For the past few years, the government's been relentless about making the American people respect the importance of cybersecurity. Obama's given speeches, written newspaper columns, and issued executive orders to drive that point home. This is serious business! So why are the Army's own instructional videos so silly?
A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013. Stocks are surging on Wall Street after Senate leaders reached a deal that would avoid a U.S. default and reopen the government after 16 days of being partially shut down. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013. Stocks are surging on Wall Street after Senate leaders reached a deal that would avoid a U.S. default and reopen the government after 16 days of being partially shut down. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013. Stocks are surging on Wall Street after Senate leaders reached a deal that would avoid a U.S. default and reopen the government after 16 days of being partially shut down. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013. Stocks are surging on Wall Street after Senate leaders reached a deal that would avoid a U.S. default and reopen the government after 16 days of being partially shut down. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013. Stocks are surging on Wall Street after Senate leaders reached a deal that would avoid a U.S. default and reopen the government after 16 days of being partially shut down. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street finally got the deal it's been waiting for.
A last-minute agreement to keep the U.S. from defaulting on its debt and reopen the government sent the stock market soaring Wednesday, lifting the Standard & Poor's 500 index close to a record high.
The deal was reached just hours before a deadline to raise the nation's $16.7 trillion debt limit. Senate leaders agreed to extend government borrowing through Feb. 7 and to fund the government through Jan. 15.
The agreement follows a month of political gridlock that threatened to make America a deadbeat and derail global markets, which depend on the U.S. to pay its bills. American government debt is widely considered the world's safest investment.
Markets stayed largely calm throughout the drama in Washington, with the S&P 500 actually gaining 2.4 percent since the shutdown began Oct. 1, after House Republicans demanded changes to President Barack Obama's health care law before passing a budget.
Wall Street gambled that politicians wouldn't let the U.S. default, a calamity economists said could paralyze lending and push the economy into another recession.
"We knew it was going to be dramatic, but the consequences of a U.S. default are just so severe that the base case was always that a compromise was going to be reached," said Tom Franks, a managing director at TIAA CREF, a large retirement funds manager.
Congress was racing to pass the legislation before the Thursday deadline.
If the deal wraps up soon, investors can turn their attention back to economic basics like third-quarter earnings. Overall earnings at companies in the S&P 500 index are forecast to grow 3.1 percent from a year earlier, according to data from S&P Capital IQ. That's slower than the growth of 4.9 percent in the second quarter and 5.2 percent in the first quarter.
It will be harder for Wall Street to get an up-to-date view of the economy because the partial government shutdown that began Oct. 1 has kept agencies from releasing key reports on trends like hiring. In general, though, the economy has been expanding this year.
Despite broad confidence that the political parties would strike a deal, the Dow went through rough patches over the last month, at one point falling as much as 900 points below an all-time high reached on Sept. 18. The Dow has seen seven triple-digit moves in the last 10 trading days.
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones climbed 205.82 points, or 1.4 percent, to 15,373.83. The S&P 500 gained 23.48, or 1.4 percent, at 1,721.54. That's only four points below its record close of 1,725.52 set Sept. 18.
The Nasdaq composite climbed 45.42, or 1.2 percent, to 3,839.43.
The feeling among stock traders in recent days was that panicking and pulling money out of stocks could mean missing out on a rally after Washington came to an agreement. Investors have also become inured to Washington's habit of reaching budget and debt deals at the last minute.
"Investors have become, unfortunately, accustomed to some of the dysfunction," said Eric Wiegand, a senior portfolio manager at U.S. Bank. "It's become more the norm than the exception."
In the summer of 2011, the S&P 500 index plunged 17 percent between early July and early August as lawmakers argued over raising the debt limit, and Standard & Poor's cut the U.S. credit rating from AAA, its highest ranking. The market later recovered.
Stocks also slumped in the last two weeks of 2012 as investors fretted that the U.S. could go over the "fiscal cliff" as lawmakers argued over a series of automatic government spending cuts. Stocks rebounded and began a strong rally that has propelled the S&P 500 up almost 21 percent this year.
