President's Schedule: Friday, April 23

It's a pretty quiet day for the President. He'll deliver remarks at a naturalization ceremony for active duty service members. Rose Garden at 10am. Obama and Mrs. Obama later fly down to Ashville, NC for a bit of R & R. But their "weekend" will be cut short by Sunday's trip to West Virginia, where the President will deliver the eulogy at a memorial service for the 29 coal miners recently killed.

Looking ahead to next week: the President heads to the heartland, for the latest stops on his so-called "Main Street" tour. He'll visit Iowa, Missouri and Illinois on Tuesday and Wednesday. We'll probably get details on the rest of the week ahead later today.

Immigration Top Priority

With Hispanics - two-thirds of whom voted for Obama in 2008 but are wobbly on Democrats this election year - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have reversed course and now put immigration reform at the top of their to-do list. Reid says he'll bring a Senate bill to the floor later this year, and Pelosi says she'll follow suit. It's no coincidence that several Democratic Senators in uphill reelection fights are from states with large Hispanic populations: California's Barbara Boxer, Colorado's Michael Bennet and Reid's Nevada, where 15% of the voters are Hispanic.

The core of immigration legislation would include yet another effort to beef up the Mexican border, create a guest worker program, and develop e biometric ID card to help verify that only legal workers are hired by U.S. firms. The bill would also create a path to U.S. citizenship for millions already here illegaly.

Energy Bill on Monday

Meantime, a new energy and climate bill will be introduced in the Senate on Monday. Unlike the House energy/climate bill that passed a year ago, this legislation - crafted by John Kerry (D-Mass), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), will focus on curbing emissions from power plants and block the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant. It will also create a wayfor industries to "trade" credits allowing them to emit CO2 and other greenhouse gases.

The bill won't include higher gasoline taxes - an idea shot down by President Obama and Sens. Graham and Kerry.

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In-Town Travel Pool
Wires: AP, Reuters, Bloomberg
Wire Photos: AP, Reuters, AFP
TV Corr & Crew: CNN
Print: Tribune
Radio: AURN

Out-of-Town Travel Pool
Wires: AP, Reuters, Bloomberg
Wire Photos: AP, Reuters, AFP
TV Corr & Crew: CNN
Print: Politico
Radio: CBS


EDT


8:45AM In-Town Travel Pool Call Time

10:00AM THE PRESIDENT delivers remarks at a naturalization ceremony for active duty service members

Rose Garden
Open Press (Pre-set 9:00AM – Final Gather 9:30AM – North Doors of the Palm Room)

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On This Day

1789: President Washington moved into New York's Franklin House. It was the first official presidential home, before the White House was built.

1908: President Theodore Roosevelt signed an act creating the U.S. Army Reserve.

Presidential Quote

"May our country be always successful, but whether successful or otherwise, always right."
- John Quincy Adams