Remarks by the President on the American Jobs Act -- Jamestown, NC

Guilford Technical Community College
Jamestown, NC

11:20 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Everybody, please have a seat. Have a seat. Hello, Jamestown! (Applause.) It is great to be here in North Carolina. (Applause.) Great to be here at the Ragsdale YMCA. (Applause.)

I want to, first of all, thank Linda for the outstanding introduction. Give her a big round of applause. (Applause.) I want to also acknowledge your congressman, Mel Watt, in the house. (Applause.) Mel is doing an outstanding job each and every day. I also want to acknowledge you mayor, Keith Volz, for the fine work that he's doing. (Applause.) He invited me back down here -- he said there are some pretty good golf courses down here -- (applause) -- and some fine restaurants. So I'm going to have to sample both the next time I'm here.

I had a chance to talk to Linda and a group of other teachers before I came out here. And I just want to say thank you to her, not only for the introduction but also for teaching. I got a chance to learn about the extraordinary work that Guilford Technical Community College is doing -- (applause) -- to train new teachers and place them in schools where kids need them the most. And one of the best ways to make a difference in the life of our nation is to make a difference in the life of every child. (Applause.) So I want to thank all the teachers who are in the audience for answering the call, because you are making our nation stronger. (Applause.)

Now, you may have heard we’re taking a little road trip this week. It’s a chance to get out of Washington. (Laughter.) I must admit I'm traveling not in the usual RV. The bus we got parked outside is -- Secret Service did a full going over, so it's decked out pretty good. (Laughter.) But it's a wonderful opportunity to get out of Washington and hit the road. We stopped for a little North Carolina barbecue and sweet tea along the way. (Applause.) Some hushpuppies. Don’t tell Michelle exactly what was on the menu. (Laughter.)

But the main reason we're out here, in addition to seeing the extraordinary views and meeting the wonderful people -- there's just something about North Carolina. People are just gracious and kind. Even the folks who don't vote for me are nice to me. (Laughter.) And that's just a -- that's a nice thing about this state.

The most important thing I wanted to do was to hear from people like you -- because it doesn’t seem like your voices are being heard in Washington right now. (Applause.) Times are tough for a lot of Americans. And here in North Carolina, there are a lot of folks who have been spending months looking for work and still haven’t found it yet. A lot of people are doing their best just to get by. Maybe they’ve been able to keep their job, but hours have been cut back, or some of their pay and benefits have been rolled back. There are people who are deciding you know what, we can’t afford taking that night out with the family because we’ve got to save on gas, or we’ve got to make the mortgage, or we’ve got to postpone our retirement to make sure that our child can go to college.

It’s tough. It’s hard. And I think most Americans know that our economic problems weren’t caused overnight, so they recognize they won’t be solved overnight. (Applause.) Even before the most recent economic crisis -- a lot of these challenges took a decade to build up -- in some cases, longer than a decade. Before the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, wages and incomes had been flat for the vast majority of Americans for a decade. So people were struggling even before the crisis hit.

What that means is it’s going to take time for us to rebuild an America where hard work and responsibility are rewarded. It will take time to rebuild an America where we restore security and opportunity for folks who are in the middle class or trying to get into the middle class. It’s going to take time to rebuild an economy that’s built to last and built to compete; an economy that works for everybody, not just for folks at the top. (Applause.)

Rebuilding this America where everybody has got a fair shake and everybody gives their fair share; an economy where you know if you do the right thing and you’re looking after your family and you’re working hard and you educate yourself and you’re educating your kids and you’re contributing back to the community, that you know that you will be able to enjoy that piece of the American Dream -- restoring that economy will take some time. But we are going to get it done, Jamestown. (Applause.) We are going to keep fighting and we’re going to keep working to put people back to work, to help middle-class Americans get ahead, and to give our economy the jolt that it needs.

There are things we can do right now to help our economy. And that’s why I sent Congress the American Jobs Act. (Applause.) Now, this is a jobs bill with proposals of the sort that in the past have been supported by Democrats and Republicans. It’s paid for by asking our wealthiest citizens -- folks who make more than a million dollars a year -– to pay their fair share. (Applause.) Independent economists have said this jobs bill would create nearly 2 million jobs. That’s not my opinion, that’s not the opinion of people who work for me. The people who study the economy for a living are telling us that this jobs bill would put people back to work right away, and grow our economy at a time when the recovery has weakened.

