Remarks by the President on American Energy

Nashua Community College
Nashua, New Hampshire

1:28 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Nashua!  (Applause.)  It is good to be back in New Hampshire!  (Applause.) 

Thank you, Mike, for that wonderful introduction and for your service to our country.  I want to thank the president of Nashua Community College, Lucille Jordan, for hosting us here today.  Give Lucille a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  We’ve got Professor Paul Wunderlich, who gave me a great tour.  Where’s Paul?  Where is he?  He’s got a beard -- you can see him.  (Laughter.)  There he is.  And I want to thank your Mayor, Donnalee Lozeau, for joining us here today.  (Applause.)  Where’s Donnalee?  Right over there -- there.  Right in there. 

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you!

THE PRESIDENT:  I love you back.  It is good to be back in New Hampshire. 

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible) 911! 911!  Somebody’s down!

THE PRESIDENT:  Okay, we’ll be all right.  They probably were just standing too long.  Just give them a little space.  Where’s our EMS folks?  They’ll be okay.  Just give him a little space.  This happens sometimes.  You guys been here a while after the magging?

AUDIENCE:  Yes.

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, no, you have to eat ahead of time.  (Laughter.)  Keep your blood sugar high.  We got somebody over there?  Jordan, right in the middle.  There we go.  Here’s our guy.  Make a little room, everybody.  All right, let’s make sure everybody is okay.  You all right?  All good?  Okay.  I think you’re going to be all right.  Okay.  (Applause.)  So remember, eat before you come to a presidential event.  (Laughter.)

Now, I am from Chicago, so you know a little snow was not going to keep me away -- (applause) -- which is why I can relate to New Hampshireites, because this is just like a dusting.  (Laughter.)  What’s the big deal?  There’s no big deal.  When Air Force One landed there were like 50 people waiting to shake my hand -- they got icicles on their eyebrows.  (Laughter.)  I was like, hey, great weather.  (Laughter.)  So I want to thank all of you for making the trek out here. I really appreciate it.

I just had a chance to look at some of the cutting-edge work that’s being done here at the auto shop.  Earlier this week, I gave a speech to American autoworkers where I said that one reason this country has an auto industry today is because we’re not just building cars again -- (applause) -- we’re building cars that use less oil, cars that go further on a gallon of gas.  And in part, that’s because of what’s happening in places like this community college.  It’s because of so many of you. 

I don’t need to tell you why fuel efficiency is so important, especially right now.  Most of you filled up your gas tanks in the last week or two, am I right?

AUDIENCE:  Yes.

THE PRESIDENT:  It hasn’t been a happy experience.  You’ve see the prices go up almost every day and you’ve already felt the pinch, whether you own a car or maybe you own a small business that uses energy.  Some of you have no choice but to drive a long way to work.  And higher gas prices are like a tax straight out of your paycheck.  And in the winter, the rising price of oil is also making it more expensive to heat your homes.

Now, I know this is hard to believe, but some politicians are seeing higher gas prices as a political opportunity.  You’re shocked, I know.  (Laughter.)  But it’s true -- right in the middle of an election year.  Who would have thought?  (Laughter.) So recently, the lead in one news story said -- and I’m quoting here -- “Gasoline prices are on the rise and Republicans are licking their chops.”  Licking their chops.  Now, let me tell you, only in politics do people respond to bad news with such enthusiasm.  (Laughter.)  That doesn’t happen anywhere else. 

And so, as a consequence, you can anticipate we’re going to be hearing a lot about how people have these magic 3-point plans to make sure that you’re only paying $2-a-gallon gas.  Just like we heard about it in the last election, just like we’ve heard about it for the last 30 years.  And you know what the essence of their plan is going to be, which is:  Step one, drill.  Step two, drill.  Step three, keep drilling.  And by the way, we’ll drill in your backyard.  Wherever it is, we’re just going to put up more rigs. 

Now, if there’s one thing I know about New Hampshire, it’s that your political bull detector is pretty keen.  It’s pretty sharp.  (Applause.)  You know that we can’t just drill our way to lower gas prices.  There are no quick fixes or silver bullets.  If somebody tells you there are, they're not telling you the truth. 

If we’re going to take control of our energy future -- which we have to do -- if we’re going to avoid high gas prices every single year, with a lot of politicians talking every single year but nothing happening -- if we're going to avoid that, then we've got to have an all-of-the-above strategy that develops every single source of American energy.  Not just oil and gas, but also wind and solar and biofuels.  (Applause.)  We've got to keep developing the technology that allows us to use less oil in our cars and trucks, less oil in our buildings and our factories.  And that’s the strategy we’ve been pursuing for the last three years, and it's the only real solution to this challenge. 

Now, here's the good news.  We're making progress.  And you can see it in this chart.  There's a chart behind me right here  -- we're using visual aids today.  (Laughter.)  The bar on the left shows that six years ago, 60 percent of the oil we used was imported.  Since I took office, America’s dependence on foreign oil has gone down every single year.  Every single year.  (Applause.)  In fact, in 2010, it was under 50 percent for the first time in 13 years -- for the first time.  (Applause.) 

And we gave one of these handy charts to everybody who came today, so you can impress your family and friends with your knowledge.  (Laughter.)  It makes a great conversation piece at parties.  (Laughter.)

Now, one of the reasons our oil -- our dependence on foreign oil is down is because of policies put in place by our administration, but also our predecessor’s administration.  And whoever succeeds me is going to have to keep it up.  This is not going to be solved by one party; it's not going to be solved by one administration; it's not going to be solved by slogans; it's not going to be solved by phony rhetoric.  It's going to be solved by a sustained, all-of-the-above energy strategy. 

And no matter what you hear from some folks in an election year, the key part of this strategy over the last three years has been to increase safe, responsible oil production here at home while also pursuing clean energy for the future.  We don’t have to choose between one or the other, we've got to do both.  (Applause.)  

So when it comes to oil production, under my administration, America is producing more oil today than at any time in the last eight years.  That is a fact.  That’s a fact.  (Applause.)    Under my administration, we have a near-record number of oil rigs operating right now -- more working oil and gas rigs than the rest of the world combined.  Think about that.  That’s a fact.  (Applause.)  

