Good evening.

I’ve been an educator for 39 years. This past week I started teaching writing at a community college near the White House. So, I’ve seen how one moment can change the trajectory of a student’s learning – when their eyes light up as an idea clicks into place. Education is the key that unlocks the possibilities of the future. It changes lives.

But, in the United States, as in the rest of the world, COVID and its aftermath have had a devasting impact on children’s learning.

I know we all have been working hard to rebuild the systems that were broken, to bring divided communities back together, to put us on a path to a better, brighter future.

Every leader, and every country, must make the world a better place for children.

Children are the smartest investment we can make in eliminating poverty, boosting economic growth, strengthening democracy, and promoting global peace and prosperity.

This is why children must be at the center of the Sustainable Development Goals.

When children are born, we look into their wide eyes and see every possibility.
Infinite dreams. Limitless bounds. As a mother and a nana, I know that feeling well.

But children don’t grow into adults overnight.

Every parent knows that it’s a process – long and winding and sometimes challenging.
When they’re babies, they cry and we meet their needs: food if they’re hungry, sleep if they’re tired, comfort if they’re scared or hurt.

But as they grow, they need schools and educators who can teach them to read and write and think.

And as teens, they need an even larger village: patient ears to listen, strong shoulders to lean on, steady hands to hold and guide them.

They need an education that prepares them for adulthood and the jobs of the future.

It’s a continuum of care and support to ensure that children can grow into healthy and successful adults, so they can create peaceful and stable societies.

Making sure that every child in every corner of the world has access to the support they need to reach their full potential, to thrive, is what UNICEF does.

Cathy, thank you for your leadership and for what you do for children around the world. UNICEF’s work is absolutely critical to making our world safer and more prosperous.

As Second Lady and now as First Lady, I’ve traveled from Latin America to the Middle East, from Asia to Africa, I have seen children and young people in dire circumstances – families displaced by drought, children living in sprawling, urban informal settlements, and children who have survived unspeakable violence.

Yet, despite these truly heartbreaking challenges, I have seen young people who don’t give up, who are optimistic and hopeful and believe that tomorrow will be a brighter day.

Last year, in Ecuador, I talked with teenagers whose families had fled brutal violence in Venezuela, but who dreamed of returning home to rebuild their country.

They were so strong and smart and confident – they were determined to make a difference. And with our help they will.

More than ten years ago, in Kenya, I met a young woman – Aliyah.

At just 25, she was raising a son in a one-room, tin-roof home in Kibera. There was no electricity – no running water. She spent her day teaching girls about teen pregnancy – about sexual abuse and rape. The topic was taboo – but the conversations were powerful.

I asked her if she wanted to leave Kibera. But she said, “No, this is my home. I want to make a difference here.”

Earlier this year, when I returned to Kibera, I met Aliyah again – and I saw her son, now 18, and a young daughter too. All still living in Kibera, where Aliyah now owns and operates a restaurant.

Aliyah continues to make a difference there.

Young people inspire us to greater heights.

They remind us that hope can always overcome cynicism, and that we can achieve anything if we work together.

I know all of you in this room have worked so hard for children and young people across the globe. I know that you’ve given your time, your voice, and your resources.

And I know that despite this, progress on the Sustainable Development Goals has stalled, and the way forward looks steep.

Yet, I also know that you can do miraculous things. In the wake of the pandemic, you operationalized the fastest and largest immunization effort in history. You have nearly eliminated polio across the globe. And, you’ve helped hundreds of millions of out-of-school children continue their education.

And, I promise you that the United States will continue to be a partner with you every step of the way.

The United States has made unprecedented investments in clean technology and delivered more COVID vaccines internationally than any other nation. We have led the fight against HIV/AIDS through PEPFAR, which, in 20 years has saved more than 25 million lives and ensured that 5.5 million babies have been born HIV-free.

And, last year, we made the single largest contribution ever to address acute malnutrition in children – $200 million – and rallied the world to raise an additional half billion dollars.

Those babies we hold just after being born, their eyes wide like saucers, with the tiniest fingers – grow up in a blink of an eye – and they will be our leaders sooner than we think. They will be the ones to keep us out of war.

They will be the ones to cure cancer. They will be the ones who will have to continue fighting climate change.

But they need us – all of us – right now. Yes, young people are our future, but they are also our present. And when we give them the support they need, when we invest in them from the very beginning and every step along the way, we help them become the people they want to be…and they help us build a more peaceful, stable world.

Thank you, UNICEF, for being heroic partners in this effort. Cathy, the President and I miss you in our day-to-day but we know this is the work of your life and we are so grateful for your service.

And thank you, everyone in this room. You’ve saved untold lives. You’ve helped so many children reach for their dreams. But there is more to do, together. And we can’t stop now.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday he is directing a House committee to open an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden over his family’s business dealings, launching historic proceedings ahead of the 2024 election.

