Have done it by focusing on three areas. We expect services and smarter and faster ways. For example, when a Natural Disaster struck, teams from fema had to rely on inspections to figure out which families needed help. Now they analyze imagery and get images that are needed most were quickly. Most folks were able to sign up using the mobile and web apps, checking the status of helping with Internet Access to sign up for Disaster Relief without leaving their homes. Making sure that we are delivering Services Better and faster and more efficiently. We have identified more than 2. 5 billions of dollars across the federal government and that is just the beginning. I have signed into law dozens of federal programs and have cut even more that were duplicate or not working no longer needed the basic principle is tax payers deserve the biggest bang for their buck, especially at a time when budgets are tight and we have to do more with less. Anyone can visit whitehouse. Gov to see the taxpayers see. It tells you just how and where your tax dollars are being spent. Finally, for the first time in history, we have opened up huge amounts of Government Data to the American People and put it on the internet for free. Data. Gov, you can search and you know what they charge for different procedures to whether and climate measurements. What is happening is that entrepreneurs are using that data, the peoples data, to create jobs and solve problems the government canceled itself or do as efficient. It is used more than 300 million is what we hope to save on energy bills. There is another company about triaged donning my two emergency room doctors that is using downloadable data about Health Care Providers from the department of health and human services. Helping 2 Million People im closest doctors and hospitals and list goes on. Hundreds of people are still hiring. So we have made some Good Progress so today i met with my cabinet, including a number of new cabinet members, some who have extraordinary experience. I directed the cabinet to deliver a smarter and more innovative and more accountable government. We will continue to adopt good idea from the private sector. I have asked the director of the office of the management of budget to lead us. She was part of a team that presided over three years of budget surpluses in the 1990s after philanthropic work at the Walmart Foundation she has come back to help us move this effort forward. She is not the only one. We have also welcomed a new class of president ial innovation fellows. And i would love for the press to meet some of these folks because they are extraordinary. Americans with vast Technology Expertise who have volunteered to serve their country in the private sector. Scott helped found a company that helps recent graduates turn their good ideas into businesses and she used to manage Product Design for everything from mobile phones to video games and Darren Gibbons found an innovative shopping site that helps your taste as you browse. They are taking this expertise and bringing it into the government. And making it smarter and more userfriendly. Many Online Shopping websites help fill in some of your information so you dont have to enter it every time you log in. As a consequence, we are working on a project called my usa that will help you with government forms. And if you are applying for federal benefits, we think you should be able to track the status of your application in realtime, just like you can with the location of a package on which your doorstep. These are things that are in the pipeline right now. Currently when our government ask for bids on a project, it is usually complicated requirements that most people dont understand. We are working to make things simpler so it is easier for more Small Businesses across the country to bid on projects. Helping businesses to create projects that need to be done and opening up more government contracts and we will save them money in the process. We recently relaunched an upgraded easier health care. Gov. October 1 americans can logon and comparison shop with private Health Insurance plans sidebyside, does let you go online and compare the best deal on cars or the best deal on computers. Because you will finally be part of a new pool with millions of other americans, insurers will want to compete for your business. We have worked really hard to make these userfriendly. When the prototype came at 21 pages, we rejected it and said, lets do better, it is now three pages long. By the way, that is a lot shorter than the application itself or the private insurance. And last year i also asked congress for the authority to reorganize and consolidate federal bureaucracy and we are doing a lot of this work administratively. Unfortunately, theres still a bunch of rules and lots of legislation that has poorly designed some of our agencies and forces folks to engage in bureaucratic hoop jumping instead of just going ahead and focusing on delivering good service to our citizens. So what we have asked its clean this up and consolidate. Most every president from Herbert Hoover to Ronald Reagan have this authority to redesign the federal government, the executive branch to deliver Services Better. Just like every Business Owner seeking to make sure that his or her Company Keeps pace with the times. Currently we do not have that capacity. So i will keep on doing what we can administratively, but we sure could use congresses help, particularly at a time when