We've opened up millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration where appropriate and where it is done safely, and we've approved more than 400 drilling permits since we put in place new safety standards to make sure that we don’t have the same kind of spill that we had down in the Gulf a couple of years ago.  (Applause.) 

And we've approved dozens of new pipelines to move oil around, including from Canada.  Just this week, we announced that we’ll do whatever we can to help speed the construction of a pipeline in Oklahoma that will relieve a bottleneck for oil that needs to get to the Gulf.  And that’s going to help create jobs and encourage production.

So we’re focused on American oil production.  We are doing all that we can in a safe, responsible way to make sure that American oil production and gas production is high.  But here’s the thing.  The amount of oil that we drill at home doesn’t set the price of gas on its own.  And the reason is, is because oil is bought and sold on the world energy market.  And just like last year, the biggest thing that’s causing the price of oil to rise right now is instability in the Middle East.  This time it's Iran.  But a lot of folks are nervous about what might happen there, and so they're anticipating there might be a big disruption in terms of flow.  And when uncertainty increases, speculation on Wall Street can drive up prices even more.  Those are the short-term factors at work here.

So when you start hearing a bunch of folks saying somehow that there's some simple solution, you can turn a nozzle and suddenly we're going to be getting a lot more oil, that’s not just how it works.  Over the long term, the biggest reason oil prices will rise is because of growing demand in countries like China and India and Brazil. 

Just think about this.  In five years, the number of cars on the road in China more than tripled.  Over the last five years, the number of cars tripled.  Nearly 10 million cars were added in China alone in 2010 -- 10 million cars just in one country in one year.  So that’s using up a lot of oil.  And those numbers are only going to get bigger over time.  As places like China and India get wealthier, they're going to want to buy cars like we do, and they're going to want to fill them up like we do, and that’s going to drive up demand.

So what does this mean for us?  What does this mean for America?  It means that anybody who tells you that we can just drill our way out of this problem does not know what they’re talking about or they're not telling you the truth.  (Applause.) One or the other. 

Here's another way to think about it.  The United States consumes more than 20 percent of the world’s oil, but we only have 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves -- 20 percent we use; we only produce 2 percent.  And no matter what we do, it's not going to get much above 3 percent.  So we're still going to have this huge shortfall.  That's why if we really want energy security and energy independence, we've got to start looking at how we use less oil, and use other energy sources that we can renew and that we can control, so we are not subject to the whims of what's happening in other countries.  (Applause.)

We have to keep developing new technology that helps us use less energy.  We've got to keep relying on American know-how and ingenuity that comes from places like this one, Nashua Community College.  That’s our future.  (Applause.)  And that’s exactly the path that we've been taking these last three years.  Because of the investments we’ve made, the use of clean, renewable energy in this country has nearly doubled -- and thousands of Americans have jobs because of it. 

We’re taking every possible action to develop a near 100-year supply of natural gas, which releases fewer carbons.  Now that’s something that experts believe will support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade.  Our cooperation with the private sector has positioned this country to be the world’s leading manufacturer of high-tech batteries that will power the next generation of American cars.  (Applause.)

And after three decades of doing nothing, we put in place fuel economy standards that will make sure our cars average nearly 55 miles per gallon by the middle of the next decade.  That’s nearly double what we have today.  (Applause.)  And that, by the way, applies not just to cars -- it applies to light trucks, and now it’s going to apply to heavy trucks as well. 

So that means that every time you fill up, you can think to yourself, you know what, I won’t have to fill up again for two weeks instead of one week.  That’s worth applauding.  (Applause.) Because what that means is that will save the typical family more than $8,000 at the pump.  And it means that this country will reduce our oil consumption by more than 2 million barrels a day, which means we can continue to see a decline in how much imported oil we need.  (Applause.)  And that’s good for our national security, that’s good for our economy, and it’s good for our environment.  (Applause.)

So that’s the strategy we’ve got to pursue.  But we’ve got to do more, and we’ve got to do more even faster.  We’ve got to keep investing in developing every available type of American-made energy.  And this means that we’ve got to set some priorities.  We’ve got to make some choices. 

First, while there are no short-term silver bullets when it comes to gas prices, I’ve directed my administration to look for every single area where we can make an impact and help consumers -- from helping to relieve bottlenecks in the places like the one we’ve got in Oklahoma, to making sure speculators aren’t taking advantage of what’s going on in the oil markets.  And we’re just going to keep on announcing steps in the coming weeks; every time we find something that can provide a little bit of relief right now, we’re going to do it.  (Applause.)

But over the long term, an all-of-the-above strategy requires the right incentives.  And here’s one of the best examples.  Right now, $4 billion of your tax dollars -- $4 billion -- subsidizes the oil industry every year. 

AUDIENCE:  Booo --

THE PRESIDENT:  Four billion dollars.  Now, these companies are making record profits right now -- tens of billions of dollars a year.  Every time you go to the gas tank or fill up your gas tank, they’re making money.  Every time.  Now, does anyone really think that Congress should give them another $4 billion this year?

AUDIENCE:  No!

THE PRESIDENT:  Of course not.  It’s outrageous.  It’s inexcusable.  And I am asking Congress -- eliminate this oil industry giveaway right away.  I want them to vote on this in the next few weeks.  (Applause.)  Let’s put every single member of Congress on record:  You can stand with the oil companies, or you can stand up for the American people.  You can keep subsidizing a fossil fuel that’s been getting taxpayer dollars for a century, or you can place your bets on a clean-energy future. 

So I’m asking everybody here today, anybody who is watching at home, let your member of Congress know where you stand.  Will you do that?  (Applause.)  Because I know where I stand, New Hampshire.  I know where I stand on this.  We want to have successful oil companies that are able to get the oil that we have in our country, but we also understand that our future requires us to make investments in clean, renewable energies.  And that has to start now.  We can’t wait.  We can’t wait until gas has skyrocketed more and people are desperate.  We need to start making those investments now.