Some were glad that investors could now turn their focus back to the traditional drivers of the market rather than worrying whether the latest dispatch from Washington would shake stocks.
"It's a little bit silly in the short term for markets to go down so much on press conferences and then to go up so much on rumors," said Brad Sorensen, director of market and sector research at the Schwab Center for Financial Research. "We've urged investors to pull back a little bit and look at the longer term."
The market for U.S. Treasury bills reflected relief among bond investors. The yield on the one-month T-bill dropped to 0.13 percent from 0.40 percent Wednesday morning, an extraordinarily large move. The decline means that investors consider the bill, which would have come due around the time a default may have occurred, to be less risky.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged down to 2.67 percent from 2.74 percent Tuesday. Yields on longer-term U.S. government debt haven't moved as much as those on short-term debt because investors believed that the government would work out a longer-term solution.
Among stocks making big moves:
— Bank of America rose 32 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $14.56 after the second-largest U.S. bank reported a surge in third-quarter earnings.
— Stanley Black & Decker plunged $12.70, or 14.3 percent, to $76.75 after the company lowered its profit forecast for the year, citing slower growth in emerging markets and a hit from the U.S. government shutdown.
___
AP Markets Writer Ken Sweet contributed to this report.
"As business operations become more global in nature, collaboration and sharing will become an essential element for enterprise customers," explained MediaFire CEO Derek Labian. "For consumers, cloud-based storage solutions are quickly becoming competitive with localized storage options, and often, the advantages of having a reliable cloud storage solution outweigh the cost savings of localized backup."
Security and privacy concerns may be far outweighed for many users by the convenience and appeal of the cloud, but users need to view cloud access as more than just another storage utility on the desktop.
That's according to Derek Labian, CEO of cloud storage service MediaFire. Instead, cloud users need to focus on cloud performance and application functionality, Labian suggests.
MediaFire's Derek Labian
MediaFire's founders are committed to using open source software extensively both for development and within the company's Web applications for media playback. For example, JPlayer drives MediaFire's new media player.
In this interview, LinuxInsider and Labian, who oversees MediaFire's strategic planning and engineering direction, discuss the continuing changes in cloud storage technology and the challenges arising beyond the next cloud technology horizon.
LinuxInsider: What are the big misconceptions that companies and individual users have about cloud storage?
Derek Labian: Everyday users need cloud storage, but they don't know it. Cloud storage is often only depicted as a utility, but it can be much more than that. If cloud storage providers want to really connect with consumers, they have to make their services fun to use.
Security is another huge issue that needs to be addressed. With consumer concerns over cloud storage at an all-time high from concerns around PRISM, it is incredibly important that the industry as a whole works together to address user privacy.
LI: How can a cloud storage provider make its services fun to use?
Labian: That is an ongoing process. What we are trying to do is put out a set of tools that makes using the cloud more of a lifestyle service -- tools that can help you aggregate your media together automatically and help you work with it, use it in native formats and get away from the cost of the files. The underlying technology is still very similar among cloud source providers and all those other competing technologies. The difference is how we present the cloud to the users, organize it and how we allow you to work with it.
LI: In light of the recent disclosures involving PRISM, what are the most pressing security concerns facing users of cloud storage?
Labian: I would say that in general all the cloud technologies have the same concerns, whether it is email or storage or any other cloud-based service, because security issues are becoming more and more prevalent. Basically a week does not go by that we do not see instances where somebody was hacked, but I don't think these individual cases are going to slow down the growth of the industry. It is just too appealing. Cloud storage is just too convenient for us, and it enhances our lives too much to let it slow our usage down. So the technology will continue to improve and evolve, and I think those concerns won't be concerns going forward.
LI: How are large storage strategies changing to handle the run towards cloud storage?
Labian: As business operations become more global in nature, collaboration and sharing will become an essential element for enterprise customers. For consumers, cloud-based storage solutions are quickly becoming competitive with localized storage options, and often, the advantages of having a reliable cloud storage solution outweigh the cost savings of localized backup.
