West Wing Week: 02/20/15 or, “Hello, ‘Chiberia!’”
This week, the President spent time in sunny San Francisco and subzero Chicago, spoke at two different summits on two different coasts, and named three new national monuments.
This week, the President spent time in sunny San Francisco and subzero Chicago, spoke at two different summits on two different coasts, and named three new national monuments.
February 20, 2015 | 4:28 | Public Domain
Welcome to the West Wing Week, your guide to everything that’s happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. This week, the President spent time in sunny San Francisco and subzero Chicago, spoke at two different summits on two different coasts, and named three new national monuments.
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
On Friday, February 27, President Obama will welcome President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia to the White House. President Sirleaf’s visit comes at a time of critical cooperation between the United States and Liberia. As President Obama announced last week, the United States is moving to the next phase of its Ebola response, which will be characterized by an intensive effort to reach zero Ebola cases in West Africa. The President looks forward to building on a strong and historic partnership with Liberia and discussing a range of topics with President Sirleaf, including the ongoing Ebola response, the region’s economic recovery plans, and other issues of mutual interest.
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice met today with her Israeli counterpart, National Security Advisor Yossi Cohen, at the White House. They discussed a range of issues of mutual concern, including Iran's nuclear program, the U.S.-Israel bilateral relationship, and Israeli-Palestinian relations. The national security advisors agreed to continue close consultations on these and other issues.
February 19, 2015 | 21:16 | Public Domain
At the State Department in Washington, D.C., the President delivers his second set of remarks at the Summit on Countering Violent Extremism, February 19, 2015.
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BROWNS CANYON NATIONAL MONUMENT
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BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
In central Colorado's vibrant upper Arkansas River valley, the rugged granite cliffs, colorful rock outcroppings, and stunning mountain vistas of Browns Canyon form an iconic landscape that attracts visitors from around the world. The landscape's canyons, rivers, and backcountry forests have provided a home for humans for over 10,000 years, and the cultural and historical resources found in this landscape are a testament to the area's Native Peoples as well as the history of more recent settlers and mining communities. The area's unusual geology and roughly 3,000-foot range in elevation support a diversity of plants and wildlife, including a significant herd of bighorn sheep. Browns Canyon harbors a wealth of scientifically significant geological, ecological, riparian, cultural, and historic resources, and is an important area for studies of paleoecology, mineralogy, archaeology, and climate change.
Following its descent between the Sawatch and Mosquito Ranges, the Arkansas River flows through Browns Canyon in the heart of the upper Arkansas River valley. The Arkansas River valley is the northernmost valley in the Río Grande Rift system, one of the most significant rift systems in the world and one of few where the Earth's continental crust is actively moving apart. The 35 million-year-old Río Grande Rift begins in the State of Chihuahua in Mexico and extends northward through New Mexico and into Colorado to a terminus in the mountains just north of Browns Canyon.
The Browns Canyon area of the upper Arkansas River valley has long offered both a permanent source of water and a means of transportation for its human inhabitants. The area lies within the transition zone between the cultural traditions of the Great Basin and Plains peoples. As a transportation corridor where stable sources of subsistence resources could be found, both migrating people and permanent inhabitants left traces of their presence in this area. Ancestors of the Ute, Apache, Eastern Shoshone, and Comanche Indians are known to have traversed this dramatic landscape while hunting and gathering.
The upper Arkansas River valley was foundational to the establishment of today's tribal configuration. It was here that the proto-Comanche (Numuna) split into two groups, the Comanche and the Eastern Shoshone. The Buffalo-Eater Band (allies of the Utes) broke away from the Eastern Shoshone in the upper Arkansas River valley vicinity sometime between the late 1600s and early 1700s, traveling south into what is present-day New Mexico, Texas, southern Colorado, western Kansas, and the panhandle of Oklahoma.
While most archaeological resources in the Browns Canyon area have not yet been surveyed or recorded, the story of people living in the upper Arkansas River valley is told through artifacts dating back over 10,000 years. Of the resources surveyed, there are 18 known archaeological sites within the Browns Canyon area, including 5 prehistoric open lithic sites that have been determined to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Primarily seasonal camps, these sites include open campsites, culturally modified trees, wickiups, tipi rings, chipped stone manufacture and processing sites, a possible ceramic pottery kiln, and rock shelter sites that date to the Archaic Period. The sites range from early Archaic Period and possibly Paleo-Indian Period (around 8,000 to 13,000 years before present), which would make this among the earliest known sites in the region, to the Late Archaic Period to proto-historic period (around 3,000 years before present to the 19th century A.D.).
