6:59 P.M. EDT
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, hello, hello!  (Applause.)  Thank you!  Thank you so much.  Hello, New York!  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Thank you, everybody.  Thank you.  Everybody please have a seat.  Thank you.  Thank you so much.  (Applause.)
 
Thank you, Jonathan, for your service to this country and for continuing to fight for what this country stands for, even after you had to take off the uniform. 
 
I also want to recognize the extraordinary performance of Audra McDonald.  I like hearing her sing.  (Applause.)  I want to thank our MC for this evening, Neil Patrick Harris.  (Applause.) Everybody knows that Neil is openly terrific.  (Laughter.) 
 
A couple of other acknowledgments -- Christine Quinn, the New York City Council Speaker, is here.  (Applause.)  A great friend of mine who helped move the process forward to make sure that “don’t ask, don’t tell” got done -- Patrick Murphy is in the house.  (Applause.)  The DNC treasurer, Andy Tobias, is here.  (Applause.)  I think they like you, Andy.  (Applause.)  And I want to thank the co-chairs of the LGBT Leadership Council.  Thank you so much.  This is just an extraordinary event.
 
It is wonderful to be back in New York.  I see a lot of new faces but also a lot of friends who I have known for a very long time.  Many of you knew me before I had gray hair.  (Laughter.)  Malia and Sasha says it makes me look distinguished.  Michelle says it makes me look old.  (Laughter.)
 
Now, being here with all of you, I can’t help but think back to election night two and a half years ago.  We were in Grant Park -- some of you were there.  Beautiful night.  Culmination of an extraordinary journey; a campaign that had drawn on the hard work and support of people all across the country –- men and women who believed that change was possible, who believed that we didn’t have to accept politics as usual, who believed that we could once again be a country that lived up to our highest aspirations, not our lowest common denominators.  And it was a perfect night, and we were feeling pretty good, I got to admit. 
 
But what I said then at Grant Park was that this was not the end of the road; it was just the beginning.  And I said that the journey was going to be long and it was going to be difficult and there were going to be times where we stumble, that the climb was going to be steep.  Now, we didn’t know exactly how steep it was going to be.  (Laughter.)  But we knew that it wasn’t going to be easy to rebuild the middle class after a decade of stagnant incomes and rising costs -– a decade where a lot of Americans felt like that dream was slipping away. 
 
We knew it wasn’t going to be easy to end two wars and restore America’s leadership around the world.  We knew it wasn’t going to be easy to fix our immigration system; to reform our health care system; to transform our energy policy; to educate our young people for the demands of a global economy.  We did not think it was going to be easy. 
 
And I said that night I did not run for President to do easy things.  I ran because I believed that as a nation it was time for us to do the hard things.  It was time for us to do the big things -- even if it took time, even if sometimes it was going to be frustrating.  I said I was not going to let politics or the typical Washington games stand in our way because it had held us back for too long.  That's what led to the mess that we were dealing with in the first place. 
 
So over these past two and a half years, I’ve had some tough calls to make.  I had some tough calls as soon as I took office. We had to prevent a financial system from falling apart and dragging the economy into depression.  We had to pass reforms to stop abuses in the financial system and prevent future crises.  We had to rescue the auto industry.  I did not think it was going to be an auto CEO.  (Laughter.)  Even though there were a lot of people who said, let them go, let more than a million jobs vanish, allow two of America’s iconic companies to be liquidated and sold off for parts, we said no, we’re going to have to step up, we’re going to have to deal with it.
 
But even as we took these emergency steps, we started tackling all the challenges that we had talked about during the campaign, all the things that were standing in the way of the American Dream.  Because that’s why I ran.  That’s what the campaign was about.  That's why you supported me.  Because we believed in an economy that didn’t just work for those at the top, but worked for everybody -– where prosperity was shared.  (Applause.)  Where prosperity was shared from the machinist on the line to the manager on the floor, to the CEO in the boardroom.
 
We worked so hard in 2008 because we believed that we have to define our success not just by stock prices or corporate profits, but whether ordinary folks can find a good work, whether they can afford a middle-class life, whether they can pay the mortgage and take care of their kids and save some money for their child’s college education or their own retirement, and maybe have a little left over to go to a movie or dinner or even a play.  (Laughter.)  Since we're in New York.  (Laughter.)   
 
