President Barack Obama
State of the Union
Address
Tuesday, February
12, 2013
U.S. Capitol
Washington, DC
[White House Transcript]
see also reactions
9:15 P.M. EST
THE
PRESIDENT: Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress,
fellow citizens:
Fifty-one years ago,
John F. Kennedy declared to this chamber that “the Constitution makes
us not rivals for power but partners for progress.” (Applause.)
“It is
my task,” he said, “to report the State of the Union
-- to improve it is the task of us all.”
Tonight, thanks to the
grit and determination of the American people, there is much progress
to report. After a decade of grinding war, our brave men and
women in
uniform are coming home. (Applause.) After years
of grueling recession, our businesses have created over six million new
jobs. We buy more American cars than we have in five years, and
less
foreign oil than we have in 20. (Applause.) Our housing
market is
healing, our stock market is rebounding, and consumers,
patients, and homeowners enjoy stronger protections than ever
before.
(Applause.)
So, together, we have
cleared away the rubble of crisis, and we can say with renewed
confidence that the State of our Union is stronger. (Applause.)
But we gather here
knowing that there are millions of Americans whose hard work and
dedication have not yet been rewarded. Our economy is adding jobs
--
but too many people still can’t find full-time employment.
Corporate profits have skyrocketed to all-time highs -- but for more
than a decade, wages and incomes have barely budged.
It is our generation’s
task, then, to reignite the true engine of America’s economic growth --
a rising, thriving middle class. (Applause.)
It is our unfinished
task to restore the basic bargain that built this country -- the idea
that if you work hard and meet your responsibilities, you can get
ahead, no matter where you come from, no matter what you
look like, or who you love.
It is our unfinished
task to make sure that this government works on behalf of the many, and
not just the few; that it encourages free enterprise, rewards
individual initiative, and opens the doors of opportunity
to every child across this great nation. (Applause.)
The American people
don’t expect government to solve every problem. They don’t expect
those of us in this chamber to agree on every issue. But they do
expect us to put the nation’s interests before party.
(Applause.)
They do expect us to forge reasonable compromise where we can.
For
they know that America moves forward only when we do so together, and
that the responsibility of improving this union remains the task of us
all.
Our work must begin by
making some basic decisions about our budget -- decisions that will
have a huge impact on the strength of our recovery.
Over the last few
years, both parties have worked together to reduce the deficit by more
than $2.5 trillion -- mostly through spending cuts, but also by raising
tax rates on the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans.
As a result, we are more than halfway towards the goal of $4 trillion
in deficit reduction that economists say we need to stabilize our
finances.
Now we need to finish the job. And the question is, how?
In 2011, Congress
passed a law saying that if both parties couldn’t agree on a plan to
reach our deficit goal, about a trillion dollars’ worth of budget cuts
would automatically go into effect this year. These
sudden, harsh, arbitrary cuts would jeopardize our military
readiness.
They’d devastate priorities like education, and energy, and medical
research. They would certainly slow our recovery, and cost us
hundreds
of thousands of jobs. That’s why Democrats,
Republicans, business leaders, and economists have already said that
these cuts, known here in Washington as the sequester, are a really bad
idea.
Now, some in Congress
have proposed preventing only the defense cuts by making even bigger
cuts to things like education and job training, Medicare and Social
Security benefits. That idea is even worse.
(Applause.)
Yes, the biggest
driver of our long-term debt is the rising cost of health care for an
aging population. And those of us who care deeply about programs
like
Medicare must embrace the need for modest reforms --
otherwise, our retirement programs will crowd out the investments we
need for our children, and jeopardize the promise of a secure
retirement for future generations.
But we can’t ask
senior citizens and working families to shoulder the entire burden of
deficit reduction while asking nothing more from the wealthiest and the
most powerful. (Applause.) We won’t grow the middle
class simply by shifting the cost of health care or college onto
families that are already struggling, or by forcing communities to lay
off more teachers and more cops and more firefighters. Most
Americans
-- Democrats, Republicans, and independents -- understand
that we can’t just cut our way to prosperity. They know that
broad-based economic growth requires a balanced approach to deficit
reduction, with spending cuts and revenue, and with everybody doing
their fair share. And that’s the approach I offer tonight.