European exploration of the Browns Canyon region began when the Spanish explorer Juan de Ulibarri visited in 1706. A century later, Zebulon Pike explored the Browns Canyon area after his failed attempt to summit what is now known as Pike's Peak. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the Spanish army patrolled the upper Arkansas River valley as far north as Leadville to secure the boundaries of Spanish influence and attempt to bar access by competing traders and explorers. Fur trappers exploited the area in the first few decades of the 1800s. The region later became a center for mining, including one of the United States major historic mining districts for fluorite, a colorful mineral with both ornamental and industrial uses. The remnants of this area's mining history include small, abandoned mine sites, old cabin foundations, and nearby mining ghost towns.
Discovery of gold along the Arkansas River in the 1850s and the 1870s silver boom in Leadville brought an influx of people and a need for transportation. In the 1870s, stage roads carried thousands of passengers through this region every year. In the 1880s, after a multi-year legal and armed battle between rival rail companies, the Denver and Río Grande Railway became the major transportation option for the region. The section of railroad bed that runs through Browns Canyon east of the Arkansas River is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Even today, this same upper Arkansas River valley remains a major transportation corridor for Chaffee County residents and visitors, as well as an important resource for recreational anglers and boaters, and area ranchers and farmers. Local communities have proposed and conducted a feasibility study for establishing the Arkansas Stage and Rail Trail, which would serve as a testament to this travel corridor's prehistoric and historic significance.
The 1.6 billion-year-old Precambrian granodiorite batholith that constitutes the Canyon is incised by steep gulches that cut through the pink granite and metamorphic rock. Stafford Gulch provides astounding views of the unique Reef formation, a long and distinctive face of exposed rock. During the Pleistocene Epoch, glaciers covered the rugged canyons, gulches, and mountains that awe visitors today. The movement of these glaciers created unique topographical features in the river valley -- including glacial cirques, flat, mesa-like terraces, and remnants of large moraines -- that are not found along other major streams in the region. While shaping the topography, the glaciers also filled the valley below with masses of sediment, including the gold, silver, and semi-precious gems that fueled the mining booms of the 1800s. These gems, including the garnets that lend their name to Ruby Mountain in the northern part of the Browns Canyon area, continue to interest professional and amateur geologists.
Portions of the Browns Canyon area offer a relative wealth of Pennsylvanian age geologic exposures of the Minturn formation and Belden shale that include a diverse assemblage of invertebrate fossils. These sites represent the accumulation of shell fossils in an ancient reef environment, and include remains of bivalves, brachiopods, gastropods, echinoids, nautiloids, conodonts, crinoids, bryozoans, and vertebrates including sharks and bony fish. Many of the fossil forms remain undescribed and will form the basis for future paleontological research.
The topographic and geologic diversity of the Browns Canyon area has given rise to one of the most significant regions for biodiversity in Colorado. The forest community incorporates a transition zone, with semi-arid pinyon-juniper and mountain mahogany woodlands on the lower slopes giving way to ponderosa pine, Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine, and Douglas fir at higher elevations. Scattered pockets of aspen, willow, Rocky Mountain juniper, river birch, and narrowleaf cottonwood can be found in riparian areas. The Aspen Ridge area is also home to a significant stand of aspen. The understory is home to a variety of plant species, including blue grama grass, mountain muhly, Indian ricegrass, Arizona fescue, blue bunchgrass, prickly pear, cholla, yucca, isolated pockets of alpine bluegrass, and the endemic Brandegee's buckwheat. A stunning array of wildflowers such as the scarlet gilia and larkspur bloom here during the spring and summer. Near Ruby Mountain, imperiled plant species such as Fendler's Townsend-daisy, Fendler's false cloak-fern, livemore fiddleleaf, and the endemic Front-Range alumroot can be found. The plant community in this area has repeatedly evolved during periods of climate change since the Eocene Epoch. Geologic and climatic changes since the Precambrian have made the area an important site for research on geology and paleoecology as well as the effects of climate change, wildland fire, and other disturbances on plant and animal communities.