But some folks in Washington don’t seem to be listening. They don’t seem to be listening. Just last week, all the Republicans in the Senate got together and blocked this jobs bill. They refused to even debate it. Now, keep in mind, one poll found that 63 percent of Americans support the ideas in this jobs bill –- (applause) -- but 100 percent of Republicans in the Senate voted against it. So the majority of the American people think it makes sense for us to put teachers back in the classroom and construction workers back to work, and tax breaks for small businesses, and tax breaks for folks who are hiring veterans. (Applause.) But we got a 100 percent “no” from Republicans in the Senate.

AUDIENCE: Booo --

THE PRESIDENT: Now, that doesn’t make any sense. Some people asked me yesterday why I was visiting Republican areas of North Carolina. I said, well, first of all, it’s because I just like North Carolina. (Laughter and applause.) Second of all, I’m not the Democratic President or Republican President -- I’m the President. (Applause.) And third of all, I don’t care if you’re a Republican or a Democrat -- (applause) -- because we're all Americans and we are in this together. We don’t need a Republican jobs act, or a Democratic jobs act; we need a jobs act. (Applause.) We need to put people back to work right now.

As I said, the ideas we put forward are ideas that in the past have been supported by Democrats and Republicans. So the question is what makes it different this time -- other than I proposed it? (Applause.)

Now, let me try to be fair. The Republicans did put out their own jobs bill. They called it the “Real American Jobs Act.” (Laughter.) So they don't get points for originality -- (laughter) -- but they put out the plan. And I said, okay, let’s see what you got -- because I want -- nobody has a bigger interest than me in seeing Democrats and Republicans cooperate to get some stuff done. I want that to happen. (Applause.)

So I said, let's see what you got. And here's what the plan boils down to: We're going to gut environmental regulations. We're going to drill more. We're going to roll back Wall Street reform.

AUDIENCE: Booo --

THE PRESIDENT: And we're going to repeal health care reform.

AUDIENCE: No!

THE PRESIDENT: Now, that's a plan, but it's not a jobs plan. And if you're wondering, I mean, we can just do a little bit of comparison shopping right now. We'll lift the hood and kick the tires and see our plan and their plan.
The Republican plan says that what’s standing between us and full employment is that we're preventing companies from polluting our air and our water too much. We, on the other hand, have said that let's put teachers back in the classroom here in North Carolina and all across the country -- (applause) -- who've been laid off because budgets have been tight at the state or local level. Let's put construction workers back to work rebuilding roads and bridges and schools all across North Carolina and all across the country. (Applause.) And lets put veterans back on the job. (Applause.) All right, so those are two choices.

Their plan says we’ll be better off if we deny 30 million Americans affordable health care choices, and kick young people off their parent's health insurance plans. Our plan says we’re better off if we give virtually every small business and worker in America a tax cut so that they've got more money in their pockets to hire more workers -- and to spend more at those wonderful restaurants that the Mayor talked about. (Applause.)

Their plan says we need to go back to the good old days before the financial crisis when Wall Street wrote its own rules. Our plan says we need to make it easier for small businesses on Main Street to grow and to hire and to push the economy forward. (Applause.)

So there's a contrast in approaches here. But here’s the kicker. Remember that group of economists who said our jobs plan would create jobs? Well, one of those same economists took a look at the Republican plan and said that it could actually cost us jobs; that it wouldn’t do much to help the economy right now when folks are hurting so bad.

So, look, we can have an argument about how much regulation we should have. We can have an argument, if you want, about health care -- I think we did the right thing. (Applause.) But don't pretend -- but you can’t pretend that creating dirtier air and water for our kids and fewer people on health care and less accountability on Wall Street is a jobs plan. (Applause.)

I think more teachers in the classroom is a jobs plan; more construction workers rebuilding our schools is a jobs plan; tax cuts for small business owners and working families is a jobs plan. (Applause.)

That’s the choice we face. And it’s up to you to decide which plan is the real American Jobs Act.

I want to emphasize I want to work with Republicans on ways to create jobs right now. I’m open to any serious idea. Just last week, Congress passed on a bipartisan basis a trade agreement that will allow us to start selling more goods into Korea -- because we buy an awful lot of Hyundais and Kias; I want them to buy some Fords and Chevys and Chryslers. (Applause.) Wherever we have the possibility to work together to move this economy forward, I’m going to seize on that opportunity. That’s the kind of progress on the economy we can keep on making.