On Medicare, I’m
prepared to enact reforms that will achieve the same amount of health
care savings by the beginning of the next decade as the reforms
proposed by the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles commission.
(Applause.)
Already, the
Affordable Care Act is helping to slow the growth of health care
costs. (Applause.) And the reforms I’m proposing go even
further.
We’ll reduce taxpayer subsidies to prescription drug companies and
ask more from the wealthiest seniors. (Applause.) We’ll
bring down
costs by changing the way our government pays for Medicare, because our
medical bills shouldn’t be based on the number of tests ordered or days
spent in the hospital; they should be based
on the quality of care that our seniors receive.
(Applause.) And I am
open to additional reforms from both parties, so long as they don’t
violate the guarantee of a secure retirement. Our government
shouldn’t
make promises we cannot keep -- but we must
keep the promises we’ve already made. (Applause.)
To hit the rest of our
deficit reduction target, we should do what leaders in both parties
have already suggested, and save hundreds of billions of dollars by
getting rid of tax loopholes and deductions for the
well-off and the well-connected. After all, why would we choose
to
make deeper cuts to education and Medicare just to protect special
interest tax breaks? How is that fair? Why is it that
deficit
reduction is a big emergency justifying making cuts in Social
Security benefits but not closing some loopholes? How does that
promote growth? (Applause.)
Now is our best chance
for bipartisan, comprehensive tax reform that encourages job creation
and helps bring down the deficit. (Applause.) We can get
this done.
The American people deserve a tax code that helps
small businesses spend less time filling out complicated forms, and
more time expanding and hiring -- a tax code that ensures billionaires
with high-powered accountants can’t work the system and pay a lower
rate than their hardworking secretaries; a tax code
that lowers incentives to move jobs overseas, and lowers tax rates for
businesses and manufacturers that are creating jobs right here in the
United States of America. That’s what tax reform can
deliver. That’s
what we can do together. (Applause.)
I realize that tax
reform and entitlement reform will not be easy. The politics will
be
hard for both sides. None of us will get 100 percent of what we
want.
But the alternative will cost us jobs, hurt our economy,
visit hardship on millions of hardworking Americans. So let’s set
party interests aside and work to pass a budget that replaces reckless
cuts with smart savings and wise investments in our future. And
let’s
do it without the brinksmanship that stresses consumers
and scares off investors. (Applause.) The greatest nation
on Earth
cannot keep conducting its business by drifting from one manufactured
crisis to the next. (Applause.) We can't do it.
Let’s agree right
here, right now to keep the people’s government open, and pay our bills
on time, and always uphold the full faith and credit of the United
States of America. (Applause.) The American people have
worked too hard, for too long, rebuilding from one crisis to see their
elected officials cause another. (Applause.)
Now, most of us agree
that a plan to reduce the deficit must be part of our agenda. But
let’s be clear, deficit reduction alone is not an economic plan.
(Applause.) A growing economy that creates good, middle-class
jobs -- that must be the North Star that guides our efforts.
(Applause.) Every day, we should ask ourselves three questions as
a
nation: How do we attract more jobs to our shores? How do
we equip
our people with the skills they need to get those jobs?
And how do we make sure that hard work leads to a decent living?
A year and a half ago,
I put forward an American Jobs Act that independent economists said
would create more than 1 million new jobs. And I thank the last
Congress for passing some of that agenda. I urge this
Congress to pass the rest. (Applause.) But tonight, I’ll
lay out
additional proposals that are fully paid for and fully consistent with
the budget framework both parties agreed to just 18 months ago.
Let me
repeat -- nothing I’m proposing tonight should
increase our deficit by a single dime. It is not a bigger
government
we need, but a smarter government that sets priorities and invests in
broad-based growth. (Applause.) That's what we should be
looking for.
Our first priority is
making America a magnet for new jobs and manufacturing. After
shedding
jobs for more than 10 years, our manufacturers have added about 500,000
jobs over the past three. Caterpillar is bringing
jobs back from Japan. Ford is bringing jobs back from
Mexico. And
this year, Apple will start making Macs in America again.
(Applause.)
