The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 16, 2011

Remarks by the President at a DNC Event

Capital Hilton

Washington, D.C.

8:21 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody!  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you, everybody.  Thank you.

Well, it is good to see all of you here tonight.  (Applause.)  What an incredible honor to be introduced by Ernie Green.  Please give Ernie Green a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  I would not be standing here today were it not for people like Ernie Green.

And how about my new DNC chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz  (Applause.)  She is tireless -- tireless.  And she’s got the most adorable kids, and I don’t know how she keeps up with everything.  (Laughter.)  But as Michelle said, if you want something done, put a woman in charge.  (Applause.)  So -- all right, everybody got -- women, you got a little too excited on that.  (Laughter.)

You know, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about this campaign gearing back up, and obviously it evokes memories of 2008.  And I think back to that night in Grant Park when all the work, all the traveling through Iowa, all the stops by diners and in folks’ living rooms, and in barns in some cases -- (laughter) -- had all culminated in this incredible moment -- a moment that was less about me than it was about the American people and the commitment that we made to each other; that we wanted a country that was true to its founding ideals, but had adapted to a new century; an America that was big in spirit and bold in vision.

And I said on that night that this wasn’t the end, but rather it was the beginning -- because what we understand even then was that our country had reached a crossroads.  That we had a series of decisions that were going to help determine the future not just of our children, but our grandchildren and our great grandchildren.  That we were living in an age in which the world had shrunk, it had become more interconnected than ever before, and that if we did not make some critical decisions now, if we stopped just kicking the can down the road, but we decided that we were actually going to seize the moment, transform our education system and finally fix our health care system, and deal with our energy policy so that we were no longer subject to the whims of the spot oil market, and if we didn’t transform our foreign policy to recognize the visions and dreams of billions of people around the world who were yearning to be free -- if we didn’t make some fundamental changes, that we might be the first generation that was passing on an America that was less hopeful, that was less generous, and that all those people who felt the American Dream slipping out of their fingers, that somehow that loss of hope would continue.

And I said at the time this is going to be an uphill climb.  Now, I didn’t know how uphill it was going to be.  (Laughter.)  None of us did.  It turned out that on that night we had already lost millions of jobs because of the financial meltdown and the recession.  And it wasn’t until a few months after my inauguration that we realized we would ultimately lose 8 million jobs before any of our economic plans had a chance to take effect -- the worst recession since the Great Depression -- and there are families all across the country that are still suffering from the aftershocks of that.

And so we had to immediately start acting.  And in some cases the actions we took weren’t always popular.  But we knew that it was vital for us to act boldly and swiftly to address the crisis.

And let’s take a look at what we were able to accomplish.  An economy that was shrinking by about 6 percent has now grown for five consecutive quarters.  (Applause.)  An economy that was shedding jobs every month now has seen over 2 million jobs created just in the last 14.  An auto industry that some had written off now are making profits again and have hired back all their workers.  (Applause.)  The financial system stabilized.  We got the economy moving in the right direction.

And along the way we did a few other things.  (Laughter.)  Along the way we did a few other things.  We decided that we didn't want equal pay for equal work to be just an empty slogan, so we strengthened laws to make sure that our daughters are treated as well as our sons.  (Applause.)

We decided that in a nation as wealthy as ours, it was unacceptable for people to go bankrupt just because they got sick.  And so after 100 years, we finally delivered on the promise of making sure that we had affordable, accessible health care in this country for all people.  (Applause.)

We made record investments in clean energy, record investments in basic research, and restored science to its rightful place.  (Applause.)

We made the largest federal investment in education in our history, but we didn’t just put more money in.  We decided we were finally going to deliver on reform and help catalyze reforms in 40 states all across the country to make sure that schools are doing right by every single student, K-12.  And we also made sure that young people are able to afford to go to college, so we took away billions of dollars of subsidies that were going to banks, and put those in the student loan systems so that millions more young people were able to go to college without taking on tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of debt.  (Applause.)  

We appointed a couple more women on the Supreme Court -- including the first Latina.  (Applause.)

We ended the law that said that you could not serve your country because of who you loved.  (Applause.)

We made the biggest infrastructure investment in this century since Dwight Eisenhower built the Interstate Highway System.  (Applause.)

Internationally, we brought 100,000 troops back from Iraq and are ending combat operations.  (Applause.)  We regained momentum in Afghanistan and are now in the process of transition where we can bring our troops home.  (Applause.)  We have gone after al Qaeda relentlessly -- (applause) -- and made America safer in the process.  (Applause.)

And we’ve restored around the world a sense of America as a responsible actor that will uphold the principles of human rights and liberty and democracy.

And in between we’ve dealt with pirates and -- (laughter) -- you remember pirates? -- (laughter) -- H1N1 and an oil spill and locusts.  (Laughter.)  So we’ve been pretty busy.

And I couldn’t be prouder of our record over the last two years.  Promises were made during the campaign and so many promises have been kept.

And yet all across America folks are still struggling.  We’ve been able to avert the worst possible crises, but a lot of those challenges that we confronted in 2008, those challenges are still out there.  Wages and incomes have flat-lined for the middle class all across America.  The rates of poverty in too many communities are way too high.  In too many schools too many of our children still drop out without hope, without vision for the future.

We still don't have an energy policy in this country that is equal to our potential and our greatness.  And we’re still vulnerable to high gas prices that are just killing families all across America right now.

We still haven’t reformed our broken immigration system.  So we have too many people living in the shadows, being exploited by workers, driving down the wages of workers as a consequence because those employers aren’t subject to the rules, and families are being broken up in the process.

We still haven’t fully transformed our economy so that we’re competitive the way we need to be, and are creating jobs at the pace we need and growth at the rate that we need.

And so we still got so much work to do.  The challenges we confronted were not the work of one year or two years or even one term.  And that’s why I’m going to need you.  That’s why, in some ways, this campaign may be even more important and more challenging in 2012.  We have to finish what we started.  (Applause.)  We have to finish what we started in 2012 and beyond.  And that’s why I’m going to need you -- all in.  (Applause.)

Part of what made our campaign special was you -- going out knocking on doors and organizing; some of you traveling to other states in the middle of winter.  Occasionally, getting doors slammed in your faces.  (Laughter.)  “Obama who?”  (Laughter.)  But that energy, that inspiration that you gave me, the commitments you made to each other about the kind of country you wanted to live in, that sprit we need now more than ever.

And that’s part of the reason why we decided not to have our campaign here in Washington, D.C., but to have it based again in Chicago.  Because I don’t want a campaign that suddenly is all about the insiders, suddenly is all about the pundits and the lobbyists and -- I wanted to make sure that we had a campaign that was rooted and grounded in what folks are talking about around the kitchen table and around the water coolers all across America.  And that’s why it’s going to be so important that you are as engaged, as involved, as motivated as you were two and a half, three years ago.  Because what’s at stake right now is not any particular policy -- it has to do with a broader vision of where we want to take our country.

I gave a budget address a while back, and a lot of people reported on the numbers and the debt and the deficit, and why this is so important.  And let me tell you, we as Democrats, we as progressives, need to be just as concerned about the debt as anybody else because that’s how we will be able to move our vision forward -- investing in education, investing in infrastructure, investing in clean energy, if we’ve got a government that lives within its means.  So we’ve got to be concerned about that.

But this broader budget debate that is now carrying over and will probably continue all the way until November of next year, it’s also about what our vision of the country is.  Are we a country that’s going to continue to be able to do big things?  Are we going to continue to make a commitment that every child, regardless of race or station or region can achieve their dreams because they’ve got a school system that’s delivering for them?  Are we going to continue to be a nation that has the best infrastructure, moving products and services and people and information from place to place, because we’ve invested not just in roads and bridges and ports and airports, but in broadband lines and smart grids?  Are we investing in the future the way previous generations invested in us?