congress is saying they want more efficient government. They give a lot of lip service to it. And we are operating under severe fiscal constraints and it makes sense for us to be able to redesign government so that it can deliver on the functions of the American People are looking for. We should all want a government that is more responsive to the needs of the American People. The good news is that america is full of Public Servants who are working really hard every day to pull the public trust. Those of us that believe they have a responsibility to guarantee some level of security and make sure that everyone gets a fair shot at success in iraq are the upper going to want to start a business to the workers were working on business, does have a responsibility to make sure that government works. It is one glad that we have people like scott and claire and aaron and so many other idealistic men and women who have signed up to help us tackle these challenges. That is why we are so cowed that sylvia will be heading this up. I will be asking more people around the country, entrepreneurs and visionaries to sign up for service. We have to have the brightest minds to help solve the biggest challenges. It is a reminder that in this democracy we, the people, we recognize this government belongs to us and its up to each of us and every one of us to make it work better and you cant just stand on the sidelines. You cannot take comfort in just being cynical. We all have a stake in government success. Because the government is us. We are doing things right. We are tracking whether more effectively and that saves lives for folks who are in the path of a tornado. When we are delivering effectively data on improved health care choices, that will save lives and reduce costs. We have the potential nonfor profit, most, we want to make sure that we are empowering folks are sitting here today to make sure they can deliver on the 21st century that the American People want. Thank you so much, everybody, keep up the good work. [applause] house gop leaders today called upon president obama and Senate Democrats to reduce student Loan Interest rates. Rates on new subsidized stafford loans doubled to nearly 7 after congress failed to reach an agreement by the july 1 deadline. As of 10 minutes. Thank you for coming. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] good afternoon. The senate has taken action for students all across the country. They have known for many months on july 1, many Student Loans, federal Student Loans would double and they have been more involved in internal bickering rather than addressing the issue. The students that are surrounded with us today, they are all suffering because of it. One example is a gal from Eastern Washington who is working at a local mcdonalds drivethrough to help pay for rising tuition at Washington State university. She is an aspiring economist and a Public Servant and im not sure, but she will be able to hope that she can finish school. Unfortunately, that is repeated among many students across the country. I was the first in my family to graduate from college and graduate school and i can tell you firsthand how difficult it is it is not fair for democrats who want washington to stand in these students ways. About 20 Million Students are in college and 60 have to take out Student Loans. When harry reid tells us that he is not looking for a compromise, i would encourage him to think about haley and these College Students and many others across the country. As members of congress, we are here to make life easier for students who want to go to college, those who want to get an education, they want to find a job. Instead, we see just the opposite, we see fighting internally instead of passing a solution. I urge them to act quickly. Put students first and not washington politics. Republicans are back and Interest Rates are being stopped from dublin. To make college more affordable for students across the country, including the students right behind me. The white house and Senate Democrats have let these students down. I think that they deserve better. It is time for the president to lead, it is time for him to bring the Senate Democrat leaders together and develop a solution. It is time for the senate and white house they are the biggest issues facing our country, jobs and the economy. Everyone deserves a new normal is better wages. Being very direct, the house has acted in the rates are being doubled. To deter . Students across america. They want to have a fighting chance for future and we asked terry reed to take some action. Do not stop this. America is looking at the students most important. Dont punish them for his inaction. My colleagues have pointed out the problem. July 1 is behind us now and Interest Rates on subsidized stafford loans have doubled. The house passed legislation to keep that from happening. To tie us to the market come into the tenyear treasury to make a longterm solution a Bipartisan Group of senators in the senate have proposed a similar solution. Yet there is no action from the Senate Majority leader. What makes you think in your Statement Today in your statement earlier this morning that they would be able to come together based upon criticisms of how they progress. The house has done its job. The fact is that the students were going to pay the price, when they see the Interest Rate on their loans doubling. It is time for them to act. We have a Bipartisan Group in the senate, we