There are things we
can do, right now, to accelerate this trend. Last year, we
created our
first manufacturing innovation institute in Youngstown, Ohio. A
once-shuttered warehouse is now a state-of-the art lab
where new workers are mastering the 3D printing that has the potential
to revolutionize the way we make almost everything. There’s no
reason
this can’t happen in other towns.
So tonight, I’m
announcing the launch of three more of these manufacturing hubs, where
businesses will partner with the Department of Defense and Energy to
turn regions left behind by globalization into global centers
of high-tech jobs. And I ask this Congress to help create a
network of
15 of these hubs and guarantee that the next revolution in
manufacturing is made right here in America. We can get that
done.
(Applause.)
Now, if we want to
make the best products, we also have to invest in the best ideas.
Every dollar we invested to map the human genome returned $140 to our
economy -- every dollar. Today, our scientists are mapping
the human brain to unlock the answers to Alzheimer’s. They’re
developing drugs to regenerate damaged organs; devising new material to
make batteries 10 times more powerful. Now is not the time to gut
these job-creating investments in science and innovation.
Now is the time to reach a level of research and development not seen
since the height of the Space Race. We need to make those
investments. (Applause.)
Today, no area holds
more promise than our investments in American energy. After years
of
talking about it, we’re finally poised to control our own energy
future. We produce more oil at home than we have in 15
years. (Applause.) We have doubled the distance our cars
will go on a
gallon of gas, and the amount of renewable energy we generate from
sources like wind and solar -- with tens of thousands of good American
jobs to show for it. We produce more natural
gas than ever before -- and nearly everyone’s energy bill is lower
because of it. And over the last four years, our emissions of the
dangerous carbon pollution that threatens our planet have actually
fallen.
But for the sake of
our children and our future, we must do more to combat climate
change.
(Applause.) Now, it’s true that no single event makes a
trend. But
the fact is the 12 hottest years on record have all
come in the last 15. Heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods --
all
are now more frequent and more intense. We can choose to believe
that
Superstorm Sandy, and the most severe drought in decades, and the worst
wildfires some states have ever seen were all
just a freak coincidence. Or we can choose to believe in the
overwhelming judgment of science -- and act before it’s too late.
(Applause.)
Now, the good news is
we can make meaningful progress on this issue while driving strong
economic growth. I urge this Congress to get together, pursue a
bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change, like
the one John McCain and Joe Lieberman worked on together a few years
ago. But if Congress won’t act soon to protect future
generations, I
will. (Applause.) I will direct my Cabinet to come up with
executive
actions we can take, now and in the future, to
reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the consequences of
climate change, and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of
energy.
Four years ago, other
countries dominated the clean energy market and the jobs that came with
it. And we’ve begun to change that. Last year, wind energy
added
nearly half of all new power capacity in America.
So let’s generate even more. Solar energy gets cheaper by the
year --
let’s drive down costs even further. As long as countries like China
keep going all in on clean energy, so must we.
Now, in the meantime,
the natural gas boom has led to cleaner power and greater energy
independence. We need to encourage that. And that’s why my
administration will keep cutting red tape and speeding up new oil
and gas permits. (Applause.) That’s got to be part of an
all-of-the-above plan. But I also want to work with this Congress
to
encourage the research and technology that helps natural gas burn even
cleaner and protects our air and our water.
In fact, much of our
new-found energy is drawn from lands and waters that we, the public,
own together. So tonight, I propose we use some of our oil and
gas
revenues to fund an Energy Security Trust that will drive
new research and technology to shift our cars and trucks off oil for
good. If a nonpartisan coalition of CEOs and retired generals and
admirals can get behind this idea, then so can we. Let’s take
their
advice and free our families and businesses from the
painful spikes in gas prices we’ve put up with for far too long.
I’m also issuing a new
goal for America: Let’s cut in half the energy wasted by our
homes and
businesses over the next 20 years. (Applause.) We'll work
with the
states to do it. Those states with the best ideas
to create jobs and lower energy bills by constructing more efficient
buildings will receive federal support to help make that happen.
America’s energy
sector is just one part of an aging infrastructure badly in need of
repair. Ask any CEO where they’d rather locate and hire -- a
country
with deteriorating roads and bridges, or one with high-speed
rail and Internet; high-tech schools, self-healing power grids.