That’s why we cut taxes for middle-class families, and ended subsidies to the banks for student loans to make college more affordable.  That’s why I was proud to sign a bill to make sure women earn equal pay for equal work -- a basic principle.  (Applause.)  That’s why we’re promoting manufacturing and homegrown American energy -– because that’s what will lead to jobs that pay a decent salary.  That's why we’re standing up a new consumer bureau with just one responsibility -- looking out for ordinary folks in the financial system so they're not cheated.  That's why we passed health reform, so that no one in the richest nation on Earth ever has to go bankrupt because they or somebody in their family get sick.  (Applause.)  That was the right thing to do.  (Applause.) 
 
We waged that long campaign in 2008 because we believed it was time to end the war in Iraq.  And that is what we are doing  -- ending the war in Iraq.  (Applause.)  We removed 100,000 troops from Iraq already, ended combat missions there.  We’re on track to bring the rest of our troops home by the end of this year. 
 
I ran for President because I believed we needed to refocus our efforts in Afghanistan -- and we’re doing this, too.  We pummeled al Qaeda.  We took out bin Laden.  (Applause.)  And because of our progress and the extraordinary sacrifices of our troops -- because of the extraordinary sacrifices of our troops, we’re now fulfilling the commitment I made to start reducing our troops this month so that Afghans can take responsibility for their own security.  (Applause.)
 
I also ran because we now live in a world where America is facing stiff competition for good jobs.  There are rapidly growing nations like China and India -- they're hungry; they're on the move.  And for a long time we were told that the best way to win this competition was to undermine consumer protections, undermine clean air and clean water laws, hand out tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires, and everything would work out just fine.  It did not work out well.  In fact, if you look at our history, you'll see that philosophy has never worked our very well. 
America was built on the hard work of people and the ingenuity of our businesses.  But we also built a system of free public high schools and sent a generation to college on the G.I. Bill.  We constructed railroads and highways that spanned a continent.  We invested in research and technology, and we sent a man to the moon, and we discovered lifesaving medicine.  We launched the Information Age -– creating millions of jobs along the way.  That’s how you build a nation.  That's how you build a strong middle class.  And that’s what we need to do today. 
 
There is an important debate in Washington right now about cutting the deficit.  And it is absolutely critical that we cut the deficit.  Like families all across America, government has to live within its means.  And I’m prepared to bring down our deficit by trillions of dollars –- that’s "trillions" with a "t."
But I won't reduce our deficit by sacrificing the education of our young people.  (Applause.)
 
We can’t stop medical research being done by our scientists. (Applause.)  We can’t stop building the infrastructure that made this country great.  I’m not going to sacrifice clean energy at a time when our dependence on foreign oil has caused Americans so much pain at the pump.  (Applause.)  That doesn't make any sense. In other words, I will not sacrifice America’s future. 
 
What makes America great is not just the scale of our skyscrapers, or our military might, or the size of our GDP.  What makes us great is the character of our people.  Yes, we are rugged individualists and we are self-reliant, and that’s part of what makes us Americans.  We don't like being told what to do.
But what also makes us who we are is we’ve got faith in the future and we recognize that that future is shared -- the notion that I'm my brother’s keeper, I'm my sister’s keeper.  My life is richer and stronger when everybody in the country has some measure of security; everybody has got a fair shot at the American Dream.  That's what makes us great.  That’s our vision for America. 
 
It’s not a vision of a small America.  It’s a vision of a big America; a compassionate America; and a bold and optimistic America.  And it’s a vision where we’re living within our means, but we’re still investing in our future.  And everybody is making sacrifices, but nobody bears all the burden.  An America where we live up to the idea that no matter who we are, no matter what we look like, we are connected to one another.
 
That's what led many of us to fight so hard, to knock on so many doors and maybe harangue some of our friends -- this belief that it was up to each of us to perfect this union.  It was our work to make sure that we were living up to a simple American value:  We're all created equal.  We’re all created equal.
 
