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Welcome to Current Events!

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.
The important thing is not to stop questioning.” —Albert Einstein

On this site you will find story updates, additional resources, including Smart Stuff quizzes, and links to CE’s News Blog for students. Be sure to check back each issue!

Issue 15 News Updates

PRESIDENT OBAMA: GETTING DOWN TO WORK

Busy, Busy, Busy. He's been in office only little more than a week, but President Obama has been a man on a mission. Here's just a sample of some of the things he's accomplished in just seven days:

• Sent an $819 billion economic stimulus package to Congress. The package is designed to put money into the economy and provide jobs for people. The House passed the package and it's now up for a vote in the Senate.
• Signed an executive order calling for the terrorist detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to be closed within a year.
• Signed a new law making it easier for women to sue companies that don't pay them equal pay with men.
• Sent a letter to Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling for better relations between the United States and Iran.

• Secretary of State: Sen. Hillary Clinton, Obama's former Democratic rival for the presidency  CONFIRMED
• Attorney General: Eric Holder, a longtime Justice Department official and former judge
• Defense Secretary: Robert Gates, currently President George W. Bush's secretary of defense
• U.S. Treasury Secretary: Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank  CONFIRMED
• Energy Secretary: Steven Chu, Nobel Prize-winning physicist and director of the Energy Department's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California  CONFIRMED
• Education Secretary: Arne Duncan, head of the Chicago Public Schools  CONFIRMED
• Transportation Secretary: Ray LaHood, a U.S. House member from Illinois  CONFIRMED
• Labor Secretary: Hilda Solis, a congresswoman from California
• Interior Secretary: Ken Salazar, a U.S. senator from Colorado  CONFIRMED
• Agriculture Secretary: Tom Vilsack, former Iowa governor  CONFIRMED
• Homeland Security Secretary: Janet Napolitano, governor of Arizona  CONFIRMED
• Veterans Affairs Secretary: Gen. Eric Shinseki, former Army Chief of Staff  CONFIRMED
• Health and Human Services Secretary: Tom Daschle, former U.S. Senate Democratic leader
• Housing and Urban Development Secretary: Shaun Donovan, New York City Housing Commissioner  CONFIRMED
  Other top-ranking officials and close advisors announced so far include:
• Chief economic advisor: Lawrence Summers, former U.S. Treasury secretary
• National Security Advisor: Retired Marine Corps Gen. Jim Jones
• Chief of Staff: Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois.
• U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations: Susan Rice, a foreign policy expert and former National Security Council staff member  CONFIRMED
• Environmental Protection Agency Administrator: Lisa Jackson, former head of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection  CONFIRMED
• White House Council on Eneregy and Climiate Director: Carol Browner, who headed the EPA in the Clinton administration
• Office of Management and Budget Director: Peter Orszag, Congressional Budget Office director  CONFIRMED

EYEWITNESS TO HISTORY CONTEST!

The 2009 Eyewitness to History Contest is open. Check your issue 8 teacher's guide or click here for the rules. Check out last year's winners, too.