Remarks by the First Lady and Dr. Biden On Military Spouse Licensing

The Pentagon

3:27 P.M. EST

DR. BIDEN:  Hello.  Thank you, Secretary Panetta and Deputy Secretary Wolin for your leadership.  Thank you, General Dempsey, for your kind introduction.  Good afternoon, Deanie, and all the Joint Chiefs and your spouses.  Thank you for being such great partners to Michelle and me.

I want to offer a special welcome to all of our service members and their spouses.  We are honored to be with you today.
 
Many of you know, as the General mentioned, that I am a proud military mom.  One of the best parts of my role as Second Lady is the privilege of meeting with service members and their families all over the world.  I am always amazed at their courage, their determination and their resilience.  That inspiration is one of the main reasons the First Lady and I started Joining Forces so that all Americans are helping to support our military families.

We’ve seen Americans step up in so many ways.  We’ve seen businesses hiring tens of thousands of veterans and military spouses -- businesses like Sears, Kmart and Sam’s Club have made commitments to hire military spouses or make base transfers easier.  Medical schools have committed to educate their students about post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries and conduct new research on these conditions.  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.

And Americans are stepping up because they know how much our military spouses and families have done for our country.  People like Ann Wells.  Ann’s husband, Robert, is career combat engineer and command service sergeant major.  After 10 years of marriage, Ann went back to school for her nursing degree.

As a teacher, I have had the privilege of teaching countless women like Ann, women who fight hard for a good education.  But like so many military spouses, Ann moved frequently with her husband and that often meant a new license was required to pursue her nursing career in Hawaii, in Tennessee, in Texas and in Missouri.  That's why our efforts here today are so important.  They are another way we can show our support for those who serve this country.

Please join me in welcoming Ann.  (Applause.)

* * * * *

MRS. OBAMA:  Someone can give an order to be seated.  There are plenty of people here who can do that, correct?  (Laughter.)  But thank you for that wonderful welcome.  And thank you, Ann.  Thank you for the kind introduction and for all that you and your family have done for our country. 

I also want to thank Secretary Panetta for hosting us here at the Pentagon.  And of course, I have to thank Jill, who has been such a wonderful friend and such a terrific partner in Joining Forces.

I also want to join in recognizing General Dempsey and his wife, Jeannie -- Deanie, why am I saying Jeannie?

Hi, Deanie.  How are you?  (Laughter.)  Thank you.  You’ve been amazing.  You’ve helped us through.  You’ve kept us on the straight and narrow along with all of the other spouses of the Joint Chiefs.  You all have been just amazing supports.  And I also have to recognize the Joint Chiefs as well.  Thank you all.  You all have been so steadfast, just right there every step of the way.  We are just proud of everything that you do for this country.

And we also have Deputy Secretary Neal Wolin, who is here from the Department of Treasury, who has put so much time and effort into helping prepare this report.  We wouldn’t be here today without all that you have done, so thank you.  Well done.  Job well done.  Absolutely.

(Applause.)

We also have Alan Krueger, who’s the Chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors; of course, the First Lady of Kentucky, Jane Beshear, who has been really doing some phenomenal work in her state and taking the lead and stepping up in ways big and small.  We really are grateful to everything that you’ve done.  We also have members of Congress here, we have state legislators, and we representatives from many of our nation’s veterans service organizations who are here with us. 

And we are all here today, we have all gathered, to say this to America’s military families:  We are incredibly grateful for your service.  We understand the unique challenges that you face; and we are going to do everything that we can to make sure that you can pursue your careers and provide for your families. 

Now as Jill said, over the past few years, she and I have had the privilege of visiting with military spouses all across the country.  And as Jill said, you all are some of the most courageous, resilient, and inspiring people that we have ever met.  You all are the ones who keep your families together when your spouse is deployed.  You’re the parents who turn off the news at night for fear of what you  might hear, who answer all those questions about why Mom or Dad has been gone for so long.

You’re the spouse who steps up to do the work of two parents, raising the kids, running the household, juggling all the errands and chores all alone.  But you are still the volunteer on the PTA.   You still lead that food drive.  You organize the neighborhood carpool.  You’re the families who, every few years, you pack up your entire lives, and you move whenever and wherever your country calls.

But no matter how much is on your plate, no matter what this country asks of you, you all just keep moving forward.  You just keep serving your families, your communities and your country in ways that many of us cannot fathom.

But when it comes to moving forward in your own careers, when it comes to getting a job and being able to provide for your families when you arrive at that new base or duty station, far too often, you can't just keep moving because you’ve run into a brick wall.

It happens to military spouses again and again.  You’re asked to move to a new state.  You want to get back to the job you love and the job you need to support your family.  But you can’t do any of that because your nursing license or your teaching credentials don’t transfer when you move to a new state.
 
It happens to nurses like Ann.  It happens to school teachers, to childcare providers, to accountants, real estate brokers, dental hygienists, lawyers too -- that's supposed to be funny.  No one likes lawyers.  (Laughter.)  And so many other careers.  We have learned that more than one of every three military spouses in the labor force have jobs that require some kind of professional license or certification.  So this licensing issue affects more than 100,000 individuals -- 100,000 individuals.  And the vast majority of you are clearly ready to work when you get to your new state.