Ever since I entered into public life, ever since I have a memory about what my mother taught me, and my grandparents taught me, I believed that discriminating against people was wrong.  I had no choice.  I was born that way.  (Laughter and applause.)  In Hawaii.  (Applause.)  And I believed that discrimination because of somebody’s sexual orientation or gender identity ran counter to who we are as a people, and it’s a violation of the basic tenets on which this nation was founded.  I believe that gay couples deserve the same legal rights as every other couple in this country.  (Applause.)
 
Now, there was such a good recitation earlier by Neil that I feel bad repeating it, but let me just -- it bears repeating.  (Laughter.)  This is why we’re making sure that hospitals extended visitation rights to gay couples, because nobody should be barred from their bedside their partner -- the beside of their partner in a moment of pain, or a moment of need.  Nobody should have to produce a legal contract to hold the hand of the person that they love. 
 
It’s why we launched the first comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategy, providing a road map not only to providing treatment and reducing infections -- (applause) -- but also embracing the potential of new, groundbreaking research that will help us bring an end to this pandemic. 
 
That’s why I ordered federal agencies to extend the same benefits to gay couples that go to straight couples wherever possible.  That's why we’re going to keep fighting until the law no longer -–
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Marriage. 
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Marriage.  Marriage.  Marriage.
 
THE PRESIDENT:  I heard you guys.  (Laughter.)  Believe it or not, I anticipated that somebody might -- (Laughter and applause.)
 
Where was I?  (Laughter.)  That's why we’re going to keep on fighting until the law no longer treats committed partners who’ve been together for decades like they’re strangers.
 
That’s why I have long believed that the so-called Defense of Marriage Act ought to be repealed.  It was wrong.  It was unfair.  (Applause.)  And since I taught constitutional law for a while, I felt like I was in a pretty good position to agree with courts that have ruled that Section 3 of DOMA violates the Constitution.  And that's why we decided, with my attorney general, that we could no longer defend the constitutionality of DOMA in the courts.  (Applause.)
 
Now, part of the reason that DOMA doesn't make sense is that traditionally marriage has been decided by the states.  And right now I understand there’s a little debate going on here in New York -- (laughter) -- about whether to join five other states and D.C. in allowing civil marriage for gay couples.  And I want to  -- I want to say that under the leadership of Governor Cuomo, with the support of Democrats and Republicans, New York is doing exactly what democracies are supposed to do.  There’s a debate;  there’s deliberation about what it means here in New York to treat people fairly in the eyes of the law. 
 
And that is -- look, that’s the power of our democratic system.  It’s not always pretty.  There are setbacks.  There are frustrations.  But in grappling with tough and, at times, emotional issues in legislatures and in courts and at the ballot box, and, yes, around the dinner table and in the office hallways, and sometimes even in the Oval Office, slowly but surely we find the way forward.  That’s how we will achieve change that is lasting -– change that just a few years ago would have seemed impossible. 
 
Now, let me just say this.  There were those who doubted that we’d be able to pass a hate crimes law.  Occasionally I got hollered at about that.  After a decades-long fight, we got it done -- bring us closer to the day when nobody is going to be afraid to walk down the street because they’re gay or transgender.  (Applause.)  
 
There were those said we couldn’t end “don’t ask, don’t tell.”  And I remember having events where folks hollered out at events.  (Laughter.)  But we passed the repeal.  We got it done. We’re now moving forward with implementing it.  (Applause.)  So we’re no longer going to demand brave and patriotic Americans live a lie to serve their country. 
 
Folks like Captain Jonathan Hopkins, who led a platoon into northern Iraq during the initial invasion, and quelled an ethnic riot, and earned a Bronze Star with valor.  He was discharged, only to receive emails and letters from his soldiers saying if they had known he was gay all along -- that they had known he was gay all along and they still thought he was the best commander they had ever had. 
 
That’s how progress is being won -- here in New York, around the country.  Day by day, it’s won by ordinary people who are striving and fighting and protesting for change, and who, yes, are keeping the pressure up, including pressure on me.  And by men and women who are setting an example in their own lives -- raising their families, doing their jobs, joining the PTA, singing in church, serving and sacrificing for this country overseas, even as they are not always granted the full rights of citizenship they deserve here at home.
 
