A Celebration of American Poetry at the White House

Kori Schulman
Kori Schulman
May 11, 2011
11:00 AM EDT

The President and First Lady are welcoming accomplished poets, musicians, artists and students from across the country to the White House today for a celebration of American poetry and prose. Mrs. Obama kicked off the White House Music Series in 2009 with a Jazz Studio, and has since hosted events to promote music and arts education through the celebration of Country, Classical, Motown, a Fiesta Latina, a salute to Broadway, Music of the Civil Rights Movement and a dance tribute to Judith Jamison. 

Related Topics: Education, California, New York, New York

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 11, 2011

Remarks by the President at a DNC Event in Austin, Texas

Private Residence

Austin, Texas

Please see below for a correction (marked with asterisks) to the transcript.

Internationally, we’ve gone through a **Teutonic [tectonic]  shift in the Middle East that could have enormous ramifications for years to come.  And in addition to these crises, we have had to grapple with some ongoing trends in this country that, frankly, have made America less competitive, less just, less equitable -- all the things that we talked about during the course of 2007 and 2008.

May 10, 2011
7:18 P.M. CDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Let me, first of all -- I'd like to hire Alexa as my speechwriter.  (Laughter.)  I don't usually get such elegant introductions.  And I'm so grateful to her and Blaine and the kids for opening up this gorgeous home.  And I mentioned to Alexa that I do have a doctor with me at all times -- (laughter) -- so just in case the new one shows up early, we've got it under control.  (Laughter.)  We've got it under control.  Hey, we're prepared for every situation.  (Laughter.)

To the hosts who helped to set this up, thank you so much.  You guys have been great friends for a long time.  And I was just at Austin City Limits, an extraordinary venue.  And I told folks what is the truth, which is I just love Austin, Texas.  (Applause.)  I get a good vibe coming to Austin.  So, post-presidency, if I decide to come back and there’s not a strong candidate for mayor -- (laughter and applause) -- you never know. I'm a football fan, too.  (Laughter.)

I want to be brief because I want to spend as much time as possible answering questions, and then I want to come to each table and make sure I say thank you personally.

Obviously we've had an eventful week, in an eventful month and an eventful couple of years.  We knew when many of you got involved in the campaign back in 2008 that the country was at a crossroads and we were going to have to make some fairly consequential decisions to make sure that we were passing on a country that was worthy of its ideals.

I don't think we fully realized how dramatic some of the changes would be as we came into office.  We inherited the worst recession since the Great Depression, a banking system on the verge of meltdown.  We had lost 4 million jobs by the time I was sworn in and would then lose another 4 million in the few months right after I was sworn in before our economic policies had a chance to take root.

Internationally, we’ve gone through a **Teutonic [tectonic]  shift in the Middle East that could have enormous ramifications for years to come.  And in addition to these crises, we have had to grapple with some ongoing trends in this country that, frankly, have made America less competitive, less just, less equitable -- all the things that we talked about during the course of 2007 and 2008.

Now, and I haven't even mentioned pirates -- (laughter) -- earthquakes and the H1N1 scare.  So you guys have just forgotten all this stuff.  (Laughter.)  But I'm keeping a tally.  (Laughter.)

Despite crises large and small, what’s been extraordinary is the progress that we've been able to make.  And I could not be prouder of my team, but most importantly, I couldn’t be prouder of my supporters who’ve hung in there during these very tumultuous times.

But think about it.  We saved the country from a Great Depression.  An economy that was shrinking by about 6 percent in the first quarter that I came in is now growing fairly steadily. Over the last 14 months we've added over 2 million new jobs in the private sector here in the United States of America.  Some things that folks thought would not work like saving the auto industry have worked.  And so not only are the Big 3 automakers back all the workers that were about to be laid off.  So that's about a million jobs saved all turning a profit, in some cases, the first profit they’ve seen in a decade, but they’ve now hired back all the workers that were about to be laid off.  So that's about a million jobs saved just from those efforts on that front.

We managed a banking crisis in a way that taxpayers are basically getting paid almost every dime back from the interventions that we entered into.  Along the way we passed historic health care reform that had eluded us for a hundred years -- (applause) -- and we passed financial regulatory reform. We made sure that people who love their country can serve regardless of their sexual orientation by overturning "don't ask, don't tell."  (Applause.)  Got a couple of tough women on the Supreme Court, including the first Latina.  (Applause.)

We passed equal pay for equal work legislation.  We made the largest investment in education in our history, but didn’t just put more money in, initiating unprecedented reforms that are having ramifications all across the country.  We made the largest investment in clean energy in our history, and have created entire new industries, like the advanced battery manufacturing industry here in the United States of America, where we look like we'll have close to a 40-percent share of the market in the next few years.

Doubled our exports.  Ended a war, as promised, and are working another war in a place where we're going to start drawing down our troops this year and are in a position to help Afghans secure their own country.

So I'm realty proud of what we've gotten done.  But we've got so much more to do.  We have so much more to do.  And in an era where everybody wants instant gratification and people are very, very impatient, the fact of the matter is that some of these changes are going to take time.  Right now probably the thing that folks are most worried about around the country -- and rightfully so because it directly hinges on every aspect of our lives -- are gas prices.

We don't have a silver bullet for gas prices.  The way we're going to bring gas prices down is do some of the things that we've already done -- increasing fuel-efficiency standards on cars and trucks, and start developing new sources of energy and promoting electric vehicles.  But it’s going to take some time.  We're going to have to be able to sustain that effort over the next several years.

Internationally, what’s happening in the Middle East is a opportunity because, frankly, it was a very dangerous situation for us to rely on a handful of autocrats to maintain stability in the region.  And now we have the possibility of democracy and opportunity, but there are also enormous dangers.  And how that plays itself out is going to require steady leadership over the next several years.

With respect to the economy, it is still changing in profound ways and the unemployment rate remains way too high.  And the only way we are going to make sure that we drive that unemployment rate down, but more importantly, we start driving wages and incomes back up, is if the changes we're making in education, the changes that need to be made in terms of ensuring that we have an investment in innovation and basic research that allows us to maintain our cutting edge, making sure we get a handle on our deficit in a way that reflects our values -- that's going to take some time.  It’s going to require work.

And so that's why your presence here tonight is so important, because the main thing I want to communicate to you is not only do I think we are going to win, but also I think that what’s at stake is not just Democrats being in power versus Republicans; it’s not just a matter of winning or losing.  What’s at stake is our ability to maintain a course that keeps us headed in the right direction for decades to come.

I’ll just focus on this budget issue just for one second, and then what I want to do is open it up for questions.  When I came in I had sort of wrapped in a nice bow a trillion dollar deficit -- (laughter) -- welcoming me.  And we had accumulated trillions of dollars of debt from the previous years.  This had been building up over a decade as a consequence of the Bush tax cuts, two wars that weren't paid for, and a prescription drug plan that was very expensive but not paid for either.  We then added about a trillion dollars as a consequence of reduced revenues and increased expenditures to make sure the states, for example, got help balancing their budgets, increased demand on things like unemployment insurance, and making sure that we were putting some folks back to work in this country.

We now have to get our fiscal situation under control.  The debate is not just about numbers.  It’s about who are we, what do we believe.  And the debate that we're having now in Washington is actually very instructive and I'm glad we're having it, because Paul Ryan put forward a budget that is reflective, it is sort of the logical conclusion to the Republican argument that's been going on for a number of years.  And essentially what they’re talking about is cutting education by 25 percent, cutting transportation spending by 30 percent, cutting clean energy investments by 70 percent, voucherizing Medicare, slashing Medicaid -- fundamentally reworking our social compact.

And the consequences are not just that senior citizens would have $6,000 more in Medicare expenses every year.  It’s not just that a bunch of poor kids or seniors who are in nursing homes or families who have an autistic child would suddenly be without help.  Even for those of us who are doing well, the consequences would be that -- let me just take the example of transportation. Think about cutting transportation spending by 30 percent, at a time when the National Association of Engineers gives us a D in infrastructure.  We've got China and India and Europe building brand new trains and bridges and ports, and we can barely fill our potholes.

And so the prospect would be a diminished, smaller, less compassionate America, and a less competitive America.  And that's not the vision I want for our children.  I think we're better than that.  That's not who we are.  

And as I said at Austin City Limits, that's not because I'm particularly worried about how Malia or Sasha are going to do.  Our kids will be fine.  But what kind of country do we want them to live in?  Do we want a country that has sort of the equivalent -- when it comes to our infrastructure, our social safety net, the equivalent of what used to be known as third world countries? How can we look them in the eye and tell them we're passing on to you the same kind of extraordinary country that we inherited when we are shrinking our vision, our sights, in that way?

