This Is a Day That Belongs to You
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/09/02/day-belongs-you?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=email236-graphic&utm_campaign=laborday
Labor Day is a day that belongs to you, the working men and
women of America.
It's a day when we recommit ourselves to the idea that everyone who works hard
in this country has a chance to get ahead. This Labor Day, take a moment to
watch the President talk about why the celebration of this holiday is so
important and how he's fighting for a better bargain for the middle class.
President Obama Meets with Baltic Leaders
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/08/30/president-obama-meets-baltic-leaders
Today, President
Obama hosted Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Lithuanian President
Dalia Grybauskaitė, and Latvian President Andris Bērziņš for a meeting at the
White House.
The visit underscored the close ties between the United States and the Baltic
states, which are grounded in our shared values, ideals, and
interests. The leaders highlighted
ongoing cooperation on issues including defense and security, trade and
investment, energy and the environment, and global development.
In remarks before the meeting began, President Obama also
spoke briefly on Syria
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/08/30/remarks-president-obama-and-presidents-estonia-lithuania-and-latvia
Remarks by President Obama and the Presidents of Estonia, Lithuania,
and Latvia
2:22 P.M. EDT
PRESIDENT OBAMA:
Well, obviously, I’m very grateful to have my fellow Presidents here, as
well as the Vice President. Before I
begin, I want to say a few words about the situation in Syria.
As you’ve seen, today we’ve released our unclassified
assessment detailing with high confidence that the Syrian regime carried out a
chemical weapons attack that killed well over 1,000 people, including hundreds
of children. This follows the horrific
images that shocked us all.
This kind of attack is a challenge to the world. We cannot accept a world where women and
children and innocent civilians are gassed on a terrible scale. This kind of attack threatens our national
security interests by violating well-established international norms against
the use of chemical weapons by further threatening friends and allies of ours
in the region, like Israel
and Turkey and Jordan. And it increases the risk that chemical
weapons will be used in the future and fall into the hands of terrorists who
might use them against us.
So I have said before and I meant what I said, that the
world has an obligation to make sure that we maintain the norm against the use
of chemical weapons. Now, I have not
made a final decision about various actions that might be taken to help enforce
that norm. But as I’ve already said, I
have had my military and our team look at a wide range of options. We have consulted with allies. We’ve consulted with Congress. We’ve been in conversations with all the
interested parties.
And in no event are we considering any kind of military
action that would involve boots on the ground; that would involve a long-term
campaign. But we are looking at the
possibility of a limited, narrow act that would help make sure that not only Syria, but
others around the world, understand that the international community cares
about maintaining this chemical weapons ban and norm.
Again, I repeat, we’re not considering any open-ended
commitment. We’re not considering any
boots-on-the-ground approach. What we
will do is consider options that meet the narrow concern around chemical
weapons, understanding that there’s not going to be a solely military solution
to the underlying conflict and tragedy that’s taking place in Syria. And I will continue to consult closely with
Congress.
In addition to the release of the unclassified document, we
are providing a classified briefing to congressional staff today, and we’ll
offer that same classified briefing to members of Congress as well as our
international partners. And I will
continue to provide updates to the American people as we get more information.
With that, I want to welcome President Ilves, President
Grybauskaitė, and President Bērziņš to the White House. These countries that they represent all share
very deep ties to the United
States, both as allies and because of the
extraordinary people-to-people relations that we have with these countries.
I want to thank all the Presidents who are here, and their
nations, for all that they do to promote democracy not only in their own countries
but around the world. The Baltics are
among our most reliable allies in NATO, and our commitment to their security is
rock-solid. Our soldiers sacrifice
together in Afghanistan,
and the Baltics, of course, continue to help support our troops as we
transition the NATO mission.
Today we’re going to spend some time talking about shared
commitments to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations,
which will add jobs in the Baltics and the United States. We’re working on development assistance
projects, including building institutions and strengthening civil society in
the emerging democracies of Eastern Europe and Central
Asia. We will obviously
have discussions about our NATO relationship and the security concerns that we
share together.
So, again, I’ve had occasions to meet with all three
Presidents in a wide variety of settings and wide variety of summits. They have been outstanding friends to the United States of America. We are very proud of them. And I want to thank each of them for their
leadership. We know how far Estonia, Latvia,
and Lithuania
have come in just the past two decades, and I know that we’ll accomplish even
more in the decades to come.
So with that, I want to give each of these leaders a chance
to say a few words. We’re going to start
with President Ilves.
PRESIDENT ILVES:
Thank you. I’d actually like to
begin by thanking President Obama for inviting us here, and we are quite
grateful to the United
States and to you personally for your
leadership, commitment and support.
The main issue on our agenda today is global and regional
security, and the question, of course, on everyone’s mind is the situation in Syria. For Estonia, the use of chemical
weapons is deplorable. The attack
demands a response. Those responsible
must be held accountable. Violations
cannot be overlooked.
When it comes to our security, we appreciate the commitment
that the United States has
shown to our region and Europe as a whole, and we attach great importance to
continued U.S.
engagement in European security.
The transatlantic security link is unique and enduring as
are the common values that underpin it.
As a NATO ally, Estonia
takes its responsibility for our common defense seriously. We are currently and will maintain committed
to NATO’s mission in Afghanistan. We spend 2 percent of our GDP on defense.
We also believe in maintaining a strong transatlantic link
in other areas, such as trade, cyber and energy security. I look forward to exchanging views on all of
these issues, as I also look forward to discussing what we can do together
internationally to promote our common values:
democracy, human rights, rule of law.
We already cooperate in countries that lie to the east and
the south of us -- Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia, and Tunisia, as
well, just to name a few. I am sure that
this global cooperation aimed at helping countries transition from
authoritarian to democratic rule will be expanded in the future.
