White House Press Releases,
December 10, 2009
TOAST REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT THE 2009 NOBEL BANQUET
The Grand Hotel
Oslo, Norway
9:48 P.M. CET
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Your Majesties, Your Excellencies, Your Royal Highnesses -- to all my friends, my family. This is obviously an extraordinary evening, and I must say -- I was telling the committee members that, having entirely exhausted myself with the speech this afternoon -- (laughter and applause) -- I have -- I spoke for a very long time. (Laughter.) I have only a very few words to say.
... As I indicated before, no one was more surprised than me. (Laughter.) And I have to say that when the chairman spoke introducing me, I told him afterwards that I thought it was an excellent speech and that I was almost convinced that I deserved it. (Laughter and applause.)
You know, it's obviously one of life's great ironies that Alfred Nobel, the man responsible for inventing dynamite -- (laughter) -- helped to establish this extraordinary moral force in the world. He bequeathed his largest share of fortune to the Nobel prizes and the roster of Nobel laureates has grown to include not only the finest minds in science and literature and economics, but I think what captivates people most is the giants of peace that it has acknowledged.
When Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament on November 27, 1895, it's not entirely clear that he could have foreseen the impact that his prizes would have. But he did know this truth: that our destinies are what we make of them, and that each of us in our own lives can do our part in order to make a more just and lasting peace and forge the kind of world that we want to bequeath to our children and our grandchildren.
The world thanks you for the work that you do. And as a consequence, what I'd like to do is to propose a toast -- once I get some wine. (Laughter.)
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December 11, 2009
Statement by the Press Secretary on the European Council Declaration on Iran
The United States echoes the grave concerns expressed by the European Council today regarding Iran's nuclear program, and is united with our international partners in calling on Iran to comply fully with its international obligations.
Iran has also failed to uphold its Geneva commitment to have a further meeting with the P5+1 to discuss its nuclear program. The offer of constructive engagement remains on the table, and we urge Iran to take concrete steps toward this course.
However, if Iran continues to fail to bring its nuclear program into full compliance with the requirements of the United Nations Security Council and the IAEA, there will be consequences and we will be consulting closely with our partners to ensure those consequences are credible. We will continue to assess Iran's responses, and together with our partners will take appropriate measures in keeping with our common approach to the Iranian nuclear program.
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December 10, 2009
Statement by National Security Advisor General James L. Jones on International Human Rights Day
Today, on the occasion of International Human Rights Day, I welcomed distinguished representatives of leading human rights and democracy promotion groups in the United States to the White House for a meeting with me and senior representatives from over a dozen offices of the National Security Staff.
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got zip drive for IHL workshop
5-day program on syllabus looks interesting
two students are accepted from st.Luois
blocked the hotel 10-min distance from the school
and booked the plane ticket
spring semester, couple of negotiation sessions are waiting for me: biz governance by Prof. Sales as well as IHL workshop
hope to transform silent DOng into succinct speech
