President Obama Speaks at a Memorial for Victims of the Navy Yard Shooting

September 22, 2013 | 19:54 | Public Domain

In his remarks, President Obama says that the victimes will endure in the hearts of the American people and in the hearts of the Navy that they helped to keep strong, and the hearts of their coworkers and their friends and their neighbors.

Download mp4 (733MB) | mp3 (48MB)

Read the Transcript

Remarks by the President at the Memorial Service for Victims of the Navy Yard Shooting

The Marine Barracks
Washington, D.C.

THE PRESIDENT: Secretary Hagel, Secretary Mabus, Admirals Greenert and Hilarides, Mayor Gray, leaders from across this city and our Armed Forces, to all the outstanding first responders, and, most of all, the families whose hearts have been broken -- we cannot begin to comprehend your loss. We know that no words we offer today are equal to the magnitude, to the depths of that loss. But we come together as a grateful nation to honor your loved ones, to grieve with you, and to offer, as best we can, some solace and comfort.

On the night that we lost Martin Luther King Jr. to a gunman’s bullet, Robert Kennedy stood before a stunned and angry crowd in Indianapolis and he broke the terrible news. And in the anguish of that moment, he turned to the words of an ancient Greek poet, Aeschylus: “Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.” Pain which cannot forget -- drop by drop upon the heart.

The tragedy and the pain that brings us here today is extraordinary. It is unique. The lives that were taken from us were unique. The memories their loved ones carry are unique, and they will carry them and endure long after the news cameras are gone. But part of what wears on as well is the sense that this has happened before. Part of what wears on us, what troubles us so deeply as we gather here today, is how this senseless violence that took place in the Navy Yard echoes other recent tragedies.

As President, I have now grieved with five American communities ripped apart by mass violence. Fort Hood. Tucson. Aurora. Sandy Hook. And now, the Washington Navy Yard. And these mass shootings occur against a backdrop of daily tragedies, as an epidemic of gun violence tears apart communities across America -- from the streets of Chicago to neighborhoods not far from here.

And so, once again, we remember our fellow Americans who were just going about their day doing their jobs, doing what they loved -- in this case, the unheralded work that keeps our country strong and our Navy the finest fleet in the world. These patriots doing their work that they were so proud of, and who have now been taken away from us by unspeakable violence.

Once more we come together to mourn the lives of beauty and to comfort the wonderful families who cherished them. Once more we pay tribute to all who rushed towards the danger, who risked their lives so others might live, and who are in our prayers today, including Officer Scott Williams. Once more our hearts are broken. Once more we ask why. Once more we seek strength and wisdom through God's grace.

You and your families, this Navy family, are still in the early hour of your grief. And I'm here today to say that there is nothing routine about this tragedy. There is nothing routine about your loss. Your loved ones will not be forgotten. They will endure in the hearts of the American people and in the hearts of the Navy that they helped to keep strong, and the hearts of their coworkers and their friends and their neighbors.
“I want them to know how she lived,” Jessica Gaarde said of her mother Kathy. “She is not a number, or some statistic.” None of these 12 fellow Americans are statistics. Today, I want every American to see how these men and women lived. You may have never met them, but you know them. They're your neighbors -- like Arthur Daniels, out there on the weekend, polishing his white Crown Victoria; and Kenneth Proctor, with his beloved yellow Mustang, who, if you asked, would fix your car, too.

She was the friendly face at the store. Sylvia Frasier, with her unforgettable gold hair, who took a second job at Walmart because, she said, she just loved working with people. She was the diehard fan you sat next to at the game. Kathy Gaarde loved her hockey and her Caps, a season ticket holder for 25 years.

They were the volunteers who made your community better. Frank Kohler, giving dictionaries to every third-grader in his county; Marty Bodrog, leading the children’s Bible study at church. They lived the American Dream -- like Kisan Pandit, who left everything he knew in India for this land of opportunity, and raised a wonderful family and dedicated himself to the United States Navy. They were proud veterans -- like Gerald Read, who wore the Army uniform for more than 25 years; and Michael Arnold, who became one of the Navy’s leading architects, of whom a colleague said, “nobody knew those ships like him.”

They were dedicated fathers -- like Mike Ridgell, coaching his daughter’s softball teams, joining Facebook just to keep up with his girls, one of whom said, “he was always the cool dad.” They were loving mothers -- like Mary Francis Knight, devoted to her daughters, and who had just recently watched with joy as her older daughter got married. They were doting grandparents -- like John Johnson, always smiling, giving bear hugs to his 10 grandchildren, and who would have welcomed his 11th grandchild this fall.

These are not statistics. They are the lives that have been taken from us. This is how far a single act of violence can ripple. A husband has lost his wife. Wives have lost their husbands. Sons and daughters have lost their moms and their dads. Little children have lost their grandparents. Hundreds in our communities have lost a neighbor, and thousands here have lost a friend.

As has been mentioned, for one family, the Daniels family, old wounds are ripped open again. Priscilla has lost Arthur, her husband of 30 years. Only a few years ago, as Mayor Gray indicated, another shooting took the life of their son, just 14 years old. “I can’t believe this is happening again,” Priscilla says.

So these families have endured a shattering tragedy. It ought to be a shock to us all as a nation and as a people. It ought to obsess us. It ought to lead to some sort of transformation. That’s what happened in other countries when they experienced similar tragedies. In the United Kingdom, in Australia, when just a single mass shooting occurred in those countries, they understood that there was nothing ordinary about this kind of carnage. They endured great heartbreak, but they also mobilized and they changed, and mass shootings became a great rarity.

And yet, here in the United States, after the round-of-clock coverage on cable news, after the heartbreaking interviews with families, after all the speeches and all the punditry and all the commentary, nothing happens. Alongside the anguish of these American families, alongside the accumulated outrage so many of us feel, sometimes I fear there’s a creeping resignation that these tragedies are just somehow the way it is, that this is somehow the new normal.

We can’t accept this. As Americans bound in grief and love, we must insist here today there is nothing normal about innocent men and women being gunned down where they work. There is nothing normal about our children being gunned down in their classrooms. There is nothing normal about children dying in our streets from stray bullets.

No other advanced nation endures this kind of violence -- none. Here in America, the murder rate is three times what it is in other developed nations. The murder rate with guns is ten times what it is in other developed nations. And there is nothing inevitable about it. It comes about because of decisions we make or fail to make. And it falls upon us to make it different.

Sometimes it takes an unexpected voice to break through, to help remind us what we know to be true. And we heard one of those voices last week. Dr. Janis Orlowski’s team at Medstar Washington Hospital Center treated the wounded. And in the midst of one of her briefings, she spoke with heartbreaking honesty as somebody who sees, daily and nightly, the awful carnage of so much violence. We are a great country, she said, but “there’s something wrong.” All these shootings, all these victims, she said, “this is not America.” “It is a challenge to all of us,” she said, and “we have to work together to get rid of this.”

And that’s the wisdom we should be taking away from this tragedy and so many others -- not accepting these shootings as inevitable, but asking what can we do to prevent them from happening again and again and again. I've said before, we cannot stop every act of senseless violence. We cannot know every evil that lurks in troubled minds. But if we can prevent even one tragedy like this, save even one life, spare other families what these families are going through, surely we've got an obligation to try.

It's true that each of the tragedies I've mentioned is different. And in this case, it's clear we need to do a better job of securing our military facilities and deciding who gets access to them. And as Commander in Chief, I have ordered a review of procedures up and down the chain, and I know that Secretary Hagel is moving aggressively on that. As a society, it’s clear we've got to do a better job of ensuring that those who need mental health care actually get it, and that in those efforts we don't stigmatize those who need help. Those things are clear, and we've got to move to address them.

But we Americans are not an inherently more violent people than folks in other countries. We're not inherently more prone to mental health problems. The main difference that sets our nation apart, what makes us so susceptible to so many mass shootings, is that we don’t do enough -- we don’t take the basic, common-sense actions to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and dangerous people. What's different in America is it's easy to get your hands on gun -- and a lot of us know this. But the politics are difficult, as we saw again this spring. And that’s sometimes where the resignation comes from -- the sense that our politics are frozen and that nothing will change.

Well, I cannot accept that. I do not accept that we cannot find a common-sense way to preserve our traditions, including our basic Second Amendment freedoms and the rights of law-abiding gun owners, while at the same time reducing the gun violence that unleashes so much mayhem on a regular basis. And it may not happen tomorrow and it may not happen next week, it may not happen next month -- but it will happen. Because it's the change that we need, and it's a change overwhelmingly supported by the majority of Americans.

By now, though, it should be clear that the change we need will not come from Washington, even when tragedy strikes Washington. Change will come the only way it ever has come, and that’s from the American people. So the question now is not whether, as Americans, we care in moments of tragedy. Clearly, we care. Our hearts are broken -- again. And we care so deeply about these families. But the question is, do we care enough?

Do we care enough to keep standing up for the country that we know is possible, even if it’s hard, and even if it’s politically uncomfortable? Do we care enough to sustain the passion and the pressure to make our communities safer and our country safer? Do we care enough to do everything we can to spare other families the pain that is felt here today?

Our tears are not enough. Our words and our prayers are not enough. If we really want to honor these 12 men and women, if we really want to be a country where we can go to work, and go to school, and walk our streets free from senseless violence, without so many lives being stolen by a bullet from a gun, then we're going to have to change. We're going to have to change.

On Monday morning, these 12 men and women woke up like they did every day. They left home and they headed off to work. Gerald Read’s wife Cathy said, “See you tonight for dinner.” And John Johnson looked at his wife Judy and said what he always said whenever they parted, “Goodbye beautiful. I love you so much."

“Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.”

What Robert Kennedy understood, what Dr. King understood, what all our great leaders have always understood, is that wisdom does not come from tragedy alone or from some sense of resignation in the fallibility of man. Wisdom comes through the recognition that tragedies such as this are not inevitable, and that we possess the ability to act and to change, and to spare others the pain that drops upon our hearts. So in our grief, let us seek that grace. Let us find that wisdom. And in doing so, let us truly honor these 12 American patriots.

