Over the past few weeks, Vice President-Elect Biden and I have announced some of the leaders who will advise us as we seek to meet America’s twenty-first century challenges, from strengthening our security, to rebuilding our economy, to preserving our planet for our children and grandchildren. Today, I am pleased to announce members of my science and technology team whose work will be critical to these efforts.
Whether it’s the science to slow global warming; the technology to protect our troops and confront bioterror and weapons of mass destruction; the research to find life-saving cures; or the innovations to remake our industries and create twenty-first century jobs—today, more than ever before, science holds the key to our survival as a planet and our security and prosperity as a nation. It is time we once again put science at the top of our agenda and worked to restore America’s place as the world leader in science and technology.
Right now, in labs, classrooms and companies across America, our leading minds are hard at work chasing the next big idea, on the cusp of breakthroughs that could revolutionize our lives. But history tells us that they cannot do it alone. From landing on the moon, to sequencing the human genome, to inventing the Internet, America has been the first to cross that new frontier because we had leaders who paved the way: leaders like President Kennedy, who inspired us to push the boundaries of the known world and achieve the impossible; leaders who not only invested in our scientists, but who respected the integrity of the scientific process.
Because the truth is that promoting science isn’t just about providing resources—it’s about protecting free and open inquiry. It’s about ensuring that facts and evidence are never twisted or obscured by politics or ideology. It’s about listening to what our scientists have to say, even when it’s inconvenient—especially when it’s inconvenient. Because the highest purpose of science is the search for knowledge, truth and a greater understanding of the world around us. That will be my goal as President of the United States—and I could not have a better team to guide me in this work.
Dr. John Holdren has agreed to serve as Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. John is a professor and Director of the Program on Science, Technology, and Public Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, as well as President and Director of the Woods Hole Research Center. A physicist renowned for his work on climate and energy, he’s received numerous honors and awards for his contributions and has been one of the most passionate and persistent voices of our time about the growing threat of climate change. I look forward to his wise counsel in the years ahead.
John will also serve as a Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology—or PCAST—as will Dr. Harold Varmus and Dr. Eric Lander. Together, they will work to remake PCAST into a vigorous external advisory council that will shape my thinking on the scientific aspects of my policy priorities.
Dr. Varmus is no stranger to this work. He is not just a path-breaking scientist, having won a Nobel Prize for his research on the causes of cancer—he also served as Director of the National Institutes of Health during the Clinton Administration. I am grateful he has answered the call to serve once again.
Dr. Eric Lander is the Founding Director of the Broad Institute at MIT and Harvard and was one of the driving forces behind mapping the human genome—one of the greatest scientific achievements in history. I know he will be a powerful voice in my Administration as we seek to find the causes and cures of our most devastating diseases.
Finally, Dr. Jane Lubchenco has accepted my nomination as the Administrator of NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is devoted to conserving our marine and coastal resources and monitoring our weather. An internationally known environmental scientist and ecologist and former President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Jane has advised the President and Congress on scientific matters, and I am confident she will provide passionate and dedicated leadership at NOAA.
Working with these leaders, we will seek to draw on the power of science to both meet our challenges across the globe and revitalize our economy here at home. And I’ll be speaking more after the New Year about how my Administration will engage leaders in the technology community and harness technology and innovation to create jobs, enhance America’s competitiveness and advance our national priorities.
I am confident that if we recommit ourselves to discovery; if we support science education to create the next generation of scientists and engineers right here in America; if we have the vision to believe and invest in things unseen, then we can lead the world into a new future of peace and prosperity.
Thank you.
Read more about the President-elect and the Vice President-elect.
Need further evidence that Pennsylvania women are turning the tide towards Senator Obama?
The Pittsburgh women's Vice Presidential Debate watch party was featured on CNN and on the local news! 160 women who attended the party in the meeting room of a local hockey rink. Who said Hockey moms weren't on board with Obama/Biden
Special thanks to Christine Stone, Ilene Schwartz, Laurel Rosenberg, and Stephanie Sullivan and all the other superstar Pittsburgh women who put the event together and were so articulate and powerful on TV
Dozens of women across the state also held debate watch and postcard parties where they wrote thousands of postcards to undecided voters. Tp host your own debate watch party, email Meredith Rahn Oakes in the PA Women's department at PAWomen@PaForChange.com.