You’ve already demonstrated your specialized skills.  You’ve already gained years of professional experience.  But too often, as Ann said, you’re left waiting for paperwork to clear while your skills go unused and more importantly your family’s bank accounts shrink.  And this is something Jill and I hear about on every single base and in every single military community that we visit.  It is the number one issue that military spouses tell us about.

And we know that this is a challenge for these families because the one important thing that I have learned about military spouses is they never complain.  They never ever ask for anything. 

So on the rare occasion when our military spouses do speak up and ask for our help, then it’s time for all of us to take action.  And that’s what today’s report from the Departments of Defense and Treasury is all about.  That's what we’re doing.  We’re all taking action.  We’ve heard your frustrations, and we’re finding solutions. 

And that starts by first recognizing how these issues arise.  Now, each state issues its own professional license and sets its own standards of professional competence.  Take teachers, for example.  To earn a teaching license, states ask for some combination of state and national test scores, supervised work experience, and advanced coursework.  But when you analyze requirements like these across several states, you begin to understand the challenges that arise for military spouses.

In some states, for example, applicants are required to take an entry-level course in state history or other subjects before the licensing board will grant a license.  So if you’re a military spouse with years of teaching experience and you move across state lines, you could end up taking extra classes for weeks on end before you can even get a job, and that’s just what happens in one profession. 

When you’re talking about dozens of careers, the web of requirements and standards can get pretty thick.  But before we go any further, let me be very clear:  We’re not asking any state to change their standards.  These state rules are important, and states have every right to set benchmarks just like these.  In doing so, they hold our professionals to a high bar and they give us all peace of mind whenever we walk into a hospital or enroll our kids in school.

But it’s also clear that this system poses very unique challenges for our military families.  And recently, a number of states have stepped forward to address this very problem.

So let me just tell you about what just some of a few states are already doing.  In Tennessee, they’re granting temporary licenses in many professions, which will allow spouses to get a job first, then complete any remaining state licensing requirements.  In Colorado, the director of their state licensing agency now has the power to waive cumbersome requirements for military spouses who clearly demonstrate their competence.  And then in Arizona, they passed legislation to grant licenses, in most professions, to military spouses who have at least one year of experience.

So that’s three states with three different solutions.  In each of them, military spouses with professional skills and experience don’t have to wait before they get to work.  If they need to complete any remaining requirements in their new state, they can do it as they earn a paycheck. 

And that’s the general guideline that eight other states have followed as they’ve created laws of their own.  And we’re pleased that 13 more states have legislation pending or waiting to be introduced.  But that still leaves 26 states -– that still leaves more than half the country –- that have yet to address this issue.

And, again, that’s where this report comes in.  We know that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution here.  Every state is different.  So this report simply provides a roadmap of best practices that leaders across the country can use as a resource as they explore ways that their state can better support these military families.

The report contains tips and ideas, not edicts and decrees.  But the point is that there are solutions here.  This is a solvable problem.  So today we are setting a national goal -– by the year 2014, we want all 50 states to have passed their own legislation to address these licensing issues.

And we know it’s an ambitious goal.  We know it won’t be easy to achieve, but we also know that our nation’s military families have waited long enough.  (Applause.)

And it’s also important to note that this isn’t just about military spouses.  This issue affects our troops.  It affects our military children, all of whom are relying on the income of these spouses earn.  This affects our schools and our hospitals and our businesses that need those skilled employees.  And all of that affects our entire economy -– our unemployment rate, our productivity, our competitiveness all around the world.

So it’s time for us to come together as a country to find some solutions to this problem that has affected so many of our military families for so long.  It is time for us to make sure that our military spouses, that their hard work and professional skills are recognized, no matter what state they move to.

And we’re all willing to do our part to work together to move this issue forward and to provide support for states along the way.  That’s why, in addition to today’s announcement, when our nation’s governors gather at the White House in just two weeks, Jill and I are going to make this ask directly. 

We’re going to ask each of the governors to lead the charge on this issue in their state.  We’re also going to reach out to state legislators across the country, and we’re going to ask them to jumpstart the legislative process.  The state liaisons here at the Department of Defense will be working nonstop to help these state leaders craft and pass bills that fit their states’ needs.

In addition, we’re going to be asking advocacy groups like the National Military Family Association to engage at a state level to build the kind of grassroots support that will help get this done.  And we’re going to urge more national professional organizations to follow the lead of the American Bar Association, which actively is encouraging its state affiliates to make licensing accommodations for military spouses.

So we are ready to roll up our sleeves and do some heavy lifting on this issue.  We are ready to make this happen.  And if we can do this, if we can work together so that every state can find its own solution, we’ll once again show all of you –- our incredible military families –- that America has your back.

After all, that’s exactly what you do for all of us every single day.  That's what you do for us.  No matter how much we ask of you, no matter what the personal cost, our military families always answer the call.  They always do.

And today, as we announce this new effort, I’m reminded of a group of military spouses that I met with a few years ago in Kentucky.  One woman we were talking to, she choked up as she told me about some of the challenges that she and her family were facing.  And I’ll never forget what happened next: another military spouse who was sitting there, she jumped in and she said -- and this is a quote -- she said, “I don’t know this woman.  I didn’t meet her before today, but when she leaves here, she will have my number.  And she will be able to call me anytime.  She’s got the support of this friend right here.”