That's what this is about.  That's what this election is going to be about.

Now, it’s going to be tough because -- I think most people are not sold on the other folks’ ideas.  They know they don't work.  But they’re worried that we have not made as much progress as quickly as they want.  And that always creates volatility when it comes to the electorate.

But as I'm going around the country and talking to people, I can tell you the basic impulses of the American people, their values are strong, they are resilient, they’ve got good instincts.  And as long as we're able to get out there and deliver our message, I'm confident we're going to be able to see this thing through.

Last weekend, obviously, Sunday was a big moment for the  country, thanks to the extraordinary work of our men and women in uniform and our intelligence folks.  And I visited Ground Zero, and some of you may have seen -- there were some young girls there who were standing behind me when I put the wreath down.  One of the young ladies was 13.  She had written me a letter on Monday, an email, that I received so I invited her to the ceremony.

Her father had been in the Twin Towers when the planes hit them.  And she was 4 years old at the time.  And she remembers her mom picking up the phone on that spectacular September day, and suddenly starting to sob on the phone, and then her mother handing her the phone, and her father say, “I love you and I'll always be looking after you.”  And then the phone went dead.  And her mother and her witnessed the buildings go down and her father die.

And she talked about how haunted she was by that memory, and described powerfully how sometimes she worries that she can't remember what her father looks like or the sound of his voice, and how much it meant that justice was done.

And I think about her and when I met her, she couldn't have been more poised and charming and smart and ready for the future. And I thought, that's who we are.  We take our licks, but we keep on going.  And I want to make sure that our government is reflective of that.  And I promise you I will make sure that our campaign is reflective of that spirit.  And with all of your help, I'm confident that we're going to be able to keep on moving forward and deliver the kind of future for that young lady and all of our children and our grandchildren that they deserve.

So thank you very much, everybody.  (Applause.)   

END
7:35 P.M. CDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 11, 2011

Statement by the Press Secretary on the Visit of the NATO Secretary General

President Obama will welcome Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), to the White House on Friday, May 13.  The President and the Secretary General will discuss NATO’s role enforcing UN Security Council Resolutions 1970 and 1973 on Libya, including the protection of Libyan civilians.  The leaders will also review NATO’s progress in Afghanistan and look ahead to the next NATO Summit, which the President will host in the United States in 2012.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 10, 2011

President Obama Signs Missouri Disaster Declaration

The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of Missouri and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe storms, tornadoes, and flooding beginning on April 19, 2011, and continuing.

 

The President's action makes Federal funding available to affected individuals in the counties of Butler, Mississippi, New Madrid, St. Louis, and Taney.

Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

Federal funding also is available to State and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storms, tornadoes, and flooding in St. Louis County.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Elizabeth Turner as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.  

FEMA said that damage surveys are continuing in other areas, and additional counties may be designated for assistance after the assessments are fully completed.  

FEMA said that residents and business owners who sustained losses in the designated counties can begin applying for assistance tomorrow by registering online at http://www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA(3362) or 1-800-462-7585 (TTY) for the hearing and speech impaired. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (local time) seven days a week until further notice. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  FEMA (202) 646-3272.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 10, 2011

President Obama Signs Tennessee Disaster Declaration

The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of Tennessee and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, and flooding beginning on April 19, 2011, and continuing.

The President's action makes Federal funding available to affected individuals in Dyer, Lake, Obion, Shelby, and Stewart Counties.

Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

Federal funding also is available to State and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, and flooding in the counties of Benton, Carroll, Crockett, Dyer, Gibson, Henderson, Henry, Houston, Lake, Lauderdale, Madison, Montgomery, Obion, Shelby, and Stewart.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named W. Montague Winfield as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.  

FEMA said additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the State and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.

FEMA said that residents and business owners who sustained losses in the designated counties can begin applying for assistance tomorrow by registering online at http://www.DisasterAssistance.gov <http://www.disasterassistance.gov/>  or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA(3362) or 1-800-462-7585 (TTY) for the hearing and speech impaired.  The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (local time) seven days a week until further notice.
 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  FEMA (202) 646-3272.

Building a 21st Century Immigration System

May 10, 2011 | 34:45 | Public Domain

President Obama calls for a bipartisan approach to fixing a broken immigration system and explains why immigration reform is critical to building a 21st century economy in a speech in El Paso, TX.

Download mp4 (332MB) | mp3 (32MB)

Read the Transcript

Remarks by the President on Comprehensive Immigration Reform in El Paso, Texas

1:21 P.M. MDT
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, El Paso!  (Applause.)  Well, it is wonderful -- wonderful to be back with all of you in the Lone Star State.  (Applause.)  Everything is bigger in Texas.  (Applause.)
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  I love you back!  (Applause.)  Even the welcomes are bigger.  (Applause.)  So, in appreciation, I wanted to give a big policy speech outside on a really hot day.  (Laughter.)  Those of you who are still wearing your jackets, feel free to take them off.  I hope everybody is wearing sunscreen.
 
     AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We live here.
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  You say you live here?  You don’t need it, huh?  (Laughter.)  Well, it is a great honor to be here.  And I want to express my appreciation to all of you for taking the time to come out today.
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  I appreciate it.  Thank you.  (Applause.)
 
You know, about a week ago, I delivered a commencement address at Miami Dade Community College, which is one of the most diverse schools in the nation.  The graduates were proud that their class could claim heritage from 181 countries around the world -- 181 countries.  (Applause.)
 
Many of the students were immigrants themselves, coming to America with little more than the dream of their parents and the clothes on their back.  A handful had discovered only in adolescence or adulthood that they were undocumented.  But they worked hard and they gave it their all, and so they earned those diplomas.
 
And at the ceremony, 181 flags -- one for every nation that was represented -- was marched across the stage.  And each one was applauded by the graduates and the relatives with ties to those countries.  So when the Haitian flag went by, all the Haitian kids -- Haitian American kids shouted out.  And when the Guatemalan flag went by, all the kids of Guatemalan heritage shouted out.  And when the Ukrainian flag went by, I think one kid shouted out.  (Laughter.)  This was down in Miami.  (Laughter.)  If it had been in Chicago, there would have been more.
 
  But then, the last flag, the American flag, came into view.  And everyone in the room erupted in applause.  Everybody cheered.  (Applause.)  So, yes, their parents and grandparents -- some of the graduates themselves -- had come from every corner of the globe.  But it was here that they had found opportunity.  It was here that they had a chance to contribute to the nation that is their home.
 
And it was a reminder of a simple idea, as old as America itself:  E pluribus unum.  Out of many, one.  We define ourselves as a nation of immigrants -- a nation that welcomes those willing to embrace America’s ideals and America’s precepts.  That’s why millions of people, ancestors to most of us, braved hardship and great risk to come here -- so they could be free to work and worship and start a business and live their lives in peace and prosperity.  The Asian immigrants who made their way to California’s Angel Island.  The German and Scandinavians who settled across the Midwest.  The waves of Irish, and Italian, and Polish, and Russian, and Jewish immigrants who leaned against the railing to catch their first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty.
 
This flow of immigrants has helped make this country stronger and more prosperous.  (Applause.)  We can point to the genius of Einstein, the designs of I. M. Pei, the stories of Isaac Asimov, the entire industries that were forged by Andrew Carnegie.
 
And then when I think about immigration I think about the naturalization ceremonies that we’ve held at the White House for members of our military.  Nothing could be more inspiring.  Even though they were not yet citizens when they joined our military, these men and women signed up to serve.
 
We did one event at the White House and a young man named Granger Michael from Papua New Guinea, a Marine who had been deployed to Iraq three times, was there.  And you know what he said about becoming an American citizen?  He said, “I might as well.  I love this country already.”  That’s all he said.  Marines aren’t big on speeches.  (Laughter.)
 
Another was a woman named Perla Ramos who was born and raised in Mexico and came to the United States shortly after 9/11, and joined the Navy.  And she said, “I take pride in our flag and the history we write day by day.”
 
That’s the promise of this country -- that anyone can write the next chapter in our story.  It doesn’t matter where you come from -- (applause) -- it doesn’t matter where you come from; it doesn’t matter what you look like; it doesn’t matter what faith you worship.  What matters is that you believe in the ideals on which we were founded; that you believe that all of us are created equal, endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights.  (Applause.)  All of us deserve our freedoms and our pursuit of happiness.  In embracing America, you can become American.  That is what makes this country great.  That enriches all of us.
 
