Today, the Administration submitted its updated $65.8 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) request to Congress for the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of State and Other International Programs (State/OIP).  The $58.6 billion request for…

The Administration’s Fiscal Year 2015 Overseas Contingency Operations budget request to Congress builds on the President’s West Point Speech to seek the resources necessary to build, facilitate and strengthen the capacity of our partners to counter terrorist organizations, particularly across…

Thirty years ago, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention Against Torture. Three years later, on this very day, the Convention entered into effect, memorializing the international community’s condemnation of this practice.  From the first days of his Administration,…

TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT TO THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES June 26, 2014 Dear Mr. Speaker: I ask the Congress to consider the enclosed Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Budget amendments for the Department of Defense…

TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT TO THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE OF THE SENATE June 26, 2014 Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:) As I reported on June 16, 2014, U.S.…

President Barack Obama today announced the designation of a Presidential Delegation to the Federative Republic of Brazil to attend the Final Match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Rio de Janeiro on July 13, 2014. The Honorable Heather Higginbottom,…

National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice met yesterday with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore at the White House.  Ambassador Rice and Prime Minister Lee discussed our excellent bilateral military, economic, and political cooperation, as well as a number…

The United States strongly condemns yesterday’s brutal and senseless murder of human rights and civil society activist Salwa Bugaighis in Benghazi, Libya.  I was fortunate to have the opportunity to meet Salwa in Libya in November 2011, soon after the…

I congratulate the Libyan people on the conclusion of the elections for a new Council of Representatives, a milestone in their courageous efforts to transition from four decades of dictatorship toward a full democracy.  While yesterday’s vote demonstrates the power…