Are we going to continue to make sure that here in the United States of America we’re discovering the new great sources of energy that will help us save the planet even as we’re strengthening our economy and are putting our people back to work?  Are we still dreaming big dreams in America?  And are we going to continue to be a country that makes sure that our senior citizens can retire with dignity and respect and that Medicare is going to be there for them and Social Security is going to be there for them?  (Applause.)

And as we grapple through these problems, are we going to make sure that the burden is shared by everybody?  We’re going to have to make tough choices.  But are we going to make sure that folks like me, who have been so blessed by this country, that we’re doing our part?

The other side right now, their only agenda is to provide tax cuts to folks like me.  And you know what, we all like tax cuts, but -- (laughter) -- no, I mean, I’ve never met somebody who said, “No, no, no, no.”  (Laughter.)  But you know what, I don't want $200,000 in my pocket if I know that that means that 33 seniors are going to have to pay an extra $6,000 for their Medicare services.  That's not something I want.  (Applause.)  I don't want special favors for me if it means that a whole bunch of kids are being cut out of Head Start.  (Applause.)

See -- and the reason I don't want it is not just out of a sense of charity.  It’s because my life is better when, as I’m driving down the street and I pass by a school, I know, you know what, that school is doing a great job for those kids.  And if I pass by a senior couple holding hands and I think to myself, you know what, that might be me and Michelle some day.  (Laughter.)  And I like the fact that I live in a country where they’ve got some security in their golden years.  (Applause.)

That makes my life better.  (Applause.)  That's the kind of America that I want Malia and Sasha to inherit.  That's the kind of America I want all of your children and grandchildren inheriting.  That's what this debate is about.  That's what this campaign is about.  That's what this election is about.  (Applause.)

So let me just close by saying this.  There have been times over the last two and a half years where I know you all have gotten frustrated sometimes.  (Laughter.)  I know all these conversations you’re having.  (Laughter.)  “Oh, why did Obama compromise with the Republicans on that?”  (Laughter.)  “Why did health care take so long?”  (Laughter.)  “Where’s my public option?”  (Laughter.)

And I know that even though everybody is saying nice things, people are saying -- (laughter) -- I know people are also saying, you know, he’s looking old.  (Laughter.)  You know, he seemed so fresh and young back in 2008.  Now, look, he’s all gray.  (Laughter.)

You know, we’ve gone through some setbacks.  In some cases we haven’t gotten everything we wanted done as quickly as we wanted it done.  You know, I’m a little dinged up here and there.  (Laughter.)

But I tell you what, though.  The vision that brought us together in 2008, that's undiminished in me.  The confidence I have in the American people, in their decency, that's undiminished.  My faith that we can make tough choices on behalf of future generations, that's undiminished.  My belief in you has not lessened.

So when you think back to these last two and a half years, I want you to do so not with complacency, not with full satisfaction, but I want it to motivate you.  Don't let people tell you that we can’t bring about change.  We have already brought about change.  And we have more work to do.  (Applause.)

And if you are with me, if you’re all in, if you’re willing to knock on doors, and call your friends, and call your neighbors, and keep at it, even when the journey is tough, I have no doubt that we will get to where we set out to go three and a half years ago, and we will deliver the kind of America that we want to our children.

God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)

END
8:42 P.M. EDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 16, 2011

Remarks by the President at a DNC Event

St. Regis

Washington, D.C.

6:59 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, everybody.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Well, it is wonderful to see so many old friends and a few new friends here.  Let me, first of all, say that you don't have to sleep my campaign, but the eating and breathing part I agree with.  (Laughter.)

Let me tell you, I feel extraordinarily confident, in part because of the great friends here who -- some of you have been with me since 2007, when nobody could pronounce my name.  (Laughter.)  I also feel enormous confidence because we have an extraordinarily dynamic new DNC chair in Debbie Wasserman Schultz.  And I think she is going to do an outstanding job.  (Applause.)  So we are very proud of her.

I want to spend most of my time just having a conversation with you.  But I thought maybe I'd tell you a little bit about the trip that I took today.  I went to Memphis, Tennessee.  And some of you may know Memphis has gone through some tough times.  They had flooding that had displaced about 1,500 people.  And so we had a chance to meet with some folks whose homes had been overrun with water.  And they described, apparently with water comes frogs and snakes.  I didn’t realize the snake part.  Michelle would not have been happy -- (laughter) -- to know that there were snakes along with this water.

But what was remarkable was how the community had come together and they had organized over a hundred churches to help take people in.  And we met with some of the first responders, some of whom were volunteers.  And it was an extraordinary testimony to the American spirit.

And then I gave a commencement address at Booker T. Washington High School.  Now, Booker T. Washington has some very prominent alumni and has been an institution in Memphis for quite some time.  But the community surrounding Booker T. had fallen on hard times -- in south Memphis.  And just a few years ago they had a 50-percent graduation rate.  Half the kids dropped out of school.  This is one of the toughest neighborhoods in the country; I think has the highest poverty rate of anyplace just about in Tennessee; one of the highest crime rates in the nation.

And every kid that you met had some extraordinary story.  The young man who introduced me -- his father had been killed when he was four years old after getting shot 22 times.  He was born with a hole in his heart and had to have it repaired over a lengthy period of time when he was very young.

And every young person you met -- single mom, struggled, lived in housing projects in Memphis.  But because of a dynamic principal, because of some of the reforms that had been initiated in Tennessee, supported by the work we’re doing at the federal government, they had now lifted their graduation rate to 90 percent.

They had started organizing AP courses in math and science in the school.  And I will tell you, I could not have been more moved or prouder to see these young people receive their diplomas, because you knew how hard they had worked and how much they had overcome to get to where they were.

And it speaks to something that Debbie mentioned, which is what our vision of the country is.  I gave a budget speech a while back, and I made the point that the budget debates that we’re having right now are not just about numbers.  It’s about deficit; it’s about debt; it’s about how we organize a government that lives within its means.  And that’s absolutely critical.  It’s, by the way, as critical for progressives as it is for anybody -- because if we want to have a strong foundation for us to provide opportunity in the future, we’ve got to make sure that we got our deficit and our debt under control.

But part of what this budget debate is also about is what’s our vision for America.  Who are we as a people?  Who are we as a nation?  And what I explained was, is that in the America that I want to see 20 years from, 30 years from now, 40 years from now, we are building on the basic precept that anybody in this country can make it if they try.  That Malia and Sasha will make it, but those kids that I spoke to today, they’ll make it, too.  That your children will make it, but those kids in Anacostia will also have a chance.

And in order for us to make sure that that opportunity is available to everyone, it means we’re going to have to make ourselves more competitive, because we now face a 21st century economy that is not like the economy that we grew up in.  And it means we’re going to have to make investments in education and step up our game, and increase our college graduation rates.  It means we’ve got to rebuild our infrastructure.  We used to have the best infrastructure in the world, and we no longer do.  And that will put us over the long term at a competitive disadvantage.  And, by the way, we can put a lot of people to work, doing the work that America needs done -- rebuilding roads and bridges, but also broadband lines and a smart grid and high-speed rail.

It means that we’ve got to make sure that we are investing in basic science and research to maintain our competitive edge over the long term.  It means that we have a safety net that is smart and lean and efficient, but is there for people, so that if they’ve worked hard all their lives, by the time they arrive at their golden years they know that they’ve got health care that they can count on, and they know that they’ve got a basic floor that Social Security provides.

It means that we have an energy policy so that our economy is not subject to the whims of the spot oil market.  It means we’ve got an immigration system that works for all of America, one that observes our tradition as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.

Now, we’ve made extraordinary strides over the last two years in moving the country in that direction.  We averted a Great Depression because of the actions we took.  We made sure that we have an auto industry that has now turned a profit -- all three Big 3 automakers -- and hired back workers that nobody thought was possible.  We have made extraordinary progress in investing in clean energy -- largest investment in clean energy in our history.