And yet, at the same time, we’re here at the border today -- (applause) -- we’re here at the border because we also recognize that being a nation of laws goes hand in hand with being a nation of immigrants.  This, too, is our heritage.  This, too, is important.  And the truth is, we’ve often wrestled with the politics of who is and who isn’t allowed to come into this country.  This debate is not new.
 
At times, there has been fear and resentment directed towards newcomers, especially in hard economic times.  And because these issues touch deeply on what we believe, touch deeply on our convictions -- about who we are as a people, about what it means to be an American -- these debates often elicit strong emotions.
 
That’s one reason it’s been so difficult to reform our broken immigration system.  When an issue is this complex, when it raises such strong feelings, it’s easier for politicians to defer until the problem the next election.  And there’s always a next election.
 
So we’ve seen a lot of blame and a lot of politics and a lot of ugly rhetoric around immigration.  And we’ve seen good faith efforts from leaders of both parties -- by the way, I just noticed, those of you who have chairs, if you want to sit down, feel free.  There’s no rule about having to stand when I’m --
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  -- we love you!  (Applause.)
 
THE PRESIDENT:  But we’ve seen leaders of both parties who try to work on this issue, but then their efforts fell prey to the usual Washington games.  And all the while, we’ve seen the mounting consequences of decades of inaction.
 
Today, there are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants here in the United States.  Some crossed the border illegally.  Others avoid immigration laws by overstaying their visas.  Regardless of how they came, the overwhelming majority of these folks are just trying to earn a living and provide for their families.  (Applause.)
 
But we have to acknowledge they’ve broken the rules.  They’ve cut in front of the line.  And what is also true is that the presence of so many illegal immigrants makes a mockery of all those who are trying to immigrate legally.
 
Also, because undocumented immigrants live in the shadows, where they’re vulnerable to unscrupulous businesses that skirt taxes, and pay workers less than the minimum wage, or cut corners with health and safety laws, this puts companies who follow the rules, and Americans who rightly demand the minimum wage or overtime or just a safe place to work, it puts those businesses at a disadvantage.
 
Think about it.  Over the past decade, even before the recession hit, middle-class families were struggling to get by as the costs went up for everything, from health care, to college tuition, to groceries, to gas.  Their incomes didn’t go up with those prices.  We’re seeing it again right now with gas prices.
 
So one way to strengthen the middle class in America is to reform the immigration system so that there is no longer a massive underground economy that exploits a cheap source of labor while depressing wages for everybody else.  I want incomes for middle-class families to rise again.  (Applause.)  I want prosperity in this country to be widely shared.  (Applause.)  I want everybody to be able to reach that American dream.  And that’s why immigration reform is an economic imperative.  It’s an economic imperative.  (Applause.)
 
And reform will also help to make America more competitive in the global economy.  Today, we provide students from around the world with visas to get engineering and computer science degrees at our top universities.  (Applause.)
 
But then our laws discourage them from using those skills to start a business or a new industry here in the United States.  Instead of training entrepreneurs to stay here, we train them to create jobs for our competition.  That makes no sense.  In a global marketplace, we need all the talent we can attract, all the talent we can get to stay here to start businesses -- not just to benefit those individuals, but because their contribution will benefit all Americans.
 
Look at Intel, look at Google, look at Yahoo, look at eBay.  All those great American companies, all the jobs they’ve created, everything that has helped us take leadership in the high-tech industry, every one of those was founded by, guess who, an immigrant.  (Applause.)
 
So we don’t want the next Intel or the next Google to be created in China or India.  We want those companies and jobs to take root here.  (Applause.)  Bill Gates gets this.  He knows a little something about the high-tech industry.  He said, “The United States will find it far more difficult to maintain its competitive edge if it excludes those who are able and willing to help us compete.”
 
So immigration is not just the right thing to do.  It’s smart for our economy.  It’s smart for our economy.  (Applause.)  And it’s for this reason that businesses all across America are demanding that Washington finally meet its responsibilities to solve the immigration problem.  Everybody recognizes the system is broken.  The question is, will we finally summon the political will to do something about it?  And that’s why we’re here at the border today.
 
And I want to say I am joined today by an outstanding Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, who’s been working tirelessly on this issue.  (Applause.)  Our commissioner who’s working diligently on border issues, Alan Bersin, is there, and we appreciate him -- Bersin.  (Applause.)
 
So they’re doing outstanding work.  And in recent years, among one of the greatest impediments to reform were questions about border security.  And these were legitimate concerns.  What was true was a lack of manpower and a lack of resources at the border, combined with the pull of jobs and ill-considered enforcement once folks were in the country.
 
All this contributed to a growing number of undocumented people living in the United States.  And these concerns helped unravel a bipartisan coalition that we had forged back when I was in the United States Senate.  So in the years since, “borders first, borders first,” that's become the common refrain, even among those who were previously supportive of comprehensive immigration reform.
 
But over the last two years, thanks to the outstanding work of Janet and Alan and everybody who’s down here working at the border, we’ve answered those concerns.  Under their leadership, we have strengthened border security beyond what many believed was possible.   They wanted more agents at the border.  Well, we now have more boots on the ground on the southwest border than at any time in our history.  (Applause.)  
 
     The Border Patrol has 20,000 agents -- more than twice as many as there were in 2004.  It’s a build-up that began under President Bush and that we’ve continued, and I had a chance to meet some of these outstanding agents, and actually saw some of them on horseback who looked pretty tough.  (Laughter.)  So we put the agents here.
 
Then they wanted a fence.  Well, the fence is --
 
AUDIENCE:  Booo!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  The fence is now basically complete.
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Tear it down!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Then we’ve gone further.  We tripled the number of intelligence analysts working at the border.  I’ve deployed unmanned aerial vehicles to patrol the skies from Texas to California.  We have forged a partnership with Mexico to fight the transnational criminal organizations that have affected both of our countries.  (Applause.)  And for the first time -- for the first time we’re screening 100 percent of southbound rail shipments to seize guns and money going south even as we go after drugs that are coming north.  (Applause.)
 
So, here’s the point.  I want everybody to listen carefully to this.  We have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement.  All the stuff they asked for, we’ve done.  But even though we’ve answered these concerns, I’ve got to say I suspect there are still going to be some who are trying to move the goal posts on us one more time.
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  They’re racist!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  You know, they said we needed to triple the Border Patrol.  Or now they’re going to say we need to quadruple the Border Patrol.  Or they’ll want a higher fence.  Maybe they’ll need a moat.  (Laughter.)  Maybe they want alligators in the moat.  (Laughter.)  They’ll never be satisfied.  And I understand that.  That’s politics.
 
But the truth is the measures we’ve put in place are getting results.  Over the past two and a half years, we’ve seized 31 percent more drugs, 75 percent more currency, 64 percent more weapons than ever before.  (Applause.)  And even as we have stepped up patrols, apprehensions along the border have been cut by nearly 40 percent from two years ago.  That means far fewer people are attempting to cross the border illegally.
 
And also, despite a lot of breathless reports that have tagged places like El Paso as dangerous, violent crime in southwest border counties has dropped by a third.  El Paso and other cities and towns along this border are consistently among the safest in the nation.  (Applause.)  Of course, we shouldn’t accept any violence or crime.  And we’ve always got more work to do.  But this progress is important and it’s not getting reported on.
 
And we’re also going beyond the border.  Beyond the border, we’re going after employers who knowingly exploit people and break the law.  (Applause.)  And we are deporting those who are here illegally.  And that’s a tough issue.  It’s a source of controversy.
 
But I want to emphasize we’re not doing it haphazardly.  We’re focusing our limited resources and people on violent offenders and people convicted of crimes -- not just families, not just folks who are just looking to scrape together an income.  And as a result, we’ve increased the removal of criminals by 70 percent.  (Applause.)
 
That’s not to ignore the real human toll of a broken immigration system.  Even as we recognize that enforcing the law is necessary, we don’t relish the pain that it causes in the lives of people who are just trying to get by and get caught up in the system.
 
And as long as the current laws are on the books, it’s not just hardened felons who are subject to removal, but sometimes families who are just trying to earn a living, or bright, eager students, or decent people with the best of intentions.  (Applause.)
 
And sometimes when I talk to immigration advocates, they wish I could just bypass Congress and change the law myself.  But that’s not how a democracy works.  What we really need to do is to keep up the fight to pass genuine, comprehensive reform.  That is the ultimate solution to this problem.  That's what I’m committed to doing.  (Applause.)
   
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Yes, we can!  Yes, we can!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Yes, we can.  We can do it.  (Applause.)
 