May God hold close the souls taken from us and grant them eternal peace. May He comfort and watch over these families. And may God grant us the strength and the wisdom to keep safe our United States of America.

Close Transcript

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
September 22, 2013

Remarks by the President at the Memorial Service for Victims of the Navy Yard Shooting

The Marine Barracks
Washington, D.C.

THE PRESIDENT: Secretary Hagel, Secretary Mabus, Admirals Greenert and Hilarides, Mayor Gray, leaders from across this city and our Armed Forces, to all the outstanding first responders, and, most of all, the families whose hearts have been broken -- we cannot begin to comprehend your loss. We know that no words we offer today are equal to the magnitude, to the depths of that loss. But we come together as a grateful nation to honor your loved ones, to grieve with you, and to offer, as best we can, some solace and comfort.

On the night that we lost Martin Luther King Jr. to a gunman’s bullet, Robert Kennedy stood before a stunned and angry crowd in Indianapolis and he broke the terrible news. And in the anguish of that moment, he turned to the words of an ancient Greek poet, Aeschylus: “Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.” Pain which cannot forget -- drop by drop upon the heart.

The tragedy and the pain that brings us here today is extraordinary. It is unique. The lives that were taken from us were unique. The memories their loved ones carry are unique, and they will carry them and endure long after the news cameras are gone. But part of what wears on as well is the sense that this has happened before. Part of what wears on us, what troubles us so deeply as we gather here today, is how this senseless violence that took place in the Navy Yard echoes other recent tragedies.

As President, I have now grieved with five American communities ripped apart by mass violence. Fort Hood. Tucson. Aurora. Sandy Hook. And now, the Washington Navy Yard. And these mass shootings occur against a backdrop of daily tragedies, as an epidemic of gun violence tears apart communities across America -- from the streets of Chicago to neighborhoods not far from here.

And so, once again, we remember our fellow Americans who were just going about their day doing their jobs, doing what they loved -- in this case, the unheralded work that keeps our country strong and our Navy the finest fleet in the world. These patriots doing their work that they were so proud of, and who have now been taken away from us by unspeakable violence.

Once more we come together to mourn the lives of beauty and to comfort the wonderful families who cherished them. Once more we pay tribute to all who rushed towards the danger, who risked their lives so others might live, and who are in our prayers today, including Officer Scott Williams. Once more our hearts are broken. Once more we ask why. Once more we seek strength and wisdom through God's grace.

You and your families, this Navy family, are still in the early hour of your grief. And I'm here today to say that there is nothing routine about this tragedy. There is nothing routine about your loss. Your loved ones will not be forgotten. They will endure in the hearts of the American people and in the hearts of the Navy that they helped to keep strong, and the hearts of their coworkers and their friends and their neighbors.
“I want them to know how she lived,” Jessica Gaarde said of her mother Kathy. “She is not a number, or some statistic.” None of these 12 fellow Americans are statistics. Today, I want every American to see how these men and women lived. You may have never met them, but you know them. They're your neighbors -- like Arthur Daniels, out there on the weekend, polishing his white Crown Victoria; and Kenneth Proctor, with his beloved yellow Mustang, who, if you asked, would fix your car, too.

She was the friendly face at the store. Sylvia Frasier, with her unforgettable gold hair, who took a second job at Walmart because, she said, she just loved working with people. She was the diehard fan you sat next to at the game. Kathy Gaarde loved her hockey and her Caps, a season ticket holder for 25 years.

They were the volunteers who made your community better. Frank Kohler, giving dictionaries to every third-grader in his county; Marty Bodrog, leading the children’s Bible study at church. They lived the American Dream -- like Kisan Pandit, who left everything he knew in India for this land of opportunity, and raised a wonderful family and dedicated himself to the United States Navy. They were proud veterans -- like Gerald Read, who wore the Army uniform for more than 25 years; and Michael Arnold, who became one of the Navy’s leading architects, of whom a colleague said, “nobody knew those ships like him.”

They were dedicated fathers -- like Mike Ridgell, coaching his daughter’s softball teams, joining Facebook just to keep up with his girls, one of whom said, “he was always the cool dad.” They were loving mothers -- like Mary Francis Knight, devoted to her daughters, and who had just recently watched with joy as her older daughter got married. They were doting grandparents -- like John Johnson, always smiling, giving bear hugs to his 10 grandchildren, and who would have welcomed his 11th grandchild this fall.

These are not statistics. They are the lives that have been taken from us. This is how far a single act of violence can ripple. A husband has lost his wife. Wives have lost their husbands. Sons and daughters have lost their moms and their dads. Little children have lost their grandparents. Hundreds in our communities have lost a neighbor, and thousands here have lost a friend.

As has been mentioned, for one family, the Daniels family, old wounds are ripped open again. Priscilla has lost Arthur, her husband of 30 years. Only a few years ago, as Mayor Gray indicated, another shooting took the life of their son, just 14 years old. “I can’t believe this is happening again,” Priscilla says.

So these families have endured a shattering tragedy. It ought to be a shock to us all as a nation and as a people. It ought to obsess us. It ought to lead to some sort of transformation. That’s what happened in other countries when they experienced similar tragedies. In the United Kingdom, in Australia, when just a single mass shooting occurred in those countries, they understood that there was nothing ordinary about this kind of carnage. They endured great heartbreak, but they also mobilized and they changed, and mass shootings became a great rarity.

And yet, here in the United States, after the round-of-clock coverage on cable news, after the heartbreaking interviews with families, after all the speeches and all the punditry and all the commentary, nothing happens. Alongside the anguish of these American families, alongside the accumulated outrage so many of us feel, sometimes I fear there’s a creeping resignation that these tragedies are just somehow the way it is, that this is somehow the new normal.

We can’t accept this. As Americans bound in grief and love, we must insist here today there is nothing normal about innocent men and women being gunned down where they work. There is nothing normal about our children being gunned down in their classrooms. There is nothing normal about children dying in our streets from stray bullets.

No other advanced nation endures this kind of violence -- none. Here in America, the murder rate is three times what it is in other developed nations. The murder rate with guns is ten times what it is in other developed nations. And there is nothing inevitable about it. It comes about because of decisions we make or fail to make. And it falls upon us to make it different.

Sometimes it takes an unexpected voice to break through, to help remind us what we know to be true. And we heard one of those voices last week. Dr. Janis Orlowski’s team at Medstar Washington Hospital Center treated the wounded. And in the midst of one of her briefings, she spoke with heartbreaking honesty as somebody who sees, daily and nightly, the awful carnage of so much violence. We are a great country, she said, but “there’s something wrong.” All these shootings, all these victims, she said, “this is not America.” “It is a challenge to all of us,” she said, and “we have to work together to get rid of this.”

And that’s the wisdom we should be taking away from this tragedy and so many others -- not accepting these shootings as inevitable, but asking what can we do to prevent them from happening again and again and again. I've said before, we cannot stop every act of senseless violence. We cannot know every evil that lurks in troubled minds. But if we can prevent even one tragedy like this, save even one life, spare other families what these families are going through, surely we've got an obligation to try.

It's true that each of the tragedies I've mentioned is different. And in this case, it's clear we need to do a better job of securing our military facilities and deciding who gets access to them. And as Commander in Chief, I have ordered a review of procedures up and down the chain, and I know that Secretary Hagel is moving aggressively on that. As a society, it’s clear we've got to do a better job of ensuring that those who need mental health care actually get it, and that in those efforts we don't stigmatize those who need help. Those things are clear, and we've got to move to address them.

But we Americans are not an inherently more violent people than folks in other countries. We're not inherently more prone to mental health problems. The main difference that sets our nation apart, what makes us so susceptible to so many mass shootings, is that we don’t do enough -- we don’t take the basic, common-sense actions to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and dangerous people. What's different in America is it's easy to get your hands on gun -- and a lot of us know this. But the politics are difficult, as we saw again this spring. And that’s sometimes where the resignation comes from -- the sense that our politics are frozen and that nothing will change.

Well, I cannot accept that. I do not accept that we cannot find a common-sense way to preserve our traditions, including our basic Second Amendment freedoms and the rights of law-abiding gun owners, while at the same time reducing the gun violence that unleashes so much mayhem on a regular basis. And it may not happen tomorrow and it may not happen next week, it may not happen next month -- but it will happen. Because it's the change that we need, and it's a change overwhelmingly supported by the majority of Americans.

By now, though, it should be clear that the change we need will not come from Washington, even when tragedy strikes Washington. Change will come the only way it ever has come, and that’s from the American people. So the question now is not whether, as Americans, we care in moments of tragedy. Clearly, we care. Our hearts are broken -- again. And we care so deeply about these families. But the question is, do we care enough?

Do we care enough to keep standing up for the country that we know is possible, even if it’s hard, and even if it’s politically uncomfortable? Do we care enough to sustain the passion and the pressure to make our communities safer and our country safer? Do we care enough to do everything we can to spare other families the pain that is felt here today?

Our tears are not enough. Our words and our prayers are not enough. If we really want to honor these 12 men and women, if we really want to be a country where we can go to work, and go to school, and walk our streets free from senseless violence, without so many lives being stolen by a bullet from a gun, then we're going to have to change. We're going to have to change.

On Monday morning, these 12 men and women woke up like they did every day. They left home and they headed off to work. Gerald Read’s wife Cathy said, “See you tonight for dinner.” And John Johnson looked at his wife Judy and said what he always said whenever they parted, “Goodbye beautiful. I love you so much."

“Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.”

What Robert Kennedy understood, what Dr. King understood, what all our great leaders have always understood, is that wisdom does not come from tragedy alone or from some sense of resignation in the fallibility of man. Wisdom comes through the recognition that tragedies such as this are not inevitable, and that we possess the ability to act and to change, and to spare others the pain that drops upon our hearts. So in our grief, let us seek that grace. Let us find that wisdom. And in doing so, let us truly honor these 12 American patriots.