We’ve made the largest investment in education in our history.  We haven’t just put more money into our education system, but we’ve demanded accountability and reform, and in some cases broken some china within the Democratic Party, saying that this is too important for us to be held back by dogma and ideology.

We’ve removed 100,000 troops from Iraq and made sure that we’ve got a strategy in Afghanistan that will allow us to transition to Afghan lead, and that means then that we can focus not only on the extraordinary opportunities that present themselves in the Middle East but also focus on rebuilding here at home.

And along the way we’ve made sure that you can serve in our military regardless of who you love, and made sure that we had two strong women on the Supreme Court -- because you can never have enough women on the Supreme Court.  (Applause.)

So I’m extraordinarily proud of what we’ve accomplished.  But we’ve got more work to do.  Even on the things that we’ve already accomplished -- like financial regulatory reform, to make sure that we don’t have the kind of financial meltdown that we almost experienced in 2008 -- we’ve got to implement that law.

On health care, we achieved what had eluded this country for a hundred years -- putting in place a structure so that nobody will go bankrupt when they get sick; everybody has access to affordable health care.  But we’ve got to make sure that it gets implemented and that we follow through.

And so, when I spoke at Grant Park back in what seems a long time ago -- (laughter) -- I had no gray hair back then -- (laughter) -- I told everybody that wasn’t the end, that was the beginning.  We’re just a quarter of the way through and we’ve got to make sure that we finish our task.  (Applause.)

We’ve got to make sure that when we talk to our kids and when we talk to our grandkids, we can say, you know what, we ran the race, we finished the job.  And we won’t have solved every problem in this country and we can rest assured that that next generation will have challenges that we can’t even imagine yet, but we will be able to say to them with conviction that we are passing on to them an America that is stronger and more vibrant, that is as compassionate and generous, and can still do big things -- the kind of America that all of us imagine.

And that’s worth working for.  That’s worth fighting for.  And I’m ready to fight alongside with you.  Thank you very much, everybody.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

END
7:09 P.M. EDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 16, 2011

Notice from the President regarding the annual renewal of the national emergency with respect to Burma

NOTICE

- - - - - - -

CONTINUATION OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO BURMA

     On May 20, 1997, the President issued Executive Order 13047, certifying to the Congress under section 570(b) of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1997 (Public Law 104-208), that the Government of Burma had committed large-scale repression of the democratic opposition in Burma after September 30, 1996, thereby invoking the prohibition on new investment in Burma by United States persons contained in that section.  The President also declared a national emergency to deal with the threat posed to the national security and foreign policy of the United States by the actions and policies of the Government of Burma, invoking the authority, inter alia, of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. 1701-1706.

     Because the actions and policies of the Government of Burma continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, the national emergency declared on May 20, 1997, and the measures adopted to deal with that emergency in Executive Orders 13047 of May 20, 1997, 13310 of July 28, 2003, 13348 of October 18, 2007, and 13464 of April 30, 2008, must continue in effect beyond May 20, 2011.

     Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency with respect to Burma.  This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and transmitted to the Congress.

BARACK OBAMA

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 16, 2011

Message from the President regarding the annual renewal of the national emergency with respect to Burma

TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
TO THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE

May 16, 2011

Dear Mr. Speaker:    (Dear Mr. President:)

Section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)) provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless, prior to the anniversary date of its declaration, the President publishes in the Federal Register and transmits to the Congress a notice stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the anniversary date.  In accordance with this provision, I have sent to the Federal Register for publication the enclosed notice stating that the national emergency with respect to Burma that was declared on May 20, 1997, is to continue in effect beyond May 20, 2011.

The crisis between the United States and Burma arising from the actions and policies of the Government of Burma, including its engaging in large‑scale repression of the democratic opposition in Burma, that led to the declaration and modification of this national emergency has not been resolved.  These actions and policies are hostile to U.S. interests and pose a continuing unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.  For this reason, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency with respect to Burma and maintain in force the sanctions against Burma to respond to this threat.

Sincerely,
BARACK OBAMA

President Obama Welcomes the UConn Huskies

May 16, 2011 | 9:53 | Public Domain

The President honors the 2011 NCAA Men's Basketball champion Connecticut Huskies in a ceremony at the White House.

Download mp4 (95MB) | mp3 (9MB)

Read the Transcript

Remarks by the President in Welcome of the University of Connecticut Huskies

5:43 P.M. EDT
 
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody!  (Applause.)  Welcome.  Please, have a seat, have a seat.  Have a seat.  Welcome to the White House, and congratulations to the Huskies on being the best college basketball team in the land.  (Applause.)
 
Before we start, I want to acknowledge a big Huskies fan that's in the house –- Senator Joe Lieberman is here.  (Applause.)  I know he is proud of this team.
 
I have to be honest -– this is a bittersweet day for me.  (Laughter.)  On the one hand, I get to congratulate a great team and a great coach on winning the national championship.  On the other hand, I’m reminded once again that my bracket was a bust.  (Laughter.)  I did not pick UConn to win it all.  That was a big mistake.  (Laughter.)  I was just mentioning to Coach that it was because Andy Katz of ESPN told me there’s no way Uconn was winning.  (Laughter.)  I did have these guys going to the Elite Eight, and I was doing pretty well in my pool at the beginning of the tournament, and then things completely fell apart.
 
But I was not alone.  Let’s face it, this was a tough year for a lot of brackets because teams like this one shocked the world.  So next time you guys decide to reel off 11 straight wins, please let me know ahead of time.  (Laughter.)
 
Because the truth is, UConn’s perfect run through the Big East and the NCAA tournament was a surprise to everybody but themselves and Coach.  These guys knew they had something special.  And even though they finished the regular season tied for ninth in the Big East, even though there were some rough spots during the season, these players just put their heads down, they worked hard, and they focused on winning the games that counted.
 
They succeeded because everybody knew that they had a role to play.  There was, of course, Coach Calhoun, who now joins John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, and Mike Krzyzewski and Bobby Knight as the only coaches ever to win three national championships.  That’s pretty good company there, Coach.  (Applause.)
 
There’s Shabazz Napier, who sang and danced and talked his way through a incredible freshman season.  (Laughter.)  If he’s making rabbit ears behind me or anything like that, please stop him.  (Laughter.)
 
At the other end of the spectrum there’s Jeremy Lamb.  He’s sort of the anti-Shabazz.  (Laughter.)  He’s quiet.  (Laughter.) But he let’s his play do the talking, and exploded to average 15 points a game during the postseason.
 
     And then there’s Kemba Walker who -- (applause) -- this is a guy who wanted to go to UConn so badly in high school that he recruited them.  Never afraid to take a last shot.  A player who will go down in history as one of the greatest ever to wear the Huskies’ uniform.  And a player who always lived by his dad’s advice that, “it’s not the size of the person, it’s the size of the heart.”
 
     So if you put all that together -- young team, long-shot odds, and then a postseason run and the Kemba show -- that was a pretty inspiring season.
 
I want to thank all the players, all the coaches who held the basketball clinic earlier this afternoon and inspiring some future stars here from D.C.  I think you made their year.  And I want to thank everybody who is involved in the UConn family, because obviously this has been a great program for many, many years, Coach.  And I know that you could not do it without all the folks who are represented here today -- assistant coaches, trainers, folks in the athletic department, everybody who has been so supportive of this outstanding, outstanding program.
 
     So, congratulations to all of you.  Hopefully, we will see you again soon.  You got a bunch of freshmen, so I don’t see why these guys couldn’t go on a pretty good run here.  But we couldn’t be prouder of them, and I know that the great state of Connecticut couldn’t be prouder of them as well.
 
So, congratulations.  (Applause.)
 
     COACH CALHOUN:  Well, thank you, Mr. President.  As you know, Kemba was waiting for you -- when you were up in the air, he was down on the ground, because -- unfortunately, he actually was up in the air stuck at LaGuardia Airport for three hours.  But he did want that one-on-one game with you.
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  I’m ready.  (Laughter.)
 
