give: Every Day, Every Way, as it resonates with the range of giving options available to employees. The kickoff was an exciting event featuring more than 20 CFC registered non-profit organizations. Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan and I led off the event by speaking movingly about the ways that non-profit organizations touch all of our lives in critical and transformative ways.

Born in the first half of the 20^th century, rural electric cooperatives drove the monumental effort to bring electricity to remote areas of the country where investor-owned utilities could not make a profit.  Owned by their members and not-for-profit organizations, rural electric cooperatives have been providing safe, reliable and affordable electric power for 75 years.

Cooperatives are born out of community need.  They are founded on the ideals of social responsibility and self-help.  For that reason, it seems most fitting that the seventh of the cooperative principles is “concern for community.”  Members of the National Cooperative Business Association—and cooperatives around the world—subscribe to all seven cooperative principles.

Building on the President’s commitment to address issues important to rural Americans, Cabinet Secretaries and other top Administration officials are visiting state fairs this summer and fall to discuss ongoing efforts to: