Remarks by the President at Interfaith Service in Boston, MA

Cathedral of The Holy Cross
Boston, Massachusetts

12:04 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Boston! 

Scripture tells us to “run with endurance the race that is set before us.”  Run with endurance the race that is set before us. 

On Monday morning, the sun rose over Boston.  The sunlight glistened off the Statehouse dome.  In the Common and the Public Garden, spring was in bloom.  On this Patriot’s Day, like so many before, fans jumped onto the T to see the Sox at Fenway.  In Hopkinton, runners laced up their shoes and set out on a 26.2-mile test of dedication and grit and the human spirit.  And across this city, hundreds of thousands of Bostonians lined the streets -- to hand the runners cups of water and to cheer them on.

It was a beautiful day to be in Boston -- a day that explains why a poet once wrote that this town is not just a capital, not just a place.  Boston, he said, “is the perfect state of grace.”  (Applause.)

And then, in an instant, the day’s beauty was shattered.  A celebration became a tragedy.  And so we come together to pray, and mourn, and measure our loss.   But we also come together today to reclaim that state of grace -- to reaffirm that the spirit of this city is undaunted, and the spirit of this country shall remain undimmed.

To Governor Patrick; Mayor Menino; Cardinal O’Malley and all the faith leaders who are here; Governors Romney, Swift, Weld and Dukakis; members of Congress; and most of all, the people of Boston and the families who’ve lost a piece of your heart.  We thank you for your leadership.  We thank you for your courage.  We thank you for your grace. 

I’m here today on behalf of the American people with a simple message:  Every one of us has been touched by this attack on your beloved city.  Every one of us stands with you. 

Because, after all, it’s our beloved city, too.  Boston may be your hometown, but we claim it, too.  It’s one of America’s iconic cities.  It’s one of the world’s great cities.  And one of the reasons the world knows Boston so well is that Boston opens its heart to the world.

Over successive generations, you’ve welcomed again and again new arrivals to our shores -- immigrants who constantly reinvigorated this city and this commonwealth and our nation.  Every fall, you welcome students from all across America and all across the globe, and every spring you graduate them back into the world -- a Boston diaspora that excels in every field of human endeavor.  Year after year, you welcome the greatest talents in the arts and science, research -- you welcome them to your concert halls and your hospitals and your laboratories to exchange ideas and insights that draw this world together. 

And every third Monday in April, you welcome people from all around the world to the Hub for friendship and fellowship and healthy competition -- a gathering of men and women of every race and every religion, every shape and every size; a multitude represented by all those flags that flew over the finish line.

So whether folks come here to Boston for just a day, or they stay here for years, they leave with a piece of this town tucked firmly into their hearts.  So Boston is your hometown, but we claim it a little bit, too.  (Applause.)

I know this because there’s a piece of Boston in me.  You welcomed me as a young law student across the river; welcomed Michelle, too.  (Applause.)  You welcomed me during a convention when I was still a state senator and very few people could pronounce my name right.  (Laughter.)

Like you, Michelle and I have walked these streets.  Like you, we know these neighborhoods.  And like you, in this moment of grief, we join you in saying -- “Boston, you’re my home.”  For millions of us, what happened on Monday is personal.  It’s personal.

Today our prayers are with the Campbell family of Medford.  They're here today.  Their daughter, Krystle, was always smiling. Those who knew her said that with her red hair and her freckles and her ever-eager willingness to speak her mind, she was beautiful, sometimes she could be a little noisy, and everybody loved her for it.  She would have turned 30 next month.  As her mother said through her tears, “This doesn’t make any sense.” 

Our prayers are with the Lu family of China, who sent their daughter, Lingzi, to BU so that she could experience all this city has to offer.  She was a 23-year-old student, far from home. And in the heartache of her family and friends on both sides of a great ocean, we’re reminded of the humanity that we all share.

Our prayers are with the Richard family of Dorchester -- to Denise and their young daughter, Jane, as they fight to recover. And our hearts are broken for 8-year-old Martin -- with his big smile and bright eyes.  His last hours were as perfect as an 8-year-old boy could hope for -- with his family, eating ice cream at a sporting event.  And we’re left with two enduring images of this little boy -- forever smiling for his beloved Bruins, and forever expressing a wish he made on a blue poster board:  “No more hurting people.  Peace.”  

No more hurting people.  Peace.

Our prayers are with the injured -— so many wounded, some gravely.  From their beds, some are surely watching us gather here today.  And if you are, know this:  As you begin this long journey of recovery, your city is with you.  Your commonwealth is with you.  Your country is with you.  We will all be with you as you learn to stand and walk and, yes, run again.  Of that I have no doubt.  You will run again.  (Applause.)  You will run again. (Applause.)

Because that’s what the people of Boston are made of.  Your resolve is the greatest rebuke to whoever committed this heinous act.  If they sought to intimidate us, to terrorize us, to shake us from those values that Deval described, the values that make us who we are, as Americans -- well, it should be pretty clear by now that they picked the wrong city to do it.  (Applause.)  Not here in Boston.  Not here in Boston.  (Applause.)

You’ve shown us, Boston, that in the face of evil, Americans will lift up what’s good.  In the face of cruelty, we will choose compassion.  In the face of those who would visit death upon innocents, we will choose to save and to comfort and to heal.  We’ll choose friendship.  We’ll choose love. 

Scripture teaches us, “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”  And that’s the spirit you’ve displayed in recent days. 

When doctors and nurses, police and firefighters and EMTs and Guardsmen run towards explosions to treat the wounded -- that’s discipline. 

When exhausted runners, including our troops and veterans -- who never expected to see such carnage on the streets back home  -- become first responders themselves, tending to the injured -- that’s real power. 

When Bostonians carry victims in their arms, deliver water and blankets, line up to give blood, open their homes to total strangers, give them rides back to reunite with their families -- that’s love.

That’s the message we send to those who carried this out and anyone who would do harm to our people.  Yes, we will find you.  And, yes, you will face justice.  (Applause.)  We will find you. We will hold you accountable.  But more than that; our fidelity to our way of life -- to our free and open society -- will only grow stronger.  For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but one of power and love and self-discipline.

Like Bill Iffrig, 78 years old -- the runner in the orange tank top who we all saw get knocked down by the blast -- we may be momentarily knocked off our feet, but we’ll pick ourselves up. We’ll keep going.  We will finish the race.  (Applause.)  In the words of Dick Hoyt, who’s pushed his disabled son, Rick, in 31 Boston Marathons -- “We can’t let something like this stop us.”  (Applause.)  This doesn’t stop us.  (Applause.)  

And that’s what you’ve taught us, Boston.  That’s what you’ve reminded us -- to push on.  To persevere.  To not grow weary.  To not get faint.  Even when it hurts.  Even when our heart aches.  We summon the strength that maybe we didn’t even know we had, and we carry on.  We finish the race.  (Applause.)  We finish the race.  (Applause.)  

And we do that because of who we are.  And we do that because we know that somewhere around the bend a stranger has a cup of water.  Around the bend, somebody is there to boost our spirits.  On that toughest mile, just when we think that we’ve hit a wall, someone will be there to cheer us on and pick us up if we fall.  We know that.  (Applause.)  

And that’s what the perpetrators of such senseless violence -- these small, stunted individuals who would destroy instead of build, and think somehow that makes them important -- that’s what they don’t understand.  Our faith in each other, our love for each other, our love for country, our common creed that cuts across whatever superficial differences there may be -- that is our power.  That’s our strength. 

That’s why a bomb can’t beat us.  That’s why we don’t hunker down.  That’s why we don’t cower in fear.  We carry on.  We race. We strive.  We build, and we work, and we love -- and we raise our kids to do the same.  And we come together to celebrate life, and to walk our cities, and to cheer for our teams.  When the Sox and Celtics and Patriots or Bruins are champions again -- to the chagrin of New York and Chicago fans -- (laughter) -- the crowds will gather and watch a parade go down Boylston Street.  (Applause.)  

And this time next year, on the third Monday in April, the world will return to this great American city to run harder than ever, and to cheer even louder, for the 118th Boston Marathon.  (Applause.)  Bet on it.  (Applause.)   

Tomorrow, the sun will rise over Boston.  Tomorrow, the sun will rise over this country that we love.  This special place.  This state of grace.

Scripture tells us to “run with endurance the race that is set before us.”  As we do, may God hold close those who’ve been taken from us too soon.  May He comfort their families.  And may He continue to watch over these United States of America.  (Applause.)