LI: What price-performance requirements should cloud storage adopters have at the top of their list?
Labian: Consumers are less focused on storage as a performance metric and more focused on accessibility and features that let them use online storage effectively. While storage numbers are a great selling point, cloud-based services need to offer users more than just storage. Instead, cloud storage adopters need to look at network performance, platform flexibility and functionality as the main features that matter when it comes to selecting a cloud storage provider. For Linux users, having a reliable desktop client is a plus.
LI: Do you see the focus on cloud storage changing the landscape for converged infrastructure and shared services?
Labian: Cloud storage is a piece of the puzzle, as Steve Jobs would say. It is a tool, not a product. As such, cloud storage integration is going to be an underlying layer powering new products as well as revising how we use shared services and think of infrastructure.
LI: What trends do you see on the horizon for cloud storage?
Labian: We see the cloud storage model evolving into five key trends. One, cloud storage is going to eventually become completely seamless. Two, online storage is going to move towards becoming more of a service offering: Users have a ton of content, but managing it all is a pain. Three, storage becomes individualized; "This is my data; my data goes with me wherever I go." Four, we will move away from the concept of "files" and towards working with media as media, as in photos, videos, audio and documents. Five, content discovery will become a huge growth opportunity.
Jack M. Germain has been writing about computer technology since the early days of the Apple II and the PC. He still has his original IBM PC-Jr and a few other legacy DOS and Windows boxes. He left shareware programs behind for the open source world of the Linux desktop. He runs several versions of Windows and Linux OSes and often cannot decide whether to grab his tablet, netbook or Android smartphone instead of using his desktop or laptop gear.
In this framegrabbed image from APTN the entrance to the Tom Bradley International Terminal in Los Angeles can be seen Tuesday Oct. 15, 2013. A baggage handler was arrested Tuesday in connection with dry ice explosions Sunday and Monday at Los Angeles International Airport after police stepped up patrols and increased its checks on employees. Dicarlo Bennett, a 28-year-old employee for the ground handling company Servisair, was booked for possession of a destructive device near an aircraft. (AP Photo\APTN)
In this framegrabbed image from APTN the entrance to the Tom Bradley International Terminal in Los Angeles can be seen Tuesday Oct. 15, 2013. A baggage handler was arrested Tuesday in connection with dry ice explosions Sunday and Monday at Los Angeles International Airport after police stepped up patrols and increased its checks on employees. Dicarlo Bennett, a 28-year-old employee for the ground handling company Servisair, was booked for possession of a destructive device near an aircraft. (AP Photo\APTN)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A baggage handler has been arrested following a police investigation into two dry ice explosions at Los Angeles International Airport.
Dicarlo Bennett, a 28-year-old employee for the ground handling company Servisair, was booked Tuesday for possession of a destructive device near an aircraft. He is being held on $1 million bail.
Police had stepped up patrols and increased its checks on employees after the blasts took place Sunday night and then again Monday night.
Bennett took the dry ice from a plane and placed it in an employee restroom Sunday night and another device that was found on a tarmac outside the international terminal, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation who wasn't authorized to speak publicly.
Police had previously said they didn't believe the explosions were an act of terror because of the locations of the devices and because people weren't targeted.
No one was injured in either incident, although some flights were delayed Sunday.
The incidents could be the work of a disgruntled employee due to an internal labor dispute, said Los Angeles Police Department Deputy Chief Michael Downing, who heads the department's counter-terrorism and special operations bureau.
Swissport recently agreed to acquire Servisair and the transaction is expected to close by the end of the year. An afterhours message seeking comment from Servisair was not immediately returned.
It wasn't immediately known what Bennett's motives were, but he was riding in a van with several others, including a supervisor, when he decided to plant one of the dry ice bombs, the official told The Associated Press. Those in the van were aware of the dry ice, the official said, but no other arrests have been made.