See and I tell that story because that's who military spouses are.  That's exactly who they are.  That’s the life that so many of you here today lead.  That is the commitment that you show every single day to your families, to our communities and to our country.   And I just want you all to know that you can call on us, and we will answer.  We owe it to you and your families who have sacrificed so much.

And so to all of the state leaders out there, in this room and beyond, I want to thank you for everything that you’ve done so far, and I look forward to working with you to finish this job.

And to our troops and our military families, I cannot thank you enough for everything you do for this country. 

We are inspired by you.  We are so proud of you, and we are working as hard as we can to serve you as well as you have served this country.

Thank you and, God bless, and God bless the United States of America.  Thanks, so much.  (Applause.)

END
3:50 P.M. EST

Remarks by Vice President Biden and Chinese Vice President Xi at the State Department Luncheon

Benjamin Franklin Room, State Department

1:30 P.M. EST

        VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN:  Well, thank you all for being here.  And it’s an honor to welcome Vice President Xi, along with the entire Chinese delegation.

        I told Vice President Xi, his visit to Iowa tomorrow will assure him more delegates than I got the last time I was there.  (Laughter.)  And, Mr. Vice President, this is not part of the script, but Lindsey Graham is relieved you didn’t show up in January.  You may have won the Republican nomination.  (Laughter.)  Secretary Kissinger, you can see formality is still my forte.  (Laughter.)

        Madam Secretary, this lunch is a great start.  I hope we can match the extraordinary hospitality that the Vice President showed me in my four-day visit to China last August.

        The highlight of that trip for me, Mr. Vice President, was the time we spent in conversation together in Beijing, in Chengdu, and I look forward to continuing the conversations we started this morning over the next four days you’re here.

        The Vice President has already participated in three meetings prior to this lunch and they’ve covered a broad range of constructive discussions, and we have a very ambitious agenda in the coming days as well.

        As the Vice President and I have discussed at some length, the United States and China have much to do together, quite frankly, because our relationship is literally going to help shape the 21st century.  We’re not only the two -- the world’s two largest economies, we’re both Pacific powers.  And every day the affairs of our nations and the livelihoods of our citizens grow more connected.

        The President and I came to office determined to rebalance America’s strategic priorities toward those regions that are most critical to our nation’s future, and that meant refocusing on Asia, the most dynamic region of the global economy.  And to state the obvious, the U.S.-China relationship is a critical component of our broader Asian strategy.  Our people, both American and Chinese, are indeed people -- quite frankly, people all around the world will benefit from this mutual effort to build a more cooperative partnership between our countries.

        I first visited China in 1979, and the prosperity achieved since then, which I saw as recently as this past August is -- as all of you know who visit it -- stunning, absolutely stunning.  Few other nations in history have come so far, so fast, and it’s a great credit to the talent and industriousness of the Chinese people.

        But I respectfully suggest that this remarkable growth did not occur in a vacuum.  It was cultivated at every turn by an international system that enables rapid development grounded in rules that apply with equal measure to all nations.  Mr. Vice President, even as our cooperation grows, as we’ve discussed, the United States and China will continue to compete.  And, as Americans, we welcome competition.  It’s part of our DNA and it propels our citizens to rise to the challenge.

        But cooperation, as you and I have spoken about, can only be mutually beneficial if the game is fair.  That’s why in -- the meetings we’ve had this morning were essentially a continuation of the multiple meetings we had in your country in August, and we spent a great deal of time discussing the areas of our greatest concern, including the need to rebalance the global economy, to protect intellectual property rights and trade secrets, to address China’s undervalued exchange rate, to level the competitive playing field and to prevent the forced transfer of technology, and to continue a constructive dialogue on policies that would benefit our citizens and the world.

        While the United States and China -- as you have pointed out, Mr. Vice President -- will not always see eye to eye, it is a sign of the strength and maturity of our relationship that we can be candid about our differences as we have been.  We saw this in the recent U.N. Security Council debate about Syria, where we strongly disagreed with China and Russia’s veto of a resolution against the unconscionable violence being perpetrated by the Assad regime.

        And as was brought up by the President in his meeting with you and my meeting with you as well, we see our advocacy for human rights as a fundamental aspect of our foreign policy and we believe a key to the prosperity and stability of all societies.  We have been clear about our concern over the areas in which from our perspective conditions in China have deteriorated and about the plight of several very prominent individuals.  And we appreciate your response.

        Despite our differences, China and the United States are working more closely together on a broader range of issues than ever before.  These include pressing security challenges North Korea and Iran, maritime security, cyber security and the important work of developing cooperation between our militaries.

        As you and the President briefly discussed in the Oval Office, it also includes our efforts in Sudan and in South Asia, and on global issues such as climate change and nuclear security.  We appreciate your candid responses as we discuss these issues, Mr. Vice President, and I believe you appreciate ours as well.

