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I congratulate the people of Iraq for casting their ballots in this important parliamentary election. I have great respect for the millions of Iraqis who refused to be deterred by acts of violence, and who exercised their right to vote today. Their participation demonstrates that the Iraqi people have chosen to shape their future through the political process. I commend the Iraqi government and Iraqi Security Forces for providing security at nearly 50,000 voting booths at more than 8,000 polling stations across Iraq. We mourn the tragic loss of life today, and honor the courage and resilience of the Iraqi people who once again defied threats to advance their democracy.  Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi poll workers contributed to the effort, as well as domestic party and civil society observers. Iraqi citizens around the world also participated in these elections, including Iraqis living in the U.S. who voted in Arlington (VA), Chicago, Dallas, Dearborn, Nashville, Phoenix, San Diego, and San Francisco. The important work of Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) will continue in the days to come as it counts ballots, tabulates results and investigates complaints. We also salute the invaluable assistance provided by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI).

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Statement by the President on Iraqi Elections

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Forty years ago today, in the midst of a Cold War, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) entered into force, becoming the cornerstone of the world’s efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.  Today, the threat of global nuclear war has passed, but the danger of nuclear proliferation endures, making the basic bargain of the NPT more important than ever: nations with nuclear weapons will move toward disarmament, nations without nuclear weapons will forsake them, and all nations have an “inalienable right” to peaceful nuclear energy. Each of these three pillars — disarmament, nonproliferation and peaceful uses — are central to the vision that I outlined in Prague of stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and seeking a world without them. To promote disarmament, the United States is working with Russia to complete negotiations on a new START Treaty that will significantly reduce our nuclear arsenals.  Our forthcoming Nuclear Posture Review will move beyond outdated Cold War thinking and reduce the number and role of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy, even as we maintain a safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent.  In addition, we will seek to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and negotiate a treaty to end the production of fissile material for use in nuclear weapons. To prevent proliferation, we will build on the historic resolution that we achieved at the United Nations Security Council last September by bringing together more than 40 nations at our Nuclear Security Summit next month with the goal of securing the world’s vulnerable nuclear materials in four years.  At this spring’s treaty review conference and beyond, we will continue to work with allies and partners to strengthen the NPT and to enforce the rights and responsibilities of every nation, because the world cannot afford additional proliferation or regional arms races. Finally, to ensure the peaceful use of nuclear energy, the United States seeks a new framework for civil nuclear cooperation among nations, including an international fuel bank and the necessary resources and authority to strengthen the International Atomic Energy Agency.  For nations that uphold their responsibilities, peaceful nuclear energy can help unlock advances in medicine, agriculture and economic development. It took years of focused effort among many nations to bring the NPT into force four decades ago and to sustain it as the most widely embraced nuclear agreement in history.  On this 40th anniversary, the United States reaffirms our resolve to strengthen the nonproliferation regime to meet the challenges of the 21st century as we pursue our ultimate vision of a world without nuclear weapons.

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Statement by President Obama on the 40th Anniversary of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty

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By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 3345 et seq., it is hereby ordered that: Section 1. Order of Succession. (a) Subject to the provisions of section 2 of this order, the following officials of the Department of Defense, in the order listed, shall act as and perform the functions and duties of the office of the Secretary of Defense (Secretary) during any period in which the Secretary has died, resigned, or otherwise become unable to perform the functions and duties of the office of the Secretary, until such time as the Secretary is able to perform the functions and duties of that office: (1) Deputy Secretary of Defense; (2) Secretary of the Army; (3) Secretary of the Navy; (4) Secretary of the Air Force; (5) Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics; (6) Under Secretary of Defense for Policy; (7) Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller); (8) Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness; (9) Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence; (10) Deputy Chief Management Officer, Department of Defense; (11) Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics; (12) Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy; (13) Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller); (14) Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness; (15) Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence; (16) Director of Defense Research and Engineering; (17) General Counsel of the Department of Defense, the Assistant Secretaries of Defense, the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Chemical and Biological Defense Programs, the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, the Director of Operational Energy Plans and Programs, and the Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation; (18) Under Secretaries of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force; and (19) Assistant Secretaries of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force, and General Counsels of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force. (b) Precedence among officers designated within the same paragraph of subsection (a) shall be determined by the order in which they have been appointed to such office. Where officers designated within the same paragraph of subsection (a) have the same appointment date, precedence shall be determined by the order in which they have taken the oath to serve in that office. Sec. 2. Exceptions. (a) No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 1 in an acting capacity, by virtue of so serving, shall act as Secretary pursuant to this order. (b) No individual listed in section 1 shall act as Secretary unless that individual was appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and that individual is otherwise eligible to so serve under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, as amended. (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of this order, the President retains discretion, to the extent permitted by law, to depart from this order in designating an acting Secretary. Sec. 3. Revocation. Executive Order 13394 of December 22, 2005 (Providing An Order of Succession Within the Department of Defense), is hereby revoked. Sec. 4. Judicial Review. This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. BARACK OBAMA THE WHITE HOUSE, March 1, 2010.

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Executive Order– Providing an Order of Succession within the Department of Defense

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