As April comes to a close, we wrap up the Month of the Military Child. Earlier this month, the First Lady and I celebrated the one-year anniversary of Joining Forces. Over the past year, it has been so inspiring to see the commitments made by Americans across the country to support our military families—especially our military children. 

Throughout my travels, so many military families have shared with me how important it is that schools create a supportive environment for military children. Last week, I had the honor of hosting the 2012 Teachers of the Year finalists at my home in Washington, D.C.  This was my fourth year hosting this event and it is always one of my favorites. This year was even more special as I listened to stories about how these teachers – who are the best of the best – are supporting our military children in their schools and their communities.

(by Ron Sachs)

One year after the raid that delivered justice to Osama Bin Laden, John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, will deliver remarks on the Efficacy and Ethics of the President’s Counterterrorism Strategy at the Woodrow Wilson Center at 12:00 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 30, 2012. 

On May 1, 2011, President Obama said:

As a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed. We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies. We will be true to the values that make us who we are. And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda’s terror: Justice has been done.

The Woodrow Wilson Center will host the speech and a discussion with Brennan on the Administration’s ongoing efforts to destroy al Qaeda and its affiliates, as well as the standards and practices that have been put in place to ensure that the Administration’s counterterrorism operations reflect our values as Americans and uphold the rule of law. 

Watch the speech live here at 12:00 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 30, or at WilsonCenter.org.  Update: Watch video from the event below.

I’m on my way back from London where we’ve just wrapped-up the third Clean Energy Ministerial. This innovative forum brings public and private sector leaders from around the world together to accelerate the transition to clean energy technologies. 

This year’s meeting was especially exciting. U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron attended one of our sessions and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon participated in another by phone. Secretary Chu spoke about the huge opportunities in cutting energy waste and the Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) initiative, which (no kidding) could save consumers more than $1 trillion over the next two decades. Dozens of public and private sector leaders shared lessons learned and proposals for next steps in promoting energy efficiency, clean energy and sustainable energy for all.

Most important, we announced major new steps forward. The United Kingdom pledged more than $100 million to promote carbon capture, use and storage in the developing world.   Denmark, Germany and Spain announced a global renewable energy atlas  -- an important new on-line resource for governments or companies working to bring solar, wind and other renewable energy sources to market. The United States and Italy announced the launch of Lighting India, which will bring modern lighting services to two million people by the end of 2015. The United States announced a new program to support women working in clean energy – the Clean Energy Education & Empowerment initiative.

The first Clean Energy Ministerial was hosted by Secretary Chu in Washington in summer 2010, growing out of a Major Economies Forum Leaders meeting the year before. The second Clean Energy Ministerial was held in Abu Dhabi in spring 2011. As this week’s London meetings made clear, countries working together under the Clean Energy Ministerial have accomplished a lot in a short time.   

Yet we’ve only begun to tap the potential. Our initiatives are gaining steam. The fourth Clean Energy Ministerial will be held in India in 2013 and the fifth in Korea in 2014. In the months and years ahead, this innovative global forum can help speed the transition to clean energy technologies in the United States and around the world. 

President Barack Obama meets with Champions of Change alumni in the Map Room of the White House, April 26, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

A little over a year ago, the White House created the Champions of Change program to recognize ordinary Americans across the country who are doing extraordinary work in their communities. During the last year we have held more than 40 Champions of Change events, honoring over 500 Champions from all 50 states.

These are people who are working to end youth and domestic violence, to green our cities, and to renew and strengthen communities through service and innovation. They are working to promote immigrant integration, to provide housing counseling, and to establish broadband access in rural areas of the country. As President Obama said, “By making their communities better places to live, our Champions are helping to ensure that our country’s best days lie ahead.”

Art has helped create the America that we know and love today. And at its best, film allows us a window into our own lives and get a chance to see the world through someone else's eyes. One of the heroes of American cinema, Atticus Finch, said that "you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it."

That great line is from the classic film "To Kill A Mockingbird," a movie that has informed and entertained us for generations. I love the movies. And art gave me the chance at a young age to experience a world beyond my neighborhood in Chicago and develop skills that have lasted a lifetime. 

Stories like mine are reasons President Obama is committed to recognizing the importance of the fine arts. And as a part of his constant effort to acknowledge and celebrate the  arts and their impact on our country, on Thursday, April 5, President Obama commemorated the 50th Anniversary of To Kill a Mockingbird—a 1962 film adaptation of author Harper Lee’s 1960 novel about racial inequality in the deep south—by hosting a screening in the Family Theater at the White House. The invited guests included actors and family members related to the film. Among them was Mary Badham Wilt, the actress who played Scout; Veronique Peck, widow of Gregory Peck who played Atticus Finch; and students from local school in Virginia, Washington-Lee High School. 

A quick look at this week on WhiteHouse.gov:

Soldier Ride: Last Friday, 22 injured servicemembers took a spin around the South Lawn – with President Obama cheering them on – as a part of the annual Wounded Warrior Project's Soldier Ride. The Soldier Ride is a four-day cycling event that unites Wounded Warriors and aims to help restore their physical and emotional well-being. The President praised the riders for their strength and dedication, noting, "You ride because you can, and you ride for those who can't. That's what this is all about."

Honoring Never Again: "Awareness without action changes nothing," the President remarked at the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. on Monday. He spoke about honoring the pledge of "never again" by making sure we are doing everything we can to prevent and respond to atrocities and save lives, by spearheading new efforts and utilizing existing ones, including the Atrocities Prevention Board – established by the President to bring together senior officials from across our government to focus on the critical mission to prevent mass atrocities and genocide.