Some of Colorado's most emblematic animal species call Browns Canyon home. Mountain lions, bighorn sheep, mule deer, bobcat, red and gray fox, American black bear, coyote, American pine marten, kangaroo rat, elk, and several species of tree and ground squirrels can all be found in the Browns Canyon area, which provides essential habitat for mammals and birds alike and attracts hunters and wildlife viewers. Raptors such as red-tailed hawks, Swainson's hawks, golden eagles, turkey vultures, and prairie falcons make their homes in the rocky cliffs and prey upon the abundance of small animals that live in this area. The area also provides habitat suitable for peregrine falcons, which have been identified for possible future reintroduction here, as well as potential habitat for the threatened Canada lynx. A stunning diversity of other bird species, including the cliff swallow, Canada jay, mourning dove, flicker, blue jay, wild turkey, great horned owl, western screech owl, and saw whet owl, attract ornithologists and bird enthusiasts alike to these remote hills.
A number of reptile and amphibian species occur in the area, including the sensitive boreal toad and northern leopard frog. The Browns Canyon area represents one of the only riparian ecosystems along the Arkansas River that remains relatively undisturbed and contains an intact biotic community.
The protection of the Browns Canyon area will preserve its prehistoric and historic legacy and maintain its diverse array of scientific resources, ensuring that the prehistoric, historic, and scientific values remain for the benefit of all Americans. The area also provides world class river rafting and outdoor recreation opportunities, including hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, mountain biking, and horseback riding.
WHEREAS section 320301 of title 54, United States Code (known as the "Antiquities Act"), authorizes the President, in his discretion, to declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the Federal Government to be national monuments, and to reserve as a part thereof parcels of land, the limits of which shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected;
WHEREAS it is in the public interest to preserve the objects of scientific and historic interest on the lands in and around Browns Canyon;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by section 320301 of title 54, United States Code, hereby proclaim the objects identified above that are situated upon lands and interests in lands owned or controlled by the Federal Government to be the Browns Canyon National Monument (monument) and, for the purpose of protecting those objects, reserve as part thereof all lands and interests in lands owned or controlled by the Federal Government within the boundaries described on the accompanying map, which is attached to and forms a part of this proclamation. These reserved Federal lands and interests in lands encompass approximately 21,586 acres. The boundaries described on the accompanying map are confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.
All Federal lands and interests in lands within the boundaries described in the accompanying map are hereby appropriated and withdrawn from all forms of entry, location, selection, sale, leasing, or other disposition under the public land laws or laws applicable to the U.S. Forest Service, including location, entry, and patent under the mining laws, and from disposition under all laws relating to mineral and geothermal leasing, other than by exchange that furthers the protective purposes of the monument.
The establishment of the monument is subject to valid existing rights. Lands and interests in lands not owned or controlled by the Federal Government within the boundaries described on the accompanying map shall be reserved as a part of the monument, and objects identified above that are situated upon those lands and interests in lands shall be part of the monument, upon acquisition of ownership or control by the Federal Government.
The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretaries) shall manage the monument through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), pursuant to their respective applicable legal authorities, to implement the purposes of this proclamation. The USFS shall manage that portion of the monument within the boundaries of the National Forest System (NFS), and the BLM shall manage the remainder of the monument. The lands administered by the BLM shall be managed as a unit of the National Landscape Conservation System, pursuant to applicable legal authorities, including, as applicable, the provisions of section 603 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (43 U.S.C. 1782) governing the management of wilderness study areas. The lands administered by the USFS shall be managed as part of the Pike and San Isabel National Forests and Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands.
For purposes of protecting and restoring the objects identified above, the Secretaries shall jointly prepare a management plan for the monument and shall promulgate such regulations for its management as deemed appropriate. In developing any management plans and any management rules and regulations governing NFS lands within the monument, the Secretary of Agriculture, through the USFS, shall consult with the Secretary of the Interior through the BLM. The Secretaries shall provide for public involvement in the development of the management plan including, but not limited to, consultation with tribal, State, and local governments. In the development and implementation of the management plan, the Secretaries shall maximize opportunities, pursuant to applicable legal authorities, for shared resources, operational efficiency, and cooperation.
Except for emergency or authorized administrative purposes, motorized and mechanized vehicle use in the monument shall be allowed only on roads and trails designated for such use, consistent with the care and management of the objects identified above. After the date of this proclamation, new roads or trails may only be designated for motorized vehicle use in areas west of the Arkansas River and at the Ruby Mountain Recreation Site and then only as necessary to provide reasonable river or campground access, consistent with the applicable management plan. Forest Road 184 may be realigned or improved only if for the care and management of the objects identified above or as necessary for public safety.