Last year, I received a letter from a teenager growing up in a small town, and he told me he was a senior in high school, and that he was proud to be the captain of a club at his school, and that he was gay.  And he hadn't told his parents.  He hadn’t come out.  He was worried about being mocked or being bullied.  He didn’t think it was safe to, in his words, “openly be myself.” But this 17-year-old also looked towards the day when he didn’t have to be afraid; when he didn’t have to worry about walking down the hallway.  And he closed his letter by saying, “Everyone else is considered equal in this country.  Why shouldn’t we be?” (Applause.) 
 
So, yes, we have more work to do.  Yes, we have more progress to make.  Yes, I expect continued impatience with me on occasion.  (Laughter.)  But understand this -- look, I think of teenagers like the one who wrote me, and they remind me that there should be impatience when it comes to the fight for basic equality.  We've made enormous advances just in these last two and a half years.  But there are still young people out there looking for us to do more, to help build a world in which they never have to feel afraid or alone to be themselves.  And we know how important that is to not only tell them that it’s going to get better, but to also do everything in our power to ensure that things actually are better.
 
I’m confident that we will achieve the equality that this young person deserves.  I’m confident that the future is bright for that teenager and others like him, and that he can have the life that he wants and that he imagines. 
 
There will be setbacks along the way.  There will be times where things aren’t moving as fast as folks would like.  But I know that he’ll look back on his struggles, and the struggles of many in this room, as part of what made change possible; part of what it took to reach the day when every single American, gay or straight or lesbian or bisexual or transgender, was free to live and love as they see fit.  (Applause.)
 
And we can look at the progress we’ve made in the last two years, to the changes that were led not by Washington, but by folks standing up for themselves, or for their sons or for their daughters, fighting for what’s right.  Not just change on behalf of gay Americans, but for everybody looking to fulfill their version of the American Dream -- whether it’s the students working their way through college, or the workers heading to factories to build American cars again, or the energy entrepreneurs testing bold ideas, the construction crews laying down roads, the small business owners and scientists and inventors and builders and all those Americans who faced hardship and setbacks but who never stopped believing in this country -– it’s capacity to change; who are helping each and every day to rebuild this nation so that we emerge from this period of struggle stronger and more unified than ever before.
 
And that’s the story of progress in America.  That’s what all of you represent -- of the stubborn refusal to accept anything less than the best that this country can be.  And with your help, if you keep up the fight, and if you will devote your time and your energies to this campaign one more time, I promise you we will write another chapter in that story.  And we are going to leave a new generation with a brighter future and a more hopeful future.  And I’ll be standing there, right there with you.
 
Thank you.  God bless you.  (Applause.)  God bless the United States of America.  Thank you, everybody.  Thank you.  (Applause.)
 
                        END           7:24 P.M. EDT

---

President Barack Obama
DNC Event
Daniel (restaurant)
New York, New York
June 23, 2011

7:40 P.M. EDT
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you, everybody.  Thank you.  It's great to be here.  Everybody please have a seat.  It's me, it's true.  (Laughter.) 
 
     It is wonderful to see all of you.  Thank you so much for coming here tonight.  To the host committee, who have generally been supportive of me since I had no gray hair.  (Laughter.)  I was telling people the other day, Malia and Sasha think I look distinguished; Michelle thinks I look old.  (Laughter.) 
 
     But I'm thrilled to be here tonight, and I appreciate all of you taking the time to have what I hope is a good conversation, but also the wonderful support that you've shown.
 
     What I'd like to do is to speak very briefly at the top, and then I want to spend as much time as possible just exchanging ideas and answering questions.
 
     When I was elected -- I think back to 2008 and Grant Park, and it was a beautiful night -- I said to people, this is not the end, this is the beginning, and that we were going to have a steep hill to climb.  I had gotten into the race because of this profound belief in America, but also because there was a huge gap between what I thought America could be and where we were.  That we had seen a decade where incomes and wages had stagnated.  We had seen the absence of any coherent energy policy that would free ourselves from dependence on foreign oil and help to clean up the planet.  Our education system -- there was a lot of talk about reforming it, but we hadn’t made the kind of progress that would allow us to be competitive in the 21st century.
 
     There seemed to be a lack of pragmatism when it came to thinking about regulation and how we make a health care system that works for people and where we're getting a better bang for the buck. 
 