The
CEO of Siemens America -- a company that brought hundreds of new jobs
to North Carolina -- said that if we upgrade our infrastructure,
they’ll bring even more jobs. And that’s the attitude
of a lot of companies all around the world. And I know you want
these
job-creating projects in your district. I’ve seen all those
ribbon-cuttings. (Laughter.)
So tonight, I propose
a “Fix-It-First” program to put people to work as soon as possible on
our most urgent repairs, like the nearly 70,000 structurally deficient
bridges across the country. (Applause.) And to
make sure taxpayers don’t shoulder the whole burden, I’m also proposing
a Partnership to Rebuild America that attracts private capital to
upgrade what our businesses need most: modern ports to move our
goods,
modern pipelines to withstand a storm, modern
schools worthy of our children. (Applause.) Let’s prove
that there’s
no better place to do business than here in the United States of
America, and let’s start right away. We can get this done.
And part of our
rebuilding effort must also involve our housing sector. The good
news
is our housing market is finally healing from the collapse of
2007.
Home prices are rising at the fastest pace in six years.
Home purchases are up nearly 50 percent, and construction is expanding
again.
But even with mortgage
rates near a 50-year low, too many families with solid credit who want
to buy a home are being rejected. Too many families who never
missed a
payment and want to refinance are being told
no. That’s holding our entire economy back. We need to fix
it.
Right now, there’s a
bill in this Congress that would give every responsible homeowner in
America the chance to save $3,000 a year by refinancing at today’s
rates. Democrats and Republicans have supported it before,
so what are we waiting for? Take a vote, and send me that bill.
(Applause.) Why would we be against that? (Applause.)
Why would that
be a partisan issue, helping folks refinance? Right now,
overlapping
regulations keep responsible young families from
buying their first home. What’s holding us back? Let’s
streamline the
process, and help our economy grow.
These initiatives in
manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, housing -- all these things will
help entrepreneurs and small business owners expand and create new
jobs. But none of it will matter unless we also equip
our citizens with the skills and training to fill those jobs.
(Applause.)
And that has to start
at the earliest possible age. Study after study shows that the
sooner
a child begins learning, the better he or she does down the road.
But
today, fewer than 3 in 10 four year-olds are enrolled
in a high-quality preschool program. Most middle-class parents
can’t
afford a few hundred bucks a week for a private preschool. And
for
poor kids who need help the most, this lack of access to preschool
education can shadow them for the rest of their lives.
So tonight, I propose working with states to make high-quality
preschool available to every single child in America.
(Applause.)
That's something we should be able to do.
Every dollar we invest
in high-quality early childhood education can save more than seven
dollars later on -- by boosting graduation rates, reducing teen
pregnancy, even reducing violent crime. In states that make
it a priority to educate our youngest children, like Georgia or
Oklahoma, studies show students grow up more likely to read and do math
at grade level, graduate high school, hold a job, form more stable
families of their own. We know this works. So let’s
do what works and make sure none of our children start the race of life
already behind. Let’s give our kids that chance. (Applause.)
Let’s also make sure
that a high school diploma puts our kids on a path to a good job.
Right now, countries like Germany focus on graduating their high school
students with the equivalent of a technical degree
from one of our community colleges. So those German kids, they're
ready for a job when they graduate high school. They've been
trained
for the jobs that are there. Now at schools like P-Tech in
Brooklyn, a
collaboration between New York Public Schools and
City University of New York and IBM, students will graduate with a high
school diploma and an associate's degree in computers or
engineering.
We need to give every American student opportunities like this.
(Applause.)
And four years ago, we
started Race to the Top -- a competition that convinced almost every
state to develop smarter curricula and higher standards, all for about
1 percent of what we spend on education each year.
Tonight, I’m announcing a new challenge to redesign America’s high
schools so they better equip graduates for the demands of a high-tech
economy. And we’ll reward schools that develop new partnerships
with
colleges and employers, and create classes that focus
on science, technology, engineering and math -- the skills today’s
employers are looking for to fill the jobs that are there right now and
will be there in the future.
Now, even with better
high schools, most young people will need some higher education.
It’s
a simple fact the more education you’ve got, the more likely you are to
have a good job and work your way into the middle
class. But today, skyrocketing costs price too many young people
out
of a higher education, or saddle them with unsustainable debt.