        So, Mr. Vice President, once again welcome to the United States.  I’ve always believed that the best way -- sometimes, the only way -- to truly understand a country is to see it with your own eyes.  As you know, there’s an old Chinese saying, better to travel 10,000 miles than read 10,000 books.  Although I read Dr. Kissinger’s book on China, I felt that my trip to your country was at least as important last summer.  (Laughter.)

        Actually, Mr. Vice President, I can’t thank you enough for the hospitality you extended to me in my trip.  And I would like to, with your permission, propose a toast -- a toast to a successful visit for the Vice President and the increasing cooperation and understanding that will help both our nations continue to increase this relationship and may it benefit not only us, but the whole world.

        Mr. Vice President.  (Applause.)  

        (A toast was offered.)

        VICE PRESIDENT XI:  (As interpreted)  Mr. Vice President, Madam Secretary, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, it gives me great pleasure to attend this luncheon hosted jointly by Vice President Biden and Secretary Clinton, for me and my colleagues.

        Last August, Vice President Biden paid a successful visit to China.  I’m now in the United States on a return visit at his kind invitation.  The purpose of my visit is to implement the agreement between our two presidents, enhance China-U.S. strategic trust, broaden practical cooperation, deepen people-to-people friendship, and further advance the cooperative partnership between our two countries.

        This year marks the 40th anniversary of President Nixon’s visit to China and the issuance of the Shanghai Communique.  Forty years ago, with the extraordinary courage and vision of statesmen, the leaders of our two countries opened the door of China-U.S. exchanges that had been sealed off for years.

        Despite some twists and turns over the past four decades, China-U.S. relations have kept moving forward, scoring achievements of historic proportions.  The growth of China-U.S. relations has brought huge benefits to the two countries and two peoples, and lent a strong impetus to peace, stability, and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large.  The China-U.S. relationship has become one of the most important, dynamic, and promising bilateral relationships in the world.  

        As the saying goes, when you drink water, don’t forget those who dug the well.  Today, when we enjoy the fruit of China-U.S. relations, we should be grateful to the generations of Chinese and American leaders for their outstanding contribution to the new chapter in the annals of China-U.S. relations.  We should also be grateful to the Chinese and American friends from various sectors, including many who are present today, for the painstaking and resourceful efforts they have made for the development of China-U.S. relations.

        In the past three years during the Obama administration, China-U.S. relations have, on the whole, maintained positive momentum of growth.  In January last year, President Hu Jintao paid a visit to the United States.  He and President Obama reached an important agreement on working together to build a China-U.S. cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual benefit, charting the course for the long-term development of China-U.S. relations.  We are glad to see that the two countries have further deepened practical cooperation in a wide array of areas and carried out productive communication and coordination on a range of major international, regional, and global issues.  

        This morning, I had a meeting with President Obama and held talks with Vice President Biden at the White House.  We had an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and major issues of shared interest and reached a lot of new and important consensus.  We all believe that the two sides should focus on our common interests and open a new path of cooperative partnership between major countries featuring harmonious coexistence, sound interactions and win-win cooperation.  To this end, our two sides should treat each other with sincerity and candor and enhanced dialogue and communication.  We should respect each other and strengthen strategic, mutual trust.  We should keep pace with the times and expand practical cooperation.  We should look ahead to the future and step up people-to-people exchanges.  And we should intensify coordination and work together to meet challenges.

        President Obama, Vice President Biden and I devoted the greater part of our discussion on economic and trade issues.  We share the view that as the international economic and financial situation remains grim and as ensuring growth, adjusting structure, and promoting employment are high on the domestic agenda of both countries, we must continue to make concerted efforts to tide over difficulties, accelerate the building of the comprehensive and the mutually beneficial economic partnership, and maintain steady economic recovery and growth in both countries and the world as a whole.

        We should tap our cooperation potential, create more bright spots in our cooperation, and strive for greater balance in trade and investment between the two countries.  We should address each other’s economic and trade concerns through dialogue and consultation, not protectionism, and uphold the mutually beneficial pattern of China-U.S. economic relations and trade.  

        We also had a candid exchange of views on human rights and other issues.  I stressed that China has made tremendous and well-recognized achievements in the field of human rights over the past 30 plus years since reform and opening up.  Of course, there is always room for improvement when it comes to human rights.  Given China’s huge population, considerable regional diversity, and uneven development, we’re still faced with many challenges in improving people’s livelihood and advancing human rights.  

        The Chinese Government will always put people’s interests first and take seriously people’s aspirations and demands.  We will, in the light of China’s national conditions, continue to take concrete and effective policies and measures to promote social fairness, justice and harmony, and push forward China’s course of human rights.

        At the same time, we’re ready to conduct candid and constructive dialogue and exchanges on human rights with the United States and other countries on the basis of equality and mutual respect, with a view to enhancing understanding, narrowing differences, learning from each other, and achieving common progress.

        China is the world’s largest developing country, while the United States is the largest developed country.  To build a new type of cooperative partnership between two countries like ours is a pioneering endeavor with great and far-reaching significance.  There is no precedent for us to follow and no ready experience for us to refer to.  We can only do what Mr. Deng Xiaoping said, “Cross the river by feeling the stones.”  Or what Secretary Clinton one quoted:  “When confronted by mountains, one finds a way through.  When blocked by a river, one finds a way to bridge to the other side.”  A Chinese pop song goes like this:  “May I ask where the path is?  It is where you take your first step.”