Nothing in this proclamation affects or shall be deemed to preclude the Secretaries from reissuing existing authorizations or agreements for the cooperative administration of the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area. New or modified authorizations or agreements for such purpose may be issued, consistent with the care and management of the objects identified above. The Secretaries also may authorize and reauthorize commercial recreational services within the monument, including outfitting and guiding, consistent with the care and management of the objects identified above.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to affect the operation or use of the existing railroad corridor as a railroad right of way pursuant to valid existing rights or for recreational purposes consistent with the care and management of the objects identified above.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge or diminish the rights of any Indian tribe. The Secretaries shall, to the maximum extent permitted by law and in consultation with Indian tribes, ensure the protection of Indian sacred sites and traditional cultural properties in the monument and provide access by members of Indian tribes for traditional cultural and customary uses, consistent with the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (42 U.S.C. 1996) and Executive Order 13007 of May 24, 1996 (Indian Sacred Sites).
Laws, regulations, and policies followed by the BLM or the USFS in issuing and administering grazing permits or leases on lands under their jurisdiction shall continue to apply with regard to the lands in the monument, consistent with the care and management of the objects identified above.
This proclamation does not alter or affect the valid existing water rights of any party, including the United States. This proclamation does not reserve water as a matter of Federal law, and the inclusion of the land underlying the Arkansas River in the monument shall not be construed to reserve such a right. This proclamation does not alter or affect agreements governing the management and administration of Arkansas River flows, including the Voluntary Flow Management Program.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge or diminish the jurisdiction of the State of Colorado, including its jurisdiction and authority with respect to fish and wildlife management.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to revoke any existing withdrawal, reservation, or appropriation; however, the monument shall be the dominant reservation.
Warning is hereby given to all unauthorized persons not to appropriate, injure, destroy, or remove any feature of the monument and not to locate or settle upon any of the lands thereof.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this nineteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord two thousand fifteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-ninth.
BARACK OBAMA
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
Today, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Lisa Monaco met with French Minister of the Interior Bernard Cazeneuve at the White House to discuss opportunities to enhance the strong and ongoing U.S.-French cooperation on countering violent extremism and counterterrorism. Today’s meeting builds on their January 28 meeting in Paris and reflects the long tradition of joint cooperation on a range of security and counterterrorism issues. Ms. Monaco and Minister Cazeneuve discussed ways to build on the momentum from the countering violent extremism summit this week, particularly in bolstering partnerships with civil society and social media companies. Additionally, they discussed ways the United States and France can continue to advance efforts to address the threat of foreign fighters, including by enhancing information sharing.
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
Campaign Office of Mayor Rahm Emanuel
and Alderman Will Burns
Chicago, Illinois
3:12 P.M. CST
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody! It is great to see all of you here on a phone bank. And I just want to, first of all, say Rahm Emanuel and Will Burns -- where did Will go? Where is Will? (Applause.) Will, come on over here.
The reason I want to say something about Will is because it wasn’t that long ago when Will was doing what you all are doing. He didn’t have a fancy suit and pin-stripes. (Laughter.) And our office was a little smaller than this and things were a little more raggedy and less organized. But when you see somebody who worked with you as a young person, and then coming up and doing great things now as an alderman, we could not be prouder. And I would expect that he’s going to do fine in my ward, because he’s my own -- and I hope my trees are being trimmed. (Laughter.) Although not right now, I guess. It's a little cold.
But the main reason I'm here is just to say thank you to all of you who are helping out Rahm. Rahm Emanuel is somebody who cares deeply about this city. He cares deeply about the children of this city. He’s been willing to make some really hard decisions on behalf of those children and on behalf of our future. Everybody knows that he is passionate and he is tough and he is dogged in making sure that the city of Chicago is not just the coldest city -- (laughter) -- but also the greatest city. (Applause.)
And you look at what’s been accomplished in education, what’s been accomplished in terms of the infrastructure, bringing jobs back to this city -- I have confidence as a voter and as a resident of Chicago that he’s going to continue to do a great job.
But the only way that happens is if people get out there and vote. So all of you are critical to the process. Those of us standing here, we benefit from your willingness to be involved and participate in this great civic exercise we call democracy. And you're doing it on behalf of not only a great mayor, but also a great friend of mine. I couldn't be prouder. I'm glad he’s my mayor and I'm glad he’s going to be my mayor for another four years. (Applause.)