Through tax credits,
grants and better loans, we’ve made college more affordable for
millions of students and families over the last few years. But
taxpayers can’t keep on subsidizing higher and higher and higher
costs for higher education. Colleges must do their part to keep
costs
down, and it’s our job to make sure that they do. (Applause.)
So tonight, I ask
Congress to change the Higher Education Act so that affordability and
value are included in determining which colleges receive certain types
of federal aid. (Applause.) And tomorrow, my administration
will release a new “College Scorecard” that parents and students can
use to compare schools based on a simple criteria -- where you can get
the most bang for your educational buck.
Now, to grow our
middle class, our citizens have to have access to the education and
training that today’s jobs require. But we also have to make sure
that
America remains a place where everyone who’s willing to
work -- everybody who’s willing to work hard has the chance to get
ahead.
Our economy is
stronger when we harness the talents and ingenuity of striving, hopeful
immigrants. (Applause.) And right now, leaders from the
business,
labor, law enforcement, faith communities -- they all agree
that the time has come to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
(Applause.) Now is the time to do it. Now is the time to
get it
done. Now is the time to get it done. (Applause.)
Real reform means
strong border security, and we can build on the progress my
administration has already made -- putting more boots on the Southern
border than at any time in our history and reducing illegal crossings
to their lowest levels in 40 years.
Real reform means
establishing a responsible pathway to earned citizenship -- a path that
includes passing a background check, paying taxes and a meaningful
penalty, learning English, and going to the back of the
line behind the folks trying to come here legally. (Applause.)
And real reform means
fixing the legal immigration system to cut waiting periods and attract
the highly-skilled entrepreneurs and engineers that will help create
jobs and grow our economy. (Applause.)
In other words, we
know what needs to be done. And as we speak, bipartisan groups in
both
chambers are working diligently to draft a bill, and I applaud their
efforts. So let’s get this done. Send me a comprehensive
immigration reform bill in the next few months, and I will sign it
right away. And America will be better for it.
(Applause.) Let’s get
it done. Let’s get it done.
But we can’t stop
there. We know our economy is stronger when our wives, our
mothers,
our daughters can live their lives free from discrimination in the
workplace, and free from the fear of domestic violence.
Today, the Senate passed the Violence Against Women Act that Joe Biden
originally wrote almost 20 years ago. And I now urge the House to
do
the same. (Applause.) Good job, Joe. And I ask this
Congress to
declare that women should earn a living equal to
their efforts, and finally pass the Paycheck Fairness Act this
year.
(Applause.)
We know our economy is
stronger when we reward an honest day’s work with honest wages.
But
today, a full-time worker making the minimum wage earns $14,500 a
year. Even with the tax relief we put in place, a family
with two kids that earns the minimum wage still lives below the poverty
line. That’s wrong. That’s why, since the last time this
Congress
raised the minimum wage, 19 states have chosen to bump theirs even
higher.
Tonight, let’s declare
that in the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one who works full-time
should have to live in poverty, and raise the federal minimum wage to
$9.00 an hour. (Applause.) We should be able to get
that done. (Applause.)
This single step would
raise the incomes of millions of working families. It could mean
the
difference between groceries or the food bank; rent or eviction;
scraping by or finally getting ahead. For businesses
across the country, it would mean customers with more money in their
pockets. And a whole lot of folks out there would probably need
less
help from government. In fact, working folks shouldn’t have to
wait
year after year for the minimum wage to go up while
CEO pay has never been higher. So here’s an idea that Governor
Romney
and I actually agreed on last year -- let’s tie the minimum wage to the
cost of living, so that it finally becomes a wage you can live
on.
(Applause.)
Tonight, let’s also
recognize that there are communities in this country where no matter
how hard you work, it is virtually impossible to get ahead.
Factory
towns decimated from years of plants packing up. Inescapable
pockets of poverty, urban and rural, where young adults are still
fighting for their first job. America is not a place where the
chance
of birth or circumstance should decide our destiny. And that’s
why we
need to build new ladders of opportunity into the
middle class for all who are willing to climb them.