And most of you guys agree.  (Applause.)  That’s why you’re putting your time -- that’s why folks here at this community college are learning about building cars and repairing cars that use less oil -- cars that are powered with alternative fuels, like natural gas.  That’s why the city of Nashua is purchasing a new fleet of trash trucks that run on natural gas.  (Applause.)  They’re going to go cleaner; they’re going to last longer; they’re going to be cheaper to fill up.  (Applause.)  

I saw one of them.  It was a good-looking truck.  And it put a smile on the Mayor’s face, because she knows she’s saving money -- she’s saving taxpayer money.  Good job, Mayor.  (Applause.)

So that’s part of what that $4 billion is going to the oil companies right now, that’s where it could be going -- to help cities like this one convert their fleets to fuel-efficient cars and trucks, to help private sector companies -- big companies like UPS or Federal Express -- convert their fleets.  That can save us money.  In fact, since we announced the National Clean Fleets Partnership last year, the companies interested in transitioning their fleets have tripled.  And that's part of why this chart is going down. 

And I’m proud to say that the federal government is leading by example.  One thing the federal government has a lot of is cars.  I don't know if you guys are aware of this, but we have a lot of cars.  (Laughter.)  And I’ve directed every department, every agency -- every single one -- to make sure that by 2015, 100 percent of the vehicles that the federal government buys are fuel-efficient cars and trucks.  (Applause.)  Let's save us money. 

So this is our future.  This is the ultimate solution to our energy challenge.  It's not going to be a smooth, easy ride.  Some of the clean-energy technologies that are discovered, they won’t pan out.  Some companies will fail.  There's going to be experiments and research that take time.  But as long as I’m President, I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy, because our future depends on it.  (Applause.)  I'm not going to cede the wind or the solar or the battery industry to China or Germany because some politicians in Washington refused to make the same commitment here in the United States of America.  (Applause.)  

With or without this Congress, I'm going to continue to do whatever I can to develop every source of American energy -- to make sure that three years from now our dependence on foreign oil is even lower, to make sure that our future is not controlled by events on the other side of the world. 

We may not have a silver bullet to bring down gas prices tomorrow, or reduce our dependence on foreign oil overnight.  But what we do have in this country are limitless sources of energy, and a boundless supply of ingenuity and imagination and talent that we can put to work to develop the energy of the future.  (Applause.)  We’ve got you. We’ve got you.  (Applause.)

The easiest thing in the world is to make phony election-year promises about lowering gas prices.  But what’s harder is to make a serious, sustained commitment to tackle a problem that we’ve been talking about for 30 years and has not been tackled, has not been solved.  It’s not going to be solved in one year or one term -- maybe not completely even in one decade.  But that’s the kind of commitment that we need right now.  That’s what this moment requires. 

And so when I see all the young people who are here today -- or the young at heart -- (laughter) -- we need you guys to keep at it.  This is your future at stake.  We need you to work hard. We need you to dream big.  We need you to summon the same spirit of unbridled optimism, that bold willingness to tackle tough problems that led previous generations to meet the challenges of their time -- to power a nation from coast to coast, to touch the moon, to connect an entire world with our own science and imagination.  That’s what America is capable of doing. 

And it’s that history that teaches us that all of our challenges -- all of them -- are within our power, within our grasp to solve.  (Applause.)  This one is no different.  This one is no different.  It will require our brightest scientists, our most creative companies, but it’s also going to require all of us -- Democrats, Republicans, everybody in between -– to do our part.  That’s what this moment requires. 

And I know we can do it.  And when we do, we’ll remind the world once again just why it is that the United States of America is the greatest nation on Earth. 

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

END
1:55 P.M. EST

Remarks by the President to UAW Conference

Washington Marriott Wardman Park
Washington, D.C.

11:30 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  How's it going, UAW?  (Applause.)  It is good to be with some autoworkers today!  (Applause.)  All right. Everybody have a seat, get comfortable.  Go ahead and get comfortable.  I'm going to talk for a little bit.  (Applause.) 

First of all, I want to say thank you to one of the finest leaders that we have in labor -- Bob King.  Give it up for Bob.  (Applause.)  I want to thank the International Executive Board and all of you for having me here today.  It is a great honor.  I brought along somebody who is proving to be one of the finest Secretaries of Transportation in our history -- Ray LaHood is in the house.  Give Ray a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  

It is always an honor to spend time with folks who represent the working men and women of America.  (Applause.)  It’s unions like yours that fought for jobs and opportunity for generations of American workers.  It’s unions like yours that helped build the arsenal of democracy that defeated fascism and won World War II.  It's unions like yours that forged the American middle class -- that great engine of prosperity, the greatest that the world has ever known.

So you guys helped to write the American story.  And today, you’re busy writing a proud new chapter.  You are reminding us that no matter how tough times get, Americans are tougher.  (Applause.)  No matter how many punches we take, we don’t give up.  We get up.  We fight back.  We move forward.  We come out the other side stronger than before.  That's what you've shown us.  (Applause.)  You're showing us what’s possible in America.  So I’m here to tell you one thing today:  You make me proud.  (Applause.)  You make me proud.

Take a minute and think about what you and the workers and the families that you represent have fought through.  A few years ago, nearly one in five autoworkers were handed a pink slip -- one in five.  Four hundred thousand jobs across this industry vanished the year before I took office.  And then as the financial crisis hit with its full force, America faced a hard and once unimaginable reality, that two of the Big 3 automakers  -- GM and Chrysler -- were on the brink of liquidation.

The heartbeat of American manufacturing was flat-lining and we had to make a choice.  With the economy in complete free fall there were no private investors or companies out there willing to take a chance on the auto industry.  Nobody was lining up to give you guys loans.  Anyone in the financial sector can tell you that.

So we could have kept giving billions of dollars of taxpayer dollars to automakers without demanding the real changes or accountability in return that were needed -- that was one option. But that wouldn’t have solved anything in the long term.  Sooner or later we would have run out of money.  We could have just kicked the problem down the road.  The other option was to do absolutely nothing and let these companies fail.  And you will recall there were some politicians who said we should do that.

AUDIENCE:  Booo --

THE PRESIDENT:  Some even said we should "let Detroit go bankrupt."