May God hold close the souls taken from us and grant them eternal peace. May He comfort and watch over these families. And may God grant us the strength and the wisdom to keep safe our United States of America.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
September 22, 2013

Readout of the President’s Call with President Kenyatta of Kenya

President Obama called President Kenyatta of Kenya this morning to express condolences to the government and people of Kenya for the terrorist attack carried out by al-Shabaab yesterday on the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi. President Obama reiterated U.S. support for Kenya’s efforts to bring the perpetrators of the attack to justice. The President also reaffirmed the strong and historic partnership between the United States and Kenya as well as our shared commitment to combating terrorism and promoting peace and prosperity in East Africa and around the world.

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
September 22, 2013

Remarks by the President at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Phoenix Awards Dinner

Washington Convention Center
Washington, D.C.

9:09 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, CBC! (Applause.) Thank you so much, everybody. Please, have a seat, have a seat. Michelle and I are happy to be here with such a good-looking crowd. Everybody's cleaning up nice. (Laughter.)

Thank you to Chaka Fattah for not just the great introduction, but more importantly, your leadership, especially on the issues of brain research that have the potential to change so many lives. I want to thank Shuanise Washington and everybody at the CBC Foundation for doing so much to help all our young people achieve their God-given potential. (Applause.)

I see so many friends here tonight. And obviously, these last several weeks have been momentous in a lot of ways. Many of you I had the opportunity to see both hosting at the White House but then at the actual anniversary, the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. And it was a little rainy that day, we didn’t have a nice roof over our heads, but that wasn’t enough to keep all of you away. It wasn't enough to keep me away. It wasn’t enough to keep folks from all across the country from coming out to pay tribute to not only Dr. King, not only John Lewis, not only the well-known heroes of the Civil Rights Movement, but to all the ordinary Americans who made it possible for so many of us to stand here today. (Applause.)

And as I looked out on that crowd, listening to Christine King Farris, or Reverend Lowery, and Congressman Lewis, it was impossible not to appreciate just how much progress we’ve made. It was impossible not to think of all the hearts that have been opened, all the laws that have been changed, all thanks to the quiet heroes who refused to give up or give in.

And as I said on that day, to dismiss the magnitude of that progress, to somehow suggest that little has changed, dishonors the courage and the sacrifice of all those who paid the price to march in those years. (Applause.) But what I also said -- and I think there wasn't a speaker there that day or on Saturday in the other commemoration of the March who didn’t make this point -- we would also dishonor those heroes to suggest that the work of this nation is somehow complete. (Applause.) And that’s something that the CBC has always understood.

It wasn’t until 1969 -- six years after the March on Washington -- that African Americans in Congress formed a caucus. And by then, the Civil Rights Act had been passed. The Voting Rights Act had been signed. The Civil Rights Movement had been successful in many ways.

But the men and women who founded this caucus recognized what Dr. King understood: That equality is not just an abstraction, it's not just a formality. It has to go hand in hand with economic opportunity; that in order to address the enduring legacy of slavery and Jim Crow, we've got to make it easier for every American to earn their piece of the American Dream. (Applause.)

So fast forward to today, 50 years later. We all understand we have to be vigilant against any attempt to roll back our hard-won civil rights –- whether that means tearing down barriers put up by those who seek to restrict the right to vote, or making sure our criminal justice system works equally well for everybody, not just for some. (Applause.)

But at a time when black unemployment remains twice as high as white unemployment, at a time when working Americans of all races have seen their incomes and wages stagnate even as corporate profits and the incomes of folks at the very top are soaring, we've got to pick up the torch of economic justice. We have to make this a country where anybody who works hard can earn their way into the middle class. And until we do, we will not let up and we will not rest, no matter how much resistance we get. We will keep on pressing forward because it's good for America. It's the right thing to do. (Applause.)

We can’t rest until every American knows the security of quality, affordable health care. (Applause.) In just over a week, thanks to the Affordable Care Act and the leadership shown by the CBC and others in Congress -- so many of you fought to pass this law -- thanks to your efforts, 6 in 10 uninsured Americans will finally be able to get covered for less than $100 a month. Everybody is going to be able to get coverage; 6 in 10 will be able to get coverage for less than 100 bucks a month. (Applause.) And by the way, the only reason it's 6 in 10 is because we've got some governors who -- (laughter) -- haven't seen the light yet. If every governor chose to join this project rather than to fight it just to score some political points, that number would be nearly eight in 10. (Applause.)

So just think about that. Knowing you can offer your family the security of health care –- that’s priceless. And now you can do it for less than your cell phone bill. That’s what change looks like. (Applause.)

We won't rest until every American has access to a good education. And we've got to make sure every child gets the best start in life. We want to give every four year old in America access to quality preschool. There’s no better investment. We should be making it right now. We can afford it. It's the right vision. It's the right time. (Applause.)

We should make college more affordable for every family. There’s no better ticket to the middle class in this country. (Applause.) And we’ve already made college –- including HBCUs -– more affordable for millions of students and their families through tax credits and grants and student loans that are going further than ever before. But we've got more to do. And so I've been talking to colleges, telling them they need to do their part by bringing costs down. Because in a 21st century economy, a higher education is not a luxury, it is an economic imperative, and everybody should be able to afford it, not just a few. (Applause.)

We can’t rest until we offer new ladders of opportunity for anyone willing to climb them. When you think about America, when you think about the ideal of this country, a big part of it is the idea of upward mobility, the idea that if you work hard you can get ahead. Well, over the last 30 years, upward mobility in this country has slipped out of reach for too many people. And that’s especially true in communities with large African-American populations.

So we've got to do more to rebuild neighborhoods, help some of the hardest-hit towns in America get back on their feet. We've got to raise the minimum wage. Nobody who works full-time in the wealthiest nation on Earth should have to raise their children in poverty. (Applause.) Those are fights we need to win.

And finally, we can’t rest until all of our children can go to school or walk down the street free from the fear that they will be struck down by a stray bullet. (Applause.) Just two days ago, in my hometown of Chicago, 13 people were shot during a pickup basketball game, including a 3-year-old girl. Tomorrow night I’ll be meeting and mourning with families in this city who now know the same unspeakable grief of families in Newtown, and Aurora, and Tucson, and Chicago, and New Orleans, and all across the country -- people whose loved ones were torn from them without headlines sometimes, or public outcry. But it's happening every single day.

We fought a good fight earlier this year, but we came up short. And that means we've got to get back up and go back at it. Because as long as there are those who fight to make it as easy as possible for dangerous people to get their hands on a gun, then we've got to work as hard as possible for the sake of our children. We've got to be ones who are willing to do more work to make it harder. (Applause.)

These are the tasks before us. These are the challenges we face. It’s a tall order, all of it. I know the odds sometimes seem long. I was taking photos with the CBC folks -- every one of them came up, said, oh, you hang in there -- (laughter) -- you hang in there, man. And I said, don't worry about me. (Laughter.) I am still fired up, because I still see the work that needs to be done. (Applause.) The work didn’t go away.

And part of the reason that I don’t get tired is because I've seen people who are in this audience and what you've done, the odds that you've overcome. I know sometimes the climb seems steep at any given moment. Sometimes it seems like the pettiness of our politics just is making things worse and worse.

You look at it right now -- the other day, House Republicans voted to cut $40 billion in nutritional aid for struggling families at the same time as some of the same folks who took that vote are receiving subsidies themselves. So farm subsidies for folks at the top are okay; help feeding your child is somehow not.

I know the CBC, led by outstanding Chairwoman Marcia Fudge
-- (applause) -- fought hard to protect those programs that keep so many children from going hungry. And now we’re seeing an extreme faction of these folks convincing their leadership to threaten to shut down the government if we don’t shut down the Affordable Care Act. Some of them are actually willing to see the United States default on its obligations and plunge this country back into a painful recession if they can’t deny the basic security of health care to millions of Americans.

Now, I think -- this is an interesting thing to ponder, that your top agenda is making sure 20 million people don’t have health insurance. And you'd be willing to shut down the government and potentially default for the first time in United States history because it bothers you so much that we're actually going to make sure that everybody has affordable health care.

Let me say as clearly as I can: It is not going to happen. We have come too far. (Applause.) We've overcome far darker threats than those. We will not negotiate over whether or not America should keep its word and meet its obligations. We're not going to allow anyone to inflict economic pain on millions of our own people just to make an ideological point. And those folks are going to get some health care in this country -- we've been waiting 50 years for it. (Applause.)

It's time for these folks to stop governing by crisis and start focusing on what really matters: Creating new jobs, growing our economy, expanding opportunity for ourselves, looking after our children, doing something about the violence out there. As we've got all of these battles we have to face, we've got to remember what brought us here in the first place.

And as I was preparing my speech for the anniversary last month, I was doing some research, reading some stories about people who had come to the March 50 years ago, and I came across the story of a young man named Robert Avery. And Robert was 15 years old in 1963, so he and two friends decided to hitchhike from Gadsden, Alabama to the March on Washington. And together, they traveled through some of the most segregated counties in America, sleeping in bus terminals, eating from vending machines -- sometimes not eating. Sometimes they walked. Sometimes passersby, black and white, offered them rides, worried that they might not make it on their own.

Seven hundred miles later, the boys from Gadsden reached their destination. They marched with Dr. King. And it left a mark on them. And afterwards, Robert went back home to Alabama, and he’s now spent the last three decades on the Gadsden city council. And Robert Avery is here tonight. (Applause.)

And in some ways, Robert's story is duplicated all across this room. Dr. King talked about how we're inextricably linked. Robert Kennedy talked about how if you toss a pebble in a pond, the ripples emanate from that center. And the same is true in our own lives -- how those ripples of hope, we don’t know sometimes how they're going to have an impact on folks later, but all those tiny ripples build up and end up changing the world.

So when I think about Robert Avery in the city council -- and I'm sure he's got his struggles and frustrations just like a president of the United States has struggles and frustrations sometimes -- but he's still coming to work every day. He's still working to bring about change every single day, just like our Attorney General comes to work every single day. (Applause.) Just like John Lewis every single day gets up. It doesn’t matter whether he's in the majority or the minority -- he's going to speak the truth. He's going to tell everybody what he believes.