Fighting Falcons: The United States Air Force football team was honored with the Commander-in-Chief Trophy on Monday in the East Room of the White House after beating the Army and Navy in 2011 to claim their 18th trophy.

#DontDoubleMyRate: When speaking this week at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Iowa about the importance of keeping interest rates on student loans low so that more Americans can get a fair shot at an affordable college education, President Obama asked college students to tell their members of Congress one thing: Don't double my rates. While Congress cut the rates on federal loans in half five years ago, that rate cut is set to expire on July 1st. Students are taking on more debt to afford the tuition and fees, and for each year that Congress doesn't act, the average student with federal loans will rack up an additional $1,000 in debt.

Slow Jams: On Tuesday while stopping by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, President Obama had a message for Congress: This is not the time to make school more expensive for our young people. He didn't just say it, though – if you missed President Obama slow jam the news, you can watch it here.

Veterans and their Families Can't Wait: On Friday, the President and the First Lady traveled to Fort Stewart, Georgia, home to the Army's famed 3rd Infantry Division. Besides meeting with soldiers and families, the President signed an Executive Order that renews his commitment to fully fund the post-9/11 G.I. Bill in an effort to preserve and enhance the educational opportunities for those who have served, as well as their families.

On July 1, unless Congress acts, interest rates will double for more than 7.4 million students with federal loans. Fortunately, even though they voted just weeks ago in lockstep to allow this increase, Republicans in Congress have come around on the issue since President Obama took it to the American people – claiming they’re ready to step up and stop the rate hike. Unfortunately,  rather than work together to ensure interest rates on student loans don’t double, they have decided to re-fight old political battles, proposing to eliminate the health care law’s Prevention and Public Health Fund to pay for this important reform. This proposal would put women’s health at risk. And fighting old political battles won’t protect students and young people from major rate hikes.

Eliminating the Prevention and Public Health Fund would have a devastating effect on women’s health and our work to prevent disease and illness. Eliminating the Prevention and Public Health Fund would mean:

• Hundreds of thousands of women could lose access to vital cancer screenings.   Prevention Fund resources are expected to help more than 300,000 women be screened for breast cancer in 2013 and more than 280,000 be screened for cervical cancer. 
• Programs that help to prevent congenital heart defects, prevent fetal alcohol syndrome, and promote early identification and intervention efforts for children with developmental delays and disabilities could be eliminated. 
• Tens of thousands children could lose access to immunizations.

These are just a few of the important ways the Prevention and Public Health Fund will help keep millions of Americans healthy. Keeping college affordable for America’s students should not come at the expense of putting women’s health at risk.

The Senate will soon vote on a more viable solution to keep interest rates low and provide students a fair shot at an affordable education, by closing a loophole that allows people making more than $250,000 a year to avoid paying payroll taxes. Congress should find a bipartisan solution to keep rates low without hurting Americans’ health or increasing the deficit. There’s no good reason for interest rates to double for over 7 million students. But Republicans in Congress must prove that they’re serious about setting aside the political fights of the past and actually getting this done.

Today’s advance estimate indicates that the economy posted its 11th straight quarter of positive growth, as real GDP (the total amount of goods and services produced in the country) grew at a 2.2 percent annual rate in the first quarter of this year (see first graph below). While the continued expansion of the economy is encouraging, additional growth is needed to replace the jobs lost in the deep recession that began at the end of 2007.

It is important to recognize that GDP is made up of various components. Several of the private sector components of GDP grew solidly in the first quarter. Personal consumption expenditures, for example, increased by 2.9 percent at an annual rate in 2012 Q1, as compared with 2.1 percent in the previous quarter. Auto production increased robustly, accounting for fully half of overall GDP growth in the first quarter. Residential construction increased by 19 percent, marking the first time since 2005 that residential construction has increased four quarters in a row. These are encouraging signs that the private sector is continuing to heal from the worst recession since the Great Depression.  

Overall GDP growth was weighed down by reduced spending in the government sector, however. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, national defense expenditures fell by 8.1 percent in the first quarter.  Government spending across all levels subtracted 0.6 percentage point from overall GDP growth.  The latest report continues a pattern of moderate growth in the private sector components of GDP and contraction of the government components of GDP.  The second graph below displays the four-quarter percent change in the private components of real GDP and of government spending.    

If only the private sector components of GDP are considered, GDP grew by 3.5 percent in 2012 Q1.

First Lady Michelle Obama answers questions from children of White House staff during ”Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day” in the East Room of the White House, April 26, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Sonya N. Hebert)

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the National Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, and the eighth year the White House has formally participated in this event. Over 180 children of employees of the Executive Office of the President (EOP) spent the morning at the White House discovering the many avenues and career paths their futures may hold.

This year’s theme, Building Opportunities at the White House: Educating and Empowering a New Generation of Leaders was woven throughout the day’s activities. The children started their morning by taking the same Oath of Office their parent’s did when they started working in the Executive Office of the President. From there they heard from the White House Photo Office about the exciting people from around the world that the President, Vice President, First Lady and Dr. Biden have met, and learned about the importance of protecting our national parks from the National Park Service.

The kids got to put their thinking caps on and learn about exciting careers in science, the culinary arts, and national security. First Lady Michelle Obama concluded the event by answering questions from the children, including: What is her favorite part about being First Lady? How many types of fruits and vegetables are in the kitchen garden? And when did Bo join the First Family?