The Nobel Prize Committee The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons. Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama's initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened. Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population. For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world's leading spokesman. The Committee endorses Obama's appeal that "Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges." Here's a partial list of President Obama's accomplishments: ECONOMY The President signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The President announced the "Making Home Affordable" home refinancing plan. The President launched a $15 billion plan to boost lending to small businesses. The President and Secretary Geithner announced the details of the Financial Stability Plan. President Obama played a lead role in G-20 Summit that produced a $1.1 trillion deal to combat the global financial crisis. The President signed the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act which gives the federal government more tools to investigate and prosecute fraud, from lending to the financial system, and creates a bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to investigate the financial practices that brought us to this point. The President signed the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, expanding on the Making Home Affordable Program to help millions of Americans avoid preventable foreclosures, providing $2.2 billion to help combat homelessness , and helping to stabilize the housing market for everybody. The President signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act to protect Americans from unfair and deceptive credit card practices. DEFENSE Renewed dialogue with NATO and other allies and partners on strategic issues. Announced a plan to responsibly end the war in Iraq. Developed a comprehensive new strategy on Afghanistan and Pakistan and authorized deployment of more than 21,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan. Announced creation of a Joint Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record for members of the U.S. Armed Forces to improve quality of medical care. DISABILITY The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included a number of provisions of particular concern to people with disabilities. The Act included $500 million to help the Social Security Administration reduce its backlog in processing disability applications. The Act supplied $12.2 billion in funding to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); The Act also provided $87 billion to states to bolster their Medicaid programs during the downturn; and, The Act provided over $500 million in funding for vocational rehabilitation services to help with job training, education and placement. CIVIL RIGHTS The President signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, restoring basic protections against pay discrimination for women and other workers. EDUCATION The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act invested heavily in education both as a way to provide jobs now and lay the foundation for long-term prosperity. The Act includes $5 billion for early learning programs, including Head Start, Early Head Start, child care, and programs for children with special needs. The Act also provides $77 billion for reforms to strengthen elementary and secondary education, including $48.6 billion to stabilize state education budgets (of which $8.8 billion may be used for other government services) and to encourage states to: Make improvements in teacher effectiveness and ensure that all schools have highly-qualified teachers; Make progress toward college and career-ready standards and rigorous assessments that will improve both teaching and learning; Improve achievement in low-performing schools, through intensive support and effective interventions; and Gather information to improve student learning, teacher performance, and college and career readiness through enhanced data systems. The Act provides $5 billion in competitive funds to spur innovation and chart ambitious reform to close the achievement gap. The Act includes over $30 billion to address college affordability and improve access to higher education. ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT "So we have a choice to make. We can remain one of the world's leading importers of foreign oil, or we can make the investments that would allow us to become the world's leading exporter of renewable energy. We can let climate change continue to go unchecked, or we can help stop it. We can let the jobs of tomorrow be created abroad, or we can create those jobs right here in America and lay the foundation for lasting prosperity." -President Obama, March 19, 2009 The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included more than $60 billion in clean energy investments that will jump-start our economy and build the clean energy jobs of tomorrow: $11 billion for a bigger, better, and smarter grid that will move renewable energy from the rural places it is produced to the cities where it is mostly used, as well as for 40 million smart meters to be deployed in American homes. $5 billion for low-income home weatherization projects. $4.5 billion to green federal buildings and cut our energy bill, saving taxpayers billions of dollars. $6.3 billion for state and local renewable energy and energy efficiency efforts. $600 million in green job training