AUDIENCE:  Booo --

THE PRESIDENT:  You remember that?  (Applause.)  You know.  (Laughter.)  Think about what that choice would have meant for this country, if we had turned our backs on you, if America had thrown in the towel, if GM and Chrysler had gone under.  The suppliers, the distributors that get their business from these companies, they would have died off.  Then even Ford could have gone down as well.  Production shut down.  Factories shuttered.  Once-proud companies chopped up and sold off for scraps.  And all of you, the men and women who built these companies with your own hands, would have been hung out to dry.

More than one million Americans across the country would have lost their jobs in the middle of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.  In communities across the Midwest, it would have been another Great Depression.  And then think about all the people who depend on you.  Not just your families, but the schoolteachers, the small business owners, the server in the diner who knows your order, the bartender who’s waiting for you to get off.  (Laughter.)  That’s right.  (Applause.)  Their livelihoods were at stake as well. 

And you know what was else at stake?  How many of you who’ve worked the assembly line had a father or a grandfather or a mother who worked on that same line?  (Applause.)  How many of you have sons and daughters who said, you know, Mom, Dad, I'd like to work at the plant, too?  (Applause.) 

These jobs are worth more than just a paycheck.  They’re a source of pride.  They’re a ticket to a middle-class life that make it possible for you to own a home and raise kids and maybe send them -- yes -- to college.  (Applause.)  Give you a chance to retire with some dignity and some respect.  These companies are worth more than just the cars they build.  They’re a symbol of American innovation and know-how.  They're the source of our manufacturing might.  If that’s not worth fighting for, what's worth fighting for?  (Applause.)

So, no, we were not going to take a knee and do nothing.  We were not going to give up on your jobs and your families and your communities.  So in exchange for help, we demanded responsibility.  We said to the auto industry, you're going to have to truly change, not just pretend like you're changing.  And thanks to outstanding leadership like Bob King, we were able to get labor and management to settle their differences.  (Applause.) 

We got the industry to retool and restructure, and everybody involved made sacrifices.  Everybody had some skin in the game.  And it wasn’t popular.  And it wasn’t what I ran for President to do.  That wasn’t originally what I thought I was going to be doing as President.  (Laughter.)  But you know what, I did run to make the tough calls and do the right things -- no matter what the politics were.  (Applause.)

And I want you to know, you know why I knew this rescue would succeed? 

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  How did you do it?  (Laughter.) 

THE PRESIDENT:  You want to know?  It wasn’t because of anything the government did.  It wasn’t just because of anything management did.  It was because I believed in you.  I placed my bet on the American worker.  (Applause.)  And I’ll make that bet any day of the week.  (Applause.) 

And now, three years later -- three years later, that bet is paying off -- not just paying off for you, it’s paying off for America.  Three years later, the American auto industry is back. (Applause.)  GM is back on top as the number-one automaker in the world  -- (applause) -- highest profits in its 100-year history. Chrysler is growing faster in America than any other car company. (Applause.)  Ford is investing billions in American plants, American factories -- plans to bring thousands of jobs back to America.  (Applause.) 

All told, the entire industry has added more than 200,000 new jobs over the past two and a half years -- 200,000 new jobs. And here’s the best part -- you’re not just building cars again; you’re building better cars.  (Applause.) 

After three decades of inaction, we’re gradually putting in place the toughest fuel economy standards in history for our cars and pickups.  That means the cars you build will average nearly 55 miles per gallon by the middle of the next decade -- almost double what they get today.  (Applause.)  That means folks, every time they fill up, they're going to be saving money.  They'll have to fill up every two weeks instead of every week.  That saves the typical family more than $8,000 at the pump over time. That means we’ll cut our oil consumption by more than 2 million barrels a day.  That means we have to import less oil while we're selling more cars all around the world.  (Applause.) 

Thanks to the bipartisan trade agreement I signed into law  -- with you in mind, working with you -- there will soon be new cars in the streets of South Korea imported from Detroit and from Toledo and from Chicago.  (Applause.) 

And today -- I talked about this at the State of the Union, we are doing it today -- I am creating a Trade Enforcement Unit that will bring the full resources of the federal government to bear on investigations, and we're going to counter any unfair trading practices around the world, including by countries like China.  (Applause.)  America has the best workers in the world.  When the playing field is level, nobody will beat us.  And we're going to make sure that playing field is level.  (Applause.)

Because America always wins when the playing field is level. And because everyone came together and worked together, the most high-tech, fuel-efficient, good-looking cars in the world are once again designed and engineered and forged and built -- not in Europe, not in Asia -- right here in the United States of America.  (Applause.)

I’ve seen it myself.  I’ve seen it myself.  I've seen it at Chrysler’s Jefferson North Plant in Detroit, where a new shift of more than 1,000 workers came on two years ago, another 1,000 slated to come on next year.  I’ve seen it in my hometown at Ford’s Chicago Assembly -- (applause) -- where workers are building a new Explorer and selling it to dozens of countries around the world. 

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  I'm buying one, too.

THE PRESIDENT:  There you go.  (Laughter.) 

I’ve seen it at GM’s Lordstown plant in Ohio -- (applause)  -- where workers got their jobs back to build the Chevy Cobalt, and at GM’s Hamtramck plant in Detroit -- (applause) -- where I got to get inside a brand-new Chevy Volt fresh off the line -- even though Secret Service wouldn’t let me drive it.  (Laughter.) But I liked sitting in it.  (Laughter.)  It was nice.  I'll bet it drives real good.  (Laughter.)  And five years from now when I’m not President anymore, I’ll buy one and drive it myself.  (Applause.)  Yes, that's right.

AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT:  I know our bet was a good one because I had seen it pay off firsthand.  But here’s the thing.  You don't have to take my word for it.  Ask the Chrysler workers near Kokomo -- (applause) -- who were brought on to make sure the newest high-tech transmissions and fuel-efficient engines are made in America.  Or ask the GM workers in Spring Hill, Tennessee, whose jobs were saved from being sent abroad.  (Applause.)  Ask the Ford workers in Kansas City coming on to make the F-150 -- America’s best-selling truck, a more fuel-efficient truck.  (Applause.)  And you ask all the suppliers who are expanding and hiring, and the communities that rely on them, if America’s investment in you was a good bet.  They’ll tell you the right answer.  

