The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund
published January 16, 2010 on The White House Blog
"How can I help?"
That's what former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton both asked as the devastating impact of the earthquake in Haiti became clear. This question brought them to a place they both know well, the Oval Office. There they met with President Obama and agreed to lead a major fundraising effort for relief: the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.
In the Rose Garden just after the meeting, President Bush touched on the work that's already being done and the best way for Americans to help:
The challenges down there are immense, but there's a lot of devoted people leading the relief effort, from government personnel who deployed into the disaster zone to the faith-based groups that have made Haiti a calling.
The most effective way for Americans to help the people of Haiti is to contribute money. That money will go to organizations on the ground and will be -- who will be able to effectively spend it. I know a lot of people want to send blankets or water -- just send your cash. One of the things that the President and I will do is to make sure your money is spent wisely. As President Obama said, you can look us up on clintonbushhaitifund.org.
President Clinton reaffirmed his optimism for Haiti's future, despite this enormous challenge for the country:
I believe before this earthquake Haiti had the best chance in my lifetime to escape its history -- a history that Hillary and I have shared a tiny part of. I still believe that. The Haitians want to just amend their development plan to take account of what's happened in Port-au-Prince and west, figure out what they got to do about that, and then go back to implementing it. But it's going to take a lot of help and a long time.
President Obama summed up the importance of the sustained attention and support the two former Presidents will champion:
In any extraordinary catastrophe like this, the first several weeks are just going to involve getting immediate relief on the ground. And there are going to be some tough days over the next several days. People are still trying to figure out how to organize themselves. There's going to be fear, anxiety, a sense of desperation in some cases.
I've been in contact with President Préval. I've been talking to the folks on the ground. We are going to be making slow and steady progress, and the key now is to -- for everybody in Haiti to understand that there is going to be sustained help on the way.
But what these gentlemen are going to be able to do is when the news media starts seeing its attention drift to other things but there's still enormous needs on the ground, these two gentlemen of extraordinary stature I think are going to be able to help ensure that these efforts are sustained. And that's why it's so important and that's why I'm so grateful that they agreed to do it.
Become a Flu Fighter
published January 16, 2010 on The White House Blog
National Influenza Vaccination Week is coming to a close. It was a great week. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its partners announced a number of new initiatives and held events across the country designed to spread the word about the importance of getting the H1N1 flu vaccine.
The fact is that flu season is unpredictable and we don’t know whether there will be additional waves of flu illness. H1N1 is still circulating, it’s still dangerous, and there are still lives to be saved. That’s why it’s so critical for everyone to get vaccinated.
And we need your help. So, today, I am challenging you to become a “Flu Fighter” on Facebook.
Earlier this week, we launched a new Facebook application called “I’m a Flu Fighter.” This application allows users to select a Flu Fighting character and tell their friends that they received the flu vaccination and urge others to do the same. Users can also learn more about the flu vaccine and use the vaccine locator to find a clinic nearby where they can get vaccinated.
People often rely on the advice of close friends and family when it comes to personal matters of health. Through emerging social media tools like Facebook, we can share updates with our friends and family and promote positive health behaviors. This application gives people a fun way to encourage friends and family to get vaccinated. Getting vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself, and as a Flu Fighter, you are also helping to protect the people around you. It’s also particularly important right now, since we’re only at the beginning of the ordinary flu season.
If one person tells 5 friends, and they tell 5 friends each, and each of those friends tells another 5 friends, that is already 156 people. Imagine how many people we could encourage to get vaccinated if we each told just 5 friends -- or, even better, all of our Facebook friends. Together we can be Flu Fighters, and protect our families, friends, and communities from the flu, one vaccination at a time.
Become a Flu Fighter by trying out the application, and visit our Facebook page to become a fan of fighting the flu.
Kathleen Sebelius is Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Weekly Address: Getting Our Money Back from Wall Street
published January 16, 2010 on The White House Blog
As the President continues to work on immediate job creation, he discusses his proposal for a new fee on the largest financial institutions to ensure that every cent of taxpayer assistance gets paid back. Saying that, "we're not going to let Wall Street take the money and run," he then to discusses the ongoing push to make sure banks can never put our economy at risk again.
Report from an Airman in Haiti
published January 16, 2010 on Air Force Live
What We Saw and Heard at the Modernizing Government Forum
published January 16, 2010 on The White House Blog
The White House Forum on Modernizing Government was a unique opportunity to draw on the experience of wisdom of some of the country's top CEOs and workers. The lessons in management and adaptation they had to share are particularly important at a time where technology can dramatically improve customer (or citizen) service and streamline operations if used effectively -- can frankly cause an expensive mess if not.
In case you missed it, here is the video of the opening session with the President, as well as links to the video of the five breakout sessions and the closing session. We also posted a sort of viewing guide to various videos for those who really want to dive deep.