END
12:24 P.M. EDT

Press Gaggle by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest Aboard Air Force One en route Boston, MA

Aboard Air Force One
En Route Boston, Massachusetts

9:35 A.M. EDT

MR. EARNEST:  Good morning, everybody.  Welcome aboard Air Force One as we make our way to Boston.  I have a couple of updates that I'll walk through before we open it up to questions.

The first is you all have received an email overnight that the President signed a disaster declaration for the state of Massachusetts.  This will make additional federal resources available to state and local officials who are responsible for responding to the bombings in Boston.  So I wanted to flag that for you.

Second is prior to departure from the White House today, the President received a briefing on the latest -- on the investigation into the bombings in Boston from his Homeland Security Advisor, Lisa Monaco.  As you know, over the course of the last couple of days, the President has been routinely briefed on these latest details, and so he got his latest briefing this morning in person prior to leaving the White House.

The third thing is many of you have asked whether or not the President will have the opportunity while he’s in Boston to meet with the families of those who were injured or killed in the bombings.  He will have that opportunity while he’s in Boston.  He'll also have the opportunity to talk to some of the first responders, both professionals as well as the volunteers who were the first on the scene and were there to tend to those who were injured in the blasts.

I don't have any details for you at this point about where and when those meetings and those visits will occur, but over the course of the day we'll keep you updated on the President’s activities.

The last thing is I wanted to just give you a sense of who’s aboard Air Force one with us today.  Several members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation are onboard.  So both Massachusetts senators -- Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Mo Cowan are aboard Air Force One this morning.  Also aboard are Congressman Michael Capuano, Congressman Steven Lynch, Congressman Richard Neal, Congressman Bill Keating, and Congressman John Tierney.  And then also aboard the plane is Vickie Kennedy, the wife of the late Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy.

Those are all the updates I have at this point.  So we'll open it up for questions.

Q    Josh, do you guys have any update on the West, Texas situation?  Was the President briefed on it?  And at this point, are you guys looking at this as an accident, or any kind of possible suspicious activity there?

MR. EARNEST:  Well, let me start by saying that the thoughts and prayers of the President and First Lady go out to those who were affected by the blast that we saw in West, Texas last evening.  It is clear just from the reports that the devastation there is quite significant and the Federal Emergency Management Administration is in coordination with their -- with local authorities who are responsible for responding to that scene.  We have offered to make resources available and we are in close touch with the local authorities who are responsible for investigating and responding to that scene.

So at this point, I don't have an update for you on the investigation.  If you have questions about -- I'd urge you to check with the Texas Department of Public Safety and with local authorities for that.

Q    Has President Obama been briefed on it?  

MR. EARNEST:  The President was briefed -- I should have mentioned that -- the President was briefed on this very, very early this morning.

Q    What time?

MR. EARNEST:  I don't have the exact time for you, but very early.  Prior to the briefing that he got from Lisa Monaco before his departure from the White House today.

Q    Did they wake him up to give him a briefing, or was it --

MR. EARNEST:  I don't have those details.  I just know that he was informed of this very early this morning.

Q    Do you know who the point person doing those briefings is?  Lisa Monaco is briefing on also this --

MR. EARNEST:  I don't have granular detail in terms of who is receiving the updates on these things.  Lisa Monaco is the President’s Homeland Security Advisor and so she obviously is playing an important coordinating role with the President.  She’s got an extensive background in homeland security issues.  And so it is her office that's responsible for coordinating those functions inside the White House.

So, again, I don't know who briefed him first thing this morning, but I can tell you that he will be regularly briefed on this situation, as he has been the others that have been going on the last couple of days.

Q    Has he spoken with Governor Perry about this?

MR. EARNEST:  I don't have any calls to read out at this point, but if there are any additional calls I'm able to read out to you then I will.

Q    Josh, on guns, he mentioned yesterday that it’s not over.  He said he’s going to take up some things today.  What is he planning on doing for the future to get it back going?

MR. EARNEST:   Well, it was apparent for those of you who saw the President’s remarks in the Rose Garden that the President continues to feel very passionately about the Congress taking the necessary steps, common-sense steps that would make our community safer.  The President indicated in his remarks that this is merely round one and that he’s ready to keep up the fight for this effort.