And who knows, maybe the naysayers would finally come around and say that standing by America's workers was the right thing to do.  (Applause.)  Because, I've got to admit, it's been funny to watch some of these folks completely try to rewrite history now that you're back on your feet.  (Applause.)  The same folks who said, if we went forward with our plan to rescue Detroit, "you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye."  Now they're saying, we were right all along.  (Laughter.) 

Or you've got folks saying, well, the real problem is -- what we really disagreed with was the workers, they all made out like bandits -- that saving the auto industry was just about paying back the unions.  Really?  (Laughter.)  I mean, even by the standards of this town, that’s a load of you know what.  (Laughter.) 

About 700,000 retirees had to make sacrifices on their health care benefits that they had earned.  A lot of you saw hours reduced, or pay or wages scaled back.  You gave up some of your rights as workers.  Promises were made to you over the years that you gave up for the sake and survival of this industry -- its workers, their families.  You want to talk about sacrifice?  You made sacrifices.  (Applause.)  This wasn't an easy thing to do. 

Let me tell you, I keep on hearing these same folks talk about values all the time.  You want to talk about values?  Hard work -- that’s a value.  (Applause.)  Looking out for one another -- that’s a value.  The idea that we're all in it together, and I'm my brother's keeper and sister's keeper -- that’s a value.  (Applause.) 

They're out there talking about you like you're some special interest that needs to be beaten down.  Since when are hardworking men and women who are putting in a hard day's work every day -- since when are they special interests?  Since when is the idea that we look out for one another a bad thing? 

I remember my old friend, Ted Kennedy -- he used to say, what is it about working men and women they find so offensive?  (Laughter.)  This notion that we should have let the auto industry die, that we should pursue anti-worker policies in the hopes that unions like yours will buckle and unravel -– that’s part of that same old "you are on your own" philosophy that says we should just leave everybody to fend for themselves; let the most powerful do whatever they please.  They think the best way to boost the economy is to roll back the reforms we put into place to prevent another crisis, to let Wall Street write the rules again. 

They think the best way to help families afford health care is to roll back the reforms we passed that’s already lowering costs for millions of Americans.  (Applause.)  They want to go back to the days when insurance companies could deny your coverage or jack up your rates whenever and however they pleased. They think we should keep cutting taxes for those at the very top, for people like me, even though we don’t need it, just so they can keep paying lower tax rates than their secretaries. 

Well, let me tell you something.  Not to put too fine a point on it -- they’re wrong.  (Laughter.)  They are wrong.  (Applause.)  That’s the philosophy that got us into this mess.  We can’t afford to go back to it.  Not now. 

We’ve got a lot of work to do.  We’ve got a long way to go before everybody who wants a good job can get a good job.  We’ve got a long way to go before middle-class Americans fully regain that sense of security that’s been slipping away since long before this recession hit.  But you know what, we’ve got something to show -- all of you show what’s possible when we pull together.

Over the last two years, our businesses have added about 3.7 million new jobs.  Manufacturing is coming back for the first time since the 1990s.  Companies are bringing jobs back from overseas.  (Applause.)  The economy is getting stronger.  The recovery is speeding up.  Now is the time to keep our foot on the gas, not put on the brakes.  And I’m not going to settle
for a country where just a few do really well and everybody else is struggling to get by.  (Applause.) 

We’re fighting for an economy where everybody gets a fair shot, where everybody does their fair share, where everybody plays by the same set of rules.  We’re not going to go back to an economy that’s all about outsourcing and bad debt and phony profits.  We’re fighting for an economy that’s built to last, that’s built on things like education and energy and manufacturing.  Making things, not just buying things -- making things that the rest of the world wants to buy.  And restoring the values that made this country great:  hard work and fair play, the chance to make it if you really try, the responsibility to reach back and help somebody else make it, too -- not just you.  That’s who we are.  That’s what we believe in.   (Applause.)

I was telling you I visited Chrysler’s Jefferson North Plant in Detroit about a year and a half ago.  Now, the day I visited, some of the employees had won the lottery.  Not kidding.  They had won the lottery.  Now, you might think that after that they’d all be kicking back and retiring.  (Laughter.)  And no one would fault them for that.  Building cars is tough work.  But that’s not what they did.  The guy who bought --

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  What did they do?

THE PRESIDENT:  Funny you ask.  (Laughter.)  The guy who bought the winning ticket, he was a proud UAW member who worked on the line.  So he used some of his winnings to buy his wife the car that he builds because he’s really proud of his work.  (Applause.)  Then he bought brand new American flags for his hometown because he’s proud of his country.  (Applause.)  And he and the other winners are still clocking in at that plant today, because they’re proud of the part they and their coworkers play in America’s comeback.

See, that’s what America is about.  America is not just looking out for yourself.  It’s not just about greed.  It’s not just about trying to climb to the very top and keep everybody else down.  When our assembly lines grind to a halt, we work together and we get them going again.  When somebody else falters, we try to give them a hand up, because we know we’re all in it together.

I got my start standing with working folks who’d lost their jobs, folks who had lost their hope because the steel plants had closed down.  I didn’t like the idea that they didn’t have anybody fighting for them.  The same reason I got into this business is the same reason I’m here today.  I’m driven by that same belief that everybody -- everybody -- should deserve a chance.  (Applause.) 

So I promise you this:  As long as you’ve got an ounce of fight left in you, I’ll have a ton of fight left in me.  (Applause.)  We’re going to keep on fighting to make our economy stronger; to put our friends and neighbors back to work faster; to give our children even more opportunity; to make sure that the United States of America remains the greatest nation on Earth.   (Applause.)

Thank you, UAW.  I love you.  God bless you.  God bless the work you do.  God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)

END 
11:55 A.M. EST

Remarks by the First Lady and Dr. Biden Discussing Military Spouse Employment at National Governors Association Annual Meeting

State Dining Room

10:49 A.M. EST

DR. BIDEN:  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you, David, and thank you all for coming.  It was great to see you all here last night -- what a wonderful evening.  And we're so delighted to have you here again at the White House this morning.