McCarthy said the House Oversight Committee’s investigation so far has found a “culture of corruption” around the Biden family as Republicans probe the business dealings of Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, from before the Democratic president took office.

“These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption, and they warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives,” McCarthy, R-Calif., said outside the speaker’s office at the Capitol. “That’s why today I am directing our House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.”

The announcement comes as the Republican leader faces mounting pressure from his right flank to take action against Biden while he also is struggling to pass legislation needed to avoid a federal government shutdown at the end of the month.

An inquiry is step toward impeachment, and McCarthy essentially outlined potential charges. He is is planning to convene lawmakers behind closed doors multiple times this week, including for a meeting to discuss the Biden impeachment.

The Republican leader is once again at a political crossroads — trying to keep his most conservative lawmakers satisfied and prevent his own ouster. It’s a familiar political bind for McCarthy, who is juggling the impeachment inquiry and the government shutdown threat with no clear end game.

Government funding is to run out on Sept. 30, which is the end of the federal fiscal year, and Congress must pass new funding bills or risk a shutdown and the interruption of government services.

Biden’s White House has dismissed the impeachment push as politically motivated.

“Speaker McCarthy shouldn’t cave to the extreme, far-right members who are threatening to shut down the government unless they get a baseless, evidence-free impeachment of President Biden. The consequences for the American people are too serious,” White House spokesman Ian Sams has said.

The impeachment push comes as Trump, who was twice impeached by the House but acquitted by the Senate, faces more serious charges in court. Trump has been indicted four times this year, including for trying to overturn the 2020 election Biden won.

“This is a transparent effort to boost Donald Trump’s campaign by establishing a false moral equivalency between Trump — the four time-indicted former president” and Biden, who faces “zero evidence of wrongdoing whatsoever,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.

House Republicans are probing the business dealings of Hunter Biden but so far have not produced hard evidence linking them and the president. They have shown a few instances largely during the time the elder Biden was Barack Obama’s vice president when he spoke by phone with his son and stopped by dinners his son was hosting with business partners.

An impeachment inquiry would provide more heft to the House investigation, especially as it battles in court for access to Biden family financial records.

Republicans contend the Justice Department has not fully probed the allegations against Hunter Biden, and say he received preferential treatment in what they call a sweetheart plea deal that recently collapsed. The Department of Justice has appointed a special prosecutor in that probe.

“We will go wherever the evidence takes us,” McCarthy said.

The White House has insisted Biden was not involved in his son’s business dealings. And Democrats on the Oversight Committee are stepping up to fight against what they view as unfounded claims against him ahead of the 2024 election.

Rep. James Comer, the Republican chairman leading the Oversight Committee, is digging into the Biden family finances and is expected to seek banking records for Hunter Biden as the panel tries to follow the flow of money.

On Tuesday, Comer demanded the State Department produce documents about the work Biden did as vice president during the Obama administration to clean up corruption in Ukraine. Comer wants to understand the State Department’s views of former Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin, whom Biden and many Western allies wanted removed from office because of allegations of corruption.

This comes as federal government funding is set to run out on Sept. 30, which is the end of the federal fiscal year, and Congress must pass new funding bills or risk a shutdown and the interruption of government services.

Conservatives who power McCarty’s majority want to slash spending, and the hard right is unwilling to approve spending levels the speaker negotiated with Biden earlier this year.

McCarthy is trying to float a 30-day stopgap measure to keep government running to Nov. 1, but conservatives are balking at what’s called a continuing resolution, or CR, as they pursue cuts.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said late Monday exiting McCarthy’s office she has “red lines” against any new money being spent for COVID-19 vaccines or mandates or Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Another Republican, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, a top Trump ally, is warning that McCarthy could face blowback from conservatives if he does not push hard for spending cuts.

At the start of the year, Gaetz and other Republicans secured agreements from McCarthy as he struggled to win their votes to become House speaker.

Under the House rules, McCarthy’s opponents are able to call a vote at any time to try to oust the speaker from office.

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. will travel to Hanoi, Vietnam on September 10, 2023. While in Hanoi, President Biden will meet with General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and other key leaders to discuss ways to further deepen cooperation between the United States and Vietnam. The leaders will explore opportunities to promote the growth of a technology-focused and innovation-driven Vietnamese economy, expand our people-to-people ties through education exchanges and workforce development programs, combat climate change, and increase peace, prosperity, and stability in the region.

On Monday, September 11th, the President, Vice President, First Lady, and Second Gentleman will all mark the 22nd anniversary of the terror attacks on September 11th, 2001. The President will travel to Alaska to participate in a memorial ceremony with members of the military and their families. The Vice President and the Second Gentleman will participate in a commemoration ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York City. The First Lady will lay a wreath at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial to honor the lives lost on September 11th.