Let’s offer incentives
to companies that hire Americans who’ve got what it takes to fill that
job opening, but have been out of work so long that no one will give
them a chance anymore. Let’s put people back to
work rebuilding vacant homes in run-down neighborhoods. And this
year,
my administration will begin to partner with 20 of the hardest-hit
towns in America to get these communities back on their feet.
We’ll
work with local leaders to target resources at public
safety, and education, and housing.
We’ll give new tax
credits to businesses that hire and invest. And we’ll work to
strengthen families by removing the financial deterrents to marriage
for low-income couples, and do more to encourage fatherhood
-- because what makes you a man isn’t the ability to conceive a child;
it’s having the courage to raise one. And we want to encourage
that.
We want to help that. (Applause.)
Stronger families.
Stronger communities. A stronger America. It is this kind
of
prosperity -- broad, shared, built on a thriving middle class -- that
has always been the source of our progress at home. It’s
also the foundation of our power and influence throughout the world.
Tonight, we stand
united in saluting the troops and civilians who sacrifice every day to
protect us. Because of them, we can say with confidence that
America
will complete its mission in Afghanistan and achieve
our objective of defeating the core of al Qaeda.
(Applause.)
Already, we have
brought home 33,000 of our brave servicemen and women. This
spring,
our forces will move into a support role, while Afghan security forces
take the lead. Tonight, I can announce that over the
next year, another 34,000 American troops will come home from
Afghanistan. This drawdown will continue and by the end of next
year,
our war in Afghanistan will be over. (Applause.)
Beyond 2014, America’s
commitment to a unified and sovereign Afghanistan will endure, but the
nature of our commitment will change. We're negotiating an
agreement
with the Afghan government that focuses on two
missions -- training and equipping Afghan forces so that the country
does not again slip into chaos, and counterterrorism efforts that allow
us to pursue the remnants of al Qaeda and their affiliates.
Today, the
organization that attacked us on 9/11 is a shadow of its former
self.
(Applause.) It's true, different al Qaeda affiliates and
extremist
groups have emerged -- from the Arabian Peninsula to Africa.
The threat these groups pose is evolving. But to meet this
threat, we
don’t need to send tens of thousands of our sons and daughters abroad
or occupy other nations. Instead, we'll need to help countries
like
Yemen, and Libya, and Somalia provide for their
own security, and help allies who take the fight to terrorists, as we
have in Mali. And where necessary, through a range of
capabilities, we
will continue to take direct action against those terrorists who pose
the gravest threat to Americans. (Applause.)
Now, as we do, we must
enlist our values in the fight. That's why my administration has
worked tirelessly to forge a durable legal and policy framework to
guide our counterterrorism efforts. Throughout, we have
kept Congress fully informed of our efforts. I recognize that in
our
democracy, no one should just take my word for it that we’re doing
things the right way. So in the months ahead, I will continue to
engage Congress to ensure not only that our targeting,
detention and prosecution of terrorists remains consistent with our
laws and system of checks and balances, but that our efforts are even
more transparent to the American people and to the world.
(Applause.)
Of course, our
challenges don’t end with al Qaeda. America will continue to lead
the
effort to prevent the spread of the world’s most dangerous
weapons.
The regime in North Korea must know they will only achieve
security and prosperity by meeting their international
obligations.
Provocations of the sort we saw last night will only further isolate
them, as we stand by our allies, strengthen our own missile defense and
lead the world in taking firm action in response
to these threats.
Likewise, the leaders
of Iran must recognize that now is the time for a diplomatic solution,
because a coalition stands united in demanding that they meet their
obligations, and we will do what is necessary to prevent
them from getting a nuclear weapon. (Applause.)
At the same time,
we’ll engage Russia to seek further reductions in our nuclear arsenals,
and continue leading the global effort to secure nuclear materials that
could fall into the wrong hands -- because our ability
to influence others depends on our willingness to lead and meet our
obligations.
America must also face
the rapidly growing threat from cyber-attacks. (Applause.)
Now, we
know hackers steal people’s identities and infiltrate private
emails.
We know foreign countries and companies swipe our
corporate secrets. Now our enemies are also seeking the ability
to
sabotage our power grid, our financial institutions, our air traffic
control systems. We cannot look back years from now and wonder
why we
did nothing in the face of real threats to our security
and our economy.