have a solution that was not far off from our solution. Yet it was shot down by the majority leaders and he began to wonder whether they are looking for a solution. Do think would have happened is the United States aid to egypt . What is respected in the country is the military and i think that there our military progress in terms of replacing elected president. I think it is part of how we would move ahead. The house does not intend to do this. They intend to do their own job on developing an immigration bill. The American People expect that we will have Strong Border security in place before we begin the process of legalizing and fixing illegal immigration system. We will have a conversation with our members on wednesday on how we can move ahead. I think it is going to go away. It is time for congress to act. I believe congress has adopted when we were to work out. [applause] more on the cost of college and a meeting with the students of the university of maryland and steny hoyer. This is one hour. The first thing i thought we would do is hello, how are you . How are you . Okay, the lady with the money, how . [laughter] to basically advice of how to get the money, sarah has been wonderful, she does a great job here at the university. Let me start by telling you as some of you may know. It is true depending on how late your parents have you in your life. My first semester cost me 86 for 15 credits. I didnt start to concentrate until my second year here. And in any event, we got into the university of maryland. If you had a see average, you got it. No questions asked. And i was a commuting student, obviously. It was just incredible. I think now the costs are so much with higher. Especially the state colleges. They were, theoretically, they have all been very affordable. And we still have state colleges that are open to all. They are very affordable. But they have gotten a lot more expensive. Some are relative to even when i went to school. It is very important that we keep College Affordable. Not just for you, but for you. It is important that we do so for all of america. Because all of you will make a difference for america. If we dont make sure that the best and brightest can get into school and can afford school, yes, i went into Public Service is probably some of you know, and i graduated from georgetown after that. It was a pretty quick transition. I practiced law, but i didnt know that georgetown was more expensive i remember it was about half an hour from here. My neighborhood where i live. September of 1957. In 1940 dodge coupe. And the russians have launch vehicle called sputnik and it was circling the globe. America was shocked. America was shocked that is why it is called a defense education. It was perceived to be part of her National Security so the debate that is going on in washington today is about how we make this affordable and accessible and make sure that they dont graduate from school so they can go into Public Service and can be teachers. Tearing a 65, 75, 95,000dollar debt load is thinking to themselves, how can i earn enough money. We have tried to work on that by working on the percentage of income. But we have just had a debate that i wanted to talk you to you about. I wanted to talk to particularly about your situation. Because although we talk a lot in the abstract, ultimately the policies that we have adopted our discrete on their impact of individuals. This is how we structure the various loans that we have, whether we let them float or we cap them at the time you take the loan, all sorts of different alternatives. And consumers are part of the lowest parts of Interest Rates. Which is why we are refinancing them. Because Interest Rates the Interest Rates keep going down. I wanted to hear from you. In and the first thing we will do is start and just go around and i have sort of already introduced sarah. We will go around the room. Hello, i am sarah and i am the assistant Vice President for Financial Aid here at the university of maryland. I am a senior fellow. I am from Chicago Illinois and im a student. Okay. I am from annapolis, maryland. I am a student in government politics. Okay, my name is patrick and i am a resident sophomore, a politics major. And i live in maryland. Hello, my name is mark and i am a student here at the university of maryland. [inaudible conversations] i am serving as a student body president here. Hello. Thank you, i am a french double major here at the university of maryland. Hello, i am a graduate of st. Louis college and i am from baltimore. Im from east brunswick, new jersey. I graduated a year ago. We have spent some effort trying to encourage people to participate. What i like to do is have tom speak. Ultimately policy means something to somebody to some circumstance. We want to hear that. [inaudible] i did not know that. Come on up. We have enough seats are we will move some up. Here you go. Move a chair here. We have room here. Does everybody know the doctor by the way . Should make sure i do the right thing. [laughter] who wants to be first to tell me your situation and what your challenges are and why it is important to you . As you know, we have a bill , some of us that freezes for a least one year, and maybe two years of 3. 4 of the subsidized loans Thomas Stafford loans for another year which we also did last year. There are other proposals that has a floating market value and it continues to float even after you take out the loan with my house fixedrate