     COACH CALHOUN:  Does he have enough game, you think?
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  As long as he’s wearing street shoes and a suit.  (Laughter.)
 
     COACH CALHOUN:  I like a guy with edges.  (Laughter.)  President and folks, I just want to say it’s a thrill for us to be here representing the state of Connecticut, certainly the University of Connecticut.  Joe Lieberman was there a long time ago before we started going to the White House occasionally.
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  It was a really long time ago.  (Laughter.)
 
     COACH CALHOUN.  Matter of fact -- no, we’ll get into that at another time.  But it’s been a thrill.  This year was reminding me in many, many ways, between my wife and myself, rooting you on.  We stopped with the team at the Lincoln Memorial, and I know how much you admired Lincoln.
 
     I was telling our kids just when great things happen, like  -- I happened to be buying some bookmarks for the kids that you might recognize.
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Absolutely.
 
COACH CALHOUN:  And I said simply that people like Lincoln and Martin Luther King and so on, maybe our President, were speeding along in the process of being something special that he truly is.  And I believe that and feel that way.
 
     This basketball team, by the way, was kind of an underdog, much as you were.  And who would have thought, 15 years ago -- who would have thought maybe nine months ago we would be here.
But you know what?  Yes, we can.  (Laughter and applause)
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  Yes, we can.  I like that.  (Applause.)
 
     COACH CALHOUN:  And like you, Mr. President, yes, we did.  We did because we cared.  We cared as a family.  We cared about each other.  We accepted our roles.  We accepted who we are, and did anything possible to be the best we possibly can become.  I watched your rise -- magnificent.  I’ve watched their rise, and it’s been one of the most emotional seasons of my entire life.
 
     I’m proud of what you’ve done, certainly, and I’m certainly proud of my kids.  And I just thank you very much for having us here.  And I want to especially congratulate you, because last night I knew you were pretty excited to watch the Chicago Bulls. Am I correct?
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  I was.  (Laughter.)
 
     COACH CALHOUN:  That was an easy call.
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  What do you think?  Some of you guys may want to look at the Bulls organization.  They could use a shooter.  (Laughter).
 
     COACH CALHOUN:  But once again, thank you for everything, Mr. President.
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you so much.
 
     COACH CALHOUN:  We really appreciate having you here, and you’re an inspiration to so many young people -- definitely a lot of the people I've coached.  And I just want to say that you make us all feel proud about our country, and certainly feel proud when you interject athletics and education, because it’s very important to us.
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.
 
COACH CLAHOUN:  And I've got someone special to bring up now -- Kemba Walker.  Kemba, come on.  (Applause.)
 
     MR. WALKER:  I just want to say -- I want to thank everybody for coming out.  I have one question for the President.  I wanted to ask you, can you teach me that walk?
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  That walk?  (Laughter.)  That's a special presidential walk.  (Laughter.)  But maybe in a few years.  You look pretty good behind the podium, I got to say.  (Laughter.)
 
     MR. WALKER:  I’m looking forward to that.  (Laughter.)  But on behalf of the team, we all just -- we want to give you this jersey.
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  All right.  Oh, man, that's outstanding.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  That's a good-looking jersey there.
Absolutely.  There you go.  (Applause.)  Fantastic.
 
All right, we’re going to strike the podium and get a good picture with the whole crew.

END
5:53 P.M. EDT

Close Transcript

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 16, 2011

Remarks by the President in Welcome of the University of Connecticut Huskies

East Room

5:43 P.M. EDT
 
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody!  (Applause.)  Welcome.  Please, have a seat, have a seat.  Have a seat.  Welcome to the White House, and congratulations to the Huskies on being the best college basketball team in the land.  (Applause.)
 
Before we start, I want to acknowledge a big Huskies fan that's in the house –- Senator Joe Lieberman is here.  (Applause.)  I know he is proud of this team.
 
I have to be honest -– this is a bittersweet day for me.  (Laughter.)  On the one hand, I get to congratulate a great team and a great coach on winning the national championship.  On the other hand, I’m reminded once again that my bracket was a bust.  (Laughter.)  I did not pick UConn to win it all.  That was a big mistake.  (Laughter.)  I was just mentioning to Coach that it was because Andy Katz of ESPN told me there’s no way Uconn was winning.  (Laughter.)  I did have these guys going to the Elite Eight, and I was doing pretty well in my pool at the beginning of the tournament, and then things completely fell apart.
 
But I was not alone.  Let’s face it, this was a tough year for a lot of brackets because teams like this one shocked the world.  So next time you guys decide to reel off 11 straight wins, please let me know ahead of time.  (Laughter.)
 
Because the truth is, UConn’s perfect run through the Big East and the NCAA tournament was a surprise to everybody but themselves and Coach.  These guys knew they had something special.  And even though they finished the regular season tied for ninth in the Big East, even though there were some rough spots during the season, these players just put their heads down, they worked hard, and they focused on winning the games that counted.
 
They succeeded because everybody knew that they had a role to play.  There was, of course, Coach Calhoun, who now joins John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, and Mike Krzyzewski and Bobby Knight as the only coaches ever to win three national championships.  That’s pretty good company there, Coach.  (Applause.)
 
There’s Shabazz Napier, who sang and danced and talked his way through a incredible freshman season.  (Laughter.)  If he’s making rabbit ears behind me or anything like that, please stop him.  (Laughter.)
 
At the other end of the spectrum there’s Jeremy Lamb.  He’s sort of the anti-Shabazz.  (Laughter.)  He’s quiet.  (Laughter.) But he let’s his play do the talking, and exploded to average 15 points a game during the postseason.
 
     And then there’s Kemba Walker who -- (applause) -- this is a guy who wanted to go to UConn so badly in high school that he recruited them.  Never afraid to take a last shot.  A player who will go down in history as one of the greatest ever to wear the Huskies’ uniform.  And a player who always lived by his dad’s advice that, “it’s not the size of the person, it’s the size of the heart.”
 
     So if you put all that together -- young team, long-shot odds, and then a postseason run and the Kemba show -- that was a pretty inspiring season.
 
I want to thank all the players, all the coaches who held the basketball clinic earlier this afternoon and inspiring some future stars here from D.C.  I think you made their year.  And I want to thank everybody who is involved in the UConn family, because obviously this has been a great program for many, many years, Coach.  And I know that you could not do it without all the folks who are represented here today -- assistant coaches, trainers, folks in the athletic department, everybody who has been so supportive of this outstanding, outstanding program.
 
     So, congratulations to all of you.  Hopefully, we will see you again soon.  You got a bunch of freshmen, so I don’t see why these guys couldn’t go on a pretty good run here.  But we couldn’t be prouder of them, and I know that the great state of Connecticut couldn’t be prouder of them as well.
 
So, congratulations.  (Applause.)
 
     COACH CALHOUN:  Well, thank you, Mr. President.  As you know, Kemba was waiting for you -- when you were up in the air, he was down on the ground, because -- unfortunately, he actually was up in the air stuck at LaGuardia Airport for three hours.  But he did want that one-on-one game with you.
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  I’m ready.  (Laughter.)
 
     COACH CALHOUN:  Does he have enough game, you think?
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  As long as he’s wearing street shoes and a suit.  (Laughter.)
 
     COACH CALHOUN:  I like a guy with edges.  (Laughter.)  President and folks, I just want to say it’s a thrill for us to be here representing the state of Connecticut, certainly the University of Connecticut.  Joe Lieberman was there a long time ago before we started going to the White House occasionally.
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  It was a really long time ago.  (Laughter.)
 
     COACH CALHOUN.  Matter of fact -- no, we’ll get into that at another time.  But it’s been a thrill.  This year was reminding me in many, many ways, between my wife and myself, rooting you on.  We stopped with the team at the Lincoln Memorial, and I know how much you admired Lincoln.
 