The last time we were together, Michelle and I talked to you about our idea for the Joining Forces initiative:  to honor, recognize and support military families.  And in this last year, we've made tremendous progress.  Since we launched Joining Forces in April, we've been so delighted by the response from Americans all over this country.  Businesses have hired tens of thousands of veterans and military spouses.  Medical schools have committed to educate their students about post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries.  Schools, community organizations and Americans of every age and background have sent care packages, donated childcare, and created community celebrations for the military families in their neighborhoods.

These Americans are stepping up because they appreciate how much our military spouses and families do for our country every day.  What we have seen since launching Joining Forces has been truly gratifying, because it has shown our military families that all of us appreciate their sacrifices on their behalf.

But there is more to do.  We would like to talk to you today about one of the top concerns we hear from military spouses wherever we go:  professional licensing.  I know that many of you hear from folks in your state as well. 

A few days ago, Michelle and I went to the Pentagon to help unveil a new report from the Departments of Defense and Treasury about professional licensing for military spouses.  The report found that military spouses move 10 times more than their civilian counterparts, and that 35 percent of spouses in the workforce are in jobs that require a professional license.  Because military transfers often require spouses to move from state to state, the issue of license portability is a real challenge for military spouses.  As Michelle will discuss, there are ways we can work together to ease this burden, and we look forward to doing just that.

So thank you all for what you're doing in your home states, and please join me in welcoming my dear friend and partner in Joining Forces, First Lady Michelle Obama.  (Applause.)

MRS. OBAMA:  Good morning, everyone, and welcome back.  I hope everybody got a little sleep.  (Laughter.)  Just a little bit.  But we had a terrific time last night.  And the mood was good, and hopefully you all enjoyed yourselves as well.  It's always wonderful to host you for this weekend.

I want to thank Jill, not just for her introduction but for just being a terrific partner and, more importantly, a friend over the past few years, and on this issue in particular.  As a Blue Star mom, Jill knows these issues as well as anyone.  And she has been just a terrific champion, and on ensuring that we're moving things forward.

Now, as Jill has said, this new licensing portability initiative is one of the most important and meaningful issues that we've addressed through Joining Forces.  It is the number-one frustration that Jill and I hear about every time we visit with military spouses -- and that’s really saying something.  Because the truth is, is that these women and men are facing plenty of very serious challenges in their lives.  They are raising their kids and running their household, oftentimes alone, while they have a spouse deployed.  These are the folks who are cooking those meals, they're leading the PTA, they're answering all those questions from their children about when mom or dad will be coming home.  And many of them are doing all of this while trying to hold down full-time jobs.

But the truth is that no matter what is on their plates -- and this is what always impresses us -- no matter what their country asks of them, these men and women, they never complain.  They never complain.  And I know that many of our spouses understand that when they interact with military families.  These people never ask for much.  They just keep pushing forward.

So when they do bring something to our attention, when they do come to Jill and I and they ask for our help, when they do let us know that something is a real problem for them, then we know it's serious.  We know it's time for us to take a look and figure out whether there's something that we can do.  And when you hear about how -- some of these licensing stories, what's going on, then you start to understand why they’re beginning to get frustrated.

So take the story of Kelly Crowley.  Kelly is a nurse, she’s an army wife and she’s an expectant mother.  She has been married to her husband for four years and in those four years -- and this is very typical -- Kelly has lived in three different states, which means that every year or so she’s had to gather up her college transcripts, sign and notarize a pile of documents, and pay application costs, and then wait for all of that to clear.

And she estimates that the constant moves have cost her about six months of paychecks.  Six months of paychecks from a woman who wants to work, a woman serving our country.  Six months of paychecks.  And the whole process can be so cumbersome that she’s not even sure that she’s going to go through it again for her family’s next assignment.  She’s ready to walk away from her career because the burdens are so great.

And of course this doesn’t just happen to nurses -- it is happening to teachers, it’s happening to childcare providers, accountants, real estate brokers, dental hygienists, social workers -- I mean, go on and on.  Think of the careers that require some level of licensing and these men and women are being affected.  And in total, more than 100,000 military spouses are affected by this maze of credentialing and requirements -- 100,000 men and women.  And far too often they’re forced to take entry-level classes, or pay hundreds of dollars in fees, or wait weeks or months for their paperwork to be processed all before they can even get a job; can’t even work until all this is done.

And the vast majority of these spouses are clearly qualified -- this isn’t an issue of these men and women being qualified and ready to work.  They’ve got the right skills, they’ve worked in their fields for years, many of them, but so often that doesn’t matter.  It doesn’t count.  Their skills still go unused and, more importantly, their families go without the crucial source of income that so many of them need.  Many of these families survive because they have two incomes.  And unfortunately many career ambitions are just derailed.  So, again, you can see why many of these spouses are frustrated.

Now I want to emphasize that these state standards are extremely important.  They ensure that our professionals meet a level of excellence that gives us all peace of mind when we step into a hospital or we sign our kids up for school.  So I want to be clear that we are not asking any state to change a single professional standard.  And we’re certainly not asking anyone to set a lower bar for our military spouses -- they’re the first ones who don’t want exceptions to the rule for them.  But what we are asking is for a level playing field.  We just want to make sure that these spouses have a fair shot to pursue their careers and support their families.

And of course that’s where all of you come in.  Each of you has a unique opportunity to make a real difference for these families that have given all of us so much.  Some of you have already done this -- some of you have already stepped up, including Governor Gregoire in Washington, Governor Scott in Florida, Governor Nixon in Missouri, Governor Parnell in Alaska.  In total, 12 governors have signed legislation to fix these licensing issues for military spouses, and of course we want to thank you all for leading the way.

And here’s what’s important:  Each of those 12 states found its own solution, whatever worked for them.  Some states are doing things like granting temporary licenses so that military spouses can get to work right away.  Others have given state licensing boards or agencies increased flexibility to grant licenses to military spouses who clearly demonstrate their competence.  And still others have found ways to grant licenses upon application and then verify the documentation as the spouse earns a paycheck.