And that’s why,
earlier today, I signed a new executive order that will strengthen our
cyber defenses by increasing information sharing, and developing
standards to protect our national security, our jobs, and our
privacy. (Applause.)
But now Congress must
act as well, by passing legislation to give our government a greater
capacity to secure our networks and deter attacks. This is
something
we should be able to get done on a bipartisan basis.
(Applause.)
Now, even as we
protect our people, we should remember that today’s world presents not
just dangers, not just threats, it presents opportunities. To
boost
American exports, support American jobs and level the playing
field in the growing markets of Asia, we intend to complete
negotiations on a Trans-Pacific Partnership. And tonight, I’m
announcing that we will launch talks on a comprehensive Transatlantic
Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union -- because
trade that is fair and free across the Atlantic supports millions of
good-paying American jobs. (Applause.)
We also know that
progress in the most impoverished parts of our world enriches us all --
not only because it creates new markets, more stable order in certain
regions of the world, but also because it’s the right
thing to do. In many places, people live on little more than a
dollar
a day. So the United States will join with our allies to
eradicate
such extreme poverty in the next two decades by connecting more people
to the global economy; by empowering women; by
giving our young and brightest minds new opportunities to serve, and
helping communities to feed, and power, and educate themselves; by
saving the world’s children from preventable deaths; and by realizing
the promise of an AIDS-free generation, which is within
our reach. (Applause.)
You see, America must
remain a beacon to all who seek freedom during this period of historic
change. I saw the power of hope last year in Rangoon, in Burma,
when
Aung San Suu Kyi welcomed an American President
into the home where she had been imprisoned for years; when thousands
of Burmese lined the streets, waving American flags, including a man
who said, “There is justice and law in the United States. I want
our
country to be like that.”
In defense of freedom,
we’ll remain the anchor of strong alliances from the Americas to
Africa; from Europe to Asia. In the Middle East, we will stand
with
citizens as they demand their universal rights, and support
stable transitions to democracy. (Applause.)
We know the process
will be messy, and we cannot presume to dictate the course of change in
countries like Egypt, but we can -- and will -- insist on respect for
the fundamental rights of all people. We’ll keep
the pressure on a Syrian regime that has murdered its own people, and
support opposition leaders that respect the rights of every
Syrian.
And we will stand steadfast with Israel in pursuit of security and a
lasting peace. (Applause.)
These are the messages
I'll deliver when I travel to the Middle East next month. And all
this
work depends on the courage and sacrifice of those who serve in
dangerous places at great personal risk –- our diplomats,
our intelligence officers, and the men and women of the United States
Armed Forces. As long as I’m Commander-in-Chief, we will do
whatever
we must to protect those who serve their country abroad, and we will
maintain the best military the world has ever known.
(Applause.)
We'll invest in new
capabilities, even as we reduce waste and wartime spending. We
will
ensure equal treatment for all servicemembers, and equal benefits for
their families -- gay and straight. (Applause.) We
will draw upon the courage and skills of our sisters and daughters and
moms, because women have proven under fire that they are ready for
combat.
We will keep faith
with our veterans, investing in world-class care, including mental
health care, for our wounded warriors -- (applause) -- supporting our
military families; giving our veterans the benefits and
education and job opportunities that they have earned. And I want
to
thank my wife, Michelle, and Dr. Jill Biden for their continued
dedication to serving our military families as well as they have served
us. Thank you, honey. Thank you, Jill. (Applause.)
Defending our freedom,
though, is not just the job of our military alone. We must all do
our
part to make sure our God-given rights are protected here at
home.
That includes one of the most fundamental right of
a democracy: the right to vote. (Applause.) When any
American, no
matter where they live or what their party, are denied that right
because they can’t afford to wait for five or six or seven hours just
to cast their ballot, we are betraying our ideals.
(Applause.)
So tonight, I’m
announcing a nonpartisan commission to improve the voting experience in
America. And it definitely needs improvement. I’m asking
two
long-time experts in the field -- who, by the way, recently
served as the top attorneys for my campaign and for Governor Romney’s
campaign -- to lead it. We can fix this, and we will. The
American
people demand it, and so does our democracy. (Applause.)