AUDIENCE:  Yes, we can!  Yes, we can!  Yes, we can!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  The most significant step we can now take to secure the borders is to fix the system as a whole so that fewer people have the incentive to enter illegally in search of work in the first place.  This would allow agents to focus on the worst threats on both of our -- both sides of our borders, from drug traffickers to those who would come here to commit acts of violence or terror.  That’s where our focus should be.
 
So, El Paso, the question is whether those in Congress who previously walked away in the name of enforcement are now ready to come back to the table and finish the work that we’ve started.  (Applause.)  We’ve got to put the politics aside.  And if we do, I’m confident we can find common ground.
 
Washington is lagging behind the country on this.  There is already a growing coalition of leaders across America who don’t always see eye-to-eye, but are coming together on this issue.  They see the harmful consequences of a broken immigration system for their businesses and for their communities, and they understand why we need to act.
 
There are Democrats and Republicans, people like former Republican Senator Mel Martinez; former Bush administration Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff; leaders like Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York; evangelical ministers like Leith Anderson and Bill Hybels; police chiefs from across the nation; educators; advocates; labor unions; chambers of commerce; small business owners; Fortune 500 CEOs.
 
I mean, one CEO had this to say about reform:  “American ingenuity is a product of the openness and diversity of this society.  Immigrants have made America great as the world leader in business, in science, higher education and innovation.”  You know who that leader was?  Rupert Murdoch, who owns FOX News, and is an immigrant himself.  I don’t know if you’re familiar with Rupert Murdoch’s views, but let’s just say he doesn’t have an Obama sticker on his car.  (Laughter.)  But he agrees with me on this.  (Applause.)
 
So there is a consensus around fixing what’s broken. And now we need Congress to catch up.  Now we need to come together around reform that reflects our values as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants; reform that demands that everybody take responsibility.  So what would comprehensive reform look like?
 
First, we know that government has a threshold responsibility to secure our borders and enforce the law.  And that’s what Janet and all her folks are doing.  That’s what they’re doing.  (Applause.)
 
Second, businesses have to be held accountable if they exploit undocumented workers.  (Applause.)
 
Third, those who are here illegally, they have a responsibility as well.  So they broke the law, and that means they’ve got to pay their taxes, they’ve got to pay a fine, they’ve got to learn English.  And they’ve got to undergo background checks and a lengthy process before they get in line for legalization.  That’s not too much to ask.  (Applause.)
 
And fourth, stopping illegal immigration also depends on reforming our outdated system of legal immigration.  (Applause.)  We should make it easier for the best and the brightest to not only stay here, but also to start businesses and create jobs here.  In recent years, a full 25 percent of high-tech startups in the U.S. were founded by immigrants.  That led to 200,000 jobs here in America.  I’m glad those jobs are here.  I want to see more of them created in this country.  We need to provide them the chance.  (Applause.)
 
We need to provide our farms a legal way to hire workers that they rely on, and a path for those workers to earn legal status.  (Applause.)  And our laws should respect families following the rules -- reuniting them more quickly instead of splitting them apart.  (Applause.)
 
Today, the immigration system not only tolerates those who break the rules, but it punishes folks who follow the rules.  While applications -- while applicants wait for approval, for example, they’re often forbidden from visiting the United States.  Even husbands and wives may have to spend years apart.  Parents can’t see their children.  I don’t believe the United States of America should be in the business of separating families.  That’s not right.  That’s not who we are.  We can do better than that.  (Applause.)
 
And we should stop punishing innocent young people for the actions of their parents.  (Applause.)  We should stop denying them the chance to earn an education or serve in the military.  And that’s why we need to pass the DREAM Act.  (Applause.)  Now, we passed the DREAM Act through the House last year when Democrats were in control.  But even though it received a majority of votes in the Senate, it was blocked when several Republicans who had previously supported the DREAM Act voted no.
 
That was a tremendous disappointment to get so close and then see politics get in the way.  And as I gave that commencement at Miami Dade, it broke my heart knowing that a number of those promising, bright students -- young people who worked so hard and who speak about what’s best in America -- are at risk of facing the agony of deportation.  These are kids who grew up in this country.  They love this country.  They know no other place to call home.  The idea that we’d punish them is cruel.  It makes no sense.  We’re a better nation than that.  (Applause.)
 
So we’re going to keep fighting for the DREAM Act. We’re going to keep up the fight for reform.  (Applause.)  And that’s where you come in.  I’m going to do my part to lead a constructive and civil debate on these issues.  And we’ve already had a series of meetings about this at the White House in recent weeks.  We’ve got leaders here and around the country helping to move the debate forward.
 
But this change ultimately has to be driven by you, the American people.  You’ve got to help push for comprehensive reform, and you’ve got to identify what steps we can take right now -- like the DREAM Act, like visa reform -- areas where we can find common ground among Democrats and Republicans and begin to fix what’s broken.
 
So I’m asking you to add your voices to this debate.  You can sign up to help at whitehouse.gov.  We need Washington to know that there is a movement for reform that’s gathering strength from coast to coast.  That’s how we’ll get this done.  That’s how we can ensure that in the years ahead we are welcoming the talents of all who can contribute to this country and that we’re living up to the basic American idea that you can make it here if you try.  (Applause.)
 
That’s the idea that gave hope to José Hernández.  Is José here?  Where’s -- José is right over there.  (Applause.)  I want you to hear -- I want you to think about this story.  José’s parents were migrant farm workers.  And so, growing up, he was too.  He was born in California, though he could have just as easily been born on the other side of the border, if it had been a different time of year, because his family moved around with the seasons.  So two of his siblings were actually born in Mexico.
 
So they traveled a lot, and José joined his parents picking cucumbers and strawberries.  And he missed part of school when they returned to Mexico each winter.  José didn’t learn English until he was 12 years old.  But you know what, José was good at math and he liked math.  And the nice thing is that math was the same in every school, and it’s the same in Spanish as it is in English.
 
So José studied, and he studied hard.  And one day, he’s standing in the fields, collecting sugar beets, and he heard on a transistor radio that a man named Franklin Chang-Diaz -- a man with a surname like his -- was going to be an astronaut for NASA.  So José decided -- right there in the field, he decided -- well, I could be an astronaut, too.
 
So José kept on studying, and he graduated high school.  And he kept on studying, and he earned an engineering degree.  And he kept on studying, and he earned a graduate degree.  And he kept on working hard, and he ended up at a national laboratory, helping to develop a new kind of digital medical imaging system.
 
And a few years later, he found himself more than 100 miles above the surface of the Earth, staring out of the window of the shuttle Discovery, and he was remembering the boy in the California fields with that crazy dream that in America everything is possible.  (Applause.)
 
Think about that, El Paso.  That’s the American Dream right there.  (Applause.)  That's what we’re fighting for.  We are fighting for every boy and every girl like José with a dream and potential that's just waiting to be tapped.  We are fighting to unlock that promise, and all that holds not just for their futures, but for America’s future.  That's why we’re going to get this done.  And that's why I’m going to need your help.
 
Thank you.  God bless you.  And may God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)

END
1:56 P.M. MDT

Close Transcript

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 10, 2011

Remarks by the President at a DNC event in Austin, Texas

Moody Theater

Austin, Texas

5:49 P.M. CDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Austin!  Thank you.  Thank you so much.  It is good to be back in Austin!  (Applause.)

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you!

THE PRESIDENT:  I love you back!  (Applause.)  I love Texas -- (applause) -- and I especially love Austin.  (Applause.)  Love this city.  It was always one of my favorite places to visit during the campaign.  And I intend to drop by a few more times during this campaign.  (Applause.)

Can everybody please give it up for Robert Earl Keen one more time?  (Applause.)  During the campaign, I was up here -- I was singing with some folk.  But I kept my day job.  (Laughter.)

It is wonderful to see all of you.  I really do just have incredible memories of this city.  This may -- I think this may be the last time I took a walk, was here in Austin.  It was right before a debate and I started walking down the river and at the time nobody quite noticed me.  (Laughter.)  And I got pretty far down from the hotel and then somebody said, you’re Obama, aren’t you?  (Laughter.)  And that was it.  (Laughter.)  Secret Service started coming around and -- but I had wonderful memories of this place and I have so many good friends here.  It is great to see all of you.

It is also great to be out of Washington, D.C.  (Applause.)  Now, don’t get me wrong, D.C. is a wonderful town.  But the conversation in Washington -- did somebody fall?  (Laughter.)  You guys all right?  Those photographers are incorrigible.  (Laughter.)  The conversation you hear in Washington is just very different from the conversation you’d hear around the kitchen table, or around the office coolers.  And that’s why we recently decided our reelection campaign will be the first one in modern history to be based out of Washington, D.C.  We’re going back to Chicago.  (Applause.)  We are going back to Chicago.  I was thinking about coming to Austin -- (applause) -- but I had to go home.

