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On March 9, 1970, Senator Ted Kennedy spoke to the importance of lowering the voting age to 18 in testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments: "By lowering the voting age we will improve the overall quality of our electorate, and make it more truly representative of our society. By adding our youth to the electorate, we will gain a group of enthusiastic, sensitive, idealistic and vigorous new voters." In 2008, young people embodied the spirit of Kennedy's words, voting in historic records to elect President Barack Obama.

Just twenty-three years old, Tobin Van Ostern is a trail blazer in the political social media world. Back in 2006, at the age of 18, he partnered with Students for Barack Obama to help 80 online chapters grow to more than 1,000 online and offline chapters across the nation by 2008.

Like so many Americans, the three words that got Max O'Beirne motivated to become politically active were "Yes, we can." Yet O'Beirne was only 15 years old at the time—not old enough to drive, much less cast a vote.

Twenty-two year old Zaid Jilani was born and raised in Georgia and is first-generation American--his parents were born in Pakistan. Zaid is a voter, activist, blogger, and founding member of the University of Georgia’s first progressive newspaper, “Stand Up.” His on-campus activism around the Iraq War and use of online tools brought him to the attention of the progressive think tank, Center for American Progress (CAP). CAP awarded Zaid a grant to establish the campus newspaper and later hired him to write for the Think Progress blog.

Today, marks the 40th anniversary of the ratification of the 26th Amendment to the Constitution, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. Though it only took 100 days to ratify the amendment, the battle to lower the voting age was years in the making.

Speaking from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, the President discusses the importance of advanced manufacturing to grow America’s economy and announces a new program, the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, to help create jobs and ensure our country’s long-term competitiveness.

Earlier this week, President Obama traveled to Durham, North Carolina to meet with the Jobs and Competitiveness Council at the U.S. headquarters of Cree, a leading manufacturer of energy efficient LED lighting. During his visit, the President announced a brand new initiative to train 10,000 new American engineers every year as part of his ongoing effort to strengthen America’s economy and better train our workforce.

Earlier today, President Obama traveled across the Potomac River to visit the Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) in Alexandria. The President highlighted NVCC as a model for the type of education that’s needed to train and prepare students for careers that help drive American innovation and global competitiveness.