        I’m convinced that China and the United States have the wisdom, ability and means to maintain and develop their cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual benefit.  And by doing so, we’ll set an unprecedented and inspiring example for countries with different political systems, histories, cultures, and levels of economic development to cultivate positive and cooperative relations.

        I now propose a toast to the health of Vice President Biden and Secretary Clinton, and that of all the friends present, to the remarkable development of China-U.S. relations in the past 40 years and to make even better tomorrow of China-U.S. relations.  Cheers.

        (A toast was offered.)  (Applause.)

END 2:03 P.M. EST

Remarks by the President on Extending the Payroll Tax Cut

South Court Auditorium

10:55 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, everybody.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Everybody, please have a seat.  Well, good morning.  And let me start with a quick public service announcement for all the gentlemen out there:  Today is Valentine’s Day.  (Laughter.)  Do not forget.  I speak from experience here.  (Laughter.)  It is important that you remember this.  And go big -- that's my advice.  (Laughter.) 

Lately, I’ve been saying that this is a make-or-break moment for the middle class in America, and for folks who want to be in the middle class.  We face a choice.  We can settle for a country where a few people do really, really well and everybody else struggles just to get by.  Or we can restore an economy where everybody gets a fair shot, and everybody is doing their fair share, and everybody is playing by the same set of rules.  And that second option is, I strongly believe, the kind of America that we want for our kids and our grandkids.  That’s who we are. That’s the America that we believe in.  That's what we have to roll up our sleeves and get back to doing, is creating an America where everybody is doing their fair share, everybody gets a fair shot, everybody is engaging in fair play.

We’re still fighting our way back from the worst economic crisis in our lifetimes, and we’ve still got a lot of work to do and a long way to go.  It's going to take time to recover all the jobs that were lost when the recession was at its depth.  But the fight is beginning to turn our way. 

Over the past two years, our businesses have added over 3.7 million new jobs.  Our manufacturers are hiring more new workers to make more new things here in America than at any time since the 1990s.  So our economy is growing stronger.  And the last thing we need, the last thing we can afford to do, is to go back to the same policies that got us in this mess in the first place.  The last thing we need is for Washington to stand in the way of America’s comeback.
 
First and foremost, that means Washington shouldn’t hike taxes on working Americans right now.  That's the wrong thing to do.  But that’s exactly what’s going to happen at the end of this month -- in a couple of weeks -- if Congress doesn’t do something about it.  The payroll tax cut we put in place last year will expire.  The typical American family will shell out nearly a thousand dollars more in taxes this year.  You’ll lose about $40 out of every paycheck if Congress does not act. 

And that can’t happen.  Not now.  And it doesn’t have to.  Congress needs to extend that tax cut -- along with vital insurance lifelines for folks who've lost their jobs during this recession -- and they need to do it now, without drama and without delay.  No ideological sideshows to gum up the works.  No self-inflicted wounds.  Just pass this middle-class tax cut.  Pass the extension of unemployment insurance.  Do it before it’s too late.  And I will sign it right away.  (Applause.)

Now, the good news is over the last couple of days, we've seen some hopeful signs in Congress that they realize that they've got to get this done and you're starting to hear voices talk about how can we go ahead and make this happen in a timely way on behalf of the American people.  That is good news.  But as you guys know, you can’t take anything for granted here in Washington until my signature is actually on it. 

So we've got to keep on making sure that the American people's voices keep breaking through until this is absolutely, finally, completely done.  Until you see me sign this thing, you've got to keep on speaking up.  Until you see that photograph of me signing it at my desk -- (laughter) -- make sure it's verified, certified.  If it's not on the White House website, it hasn't happened.  And I'm going to need to make sure that your voices are heard. 

Last December, when we had this same fight, your voices made all the difference.  We asked folks to tell what it was like -- what it would be like if they lost $40 out of every one of their paychecks -- because we wanted to make sure that people understood this is not just an abstract argument, this is concrete.  This makes a difference in the lives of folks all across the country in very important ways. 

Tens of thousands of working Americans flooded us with their stories, and some of them are here with me today.  And their feedback has been pretty unanimous.  Allowing this tax cut to expire would make people’s lives harder right now.  It would make their choices more difficult.  It would be $40 less for groceries to feed your kids; it would be $40 less for the medications you depend on; $40 less to cover bills and the rent; $40 less to take care of an elder parent, or to donate to a church or a charity.  And when gas prices are on the rise again -- because as the economy strengthens, global demand for oil increases -- and if we start seeing significant increases in gas prices, losing that $40 could not come at a worse time. 

One local entrepreneur named Thierry -- where’s Thierry?  He’s right here.  He told us that $40 would cover the gas that gets him to his day job, or, alternatively, the Internet service his small business depends on.  So he’d have to start making a choice -- do I fill up my gas tank to get to my work, or do I give up my entrepreneurial dream.  “Forty dollars,” he wrote, “means a heck of a lot.”  Means a heck of a lot.