Keep on making calls! Don't stop! Don't stop!
END
3:14 P.M. CST
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory Academy
Chicago, Illinois
2:00 P.M. CST
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, Chicago! (Applause.) Everybody have a seat. Everybody have a seat. Settle down. Also known as “Chiberia”!
AUDIENCE: Yeah!
THE PRESIDENT: It is good to be home. (Applause.) Even -- even in February. (Laughter.) It’s always been a dream of mine to be the first President to designate a national monument in subzero conditions. (Laughter.)
I want to thank your outstanding principal, D’Andre Weaver -- (applause) -- for his warm hospitality -- and his adorable daughter -- (laughter) -- and wonderful wife. I had a chance to talk to D’Andre, and one of the youngest principals maybe ever in Chicago, and has just done extraordinary work. And the students and teachers who are here, way to go -- because you guys are doing great. (Applause.) We’re so proud of you.
I want to recognize some other people who braved the cold to join us. Governor Bruce Rauner is here. (Applause.) Our Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, is here. (Applause.) Senator Mark Kirk is here. (Applause.) Outstanding members of the House of Representatives -- Robin Kelly, Bobby Rush, Mike Quigley, Bob Dold. (Applause.) We’ve got our Director of the National Parks Service, Jon Jarvis. (Applause.) And we have our mayor, Mr. Rahm Emanuel. (Applause.)
Now, before Rahm was a big-shot mayor, he was an essential part of my team at the White House during some very hard times for America. And I relied on his judgment every day and his smarts every day, and his toughness every day. And along with many of the local leaders and members of Congress, like Robin, who are this afternoon, Rahm hasn’t just fought for a National Park in Pullman, he’s fought for new opportunity and new jobs in Pullman, and for every Chicagoan, in every neighborhood, making sure every single person gets the fair shot at success that they deserve. And I could not be prouder of him and the extraordinary service that he’s provided.
Now, it’s always fun coming home. But this is special for me. This exit right over here, either 111th or 115th -- depending on what was going on that day -- I took that just about every day for about three years. I drove by this site every day on my way to Holy Rosary Church -- (applause) -- where my first office of my first job in Chicago was. Right across from the park. This was Mendel then. (Applause.) This is the neighborhood where I made lifelong friends. This is the area where I became a man. I learned so much about love and work and loyalty and friendship.
And to be able to come back here today, a place where I cut my teeth in getting involved in politics and organizing; a place where my mother-in-law worked at what was then Heritage/Pullman Bank -- that means a lot. The only difference is, back then, in weather like this, I had to shovel out my own car -- (laughter) -- and chip off my own ice, and try to warm up the car and stay warm, because the car didn’t heat up real well. And I had a pretty raggedy coat. So I travel here with a little more comfort and better transportation. (Laughter.) But it sure brings back a lot of good memories.
But I’m not here just to reminisce. (Child screams.) Yes! (Laughter.) I’m here because next year is the 100th birthday of the National Park Service. For a century, rangers, and interpreters, and volunteers and visitors have kept alive what the writer Wallace Stegner once called “the best idea we ever had” -- our belief that the country’s most special places should belong not just to the rich, not just to the powerful, but belong to everybody -- not just now, but for all time.
Conservation is a truly American idea. The naturalists and industrialists and politicians who dreamt up our system of public lands and waters did so in the hope that, by keeping these places, these special places in trust -- places of incomparable beauty, places where our history was written -- then future generations would value those places the same way as we did. It would teach us about ourselves, and keep us grounded and keep us connected to what it means to be American. And it’s one of our responsibilities, as Americans, to protect this inheritance and to strengthen it for the future.
And that’s why I’ve used my authority to set aside more public lands and waters than any President in history. (Applause.) And that’s why, starting next month, we’re going to encourage every American to “Find Your Park,” because chances are, there’s one closer than you think.
And that’s why, starting this fall, we’re going to help a new generation of Americans experience our God-given grandeur by giving every fourth-grader in America what we’re calling an “Every Kid in a Park” pass -- a pass good for free admission to all public lands, for you and your family, for an entire year. (Applause.) We want every fourth-grader to have the experience of getting out and discovering America. We want them to see the outside of a classroom too; see all the places that make America great. Put down the smartphone for a second. Put away the video games. Breathe in some fresh air and see this incredible bounty that’s been given to us.