     I was telling our kids just when great things happen, like  -- I happened to be buying some bookmarks for the kids that you might recognize.
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Absolutely.
 
COACH CALHOUN:  And I said simply that people like Lincoln and Martin Luther King and so on, maybe our President, were speeding along in the process of being something special that he truly is.  And I believe that and feel that way.
 
     This basketball team, by the way, was kind of an underdog, much as you were.  And who would have thought, 15 years ago -- who would have thought maybe nine months ago we would be here.
But you know what?  Yes, we can.  (Laughter and applause)
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  Yes, we can.  I like that.  (Applause.)
 
     COACH CALHOUN:  And like you, Mr. President, yes, we did.  We did because we cared.  We cared as a family.  We cared about each other.  We accepted our roles.  We accepted who we are, and did anything possible to be the best we possibly can become.  I watched your rise -- magnificent.  I’ve watched their rise, and it’s been one of the most emotional seasons of my entire life.
 
     I’m proud of what you’ve done, certainly, and I’m certainly proud of my kids.  And I just thank you very much for having us here.  And I want to especially congratulate you, because last night I knew you were pretty excited to watch the Chicago Bulls. Am I correct?
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  I was.  (Laughter.)
 
     COACH CALHOUN:  That was an easy call.
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  What do you think?  Some of you guys may want to look at the Bulls organization.  They could use a shooter.  (Laughter).
 
     COACH CALHOUN:  But once again, thank you for everything, Mr. President.
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you so much.
 
     COACH CALHOUN:  We really appreciate having you here, and you’re an inspiration to so many young people -- definitely a lot of the people I've coached.  And I just want to say that you make us all feel proud about our country, and certainly feel proud when you interject athletics and education, because it’s very important to us.
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.
 
COACH CLAHOUN:  And I've got someone special to bring up now -- Kemba Walker.  Kemba, come on.  (Applause.)
 
     MR. WALKER:  I just want to say -- I want to thank everybody for coming out.  I have one question for the President.  I wanted to ask you, can you teach me that walk?
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  That walk?  (Laughter.)  That's a special presidential walk.  (Laughter.)  But maybe in a few years.  You look pretty good behind the podium, I got to say.  (Laughter.)
 
     MR. WALKER:  I’m looking forward to that.  (Laughter.)  But on behalf of the team, we all just -- we want to give you this jersey.
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  All right.  Oh, man, that's outstanding.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  That's a good-looking jersey there.
Absolutely.  There you go.  (Applause.)  Fantastic.
 
All right, we’re going to strike the podium and get a good picture with the whole crew.

END
5:53 P.M. EDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 16, 2011

Remarks by the President at Booker T. Washington High School Commencement

Cook Convention Center, Memphis, Tennessee

12:18 P.M. CDT

     THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much, everybody.  (Applause.)  Everybody, please have a seat.  Thank you, Chris.  Hello, Memphis!  (Applause.)  Congratulations to the class of 2011! (Applause.) 

     Now, I will admit being President is a great job.  (Laughter.)  I have a very nice plane.  (Laughter.)  I have a theme song.  (Laughter.)  But what I enjoy most is having a chance to come to a school like Booker T. Washington High School and share this day with its graduates.  (Applause.)  So I could not be more pleased to be here.

     We've got some wonderful guests who are here as well, and I just want to make mention of them very quickly.  First of all, the Governor of Tennessee, Bill Haslam, is here.  Please give him a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  Three outstanding members of the Tennessee congressional delegation, all of whom care deeply about education -- Senator Bob Corker, Senator Lamar Alexander, and Congressman Steve Cohen is here.  (Applause.)  You’ve got one of Memphis’s own, former Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. is in the house.  (Applause.)  And the Mayor of Memphis, A.C. Wharton is here.  Please give him a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  

     I am so proud of each and every one of you.

     STUDENT:  Thank you!

     THE PRESIDENT:  You're welcome.  You made it -- and not just through high school.  You made it past Principal Kiner.  (Laughter and applause.)  I’ve spent a little bit of time with her now, and you can tell she is not messing around.  (Laughter.)  I’ve only been in Memphis a couple of hours, but I’m pretty sure that if she told me to do something I’d do it.  (Laughter.)  

     Then I had the chance to meet her mom and her daughter, Amber, a little while back, and we took a picture.  It turns out Amber actually goes to another high school.  She was worried that the boys would be afraid to talk to her if her mom was lurking in the hallways -- (laughter) -- which is why my next job will be principal at Sasha and Malia’s high school.  (Laughter and applause.)  And then I’ll be president of their college.  (Laughter.)

     Let me also say to Alexis and Vashti -- I heard that you were a little nervous about speaking today, but now I’m a little nervous speaking after you, because you both did terrific jobs.  (Applause.)  We’ve had some great performances by Shalonda and Tecia and Paula, and the jazz band.  Give them a big round of applause.  (Applause.)   

     Last but not least, I want to recognize all the people who helped you to reach this milestone:  the parents, the grandparents, the aunts, the uncles, the sisters, the brothers, the friends, the neighbors -- (applause) -- who have loved you and stood behind you every step of the way.  Congratulations, family. 

     And I want to acknowledge the devoted teachers and administrators at Booker T. Washington, who believed in you -- (applause) -- who kept the heat on you, and have never treated teaching as a job, but rather as a calling.

     Every commencement is a day of celebration.  I was just telling somebody backstage, I just love commencements.  I get all choked up at commencements.  So I can tell you already right now, I will cry at my children’s commencement.  I cry at other people’s commencements.  (Laughter.)  But this one is especially hopeful.  This one is especially hopeful because some people say that schools like BTW just aren’t supposed to succeed in America.  You’ll hear them say, “The streets are too rough in those neighborhoods.”  “The schools are too broken.” “The kids don’t stand a chance.” 

     We are here today because every single one of you stood tall and said, “Yes, we can.”  (Applause.)  Yes, we can learn.  Yes, we can succeed.  You decided you would not be defined by where you come from but by where you want to go, by what you want to achieve, by the dreams you hope to fulfill. 

     Just a couple of years ago, this was a school where only about half the students made it to graduation.  For a long time, just a handful headed to college each year.  But at Booker T. Washington, you changed all that. 

     You created special academies for ninth graders to start students off on the right track.  You made it possible for kids to take AP classes and earn college credits.  You even had a team take part in robotics competition so students can learn with their hands by building and creating.  And you didn’t just create a new curriculum, you created a new culture -- a culture that prizes hard work and discipline; a culture that shows every student here that they matter and that their teachers believe in them.  As Principal Kiner says, the kids have to know that you care, before they care what you know.  (Applause.) 

     And because you created this culture of caring and learning, today we’re standing with a very different Booker T. Washington High School.  Today, this is a place where more than four out of five students are earning a diploma; a place where 70 percent of the graduates will continue their education; where many will be the very first in their families to go to college.  (Applause.) 

     Today, Booker T. Washington is a place that has proven why we can’t accept excuses -- any excuses -- when it comes to education.  In the United States of America, we should never accept anything less than the best that our children have to offer. 

     As your teacher Steve McKinney -- where’s Steve at?  There he is.  (Applause.)  AKA Big Mac.  (Laughter.)  And I see why they call you Big Mac.  (Laughter.)  As Mr. McKinney said in the local paper, “We need everyone to broaden their ideas about what is possible.  We need parents, politicians, and the media to see how success is possible, how success is happening every day.”

     So that’s why I came here today.  Because if success can happen here at Booker T. Washington, it can happen anywhere in Memphis.  (Applause.)  And if it can happen in Memphis, it can happen anywhere in Tennessee.  And it can happen anywhere in Tennessee, it can happen all across America.  (Applause.)

     So ever since I became President, my administration has been working hard to make sure that we build on the progress that’s taking place in schools like this.  We’ve got to encourage the kind of change that’s led not by politicians, not by Washington, D.C., but by teachers and principals and parents, and entire communities; by ordinary people standing up and demanding a better future for their children. 