Breakout Session: Transforming Customer Service 1 Breakout Session: Transforming Customer Service 2 Breakout Session: Transforming Streamling Operations 1 Breakout Session: Streamling Operations 2 Breakout Session: Maximizing Technology Return on Investment Closing Session
And of course since forum was about generating ideas and practices applicable to good government, we want to share our initial write-up of some of the best we heard and get even more input from the public (more to come on that next week):
Ideas from the Forum on Modernizing Government
Business process reengineering must be done first and then technology can be used as a tool to make it work. Whenever technology leads efforts, the projects have failed. Senior management must continue to monitor progress through a project’s lifecycle. If the boss starts every meeting by asking about a project, that gets noticed. To gain commitment, the leader must create a “burning platform” – the idea that change must happen and the status-quo is unacceptable. In order to encourage new thinking, goals must be bold. Modest goals encourage incremental thinking. Detailed measurement and transparency of results can help focus efforts. What gets measured gets done, especially when it’s shared publicly. Small focused teams –one from each functional area – often can break bottlenecks and get better results than larger group efforts. There is a critical need for standardization (software, data centers). Focus for this must be from the top since functional teams and business units will not want it. Get to know the customers you serve and how every aspect of your work impacts them. To engage employees, explicitly make the link for them about how their job contributes to overall customer service. Organizations can use transparency to create a culture of service, both by committing to better service publicly and by sharing customer feedback openly to boost accountability. Serve customers via the channels they prefer. If the company wants customers to use self-service, it must make self-service the easiest way for customers to transact. With bad feedback data, organizations can fool themselves that they are doing better than they are. Work hard to get authentic customer feedback to the people who can do something about it. When asking for customer feedback, ask for free form responses, which are more actionable than basic numerical ratings. Focus on improving and making consistent the whole customer experience, not just each part. Create consistent service standards across channels to avoid disruption to the total experience you intend to provide. Even when a customer suggestion runs counter to your business model, find out why the customer is giving you a piece of feedback. Even if you can’t act on the specific suggestion, you are likely to be able to address the underlying motivation. The best way to reduce customer dissatisfaction is to focus on ease of interacting with you. Equip your customer service staff with tools to solve customer problems, and empower them to make decisions that will reduce customer effort, even if occasionally that results in a bit of waste. Engage managers in customer service. Require executives to put themselves in customer shoes by calling into call centers as customers, taking customer service calls directly, and consistently signaling that they pay attention to customer feedback. Reallocate service investments away from things customers don’t care about (e.g., brochures that contain mostly known information) and toward things that improve the customer experience. Use technology to empower customers to answer each other’s questions. With proper guidance, they are likely to do this very well and at lower costs. Before making a new investment, make sure there is a clear purpose and that end user needs are properly aligned to the purpose. Break big projects into small chunks – no longer than 12-18 months. If a project takes longer to complete, ROI decreases and obsolescence becomes an issue. Successes along the way help build momentum and continued focus. Each milestone must have a customer benefit. Otherwise, why are you doing it? If no customer benefit can be achieved in a year, do not do the project. Be wary of costly customization. Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions are often sufficient. Common solutions can be used to serve diverse needs of different business units. Put your best people on change efforts and dedicate 100% of their time– that means freeing them up from their day-to- day activities. Do not isolate employees working on long-term project efforts. There is a natural tendency to put these efforts to the side as you focus on day-to-day business. Make sure project teams are well-integrated into the actual business. Clear communication is key.
Let’s Clean Up College Basketball and Football
published January 16, 2010 on ED.gov Blog
President Obama's Remarks After His Call with Haitian President Préval
published January 15, 2010 on The White House Blog
Earlier this afternoon the President gave another update on the situation in Haiti -- needless to say they still need help.
Donate $10 to the Red Cross to be charged to your cell phone bill by texting "HAITI" to "90999." Contribute online to the Red Cross. Find more ways to help through the Center for International Disaster Information.
President Barack Obama talks on the phone with Haitian President René Préval in the Oval Office
As we noted this morning, the President had the opportunity to talk with President Preval of Haiti, and that informed his remarks:
THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody. I wanted to just make a brief statement on the latest situation in Haiti so that the American people are fully up to date on our efforts there.
This morning I spoke with President Préval of Haiti, who has been in regular contact with our ambassador on the ground. I expressed to President Préval my deepest condolences for the people of Haiti and our strong support for the relief efforts that are underway.
Like so many Haitians, President Préval himself has lost his home, and his government is working under extraordinarily difficult conditions. Many communications are down and remain -- and many people remain unaccounted for. The scale of the devastation is extraordinary, as I think all of us are seeing on television, and the losses are heartbreaking.