Because I don’t want our campaign to only be hearing from pundits and lobbyists and political insiders.  I want our campaign to be hearing from the folks who got me to the Oval Office.  I want to be hearing from you.  I want to make sure we’re putting the campaign in your hands -- the hands of the same organizers, the same volunteers, the same ordinary people who did extraordinary things the last time around.  That’s what this campaign is still about.

Now, I’ll confess a few things have changed since that time.  A few of us are a little bit older.  Some of us are a lot grayer.  (Laughter.)  But all of us I hope can still remember that night in Grant Park -- (applause) -- the excitement in the streets, the sense of possibility in the air.  And I hope you also remember what I said back then -- that that wasn’t an ending, that was just the beginning.  It was just the beginning of what we knew was going to be a steep climb.

Now, I confess I didn’t know how steep it was going to be. (Laughter.)  It turned out we took office in the middle of the worst recession in our lifetimes, one that left millions of Americans without jobs, hundreds of thousands without homes.  It was a recession that’s so bad that a lot of families are still dealing with the aftershocks to this day.

And so coming in, we immediately had to take a bunch of tough decisions.  And they were not always popular.  But two and a half years later, an economy that was shrinking at about 6 percent is now growing again.  (Applause.)  Over the last three months, just the last three months alone, we’ve added about a quarter -- about three-quarters of a million private sector jobs just in the last three months.  Over the last 14 months, we’ve added more than 2 million private sector jobs to our economy.  (Applause.)  

Some of the things that folks said wouldn’t work, they’ve worked.  Remember our intervention in the auto industry when a whole bunch of folks were saying, let it go by the wayside?  G.M. is now hiring back all of its workers.  All of the Big Three automakers are expecting to make a profit again.  (Applause.)  

So we’ve made progress, but we still got some climbing to do, so don't take off your boots.  (Laughter.)  Because the summit we want to reach is one where every child in America has opportunity.  It’s one where we’re looking out for one another, whether we’re poor or disabled or infirm or in our golden years.  It’s one where America is more prosperous then ever before, and all Americans are sharing in that prosperity.  That's the summit we want to reach.  And it’s going to take more than a couple years to get there.  In fact, it’s going to take more than one term to get there.  (Applause.)  It’s going to take more than one term.

And I’m reminded every night when I -- some of you know I get letters from all across the country, and I read 10 of them every night.  And I get letters from people who are really working hard, doing everything right, but they can barely afford to keep up, barely keep their families afloat.  You get a letter from somebody who has sent out 50 resumes and hasn’t gotten an answer back.  You get a letter from a child who says their parents are having to sell their homes -- Mr. President, is there anything you can do?

Those are the Americans I’m thinking about every day when I wake up in the morning, and every night when I go to bed.  And they're the reason you elected me President.  You didn't elect me President for a fancy title or a nice place to live, you elected me to bring about real change in the lives of people all across this country and make sure everybody is getting a fair shot at the American Dream.  That’s why you elected me.  (Applause.)

And because of you, we’ve made great progress.  I want you to remember that.  We have made incredible progress.  Sometimes, folks forget.  Progress shouldn’t make us complacent, but it should remind us that change is possible.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Thank you for getting bin Laden.

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, there you go.  (Applause.)  Case in point.  (Applause.)  It should inspire us to finish what we started.  Because of you, we were able to prevent a second Great Depression.  But in the next few weeks, in the next few months, the next few years, we have to make sure that the new jobs in industries of our time are created right here in the United States of America.  We have to make sure that America is prepared to win the future.

Because of you, we have ended taxpayer subsidies that were going to banks under the student loan program.  We’re taking that money, billions of dollars, and making college more affordable for millions more students, including those right here in Austin at UT -- (applause) -- including right here.  (Applause.)

We’ve raised standards for teaching and learning in schools across the country by launching something we call Race to the Top.  We’ve got to keep on going, though.  Our reforms are not done.  I want every child in Texas and every child in America ready to graduate, ready to go to college, and actually able to afford going to college.  That’s how we’re going to out-compete and out-educate the rest of the world.  That’s how America will succeed in the 21st century.  Because of you, we made the largest investment in clean energy, renewable energy in our history -- (applause) -- investments that are already creating new jobs and new businesses.

But we’ve got more work to do.  Some of you may have noticed gas prices are a little high.  And with all the instability around the world we’ve got to keep making those investments in alternative energy.  And to help pay for it, by the way, because we’ve got to worry about our fiscal situation, it’s time to eliminate the $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies that were given to oil and gas companies -- (applause) -- $4 billion of your money that they’re making for record profits while you’re struggling at the tank.  Instead of subsidizing yesterday’s energy sources, let’s invest in tomorrow’s energies.  (Applause.)

Because of you we’re putting hundreds of thousands of people back to work repairing crumbling roads and bridges, our infrastructure.  But now we’ve got to make sure America is built to compete in the 21st century -- not just new roads and bridges, but high-speed rail lines and high-speed internet.  We always used to have the best stuff.  Texas knows something about that.  But today South Korea has faster high-speed Internet than we do.  China has got high-speed rail.  It doesn’t have to be that way.  We created the Internet.  Austin knows a little bit about the high-tech industry.  We should be leading the world when it comes to cutting-edge technologies and innovation.

Because of you we did what we’ve been trying to do for almost a century.  We said health care should no longer be a privilege, it should be a right in this country.  (Applause.)  Everybody should get affordable health care in this country.  (Applause.)  They said we couldn’t get it -- couldn’t do it, and we did it.  We said in the United States of America, you should never go broke because somebody in your family gets sick.

Because of you we passed Wall Street reform that helps make sure you aren’t cheated when you apply for a mortgage or take out a credit card, and we don’t have to bail out banks anymore.  We passed a law that says women should get an equal day’s pay for an equal day’s work.  (Applause.)  And while we were at it we put two more women on the Supreme Court, including the first Latina.  (Applause.)

Because of you we overturned “don’t ask, don’t tell” so everybody in this country can serve the country they love.  (Applause.)  We removed 100,000 troops from Iraq.  We ended combat missions there, just like I promised we would.  We’re taking the fight to al Qaeda.  And because of the extraordinary bravery of the men and women who wear this nation’s uniform and the outstanding work of our intelligence agencies, Osama bin Laden will never again threaten the United States of America.  (Applause.)  We couldn’t be prouder of them.

But we’ve still got more work to do.  We’ve still got more work to do when it comes to keeping America safe and making sure America is prosperous.  We’ve got to move forward on a whole bunch of challenges that are still facing this nation.

I was just down in El Paso before I came here.  And we needed to -- yes, nice place, El Paso.  (Laughter.)  And I talked about how we need to confront the challenge of immigration and pass comprehensive immigration reform that upholds our tradition as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.  We can do that.  (Applause.)

We’ve got to break the cycle of one energy crisis after another and bring about real energy reform that grows our economy.  I know oil is big in Texas, and that's fine.  We’ve got as much production going on as we have since 2003 right here in the United States of America, but we only have 3 percent of the world’s oil reserves.  We use 25 percent of the world’s oil.  We’re going to have to free ourselves from the grip of foreign oil, and we can clean up the planet in the process if we make the investments in basic research that are necessary.  (Applause.)  We want to leave America better off than we got.  (Applause.)

So ultimately that's what this budget debate in Washington is all about.  It’s about who we are.  It’s not just about numbers.  It’s about our values, what we care about, the kind of country we believe in.

Now, I believe in an America where government lives within its means.  We need to cut spending in Washington.  We need to cut domestic spending, defense spending, health care spending, spending in our tax code.  We’ve got to eliminate every dime of waste.  And if we’re serious about taking responsibility for the debt we owe, then we’ve got to make some tough decisions about the things that we can afford to do without.

We all need to share and sacrifice, but we’re not going to reduce our deficit by sacrificing the things that have always made us prosper.  I’m not going to sacrifice our investment in education.  I will not sacrifice scholarships to students.  (Applause.)  I will not sacrifice medical research for our scientists.  I will not sacrifice our highways and our airports, making sure they're safe.  I will not sacrifice investments in clean energy at a time when our dependence on foreign oil is causing folks so much pain at the pump.  I’m not going to sacrifice America’s future.

If we want to reduce our deficit, our sacrifice has to be shared.  And that means even as we’re making spending cuts, we also have to end the tax cuts to the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans in this country.  (Applause.)  It’s not because we want to punish success.  It’s because if we’re going to ask Americans to sacrifice a little bit, we can’t tell millionaires and billionaires that they don't have to do a thing.

