Obama: ‘I couldn’t be prouder of the work America’s civil servants are doing’
U.S. president Barack Obama has praised the country’s civil servants who “continue to raise the bar for America at home and overseas.”
Writing in an op-ed for the Federal Times website, Obama said that he “couldn’t be prouder of the work America’s civil servants are doing every day: with more than 2m civilian workers and more than 1m active-duty service members, the men and women who serve this country in government and our military continue to raise the bar for America at home and overseas.”
Officials, he wrote, do everything from guarding American borders, responding to disasters; defending “our country abroad and deliver the benefits our troops have earned when they come home”; to helping businesses expand and conducting cutting-edge research.
“And by ensuring that Americans can count on quality, affordable health insurance; by protecting consumers in new ways and helping our nation bounce back from the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression, they’re creating lasting change in the very way that government operates,” he said.
Obama also wrote that public officials often do their work “with little acknowledgement or fanfare” and “too often … in a world of sequestration and mindless budget cuts.”
Nevertheless, he said, “our public servants have stayed focused on serving this country and opening new opportunities to all Americans. We’ll need this grit and determination as we confront the challenges that lie ahead — challenges to our economy, our security, even the planet we all call home.”
But because of the commitment and dedication he has seen amongst public servants, Obama concluded that “no challenge is too great for America” and that he is “more optimistic than ever that our brightest days are in front of us.”
About Winnie Agbonlahor
Winnie is news editor of Global Government Forum. She previously reported for Civil Service World - the trade magazine for senior UK government officials. Originally from Germany, Winnie first came to the UK in 2006 to study a BA in Journalism & Russian at the University of Sheffield. She is bilingual in English and German, and, after spending an academic year abroad in Russia and reporting for the Moscow Times, Winnie also speaks Russian fluently.
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