Of course, what I’ve
said tonight matters little if we don’t come together to protect our
most precious resource: our children. It has been two
months since
Newtown. I know this is not the first time this country
has debated how to reduce gun violence. But this time is
different.
Overwhelming majorities of Americans -- Americans who believe in the
Second Amendment -- have come together around common-sense reform, like
background checks that will make it harder for
criminals to get their hands on a gun. (Applause.) Senators
of both
parties are working together on tough new laws to prevent anyone from
buying guns for resale to criminals. Police chiefs are asking our
help
to get weapons of war and massive ammunition
magazines off our streets, because these police chiefs, they’re tired
of seeing their guys and gals being outgunned.
Each of these
proposals deserves a vote in Congress. (Applause.) Now, if
you want
to vote no, that’s your choice. But these proposals deserve a
vote.
Because in the two months since Newtown, more than a thousand
birthdays, graduations, anniversaries have been stolen from our lives
by a bullet from a gun -- more than a thousand.
One of those we lost
was a young girl named Hadiya Pendleton. She was 15 years
old. She
loved Fig Newtons and lip gloss. She was a majorette. She
was so good
to her friends they all thought they were her best
friend. Just three weeks ago, she was here, in Washington, with
her
classmates, performing for her country at my inauguration. And a
week
later, she was shot and killed in a Chicago park after school, just a
mile away from my house.
Hadiya’s parents, Nate
and Cleo, are in this chamber tonight, along with more than two dozen
Americans whose lives have been torn apart by gun violence. They
deserve a vote. They deserve a vote. (Applause.)
Gabby Giffords deserves a vote. (Applause.) The families of
Newtown
deserve a vote. (Applause.) The families of Aurora deserve a
vote.
(Applause.) The families of Oak Creek and Tucson and Blacksburg,
and
the countless other communities ripped open by
gun violence –- they deserve a simple vote. (Applause.)
They deserve
a simple vote.
Our actions will not
prevent every senseless act of violence in this country. In fact,
no
laws, no initiatives, no administrative acts will perfectly solve all
the challenges I’ve outlined tonight. But we were
never sent here to be perfect. We were sent here to make what
difference we can, to secure this nation, expand opportunity, uphold
our ideals through the hard, often frustrating, but absolutely
necessary work of self-government.
We were sent here to
look out for our fellow Americans the same way they look out for one
another, every single day, usually without fanfare, all across this
country. We should follow their example.
We
should follow the example of a New York City nurse named Menchu
Sanchez. When Hurricane Sandy plunged her hospital into darkness,
she
wasn’t thinking
about how her own home was faring. Her mind was on the 20 precious
newborns in her care and the rescue plan she devised that kept them all
safe.
We should follow the example of a North Miami
woman named Desiline Victor. When Desiline arrived at her polling
place, she was told the wait to vote might be six hours. And as
time
ticked by, her concern was not with her tired body
or aching feet, but whether folks like her would get to have their
say. And hour after hour, a throng of people stayed in line to
support
her -- because Desiline is 102 years old. (Applause.) And
they
erupted in cheers when she finally put on a sticker
that read, “I voted.” (Applause.)
We
should follow the example of a police officer named Brian Murphy.
When
a gunman opened fire on a Sikh temple in Wisconsin and Brian was the
first to
arrive, he did not consider his own safety. He fought back until
help
arrived and ordered his fellow officers to protect the safety of the
Americans worshiping inside, even as he lay bleeding from 12 bullet
wounds. And when asked how he did that, Brian said,
“That’s just the way we’re made.”
That’s
just the way we’re made. We may do different jobs and wear
different
uniforms, and hold different views than the person beside us. But
as
Americans,
we all share the same proud title -- we are citizens. It’s a word
that
doesn’t just describe our nationality or legal status. It
describes
the way we’re made. It describes what we believe. It
captures the
enduring idea
that this country only works when we accept certain
obligations to one another and to future generations, that our rights
are wrapped up in the rights of others; and that well into our third
century as a nation, it remains the task
of us all, as citizens of these United States, to be the authors of the
next great chapter of our American story.
Thank you. God bless you, and God bless these United States of
America. (Applause.)
END
10:16
P.M. EST