I don't want a $200,000 tax cut that’s paid for by asking 33 seniors each to pay more than $6,000 in extra Medicare costs.  I don’t want that.  I don’t want my tax cut paid for by cutting kids out of Head Start or doing away with health insurance for millions of people on Medicaid, seniors in nursing homes and poor children and middle-class families who are raising a child with a disability like autism.  That’s not a tradeoff I’m willing to make.

And I don’t believe that’s a tradeoff that most Americans are willing to make, no matter what party you belong to.  It’s not who we are as a country.  We’re better than that.  See, what makes America great is not just the scale of our skyscrapers, the might of our military, the size of our GDP.  What also makes us great is the character of our people.

We’re rugged individualists, especially here in Texas.  We’re self-reliant.  We don’t like being told what to do.  We believe each of us is endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights and liberties.  That’s part of what makes us American.  We’re proud of that.

But what also makes us American is the idea that we’re all in it together; that I am my brother’s keeper, that I am my sister’s keeper; and that when I look out for somebody else, it’s not out of charity.  It’s because my life is better.  My life is richer.  (Applause.) Because I’m driving down in Austin and I see some kids playing, I know they’re in a good school.  And I see some seniors taking a walk together holding hands, I know that they’ve got some security.  And if I go by a small business owner, I know that they’ve got opportunity.  That’s -- that makes my life better -- when I know that the people around me have some measure of security and dignity and a shot at the American Dream.

That’s our vision of America.  It’s not a vision of a small America.  It’s a vision of a big America, a bold and optimistic America, an America that does big things.  It’s a vision where we’re living within our means but we’re still investing in our future; where everybody is making sacrifices, but nobody alone bears all the burden; where we live up to the idea that no matter who you -- what you look like, or who you are, no matter whether your ancestors landed on Ellis Island or came over here on a slave ship or crossed the Rio Grande, that we’re all connected to one another, and that we rise or fall together.

That's the idea at the heart of America.  (Applause.)  That's the idea at the heart of this campaign.  (Applause.)  And that's why, Austin, I’m going to need your help more than ever.  This campaign is still in the early stages.  But now is the time where you can help shape this campaign, just like you did the first time; make sure we get out of the gate strong.

And I know there are times where some of you have felt frustrated because we haven’t gotten everything done as fast as you want or exactly the way you wanted it.  I know.  (Laughter.)  I know those conversations you have with your friends.  (Laughter.)  Oh, why is Obama compromising with the Republicans?  Why haven’t we gotten judges appointed faster?  And why didn’t we get a public option?  You know, I know, all the grumbling.  (Laughter.)

And there are times where I get frustrated, but we knew this wasn’t going to be easy.  We knew that on a journey like this, there were going to be setbacks and detours, and at times we would stumble.  And I always laugh when people say, boy, you know, the Obama campaign back in 2008, that was just so smooth and flawless -- and I’m thinking, what campaign were they looking at?  (Laughter.)  We screwed up all the time during our campaign.  (Laughter.)  We made mistakes.  We lost all kinds of primaries and caucuses, and there were all kinds of times where I said things that I wish I hadn’t or didn't say things I wish I had.  That's life.

But you guys stuck with me because you knew that at each and every juncture in our history, when our future is on the line, when our country is at a crossroads -- like we are now -- we can come together and we can do big things.  And we somehow have managed to transform ourselves from just this ragtag band of colonies to the greatest country in the world.  (Applause.)

We took an agricultural economy and transformed it into an industrial economy, then into an information economy.  And we absorbed new waves of immigrants.  And we finally dealt with the stain of slavery, and we made sure that women could participate fully in our democracy.  And we made sure that workers had basic rights.  And we managed to do this, to move forward, not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans.  As one people, as one nation.

So whenever you hear people saying that our problems now are too big to solve, or we can’t bring about the change that we were talking about, or boy, politics is so nasty -- whenever cynicism rears its ugly head -- I want you to think about all the progress we’ve made already.  I want you to think how unlikely it was the first time around.  I want you to think about all the unfinished business that lies ahead.  And I want to -- I want you to remember and I want you to remind everybody else those three simple words that summed up our last campaign and that will sum up our spirit as a people:  Yes, we can.

Thank you very much everybody.  God bless you.  God bless the United States of America.  God bless Texas.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

END
6:14 P.M. CDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 10, 2011

President Obama Signs North Dakota Disaster Declaration

The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of North Dakota and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the area struck by flooding beginning on February 14, 2011, and continuing.

Federal funding is available to State and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the flooding in Barnes, Benson, Bottineau, Burke, Cass, Cavalier, Dickey, Eddy, Foster, Grand Forks, Grant, Griggs, Kidder, La Moure, Logan, McHenry, McIntosh, McLean, Mercer, Morton, Mountrail, Nelson, Pembina, Pierce, Ramsey, Ransom, Renville, Richland, Rolette, Sargent, Sheridan, Steele, Stutsman, Towner, Traill, Walsh, Ward, Wells, and Williams Counties and the Spirit Lake Nation, the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Reservation.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures for all counties and Tribes within the State.

W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Willie G. Nunn as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.

FEMA said additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the State and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  FEMA (202) 646-3272.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 10, 2011

President Obama Signs Minnesota Disaster Declaration

The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of Minnesota and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the area struck by severe storms and flooding beginning on March 16, 2011, and continuing.  

Federal funding is available to State and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storms and flooding in the counties of Big Stone, Blue Earth, Brown, Carver, Chippewa, Clay, Grant, Lac qui Parle, Le Sueur, Lyon, McLeod, Nicollet, Redwood, Renville, Scott, Sibley, Stevens, Traverse, Wilkin, and Yellow Medicine.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.  

W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Paul J. Ricciuti as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.  

FEMA said additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the State and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  FEMA (202) 646-3272.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
May 10, 2011

Remarks by the President on Comprehensive Immigration Reform in El Paso, Texas

Chamizal National Memorial El Paso, Texas

1:21 P.M. MDT
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, El Paso!  (Applause.)  Well, it is wonderful -- wonderful to be back with all of you in the Lone Star State.  (Applause.)  Everything is bigger in Texas.  (Applause.)
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  I love you back!  (Applause.)  Even the welcomes are bigger.  (Applause.)  So, in appreciation, I wanted to give a big policy speech outside on a really hot day.  (Laughter.)  Those of you who are still wearing your jackets, feel free to take them off.  I hope everybody is wearing sunscreen.
 
     AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We live here.
 
     THE PRESIDENT:  You say you live here?  You don’t need it, huh?  (Laughter.)  Well, it is a great honor to be here.  And I want to express my appreciation to all of you for taking the time to come out today.
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  I appreciate it.  Thank you.  (Applause.)
 
You know, about a week ago, I delivered a commencement address at Miami Dade Community College, which is one of the most diverse schools in the nation.  The graduates were proud that their class could claim heritage from 181 countries around the world -- 181 countries.  (Applause.)
 
Many of the students were immigrants themselves, coming to America with little more than the dream of their parents and the clothes on their back.  A handful had discovered only in adolescence or adulthood that they were undocumented.  But they worked hard and they gave it their all, and so they earned those diplomas.
 
And at the ceremony, 181 flags -- one for every nation that was represented -- was marched across the stage.  And each one was applauded by the graduates and the relatives with ties to those countries.  So when the Haitian flag went by, all the Haitian kids -- Haitian American kids shouted out.  And when the Guatemalan flag went by, all the kids of Guatemalan heritage shouted out.  And when the Ukrainian flag went by, I think one kid shouted out.  (Laughter.)  This was down in Miami.  (Laughter.)  If it had been in Chicago, there would have been more.
 
  But then, the last flag, the American flag, came into view.  And everyone in the room erupted in applause.  Everybody cheered.  (Applause.)  So, yes, their parents and grandparents -- some of the graduates themselves -- had come from every corner of the globe.  But it was here that they had found opportunity.  It was here that they had a chance to contribute to the nation that is their home.
 
And it was a reminder of a simple idea, as old as America itself:  E pluribus unum.  Out of many, one.  We define ourselves as a nation of immigrants -- a nation that welcomes those willing to embrace America’s ideals and America’s precepts.  That’s why millions of people, ancestors to most of us, braved hardship and great risk to come here -- so they could be free to work and worship and start a business and live their lives in peace and prosperity.  The Asian immigrants who made their way to California’s Angel Island.  The German and Scandinavians who settled across the Midwest.  The waves of Irish, and Italian, and Polish, and Russian, and Jewish immigrants who leaned against the railing to catch their first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty.
 