And those stories should remind us what brought us here, why did we seek a life of public service, why did we get involved. It wasn't just to come to a gala. (Laughter.) I mean, it's nice, everybody looks nice. (Laughter.) But it wasn't to cash in after service. We may not have hitchhiked across the country, but everybody, at some point, we felt that same tug, that same voice in our heads telling us, stand up, speak out, try to make a difference, remember what you know to be true, what you know to be just, what you know to be fair, and be willing to fight for it, and don't be timid about it. (Applause.) And maybe sometimes it's not going to work out right away, but if you stay at it again and again and again and you do not waver, eventually we make a difference. That’s important.

Because while all our challenges are different from the ones faced by previous generations, we're going to need the same courage of a Robert Avery, or a Bayard Rustin, or a Joyce Ladner -- all those marchers from 50 years ago -- the same desire to get involved, the same courage to make our voices heard, to stand up for -- whether it's quality health care or good education or our children's safety or equal opportunity.

We're going to have to keep marching. And I'm proud that I'll be, at least for the next three and a half years here in Washington and then a whole lot of years after that, I'm going to be marching with you.

God bless you, everybody. Thank you. God bless America.

Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Phoenix Awards Dinner

September 21, 2013 | 19:24 | Public Domain

President Obama and the First Lady deliver remarks at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Phoenix Awards Dinner.

Download mp4 (715MB) | mp3 (47MB)

Read the Transcript

Remarks by the President at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Phoenix Awards Dinner

Washington Convention Center Washington, D.C. 9:09 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Hello, CBC! (Applause.) Thank you so much, everybody. Please, have a seat, have a seat. Michelle and I are happy to be here with such a good-looking crowd. Everybody's cleaning up nice. (Laughter.) Thank you to Chaka Fattah for not just the great introduction, but more importantly, your leadership, especially on the issues of brain research that have the potential to change so many lives. I want to thank Shuanise Washington and everybody at the CBC Foundation for doing so much to help all our young people achieve their God-given potential. (Applause.) I see so many friends here tonight. And obviously, these last several weeks have been momentous in a lot of ways. Many of you I had the opportunity to see both hosting at the White House but then at the actual anniversary, the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. And it was a little rainy that day, we didn’t have a nice roof over our heads, but that wasn’t enough to keep all of you away. It wasn't enough to keep me away. It wasn’t enough to keep folks from all across the country from coming out to pay tribute to not only Dr. King, not only John Lewis, not only the well-known heroes of the Civil Rights Movement, but to all the ordinary Americans who made it possible for so many of us to stand here today. (Applause.) And as I looked out on that crowd, listening to Christine King Farris, or Reverend Lowery, and Congressman Lewis, it was impossible not to appreciate just how much progress we’ve made. It was impossible not to think of all the hearts that have been opened, all the laws that have been changed, all thanks to the quiet heroes who refused to give up or give in. And as I said on that day, to dismiss the magnitude of that progress, to somehow suggest that little has changed, dishonors the courage and the sacrifice of all those who paid the price to march in those years. (Applause.) But what I also said -- and I think there wasn't a speaker there that day or on Saturday in the other commemoration of the March who didn’t make this point -- we would also dishonor those heroes to suggest that the work of this nation is somehow complete. (Applause.) And that’s something that the CBC has always understood. It wasn’t until 1969 -- six years after the March on Washington -- that African Americans in Congress formed a caucus. And by then, the Civil Rights Act had been passed. The Voting Rights Act had been signed. The Civil Rights Movement had been successful in many ways. But the men and women who founded this caucus recognized what Dr. King understood: That equality is not just an abstraction, it's not just a formality. It has to go hand in hand with economic opportunity; that in order to address the enduring legacy of slavery and Jim Crow, we've got to make it easier for every American to earn their piece of the American Dream. (Applause.) So fast forward to today, 50 years later. We all understand we have to be vigilant against any attempt to roll back our hard-won civil rights –- whether that means tearing down barriers put up by those who seek to restrict the right to vote, or making sure our criminal justice system works equally well for everybody, not just for some. (Applause.) But at a time when black unemployment remains twice as high as white unemployment, at a time when working Americans of all races have seen their incomes and wages stagnate even as corporate profits and the incomes of folks at the very top are soaring, we've got to pick up the torch of economic justice. We have to make this a country where anybody who works hard can earn their way into the middle class. And until we do, we will not let up and we will not rest, no matter how much resistance we get. We will keep on pressing forward because it's good for America. It's the right thing to do. (Applause.) We can’t rest until every American knows the security of quality, affordable health care. (Applause.) In just over a week, thanks to the Affordable Care Act and the leadership shown by the CBC and others in Congress -- so many of you fought to pass this law -- thanks to your efforts, 6 in 10 uninsured Americans will finally be able to get covered for less than $100 a month. Everybody is going to be able to get coverage; 6 in 10 will be able to get coverage for less than 100 bucks a month. (Applause.) And by the way, the only reason it's 6 in 10 is because we've got some governors who -- (laughter) -- haven't seen the light yet. If every governor chose to join this project rather than to fight it just to score some political points, that number would be nearly eight in 10. (Applause.) So just think about that. Knowing you can offer your family the security of health care –- that’s priceless. And now you can do it for less than your cell phone bill. That’s what change looks like. (Applause.) We won't rest until every American has access to a good education. And we've got to make sure every child gets the best start in life. We want to give every four year old in America access to quality preschool. There’s no better investment. We should be making it right now. We can afford it. It's the right vision. It's the right time. (Applause.) We should make college more affordable for every family. There’s no better ticket to the middle class in this country. (Applause.) And we’ve already made college –- including HBCUs -– more affordable for millions of students and their families through tax credits and grants and student loans that are going further than ever before. But we've got more to do. And so I've been talking to colleges, telling them they need to do their part by bringing costs down. Because in a 21st century economy, a higher education is not a luxury, it is an economic imperative, and everybody should be able to afford it, not just a few. (Applause.) We can’t rest until we offer new ladders of opportunity for anyone willing to climb them. When you think about America, when you think about the ideal of this country, a big part of it is the idea of upward mobility, the idea that if you work hard you can get ahead. Well, over the last 30 years, upward mobility in this country has slipped out of reach for too many people. And that’s especially true in communities with large African-American populations. So we've got to do more to rebuild neighborhoods, help some of the hardest-hit towns in America get back on their feet. We've got to raise the minimum wage. Nobody who works full-time in the wealthiest nation on Earth should have to raise their children in poverty. (Applause.) Those are fights we need to win. And finally, we can’t rest until all of our children can go to school or walk down the street free from the fear that they will be struck down by a stray bullet. (Applause.) Just two days ago, in my hometown of Chicago, 13 people were shot during a pickup basketball game, including a 3-year-old girl. Tomorrow night I’ll be meeting and mourning with families in this city who now know the same unspeakable grief of families in Newtown, and Aurora, and Tucson, and Chicago, and New Orleans, and all across the country -- people whose loved ones were torn from them without headlines sometimes, or public outcry. But it's happening every single day. We fought a good fight earlier this year, but we came up short. And that means we've got to get back up and go back at it. Because as long as there are those who fight to make it as easy as possible for dangerous people to get their hands on a gun, then we've got to work as hard as possible for the sake of our children. We've got to be ones who are willing to do more work to make it harder. (Applause.) These are the tasks before us. These are the challenges we face. It’s a tall order, all of it. I know the odds sometimes seem long. I was taking photos with the CBC folks -- every one of them came up, said, oh, you hang in there -- (laughter) -- you hang in there, man. And I said, don't worry about me. (Laughter.) I am still fired up, because I still see the work that needs to be done. (Applause.) The work didn’t go away. And part of the reason that I don’t get tired is because I've seen people who are in this audience and what you've done, the odds that you've overcome. I know sometimes the climb seems steep at any given moment. Sometimes it seems like the pettiness of our politics just is making things worse and worse. You look at it right now -- the other day, House Republicans voted to cut $40 billion in nutritional aid for struggling families at the same time as some of the same folks who took that vote are receiving subsidies themselves. So farm subsidies for folks at the top are okay; help feeding your child is somehow not. I know the CBC, led by outstanding Chairwoman Marcia Fudge -- (applause) -- fought hard to protect those programs that keep so many children from going hungry. And now we’re seeing an extreme faction of these folks convincing their leadership to threaten to shut down the government if we don’t shut down the Affordable Care Act. Some of them are actually willing to see the United States default on its obligations and plunge this country back into a painful recession if they can’t deny the basic security of health care to millions of Americans. Now, I think -- this is an interesting thing to ponder, that your top agenda is making sure 20 million people don’t have health insurance. And you'd be willing to shut down the government and potentially default for the first time in United States history because it bothers you so much that we're actually going to make sure that everybody has affordable health care. Let me say as clearly as I can: It is not going to happen. We have come too far. (Applause.) We've overcome far darker threats than those. We will not negotiate over whether or not America should keep its word and meet its obligations. We're not going to allow anyone to inflict economic pain on millions of our own people just to make an ideological point. And those folks are going to get some health care in this country -- we've been waiting 50 years for it. (Applause.) It's time for these folks to stop governing by crisis and start focusing on what really matters: Creating new jobs, growing our economy, expanding opportunity for ourselves, looking after our children, doing something about the violence out there. As we've got all of these battles we have to face, we've got to remember what brought us here in the first place. And as I was preparing my speech for the anniversary last month, I was doing some research, reading some stories about people who had come to the March 50 years ago, and I came across the story of a young man named Robert Avery. And Robert was 15 years old in 1963, so he and two friends decided to hitchhike from Gadsden, Alabama to the March on Washington. And together, they traveled through some of the most segregated counties in America, sleeping in bus terminals, eating from vending machines -- sometimes not eating. Sometimes they walked. Sometimes passersby, black and white, offered them rides, worried that they might not make it on their own. Seven hundred miles later, the boys from Gadsden reached their destination. They marched with Dr. King. And it left a mark on them. And afterwards, Robert went back home to Alabama, and he’s now spent the last three decades on the Gadsden city council. And Robert Avery is here tonight. (Applause.) And in some ways, Robert's story is duplicated all across this room. Dr. King talked about how we're inextricably linked. Robert Kennedy talked about how if you toss a pebble in a pond, the ripples emanate from that center. And the same is true in our own lives -- how those ripples of hope, we don’t know sometimes how they're going to have an impact on folks later, but all those tiny ripples build up and end up changing the world. So when I think about Robert Avery in the city council -- and I'm sure he's got his struggles and frustrations just like a president of the United States has struggles and frustrations sometimes -- but he's still coming to work every day. He's still working to bring about change every single day, just like our Attorney General comes to work every single day. (Applause.) Just like John Lewis every single day gets up. It doesn’t matter whether he's in the majority or the minority -- he's going to speak the truth. He's going to tell everybody what he believes. And those stories should remind us what brought us here, why did we seek a life of public service, why did we get involved. It wasn't just to come to a gala. (Laughter.) I mean, it's nice, everybody looks nice. (Laughter.) But it wasn't to cash in after service. We may not have hitchhiked across the country, but everybody, at some point, we felt that same tug, that same voice in our heads telling us, stand up, speak out, try to make a difference, remember what you know to be true, what you know to be just, what you know to be fair, and be willing to fight for it, and don't be timid about it. (Applause.) And maybe sometimes it's not going to work out right away, but if you stay at it again and again and again and you do not waver, eventually we make a difference. That’s important. Because while all our challenges are different from the ones faced by previous generations, we're going to need the same courage of a Robert Avery, or a Bayard Rustin, or a Joyce Ladner -- all those marchers from 50 years ago -- the same desire to get involved, the same courage to make our voices heard, to stand up for -- whether it's quality health care or good education or our children's safety or equal opportunity. We're going to have to keep marching. And I'm proud that I'll be, at least for the next three and a half years here in Washington and then a whole lot of years after that, I'm going to be marching with you. God bless you, everybody. Thank you. God bless America.