     And so I knew that all these things were going to be difficult.  I have to say I didn’t always anticipate how difficult -- because at the time when we were campaigning we didn’t realize that we were already entering what would turn out to be the worst recession since the Great Depression; that we'd lost 4 million jobs before I was even sworn in and we'd lose another 4 million jobs in the four or five months after my inauguration but before any of our economic policies had a chance to take effect.
 
     So we have spent the last two and a half years cleaning up a big mess.  We’ve stabilized the financial system and the markets have recovered a large part of what they had lost, which is important not just for Wall Street, but is important for people across the country and the economy as a whole.  Capital is flowing again.  Businesses who are large or medium-size are able to access capital and invest it in plants and equipment, and hire new workers.  An economy that was shrinking by about 6 percent is now growing.  We’ve added, over the last 15 months, over 2 million private sector jobs. 
 
So we’ve been able to stabilize the economic situation.  But as everybody here understands, we have a long way to go, because there's still a lot of folks out there who are hurting.  And I meet them every day, and I get letters from them every day.  People who have been laid off mid-career and are doing everything they can to try to get a job but still having a great deal of difficulty finding one. 
 
(Phone rings.)  Is it for me?  (Laughter.) 
 
Small businesses that have still not recovered from what happened during the recession.  There is enormous anxiety from a lot of folks about our debt and our deficits, and how we start living within our means but still making the investments in clean energy and education and infrastructure that are so vital to us remaining competitive. 
 
And so there is a disquiet out there, because I think people recognize that although the most imminent aspects of the crisis are over, that we haven’t yet broken through to the future that we want.  And that’s why this campaign is going to be so important. 
 
I announced yesterday that we were going to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.  (Applause.)  And we brought the Iraq War to an end, and we’ll have all of our troops out by the end of this year.  But in the same way that having cleaned up a mess doesn’t necessarily take us to where we want to go in a foreign policy perspective, the same is true for our economy. 
 
We’re still going to have a lot of work to do.  We’ve got a lot of unfinished business.  And part of what 2012 is going to end up being about is just a set of contrasting visions about how we move this country forward.  That’s what this budget debate is all about.
 
Everybody agrees that we should reduce the deficit.  Everybody agrees that the debt is out of control.  But there's one vision that says we can shrink our government to the size it was in the 1930s that fundamentally restructures our social safety net; that prevents us from making investments in infrastructure, or research and development, or science and technology, or education.  And there’s a vision that says we’re going to have to share sacrifice; everybody is going to have to bear some burden for getting this deficit under control, and we can still make the investments that are required for the future, and we can still make sure that we’re a country that is looking out for the most vulnerable and our seniors and people who need help.
 
     And I know that most of you I think share the vision that I have, partly because a lot of us in this room have been incredibly lucky but we weren’t necessarily born lucky.  There are a lot of folks in this room like me who ended up achieving the American Dream because somebody made an investment in us.  Somebody said, you know what, you can have a scholarship to go to the best universities in the world even though your family isn’t well connected.  Somebody said, you are going to have the opportunity to practice law in a law firm even though you didn't have any lawyers in your family.  Somebody said, you can go ahead and run for the United States Senate even though you've got no connections and nobody can pronounce your name.  (Laughter.) 
 
     That's what America is about.  And part of what this debate is going to be about going into 2012 is, do we want a smaller, more cramped vision of what America can be and who can fully participate in it, or do we have a big, generous, compassionate vision about what America can be in which everybody is participating, and we’re all pulling on that laboring war to move the country forward, and we’re all benefitting when we arrive at our destination.
 
     I’m confident about where the American people are.  Sometimes the debates in Washington get people so frustrated and the arguments are so vitriolic and so ideologically driven that people just get turned off and they don't even want to pay attention.  But when you sit down, and you talk to people, and you listen to them, what their values are, what their ideals are, where they tell you their story about how they were able to build a middle-class life for themselves and what they hope for, for their children and their grandchildren, it turns out that there’s just an incredible decency and resilience and strength to the American people that has yet to be tapped.  And our job is to tap it.  That's what this campaign is going to be about.
 