The bombs were made by putting dry ice in 20-ounce plastic bottles and could have caused serious injury to anyone in close proximity, Downing said.
One device exploded in an employee men's room Sunday night in Terminal 2. Remnants of an exploded bottle also were found that night on the tarmac area near the Tom Bradley International Terminal, but an employee threw it away. The same employee found an unexploded bottle Monday evening and then reported what he found the previous day.
While there are cameras in some of these restricted-access areas, Downing said there isn't as much camera coverage as in the public-access areas and investigators had been reviewing available video.
Dry ice is widely used by vendors to keep food fresh.
Oxford, October 15, 2013 -- Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and solutions announces the launch of a new open access journal, Case Studies in Fire Safety.
Case Studies in Fire Safety provides an exciting new publication outlet for facility designers, fire safety engineers and researchers to share case studies and short communications about practical problems in fire science, design and engineering.
Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Peter Johnson, Fellow at global design firm Arup, said of the launch, "Our built environment is changing with global urbanization and the increased production of taller buildings. We face major new challenges of climate change and forest fires, and internationally we have had some particularly damaging industrial fires. Alongside high quality theory-based research, insights into and sharing of practical design solutions is needed to address many of these problems. Case Studies in Fire Safety provides an open forum for sharing of such insights and solutions. It will offer a valuable resource for practitioners and researchers working in all fields of fire safety."
"We're delighted to announce the launch of this new journal. The publication format is designed to suit the needs of both the academic community and practitioners working in fire science and fire safety engineering fields," said Joe d'Angelo, Publisher for Civil Engineering journals at Elsevier. "There's a clear need for both academics and practitioners to share their experience and new ideas relating to fire safety, helping to avoid preventable and sometimes catastrophic oversights."
Case Studies in Fire Safety is part of a series of "Case Studies in" open access journals published by Elsevier within the field of engineering. Journals in the series will all follow the article based publishing model, allowing for immediate publication of final version of a paper without waiting for other articles to be ready to compile a full issue.
For more information or to submit an article, go to Case Studies in Fire Safety.
###
About Open Access engineering journal series, "Case Studies in"
The Case Studies series of journals are a new format of publication covering all aspects of engineering. They aim to connect researchers and practitioners working in a variety of subject areas by publishing short and accessible technical articles. They provide immediate, free and permanent access to technical research on ScienceDirect for the community of practicing engineers and researchers to read, download and learn from. Authors are provided detailed individual feedback on how many times their paper has been read and which countries the readership comes from. These Case Studies journals aim for a turnaround time from submission to publication of no more than three months.
Journals in the series will all follow the article based publishing model, allowing for immediate publication of the finalized paper without waiting for other articles to be ready to compile a full issue.
Case Studies Journals:
Case Studies in Engineering Failure Analysis
Case Studies in Thermal Engineering
Case Studies in Construction Materials
Case Studies in Structural Engineering
About Open Access Publishing at Elsevier
Elsevier has been providing open access publishing options since 2005. Today, researchers can choose to publish open access in over 1,600 established peer-reviewed journals as well as 46 full open access journals and these numbers will continue to grow rapidly. All of Elsevier's open access publications have been peer reviewed, ensuring that the broader community not only reads the latest research but that it is factual, original and of the highest quality and ethical standards. For more information about Elsevier's open access program, visit http://www.elsevier.com/openaccess
About Elsevier
Elsevier is a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include ScienceDirect, Scopus, SciVal, Reaxys, ClinicalKey and Mosby's Suite, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, helping research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.
A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world leading provider of professional information solutions. The group employs more than 30,000 people, including more than 15,000 in North America. Reed Elsevier Group PLC is owned equally by two parent companies, Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. Their shares are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RUK and ENL.
Media contact
Laure Ballu
Elsevier
+44 1865 84 3058
l.ballu@elsevier.com
[
| E-mail
| Share
]
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Elsevier announces the launch an open access journal: Case Studies in Fire Safety
Oxford, October 15, 2013 -- Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and solutions announces the launch of a new open access journal, Case Studies in Fire Safety.
