Ed. note: This is cross-posted on the U.S. Department of Transportation's blog. See the original post here.

Under the Obama administration, the U.S. Department of Transportation has been working hard to support communities across the country as they adapt the planning, development, and management of their transportation assets for greater resilience in the face of climate change. And earlier today, I kicked off a workshop to share tools and resources to help states, transit agencies, and local communities do just that.

This was an important workshop — more than 50 people attended in person with another 400 joining us online — and it comes at an important time in the history of transportation in the U.S.

U.S. Highway 90 bridge over Biloxi Bay after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

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In this week's address, the President celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act by underscoring the importance of one of the most fundamental rights of our democracy – that all of us are created equal and that each of us deserves a voice. The enactment of the Voting Rights Act wasn’t easy – it was the product of sacrifice from countless men and women who risked so much to protect every person’s right to vote.

The President reminded us about their struggle and that while our country is a better place because of it, there is still work to be done. He promised to continue to push Congress for new legislation to protect everyone’s right to the polls, and asked that all Americans, regardless of party, use every opportunity possible to exercise the fundamental right to vote.

Transcript | mp4 | mp3

This week, the President announced a new historic action to cut harmful carbon pollution, advocated for the Iran deal, celebrated his 54th birthday, and inaugurated a new class of Mandela fellows.

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Over the last few decades, the American workforce has evolved dramatically. Women now make up nearly half of our workforce and are a substantial majority of college graduates. Households are now more likely to involve a more even split of home and work responsibilities than ever before.

Yet the U.S. labor market has not fully adapted to these changes, with too few businesses recognizing that many of their workers — men and women — need to be able to balance home and professional responsibilities. Every day, businesses are realizing that change is essential to their bottom line.

As the developers of the next generation of business leaders, business schools, too, must adapt to the changing times.

On Wednesday, the Council on Women and Girls and the Council of Economic Advisers hosted a convening at the White House focused on opportunities for business schools and the business community to work together to ensure that students are trained to lead in the 21st century and to expand opportunities for women in business.  

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The economy added 215,000 jobs in July, while the unemployment rate held steady at 5.3 percent—its lowest level since 2008. Over the past two years, our economy created 5.7 million jobs, the strongest two-year job growth since 2000. And our businesses have created 13.0 million jobs over the past 65 straight months, extending the longest streak on record. But despite the rapid pace of recent growth, some slack left over from the financial crisis remains in our labor market, and there is more work to do to ensure that we continue to make progress. That’s why the President is committed to pushing Congress to increase investments in infrastructure as part of a long-term transportation reauthorization, opening new markets for U.S. goods and services through expanded trade, providing relief from the sequester, and raising the minimum wage.

FIVE KEY POINTS ON THE LABOR MARKET IN JULY 2015

1. The private sector has added 13.0 million jobs over 65 straight months of job growth, extending the longest streak on record. Today we learned that private-sector employment rose by 210,000 in July. Our businesses created more than 200,000 jobs in fifteen of the past seventeen months. In fact, we have created over 5.5 million private-sector jobs over the past two years—more than in any two-year period since 1997-1999.

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“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” has become one of the most influential programs on television by offering honest, passionate analysis and satirical commentary of the news. Politicians, network executives, and everyday Americans tune in four times a week and esteem his segments for their thoughtful monologues, sharp correspondents, and well-timed celebrity guests.

Since 1999, Jon Stewart has tackled current events and changed the way we talk about the world around us. His episodes show incredible range of emotion — from hilariously referring to President Obama as “dude,” to his powerful, solemn monologue after the shooting in Charleston.

Tonight, Stewart will give his last performance on “The Daily Show.” He and President Obama have shared the screen a total of seven times over the past 10 years, discussing the President's work as a Senator, on campaigns, and in the White House. Most recently, President Obama sat down with Stewart last month as part of the trailblazing final season.

Here are four of our favorite moments Jon Stewart has shared with President Obama over the years:

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Watch on YouTube

Fifty years ago, on August 6, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law — a landmark piece of legislation breaking down barriers across the South that prevented countless African Americans from voting.

This afternoon, President Obama hosted a discussion here at the White House to mark the Act's 50th anniversary, featuring Congressman John Lewis, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry, and others.

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This morning, Congressman John Lewis sent the following message to the White House email list, reflecting on the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and highlighting the barriers to the vote that are still present today.

Tune in at 2 p.m. ET today as President Obama leads a conversation in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act — followed by a discussion featuring Congressman John Lewis and Melissa Harris-Perry.

And if you didn't get the email, sign up for email updates here.

Every year, I head back to the birthplace of a new America — Selma, Alabama — where a determined struggle for voting rights transformed our democracy 50 years ago.

On March 7, 1965, Hosea Williams and I led a band of silent witnesses, 600 nonviolent crusaders, intending to march 50 miles to Montgomery — Alabama's capital — to demonstrate the need for voting rights in America.

At the foot of the bridge, we were met by Alabama state troopers who trampled peaceful protestors with horses and shot tear gas into the crowd. I was hit on the head with a nightstick and suffered a concussion on the bridge.

I thought that was going to be my last demonstration. I thought I might die that day.

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Ed. note: This is cross-posted on Medium.

The right to vote is one of the most fundamental rights of any democracy.

Fifty years ago today, because of the sacrifice of countless men and women, that right was secured for more Americans.

On August 6, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law — breaking down legal barriers at the state and local level that had prevented African Americans and others from exercising their constitutional right to vote.

Because of that law — one of our nation's most influential pieces of legislation — Americans who were previously disenfranchised and left out of the democratic process were finally able to cast a ballot. The law was designed to ensure that all American citizens, regardless of the color of their skin, had an equal opportunity to make their voices heard.

But that law didn’t come to pass because folks suddenly decided it was the right thing to do.

This past March, I had the honor of traveling to Selma, Alabama for the 50th anniversary of the “Bloody Sunday” march from Selma to Montgomery. Those who marched over the course of those five days in 1965 were fighting to ensure that African Americans could exercise their right to vote under the 15th Amendment of our Constitution. They were marching in the face of a segregationist system that wanted to deny them that right. 

And on one afternoon, two visions of America met on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Those nonviolent marchers, representing the idea that all men and women are created equal and deserved to be treated as such, stared into the faces of those who represented a South that stood for the racial segregation and oppression of Jim Crow.

Roughly 600 people stood on the right side of history that day — armed only with their faith, and the conviction that we could be better. They were willing to sacrifice their own bodies in order to help bring America closer to its ideals of equality and justice for all.

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