And that's what this debate is all about.  This is what’s at stake for millions of Americans.  This is why it matters to people -- it matters a heck of a lot.  And I’m asking the American people to keep their stories coming.  Tell us what $40 means to you.  If you tweet it, use the hashtag “40dollars.” (Laughter.)  Call, tweet, write your congressmen, write your senators.  Tell them, do not let up until this thing gets done.  Don't let taxes go up on 160 million working Americans.  Don't let millions of Americans who are out there looking for work right now, and the economy is starting to improve but they don't have a job yet -- don't leave them without a lifeline in terms of cutting off their unemployment insurance.

When a plane is finally lifting off the ground, you don’t ease up on the throttle.  You keep the throttle on full.  You keep going.  And our plane is up there, but we’re not at cruising altitude yet.  (Laughter.)

After all, extending this tax cut and the unemployment insurance is the least of what we should be doing for working Americans.  It’s just a start.  We need to rebuild an economy where middle-class folks can focus on more than just getting by and folks who want to get in the middle class have those ladders to get into the middle class.  We’ve got to rebuild an economy where the middle class thrives and more Americans have a chance to earn their way into it -- an economy built to last.

Yesterday, I released a blueprint for how we get there.  It’s a blueprint for an economy built on new American manufacturing, and new American energy sources, and new skills and education for American workers, and a new focus on the values that are the bedrock of this country -- values like fairness and responsibility for all and from all.  We’re going to be better off if we start building that economy right now.

And we can do it, because we’ve done it before.  We have a common challenge; it’s time for us to meet it with a common purpose, and to show a sense of seriousness that's equal to the task. 

So on behalf of all the hardworking Americans who are standing behind me, I want to thank you for helping to tell your story, and tell the story of why this is so important.  And I just want everybody, all across the country, to keep the pressure so that we get this done.  It is going to make our economy stronger, and it's going to put us in a position where we can start really rebuilding on behalf of not just this generation but future generations. 

Thank you very much, everybody.  God bless you.  God bless America.  (Applause.)

END                  
11:03 A.M. EST

Remarks by the President on the Budget

Northern Virginia dale, Virginia

11:12 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  (Applause.)  Thank you, Virginia!  Thank you, NOVA!  (Applause.)  Thank you very much.  Everybody who has a chair please have a seat.  I know not everybody has a chair. 

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Love you!

THE PRESIDENT:  I love you back.  (Laughter.)  Great to be here.

First of all, I want to thank Mike for the wonderful introduction.  Please give Mike a big round of applause.  (Applause.) 

It is great to be back here at NOVA.  I’ve been here so many times I’m about three credits short of graduation.  (Laughter.)  But there are a couple of reasons that I keep on coming back.  First of all, I think that Dr. Templin and the whole administration here is doing a great job, so I want to give them a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  The other reason is because Jill Biden keeps talking up how great you are.  And just as I do what Michelle tells me to do, I also do what Jill Biden tells me to do.  (Laughter.) 

In addition, by the way, I just want to acknowledge that we also have our Secretary of Labor here, Hilda Solis, who's doing an outstanding job.  (Applause.)

But the main reason I keep on coming back is I think this institution is an example of what's best about America.  Some of you may have your eye on a four-year college.  Some of you may be trying to learn new skills that could lead to a new job, like Mike, or a job that pays more, gives you more opportunity.  But all of you are here because you believe in yourselves, you believe in your ability, you believe in the future of this country.  And that’s something that inspires me and you guys should take great pride in. 

Now, the truth is, the skills and training you get here will be the best tools you have to achieve the American promise -- the promise that if you work hard, you can do well enough to raise a family, own a home, send your kids to college, and put a little away for retirement. 

And the defining issue of our time is how to keep this promise alive today -- for everybody.  Because we've got a choice:  We can settle for a country where a few people do really, really well, and everybody else struggles to get by.  Or we can restore an economy where everybody gets a fair shot, everybody does their fair share, everybody plays by the same set of rules -- from Washington to Wall Street to Main Street.  That’s the America we believe in.  (Applause.) 

Now, we're still recovering from one of the worst economic crises in three generations.  We've got a long way to go before everybody who wants a good job can find one; before middle-class Americans regain that sense of security that’s been slipping away for too long -- long before the recession hit. 

But over the last 23 months, we’ve added 3.7 million new jobs.  (Applause.)  American manufacturers are creating jobs for the first time since the 1990s.  The economy is growing stronger.  The recovery is speeding up.  And the last thing we can afford to do right now is to go back to the very policies that got us into this mess in the first place.  We can't afford it.  (Applause.)  The last thing we need is for Washington to stand in the way of America's comeback.  (Applause.) 

Now, what does that mean concretely?  For starters, Congress needs to stop taxes from going up on 160 million Americans by the end of this month.  And if they don’t act, that's exactly what will happen.  (Applause.)  Congress needs to pass an extension of the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance without drama, and without delay, and without linking it to some other ideological side issues. 

We've been through this before, remember?  We've seen this movie.  We don't need to see it again.  The time for self-inflicted wounds to our economy has to be over.  Now is the time for action.  Now is the time for all of us to move forward.

But preventing a tax hike on the middle class -- that's only the beginning, that's just starters.  In the State of the Union, I outlined a blueprint for an economy that is built to last -– an economy built on new manufacturing, and new sources of energy, and new skills and education for the American people.