I pledged America's continued commitment to the government and the people of Haiti -- in the immediate effort to save lives and deliver relief, and in the long-term effort to rebuild. President Préval and I agreed that it is absolutely essential that these efforts are well coordinated among the United States and the government of Haiti; with the United Nations, which continues to play a central role; and with the many international partners and aid organizations that are now on the ground.
Meanwhile, American resources continue to arrive in Haiti. Search and rescue efforts continue to work, pulling people out of the rubble. Our team has saved both the lives of American citizens and Haitian citizens, often under extraordinarily difficult circumstances.
This morning, the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson arrived, along with helicopters that will be critical in delivering assistance in the days to come. They are preparing to move badly needed water, food, and other life-saving supplies to priority areas in Port-au-Prince. Food, water, and medicine continues to arrive, along with doctors and aid workers.
At the airport, help continues to flow in, not just from the United States but from Brazil, Mexico, Canada, France, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic, among others. This underscores the point that I made to the President this morning: The entire world stands with the government and the people of Haiti, for in Haiti's devastation, we all see the common humanity that we share.
And as the international community continues to respond, I do believe that America has a continued responsibility to act. Our nation has a unique capacity to reach out quickly and broadly and to deliver assistance that can save lives.
That responsibility obviously is magnified when the devastation that's been suffered is so near to us. Haitians are our neighbors in the Americas, and for Americans they are family and friends. It's characteristic of the American people to help others in time of such severe need. That's the spirit that we will need to sustain this effort as it goes forward. There are going to be many difficult days ahead.
So, so many people are in need of assistance. The port continues to be closed, and the roads are damaged. Food is scarce and so is water. It will take time to establish distribution points so that we can ensure that resources are delivered safely and effectively and in an orderly fashion.
But I want the people of Haiti to know that we will do what it takes to save lives and to help them get back on their feet. In this effort I want to thank our people on the ground -- our men and women in uniform, who have moved so swiftly; our civilians and embassy staff, many of whom suffered their own losses in this tragedy; and those members of search and rescue teams from Florida and California and Virginia who have left their homes and their families behind to help others. To all of them I want you to know that you demonstrate the courage and decency of the American people, and we are extraordinarily proud of you.
I also want to thank the American people more broadly. In these tough times, you've shown extraordinary compassion, already donating millions of dollars. I encourage all of you who want to help to do so through whitehouse.gov where you can learn about how to contribute.
And tomorrow I will be meeting with President Clinton and President George W. Bush here at the White House to discuss how to enlist and help the American people in this recovery and rebuilding effort going forward.
I would note that as I ended my call with President Préval, he said that he has been extremely touched by the friendship and the generosity of the American people. It was an emotional moment. And this President, seeing the devastation around him, passed this message to the American people. He said, "From the bottom of my heart and on behalf of the people of Haiti, thank you, thank you, thank you."
As I told the President, we realize that he needs more help and his country needs more help -- much more. And in this difficult hour, we will continue to provide it.
Thank you very much.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration
published January 15, 2010 on ED.gov Blog
New Partnership Aims to Tackle DC's HIV/AIDS Epidemic
published January 15, 2010 on AIDS.gov Blog
There Are No Children on the No Fly or Selectee Lists
published January 15, 2010 on Evolution of Security
There are no children on the No Fly or Selectee lists.
What happens is the child’s name is a match or similar match to an actual individual on the No Fly or Selectee Watch List.
From TSA.gov: Airlines can and should automatically de-select any 8-year-olds out there that appear to be on a watch list. Whether you're eight or 80, the most common occurrence is name confusion and individuals are told they are on the no fly list when in fact, they are not. If you get a boarding pass, you’re not on the no fly list.
The no fly list is reserved for individuals that pose a known threat to aviation. The list is an important tool in our multi-layered approach to aviation security and is used daily to keep individuals that pose a threat to aviation off airplanes.
For more information on the list and to learn about the redress process for individuals that believe they may be on a watch list erroneously, click here.
Secure Flight will fix most of these problems in the future. Secure Flight matches passenger information provided by the airlines with data contained in government-maintained watch list records and verifies any potential matches.
Airlines are beginning to ask for name, date of birth, and gender as it appears on the government ID you plan to use when traveling. This is a part of the Secure Flight program requirements. The program will be in full effect for domestic airlines by mid-year and the rest of the airlines are scheduled to be on board by the end of 2010. Initial estimates indicate that under Secure Flight, in excess of 99 percent of passengers who provided the additional data elements will be able to use Internet check-in, kiosks and experience no delays in obtaining their boarding passes.
In the short term, individuals who have been misidentified as a match or possible match for a Watch List can work through the DHS Redress process to resolve the issue.
Secure Flight Related Posts on the TSA Blog
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TSA Blog Team