Close Transcript

Stand for Civil Society! President Obama to Host Forum at UN General Assembly

Gayle Smith, Steve Pomper, Shannon Green
September 21, 2013
06:20 PM EDT

Tune in on Monday from 3 to 4 p.m. at whitehouse.gov/live or youtube.com/ObamaWhiteHouse as President Obama hosts a High Level Event on Supporting Civil Society in New York on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly.

Civil society representatives play a critical role -- voicing the views of citizens, holding governments accountable, and forging solutions that improve people’s lives. For example, in Brazil, civil society recruited a thousand volunteer accountants to participate in a crowd-sourced review of the federal budget. Their work helped eliminate millions of dollars in waste. When many governments turned a blind eye, it was groups of citizen activists who organized themselves to sound the alarm and demand dignity who first generated the momentum to combat HIV-AIDS. Today, civil society groups work for and with small farmers, champion the cause of girls’ education, and run relief supplies into the most dangerous corners of Syria.

Related Topics: Global Development, Foreign Policy, New York

Weekly Address: Congress Must Act Now to Pass a Budget and Raise the Debt Ceiling

Matt Compton
Matt Compton
September 21, 2013
05:30 AM EDT

In his weekly address, President Obama says the economy is making progress five years after the worst recession since the Great Depression, but to avoid another crisis, Congress must meet two deadlines in the coming weeks: pass a budget by the end of the month to keep the government open, and raise the debt ceiling so America can pay its bills. Congress should vote to do these now, so that we can keep creating new jobs and expanding opportunity for the middle class.

Transcript | Download mp4 | Download mp3

Related Topics: Economy

Weekly Address: Congress Must Act Now to Pass a Budget and Raise the Debt Ceiling

September 21, 2013 | 5:05 | Public Domain

In his weekly address, President Obama says the economy is making progress five years after the worst recession since the Great Depression, but to avoid another crisis, Congress must meet two deadlines in the coming weeks: pass a budget by the end of the month to keep the government open, and raise the debt ceiling so America can pay its bills. Congress should vote to do these now, so that we can keep creating new jobs and expanding opportunity for the middle class.

Download mp4 (185MB) | mp3 (12MB)

Read the Transcript

WEEKLY ADDRESS: Congress Must Act Now to Pass a Budget and Raise the Debt Ceiling

WASHINGTON, DC— In his weekly address, President Obama said that the economy is making progress five years after the worst recession since the Great Depression, but to avoid another crisis, Congress must meet two deadlines in the coming weeks: pass a budget by the end of the month to keep the government open, and raise the debt ceiling so America can pay its bills. Congress should vote to do these now, so that we can keep creating new jobs and expanding opportunity for the middle class.

The audio of the address and video of the address will be available online at www.whitehouse.gov at 6:00 a.m. ET, September 21, 2013.

Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
September 21, 2013

Hi, everybody.  It was five years ago this week that a financial crisis on Wall Street spread to Main Street, and very nearly turned a recession into a depression. 

In a matter of months, millions of Americans were robbed of their jobs, their homes, their savings – after a decade in which they’d already been working harder and harder to just get by. 

It was a crisis from which we’re still trying to recover.  But thanks to the grit and determination of the American people, we are steadily recovering. 

Over the past three and a half years, our businesses have created seven and a half million new jobs. Our housing market is healing. We’ve become less dependent on foreign oil.  Health care costs are growing at the slowest rate in 50 years.  And in just over a week, millions of Americans without health care will be able to get covered for less than $100 a month. 

So our economy is gaining traction. And we’re finally tackling threats to middle-class prosperity that Washington neglected for far too long.  But as any middle-class family listening right now knows, we’ve got a long way to go to get to where we need to be.  And after five years spent digging out of crisis, the last thing we need is for Washington to manufacture another.

But that’s what will happen in the next few weeks if Congress doesn’t meet two deadlines.

First: the most basic Constitutional duty Congress has is passing a budget.  But if it doesn’t pass one before September 30th – a week from Monday – the government will shut down.  And so will many services the American people expect.  Military personnel, including those deployed overseas, won’t get their paychecks on time.  Federal loans for rural communities, small business owners, and new home buyers will be frozen.  Critical research into life-saving discoveries and renewable energy will be immediately halted. All of this will be prevented if Congress just passes a budget.

Second: Congress must authorize the Treasury to pay America’s bills.  This is done with a simple, usually routine vote to raise what’s called the debt ceiling.  Since the 1950s, Congress has always passed it, and every President has signed it – Democrats and Republicans, including President Reagan.  And if this Congress doesn’t do it within the next few weeks, the United States will default on its obligations and put our entire economy at risk. 

This is important: raising the debt ceiling is not the same as approving more spending.  It lets us pay for what Congress already spent.  It doesn’t cost a dime, or add a penny to our deficit.  In fact, right now, our deficits are already falling at the fastest rate since the end of World War II.  And by the end of this year, we’ll have cut our deficits by more than half since I took office. 

But reducing our deficits and debt isn’t even what the current standoff in Congress is about. 

Now, Democrats and some reasonable Republicans are willing to raise the debt ceiling and pass a sensible budget – one that cuts spending on what we don’t need so we can invest in what we do.  And I want to work with those Democrats and Republicans on a better bargain for the middle class.

But there’s also a faction on the far right of the Republican party who’ve convinced their leadership to threaten a government shutdown if they can’t shut off the Affordable Care Act.  Some are actually willing to plunge America into default if they can’t defund the Affordable Care Act. 

Think about that.  They’d actually plunge this country back into recession – all to deny the basic security of health care to millions of Americans.

Well, that’s not happening.  And they know it’s not happening.

The United States of America is not a deadbeat nation.  We are a compassionate nation.  We are the world’s bedrock investment.  And doing anything to threaten that is the height of irresponsibility.  That’s why I will not negotiate over the full faith and credit of the United States.  I will not allow anyone to harm this country’s reputation, or threaten to inflict economic pain on millions of our own people, just to make an ideological point.

So, we are running out of time to fix this.  But we could fix it tomorrow.  Both houses of Congress can take a simple vote to pay our bills on time, then work together to pass a budget on time.

Then we can declare an end to governing by crisis and govern responsibly, by putting our focus back where it should always be – on creating new jobs, growing our economy, and expanding opportunity not just for ourselves, but for future generations.

Thank you.

###

 

Close Transcript

President Obama Speaks on the Economy

September 20, 2013 | 35:33 | Public Domain

At the Ford Kansas City Stamping Plant in Liberty, MO, President Obama highlights the progress we have made since the beginning of the financial crisis five years ago and the work that lies ahead to continue strengthening our economy and deliver a better bargain for the middle class.

Download mp4 (1341MB) | mp3 (86MB)

Read the Transcript

Remarks by the President on the Economy -- Kansas City, MO

Ford Stamping Plant
Liberty, Missouri 

12:53 P.M. CDT
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Missouri!  (Applause.)  Everybody give Jordan a big round of applause.  (Applause.) 
 
I just want to say about Jordan -- third generation Ford employee.  She’s going to school during the week, works at the plant on the weekends, getting a degree in business management -- and will be taking Alan’s place running the company in about -- (laughter) -- I don't know -- oh, it may take a few years.  But we're so proud of her.  And congratulations for everything that she represents.  When you see young people like that who are working so hard, making something of themselves, and are rooted in a community like this one, it really makes you proud. 
 
Before I get started, there are a couple other folks that I want to introduce that are working for you day in, day out.  First of all, your outstanding Governor, Jay Nixon, and his wife Georganne.  (Applause.)  The plant might not have been here had it not been for the great work of Jay.  (Applause.)  So that's important to know. 
 
We've got my outstanding Secretary of Health and Human Services, former governor of Kansas -- Kathleen Sebelius is in the house.  (Applause.)  She basically just came because her son and his fiancé are here.  (Laughter.)  But we're glad she’s here. 
One of my greatest friends and just a tough, smart, dedicated public servant -- Senator Claire McCaskill is here.  Give Claire a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  Your former mayor, preacher, can do everything -- (applause) -- Emanuel Cleaver is in the house.  (Applause.)  Current Mayor of Kansas City, Sly James, is here.  (Applause.)  Mayor of Kansas City, Kansas, Mark Holland is here.  (Applause.)  And the Mayor right here in Liberty, Lyndell Brenton, and his lovely wife Roxanne are here.  Where are they?  (Applause.)  There they are. 
 