     So I hope you will join me.  I hope you will be as enthusiastic as many of you were back in 2008.  I’ve got to tell you that, partly because of the gray hair, I know that it’s not going to be exactly the same as when I was young and vibrant and new.  (Laughter.)  And there was -- posters everywhere; hope.  (Laughter.)  The logo was really fresh.  (Laughter.)  And let’s face it, it was cool to support me back then.  (Laughter.)  At cocktail parties you could sort of say, yeah, this Obama guy, you haven’t heard of him?  Let me tell you about him.  (Laughter.) 
 
     Now I’m sort of old news.  But the vision hasn’t changed, and my enthusiasm and my commitments haven’t changed.  And I hope yours haven’t changed either, because if we’re able to work just as hard as we did in 2008, then I think we’re going to get through this very difficult time.  We’ll emerge on the other side stronger, more unified, more vibrant, more competitive than we’ve ever been before. 
 
     Thank you very much, everybody.  Thank you.  (Applause.)
 
                        END                        7:51 P.M. EDT

---

President Barack Obama
DNC Event
Broadway Theatre
New York, New York
June 23, 2011

9:50 P.M. EDT
 
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  Thank you so much.  (Applause.) Thank you, everybody.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  It is good to be back in New York City!  (Applause.)  Good to be back on Broadway. (Applause.)  Thank you, Whoopi Goldberg.  We love you.  (Applause.)  How about the cast of Sister Act?  Give them a big round of applause.  (Applause.)
 
     Everybody, you can take a seat.  Just relax.  (Laughter.)  It is wonderful to follow Sister Act.  (Laughter.)  It helped me on my research, figuring out what continent to send Malia and Sasha.  (Laughter.)  They're getting a little too old and too cute.  (Laughter.)
 
     It is wonderful to be with all of you tonight.  And I will not spoil a great show with a long speech.  But I do have a few things to say.  (Laughter.)  You know, I was reflecting back on my last campaign and the 2008 election.  And a lot has changed since then.  I am a little grayer.  (Laughter.)  My daughters say it makes me look distinguished.  And Michelle says it makes me look old.  (Laughter.)  But I think back to that day in Grant Park on Election Day, and speaking to the American people and trying to absorb this incredible honor.  And I said to so many of you that as special as this night was, this was not the end; this was just the beginning.  (Applause.)
 
     And the reason I said that was because I had decided to run for President because I thought the gap had grown too large between the country we know we can be and the country as it was. We'd gone through a decade in which incomes and wages for ordinary people had actually gone down.  We had gone through a decade that had seen a hemorrhaging of manufacturing in this country.  We had gone through a decade in which the costs of everything from health care to college tuition to gas were going up and too many families were just treading water.  We'd gone through a decade of two wars, a diminished respect for America around the world. 
 
We had kicked the can down the road for too long on critical issues like having an energy policy that would allow us to free ourselves from our dependence on foreign oil, and would allow us to clean up the environment and make sure that the new jobs of the future were created right here in the United States of America.
 
So we knew that we had a lot of work to do.  We knew that we had a steep hill to climb.  Now, it turned out that the hill was even steeper than we thought.  Because what we didn’t know fully at the time, what we didn’t fully appreciate was that we were already in the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression.  We had lost 4 million jobs before I was even sworn in, and we'd lose another 4 million in the few months right after my inauguration.
 
And so all the hardships that families had been feeling, the fact that they felt as if the American Dream was slipping away from them -- all those problems were compounded by this incredible crisis.
 
And so I had to make a series of decisions very quickly.  And they were big and often tough decisions.  We had to make sure that we yanked the economy back from the brink of a Great Depression.  We had to make sure that we stabilized the financial system so that we didn’t have a full meltdown, and so that businesses could get financing and keep their doors open and keep their employees and make payroll.
 
     We had to save an auto industry.  I didn't anticipate being a CEO of a couple auto companies.  (Laughter.)  But we had to make sure that we saved those iconic companies from liquidation because a million jobs depended on them.  (Applause.)  And as a consequence of those decisions, all of which were hard, all of which were controversial, many of which were not popular, we were able to bring the economy back from the brink.  And we were able to stabilize the financial system.  An economy that was shrinking by 6 percent a year began growing again.  An economy that was shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs has now over the last 15 months created more than 2 million jobs in the private sector alone.  (Applause.)
 
     And along the way, we made extraordinary progress on the commitments that I made to the American people and commitments we made to each other during the campaign.  So we passed health care so that families will never go bankrupt when they get sick in this country again.  (Applause.)
 
