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Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
February 12, 2013
President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address -- As Prepared for Delivery
Remarks of President Barack Obama – As Prepared for Delivery
State of the Union Address
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Washington, DC
As Prepared for Delivery –
.
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…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. 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 twenty. Our housing market is healing, our stock
market is rebounding, and consumers, patients, and homeowners enjoy
stronger protections than ever before.
Together,
we have cleared away the rubble of crisis, and can say with renewed
confidence that the state of our union is stronger.
.
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 rocketed 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.
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, 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.
.
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. 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, 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 this 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. 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 most powerful. 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, cops, and 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. Already,
the Affordable Care Act is helping to slow the growth of health care
costs. The reforms I’m proposing go even further. We’ll reduce taxpayer
subsidies to prescription drug companies and ask more from the
wealthiest seniors. 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.
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.
.
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 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? How does that promote
growth?
.
Now
is our best chance for bipartisan, comprehensive tax reform that
encourages job creation and helps bring down the deficit. 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 pay a
lower rate than their hard-working secretaries; a tax code that lowers
incentives to move jobs overseas, and lowers tax rates for businesses
and manufacturers that create jobs right here in America. That’s what
tax reform can deliver. That’s what we can do together.
.
I
realize that tax reform and entitlement reform won’t 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,
and 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.
.
The
greatest nation on Earth cannot keep conducting its business by
drifting from one manufactured crisis to the next. Let’s agree, right
here, right now, to keep the people’s government open, pay our bills on
time, and always uphold the full faith and credit of the United States
of America. The American people have worked too hard, for too long,
rebuilding from one crisis to see their elected officials cause another.
.
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. A growing economy that creates good, middle-class jobs – that must
be the North Star that guides our efforts. 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 needed to do
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 one million new jobs.
I thank the last Congress for passing some of that agenda, and I urge
this Congress to pass the rest. 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’s not a bigger government we need, but a smarter government
that sets priorities and invests in broad-based growth.
.
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. After locating
plants in other countries like China, Intel is opening its most advanced
plant right here at home. And this year, Apple will start making Macs
in America again.
.
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.
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So
tonight, I’m announcing the launch of three more of these manufacturing
hubs, where businesses will partner with the Departments 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 fifteen of these hubs and guarantee
that the next revolution in manufacturing is Made in America.
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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. Today, our scientists are mapping the human brain to
unlock the answers to Alzheimer’s; developing drugs to regenerate
damaged organs; devising new material to make batteries ten 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. And today, no
area holds more promise than our investments in American energy.
.
After
years of talking about it, we are finally poised to control our own
energy future. We produce more oil at home than we have in 15 years. 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. Yes, 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, and floods – all are now more
frequent and 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.
.
The
good news is, we can make meaningful progress on this issue while
driving strong economic growth. I urge this Congress to 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. 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. 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 – so let’s
drive costs down even further. As long as countries like China keep
going all-in on clean energy, so must we.
.
In
the meantime, the natural gas boom has led to cleaner power and greater
energy independence. That’s why my Administration will keep cutting red
tape and speeding up new oil and gas permits. 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 water.
.
Indeed,
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 non-partisan 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 twenty years. The states with
the best ideas to create jobs and lower energy bills by constructing
more
efficient buildings will receive federal support to help make it
happen.
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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 and self-healing power grids. The CEO of
Siemens America – a company that brought hundreds of new jobs to North
Carolina – has said that if we upgrade our infrastructure, they’ll bring
even more jobs. And I know that you want these job-creating projects in
your districts. I’ve seen you all at the ribbon-cuttings.
.
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. 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. Let’s prove that there is no better place to do business than the United States of America. And let’s start right away.
Part
of our rebuilding effort must also involve our housing sector. Today,
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 have never missed a payment and want to refinance are being
told no. That’s holding our entire economy back, and 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. What are we waiting
for? Take a vote, and send me that bill. 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, and housing 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. 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 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.
.
Tonight,
I propose working with states to make high-quality preschool available
to every child in America. Every dollar we invest in high-quality early
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, and
form more stable families of their own. 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.
.
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 that they’re ready for a job. At schools
like P-Tech in Brooklyn, a collaboration between New York Public
Schools, the City University of New York, and IBM, students will
graduate with a high school diploma and an associate degree in computers
or engineering.
.
We need to give every American student opportunities like this. Four
years ago, we started Race to the Top – a competition that convinced
almost every state to develop smarter curricula and higher standards,
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. 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 jobs right now and 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 have, the more
likely you are to have a job and work your way into the middle class.
But today, skyrocketing costs price way too many young people out of a
higher education, or saddle them with unsustainable debt.
.
