Irish Americans for Obama Biden

Earlier this week, on June 24, 2013, President Barack Obama spoke to a group of business leaders at an Immigration Reform Roundtable in the Roosevelt Room. Here is a transcript of his remarks , and also a video of the conversation . Find out more about the Obama Administration's polices on immigration . Follow Obama_IrishUSA on twitter.

President Kennedy in Ireland, 1963 (Photo Courtesy of JFK Library)    John Kerry , US Secretary of State, has published his reflections of President John F. Kennedy's historic visit to Ireland in June 1963.  In an essay titled The Legacy of JFK: Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of His Visit to Ireland , Secretary Kerry remarked on "the spirit and idealism of the Kennedy years" and what that meant to his generation growing up in the Cold War era. "I particularly remember watching the news on a little black and white television set as America’s first Catholic President returned to the land of his heritage to celebrate a moment of pride on both sides of the Atlantic and a remarkable reminder that the United States was a nation of immigrants focused on the future but deeply proud of its roots," Kerry says. This past week, Caroline Kennedy and her family returned to Ireland to retrace her father's visit fifty years ago, stopping in New Ross, C...

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama addressed an assembly of young people at the Belfast Waterfront in Belfast, Northern Ireland today. The president is attending the G-8 Summit Meeting in Belfast this week, while Mrs. Obama and her daughters are visiting Northern Ireland and the  Republic of Ireland. Mrs. Obama talked about leadership and the importance of "honesty, hard work and a commitment to education." President Obama talked about the peace process and the challenges facing a new generation of young people all around the world. "You must remind us of the existence of peace -- the possibility of peace.  You have to remind us of hope again and again and again.  Despite resistance, despite setbacks, despite hardship, despite tragedy, you have to remind us of the future again and again and again," President Obama said. Read the entire transcript here . Follow Obama_IrishUSA on Twitter. 

President Barack Obama talked about immigration reform and expanding trade in Latin America in his weekly address to the American people on May 4, 2013. Here is a video of the President's speech: Follow Obama_IrishUSA on Twitter .

President Barack Obama met with Ireland's Taoiseach Enda Kenny in the White House Oval Office this morning to discuss relations between the United States and Ireland.  Here is a transcript of the conversation. 10:41 A.M. EDT PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, it is a great pleasure to welcome back Taoiseach Kenny to the Oval Office, to the White House and his entire delegation.  Obviously, we cherish this opportunity once a year to reaffirm the incredible bond between the United States and Ireland.  This year, it also gives us an excuse to stretch out St. Patrick’s Day for a couple of extra days, which is always good. This is now my fifth time to welcome the Taoiseach to the Oval Office.  I’ve had the occasion to visit Ireland as well -- one of the truly wonderful trips that I’ve taken as President of the United States.  And the reason that these meetings go so well is because of the incredible bond and history between our two countrie...

Irish-American Heritage Month  A PROCLAMATION For more than two centuries, America has been made and remade by striving, hopeful immigrants looking for a chance to pursue their dreams. Millions among them were born in Ireland, separated from our shores but united by their belief in a better day. This month, we celebrate the Irish-American journey, and we reflect on the ways a nation so small has inspired so much in another. Generations of Irish left the land of their forebears to cast their fortunes with a young Republic. Escaping the blight of famine or the burden of circumstance, many found hardship even here. They endured prejudice and stinging ridicule. But through it all, these new citizens never gave up on one of our oldest ideas: that anyone from anywhere can write the next great chapter in the American story. So they raised families and built communities, earned a living and sent their kids to school. In time, what it meant to be Irish helped def...

President Barack Obama today gave a landmark speech on immigration reform today in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Here is a video of the speech . President Obama said, "We define ourselves as a nation of immigrants.  That’s who we are -- in our bones.  The promise we see in those who come here from every corner of the globe, that’s always been one of our greatest strengths.  It keeps our workforce young.  It keeps our country on the cutting edge.  And it’s helped build the greatest economic engine the world has ever known. "The Irish who left behind a land of famine.  The Germans who fled persecution.  The Scandinavians who arrived eager to pioneer out west.  The Polish.  The Russians.  The Italians.  The Chinese.  The Japanese.  The West Indians.  The huddled masses who came through Ellis Island on one coast and Angel Island on the other.  (Applause.)  All those folks, before they were us, they...