Now, when I said I was flying into Kansas City to see an incredible success story in action, I did not think I was going to be talking about the Chiefs.  (Applause.)
 
AUDIENCE:  Woo, woo, woo!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Before you get carried away, I just want to point out that the Bears are 2-0.  (Laughter.) 
 
AUDIENCE:  Booo --
 
THE PRESIDENT:  I'm just saying.  (Laughter.)  And we're actually able to pass more than 10 yards. 
 
AUDIENCE:  Ooooh -- (laughter.)
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Just a little trash-talking.  We'll see how we're looking at the end of the season. 
 
I want to give special thanks to Ford’s CEO.  This is one of our outstanding business leaders, has helped to lead Ford to be the number-one automaker in the United States of America -- Alan Mulally is here.  And we're very proud of him.  (Applause.) 
 
It doesn’t matter if you’ve got an outstanding CEO if you don't have outstanding workers.  And the President of Local 249, Jeff Wright, is here.  (Applause.)  Your launch manager, Todd Jaranowski, I really like because he is a Bears and a Sox fan.  Come on, give Todd a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  And I very much appreciate him and some of the other folks showing me around this new stamping plant right here. 
 
Now, you may not be aware of this, but you and I have a little history together.  I may roll in a Cadillac these days -- (laughter) -- no, no, but it’s not my car.  I’m just -- I’m renting, just like my house.  (Laughter.)  The lease runs out in about three and a half years.  (Laughter.)  But before that, I was driving around in a 2008 Ford Escape.  (Applause.)  It came right off these assembly lines.  Some of you might have been involved in building it.  It was a great car.  Problem is I got Secret Service about a month after I bought the car, so I’ve only got 2,000 miles on it.  (Laughter.)  It is in mint condition. 
 
So I want to say thank you for building my car.  But I also came here to talk about what’s got to be the number-one priority in this country, and that is growing our economy, creating new jobs, and making sure that everyone who works hard in America has a chance to get ahead.  It’s our number-one priority.  (Applause.) 
 
Now, some of you remember, five years ago a financial crisis hit Wall Street.  It then turned into a devastating recession on Main Street and it came close to being another Great Depression. By the time I took office, the economy was shrinking at a rate of 8 percent a year -- unprecedented.  Our businesses were shedding 800,000 jobs a month.  And you had this perfect storm, and millions of Americans lost their jobs, their homes, their savings they had been working a lifetime to get. 
 
But what the recession also showed was the fact that for decades, middle-class families had been working harder and harder just to get by, hadn’t seen their incomes go up, hadn’t seen their wages go up.  Manufacturing was moving overseas.  And so what built our middle class had been buckling, had been weakening.
 
And I think if you ask most Americans when the economic crisis hit, they might not date it to Lehman Brothers collapsing. They’d talk to you about when they got a pink slip that they didn’t expect, or the bank took away their home, or they didn’t have health insurance, or maybe they were told the plant was shutting down and the assembly line was going quiet.  Those were tough times.
 
Five years ago, plants like this one were closing their doors.  And the day I stepped into the Oval Office, the American auto industry -- which is the heartbeat of American manufacturing -- (applause) -- heartbeat of manufacturing -- the auto industry was flat-lining. 
 
Ford was standing on its own two feet, had made some smart decisions.  But Alan will tell you, if GM and Chrysler had gone down, suppliers would go down; dealers would have gone down.  And all of that would have had a profound impact on Ford. 
 
I refused to let that happen.  So we worked with labor, we worked with management.  Everybody had to make some sacrifices. Everybody put some skin in the game.  We bet on the American worker.  We bet on you.  And today, that bet has paid off because the American auto industry has come roaring back.  (Applause.) 
 
The Big Three are all profitable, hiring new workers.  You’re not just building more cars –-- you’re building better cars, better trucks.  Look at what’s going on right here at the plant.  The new F-150 is built tougher than ever, more fuel-efficient than ever.  (Applause.)  You’ve got trouble making them fast enough.  You had to bring on a third shift of 900 workers just to keep up with demand.  (Applause.) 
 
And because Ford invested $1.1 billion in this plant, pretty soon, 1,100 more new workers will be joining you on these assembly lines in good, union jobs, building the Ford Transit.  (Applause.)
 
So more jobs building cars -- that means more jobs for suppliers.  It means more jobs for distributors.  It means more jobs for the folks who own the restaurant here in town, or the bar, depending on -- (laughter.)  It has an impact on your tax base.  It has an impact on the teacher who teaches your kids, the first responders who keeps you safe.  All those people are impacted by your success. 
 
And that fundamental idea that when everybody is doing -- when some of us are doing well, it’s okay, but when everybody has got a stake, that’s when things really start rolling -- that’s at the heart of every decision I’ve made as President.  Because when the middle class does better, we all do better.  Shareholders do better.  CEOs do better.  Workers do better.  Everybody does better.  (Applause.)
 
So in the depths of the crisis, we passed a Recovery Act to make sure that we put a floor below which this country couldn’t fall.  We put money in folks’ pockets with tax breaks.  We made sure that people were rebuilding roads and bridges, keeping things going, helping to keep teachers and firefighters and cops on the job.  Today, three and a half years later, our businesses have added 7.5 million new jobs -- 7.5 million new jobs.  (Applause.)
 
We helped responsible homeowners stay in their homes -- won one of the biggest settlements in history on behalf of people who had wrongfully lost their homes because banks hadn’t done things right.  Today, our housing market is healing. 
 
We took on a tax code that was too skewed towards the wealthy.  We gave tax cuts, locked them in for 98 percent of families.  We asked those in the top 2 percent to pay a little bit more.  Today, middle-class tax rates are near their all-time low.  The deficits are falling at the fastest rate since World War II.  That’s what we did.  (Applause.)
 
We invested in new American technologies to end our addiction to foreign oil.  Today we're generating more renewable energy than ever before, produce more natural gas than anybody in the world.  We're about to produce more of our own oil than we buy from overseas for the first time in nearly 20 years.  (Applause.)
 
And we took on a broken health care system.  (Applause.)  And in less than two weeks, millions of Americans who’ve been locked out of the insurance market are finally going to be able to get quality health care.  (Applause.)  Out of every 10 Americans who are currently uninsured, six out of those 10 are going to be able to get covered for less than $100 a month -- less than your cell phone bill.  (Applause.)  
 
So we've been working, just like you've been working, over these last four and a half years.  We've cleared away the rubble from the crisis.  We've started to lay a new foundation for economic growth, a new foundation for prosperity.  And everybody here, we all had to make some adjustments.  I'm assuming some folks had to tighten their belts, get rid of some debt, focus on things that really matter, cut out some things you didn't need. 
 
We’ve shown the world that the American people are tough, they're resilient.  The only thing built tougher than Ford trucks are American workers, the American people.  (Applause.)  That's what we've shown.
 
All right, so that's the good news.  But any working person, any middle-class family, they'll tell you we're not yet where we need to be.  The economy is growing, but it needs to grow faster. We're producing jobs, but we need to create more jobs and more good-paying jobs.  We've got to make sure that we're rebuilding an economy that doesn't work from the top down, works from the middle out; that gives ladder of opportunity to folks who still don't have a job.  (Applause.) 
 
We've got to make sure that workers are sharing in growth and productivity.  Right now, even though businesses are creating jobs, the top 1 percent took home 20 percent of the nation’s income last year.  The average worker barely saw a raise. 
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  That's not fair.
 
THE PRESIDENT:  It ain't fair.  It ain't right. 
 
So in many ways, the trends that have taken hold over the past few years of a winner-take-all economy, a few folks at the top doing better and better and better, everybody else treading water or losing ground -- that's not a model that we want.  And it's been made worse by this recession. 
 
So what I've been doing over the last couple months, I've been visiting towns like Liberty, traveling all across the country talking about what we need to do to reverse those trends, make sure we've got a better bargain for middle-class America: Good jobs that pay good wages; an education that prepares our kids for a global economy; a home that is secure; affordable health care that is there when you get sick; a secure retirement even if you’re not rich -- all those things that make for a secure life so you can raise your kids and have confidence that they're going to do better than you did.  That’s what I’m focused on.  That's what you’re focused on.  That’s what Congress should be focused on.  (Applause.)
 
Which brings me to the current situation.  (Laughter.)   Let me talk a little bit about what’s going on back in Washington.  Right now, Congress is in the middle of a budget debate.  Now, there’s nothing new about that.  Every year Congress has got to pass a budget, and it’s always a contentious process.  But right now our recovery still needs to build more strength, so it’s important that we get it right in Washington, because even though our success as a country is ultimately going to depend on great businesses like Ford, hard workers like you, government has to do some things. 
 
Congress has to pass a budget to make sure our education system works, and prepares our kids and our workers for the global economy. If we’re going to rebuild our roads, our bridges, our airports, our ports, government has got to be involved in that.  If we’re going to have scientific research and development -- I was looking at all these newfangled pieces of equipment here -- some of the things that allowed the efficiencies of this plant originated in laboratories and scientists doing work on the government’s dime.  That's how we always maintain our cutting-edge.  These are things that help us grow.  These are things that help the private sector succeed.
 
So when people tell you somehow government is irrelevant.  No, everything we do has some connection to making sure that we, collectively, as a democracy, are making some smart investments in the future.  (Applause.)  That's how it’s always been.
 
So what Congress is doing right now is important.  Unfortunately, right now the debate that going on in Congress is not meeting the test of helping middle-class families.  It’s just they're not focused on you.  They're focused on politics.  They're focused on trying to mess with me.  (Laughter.)  They're not focused on you.  They're not focused on you.  (Applause.)
 
  So there are two deadlines coming up that Congress has to meet.  And I want folks to pay attention to this.  Congress has to meet two deadlines, and they're coming up pretty quick. 
 
The first deadline:  The most basic constitutional duty Congress has is to pass a budget.  That’s Congress 101.  If they don’t pass a budget by September 30th -- what’s the date today?  The 20th.  All right, so if Congress doesn't pass a budget in 10 days, a week from Monday, the government will shut down.  A government shutdown shuts down many services that the American people rely on. 
 