And many more states are working on legislation as we speak -- California, Louisiana, Illinois and Wyoming have introduced bills in the last two weeks.  Governor Brownback just signed Kansas’ bill on Valentine’s Day, a lovely gift.  But roughly half of the country still hasn’t taken this issue on.  And that's why Jill and I are here today.

As part of Joining Forces, we have set what we hope is an ambitious but achievable goal in that, by 2014, we would love to see all 50 states having passed their own legislation to address this issues -- by 2014.  The goal is a key priority for this administration.  Secretary Panetta is behind it.  General Dempsey and all of the Joint Chiefs are behind it.  The President, of course, the Vice President -- they don't have a choice.  (Laughter.)  But they do support it.  (Laughter.)

But the people who have the biggest impact are right here in this room.  Truly, you all have the power in this instance.  No one can make a difference on this issue like all of you -- no one.  And I’m not just talking about those of you with "Governor" behind your name.  You’re really important and all, but we also have wonderful first spouses. 

I mean, just look at what First Lady Jane Beshear has done in Kentucky.  Now, Jane has formed a statewide team of military spouses who are tackling issues like education and employment in that state.  She’s worked with state higher education leaders to streamline admissions processes for military spouses.  She has testified in front of the state house.  And she has done all of this in just a year.

In fact, Jane told me that after the last governors’ spouses, she was so moved by what we had talked about that she went back to her state and she figured out exactly what she could do to push this issue ahead.

So every single person in this room has a role to play in supporting our military families.  And I am here, as well as Jill, to ask for your help -- as simple as that.  If your state has not addressed license portability for military spouses yet, today I want to ask you to make this issue a priority.  Work with the leaders in your states to get a bill introduced.  Use your bully pulpit to get it passed.  Share military spouses' stories with your local media and your state legislators. 

If you have already passed a law in your state, we encourage you to reach out to one or two of your fellow governors or spouses who are just getting started.  Share your experience.  Encourage them along the way.  Help us finish this job.  And we will be helping as much as we can.  We have a plan in place to be supportive.  Like Jill said, the report from the Department of Defense and Treasury is full of wonderful tips and best practices to help all of you find solutions that work for your state.  And that’s really the point.  There is no one-size-fits-all solution here.  And this report is really designed to offer some ideas to get things started.

Your staffs have received a copy of this report already, and all of your spouses will get one today as well.  And on top of that, the Defense Department's team of state liaisons are here to help you craft legislation, if needed, and usher it through your state houses.  In fact, we've got Ed Kringer -- Ed, where you are sitting, Ed?  Ed is here from the Department of Defense, and Ed will be available after this session to answer any questions to help get you started in the process.

And Jill and I are going to keep working, keep the light on this issue.  We're also going to be working with groups like the American Bar Association and the National Military Family Association to support your efforts at the grassroots level.  They all stand ready to try to find ways to be helpful on this issue.  So you're not in this alone.  Joining Forces has been a wonderful instrument just to raise the bar, to shine a light on these issues.  And we will continue to use this platform to be supportive and proactive.

And that’s really the thing about supporting military families that Jill and I have discovered through our work:  It is something that everyone can get behind.  It really is.  Everyone feels this, and if they don’t, they just don’t know the stories.  And once they hear the stories, they're right there.  That is what we have seen since the day we first started Joining Forces.  No matter who you are or where you come from, we are all so proud of our men and women in uniform and their families.  We all are, and we all want to do everything we can to honor and to support these men and women, and these wonderful children who are sacrificing right alongside of their parents.

And taking on this licensing issue is a perfect way to do just that.  It’s really the perfect opportunity because if we fix this, we don't just support our military spouses as they advance in their careers, which is important, but we’ll also be supporting their families who really depend on these incomes.  We will be supporting the entire military, which can more easily retain married troops if their spouses can pursue their career.  This is a retention issue.

We’ll be infusing our schools and our hospitals and our businesses with much needed, talented and experienced workers who are ready to be out there doing the job.  We will be strengthening our economy by lowering our unemployment rate and increasing our productivity by getting these hundreds of thousands of men and women into the workforce.

And you all can do all of this -- here’s the punch line -- with little or no cost.  Little or no cost.  It’s one of those things that, again, doesn't -- as other state governors will share, it doesn't have to kill the budget, and it can be done in a bipartisan way, even more importantly.  All it takes is a leader who can lead the charge for these families who serve our country so bravely.

These men and women have risked so much for all of us.  They do it for each and every one of us, and they ask so little in return, so very little.  So when they call on us, we have got a solemn obligation to answer that call.

In two years, what I hope we are able to say -- we can look these men and women in the eye and say, we heard you and we acted.  We heard you.  The one -- the few things you’ve asked for, we heard you, and we all stepped up as a nation to make it happen.  And that's really what Joining Forces is all about.

So we look forward to continuing these efforts to working with all of you in the months ahead to serve our military families as well as they serve us.  So we will be there.  We’re going to be checking in.  We’re going to nag a little bit and poke, make a few calls.  You have not heard the last of us.  (Laughter.) 

But we are excited by what this will mean to so many of these men and women.  That is the one thing we hear.  Many of them just say thank you -- thank you for recognizing that we exist and that these issues are important to us. 

So we look forward to seeing this goal achieved by 2014, and we’ll be talking to your spouses more about this shortly at lunch.

So thank you all, and take care.  (Applause.)

END
11:09 A.M. EST

Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Thorning-Schmidt of Denmark after a Bilateral Meeting

The Oval Office

3:41 P.M. EST

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, I want to welcome Prime Minister Thorning-Schmidt to the White House and to the Oval Office.  This is the first time that we've had a chance to meet, but obviously we've been very impressed with the first five months of her prime ministership.  I shared with her how much Michelle and I appreciated the extraordinary hospitality that was shown to Michelle and I when I visited Copenhagen in the past.  And I also wanted to just say how much we appreciate the great alliance and partnership that we have with the Danish people on a whole range of international issues.

Obviously, most recently, the operations in Libya could not have been as effective had it not been for the precision and the excellence of the Danish armed forces and their pilots.  But that's fairly typical of the way that Danes have punched above their weight in international affairs.