PA Women for Obama Invite You to CHANGE ROCKS A Very Special Acoustic Appearance By: Bruce Springsteen Saturday October 4th, 2008 Benjamin Franklin Parkway between 20th and 22nd Streets Philadelphia, PA Gates open: 2:00 p.m. Program starts: 3:30 p.m. FREE AND OPEN TO PENNSYLVANIA RESIDENTS & STUDENTS For ticket info, visit: http://PA.barackobama.com/Springsteen
"When fascism comes to America , it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross." - Sinclair Lewis, 1935Below is a list of the books Sarah Palin tried to have banned from the Wasilla, Alaska Library. This list is taken from the official minutes of the Wasilla Library Board:
Yesterday Bryn Mawr residents Peter and Elizabeth Odiorne hosted actressKate Walsh and Hallie, Beau and Ashley Biden, at a house party. Seventyundecided and Republican voters had the opportunity to hear Ms.Walsh and theBiden children discuss their commitment to the Obama/Biden ticket and answertheir questions. Check out these pictures from the event:Picture One:Newly minted Women for Obama listen to Kate Walsh discuss her commitment toChange.Picture 2: (From Left)Pennsylvania for Change Policy Director Jennifer Canistra, Delaware AttorneyGeneral Beau Biden, PA for Change Regional Political Director Fadia Halma,and actress Kate Walsh listen to a question. Picture 3: Women for Obama Hallie Biden and Kate WalshPicture 4: Ashley Biden, Beau Biden, Hostess Elizabeth Odiorne, HallieBiden, and host Peter Odiorn.Host your own house party! We'll bring materials and discussion starters,you bring your friends. For more information, contact Blair Bodine atBBodine@paforchange.com.
I'm sending this to all of you so that you can be aware and beware (especially, my friends in the suburbs, country-side, and overseas). The day after Obama became the presumptive nominee, McCain changed his website to look just like Obama's. Now, McCain is trying to advocate "change" as did Obama. McCain is not the environmentalist he pretends to be...he pretends because he knows that this is a popular theme. To McCain's credit, he recognized that he needed to revolutionize and reenergize the republican party and did so by hiring a woman. Is it the right woman, though? He overlooked all of the really qualified republican women. By disparaging community organizers, the republicans would like to instigate a "culture war". Let's call it what it is: ignorance and racism (to my friends overseas, believe it or not, America is still stuck in the stone age with retarded, racist attitudes). But, to avoid being called "racists", the republicans have created and proliferated the following lies: LIE: Obama is a muslim.TRUTH: Obama is NOT muslim. He is a christian. LIE: Community organizers don't do anything.TRUTH: Community organizers are an important advocate in urban (and some rural) areas. LIE: Obama will raise everyone's taxes.TRUTH: Obama will NOT increase your taxes if you're earning $250k or less, in fact, you get a tax break. If you're earning more than that, then, yes, your taxes will increase....oh, and I'm single, call me. LIE: Palin sold the governor's plane on Ebay.TRUTH: She tried, failed, and sold it at a loss to a business owner in Alaska. LIE: Palin was against the "bridge to nowhere"TRUTH: Palin was both for and, then, against it. It's about the economy, stupid. Oh, yeah, and war. Ignore the drama and focus on the issues. Which party (republican or democrat) brought the best economical results to the US? (for example, 1992-2000 or 2000-2008). Russia signed a military deal with Venezuela and now has warships on exercise in the Caribbean. The US may need to strike, militarily, Vzla or Russia in the next eight years. Russia is itching for the republicans to win because they know that the US will reach for the gun without a second thought. Do you want Palin, who just got her first passport, to lead us into war with Russia? You'll notice that the republicans are smartly hiding her away from interviews where an interviewer would be sure to ask these questions. But, it's true, white women are flocking to McCain & Palin because they can connect with Palin. Understandable. But the women flocking are from the same families that are losing their jobs and homes from our crappy economy. Don't let gender and race be the determining factor in who's going to be best for your finances and family welfare for the next four years. Don't vote for Palin because she's a woman. Don't vote for Obama because he's black. Vote for the candidate who's going to be best for your finances and family welfare for the next four years. Don't let your friends determine who you vote for, turn on your mind, stand up, and vote for yourself.