No matter who you are, no matter where you live, our parks and our monuments, our lands, our waters -- these places are the birthright of all Americans.
And today, right here in Chicago, I’m using my powers as President to announce America’s three newest national monuments, places that reflect our national history and our national heritage. (Applause.)
Now, first, we’re announcing a new park in my home state -- before I was adopted by Illinois -- my home state of Hawaii. And the Honouliuli was once an internment camp for Japanese-Americans during World War II. Going forward, it’s going to be a monument to a painful part of our history so that we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past.
Then there’s Browns Canyon, Colorado, which is an outdoor paradise with world-class fly-fishing, rafting, hiking, wildlife. And from now on, it will be protected so that future generations can enjoy this land without threatening the things that make it so special.
And there’s a reason why we’re here on the South Side, right next to the neighborhood known as Pullman. It’s not as warm as it is in Hawaii, and the views aren’t as spectacular as in Colorado. But what makes Pullman special is the role it’s played in our history. And the mayor talked a little bit about this. This place has been a milestone in our journey toward a more perfect union.
More than 150 years ago, a carpenter named George Pullman moved to Chicago from New York. And he didn’t start out with much, but he built his railway car company into one of the largest of its day. And as part of his empire, he built an entire town from scratch. George Pullman wasn’t just the namesake of the place where his workers lived, he was also their boss, and their landlord, and their mayor, and their superintendent, and their sheriff.
Now, Pullman lived out America’s promise. An extraordinary entrepreneur. He lived out the notion that each of us deserves the chance to transcend circumstances of our birth, and make of our lives what we will. But for all his success, Mr. Pullman and the other tycoons of that period, the Gilded Age, they weren’t always that keen about making sure their workers were able to live out the same promise.
So in 1893, a recession struck America. Pullman slashed his workers’ pay, some saw their wages fall dramatically. Pullman didn’t take a pay cut himself and he didn’t lower the rents in his company town. So his workers organized for better pay and better working and living conditions. A strike started here in Pullman, and it spread across the country. Federal troops were called to restore order; and in the end, more than 30 workers were killed.
Eventually, they returned to their jobs. But the idea they had sparked, the idea of organizing and collectively bargaining, couldn’t be silenced. (Applause.) Could not be silenced. And so just six days after the strike ended, an act of Congress established Labor Day -- a day to honor working men and women of America. And gradually, our country would add protections that we now take for granted: a 40-hour work week, the weekend, overtime pay, safe workplace conditions, and the right to organize for higher wages and better opportunities. (Applause.)
So this site is at the heart of what would become America’s Labor Movement -- and as a consequence, at the heart of what would become America’s middle class. And bit by bit, we expanded this country’s promise to more Americans. But too many still lived on the margins of that dream.
The white workers who built Pullman’s rail cars won new rights. But those rights were not extended to the black porters who worked on these cars -- the former slaves, and sons and grandsons who made beds and carried luggage and folded sheets and shined shoes. And they worked as many as 20 hours a day on less than three hours’ sleep just for a couple dollars a day. Porters who asked for a living wage, porters who asked for better hours or better working conditions were told they were lucky to have a job at all. If they continued to demand better conditions, they were fired. It seemed hopeless to try and change the status quo.
But a few brave men and women saw things differently. And one summer night in 1925, porters packed a hall in Harlem, and a young man there named A. Philip Randolph led the meeting. (Applause.) And what A. Philip Randolph said was, “What this is about,” he said, “is making you master of your economic fate.” Making you master of your economic fate. And so he and others organized the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters around the strategy that he would employ throughout his life: “If you stand firm and hold your ground, in the long run you’ll win.”
That was easier said than done. Over the years, Brotherhood leaders and supporters were fired, they were harassed. But true to A. Philip Randolph’s call, they stood firm, they held their ground. And 12 years to the day after A. Philip Randolph spoke in that hall in Harlem, they won, and Pullman became the first large company in America to recognize a union of black workers. (Applause.)
And this was one of the first great victories in what would become the Civil Rights Movement. It wouldn’t be the last victory. It was his union that allowed A. Philip Randolph to pressure President Roosevelt to desegregate the defense industry. It was those Pullman porters who gave the base by which A. Philip Randolph could convince President Truman to desegregate the Armed Forces. It was those porters who helped lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott, who were the central organizers of the March on Washington.