     We have more work to do so that every child can fulfill his or her God-given potential.  And here in Tennessee we’ve been seeing great progress.  Tennessee has been a leader, one of the first winners of the nationwide “Race to the Top” that we’ve launched to reward the kind of results you’re getting here at Booker T. Washington.

     And understand, this isn’t just an issue for me.  I’m standing here as President because of the education that I received.  As Chris said, my father left my family when I was two years old.  And I was raised by a single mom, and sometimes she struggled to provide for me and my sister.  But my mother, my grandparents, they pushed me to excel.  They refused to let me make excuses.  And they kept pushing me, especially on those rare occasions where I’d slack off or get into trouble.  They weren’t that rare, actually.  (Laughter.)  I’m sure nobody here has done anything like that.   (Laughter.)

     I’m so blessed that they kept pushing; I’m so lucky that my teachers kept pushing -- because education made all the difference in my life.  The same is true for Michelle.  Education made such a difference in her life.  Michelle’s dad was a city worker, had multiple sclerosis, had to wake up every day and it took him a couple hours just to get ready for work.  But he went to work every day.  Her mom was a secretary, went to work every day, and kept on pushing her just like my folks pushed me. 

     That’s what’s made a difference in our lives.  And it’s going to make an even greater difference in your lives -- not just for your own success but for the success of the United States of America.  Because we live in a new world now.  Used to be that you didn’t have to have an education.  If you were willing to work hard, you could go to a factory somewhere and get a job.  Those times are passed.  Believe it or not, when you go out there looking for a job, you’re not just competing against people in Nashville or Atlanta.  You’re competing against young people in Beijing and Mumbai.  That’s some tough competition.  Those kids are hungry.  They’re working hard.  And you’ll need to be prepared for it. 

     And as a country, we need all of our young people to be ready.  We can’t just have some young people successful.  We’ve got to have every young person contributing; earning those high school diplomas and then earning those college diplomas, or getting certified in a trade or profession.  We can’t succeed without it. 

     Through education, you can also better yourselves in other ways.  You learn how to learn -- how to think critically and find solutions to unexpected challenges.  I remember we used to ask our teachers, “Why am I going to need algebra?”  Well, you may not have to solve for x to get a good job or to be a good parent.  But you will need to think through tough problems.  You’ll need to think on your feet.  You’ll need to know how to gather facts and evaluate information.  So, math teachers, you can tell your students that the President says they need algebra.  (Laughter.) 

     Education also teaches you the value of discipline -- that the greatest rewards come not from instant gratification but from sustained effort and from hard work.  This is a lesson that’s especially true today, in a culture that prizes flash over substance, that tells us that the goal in life is to be entertained, that says you can be famous just for being famous.  You get on a reality show -- don't know what you’ve done -- suddenly you’re famous.  But that's not going to lead to lasting, sustained achievement.

     And finally, with the right education, both at home and at school, you can learn how to be a better human being.  For when you read a great story or you learn about an important moment in history, it helps you imagine what it would be like to walk in somebody else’s shoes, to know their struggles.  The success of our economy will depend on your skills, but the success of our community will depend on your ability to follow the Golden Rule -- to treat others as you would like to be treated. 

     We’ve seen how important this is even in the past few weeks, as communities here in Memphis and all across the South have come together to deal with floodwaters, and to help each other in the aftermath of terrible tornadoes.

     All of these qualities -- empathy, discipline, the capacity to solve problems, the capacity to think critically -- these skills don’t just change how the world sees us.  They change how we see ourselves.  They allow each of us to seek out new horizons and new opportunities with confidence -- with the knowledge that we’re ready; that we can face obstacles and challenges and unexpected setbacks.  That’s the power of your education.  That’s the power of the diploma that you receive today.

     And this is something that Booker T. Washington himself understood.  Think about it.  He entered this world a slave on a Southern plantation.  But he would leave this world as the leader of a growing civil rights movement and the president of the world-famous Tuskegee Institute.

     Booker T. Washington believed that change and equality would be won in the classroom.  So he convinced folks to help him buy farmland.  Once he had the land, he needed a school.  So he assigned his first students to actually build the chairs and the desks and even a couple of the classrooms.  You thought your teachers were tough. 

     Booker T. Washington ran a tight ship.  He’d ride the train to Tuskegee and scare some of the new students.  This is before YouTube and TMZ, so the kids didn’t recognize him.  (Laughter.)   He’d walk up to them and say, “Oh, you’re heading to Tuskegee.  I heard the work there is hard.  I heard they give the students too much to do.  I hear the food is terrible.  You probably won’t last three months.”  But the students would reply they weren’t afraid of hard work.  They were going to complete their studies no matter what Booker T. Washington threw at them.  And in that way, he prepared them -- because life will throw some things at you.

     The truth is, not a single one of the graduates here today has had it easy.  Not a single one of you had anything handed to you on a silver platter.  You had to work for it.  You had to earn it.  Most of all, you had to believe in yourselves. 

     I think of Chris’s stories, and what he’s faced in his life:  Lost his father to violence at the age of four.  Had a childhood illness that could have been debilitating.  But somehow he knew in his heart that he could take a different path. 

     I think of all the graduates here who had to leave their homes when their apartments were torn down, but who took two buses each morning to come back to Booker T. Washington.   (Applause.) 

     I think of Eron Jackon.  Where is Eron?  Eron has known a lot of setbacks in her young life.  There was a period when she lashed out and she got into trouble and she made mistakes.  And when she first came to Booker T. Washington, she struggled.  Is that right?  There are plenty of people out there who would have counted Eron out; a lot of people who would have thought of her as another statistic.  But that’s not how the teachers here at Booker T. Washington saw her.  And that’s not how Eron came to see herself.  So she kept coming back to school, and she didn’t give up and she didn’t quit.  And in time, she became a great student. 

     And she remembered what Principal Kiner told her:  “You can’t let the past get you down.  You have to let it motivate you.”  And so now here Eron is, graduating.  (Applause.)  She’s going to keep studying to get her barber’s certificate so she can cut hair and save for college.  She’s working toward her dream to becoming a lawyer.  She’s got a bright future.

     Everybody here has got a unique story like that to tell.  Each of you knows what it took for you to get here.  But in reaching this milestone, there is a common lesson shared by every graduate in this hall.  And Chris said it himself in a recent interview:  “It's not where you are or what you are.  It’s who you are.”

     Yes, you’re from South Memphis.  Yes, you’ve always been underdogs.  Nobody has handed you a thing.  But that also means that whatever you accomplish in your life, you will have earned it.  Whatever rewards and joys you reap, you’ll appreciate them that much more because they will have come through your own sweat and tears, products of your own effort and your own talents.  You’ve shown more grit and determination in your childhoods than a lot of adults ever will.  That’s who you are.  (Applause.) 

     So, class of 2011, the hard road does not end here.  Your journey has just begun.  Your diploma is not a free pass.  It won’t protect you against every setback or challenge or mistake.  You’ll make some, I promise.  You’re going to have to keep working hard.  You’re going to have to keep pushing yourselves.  And you’ll find yourselves sometime in situations where folks have had an easier time, they’re a little bit ahead of you, and you’re going to have to work harder than they are.  And you may be frustrated by that.

     But if you do push yourselves, if you build on what you’ve already accomplished here, then I couldn’t be more confident about your futures.  I’m hopeful and I’m excited about what all of you can achieve.  And I know that armed with the skills and experience and the love that you’ve gained at Booker T. Washington High School, you’re ready to make your mark on the world.

     So thank you.  Thanks for inspiring me.  God bless you.  God bless the United States.  (Applause.)

END 12:40 P.M. CDT

The President & Vice President's 2010 Financial Disclosure Forms

Bob Bauer
May 16, 2011
02:18 PM EDT

Today, the President and Vice President released their 2010 financial disclosure reports.