     And we passed financial reform to make sure that consumers aren’t cheated and we don't see taxpayer bailouts for the financial system again.  (Applause.)
 
     And we passed equal pay for equal work because we thought that was the right thing to do.  (Applause.)  And we ended “don't ask, don't tell,” so that anybody can serve this country regardless of who they love.  (Applause.)
 
     And we expanded national service for young people so they could participate and contribute into the building of America.  We made the largest investment in clean energy in our history and the largest investment in education.  (Applause.)  And we changed the student loan system so that we weren’t given billions of dollars to banks, but we were giving them directly to students.  (Applause.)
 
     And overseas, we’ve brought down -- we’ve brought back a hundred thousand troops out of Iraq, and we ended the combat mission there.  (Applause.)  And because of the extraordinary diplomacy of our Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and all the great work that's been done -- (applause) -- we were able to help restore a sense of standing and a sense of purpose around the world.
 
     And so the track record of the last two and a half years is one that I could not be prouder of.  And we couldn’t have accomplished it -- because of you.  (Applause.)  We could not have accomplished it without you.  But what is also true is we’ve got so much work left to do, because there are still millions of people across the country who are hurting.  I hear from them every day.  People who send out 16, 30, 50 resumes, and haven’t gotten an answer back and are starting to feeling they will never find a job again.  People who have lost their homes.  People who have seen their small business and their life savings lost in the crisis.
 
     And some of the big projects that we set for ourselves during the campaign have not yet been done.  We still don’t have an energy policy that is suitable for the 21st century.  We still have to invest in clean energy, that solar panels and wind turbines are built right here in this country, and electric cars are built right here in the country -- (applause) -- and we are focused not on the energy sources of the past, but the energy sources of the future.  We still have that project to deal with climate change in a serious way.  Those things haven’t changed.
 
     We still have so much more work to do on education.  We have made great strides, but we have to hit the goal that I set that once again we will have the highest proportion of college graduates of any country in the world.  (Applause.)  And every single young person who is willing to apply themselves can afford to go to college without taking on hundreds of thousands of debt. (Applause.)  That is still something that we’ve got to accomplish.
 
     We’ve still got to implement health care reform -- because there are a whole bunch of folks who want to undo what we’ve accomplished.  We have not yet gotten immigration reform done.  (Applause.)  And we are a nation of immigrants as well as a nation of laws, and we’ve got to have a system that makes sure that every single person who wants to come here and become a part of the fabric of this society, that they have fair and legal and orderly ways that they can legally immigrate to this country.  (Applause.)
 
     So we’ve got a huge amount of work left to do.  And we’re going to have to make some very tough decisions if we are going to be able to make the investments that are going to be critical to America’s future. 
 
That’s what this budget debate in Washington is all about right now.  You’ve already heard a little bit about it, and over the next few weeks it’s going to start heating up and we’re going to have to make some very, very tough decisions -- because we need a government that lives within its means.  You all live within your means -- hopefully.  (Laughter.)  And that means that you’ve got to prioritize.  We don’t have unlimited resources, so we’ve got to decide what’s important to us. 
 
     But this is not just a budget question; this is a values question.  So I’ve put forward a plan that says, yes, we can cut every program that’s not working and every little bit of waste that we can find across the board, whether it’s in the Defense Department -- (applause) -- or it’s in social service programs that don’t work.  We can’t waste money, because times are tight.
But what I’ve also said is we can’t stop investing in the things that are going to make us competitive in the future.  (Applause.) 
We can’t stop investing in education.  We can’t stop investing in medical research.  We can’t stop investing in building our infrastructure, all the things that help make us the greatest country in the world.  (Applause.)  We cannot stop caring for our seniors and the disabled and the most vulnerable in our society.  (Applause.)
 
     And so what you’re going to see over the next several months, but also over the next several years, is a debate about who we are -- because there’s a way for us to solve our deficit problems and our debt problems in a way that's fair and balanced and that shares sacrifice so that we’re not just doing it on the backs of the poor.  (Applause.)  We’re not just doing it on the backs of those without a voice, or those who can’t afford a lobbyist in Washington.  (Applause.) 
 