Fortunately, the President is not alone.  I think you saw a rather emotional and persuasive op-ed from former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in The New York Times this morning.  I think that passion -- the passion of her feelings on this issue are evident.  And I think that reflects the passion that people all across the country feel about this issue, that there are too many families who’ve been altered forever by gun violence. 

And the President believes that, as you heard him say yesterday, that attempts to mislead the American public about the contents of the legislation are unconscionable and that the President will continue to work to mobilize support all across the country to get action through the United States Congress.  And the President has public opinion on his side, and the President will continue to mobilize that public opinion in support of these common-sense measures.

And, again, you can’t reiterate often enough -- we can take these common-sense steps without infringing in any way on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.  The President believes powerfully that the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans should be protected.  But he believes just as strongly in taking common-sense steps that would protect the lives of innocent men, women, and children who all too often are tragically gunned down on the streets of too many cities all across this country.

Q    Will he be calling senators and speaking out at public events again?

MR. EARNEST:  Well, I don’t have any specific updates for you, but I don’t think the President has indicated that he’s going to be shy about making his feelings on this issue known.

Q    Josh, the President was really harsh on Republicans yesterday in the Rose Garden after the guns setback.  Does this mean that he’s given up trying to reach this consensus in the middle to achieve other parts of his agenda -- immigration, budget-related topics?

MR. EARNEST:  Not at all.  First of all, the common-sense compromise that the President was advocating for was actually formulated by a conservative Republican and a moderate Democrat. So we’ve seen bipartisanship at work on this issue.  And in terms of consensus, 90 percent of the American public agrees with the President’s point of view and agrees with the compromise that was put forward by Senators Toomey and Manchin. 

So I think we’re pretty close to a consensus on this just as about everywhere except in the United States Congress.  And as the President alluded to yesterday, I think that is an indication of the pernicious influence that some special interests have in the United States Congress.  And that is going to require a vocalization of public opinion to overcome it.

At the same time, it’s an indication I think that even on a hotly contested issue -- I mean, it shouldn’t be a hotly contested issue, but even in this case, what has been a hotly contested issue in terms of common-sense measures that would reduce gun violence -- even that highly contested issue is yielding some bipartisan agreement.

We did see, in addition to that compromise measure that was formulated, again, by a conservative Republican and a moderate to conservative Democrat, we saw that there were a number of Republicans who also have or would describe themselves as conservative who voted for that legislation.  We just need to get more of them. 

But my point is, is that we should be able to find similar common ground on some of the other issues that the President is hoping will move through the Congress.  I think there’s a pretty good indication that we’re going to find some common ground and make some bipartisan progress on things like comprehensive immigration reform.  We’re at the beginning of that process so we’ll see how that moves forward. 

But I don’t see any reason why anybody who’s taking a look at what’s happening in Congress right now should despair about the possibility for bipartisanship.  I think what the President is frustrated by, in reaction to the gun vote yesterday, was a willingness to willfully distort the facts that were included in that legislation, and as I mentioned, the outsized influence that’s being exercised by some special interests in Washington, D.C. and the unwillingness of some members of the United States Senate to stand up to them.

Q    Josh, I’m not going to ask you to preview the President’s comments, but can you give us any insight into how they took shape, how much of a hand he had in crafting them?

MR. EARNEST:  I know the President did spend some time working on his remarks.  You can expect that he will in his remarks offer his condolences on behalf of the First Lady and his family, but also on behalf of the American people to the people of Boston.

At the same time, he will reiterate his confidence in the resilience of the people of Boston, and remind the American people that the way that the people of Boston have responded to this terror attack represents who we are as a country, and it represents the values that we cherish as Americans.  And you’ll hear more from the President on that today.  He’ll say it more eloquently than I just did.

Q    Maybe an official on background or something could give us info on who took the lead in writing the speech -- something along those lines.

MR. EARNEST:  I’ll see if we can get you some more information on this, but I know this is something that the President has spent a lot of time personally working on.

Q    Josh, did the President monitor any of the news coverage yesterday about what was going on in Boston, with the reporting that wound up being retracted by a couple of news outlets about arrests that they said were taking place but it turns out it hadn’t?  Had he monitored any of that and did he have any concerns about that?

