From the White House: "As we enter the season of giving and renewal, more than 13.3 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia remain in urgent need of humanitarian assistance amid the worst drought the region has seen in 60 years. The heartbreaking accounts of lives lost and of those struggling to survive remind us of our common humanity and the need to reach out to people in need. I want to thank the many Americans who have reached out in support, and made donations over the last several months to support people in need in the Horn of Africa.

Today, on behalf of the U.S. Government and the American people, I am announcing an additional $113 million in emergency relief assistance for the Horn of Africa. This funding will support urgently needed food, health, shelter, water and assistance needs. To date, the U.S. has provided approximately $870 million for relief purposes. Importantly, and even as we help to meet the emergency needs of the people of this region, we are also investing in their long-term food security http://www.feedthefuture.gov/.

Environmental groups today sent a letter to the inspector general of the State Department asking for an investigation of its review of the Keystone XL pipeline project. The Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth and other groups list examples of what they say were violations of government ethics rules. (See their press release and a link to their letter here). 

The State Department has to decide whether to give a permit to the 1,700-mile pipeline from Canada's oil sands to Texas because it crosses the boundary. The decision ultimately is up to President Obama. The environmental groups say he should reject it.

Climate change alone is enough reason, said Michael Brune, the director of the Sierra Club, speaking in a call with reporters. "The problem is pretty simple, which is we have to quickly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from conventional fossil fuels," he said. The groups also oppose the pipeline because of the risk of spills on the land and into the aquifer under the Great Plains that supplies water to much of American agriculture.

Brune said the groups are waiting to see whether the administration approves new rules to reduce pollution from coal-fired power plants, goes ahead with greenhouse-gas regulations for large plants, and rejects the pipeline. "We don't think we can mobilize our members (to work for Obama's re-election) until the president decides to fight climate change and stand up to big polluters," he said.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell ripped into President Obama's bus tour today, saying the $447 billion jobs package would raise taxes on businesses and smother job growth.

"It’s completely preposterous at a time when 14 million Americans are looking for a job in this country for the President to be riding around on a bus saying we should raise taxes — on the very folks who create jobs," McConnell said on the Senate floor.

"Let’s park the campaign bus, put away the talking points, and do something to address this jobs crisis," he said.

Obama strategist David Axelrod defended the jobs push on the CBS/Early Show, citing polls that show a majority of Americans back the jobs bill.

"They want action now to put people back to work and they think that the proposals the president has put forward will work," he said. "What he wants to do is enlist the American people to talk to their lawmakers and to talk to the folks on Capitol Hill and tell them to act."

Left to Right: Republican U.S. Sens. Mark Kirk of Illinois, Marco Rubio of Florida, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and John McCain of Arizona, in Libya.

Fresh off a visit to the newly liberated Libyan capital of Tripoli, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said the new government in the North African nation needs international help with its police force, its prisons and its fledgling democracy.

Rubio, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, traveled Thursday to Libya with fellow Republican Sens. Mark Kirk of Illinois, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John McCain of Arizona.

Rubio said he told those he met in Tripoli that people who are oppressed in other parts of the world have looked to the Libyan revolution as inspiration. He also said the American role in aiding the transition is vital for the region.

"All in all, we're pleased with the progress they've made," Rubio said. "We're very happy to see the pro-American enthusiasm that we encountered. And we have hope for Libya's future. Five years from now, three years from now, we could have a nation in the northern part of Africa that is Islamic and Arab, and yet pro-American and a democracy. And our ally in confronting the problems of the region and the world. That's the opportunity before us."

The White House says President Barack Obama has approved an additional $105 million for humanitarian relief efforts in the Horn of Africa, which is facing the worst drought in 60 years. The U.S. assistance will continue funding food, health, shelter, water and sanitation assistance.

The United Nations has warned that famine in East Africa now affects five regions in Somalia and predicts that it could soon expand throughout southern Somalia. Thousands of Somalis are fleeing the famine and seeking refuge in Kenya and Ethiopia, which are also affected by the drought. According to the United Nations, more than 12.4 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

Jill Biden arrived today in Kenya with Sen. Bill Frist, USAID Administrator Raj Shah, Assistant Secretary of State Eric Schwartz, and Special Assistant to the President Gayle Smith. The vice president's office said Biden will visit the Dadaab Refugee Complex, which is receiving thousands of Somali refugees, "to draw the world’s attention to the crisis and pledge U.S. support for relief operations."