In Afghanistan, I thanked the Prime Minister for the extraordinary contributions of Danish troops in the Helmand area.  They operate without caveat, have taken significant casualties, for which obviously all of us extend our condolences to the families that have been affected.  But because of the outstanding work that's been done by Danish soldiers in Afghanistan, we're seeing great progress in the areas where they operate. 

We had a chance to talk about the economy.  As we were exchanging notes, it turns out that, like folks here in the United States, everybody in Denmark wants to talk about the economy all the time, and jobs and growth.  And we agreed that there has been some progress in resolving the sovereign debt issues, that there has been some progress with respect to the agreements between the EU and the IMF and Greece, the new government in Italy, new governments in Spain and Portugal are all making significant progress, but that there's a lot more work to do.  And we will be consulting closely with Denmark. 

And we exchanged ideas on how we can ensure not only economic stability in Europe but also growth in Europe, because if Europe is growing then that benefits the U.S. economy as well.  And we emphasized other additional ways that we can encourage trade and reduce economic frictions between the two sides of the transatlantic relationship.

In preparation for our meeting in Chicago, at NATO, in my hometown, we talked about the transition that was already agreed to in Lisbon, when it comes to putting Afghans in the lead in security over the next several years.  And we are going to be consulting with not only Denmark but our other allies in making sure that that is a smooth transition and one that is sustained, where we continue to help the Afghan government to support its own sovereignty and effectively control its borders.

We also discussed the extraordinary counterterrorism cooperation that's taking place between our two countries.  And I thanked the Prime Minister for the excellent work that her intelligence team has done.  We are in constant communication on a whole host of issues.  The Danes are very much one of the leaders when it comes to counterterrorism, and are obviously familiar with the significant threats that are posed by terrorism.  So we appreciate that very much.

And we had a chance to talk about a wide range of international issues, including the situation in Syria.  And I have to say that all of us who've been seeing the terrible pictures coming out of Syria and Homs recently recognize it is absolutely imperative for the international community to rally, and send a clear message to President Assad that it is time for a transition, it is time for that regime to move on, and it is time to stop the killing of Syrian citizens by their own government.

And I'm encouraged by the international unity that we are developing -- the meetings that took place in Tunisia that Secretary Clinton attended.  And we are going to continue to keep the pressure up, and are looking for every tool available to prevent the slaughter of innocents in Syria.  And this is an area where I think the Prime Minister and I deeply agree -- it's important that we not be bystanders during these extraordinary events. 

At the same time, there are other threats in the region, including the situation in Iran.  And I thanked the Prime Minister and the Danish government for their leadership role in applying the toughest sanctions we've ever seen coming out of the EU.  Difficult sanctions to apply, but we both agree that we're making progress and they are working in sending a message to Iran that it needs to take a different path if it wants to rejoin the international community, and that there is a expectation on the part of the world that they abide by their international obligations when it comes to their nuclear program.

So the final thing we talked about was the fact that we both have two daughters; they're roughly the same ages.  (Laughter.)  We traded notes.  The Prime Minister's daughters are slightly older than Malia and Sasha.  She assures me that they continue to behave themselves, even well into their teenage years.  So I'm encouraged by the report. 

PRIME MINISTER THORNING-SCHMIDT:  Good.  (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  And I thank you very much.  I hope that you have a wonderful stay while you're here, and we look forward to working with you again in the near future.

PRIME MINISTER THORNING-SCHMIDT:  Thank you, Mr. President.  And thank you so much for your kind words.  And the Danish people have a very strong sense of closeness to the United States, and we always have had that sense.  We have close economic, political ties with each other.  But not only that, we exchange tourism, students, ideas, and culture.  But perhaps most important of all, we have -- we share common values.  And I think in a turbulent time, this is very, very important.

So basically, the friendship and the alliance between our two countries is in very good shape right now.  And I thank you for that.

As you said, we discussed the current situation.  Denmark holds the presidency of the EU right now, and we talk about the debt situation most of the time, in Europe.  I conveyed the message to the President that I am convinced that we will see ourselves through this crisis.  We have now put some very important measures in place.  We have fiscal conservation, we have reforms, and we have focus on growth and jobs right now.

In doing that, in this endeavor, I think a closer transatlantic relationship will be important.  We are dependent on each other and we should have closer trade with each other, and I think that would be part of creating sustainable growth in our own countries. 

As you were saying, Mr. President, we also have close ties in terms of security.  It is clear -- it has been for a long time -- that Danish soldiers are serving alongside American soldiers in Afghanistan, and I used the opportunity today to thank you and the American people for the great effort you have put in Afghanistan.  It is greatly appreciated worldwide.  And I know that the Danish people really appreciate the global leadership that you and your people have taken also within that context.

I look forward, of course, to coming back to the States, to your hometown, Chicago, to participate in the NATO summit.  And what we will be discussing there is Afghanistan, of course.  One of the major issues there is transition to the next phase in Afghanistan, and where -- what we want to see is the Afghans taking responsibility for their own security.  And we are, in Europe, with all the Danish leadership, trying to gather donors in this -- in securing that the Afghans are capable of taking over their own security.

We have some great samples of our alliance.  We have worked together, again, in Libya, where we made sure that Libya came out on a path of democracy.  And I think, again, the Americans showed leadership in that context.

Another area that we discussed, as you’ve said, was Syria, which is quite the opposite situation.  It is horrendous what we see in Syria right now.  But I think it is also very, very true that we have worked together in that area.  We must continue that endeavor, and just today we have seen that, of the leadership of the League of Arab States, there has been a step forward in trying to put pressure on Syria, which is very, very important.  The same goes for Iran. 

Another area in security where we work together is in terms of piracy, and I used the opportunity of thanking sincerely the President for the courageous operation that led to the freeing of two aid workers that worked for the Danish Refugee Council.  They are now safe because of the Americans.  Thank you for that.

So basically our security -- our cooperation in terms of security are very great indeed. 

I will finish here just by saying that I think our meeting here today has confirmed the friendship and the alliance between our two countries.  There’s a lot we can do that -- you're always welcome to come to Denmark -- and I think it is very, very important that we have these kind of meetings to renew the friendship, and this is what you’ve done today. 

Thank you.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Thank you very much, everybody. 

END
3:51 P.M. EST