MR. EARNEST:  I don't know whether or not he watched any of that news coverage, and I haven’t had an opportunity to talk to him about some of the conflicting reports that we saw yesterday. I would just reiterate something that the FBI mentioned yesterday, is to urge caution as we’re reporting out some of these facts.  There are often unintended consequences of these erroneous reports, so I would just encourage caution as people are working this story.

Q    Can I just ask a question about North Korea?

MR. EARNEST:  Sure.

Q    North Korea has apparently made some of the first overtures in the most recent escalation of tensions for negotiations, to hold some kind of negotiations with all kinds of conditions and so on.  Has the President seen those?  And what is his reaction?  What does he make of it?

MR. EARNEST:  I haven’t had the chance to speak to the President about it, but I can give you a White House reaction.  I can tell you that our administration and the United States in general remains committed to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.  The United States has been and remains open to authentic and credible negotiations that would implement the September 2005 statement of the Six-Party talks. 

The North Koreans, in the context of those talks and on other occasions, have articulated their willingness or their actual commitment to renouncing nuclear weapons and discontinuing their nuclear program.  In order for those talks to make progress and to be fruitful, it’s going to require the North Koreans to demonstrate some seriousness about living up to their obligations and keeping those commitments. 

So far we have not seen that.  I think that the belligerent actions and words that we’ve seen emanating from the North Korean regime actually indicate the opposite of that. 

So we’re open to credible, authentic negotiations, but it’s going to require clear signals from the North Korean regime, clear signals we haven’t seen so far, to live up to their international obligations and to keep their commitments to end their nuclear weapons program.

Q    So it sounds like you're saying that this latest offer from them you don't view as credible.

MR. EARNEST:  Well, we’re open to credible negotiations with the North Koreans, but we also need to see some clear evidence that the North Koreans themselves are willing to live up to their international obligations, are willing to demonstrate their commitment to ending the nuclear program, something they’ve promise in the past.  And we haven’t seen that thus far.

Q    Can I ask about Iran?  Diplomats this week are saying that Iran has tripled its production of high-tech machines that can be used -- use nuclear weapons, some 600 of them in the last three months.  Does that suggest that the U.S. approach to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is not working?

MR. EARNEST:  I don't have anything for you on those specific reports.  I think what you have seen from this administration is a coordinated effort to bring together the international community in opposition to the Iranian nuclear program.  I think just in the four or five years that the President has been in office, we have seen a pretty significant reversal of the dynamic that was in place in terms of dealing with the Iranians.  We saw an international community that was splintered and we saw an Iranian regime that was united, but in the four or five years that the President has been working on this issue, we’ve actually seen a dramatic reversal in that dynamic.  The international community is now united in our opposition, and we’ve worked with our international allies and partners to isolate the Iranian regime and put in place the toughest sanctions that have ever been put in place against them.

And there are indications that those sanctions are having an impact on the nation of Iran.  And what we’re seeking from the Iranians is a commitment to live up to their international obligations.  And the President has been pretty clear about his determination to ensure that they do that.

Q    Can I just clarify one thing?

MR. EARNEST:  Sure.

Q    Is he speaking today to families of the victims who were killed, or the wounded, or both?

MR. EARNEST:  We’ll have some more updates as the day goes on in terms of -- we will try to get you some details about who he’s talking to.

Q    Josh, can I just ask is there -- did the President give any indication this morning from his briefings about Boston that there’s been any advance in the case, any movement toward identifying a suspect or having someone in custody?

MR. EARNEST:  That's a good question.  It’s one that I’m unable to answer at this point.  I don't want to read out any of the details of the briefings that the President has received.  So updates on the progress of the investigation will be announced by the FBI and so I’m going to leave it to them to report out those details. 

Q    Thanks, Josh.

MR. EARNEST:  Thank you.

END
9:51 A.M. EDT

Statement from the President on the Explosion in West, Texas

Today our prayers go out to the people of West, Texas in the aftermath of last night’s deadly explosion at a fertilizer plant.   A tight-knit community has been shaken, and good, hard-working people have lost their lives.  I want to thank the first responders who worked tirelessly through the night to contain the situation and treat the wounded.  My Administration, through FEMA and other agencies, is in close contact with our state and local partners on the ground to make sure there are no unmet needs as search and rescue and response operations continue.  West is a town that many Texans hold near and dear to their hearts, and as residents continue to respond to this tragedy, they will have the support of the American people.