But to do so, we’ve got to focus less on trying to satisfy one wing of one party. We’ve got to focus more on doing what it takes to help the American people. (Applause.)

And that’s why we’re going to give folks in Congress another chance. (Laughter.) They said no the first time, but we’re going to give them another chance to listen to you, to step up to the plate and do the right thing. We are going to give them another chance to do their jobs, and look out for your jobs.

And it may be that just the bill was too big the first time -- there was just too much stuff, and they weren't clear about what the jobs act would do. It was confusing to them. So what we're going to do is we’re going to break it up into separate pieces -- (laughter) -- and we're going to let them vote on each piece, one at a time. (Applause.) That way you can be crystal clear on where you stand on all the elements of the jobs bill.

The first vote that we asked Congress to take is scheduled for later this week. It’s a vote that would put hundreds of thousands of police officers back on the beat, firefighters back on the job, and teachers like Linda back in the classroom where they belong. (Applause.) All right? So that's the first part.

All over the country, budget cuts are forcing schools to lay off teachers in startling numbers. Here in North Carolina, nearly 2,000 classroom positions have been eliminated for this school year. I visited a school in Millers Creek yesterday where they’ve had to increase class sizes. There’s almost no money for things like textbooks.

I can tell you, the last thing a superintendent wants to do is lose teachers. Your governor has been fighting these education cuts. (Applause.) But it is unfair to our kids, and it undermines our future not to invest in education. (Applause.)

I had the President of South Korea here, and they are hiring teachers in droves. He's importing teachers from other countries to teach their kids. Their attitude is, we want our kids learning English when they're in first grade -- and we're laying off teachers here in North Carolina? We're not going to be able to compete. Our kids will fall behind.

One North Carolina teacher said, “We didn’t cause the poor economy. If anything, we built the good parts.” And that teacher is absolutely right. Our teachers build the good parts of our economy. It gives our children the skills they need to compete. It gives our children a future that is bright. We've got to invest in our education system. (Applause.)

So our plan would mean about 13,000 education jobs right here in North Carolina alone. (Applause.) That's why I need you all to tell the Senate let’s put our teachers back to work.

All right, so that’s part number one. Part number two: We’re going to give members of Congress a chance to vote on whether our construction workers should sit around doing nothing while China builds the newest airports and the fastest railroads. That doesn’t seem to me like the American way. We used to always have the best stuff. (Applause.) Right? People from all around the world would come to America to see the Golden Gate Bridge and the Hoover Dam -- (applause) -- and Grand Central Station and the interstate highways. We have dropped in terms of infrastructure in this country. We’re no longer number one. And that’s not how we -- that’s not how we built ourselves into a great economic superpower.

So Congress will have a chance to say whether unemployed Americans should continue to struggle -- or whether we are going to put them back to work, making our schools state-of-the-art; making sure that our roads and bridges aren’t crumbling. They’re going to have a chance to vote on whether or not we’re going to give people who are long-term unemployed a chance to get back on the job and reform our unemployment insurance system, and build a better life. They’re going to get a chance to take a stand on whether we should ask people like me to pay our fair share so that middle-class families and small businesses can get a tax cut. (Applause.)

I want to -- Linda, let me just say this. I’m going to make a point here about taxes, because there's been a lot of misinformation out there. I was watching the football game last night, and they had some ad that didn’t really make much sense. (Laughter.) So let me just be crystal clear just in case your friends or neighbors ask about this. What we have said is, in order to pay for the jobs plan and to close our deficit we should ask the very wealthiest Americans, top 2 percent, to pay a little bit more. I can afford it. Warren Buffett, he can afford it. And the fact of the matter is, is that some of the wealthiest Americans pay a lower tax rate than middle-class Americans.

AUDIENCE: Booo --

THE PRESIDENT: So the question is, are we going to set up a tax system that is fair, that helps us shrink the deficit, helps us to pay off our debts, and helps put people back to work? But I want to be clear. The vast majority of Americans would see a tax cut under this jobs bill. We’ve been cutting taxes. We haven’t been raising taxes, we’ve been cutting taxes. (Applause.) And we can continue to keep taxes low for middle-class and working families if we ask those at the very top to do their fair share. And a lot of them are willing to do it if they feel like it’s going to make the country stronger and reduce our deficit and put people back to work. (Applause.)