This is not abstract.  Hundreds of thousands of Americans will not be allowed to go to work.  Our men and women in uniform, even those deployed overseas, won’t get their paychecks on time. Small businesses, they won’t get their loans processed. 
 
Now, none of that has to happen, as long as Congress passes a budget.  Number one -- passing a budget. 
 
Number two:  In the next few weeks, Congress must vote to allow the Department of the Treasury to pay America’s bills.  Our Treasury Department, that’s where we take in money and we pay it, right?  Real simple.  This is usually done with a simple, routine vote to raise what’s called the debt ceiling.  If you don’t raise the debt ceiling, America can't pay its bills. 
 
Since the 1950s, Congress has always passed it.  Every President has signed it -- Democrats, Republicans, Ronald Reagan -- (laughter) -- Lyndon Johnson -- it doesn’t matter.  This is just a routine thing that you've got to do so that Treasury can pay the bills.  If Congress doesn’t pass this debt ceiling in the next few weeks, the United States will default on its obligations.  That’s never happened in American history.  Basically, America becomes a deadbeat. 
 
If the world sees America not paying its bills, then they will not buy debt, Treasury bills from the United States, or if they do, they'll do it at much higher interest rates.  That means somebody wanting to buy an F-150 will have to pay much higher interest rates eventually, which means you will sell less cars.  That’s just one example of how profoundly destructive this could be.  This is not some abstract thing.
 
And this is important:  Raising the debt ceiling is not the same as approving more spending, any more than making your monthly payment adds to the total cost of your truck.  You don’t say, well, I'm not going to pay my bill, my note for my truck because I'm going to save money.  No, you're not saving money.  You already bought the truck, right?  (Laughter.)  You have to pay the bills.  You're not saving money.  You might have decided at the front end not to buy the truck, but once you've bought the truck you can't say you're saving money just by not paying the bills.  Does that make sense?  (Applause.) 
 
So raising the debt ceiling, it doesn’t cost a dime.  It does not add a penny to our deficits.  All it says is you've got to pay for what Congress already said we're spending money on.  If you don’t do it, we could have another financial crisis. 
 
And the fact is -- I know a lot of people are concerned about deficits -- our deficits are now coming down so quickly that by the end of this year we will have cut them in more than half since I took office.  (Applause.)  Cut deficits in half. 
 
So I just want to break this down one more time.  I go into a Ford dealership.  I drive off with a new F-150.  Unless I paid cash, I've still got to pay for it each month.  I can’t just say, you know, I’m not going to make my car payment this month.  That’s what Congress is threatening to do -- just saying, I'm not going to pay the bills. 
 
There are consequences to that.  The bill collector starts calling you, right?  Your credit goes south, and you've got all kinds of problems.  Same is true for a country. 
 
So if we don’t raise the debt ceiling, we're dead beats.  "If we fail to increase the debt limit, we would send our economy into a tailspin” -- that’s a quote, by the way, what I just said. You know who said it?  The Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner.
 
AUDIENCE:  Ooooh --
 
THE PRESIDENT:  The Republican Speaker has said if we don't pay our bills, we'll have an economic tailspin.  So this is not just my opinion.  This is everybody's opinion.
 
All right. Now, why haven't we already gotten it done if it's such a simple thing?  Everybody is nodding, they're all like, yes, why didn't we already get this done?  Democrats and some reasonable Republicans in Congress are willing to raise the debt ceiling and pass a sensible budget.  And I want to work with Democrats and Republicans to do just that.  Claire McCaskill, she’s ready to do it.  (Applause.)  Congressman Cleaver, he’s ready to do it.  (Applause.)  And if we just pass the budget, raise the debt ceiling, we can get back to focusing on growing this economy and creating jobs, educating our kids -- all the things we got to do. 
 
Unfortunately, there is a faction on the far right of the Republican Party right now -- it's not everybody, but it's a pretty big faction -- who convinced their leadership to threaten a government shutdown and potentially threaten to not raise the debt ceiling if they can't shut off the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. 
 
Now, think about this.  They're not talking now about spending cuts.  They're not talking about entitlement reform.  They're not talking about any of that.  Now they're talking about something that has nothing to do with the budget -- right?  They're actually willing to plunge America into default if we can't defund the Affordable Care Act. 
 
Now, let’s put this in perspective.  The Affordable Care Act has been in law for three and a half years.  It passed both houses of Congress.  The Supreme Court ruled it constitutional.  It was an issue in last year’s elections.  The guy who was running against me said he was going to repeal it.  We won.  (Applause.)  So the voters were pretty clear on this. 
 
And then, Republicans in Congress, they've tried to repeal or sabotage this -- more than 40 times they've had these repeal votes.  Every time they fail.  This law that is in place is already providing people benefits.  It's not holding back economic growth; it's helping millions of Americans, including some of you or your family members that you may not be aware of. 
You can keep your kid on your own health insurance plan -- somebody is raising their hand right here -- until they're 26, because of the Affordable Care Act -- (applause) -- which is one of the main reasons why the number of uninsured among young people has gone down over the last three years. 
 
Seniors, they are benefitting right now from discounted prescription drug costs because of the law.  (Applause.)  If you’ve got health insurance, insurance companies can't impose lifetime limits on you.  They can't use the fine print not to pay if you get sick.  Insurance companies have to spend 80 percent of your premiums on your health care, not on administrative costs and CEO bonuses.  (Applause.)  Those are happening right now. 
And health care costs have actually increased at the slowest rate in 50 years.  So this is helping to reduce health care costs across the economy.  (Applause.)
 
Finally, starting on October 1st, it’s going to help millions of more people.  People who don't have health insurance right now, what it’s going to do is we’re going to set up pools so that just like a worker at Ford can benefit from good insurance rates because you got a lot of workers in one big pool, now people who don't have the good fortune to work at a big company like Ford, they can also get a good deal.  (Applause.)
 
Now, that's what -- so that's what they're fighting for.  They want to repeal all that, and they're saying, we’re going to hold our breath, and if you don't repeal it -- which I’ve already said I’m not going to do -- we’re going to send the economy into default.  They will send our economy into a tailspin, just like Speaker Boehner said.  They want to threaten default just to make sure that tens of millions of Americans continue not to have health care. 
 
Defunding Affordable Health Care would rob 25 million Americans of the chance to get health care coverage.  It would cut basic health care services for tens of millions of seniors on Medicare already.  That's what House Republicans are fighting for. 
 
And now they’ve gone beyond just holding Congress hostage, they're holding the whole country hostage.  One Republican senator called shutting down the government over the Affordable Care Act “the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard.”  I agree with him.  (Applause.)  But that's the strategy they're pursuing.  House of Representatives just voted on it today. 
 
Now, I tell you what, Missouri.  The American people have worked too hard for too long, digging out of a real crisis just to let politicians in Washington cause another crisis.  (Applause.)
 
This is the United States of America.  We’re not some banana republic.  This is not a deadbeat nation.  We don’t run out on our tab.  We’re the world’s bedrock investment.  The entire world looks to us to make sure the world economy is stable.  We can't just not pay our bills.  And even threatening something like that is the height of irresponsibility.
 
So what I’ve said is I will not negotiate over the full faith and credit of the United States.  (Applause.)  I am not going to allow anyone to harm this country’s reputation.  I’m not going to allow them to inflict economic pain on millions of our own people just so they can make an ideological point. 
 
But I need you to help.  I need you to help tell Congress, pay our bills on time.  Pass a budget on time.  Stop governing from crisis to crisis.  Put our focus back on where it should be: On you, the American people.  (Applause.)   On creating new jobs. On growing our economy.  On restoring security for middle-class families.  That’s what you deserve.  (Applause.)
 
I mean, I don't know -- it’s like they do this every six months.  (Laughter.)  Isn’t it?  I mean, I don't mind them disagreeing with me.  They don't like the Affordable Care Act, they’d rather have people not have health insurance, I’m happy to have that debate with them.  But you don't have to threaten to blow the whole thing up just because you don't get you way.  (Laughter.)  Right?  (Applause.)
 
I think about something that Jordan said.  Her grandfather worked in this plant; uncle, stepmom worked in this plant.  Now she and her brother work in this plant, punching in as part of the next generation of American workers at a great, iconic American company.  Our economy is coming back because of the resilience and determination of American workers like Jordan and her family. 
 
And every day, all over this country, there are men and women just like Jordan, just like her brother, they wake up, maybe pack a lunch for their kids, kiss them goodbye, go to work, live up to their responsibilities, do their jobs, pay their bills. 
 
Shouldn’t you expect the same thing from people in Washington? 
 
AUDIENCE:  Yes!  (Applause.)
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Shouldn’t you expect the same thing from members of Congress?  (Applause.)
 
Just do your job.  Don't be the other guy, be the guy who's doing your job.  No obstruction.  No games.  No holding the economic hostage -- economy hostage if you don’t get 100 percent of what you want. 
 
Nobody gets 100 percent of what you want.  You guys know that in your own lives, in your own families.  I don’t know how many people are married here, but you know you better learn not to expect getting 100 percent of what you want.  (Applause.)  Otherwise you'll be divorced real quick.  (Laughter.)  Especially you men, I'm telling you.  (Laughter.) 
 
So you should expect the same thing -- same common sense out of Congress.  You should expect some compassion.  You should expect some compromise.  You should expect the conviction of leaders who wake up and go to work every day, not to tear something down, but to build something better; not just for today but for the world we want to leave our kids. 
 
That’s my conviction.  That’s my commitment to you.  If we start thinking about you instead of politics and how you can get your base stirred up, then we're going to be able to get back to the point where this country is what we want it to be.  If Washington will act with the same decency and common purpose that you and Americans all across the country do every single day, the economy will be stronger not just a year from now or five years from now or 10 years from now, but 20 and 30 and 50 years from now. 
 
And as long as I have the privilege of serving you as your President, that’s what I'm going to be focused on.
 
Thank you very much, everybody.  God bless.  (Applause.)
 
