Irish Americans for Biden Harris

This week, President Barack Obama urged Republicans and Democrats alike to pass an Immigration Reform bill this year.  Speaking at the White House and surrounded by business officials, community leaders, religious clergy and immigration experts, the president expressed an urgency to "modernize our legal immigration system, so that even as we train American workers for the jobs of the future, we’re also attracting highly-skilled entrepreneurs from beyond our borders to join with us to create jobs here in the United States." Read the full text of the speech here.  Find out more about the White House immigration reform initiative . Follow Irish Americans for Obama on twitter .

The United States Senate has confirmed the appointment of Caroline Kennedy  to become the next US Ambassador to Japan.  She won the unanimous endorsement Wednesday, October 16, 2013, according to CBS News . Her confirmation hearing took place before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on September 19, 2013.  Here is a video of that hearing .  She promised to carry on the legacy of her father, President John F. Kennedy . Kennedy, who is the president of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation , has recently completed a  book on her grandmother's historical photographs, entitled Rose Kennedy's Family Album . Visit the JFK Library for more information about President Kennedy and the Kennedy family.