Case Studies in Fire Safety provides an exciting new publication outlet for facility designers, fire safety engineers and researchers to share case studies and short communications about practical problems in fire science, design and engineering.
Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Peter Johnson, Fellow at global design firm Arup, said of the launch, "Our built environment is changing with global urbanization and the increased production of taller buildings. We face major new challenges of climate change and forest fires, and internationally we have had some particularly damaging industrial fires. Alongside high quality theory-based research, insights into and sharing of practical design solutions is needed to address many of these problems. Case Studies in Fire Safety provides an open forum for sharing of such insights and solutions. It will offer a valuable resource for practitioners and researchers working in all fields of fire safety."
"We're delighted to announce the launch of this new journal. The publication format is designed to suit the needs of both the academic community and practitioners working in fire science and fire safety engineering fields," said Joe d'Angelo, Publisher for Civil Engineering journals at Elsevier. "There's a clear need for both academics and practitioners to share their experience and new ideas relating to fire safety, helping to avoid preventable and sometimes catastrophic oversights."
Case Studies in Fire Safety is part of a series of "Case Studies in" open access journals published by Elsevier within the field of engineering. Journals in the series will all follow the article based publishing model, allowing for immediate publication of final version of a paper without waiting for other articles to be ready to compile a full issue.
For more information or to submit an article, go to Case Studies in Fire Safety.
###
About Open Access engineering journal series, "Case Studies in"
The Case Studies series of journals are a new format of publication covering all aspects of engineering. They aim to connect researchers and practitioners working in a variety of subject areas by publishing short and accessible technical articles. They provide immediate, free and permanent access to technical research on ScienceDirect for the community of practicing engineers and researchers to read, download and learn from. Authors are provided detailed individual feedback on how many times their paper has been read and which countries the readership comes from. These Case Studies journals aim for a turnaround time from submission to publication of no more than three months.
Journals in the series will all follow the article based publishing model, allowing for immediate publication of the finalized paper without waiting for other articles to be ready to compile a full issue.
Case Studies Journals:
Case Studies in Engineering Failure Analysis
Case Studies in Thermal Engineering
Case Studies in Construction Materials
Case Studies in Structural Engineering
About Open Access Publishing at Elsevier
Elsevier has been providing open access publishing options since 2005. Today, researchers can choose to publish open access in over 1,600 established peer-reviewed journals as well as 46 full open access journals and these numbers will continue to grow rapidly. All of Elsevier's open access publications have been peer reviewed, ensuring that the broader community not only reads the latest research but that it is factual, original and of the highest quality and ethical standards. For more information about Elsevier's open access program, visit http://www.elsevier.com/openaccess
About Elsevier
Elsevier is a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include ScienceDirect, Scopus, SciVal, Reaxys, ClinicalKey and Mosby's Suite, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, helping research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.
A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world leading provider of professional information solutions. The group employs more than 30,000 people, including more than 15,000 in North America. Reed Elsevier Group PLC is owned equally by two parent companies, Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. Their shares are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RUK and ENL.
Media contact
Laure Ballu
Elsevier
+44 1865 84 3058
l.ballu@elsevier.com
[
| E-mail
| Share
]
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Pitbull is one of a growing list of celebrities who have opened their wallets or given their names to charter schools.
Jeff Daly/AP
Pitbull is one of a growing list of celebrities who have opened their wallets or given their names to charter schools.
Jeff Daly/AP
Rapper Pitbull (Armando Christian Pérez) is the latest in a long list of celebrities lending their star power to the flourishing charter school movement. Alicia Keyes, Denzel Washington, Shakira, Oprah — all support or sponsor charter schools.
The Sports Leadership And Management Academy (SLAM), Pitbull's new public charter school for students in grades six through 12, opened this fall in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood. Pitbull says SLAM's sports theme has a vocational bent as a way to hook kids for whom school is boring.