Today, we’re releasing the details of that blueprint in the form of next year’s budget.  And don’t worry, I will not read it to you.  (Laughter.)  It's long and a lot of numbers.  But the main idea in the budget is this:  At a time when our economy is growing and creating jobs at a faster clip, we've got to do everything in our power to keep this recovery on track.

Part of our job is to bring down our deficit.  And if Congress adopts this budget, then along with the cuts that we’ve already made, we’ll be able to reduce our deficit by $4 trillion by the year 2022 -- $4 trillion.  I’m proposing some difficult cuts that, frankly, I wouldn’t normally make if they weren’t absolutely necessary.  But they are.  And the truth is we’re going to have to make some tough choices in order to put this country back on a more sustainable fiscal path.

By reducing our deficit in the long term, what that allows us to do is to invest in the things that will help grow our economy right now.  We can’t cut back on those things that are important for us to grow.  We can't just cut our way into growth. We can cut back on the things that we don’t need, but we also have to make sure that everyone is paying their fair share for the things that we do need. 

We need to restore American manufacturing by ending tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, giving them to companies that are creating jobs right here in the United States of America.  (Applause.)  That’s something that everybody should agree on. 

We need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil by ending the subsidies for oil companies, and doubling down on clean energy that generates jobs and strengthens our security.  (Applause.)

And to make sure our businesses don’t have to move overseas to find skilled workers, we’ve got to invest in places like NOVA, and make sure higher education is affordable for every hardworking American.  (Applause.)

That’s what I want to focus on today -- what we need to do in terms of higher education, and community colleges in particular.  Employers today are looking for the most skilled, educated workers.  I don’t want them to find them in India or China.  I want businesses to find those workers right here, in the United States.  The skills and training that employers are looking for begins with the men and women who educate our children. 

All of us can point to a teacher who’s made a difference in our lives -- and I know I can.  So I want this Congress to give our schools the resources to keep good teachers on the job, and reward the best teachers.  And in return, they also need to give schools the flexibility to stop just teaching to the test, and replace teachers who aren’t helping kids learn.  That’s something that we can do.  (Applause.)

So making sure we’ve got the most skilled workers starts early.  It starts with K-12 -- it starts before K-12, making sure every child is prepared.  And when an American of any age wants to pursue any kind of higher education -- whether it’s that high school grad who's just trying to get that first couple years of college education, or somebody like Mike who's in the process of retraining -- whether it’s two years or four years or more, we’ve got to make sure that education is affordable and available to everybody who wants to go.

Now, this Congress needs to stop the interest rates on student loans from doubling this July.  That's pretty important. (Applause.)  That's in our budget.  We’re saying to Congress, now is not the time to make school more expensive for young people.  And they can act right now to make that change.

They also need to take the tuition tax credit that my administration put in the budget over these last few years -– a tax credit that saves families thousands of dollars on tuition -– and we need to make that permanent.  It shouldn’t be temporary, it should be permanent.  (Applause.)

So between the increases we've provided in Pell grants, these tax credits, keeping interest rates low -- all that is going to help.  And millions of students across the country have benefitted from that.  But students and taxpayers can’t just keep on subsidizing skyrocketing tuition -- we're going to run out of money.  So that’s why I've asked states and colleges to do their part to keep costs down. 

We're putting colleges and universities on notice:  You can't just keep on raising tuition and expect us to keep on coming up with more and more money.  Because tuition inflation has actually gone up even faster than health care.  That’s hard to do.  (Laughter.) 

So what we're saying to states, colleges and universities -- if you can't stop tuition from going up, then funding you get from taxpayers will go down.  Because higher education cannot be a luxury; it is an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford.  That’s part of the American promise in the 21st century.  (Applause.)

So that’s what we need to do to get more Americans ready for the jobs of the future.  But what about the jobs that are open today?  I talked about this at the State of the Union.  There are millions of jobs open right now, and there are millions of people who are unemployed.  And the question is how do we match up those workers to those jobs?  What about the companies that are looking to hire right now?

I hear from business leaders all the time who want to hire in the United States, but at the moment, they cannot always find workers with the right skills.  Growing industries in science and technology have twice as many openings as we have workers who can do those jobs.  Think about that.  At a time when millions of Americans are looking for work, we shouldn't have any job openings out there.  They should all be getting filled up.

Here in America, we’ve got the best workers and some of the fastest-growing companies in the world.  There’s no reason we can’t connect the two.  And places like NOVA are proving that we know how to do it.  This institution proves we know how to do it. (Applause.) 

So let's say you are a single parent, or a returning veteran, or somebody who just wants a shot at a better-paying job.  You’re a hard worker, you’re a fast learner, you’re motivated.  You know there are companies looking to hire.  You just need to figure out how to acquire some of the specific skills, the specialized skills that the companies need, and you need to figure that out as quickly as possible -– hopefully without taking on tons of debt.

Everybody in America should be able to get those skills at a community college like NOVA.  And companies looking to hire should be able to count on these schools to provide them with a steady stream of workers qualified to fill those specific jobs.