A Supporter of Your Cause
For easy reference, I thought I'd post the upcoming debate schedule here, as it is hard to find anywhere else in the Obama site.
First presidential debate:Friday, September 26University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS
Vice presidential debate:Thursday, October 2Washington University in St. Louis, MO
Second presidential debate:Tuesday, October 7Belmont University, Nashville, TN
Third presidential debate:Wednesday, October 15Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
Last night in Denver, Senator Hillary Clinton delivered a powerful call to continue the fight for the causes that drove her campaign by uniting behind Barack's nomination for president of the United States. Senator Clinton echoed Harriet Tubman, the great engineer of the underground railroad, urging Democrats to keep fighting for universal health care, for equal pay for equal work, and for the voices of Americans who have been left out of government these past eight years. “I want you to ask yourselves,” Senator Clinton said to the more than 18 million Americans who voted for her during the primaries, “Were you in this campaign just for me, or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him?” Senator Clinton’s former supporters gathered last night in homes around Pennsylvania to hold Unity Parties and watch the Senator’s address. Pennsylvania Women for Obama director Alexandra Traber attended a Unity Party in Montgomery County and shares this report:
Supporters of Barack Obama and former supporters of Hillary Clinton gathered on Tuesday night across Pennsylvania to watch Senator Hillary Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention and to celebrate her historic campaign! At one of the parties in Montgomery County, the former Hillary supporters donned eye glasses so that they could see this election through “fresh eyes” and continue the fight for equal pay, affordable health care, a strong economy and a brighter future for us all. These women have promised to work just as hard for Senator Obama as they did for Senator Clinton because the stakes in this campaign are just too high not to! Former Hillary supporters don "fresh eyes" at a Unity Party in Montgomery CountyCongresswoman Allyson Schwartz called in from the Democratic Convention floor in Denver to talk about how important it is for women across the state and the country to rally behind our nominee, Barack Obama, and work together to ensure a victory for the Democratic Party in November. She asked that everyone find time in their busy schedules to volunteer, to phone bank and to recruit their friends to join this movement for change.If you haven’t already done so, please sign up to join PA Women for Obama so that we can keep you up to date on volunteer opportunities, upcoming events and so that we can show that the women of Pennsylvania are standing for Barack Obama! Click here to sign up now.
Former Hillary supporters don "fresh eyes" at a Unity Party in Montgomery County
Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz called in from the Democratic Convention floor in Denver to talk about how important it is for women across the state and the country to rally behind our nominee, Barack Obama, and work together to ensure a victory for the Democratic Party in November. She asked that everyone find time in their busy schedules to volunteer, to phone bank and to recruit their friends to join this movement for change.If you haven’t already done so, please sign up to join PA Women for Obama so that we can keep you up to date on volunteer opportunities, upcoming events and so that we can show that the women of Pennsylvania are standing for Barack Obama! Click here to sign up now.
As you know, this week we celebrated Women’s Equality Day, recognizing the 88th anniversary of women’s suffrage! In honor of this important date in history, we met with Ms. Nancy Grace, a resident of Haverford, Pennsylvania, who was born 10 years before women had the right to vote!
She is thrilled to be able to cast her ballot for Senator Obama this year and at 98 is still one of this campaing’s staunchest supporters!
Click here to watch a short video of Ms. Nancy Grace!
Women are key to this election – and there’s nothing more important you can do to ensure Senator Obama’s victory in November than to talk to other women about why you support him and what is at stake for all women in this election.
Please take a minute to sign up for PA Women for Obama so that we can keep you up to date on volunteer opportunities, upcoming events and so that we can show that the women of Pennsylvania are standing for Barack Obama! Click here to sign up now and please forward this link to all your friends!
http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/pawomen
http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/07/14/mccain-can-t-use-a-google-so-what.aspx