The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 requires high-level federal officials to publicly disclose their personal financial interests. The public filing system serves to prevent financial conflicts of interest by providing for a systematic review of the finances of government officials. Those finances are set forth in annual disclosures which are reviewed and certified by ethics officials.  Neither the President nor the Vice President have any conflicts of interest, and their reports have been reviewed and certified by the independent Office of Government Ethics. We are continuing this Administration's practice of affirmatively posting these forms online here in the interests of transparency:

White House staff are also completing their forms and we anticipate they will be available here next month, also in electronic form.

Bob Bauer is Counsel to the President
Related Topics: Ethics

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 16, 2011

Remarks by the President in a Surprise Drop-By with Booker T. Washington Class of 2011

Cook Convention Center, Memphis, Tennessee

11:13 A.M. CDT

     THE PRESIDENT:  How’s everybody doing?  (Applause.)  You’re all excited about graduating, huh?  (Applause.)  Listen, I just had a chance to meet with your principal and these two outstanding classmates of yours, and I just want to say how inspired we were.  We were inspired by the video you sent.  We’re inspired by the stories you told.  We’re inspired by how you’ve turned this school around.  But obviously a lot of that has to do with your outstanding principal.  (Applause.)

     She says you guys know how old she is.  How old is she? 

     STUDENTS:  Twenty-five!

     THE PRESIDENT:  Twenty-five.  She started when she was seven.  (Laughter.)  Teaching high school at seven years old.  (Laughter.)

     Obviously it has a lot to do with great teachers, but this is mainly your day and your success, because a lot of you -- and I’m going to talk about this at the commencement -- a lot of you had to struggle to get here.  Most of you weren’t born with a silver spoon in your mouth.  But what you’ve shown is determination.  What you’ve shown is character.  What you’ve shown is a willingness to work hard and the ability to steer clear of folks that were trying to send you down the wrong path.  And so as a consequence, you’ve now become role models for all the young people coming in behind you.  You’ve become an inspiration to the city and the state of Tennessee and the country.
So I just wanted you all to know, you inspire me.  That’s why I’m here.  I could not be prouder of what you do.  But I’ve still got some big, big expectations for you, so don’t think just because you graduate from high school that that’s it.  You’ve got a lot more work to do, because I expect all of you to be leaders in this community and communities all across the country.  And this is just the beginning.  This is not the end.  All right?
So God bless you guys.  I’m so excited to be here.  (Applause.)  

END 11:17 A.M. CDT

President Obama Gives Commencement Address at Booker T. Washington High School

May 16, 2011 | 21:53 | Public Domain

The President speaks about education, dedication and overcoming adversity in a commencement address at Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis, TN. The school was the winner of the 2011 Commencement Challenge contest.

Download mp4 (209MB) | mp3 (20MB)

Read the Transcript

Remarks by the President at Booker T. Washington High School Commencement

12:18 P.M. CDT

     THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much, everybody.  (Applause.)  Everybody, please have a seat.  Thank you, Chris.  Hello, Memphis!  (Applause.)  Congratulations to the class of 2011! (Applause.) 

     Now, I will admit being President is a great job.  (Laughter.)  I have a very nice plane.  (Laughter.)  I have a theme song.  (Laughter.)  But what I enjoy most is having a chance to come to a school like Booker T. Washington High School and share this day with its graduates.  (Applause.)  So I could not be more pleased to be here.

     We've got some wonderful guests who are here as well, and I just want to make mention of them very quickly.  First of all, the Governor of Tennessee, Bill Haslam, is here.  Please give him a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  Three outstanding members of the Tennessee congressional delegation, all of whom care deeply about education -- Senator Bob Corker, Senator Lamar Alexander, and Congressman Steve Cohen is here.  (Applause.)  You’ve got one of Memphis’s own, former Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. is in the house.  (Applause.)  And the Mayor of Memphis, A.C. Wharton is here.  Please give him a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  

     I am so proud of each and every one of you.

     STUDENT:  Thank you!

     THE PRESIDENT:  You're welcome.  You made it -- and not just through high school.  You made it past Principal Kiner.  (Laughter and applause.)  I’ve spent a little bit of time with her now, and you can tell she is not messing around.  (Laughter.)  I’ve only been in Memphis a couple of hours, but I’m pretty sure that if she told me to do something I’d do it.  (Laughter.)  

     Then I had the chance to meet her mom and her daughter, Amber, a little while back, and we took a picture.  It turns out Amber actually goes to another high school.  She was worried that the boys would be afraid to talk to her if her mom was lurking in the hallways -- (laughter) -- which is why my next job will be principal at Sasha and Malia’s high school.  (Laughter and applause.)  And then I’ll be president of their college.  (Laughter.)

     Let me also say to Alexis and Vashti -- I heard that you were a little nervous about speaking today, but now I’m a little nervous speaking after you, because you both did terrific jobs.  (Applause.)  We’ve had some great performances by Shalonda and Tecia and Paula, and the jazz band.  Give them a big round of applause.  (Applause.)   

     Last but not least, I want to recognize all the people who helped you to reach this milestone:  the parents, the grandparents, the aunts, the uncles, the sisters, the brothers, the friends, the neighbors -- (applause) -- who have loved you and stood behind you every step of the way.  Congratulations, family. 

     And I want to acknowledge the devoted teachers and administrators at Booker T. Washington, who believed in you -- (applause) -- who kept the heat on you, and have never treated teaching as a job, but rather as a calling.

     Every commencement is a day of celebration.  I was just telling somebody backstage, I just love commencements.  I get all choked up at commencements.  So I can tell you already right now, I will cry at my children’s commencement.  I cry at other people’s commencements.  (Laughter.)  But this one is especially hopeful.  This one is especially hopeful because some people say that schools like BTW just aren’t supposed to succeed in America.  You’ll hear them say, “The streets are too rough in those neighborhoods.”  “The schools are too broken.” “The kids don’t stand a chance.” 

     We are here today because every single one of you stood tall and said, “Yes, we can.”  (Applause.)  Yes, we can learn.  Yes, we can succeed.  You decided you would not be defined by where you come from but by where you want to go, by what you want to achieve, by the dreams you hope to fulfill. 

     Just a couple of years ago, this was a school where only about half the students made it to graduation.  For a long time, just a handful headed to college each year.  But at Booker T. Washington, you changed all that. 

     You created special academies for ninth graders to start students off on the right track.  You made it possible for kids to take AP classes and earn college credits.  You even had a team take part in robotics competition so students can learn with their hands by building and creating.  And you didn’t just create a new curriculum, you created a new culture -- a culture that prizes hard work and discipline; a culture that shows every student here that they matter and that their teachers believe in them.  As Principal Kiner says, the kids have to know that you care, before they care what you know.  (Applause.) 

     And because you created this culture of caring and learning, today we’re standing with a very different Booker T. Washington High School.  Today, this is a place where more than four out of five students are earning a diploma; a place where 70 percent of the graduates will continue their education; where many will be the very first in their families to go to college.  (Applause.) 

     Today, Booker T. Washington is a place that has proven why we can’t accept excuses -- any excuses -- when it comes to education.  In the United States of America, we should never accept anything less than the best that our children have to offer. 

     As your teacher Steve McKinney -- where’s Steve at?  There he is.  (Applause.)  AKA Big Mac.  (Laughter.)  And I see why they call you Big Mac.  (Laughter.)  As Mr. McKinney said in the local paper, “We need everyone to broaden their ideas about what is possible.  We need parents, politicians, and the media to see how success is possible, how success is happening every day.”

     So that’s why I came here today.  Because if success can happen here at Booker T. Washington, it can happen anywhere in Memphis.  (Applause.)  And if it can happen in Memphis, it can happen anywhere in Tennessee.  And it can happen anywhere in Tennessee, it can happen all across America.  (Applause.)