Recently, we’ve heard a lot of talk about pivots. Today we are on the verge of a new
rebalancing of the U.S.
focus, this time to the Nordic-Baltic region.
Our region is one of the most secure, stable, and prosperous in Europe. We are
proud to be part of it. We are proud of
the partnership we have with the United States here, just as we are
proud of our alliance and the enduring friendship of the American people.
PRESIDENT OBAMA:
Madam President.
PRESIDENT GRYBAUSKAITÈ:
So adding in line, I would like to emphasize that to go with the matter
of security in the region, we are talking about economic security in the
region. And here, especially on energy
security, the United States
plays a very serious role.
We opened in our region already, in Vilnius,
the NATO Center of Excellence for Energy Security, and bilaterally with the United States,
the Center for Nuclear Security. And
this is important because we are on the borders of NATO with some other
not-so-secure regions, and why this involvement of the United States
is so important for all of our region.
And of course, as a country which presides today the
European Union’s Council, we are engaged very much in starting negotiations on
the free trade agreement between the United States and European
Union. And I’m very happy that we got
one meeting, and now we were thinking October for a second one. And I think that it is a generational
challenge and opportunity for all of us -- for United
States and Europe -- to
move fast these kinds of relations and to have very efficient and resultative
outcome. And I hope that we will be able
to do it fast.
So together with the military new challenges, we are trying
to battle new economic challenges together with the cyber challenges, which our
region all the time receives and receives.
And I want to say that every day, every day practically we see this
aggressiveness and new forms of challenges our region is facing, so why I just
can also confirm that Baltic and Nordic cooperation is a new phenomena -- I
would say unique phenomena in Europe, which is very much reliable and you can
find from us as being -- we are strategic partners for the United States.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Mr.
President.
PRESIDENT BĒRZINŠ:
This week is important for American people, 50th anniversary of March on
Washington. As I say, for us, this is 15 years over when
Baltic-American Charter was signed. This
is the right moment to review and to move forward.
For us, we are thankful to you giving your presidential time
to the determined goals of the Baltic nation -- U.S.-led military exercise in
Baltics strengthen Nordic -- the distribution network to Afghanistan. British-American Freedom Fund, which helps
Baltic students to study in American universities.
Of course, we see -- together, at the same time being very
active in Europe -- we will become members of
eurozone on the 1st of January. We are
actually working at the same time to become members of OECD. And of course, our focus is to look for new
possibilities in Europe using our past
experience. We are focusing to Central Asia countries and also to Eastern Partnership
countries. And this is particularly
important in relations to Afghanistan
and to develop this country in a peaceful manner.
Latvia
has past crisis, but at the same time, we have to do much, much more. And having this really good NATO support and
such partners as U.S.,
we can move forward. And it’s clear that
today’s meeting is a reason and demonstration of the stable, long-term interest
of the United States
and Baltics. And we are proud, free, and
at peace.
Thank you.
PRESIDENT OBAMA:
Thank you so much.
Q Mr. President, is your decision on Syria
imminent? And why did you feel like it's
appropriate to move forward without formal authorization from either the United
Nations or Congress, particularly given that the British Parliament had an
opportunity to vote?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: We
are still in the planning process. And
obviously, consultations with Congress as well as the international community
are very important. And my preference
obviously would have been that the international community already acted
forcefully. But what we have seen, so
far at least, is a incapacity at this point for the Security Council to move
forward in the face of a clear violation of international norms.
And I recognize that all of us -- here in the United States, in Great
Britain, in many parts of the world there is a certain
weariness given Afghanistan;
there's a certain suspicion of any military action post-Iraq. And I very much appreciate that. On the other hand, it's important for us to
recognize that when over a thousand people are killed, including hundreds of innocent
children, through the use of a weapon that 98 or 99 percent of humanity says
should not be used even in war, and there is no action, then we're sending a
signal that that international norm doesn't mean much. And that is a danger to our national
security.
And, obviously, if and when we make a decision to respond,
there are a whole host of considerations that I have to take into account, too,
in terms of how effective it is. And
given the kind of options that we're looking at, they would be very limited and
would not involve a long-term commitment or a major operation.
We are confident that we can provide Congress all the
information and get all the input that they need, and we're very mindful of
that. And we can have serious
conversations with our allies and our friends around the world about this. But, ultimately, we don't want the world to
be paralyzed.
And, frankly, part of the challenge that we end up with here
is that a lot of people think something should be done, but nobody wants to do
it. And that's not an unusual
situation. And that's part of what
allows over time the erosion of these kinds of international prohibitions,
unless somebody says: No, when the world
says we're not going to use chemical weapons, we mean it.
And it would be tempting to leave it to others to do
it. And I think I've shown consistently
and said consistently my strong preference for multilateral action whenever
possible. But it is not in the national
security interests of the United
States to ignore clear violations of these
kinds of international norms.
And the reason is because there are a whole host of
international norms out there that are very important to us. We have currently rules in place dealing with
the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. We have international norms that have been
violated by certain countries, and the United Nations has put sanctions in
place. But if there's a sense that over
time nobody is willing to actually enforce them, then people won't take them
seriously.
So I'm very clear that the world generally is
war-weary. Certainly, the United States
has gone through over a decade of war.
The American people, understandably, want us to be focused on the
business of rebuilding our economy here and putting people back to work. And I assure you, nobody ends up being more
war-weary than me.
But what I also believe is that part of our obligation as a
leader in the world is making sure that when you have a regime that is willing
to use weapons that are prohibited by international norms on their own people,
including children, that they are held to account.
END 2:40 P.M. EDT