     One of the disagreements that we have is even after we’ve made all these cuts -- and we’re making some painful, difficult decisions.  The notion that I, who, because a bunch of you guys bought my book, am actually doing very well -- (laughter) -- should not have to pay a little more; the notion that I’d get a $200,000 tax break, and as a consequence of that tax break, hundreds of kids might not be able to go to Head Start, or as a consequence of a tax break for me, that senior citizens might end up having to pay thousands of dollars more for their Medicare -- see, that's not who I think we are.  (Applause.)
 
     I don't believe in a small America or a cramped vision of America that says only a few can do well.  I believe in a big America, an expansive and compassionate and generous America, and a bold America and an optimistic America, and one that says it does not matter who you are or what you look like or where you come from, everybody has got a chance at the American Dream.  (Applause.) 
 
     And we’ve all got an obligation to help each other achieve our dreams; that we’re not in this just for ourselves; that you’re not just on your own; that I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sister’s keeper.  (Applause.)  And I believe that not just out of a sense of compassion or charity, but because if I drive by a school and I see kids out there playing in the playground and I know that they’ve got a great teacher in there and they're learning their math and they're learning their science, and they're going to be able to get on track to college and a career, I say to myself, you know what, that makes me feel good because that's better for my life -- knowing that kids in my country all have a shot.  (Applause.) 
 
     And if I -- if at some point ever I’m able to walk in Central Park again -- (laughter) -- and I’m taking a stroll and I see an elderly couple pass by me and they're holding hands, and I’m thinking, oh, that's going to be me and Michelle some day -- (applause) -- and I know that they’ve got the security of a stable retirement and they're not going to have to worry that if they get sick, they’ll lose everything -- that makes my life better.  (Applause.) 
 
That's the vision I’ve got for America.  That's that what we’re fighting for.  That's why you campaigned for me in 2008.  (Applause.)  That's why I need you to campaign for me again in 2012.  Our job is not done.  We’ve got to fight for that vision. (Applause.) 
 
     AUDIENCE:  Yes, we can!  Yes, we can!
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  Now, let me just say that I know I’m preaching to the choir here.  (Laughter.)  But I also know that over the last two and a half years there have been times where you think to yourself, gosh, I’m not feeling as hopeful.  (Laughter.)  This change, I’m not sure I can believe in it.  (Laughter.)  I know you still got the poster.  (Laughter.)  But there have been times where you say, you know, how come we didn’t get the public option?  (Laughter.)  Or, why did health care take so long?  Or the -- you know, I know that there are times where you get frustrated and you --
 
AUDIENCE:  Never! 
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Well, no, that’s not true.  (Laughter.)  Maybe you don’t get frustrated, but -- and the reason I say that is I get frustrated.  I would love to be able to just -- our whole program just got implemented in six months and I would then just relax.  (Laughter.) 
 
But you know what?  We live in a democracy, and it’s a big and messy democracy.  And it’s noisy and it’s contentious.  But that’s what democracy is.  (Applause.)  It requires engagement and it requires citizens to take these debates seriously and to pay attention, and to suffer setbacks.
 
Sometimes, people say, oh, you know, I don’t know, during the campaign everything was so terrific, and now governing seems so much more frustrating.  And I want to remind everybody, the campaign seemed frustrating a lot of times.  (Laughter.)  It wasn’t perfect either.  And we had setbacks and we had struggles, and there were times where we didn’t get to where we wanted to go as quick as we wanted. 
 
But I just want everybody to understand we have made enormous progress.  (Applause.)  And the only reason we’ve made progress is because all of you stayed committed, and all of you stayed engaged.  And all of you, no matter the setbacks, said, I still believe that America can be better and I’m going to play a part in it.  (Applause.)  This campaign was never just about me. It was about the commitments we made to each other as Americans, and the commitments we’re making to the next generation.
 
So don’t sit back and wait.  Don’t sit back and wait for me. I need you.  I need all of you to knock on doors and make phone calls and send emails, and do whatever it is that you need to do -- because we are going to need the same energy and the same passion and the same engagement.  And if we do, then I promise you there is nothing that will stop us and we will get done everything that we promised we would get done.  (Applause.)
 
     God bless you, New York.  (Applause.)  I love you.  Thank you.  (Applause.)
 
                             END           10:11 P.M. EDT