So don’t be bamboozled. (Laughter.) Don’t fall for this notion that somehow the jobs act is proposing to raise your taxes. It’s just not true. Under this -- here’s what will happen. If we don't pass the American Jobs Act, if we do not pass the provision in there that extends the payroll tax cut that we passed in December, most people here, your taxes will go up by $1,000. So voting no against the jobs bill is voting in favor of middle-class families’ income taxes going up. And that’s a fact. Don't take my word for it -- all the reporters here, they can check on the facts on this thing. That’s the truth.

And I’ve got to emphasize this: When you talk to most people who’ve done well, who’ve been blessed by this country, they’re patriots. They want to do the right thing. They’re willing to do more. They want their money well spent; they want to make sure that it’s not being wasted. That’s why we cut a trillion dollars out of the federal budget this summer. It’s why I’m proposing to cut more to close the deficit. But people are willing to do a little bit more because everybody understands we are in this together. That's how America has always moved forward. (Applause.)

So here’s the bottom line. Congress has a choice to make in the coming weeks. If they vote against the proposals I’m talking about, if they vote against taking steps that we know will put Americans back to work right now, they don't have to answer to me -- they’re going to have to answer to you. (Applause.) They’re going to have to come down here to North Carolina and tell kids why they can’t have their teachers back in the classroom. They’re going to have to tell those construction workers, look them in the eye and say, you know what, sorry, we can’t afford to rebuild those broken-down roads and those crumbling bridges. They’re going to have to explain to working families why their taxes are going up while the richest Americans and the largest corporations keep on getting a sweet deal.

And that’s where you come in. You are the ones who are going to be able to persuade them to think differently. We need your voices heard. I need you to give Congress a piece of your mind. Mel Watt is already doing fine, so you don't need to talk to Mel, he’s on the program. But these members of Congress, they work for you. And if they’re not delivering, it’s time you let them know. You’ve got to get on the phone or pay them a visit or write them a letter or tweet -- whatever you do -- (laughter) -- and remind them to do the right thing.

Remind them of what’s at stake here. Remind them that “no, we can’t” is no way to face tough times. When a depression hit we didn't say, “No, we can’t.” When World War II came, we didn't say, “No, we can’t.” Our grandparents and great-grandparents, they didn't say, “Nothing we can do about this. Let’s just spend all our time arguing in Washington.” They didn't say, “It’s too hard.” They didn't say, “We give up.” They said, “Let’s roll up our sleeves; let’s fight back.” And American won. (Applause.) When the space race started, Kennedy didn't say, “We can’t go to the moon; that’s too far.” He said, “Come on, America. Let’s go.” America won. We can win the space race. When we confront tough times, we don't give in to what is; we think about what ought to be.

There are too many Americans who are hurting right now for us to just sit by and do nothing. Now is the time to act. Now is the time to say, “Yes, we can.” We can create jobs. We can restore the middle class. We can reduce our deficits. We can build an economy that works for everybody. We are not a people who just sit around doing nothing when things aren't right. We are Americans, and we stand up, and we decide that the problem is going to be fixed. And that's the spirit we need to muster right now. (Applause.)

Let's meet this moment. Let's get to work. And let's remind everybody just why the United States of America is the greatest country on Earth.

Thank you. God bless you. God bless North Carolina. God bless the United States of America. Thank you. (Applause.)

END
11:46 A.M. EDT

Remarks by the President on the American Jobs Act -- West Wilkes High School, Millers Creek, NC

West Wilkes High School, Millers Creek, NC

5:08 P.M. EDT

        THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Millers Creek!  (Applause.)  It is great to be here.  (Applause.)  It is great to be back in North Carolina.  (Applause.)  And I bet -- I know it's a little warm out here, so if anybody wants to take their jacket off, please feel free.  (Applause.)  Some of you guys, loosen your ties there.  

        I am thrilled to be here with all of you.  (Applause.)  I want to thank all the Blackhawks who are here.  (Applause.)  I want to thank the Blackhawks band.  (Applause.)  I want to thank the Struttin’ Hawks.  (Applause.)  