That's why Mike was sharing his story.  As Mike mentioned, he worked in the mortgage and real estate industry for 10 years, but when business declined after 9/11, he decided to start over. So he began selling building materials.  Then the bottom fell out of the housing market, so Mike had to start all over again.  He's got a knack for computers.  So he figured he’d try a career in cybersecurity, where there is a lot of hiring -- that is going to be a growth industry. 

Luckily for Mike, NOVA is home to a program called CyberWatch.  So he signed up -- even though he's driving a limo on the side, he's still got to pay the bills.  So he's working while going to school.  But in December, Mike earned two certificates -- and, by the way, finished with a 4.0.  So we're proud of that.  (Applause.)   Now he’s working towards his Associate’s degree.  And when he graduates, Mike will have access to a network of over 40 companies and government agencies to help him find a job.

So we need more stories like Mike’s.  That’s why my administration is helping community colleges redesign training programs, so students can learn the skills that are most in demand in industries like health care sciences and advanced manufacturing.  And that’s why we’re making a national commitment to train 2 million Americans with skills they need to get a job right now, or start their own business right now.  (Applause.)

We’ve lined up more companies that want to help.  We’ve already got model partnerships between major businesses like Siemens and community colleges in places like Charlotte and Orlando and Louisville -- they're already up and running.  We know how they work.  And that's why I’ve asked Dr. Biden Secretary Solis to take a bus tour through several states, including Ohio and Kentucky and North Carolina, to highlight businesses and community colleges that are working together to train workers for careers that are in demand right now.  We've got to make these examples a model for the entire nation.

And we also need to give more community colleges the resources they need to become community career centers -- places where folks can learn the skills that local business are looking for right now, from data management to high-tech manufacturing.  This should be an engine of job growth all across the country, these community colleges, and that’s why we’ve got to support them.  That’s why it’s such a big priority.  (Applause.)

So an economy built to last demands that we keep doing everything we can to help students learn the skills that businesses are looking for.  It means we have to keep strengthening American manufacturing.  It means we’ve got to keep investing in American energy.  We've got to double down on the clean energy that’s creating jobs.  But it also means we've got to renew the American values of fair play and shared responsibility.

The budget that we’re releasing today is a reflection of shared responsibility.  It says that if we’re serious about investing in our future and investing in community colleges, and investing in new energy technology, and investing in basic research, well, we’ve got to pay for it.  And that means we've got to make some choices. 

Right now, we’re scheduled to spend nearly $1 trillion more on what was intended to be a temporary tax cut for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans.  We’ve already spent about that much.  Now we’re scheduled to spend another trillion.  Keep in mind, a quarter of all millionaires pay lower tax rates than millions of middle-class households.  You’ve heard me say it -- Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary.  That’s not fair.  It doesn’t make sense at a time when we've got to pull together to get the country moving. 

I don’t need a tax break.  We don’t need to be providing additional tax cuts for folks who are doing really, really, really well.  Do we want to keep these tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans?  Or do we want to keep investing in everything else -- education, clean energy, a strong military, care for our veterans?  We can't do both -- we can't afford it. 

Some people go around, they say, well, the President is engaging in class warfare.  That’s not class warfare.  That’s common sense.  That’s common sense.  (Applause.)  Asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary when it comes to his tax rate -- that’s just common sense.  Because Warren Buffet is doing fine, I'm doing fine.  We don’t need the tax breaks.  You need them.  (Applause.)  You're the ones who see your wages stall.  You're the one whose costs of everything from college to groceries has gone up.  You're the ones who deserve a break. 

And we don’t begrudge success in America; we aspire to it.  Everybody here -- I want everybody here to go out there and do great.  I want you to make loads of money if you can.  That’s wonderful.  And we expect people to earn it -- study hard, work hard for it.  So we don’t envy the wealthy.  But we do expect everybody to do their fair share, so that everybody has opportunity, not just some. 

And given where our deficit is, it's just a matter of math that folks like me are going to have to do a little bit more.  Because Americans understand if I get a tax break I don’t need and the country can’t afford, then one of two things is going to happen:  Either that means we have to add to our deficit, or it means you've got to pay for it.  It means a senior has got to pay for it, in terms of suddenly their Medicare benefits are costing more.  It means a student suddenly sees their interest rates go up higher at a time when they can't afford it.  It means a family that's struggling to get by is having to do more because I'm doing less. 

That’s not right.  It's not who we are.  Each of us is here only because somebody, somewhere, felt a responsibility to each other and to our country’s future.  That's why they made investments in places like NOVA.

Here in America, the story has never been about what we can do just by ourselves; it’s about what we can do together.  It’s about believing in our future, and the future of our country.  You believe in that future.  That's why you’re working hard. That's why you’re putting in the long hours.  That's why Mike is doing what he's doing.  Some of you are balancing a job at the same time as you're going to school.  You're scrimping and scratching to make sure that you can pay tuition here.  You know that doing big things isn’t easy, but you haven’t given up.

That’s the spirit we've got to have right now.  We don't give up in this country.  We look out for each other.  We pull together.  We work hard.  We reach for new opportunities.  We pull each other up.  That’s who we are.  (Applause.)  And if we work together in common purpose, we will build an economy that lasts, and remind people around the world why America is the greatest country on Earth.

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

END                                                     
11:35 A.M. EST