This flow of immigrants has helped make this country stronger and more prosperous.  (Applause.)  We can point to the genius of Einstein, the designs of I. M. Pei, the stories of Isaac Asimov, the entire industries that were forged by Andrew Carnegie.
 
And then when I think about immigration I think about the naturalization ceremonies that we’ve held at the White House for members of our military.  Nothing could be more inspiring.  Even though they were not yet citizens when they joined our military, these men and women signed up to serve.
 
We did one event at the White House and a young man named Granger Michael from Papua New Guinea, a Marine who had been deployed to Iraq three times, was there.  And you know what he said about becoming an American citizen?  He said, “I might as well.  I love this country already.”  That’s all he said.  Marines aren’t big on speeches.  (Laughter.)
 
Another was a woman named Perla Ramos who was born and raised in Mexico and came to the United States shortly after 9/11, and joined the Navy.  And she said, “I take pride in our flag and the history we write day by day.”
 
That’s the promise of this country -- that anyone can write the next chapter in our story.  It doesn’t matter where you come from -- (applause) -- it doesn’t matter where you come from; it doesn’t matter what you look like; it doesn’t matter what faith you worship.  What matters is that you believe in the ideals on which we were founded; that you believe that all of us are created equal, endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights.  (Applause.)  All of us deserve our freedoms and our pursuit of happiness.  In embracing America, you can become American.  That is what makes this country great.  That enriches all of us.
 
And yet, at the same time, we’re here at the border today -- (applause) -- we’re here at the border because we also recognize that being a nation of laws goes hand in hand with being a nation of immigrants.  This, too, is our heritage.  This, too, is important.  And the truth is, we’ve often wrestled with the politics of who is and who isn’t allowed to come into this country.  This debate is not new.
 
At times, there has been fear and resentment directed towards newcomers, especially in hard economic times.  And because these issues touch deeply on what we believe, touch deeply on our convictions -- about who we are as a people, about what it means to be an American -- these debates often elicit strong emotions.
 
That’s one reason it’s been so difficult to reform our broken immigration system.  When an issue is this complex, when it raises such strong feelings, it’s easier for politicians to defer until the problem the next election.  And there’s always a next election.
 
So we’ve seen a lot of blame and a lot of politics and a lot of ugly rhetoric around immigration.  And we’ve seen good faith efforts from leaders of both parties -- by the way, I just noticed, those of you who have chairs, if you want to sit down, feel free.  There’s no rule about having to stand when I’m --
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  -- we love you!  (Applause.)
 
THE PRESIDENT:  But we’ve seen leaders of both parties who try to work on this issue, but then their efforts fell prey to the usual Washington games.  And all the while, we’ve seen the mounting consequences of decades of inaction.
 
Today, there are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants here in the United States.  Some crossed the border illegally.  Others avoid immigration laws by overstaying their visas.  Regardless of how they came, the overwhelming majority of these folks are just trying to earn a living and provide for their families.  (Applause.)
 
But we have to acknowledge they’ve broken the rules.  They’ve cut in front of the line.  And what is also true is that the presence of so many illegal immigrants makes a mockery of all those who are trying to immigrate legally.
 
Also, because undocumented immigrants live in the shadows, where they’re vulnerable to unscrupulous businesses that skirt taxes, and pay workers less than the minimum wage, or cut corners with health and safety laws, this puts companies who follow the rules, and Americans who rightly demand the minimum wage or overtime or just a safe place to work, it puts those businesses at a disadvantage.
 
Think about it.  Over the past decade, even before the recession hit, middle-class families were struggling to get by as the costs went up for everything, from health care, to college tuition, to groceries, to gas.  Their incomes didn’t go up with those prices.  We’re seeing it again right now with gas prices.
 
So one way to strengthen the middle class in America is to reform the immigration system so that there is no longer a massive underground economy that exploits a cheap source of labor while depressing wages for everybody else.  I want incomes for middle-class families to rise again.  (Applause.)  I want prosperity in this country to be widely shared.  (Applause.)  I want everybody to be able to reach that American dream.  And that’s why immigration reform is an economic imperative.  It’s an economic imperative.  (Applause.)
 
And reform will also help to make America more competitive in the global economy.  Today, we provide students from around the world with visas to get engineering and computer science degrees at our top universities.  (Applause.)
 
But then our laws discourage them from using those skills to start a business or a new industry here in the United States.  Instead of training entrepreneurs to stay here, we train them to create jobs for our competition.  That makes no sense.  In a global marketplace, we need all the talent we can attract, all the talent we can get to stay here to start businesses -- not just to benefit those individuals, but because their contribution will benefit all Americans.
 
Look at Intel, look at Google, look at Yahoo, look at eBay.  All those great American companies, all the jobs they’ve created, everything that has helped us take leadership in the high-tech industry, every one of those was founded by, guess who, an immigrant.  (Applause.)
 
So we don’t want the next Intel or the next Google to be created in China or India.  We want those companies and jobs to take root here.  (Applause.)  Bill Gates gets this.  He knows a little something about the high-tech industry.  He said, “The United States will find it far more difficult to maintain its competitive edge if it excludes those who are able and willing to help us compete.”
 
So immigration is not just the right thing to do.  It’s smart for our economy.  It’s smart for our economy.  (Applause.)  And it’s for this reason that businesses all across America are demanding that Washington finally meet its responsibilities to solve the immigration problem.  Everybody recognizes the system is broken.  The question is, will we finally summon the political will to do something about it?  And that’s why we’re here at the border today.
 
And I want to say I am joined today by an outstanding Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, who’s been working tirelessly on this issue.  (Applause.)  Our commissioner who’s working diligently on border issues, Alan Bersin, is there, and we appreciate him -- Bersin.  (Applause.)
 
So they’re doing outstanding work.  And in recent years, among one of the greatest impediments to reform were questions about border security.  And these were legitimate concerns.  What was true was a lack of manpower and a lack of resources at the border, combined with the pull of jobs and ill-considered enforcement once folks were in the country.
 
All this contributed to a growing number of undocumented people living in the United States.  And these concerns helped unravel a bipartisan coalition that we had forged back when I was in the United States Senate.  So in the years since, “borders first, borders first,” that's become the common refrain, even among those who were previously supportive of comprehensive immigration reform.
 
But over the last two years, thanks to the outstanding work of Janet and Alan and everybody who’s down here working at the border, we’ve answered those concerns.  Under their leadership, we have strengthened border security beyond what many believed was possible.   They wanted more agents at the border.  Well, we now have more boots on the ground on the southwest border than at any time in our history.  (Applause.)  
 
     The Border Patrol has 20,000 agents -- more than twice as many as there were in 2004.  It’s a build-up that began under President Bush and that we’ve continued, and I had a chance to meet some of these outstanding agents, and actually saw some of them on horseback who looked pretty tough.  (Laughter.)  So we put the agents here.
 
Then they wanted a fence.  Well, the fence is --
 
AUDIENCE:  Booo!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  The fence is now basically complete.
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Tear it down!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Then we’ve gone further.  We tripled the number of intelligence analysts working at the border.  I’ve deployed unmanned aerial vehicles to patrol the skies from Texas to California.  We have forged a partnership with Mexico to fight the transnational criminal organizations that have affected both of our countries.  (Applause.)  And for the first time -- for the first time we’re screening 100 percent of southbound rail shipments to seize guns and money going south even as we go after drugs that are coming north.  (Applause.)
 
So, here’s the point.  I want everybody to listen carefully to this.  We have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement.  All the stuff they asked for, we’ve done.  But even though we’ve answered these concerns, I’ve got to say I suspect there are still going to be some who are trying to move the goal posts on us one more time.
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  They’re racist!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  You know, they said we needed to triple the Border Patrol.  Or now they’re going to say we need to quadruple the Border Patrol.  Or they’ll want a higher fence.  Maybe they’ll need a moat.  (Laughter.)  Maybe they want alligators in the moat.  (Laughter.)  They’ll never be satisfied.  And I understand that.  That’s politics.
 
But the truth is the measures we’ve put in place are getting results.  Over the past two and a half years, we’ve seized 31 percent more drugs, 75 percent more currency, 64 percent more weapons than ever before.  (Applause.)  And even as we have stepped up patrols, apprehensions along the border have been cut by nearly 40 percent from two years ago.  That means far fewer people are attempting to cross the border illegally.
 