END   
1:29 P.M CDT

Close Transcript

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
September 20, 2013

Remarks to the Press by Vice President Joe Biden and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto

Los Pinos
Mexico City, Mexico

VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN:   Well, Mr. President, thank you for your hospitality and for the opportunity to meet your young daughter.  That was worth the trip.

On my last visit with you, Mr. President, was the day you were being inaugurated.  And it's good to see you again and see you in such good form. 

As I said earlier today at the high economic dialogue that the ties between our country rest on a unique foundation -- a common culture, common values, and common dreams in addition to a long common border.  Increasingly, those relationships will also be built on a common pursuit of economic opportunity.  The dreams of an average Mexican are no different than the dreams of an average American, an average citizen of the United States.  And we both are committed to seeing them be able to realize those dreams.

Mr. President, you and I have continued our conversation on security.  But we also agree that no part of our relationship is more important than expanding economic opportunity to improve the lives of our citizens.  That's why I came to Mexico City today to launch the first ever U.S.-Mexican High Level Economic Dialogue.  And that's why I brought with me four United States Cabinet members, secretaries of our Cabinet.

I joked earlier at the dialogue that Air Force Two is not big enough to have taken all the Cabinet members who wanted to come.  But it's evidence of the fact that as I said, I started coming to Mexico in the early '70s as a young United States senator.  And I can't tell you how pleased I am that we are no longer just talking about explicit, specific security relationships.  We're talking about a much broader, broader relationship, a full relationship.

As President Obama said, Mexico is emerging.  But you are more than emerging.  You have emerged.  The middle class in Mexico is more than 40 million.  You have a growing voice on the global international stage.  A serious agenda of reform and modernization that you have taken on, Mr. President, is impressive.  And all this creates new opportunities to deepen our economic partnerships in ways that benefit both our citizens. 

Mr. President, you and I spoke about the steps that we can take to modernize our border, including new technologies in the extended hours at some crossings.  We spoke about education, the building block of any middle-class society.  Both our countries have embarked on serious reforms.  There's a great deal we can do together as well.

We do not suggest that we have all the answers.  We need much improvement in our education system in our own country as well.  But we do have the finest higher education system in the world, including a unique expertise that we've developed in community colleges.  And we hope that if you so desire, we could be of some assistance in benefitting from our experience.

The President and I also discussed reform efforts underway in both our countries.  Change is never easy.  But the policies President Obama and our administration have pursued in the United States have helped business create 7.5 million new jobs since we've taken office.  Mexico is undertaking its own reforms. 

Mr. President, you have reached across party lines to mobilize a broad constituency to take on these difficult, but important steps.  And these decisions belong totally to the people of Mexico.  But we stand ready if asked to be of any assistance we can be.  And we look forward to the continued growth of Mexico, because it's overwhelmingly in the best interest of the United States of America that that happen.

Twenty years ago, NAFTA set a new standard for global trade.  The 21st century, though, demands even higher standards than those standards set 20 years ago.  Open markets, competition, increasing economic transparency around the world to make it easier to do business anywhere in the world, and protecting labor and the environment and intellectual property -- these are the emerging standards of the 21st century that will determine the economic growth of all the countries who participate or choose not to participate. 

The President and I also spoke about how we can enforce and expand these 21st century rules of the world within our own hemisphere, across the Pacific, and around the world to help Mexico and the United States and our companies compete on a level playing field.  President Obama and President Peña Nieto and I, we are in full agreement in that there is no reason why North America cannot be the most prosperous and the most economically viable place in the world in the 21st century.

We also spoke about the comprehensive immigration reform that’s underway in our country.  I want to make it clear it's not just a matter of justice, respect and dignity that is owed to the 11 million undocumented men, women and children in our country; that they be brought out of the shadows and have a clear path to citizenship and participation.  But it's also in the overwhelming economic interest of both our countries that we do this.  As the Congressional Budget Office pointed out in a bipartisan study, when we do this, when we modernize our immigration system, it will have over a $1.3 trillion positive impact on our economy between now and the year 2023, over the next 20 years. 

And so we discussed a lot of other issues as well, but the one thing that I made clear on behalf of President Obama -- there is no relationship that we value more, there is no economic relationship we think that holds more promise, and there is no part of the world that has the opportunity to do as much, to generate economic growth over the next 20 to 30 years than in this hemisphere -- in North America in particular.  It's a more important partnership than we have in many places, and it deserves to be.  There's a deep and abiding friendship between our nations, and I look forward to playing a small part in continuing to help build that relationship.

And finally, let me say that I know many in Mexico are suffering today.  As the President pointed out, the reason he has cancelled his trip to the United Nations is because he has a strong need and desire to be here to deal with that crisis.  He also pointed out that the natural disasters we're facing around the world today seem to be broader and more expansive than they have been in the past.  That’s clearly the case here in Mexico.

But I also shared with the President that I'll be leaving here and on the end of the weekend going to my own country, to Colorado, the state of Colorado, where an area larger than our state of Connecticut has been devastated -- the entire transportation system, the roads, buildings -- well over a billion dollars' worth of damage calculated so far.

And so -- but not withstanding that, we both offered each other any help and assistance we can be.  The United States stands ready to be of any assistance we can as you deal with this natural disaster and the plight of your people, Mr. President. 

And again, let me conclude by saying what an honor it is to be back, and what a personal high regard the President and I have for you and your leadership.  We're lucky to have you as a partner.  Thank you. 

PRESIDENT PEÑA NIETO:  (As interpreted.)  Thank you very much, Mr. Vice President of the United States of America, Joseph Biden. 

First and foremost, let me welcome you to our country.  It is a pleasure to have you here once again.  This is the third time that we both meet in the last months.  I would like to welcome as well and greet your entourage, and the U.S. ambassador to Mexico.  I’m very grateful to share this moment with the members of the media, and the agenda that we will work on that we have agreed upon together. 

First of all, I would like to recognize the solidarity shown by your country to ours due the climate events that we are facing.  And regretfully we have had casualties and damages that Mexican families suffer, as well our infrastructure has suffered.  And in the same fashion, I would like to express our solidarity as a country towards yours for all the damages that have been caused to American families, specifically in the state of Colorado, as you have noted. 

There is no doubt that the effects of climate events serve as another reason to unite in a front built on cooperation and solidarity which are elements that represent the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico. 

Vice President Biden’s visit has a reason, and he is joined by members of the Cabinet of President Obama’s administration -- are here for a reason, for the first High Level Economic Dialogue chaired by Vice President Biden. 

It is part of the set of agreements made during President Obama’s visit back in May.  Hereupon, we have decided to set off a certain level of dialogue between our countries so that we can explore and take advantage of opportunity windows to broaden and strengthen the relationship between Mexico and the United States.  And in result, we will get further benefit and further integration between our nations.

And it is aimed to make the North American region, as Vice President Biden has put it, a more productive, a more competitive one -- a region that in the 21st century offers more job and development opportunities for the citizens of our nations; and to make a region -- to make North America the powerhouse of global economy.  That is why we’re building a strategic partnership, and that is why I am pleased that the agreement made by myself and President Obama in result made Vice President of the United States the chair of this high level group to begin with this economic dialogue and to address certain topics as the ones that were addressed this morning that will be useful to work on infrastructure projects in our countries and in the region specifically along the border.  And by that we will have a more agile and safe crossing of individuals on our border.

Currently, between our countries, 1 million individuals cross our borders.  It is the busiest border in the world.  And along this border we have commodities and products that are traded between our nations.  That is why we have decided to open up this space for dialogue to exchange other issues.  We already have cooperation in the areas of security, but as well in the area of the economy.  We have a free trade agreement that sets the ground for that.  But in order to supplement that agreement we’re going to work together in the TPP.  And that would make what we have already an important platform for economic integration with the Asian countries and North America.

This morning, a group of presidents of universities from both countries as well met with a purpose to broaden student and faculty exchanges.  And we have set up a very feasible goal that is yet ambitious that in the upcoming years at least 100,000 students from Mexico can visit the United States through an educational program and 50,000 Americans can come to our country to study.  This is one of the goals that this bilateral forum on higher education, innovation and research has decided.

And within the framework of the high level dialogue we have set out specific goals, as I have noted.  What I have noted clearly defines the vision that our governments have and our countries.  We have agreed to make our relationship one that is based in friendship, in fraternity, and trust.  And together, we will be able to broaden our collaboration horizons in order to make our countries more integrated countries and provide more opportunities to our citizens.

This is the shared vision that our governments, our countries have.  And this is the vision that we're working towards too.  The U.S.-Mexico relationship, Mexico-U.S. relationship cannot be only based on specific topics.  It should be a diverse, a broad relationship, as broad as creativity and the will of government and the private sector as well.  And that is why we have been able to consolidate the level of relationship that we have. 

President Biden's visit to Mexico confirms this shared vision, confirms the interest that both of our countries have to make our relationship -- I must insist -- a relationship that makes North America’s region a stronger, a more consolidated region.  And we can truly be a powerhouse of development in the 21st century.  This is our understanding.  This is what we have agreed upon.  And we have already begun all the relevant activities needed to explore and venture into new cooperation, exchange and integration avenues to strengthen our relationship.

I must recognize the delegation joining the Vice President of the United States -- Secretary of Trade, Secretary of Transportation, who currently is -- also, the acting Secretary of the Department of the Interior, and also the Secretary of Trade and others who are part of President Obama's Cabinet are joining the Vice President.  These are high-ranking officials, and this is a sign of the agreements made and the level of interest.  I must insist both of our administrations have to make this relationship one that would provide benefit for our peoples.

Once again, Mr. Vice President, welcome to our country, and we hope that you have had a very fruitful and positive stay for the benefit of both of our countries.  And please, be certain that you are at home.  This is our wish, and we also wish the members of your delegation to feel at home. 

And once again, let me tell you that it is a pleasure and an honor to have you here -- has been an honor to meet with you.  And to define the prosperous relationship that we're going to work towards to for the benefit of our nations, because we have a true friendship and we trust each other, and that’s what we're building upon.

Thank you, Mr. Vice President.  Welcome.  (Applause.)