"If sports is what you love, one way or another, it's a business you can get involved with ... whether you're a therapist, an attorney, a broadcaster," he says. "They're already labeling me 'Mr. Education.' "
It's an interesting twist, considering that at the last school Pitbull attended, the principal couldn't wait to get rid of him. "He literally told me, 'I don't want you in my school ... gonna give you your diploma ... get out of here.' "
Pitbull's parting words were: "Thank you."
Seventeen-year-old Austin Rivera says he transferred to SLAM after Pitbull spoke at his previous school. "He came from nothing and became something huge. ... It shows like not a lot of people are handed everything," Austin says.
"[A] lot of these kids are so creative ... but no one believes in them. ... No one motives them," Pitbull says. "I relate to them ... but then I give it to them raw."
The rapper's parents fled Cuba and settled in Miami, where they struggled. His father went to jail for dealing drugs. And at 16, Pitbull began dealing, too — and rapping. He chose the name "Pitbull" because, he says, pit bulls are too stupid to lose. The name and the "outlaw" image stuck.
Pitbull's breakthrough hit came in 2004 with a song titled "Culo," a vulgar word in Spanish and "booty" in the rap vernacular.
It wasn't long before Pitbull was making millions, touring with rappers Eminem and 50 Cent. Pitbull's problems with drugs and alcohol, his womanizing and his profanity-laced lyrics didn't exactly qualify him for opening a charter school. Surprisingly, parents and educators at SLAM didn't think that should disqualify him, either.
Critics say Pitbull is not the issue. It's the school itself that they find objectionable.
"[I] don't know if it's going to provide something useful at the end of the day," says Raquel Regalado, who is on the Miami-Dade County Public Schools' school board. "I guess you can expect Pitbull to show up every now and then, and that's cool if you're a Pitbull fan ... [but] how does that translate into academic achievement? That's the difficult part of this that parents don't understand. ... I think it's a marketing ploy, honestly."
Nina Reese, who heads the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, says she's not about to apologize for supporting the rapper's school.
"Whether it's Pitbull or Meryl Streep in Rhode Island or Sandra Bullock in Louisiana," she says, "charters do benefit from celebrities because public schools, they do have to market themselves to families because these are schools of choice."
Reese says she has no problem with Pitbull's music, either.
"We're not endorsing his music, but welcoming him as an investor," Reese says. Besides, she adds, everybody is entitled to their own tastes. "I admit that I'm a fan of his music."
Three of Pitbull's six children attend charter schools.
"I'm not just a charter school advocate. ... I'm a charter school parent," Pitbull said when talking at this year's National Charter School Conference in D.C. "And that makes me one of you."
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that stalled immigration reform would be a top priority once the fiscal crisis has been resolved.
"Once that's done, you know, the day after, I'm going to be pushing to say, call a vote on immigration reform," he told the Los Angeles affiliate of Spanish-language television network Univision.
The president's domestic agenda has been sidetracked in his second term by one problem after another. As he coped with the revelation of domestic surveillance programs, chemical weapons in Syria, and a fiscal battle that has shut down the U.S. government and threatens a debt default, immigration has been relegated to the back burner.
But Obama, who won re-election with overwhelming Hispanic backing, had hoped to make reforms easing the plight of the 11 million immigrants who are in the United States illegally.
In June, the Senate passed an immigration overhaul, but House of Representatives Republicans are divided over the granting of legal status to those in the country illegally, a step many see as rewarding lawbreakers.
Although the president had sought comprehensive reform, he said last month he would be open to the House taking a piece-by-piece approach if that would get the job done.
Obama on Tuesday blamed House Speaker John Boehner for preventing immigration from coming up for a vote.
"We had a very strong Democratic and Republican vote in the Senate," he said. "The only thing right now that's holding it back is, again, Speaker Boehner not willing to call the bill on the floor of the House of Representatives."
Boehner said the sweeping Senate bill would not pass the House and has said the lower chamber would tackle the issue in smaller sections that would include stricter provisions on border protection.
(Reporting By Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Stacey Joyce)
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