        I want to especially thank Dr. Steven Laws for the great introduction, but also for his service.  He's about to retire soon, so give him a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  

        The Blackhawks principal, Dr. Wayne Shepherd is here.  (Applause.)  And I know that there are a few Mountaineers here as well, so -- (applause.)  I also want to thank your Lieutenant Governor, Walter Dalton -- (applause) -- and the mayor of North Wilkesboro, Robert Johnson.  (Applause.)

        Now, I’m down here today because I decided it was time to get out of Washington.  (Applause.)  I wanted to hit the open road and come visit some of the most beautiful parts of this great country of ours.  (Applause.)  We just had an unbelievable drive.  We came across from Asheville, stopped in Marion for some barbecue.  (Applause.)  Went to the general store in Boone to buy some candy.  (Applause.)  Halloween is coming up, so I had to stock up a little bit.  (Laughter.)  Saw the mountains; saw some lakes; saw all the wonderful people in this part of the country.  (Applause.)  

        And somebody asked me, why do you come back to North Carolina so much?  I said there is just something -- the people of North Carolina are so nice.  (Applause.)  They are gracious and they are kind, and even the folks who don't vote for me are nice.  (Applause.)  So I love North Carolina.  But I also thought it would be good to hear from all of you, because it seems as if your voices aren't being heard in Washington right now.  (Applause.)

        This is a tough time for a lot of Americans.  Here in North Carolina, a lot of folks have spent months looking for work.  Others are doing their best just to scrape by.  You give up nights with the family to save on gas or make the mortgage; folks postponing their retirement so they can send their kids to college.  

        Now, I think we all understand most of these problems were not caused overnight.  We've been dealing with some of these problems for a decade now -- manufacturing leaving America to go overseas.  We've had a health care system that didn't work and put burdens on families and businesses.  We haven't had an energy policy in this country that makes sense and frees ourselves from dependence on foreign oil.  (Applause.)  Our schools haven't done everything they need to to make sure our young people are -- to make college become more affordable for too many young people.

        So there are a lot of challenges that we won’t solve overnight because they weren’t caused overnight.  It’s going to take time to rebuild an America where hard work is valued and responsibility is rewarded.  (Applause.)  It’s going to take time to rebuild an America where we restore a sense of security for middle-class families, and opportunity for folks who are trying to get into the middle class; an America with an economy that’s built to last and built to compete, where we are out-educating, and out-innovating, and out-building every other nation on Earth.  That’s what we’ve got to build.  And we’ve got to build en economy that works for everybody, not just some people.  Not just the folks at the top, but for everybody.  (Applause.)     

        Rebuilding this America will take time.  But there are things we can do right now to put people back to work; things we can do right now to help middle-class Americans get ahead; things we can do right now to give our economy the jolt that it needs.  

        So this is why I sent Congress a while back the American Jobs Act.  

        AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Pass this bill!

        THE PRESIDENT:  Pass this bill.  We need to pass this bill.  Let me tell you about this bill.  Somebody was just asking me about this bill.  I said, look, this is the kind of bill that in the past would have been supported by Democrats and Republicans.  It’s completely paid for.  It asks folks like me, who have been incredibly blessed, to pay a little bit more so that -- to pay our fair share -– folks making a million dollars or more -- so that we can help folks who are struggling to get by.  (Applause.)  

        Independent economists have said this jobs bill would create nearly 2 million jobs, grow the economy by nearly two extra percentage points.  And that’s not -- that is not my opinion.  That is not the opinion of somebody who works for me.  That’s the opinion of people whose job it is to analyze these things.  Economists have said this would put people back to work.  

        But there are some folks in Washington who just aren’t listening.  

        AUDIENCE:  Booo --

        THE PRESIDENT:  Last week, all the Republicans in the Senate got together and blocked the jobs bill.  

        AUDIENCE:  Booo --  

        THE PRESIDENT:  They refused to even debate it.  Now, keep in mind, one poll showed that about 63 percent of Americans support the ideas in this jobs bill.  (Applause.) So why is it that 100 percent of Republicans in the Senate voted against it?  It doesn’t make any sense.  It doesn’t make any sense.