Through
tax credits, grants, and better loans, we have made college more
affordable for millions of students and families over the last few
years. But taxpayers cannot continue to subsidize the soaring cost of
higher education. Colleges must do their part to keep costs down, and
it’s our job to make sure they do. 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. 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.
.
To
grow our middle class, our citizens must 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 hard
has the chance to get ahead.
Our
economy is stronger when we harness the talents and ingenuity of
striving, hopeful immigrants. And right now, leaders from the business,
labor, law enforcement, and faith communities all agree that the time
has come to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
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.
And
real reform means fixing the legal immigration system to cut waiting
periods, reduce bureaucracy, and attract the highly-skilled
entrepreneurs and engineers that will help create jobs and grow our
economy.
In
other words, we know what needs to be done. As we speak, bipartisan
groups in both chambers are working diligently to draft a bill, and I
applaud their efforts. Now let’s get this done. Send me a comprehensive immigration reform bill in the next few months, and I will sign it right away.
.
But
we can’t stop there. We know our economy is stronger when our wives,
mothers, and 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. I urge the House to do the same. 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.
.
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’ve 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, nineteen 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. 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. 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.
.
Tonight,
let’s also recognize that there are communities in this country where
no matter how hard you work, it’s 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 chance of
birth or circumstance should decide our destiny. And that is 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. 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, 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 doing 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.
.
Stronger
families. Stronger communities. A stronger America. It is this kind of
prosperity – broad, shared, and built on a thriving middle class – that
has always been the source of our progress at home. It is 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. 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.
.
Beyond
2014, America’s commitment to a unified and sovereign Afghanistan will
endure, but the nature of our commitment will change. We are 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 counter-terrorism 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. 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 will need to help countries like Yemen, 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.
.
As
we do, we must enlist our values in the fight. That is why my
Administration has worked tirelessly to forge a durable legal and policy
framework to guide our counterterrorism operations. Throughout, we have
kept Congress fully informed of our efforts. I recognize that in our
democracy, no one should just take my word that we’re doing things the
right way. So, in the months ahead, I will continue to engage with
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.
.
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 that they will only achieve
security and prosperity by meeting their international obligations.
Provocations of the sort we saw last night will only isolate them
further, 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. At the same time, we will
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.
.
America
must also face the rapidly growing threat from cyber-attacks. We know
hackers steal people’s identities and infiltrate private e-mail. 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, and 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.
.
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.
Now, Congress must act as well, by passing legislation to give our
government a greater capacity to secure our networks and deter attacks.
.
Even
as we protect our people, we should remember that today’s world
presents not only dangers, but 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 am announcing that we will launch talks on a
comprehensive Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the
European Union – because trade that is free and fair across the Atlantic
supports millions of good-paying American jobs.
.
We
also know that progress in the most impoverished parts of our world
enriches us all. 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 and empowering women; by
giving our young and brightest minds new opportunities to serve and
helping communities to feed, power, and educate themselves; by saving
the world’s children from preventable deaths; and by realizing the
promise of an AIDS-free generation.
.
Above
all, 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 –
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 will 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. 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 will 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. These are the messages I will deliver when I travel to the
Middle East next
month.
.
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 in the world. We will invest in new capabilities, even
as we reduce waste and wartime spending. We will ensure equal treatment for all service members, and equal benefits for their families – gay and straight.
We will draw upon the courage and skills of our sisters and daughters,
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; supporting our military families; and giving
our veterans the benefits, education, and job opportunities 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 serve us.
.
But
defending our freedom is not 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 our most fundamental right as citizens: the right to
vote. When any Americans – no matter
where they live or what their party – are denied that right simply
because they can’t wait for five, six, seven hours just to cast their
ballot, we are betraying our ideals. That’s why, tonight, I’m announcing a non-partisan commission to improve the voting experience in America.
And I’m asking two long-time experts in the field, who’ve 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.
.
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 2nd Amendment – have come together around commonsense reform –
like background checks that will make it harder for criminals to get
their hands on a gun. 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 they are tired of
being outgunned.
.
Each
of these proposals deserves a vote in Congress. 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,
and anniversaries have been stolen from our lives by a bullet from a
gun.
.
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.
.
Gabby Giffords deserves a vote.
The families of Newtown deserve a vote.
The families of Aurora deserve a vote.
The
families of Oak Creek, and Tucson, and Blacksburg, and the countless
other communities ripped open by gun violence – they deserve a simple
vote.
.
Our
actions will not prevent every senseless act of violence in this
country. Indeed, 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, and 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, her
thoughts were not with how her own home was faring – they were with the
twenty 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 she 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. Hour after hour, a throng of people stayed in line in support
of her. Because Desiline is 102 years old. And they erupted in cheers
when she finally put on a sticker that read “I Voted.”
.
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
twelve bullet wounds.
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 in our American story.
.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.
.
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