THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
__________________________________________________________________________________
EMBARGOED UNTIL 6:00 AM ET, SATURDAY, April 18, 2009
WASHINGTON – In his weekly address, President Barack Obama announced
that Jeffrey Zients, a CEO, management consultant and entrepreneur,
will join the administration as the Chief Performance Officer, and that
Aneesh Chopra, Virginia’s Secretary of Technology, will serve as the
Chief Technology Officer. Zients will also serve as Deputy Director
for Management of the Office of Management and Budget. He will work to
streamline processes, cut costs, and find the best practices throughout
the government. As Chief Technology Officer, Chopra will promote
technological innovation to help the country meet its goals from job
creation, to reducing health care costs, to protecting the homeland.
Together with Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra, they will help
give all Americans a government that is effective, efficient, and
transparent.
President Obama announced his appointments of the following individuals today:
Jeffrey D. Zients
Zients has twenty years of business experience as a CEO, management
consultant and entrepreneur with a deep understanding of business
strategy, process reengineering and financial management. He served as
CEO and Chairman of the Advisory Board Company and Chairman of the
Corporate Executive Board. These firms are leading providers of
performance benchmarks and best practices across a wide range of
industries. Currently, he is the Founder and Managing Partner of
Portfolio Logic, an investment firm focused primarily on business and
healthcare service companies.
Aneesh Paul Chopra
Chopra serves as Virginia’s Secretary of Technology. He leads
the Commonwealth’s strategy to effectively leverage technology in
government reform, to promote Virginia’s innovation agenda, and to
foster technology-related economic development. Previously, he worked
as Managing Director with the Advisory Board Company, leading the
firm’s Financial Leadership Council and the Working Council for Health
Plan Executives.
Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
Saturday, April 18, 2009
It’s not news to say that we are living through challenging times:
The worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. A credit
crisis that has made that downturn worse. And a fiscal disaster that
has accumulated over a period of years.
In the year 2000, we had projected budget surpluses in the trillions,
and Washington appeared to be on the road to fiscal stability. Eight
years later, when I walked in the door, the projected budget deficit
for this year alone was $1.3 trillion. And in order to jumpstart our
struggling economy, we were forced to make investments that added to
that deficit through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
But as surely as our future depends on building a new energy economy,
controlling health care costs and ensuring that our kids are once again
the best educated in the world, it also depends on restoring a sense of
responsibility and accountability to our federal budget. Without
significant change to steer away from ever-expanding deficits and debt,
we are on an unsustainable course.
So today, we simply cannot afford to perpetuate a system in Washington
where politicians and bureaucrats make decisions behind closed doors,
with little accountability for the consequences; where billions are
squandered on programs that have outlived their usefulness, or exist
solely because of the power of a lobbyist or interest group; and where
outdated technology and information systems undermine efficiency,
threaten our security, and fail to serve an engaged citizenry.
If we’re to going to rebuild our economy on a solid foundation, we need
to change the way we do business in Washington. We need to restore the
American people’s confidence in their government – that it is on their
side, spending their money wisely, to meet their families’ needs.
That starts with the painstaking work of examining every program, every
entitlement, every dollar of government spending and asking ourselves:
Is this program really essential? Are taxpayers getting their money’s
worth? Can we accomplish our goals more efficiently or effectively
some other way?
It’s a process we have already begun, scouring our budget line by line
for programs that don’t work so we can cut them to make room for ones
that do. That means ending tax breaks for companies shipping jobs
overseas; stopping the fraud and abuse in our Medicare program; and
reforming our health care system to cut costs for families and
businesses. It means strengthening whisteblower protections for
government employees who step forward to report wasteful spending. And
it means reinstating the pay-as-you-go rule that we followed during the
1990s – so if we want to spend, we’ll need to find somewhere else to
cut.
And this Monday, at my first, full Cabinet meeting, I will ask all of
my department and agency heads for specific proposals for cutting their
budgets. Already, members of my Cabinet have begun to trim back
unnecessary expenditures. Secretary Napolitano, for example, is ending
consulting contracts to create new seals and logos that have cost the
Department of Homeland Security $3 million since 2003. In the largest
Department, Secretary Gates has launched an historic project to reform
defense contracting procedures and eliminate hundreds of billions of
dollars in wasteful spending and cost overruns. And I commend Senators
McCain and Levin – a Republican and a Democrat – who have teamed up to
lead this effort in Congress.
Finally, in the coming weeks, I will be announcing the elimination of
dozens of government programs shown to be wasteful or ineffective. In
this effort, there will be no sacred cows, and no pet projects. All
across America, families are making hard choices, and it’s time their
government did the same.
That is why I have assembled a team of management, technology, and
budget experts to guide us in this work – leaders who will help us
revamp government operations from top to bottom and ensure that the
federal government is truly working for the American people.
I have named Jeffrey Zients, a leading CEO, management consultant and
entrepreneur, to serve as Deputy Director for Management of the Office
of Management and Budget and as the first ever Chief Performance
Officer. Jeffrey will work to streamline processes, cut costs, and
find best practices throughout our government.
Aneesh Chopra, who is currently the Secretary of Technology for
Governor Kaine of Virginia, has agreed to serve as America’s Chief
Technology Officer. In this role, Aneesh will promote technological
innovation to help achieve our most urgent priorities – from creating
jobs and reducing health care costs to keeping our nation secure.
Aneesh and Jeffrey will work closely with our Chief Information
Officer, Vivek Kundra, who is responsible for setting technology policy
across the government, and using technology to improve security, ensure
transparency, and lower costs. The goal is to give all Americans a
voice in their government and ensure that they know exactly how we’re
spending their money – and can hold us accountable for the results.
None of this will be easy. Big change never is. But with the
leadership of these individuals, I am confident that we can break our
bad habits, put an end to the mismanagement that has plagued our
government, and start living within our means again. That is how we
will get our deficits under control and move from recovery to
prosperity. And that is how we will give the American people the kind
of government they expect and deserve – one that is efficient,
accountable and fully worthy of their trust.
Thank you.
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