July 22, 2013
Catie Curry
Columnist
POTUS
From Washington, D.C., Catie Curry, POTUS Columnist
With temperatures rising to the upper 90s on the mall, it was just as hot in Congress as its members continue to figure out the details of a new immigration bill and the House of Representatives passed bills delaying Obamacare provisions. President Obama had a slower summer week, staying out of the heat by participating in events hosted within the White House.
The president started off his week by presenting the in the East Room on July 15. The award was given to Floyd Hammer and Kathy Hamilton, retired farm owners who founded the nonprofit organization Outreach to fight child hunger around the world. President Obama explained, “If the purpose of this award is to celebrate Americans who work to make our country and world a better place – not for their own advantage or for any ulterior motives, but just to serve, pure and simple – I can’t think of anyone more deserving.” The couple beamed with pride as the president presented them with a framed certificate.
One of the honored guests of the ceremony was former president George H.W. Bush, who started the public service award during his time in office. The former president was wheeled onto the stage for the presentations. As he watched the ceremony from the wheelchair, President Obama expressed immense admiration for his predecessor, saying, “We are surely a kinder and gentler nation because of you.” Obama also said he believed it was because of Bush’s efforts that “volunteerism has gone from something some people do some of the time to something lots of people do as a regular part of their lives.”
The president also expressed his admiration for Bush for a completely different aspect of the former president’s life. “When you do a parachute jump at the age of 85, not just a parachute jump, but another parachute jump – I believe his seventh – this is somebody who’s not going to slow down anytime soon.”
The next morning, the president welcomed four local anchors from America’s biggest Spanish-language television networks for an event called “En vivo desde la Casa Blanca,” or Live from the White House. Obama spoke to the anchors seriously about topics such as health care and immigration. White tents were also set up on the lawn to give the anchors a chance to speak to major health care officials, including Cecilia Muñoz, the director of the White House domestic policy council.
A couple days later, President Obama spoke publicly for the first time about George Zimmerman’s acquittal in a speech from the White House on July 19. The president looked somber as he stood behind the podium. He started by saying, “You know, when Trayvon Martin was first shot, I said that this could have been my son.” He continued, “Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago.” The president remembered his own experiences as he recalled, “There are very few African American men who haven’t had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. That happens to me – at least before I was a senator.”
Thinking about the acquittal and the possibility of federal charges, Obama said, “It’s important for people to have some clear expectations here. Traditionally, these are issues of state and local government, the criminal code, and law enforcement is traditionally done at the state and local levels—not at the federal level.” He also showed support for the justice system, saying, “The judge conducted the trial in a professional manner. The prosecution and the defense made their arguments. The jurors were properly instructed that in a case such as this reasonable doubt was relevant, and they rendered a verdict. And once the jury has spoken, that’s how our system works.”
The president then became thoughtful as he considered the future of Americans, he spoke of his daughters. “It doesn’t m ean we’re in a post-racial society. It doesn’t mean that racism is eliminated,” he said. He also called on Americans to think about helping African American boys. He said, “We need to spend some time in thinking about how do we bolster and reinforce our African American boys.” He encouraged the public to start “helping young African American men feel that they’re a full part of this society and that they’ve got pathways and avenues to succeed.”