The debt deal is historic. Senate Majority Harry Reid explained why Monday.

In opening the Senate, the Nevada Demorat reviewed compromises all the way backto 1787, and how a compromise "allowed the Constitution to become the real thing."

He recalled the bitterness that led to the Civil War. "Where they were much more difficult than what we have just gone through," Reid said, 'what we have gone through was extremely difficult but there was never any consideration the republic would fail."

This time, he said, lawmakers were able to come up with "an agreement that is typical for agreements that are difficult. No one got what they wanted. Everyone had to give something up.

"People on the right are upset. People on the left are upset. People in the middle are upset. It was a compromise."

First Lady Michelle Obama met Tuesday with Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg during her visit to South Africa.

From the White House pool report filed by Kathy Skiba of the Chicago Tribune:

First lady Michelle Obama met Tuesday afternoon with Nelson Mandela, this nation's first black president, a revered figure who has largely disappeared from public view for many months.

It was a historic meeting for Mandela, 92, an iconic symbol of the country's fight against apartheid, and Obama, 47, the first black wife of a U.S. president.

The first lady arrived Monday for a weeklong official visit to Africa. She and Mandela had not before met.
 
In 2005, Mandela met then-Sen. Obama in Washington, D.C. and a photo from that visit is kept in Mandela's office, aides to the first lady said.

Tuesday's face-to-face with the U.S. first lady took place at Mandela's home, near his foundation, in Johannesburg's well-manicured Houghton neighborhood.
 
Mrs. Obama was accompanied in the meeting by her mother, Marian Robinson, and daughters Malia, 12 and Sasha, 10.

Mandela, who was joined by his wife at Tuesday's gathering, was hospitalized in January with an acute lung infection.

Mandela, for 27 years held prisoner here for his fight against apartheid, was president of South Africa from 1994-99. He will be 93 on July 18. The Nelson Mandela Foundation, visited last July by former President Bill Clinton in honor of Mandela's birthday, aims to use the "history, values, vision and the respect harnessed by Mr. Mandela to provide a platform for public discourse on important social issues," according to a backgrounder from the White House.

When he arrives in London later this week, President Barack Obama will join British Prime Minister David Cameron in announcing a a new joint effort to coordinate national security analysis and staretgy.

The National Security Strategy Board would be co-chaired by White House National Security Adviser Tom Donilon and British National Security Adviser Sir Peter Ricketts, according to U.S. and British officials in London who spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the official announcement.

Donilon flew to London Sunday ahead of Obama to finish the arrangements.

The joint-board would coordinate the two governments’ assessments of threats from terrorists and rogue nations, as well as developments in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the rapid changes emerging through the Arab Spring pro-democracy movements sweeping North Africa and the Middle East.

“The new board will allow us to look ahead and develop a shared view of emerging challenges, how we should deal with them, and how our current policy can adapt to longer term developments," said a statement from a British official.

“It reflects a welcome further development of our close relationship on foreign and defense business. Sharing the knowledge and insights of the experts in London and Washington will help both governments look ahead in an increasingly complex and fast moving world.”

The US closed its embassy in Libya Friday and evacuated employees and their families from the country, the White House said. "It has been shuttered," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said.

A ship carrying about 200 Americans left Libya Friday morning, Carney said, and a chartered plane left later Friday.

Carney also said the president has decided to impose unilateral sanctions on Libya. The sanctions were being prepared, and were likely to be announced before Monday, he said.

The US also is working toward international sanctions, with European allies and the United Nations. President Barack Obama will meet the UN secretary general in Washington on Monday, Carney said. 

Movie star and Sudan peace activist George Clooney has a 3 p.m. meeting set for today in the Oval Office with the president to share his concerns that another a civil war is on the horizon.

Clooney has returned from a weeklong trip to south Sudan and launched a publicity campaign to press the U.S. to intervene. "He will be here to discuss his recent trip," said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. Gibbs said Obama "will discuss the steps we’re taking to try to bring peace to Sudan."