Mar. 26 / Administration of , 2013

Remarks Honoring the 2012 Champion Kings and the 2012 Champion Los Angeles Galaxy March 26, 2013

The President. Hello, everybody! Welcome seed had ever won a championship in any of to the White House. And welcome back to the our . back-to-back MLS champion, the L.A. Galaxy. But something happened during the play- I was telling these guys, they’re starting to get a offs. Timing is everything. And as center Jarret little comfortable around here, because they Stoll says, “We all came together at the right just keep on coming back. But this time, they time, and we all peaked at the right time.” brought some company: the Stanley Cup With playoff MVP playing champion, L.A. Kings. lights out in , these guys just kept winning Now, it is great to have both teams here, not game after game after game. And eventually, just because they share a hometown. I’m a lit- the rest of the league started to take notice. tle resentful, coming from Chicago, that L.A. Dustin Brown put it best before the seems to be getting all these championships. final game. He said, “I don’t know what 45 But they don’t just share a hometown, they also years of energy sounds like, but if we play our share a pretty good story. game, maybe we’ll find out.” And that night at When it comes to the Galaxy, a team with the , they found out. And Amer- on it is rarely the underdog. ica found out that Southern actually But when the Galaxy was here last year, their has some pretty intense hockey fans. chances of repeating as champions didn’t look So I’m going to be a good sport: These guys all that good. The injury bug plagued the team. pointed out that they beat my Blackhawks last It seemed like it might be a rebuilding year. night. I will also say that, given this season, how But right after that visit, they turned things rare it is to beat the Blackhawks, I want to con- around. And you can call it a coincidence, but I gratulate them for that as well. [Laughter] just want to point out that right after they visit- We also found out that both these teams are ed with me, the Galaxy built the best record in full of some pretty stand-up players and coach- the league. [Laughter] es. They’re out in the community year round. In the MLS Cup Final, the Galaxy trailed at They’re changing lives, they’re making a differ- halftime, and it stayed that way until Omar ence. As Coach Arena of the Galaxy says: “The Gonzalez, who is with the National Team to- soccer is very much secondary. If we can have day, scored the equalizer in the 60th minute. A an impact on the lives of young kids, we want few minutes after that, Landon did what he to be a part of that.” does best and scored the go-ahead goal. And And that’s something we all appreciate, es- pretty soon, they were up 3 to 1. And then pecially those of us who are parents. And we Juninho was probably dancing the are thrilled that you guys are sticking around to samba—[laughter]—the MLS Cup belonged host a “Let’s Move!” question-and-answer ses- to L.A. for the second-straight year, and that sion with kids from all across the country. was the fourth in Galaxy history. So I want to give a hearty congratulations to Now, the Kings’ story is a little bit different. both the Kings and the Galaxy one more time These guys were not defending champions. In for bringing two championships to L.A. and for fact, before last year, L.A. had never won the doing so much for your fans back in California. Stanley Cup. And after switching head coaches And we also know that there are a couple of midseason—a coach, I should add, who got Galaxy players who couldn’t be here because of good training from the — World Cup qualifying, so I want to wish Team [laughter]—squeaking into the playoffs as a U.S.A. the very best of luck as they take on -eight seed, it looked like the streak of Mexico tonight. I hope both these teams have a not winning was going to continue. No eight great rest of the season.

246 Administration of Barack Obama, 2013 / Mar. 26

So everybody give them a big round of ap- The President. That is a nice-looking jersey. plause. Congratulations. Congratulations. All right, let’s—thank you. All right, we’ve got some—are we going to So am I going to stand over here? Okay. And do the jerseys at the podium? All right, so what do we got here? Landon, what do we got here? L.A. Kings right wing Dustin Brown. Just a L.A. Galaxy forward Landon Donovan. We jersey here. have a ball for you, and then we’ve got a—— The President. That’s a good-looking jersey. Forty-four, it’s a lucky number. All right, thank [At this point, the President tossed the soccer you. ball upward, bounced it off his forehead, and NOTE: The President spoke at 2 p.m. in the caught it.] East Room at the White House. In his re- marks, he referred to , defend- Mr. Donovan. That was pretty good. er, Juninho Pernambucano, midfielder, and [Laughter] And then, we’ve got a jersey for , head coach, Los Angeles Galaxy; you. and , former head coach, Darryl The President. I hope you guys caught that. Sutter, head coach, , center, and That doesn’t happen very often. [Laughter] Jonathan Quick, , Los Angeles Mr. Donovan. And a jersey. Kings.

Statement on Senator Timothy P. Johnson’s Decision Not To Seek Reelection March 26, 2013

For more than three decades, Tim Johnson American people. Always a fighter, Tim’s return has dedicated himself to improving the lives of to the Senate floor after a life-threatening brain South Dakota’s working families. From his early injury was a powerful moment, and his recovery days in the State legislature to his distinguished continues to inspire us all. I look forward to career in the Senate, Tim has worked tirelessly working with Senator Johnson as he finishes his to protect our environment, empower rural and third term, and Michelle and I join the people Native American communities, and build a fi- of South Dakota in wishing Tim, Barbara, and nancial system that is better able to serve the their entire family all the best.

Letter to Congressional Leaders Regarding Designation of Funds for Global Counterterrorism and Overseas Contingency Operations March 26, 2013

Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:) The details of this action are set forth in the enclosed memorandum from the Acting Di- In accordance with section 5 of the Consoli- rector of the Office of Management and Bud- dated and Further Continuing Appropriations get. Act, 2013, I hereby designate for Overseas Sincerely, Contingency Operations/Global War on Ter- rorism all funding (including the rescission of BARACK OBAMA funds) so designated by the Congress in the Act pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A) of the NOTE: Identical letters were sent to John A. Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Con- Boehner, Speaker of the House of Representa- trol Act of 1985, as amended, as outlined in the tives, and Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President of the enclosed list of accounts. Senate.

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