And on the day of that historic march, under the shadow of the President who had freed the slaves, A. Philip Randolph, who was now about 40 years older, a little grayer, but still standing just as firm -- it was A. Philip Randolph who was the first to speak at that March on Washington. “We are the advanced guard,” he said, “of a massive, moral revolution for jobs and freedom.”
“A massive, moral revolution for jobs and freedom.” And that’s not just the story of a movement, that’s the story of America. Because as Americans, we believe that workers’ rights are civil rights. (Applause.) That dignity and opportunity aren’t just gifts to be handed down by a generous government or by a generous employer; they are rights given by God, as undeniable and worth protecting as the Grand Canyon or the Great Smoky Mountains.
And that’s why, throughout our history, we’ve marched not only for jobs, but also for justice; not just for the absence of oppression, but for the presence of opportunity. And ultimately, that wasn’t just for African Americans any more than the original Pullman union was just for white workers. Eventually, that principle would be embraced on behalf of women, and Latinos, and Native Americans; for Catholics and Jews and Muslims; for LGBT Americans; for Americans with mental and physical disabilities. That's the idea that was embodied right here.
That's why we have acted to give our citizens a measure of protection from the cruelties of fate with Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid and, yes, the Affordable Care Act -- things that we now take for granted or we will take for granted someday. It’s why we keep fighting to give every citizen a fair shot with schools and colleges and the Internet -- tools we need in order to go as far as our efforts will take us, tools that the young people here are going to need so that they then can lead this great country of ours.
It’s why we keep fighting to help working families feel more secure in a constantly changing world with child care and equal pay, a higher minimum wage, and paid sick days -- something I know that's on the ballot here in Chicago. It’s why we have to keep fighting to treat these issues like the economic priorities they are. But they're also ideas about justice and fairness and the worth of every individual.
That’s the story of this place -- that, together, we can do great things that we cannot accomplish alone. That’s why today I’m designating Chicago’s Pullman District as America’s newest national monument. (Applause.) I want this younger generation, I want future generations to come learn about their past. Because I guarantee you there are a lot of young people right here in Chicago, just a few blocks away, living in this neighborhood who may not know that history.
I want future generations to know that while the Pullman porters helped push forward our rights to vote, and to work, and to live as equals, their legacy goes beyond even that. These men and women without rank, without wealth or title, became the bedrock of a new middle class. These men and women gave their children and grandchildren opportunities they never had.
Here in Chicago, one of those porter’s great-granddaughter had the chance to go to a great college and a great law school, and had the chance to work for the mayor, and had the chance to climb the ladder of success and serve as a leader in some of our cities’ most important institutions. And I know that because today she’s the First Lady of the United States of America, Michelle Obama. (Applause.)
So without this place, Michelle wouldn’t be where she was. There’s a reason why I’ve got one of the original copies of the program for the March on Washington, a march for jobs and justice, with A. Philip Randolph’s name right there as the first speaker, framed in my office. Because without Pullman, I might not be there. Of course without Michelle, I’d definitely not be there. (Laughter.) Whoever she married would be there. (Laughter and applause.)
So to the young people here today, that’s what I hope you take away from this place. It is right that we think of our national monuments as these amazing vistas, and mountains, and rivers. But part of what we’re preserving here is also history. It’s also understanding that places that look ordinary are nothing but extraordinary. The places you live are extraordinary, which means you can be extraordinary. You can make something happen, the same way these workers here at Pullman made something happen. (Applause.)
That’s not to tell you that life is always going to be fair, or even that America will always live up to its ideals. But it is to teach us that no matter who you are, you stand on the shoulder of giants. You stand on the site of great historic movements. And that means you can initiate great historic movements by your own actions.
Generations before you fought and sacrificed, and some lost their jobs, and some lost their lives, to give you a better chance to be what A. Philip Randolph called the master of your fate. And I think all they’d ask for in return is that you take advantage of that, and when your time comes, you’ll fight just as hard to give somebody else that chance.
Because for all the progress that we’ve made -- and we have made a lot of progress -- our moral revolution is unfinished. And it’s up to each of us to protect that promise of America, and expand that promise of opportunity for all people. That long march has never be easy. This place, historic Pullman, teaches us we have to keep standing firm and together. That’s the story of who we are. That’s the story of our past. And I have no doubt that we will pass the torch from generation to generation so that it is the story of our future as well.
So thank you, everybody. Thank you, Chicago. Thank you, Pullman. God bless you. God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)
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