     So ever since I became President, my administration has been working hard to make sure that we build on the progress that’s taking place in schools like this.  We’ve got to encourage the kind of change that’s led not by politicians, not by Washington, D.C., but by teachers and principals and parents, and entire communities; by ordinary people standing up and demanding a better future for their children. 

     We have more work to do so that every child can fulfill his or her God-given potential.  And here in Tennessee we’ve been seeing great progress.  Tennessee has been a leader, one of the first winners of the nationwide “Race to the Top” that we’ve launched to reward the kind of results you’re getting here at Booker T. Washington.

     And understand, this isn’t just an issue for me.  I’m standing here as President because of the education that I received.  As Chris said, my father left my family when I was two years old.  And I was raised by a single mom, and sometimes she struggled to provide for me and my sister.  But my mother, my grandparents, they pushed me to excel.  They refused to let me make excuses.  And they kept pushing me, especially on those rare occasions where I’d slack off or get into trouble.  They weren’t that rare, actually.  (Laughter.)  I’m sure nobody here has done anything like that.   (Laughter.)

     I’m so blessed that they kept pushing; I’m so lucky that my teachers kept pushing -- because education made all the difference in my life.  The same is true for Michelle.  Education made such a difference in her life.  Michelle’s dad was a city worker, had multiple sclerosis, had to wake up every day and it took him a couple hours just to get ready for work.  But he went to work every day.  Her mom was a secretary, went to work every day, and kept on pushing her just like my folks pushed me. 

     That’s what’s made a difference in our lives.  And it’s going to make an even greater difference in your lives -- not just for your own success but for the success of the United States of America.  Because we live in a new world now.  Used to be that you didn’t have to have an education.  If you were willing to work hard, you could go to a factory somewhere and get a job.  Those times are passed.  Believe it or not, when you go out there looking for a job, you’re not just competing against people in Nashville or Atlanta.  You’re competing against young people in Beijing and Mumbai.  That’s some tough competition.  Those kids are hungry.  They’re working hard.  And you’ll need to be prepared for it. 

     And as a country, we need all of our young people to be ready.  We can’t just have some young people successful.  We’ve got to have every young person contributing; earning those high school diplomas and then earning those college diplomas, or getting certified in a trade or profession.  We can’t succeed without it. 

     Through education, you can also better yourselves in other ways.  You learn how to learn -- how to think critically and find solutions to unexpected challenges.  I remember we used to ask our teachers, “Why am I going to need algebra?”  Well, you may not have to solve for x to get a good job or to be a good parent.  But you will need to think through tough problems.  You’ll need to think on your feet.  You’ll need to know how to gather facts and evaluate information.  So, math teachers, you can tell your students that the President says they need algebra.  (Laughter.) 

     Education also teaches you the value of discipline -- that the greatest rewards come not from instant gratification but from sustained effort and from hard work.  This is a lesson that’s especially true today, in a culture that prizes flash over substance, that tells us that the goal in life is to be entertained, that says you can be famous just for being famous.  You get on a reality show -- don't know what you’ve done -- suddenly you’re famous.  But that's not going to lead to lasting, sustained achievement.

     And finally, with the right education, both at home and at school, you can learn how to be a better human being.  For when you read a great story or you learn about an important moment in history, it helps you imagine what it would be like to walk in somebody else’s shoes, to know their struggles.  The success of our economy will depend on your skills, but the success of our community will depend on your ability to follow the Golden Rule -- to treat others as you would like to be treated. 

     We’ve seen how important this is even in the past few weeks, as communities here in Memphis and all across the South have come together to deal with floodwaters, and to help each other in the aftermath of terrible tornadoes.

     All of these qualities -- empathy, discipline, the capacity to solve problems, the capacity to think critically -- these skills don’t just change how the world sees us.  They change how we see ourselves.  They allow each of us to seek out new horizons and new opportunities with confidence -- with the knowledge that we’re ready; that we can face obstacles and challenges and unexpected setbacks.  That’s the power of your education.  That’s the power of the diploma that you receive today.

     And this is something that Booker T. Washington himself understood.  Think about it.  He entered this world a slave on a Southern plantation.  But he would leave this world as the leader of a growing civil rights movement and the president of the world-famous Tuskegee Institute.

     Booker T. Washington believed that change and equality would be won in the classroom.  So he convinced folks to help him buy farmland.  Once he had the land, he needed a school.  So he assigned his first students to actually build the chairs and the desks and even a couple of the classrooms.  You thought your teachers were tough. 

     Booker T. Washington ran a tight ship.  He’d ride the train to Tuskegee and scare some of the new students.  This is before YouTube and TMZ, so the kids didn’t recognize him.  (Laughter.)   He’d walk up to them and say, “Oh, you’re heading to Tuskegee.  I heard the work there is hard.  I heard they give the students too much to do.  I hear the food is terrible.  You probably won’t last three months.”  But the students would reply they weren’t afraid of hard work.  They were going to complete their studies no matter what Booker T. Washington threw at them.  And in that way, he prepared them -- because life will throw some things at you.

     The truth is, not a single one of the graduates here today has had it easy.  Not a single one of you had anything handed to you on a silver platter.  You had to work for it.  You had to earn it.  Most of all, you had to believe in yourselves. 

     I think of Chris’s stories, and what he’s faced in his life:  Lost his father to violence at the age of four.  Had a childhood illness that could have been debilitating.  But somehow he knew in his heart that he could take a different path. 

     I think of all the graduates here who had to leave their homes when their apartments were torn down, but who took two buses each morning to come back to Booker T. Washington.   (Applause.) 

     I think of Eron Jackon.  Where is Eron?  Eron has known a lot of setbacks in her young life.  There was a period when she lashed out and she got into trouble and she made mistakes.  And when she first came to Booker T. Washington, she struggled.  Is that right?  There are plenty of people out there who would have counted Eron out; a lot of people who would have thought of her as another statistic.  But that’s not how the teachers here at Booker T. Washington saw her.  And that’s not how Eron came to see herself.  So she kept coming back to school, and she didn’t give up and she didn’t quit.  And in time, she became a great student. 

     And she remembered what Principal Kiner told her:  “You can’t let the past get you down.  You have to let it motivate you.”  And so now here Eron is, graduating.  (Applause.)  She’s going to keep studying to get her barber’s certificate so she can cut hair and save for college.  She’s working toward her dream to becoming a lawyer.  She’s got a bright future.

     Everybody here has got a unique story like that to tell.  Each of you knows what it took for you to get here.  But in reaching this milestone, there is a common lesson shared by every graduate in this hall.  And Chris said it himself in a recent interview:  “It's not where you are or what you are.  It’s who you are.”

     Yes, you’re from South Memphis.  Yes, you’ve always been underdogs.  Nobody has handed you a thing.  But that also means that whatever you accomplish in your life, you will have earned it.  Whatever rewards and joys you reap, you’ll appreciate them that much more because they will have come through your own sweat and tears, products of your own effort and your own talents.  You’ve shown more grit and determination in your childhoods than a lot of adults ever will.  That’s who you are.  (Applause.) 

     So, class of 2011, the hard road does not end here.  Your journey has just begun.  Your diploma is not a free pass.  It won’t protect you against every setback or challenge or mistake.  You’ll make some, I promise.  You’re going to have to keep working hard.  You’re going to have to keep pushing yourselves.  And you’ll find yourselves sometime in situations where folks have had an easier time, they’re a little bit ahead of you, and you’re going to have to work harder than they are.  And you may be frustrated by that.

     But if you do push yourselves, if you build on what you’ve already accomplished here, then I couldn’t be more confident about your futures.  I’m hopeful and I’m excited about what all of you can achieve.  And I know that armed with the skills and experience and the love that you’ve gained at Booker T. Washington High School, you’re ready to make your mark on the world.

     So thank you.  Thanks for inspiring me.  God bless you.  God bless the United States.  (Applause.)

END 12:40 P.M. CDT

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