And also, despite a lot of breathless reports that have tagged places like El Paso as dangerous, violent crime in southwest border counties has dropped by a third.  El Paso and other cities and towns along this border are consistently among the safest in the nation.  (Applause.)  Of course, we shouldn’t accept any violence or crime.  And we’ve always got more work to do.  But this progress is important and it’s not getting reported on.
 
And we’re also going beyond the border.  Beyond the border, we’re going after employers who knowingly exploit people and break the law.  (Applause.)  And we are deporting those who are here illegally.  And that’s a tough issue.  It’s a source of controversy.
 
But I want to emphasize we’re not doing it haphazardly.  We’re focusing our limited resources and people on violent offenders and people convicted of crimes -- not just families, not just folks who are just looking to scrape together an income.  And as a result, we’ve increased the removal of criminals by 70 percent.  (Applause.)
 
That’s not to ignore the real human toll of a broken immigration system.  Even as we recognize that enforcing the law is necessary, we don’t relish the pain that it causes in the lives of people who are just trying to get by and get caught up in the system.
 
And as long as the current laws are on the books, it’s not just hardened felons who are subject to removal, but sometimes families who are just trying to earn a living, or bright, eager students, or decent people with the best of intentions.  (Applause.)
 
And sometimes when I talk to immigration advocates, they wish I could just bypass Congress and change the law myself.  But that’s not how a democracy works.  What we really need to do is to keep up the fight to pass genuine, comprehensive reform.  That is the ultimate solution to this problem.  That's what I’m committed to doing.  (Applause.)
   
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Yes, we can!  Yes, we can!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Yes, we can.  We can do it.  (Applause.)
 
AUDIENCE:  Yes, we can!  Yes, we can!  Yes, we can!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  The most significant step we can now take to secure the borders is to fix the system as a whole so that fewer people have the incentive to enter illegally in search of work in the first place.  This would allow agents to focus on the worst threats on both of our -- both sides of our borders, from drug traffickers to those who would come here to commit acts of violence or terror.  That’s where our focus should be.
 
So, El Paso, the question is whether those in Congress who previously walked away in the name of enforcement are now ready to come back to the table and finish the work that we’ve started.  (Applause.)  We’ve got to put the politics aside.  And if we do, I’m confident we can find common ground.
 
Washington is lagging behind the country on this.  There is already a growing coalition of leaders across America who don’t always see eye-to-eye, but are coming together on this issue.  They see the harmful consequences of a broken immigration system for their businesses and for their communities, and they understand why we need to act.
 
There are Democrats and Republicans, people like former Republican Senator Mel Martinez; former Bush administration Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff; leaders like Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York; evangelical ministers like Leith Anderson and Bill Hybels; police chiefs from across the nation; educators; advocates; labor unions; chambers of commerce; small business owners; Fortune 500 CEOs.
 
I mean, one CEO had this to say about reform:  “American ingenuity is a product of the openness and diversity of this society.  Immigrants have made America great as the world leader in business, in science, higher education and innovation.”  You know who that leader was?  Rupert Murdoch, who owns FOX News, and is an immigrant himself.  I don’t know if you’re familiar with Rupert Murdoch’s views, but let’s just say he doesn’t have an Obama sticker on his car.  (Laughter.)  But he agrees with me on this.  (Applause.)
 
So there is a consensus around fixing what’s broken. And now we need Congress to catch up.  Now we need to come together around reform that reflects our values as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants; reform that demands that everybody take responsibility.  So what would comprehensive reform look like?
 
First, we know that government has a threshold responsibility to secure our borders and enforce the law.  And that’s what Janet and all her folks are doing.  That’s what they’re doing.  (Applause.)
 
Second, businesses have to be held accountable if they exploit undocumented workers.  (Applause.)
 
Third, those who are here illegally, they have a responsibility as well.  So they broke the law, and that means they’ve got to pay their taxes, they’ve got to pay a fine, they’ve got to learn English.  And they’ve got to undergo background checks and a lengthy process before they get in line for legalization.  That’s not too much to ask.  (Applause.)
 
And fourth, stopping illegal immigration also depends on reforming our outdated system of legal immigration.  (Applause.)  We should make it easier for the best and the brightest to not only stay here, but also to start businesses and create jobs here.  In recent years, a full 25 percent of high-tech startups in the U.S. were founded by immigrants.  That led to 200,000 jobs here in America.  I’m glad those jobs are here.  I want to see more of them created in this country.  We need to provide them the chance.  (Applause.)
 
We need to provide our farms a legal way to hire workers that they rely on, and a path for those workers to earn legal status.  (Applause.)  And our laws should respect families following the rules -- reuniting them more quickly instead of splitting them apart.  (Applause.)
 
Today, the immigration system not only tolerates those who break the rules, but it punishes folks who follow the rules.  While applications -- while applicants wait for approval, for example, they’re often forbidden from visiting the United States.  Even husbands and wives may have to spend years apart.  Parents can’t see their children.  I don’t believe the United States of America should be in the business of separating families.  That’s not right.  That’s not who we are.  We can do better than that.  (Applause.)
 
And we should stop punishing innocent young people for the actions of their parents.  (Applause.)  We should stop denying them the chance to earn an education or serve in the military.  And that’s why we need to pass the DREAM Act.  (Applause.)  Now, we passed the DREAM Act through the House last year when Democrats were in control.  But even though it received a majority of votes in the Senate, it was blocked when several Republicans who had previously supported the DREAM Act voted no.
 
That was a tremendous disappointment to get so close and then see politics get in the way.  And as I gave that commencement at Miami Dade, it broke my heart knowing that a number of those promising, bright students -- young people who worked so hard and who speak about what’s best in America -- are at risk of facing the agony of deportation.  These are kids who grew up in this country.  They love this country.  They know no other place to call home.  The idea that we’d punish them is cruel.  It makes no sense.  We’re a better nation than that.  (Applause.)
 
So we’re going to keep fighting for the DREAM Act. We’re going to keep up the fight for reform.  (Applause.)  And that’s where you come in.  I’m going to do my part to lead a constructive and civil debate on these issues.  And we’ve already had a series of meetings about this at the White House in recent weeks.  We’ve got leaders here and around the country helping to move the debate forward.
 
But this change ultimately has to be driven by you, the American people.  You’ve got to help push for comprehensive reform, and you’ve got to identify what steps we can take right now -- like the DREAM Act, like visa reform -- areas where we can find common ground among Democrats and Republicans and begin to fix what’s broken.
 
So I’m asking you to add your voices to this debate.  You can sign up to help at whitehouse.gov.  We need Washington to know that there is a movement for reform that’s gathering strength from coast to coast.  That’s how we’ll get this done.  That’s how we can ensure that in the years ahead we are welcoming the talents of all who can contribute to this country and that we’re living up to the basic American idea that you can make it here if you try.  (Applause.)
 
That’s the idea that gave hope to José Hernández.  Is José here?  Where’s -- José is right over there.  (Applause.)  I want you to hear -- I want you to think about this story.  José’s parents were migrant farm workers.  And so, growing up, he was too.  He was born in California, though he could have just as easily been born on the other side of the border, if it had been a different time of year, because his family moved around with the seasons.  So two of his siblings were actually born in Mexico.
 
So they traveled a lot, and José joined his parents picking cucumbers and strawberries.  And he missed part of school when they returned to Mexico each winter.  José didn’t learn English until he was 12 years old.  But you know what, José was good at math and he liked math.  And the nice thing is that math was the same in every school, and it’s the same in Spanish as it is in English.
 
So José studied, and he studied hard.  And one day, he’s standing in the fields, collecting sugar beets, and he heard on a transistor radio that a man named Franklin Chang-Diaz -- a man with a surname like his -- was going to be an astronaut for NASA.  So José decided -- right there in the field, he decided -- well, I could be an astronaut, too.
 
So José kept on studying, and he graduated high school.  And he kept on studying, and he earned an engineering degree.  And he kept on studying, and he earned a graduate degree.  And he kept on working hard, and he ended up at a national laboratory, helping to develop a new kind of digital medical imaging system.
 
And a few years later, he found himself more than 100 miles above the surface of the Earth, staring out of the window of the shuttle Discovery, and he was remembering the boy in the California fields with that crazy dream that in America everything is possible.  (Applause.)
 
Think about that, El Paso.  That’s the American Dream right there.  (Applause.)  That's what we’re fighting for.  We are fighting for every boy and every girl like José with a dream and potential that's just waiting to be tapped.  We are fighting to unlock that promise, and all that holds not just for their futures, but for America’s future.  That's why we’re going to get this done.  And that's why I’m going to need your help.
 
Thank you.  God bless you.  And may God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)

END
1:56 P.M. MDT