        Somebody asked me -- we had a wonderful reporter come here, Dave Wagner from Charlotte.   And he asked me, well, people tell me this is kind of a Republican area, so why would you come here instead of going to where there are a whole lot of Democrats?
        I said, look, this is an American Jobs Act.  (Applause.)  It’s not the Democratic jobs act.  It’s not the Republican jobs act.  It’s the American Jobs Act.  (Applause.)     

        Now, I want to be fair here.  So to be fair, it turns out the Republicans, they’ve got their plan, too.  Ours is called the American Jobs Act.  So they started out calling theirs the “Real American Jobs Act.”  I said, all right, you don’t get points for originality, but let’s see what you got.  (Laughter.)    

        We took a look.  It turns out the Republicans’ jobs plan boils down to these ideas:  They want to gut environmental regulations.  They want to roll back Wall Street reform so that we end up with the same financial system we had that got us into this mess in the first place.  And they want to repeal health care reform so that 30 million people won’t have health insurance.  That is what they call their “Real American Jobs Act.”  It’s inspiring stuff.  (Laughter.)    

        So let’s do a comparison.  We can do a comparison here.  The Republican plan says that what’s standing between us and full employment are laws that keep companies from polluting our air and our water.  Our plan, on the other hand, says let’s put construction workers back to work rebuilding our roads and bridges and schools.  (Applause.)  Let’s put teachers back in the classroom where they belong.  (Applause.)  Let’s make sure that we’re not laying off police officers and firefighters, and let’s help veterans get a job after they have defended this country.  (Applause.)  

        Their plan says we’ll be better off if 30 million Americans don’t have health insurance.  Our plan says we’ll be better off if we give a tax cut to virtually every small business and every worker in America.  (Applause.)  Their plan says we need to go back to the old days when Wall Street wrote its own rules.  Our plan says we need to make it easier for small businesses to grow and to hire and to push this economy forward.  (Applause.)    

        Now, remember I said -- here’s the kicker.  Remember I said that these independent economists had evaluated our plan -- we presented, not folks who work for us.  We said, all right, what do you think this will do?  They said, this will create up to 2 million jobs; that will grow the economy.  One of the same economists took a look at the Republican plan, and you know what they said?  They said, well, this isn’t going to do much to help the economy in the short term.  It could actually lead up to losing jobs, not gaining them.  So much for their jobs plan.

        AUDIENCE:  Booo --

        THE PRESIDENT:  So I’ll let you decide which is the real American jobs plan.  Because the fact is we face a choice in this country right now.  I want to work with Republicans in any way possible to create jobs right now.  (Applause.)  And the fact is -- let me say this -- let me say this.  I have bent over backwards.  I have shown myself to be willing again and again to try to cooperate with Republicans.  (Applause.)  I’ve tried so hard to cooperate with Republicans, Democrats have been getting mad at me.  (Laughter and applause.)  But the reason I have is because my attitude is when we’re in a time that's difficult, we can't afford to play politics.  When we’re in a time that's difficult, we should try to find common ground.  (Applause.)

        Just last week, Congress passed a bipartisan trade agreement with Korea that will allow us to sell more goods into that country.  Now, we’ve got a bunch of Hyundais and Kias.  I think that's fine.  But I want to see some Koreans driving Fords and Chryslers and Chevys.  (Applause.)

        So my attitude is, it’s been -- it’s way overdue for us to stop trying to satisfy some branch of the party, and take some common-sense steps to help America and to create jobs and to help the middle class.

        AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Right on!

        THE PRESIDENT:  And that's why -- that's why, even though they said no the first time, we’re going to give them another chance.  (Applause.)  I think maybe the first time, because we had it all in one bill, maybe they didn't study it all properly.  (Laughter.)  Maybe they didn't know what they were voting against.  So we’re going to chop it up into some bite-sized pieces and give them another chance to look out for your jobs instead of looking out for their own jobs.  (Applause.)

        So first thing we’re going to do is, this week Congress is scheduled to take a vote on whether we’re going to put hundreds of thousands of police officers and firefighters and teachers back on the job.  (Applause.)  Well, are we going to help state and local governments who are under a severe budget crunch make sure that they are not laying off teachers at a time when we know we’ve got to excel in education?  (Applause.)

        All over the country and right here in North Carolina folks are losing their jobs.  Nearly 2,000 classroom positions have been eliminated this school year.  And here at West Wilkes High I know some teachers weren’t rehired.  You’ve had to increase class sizes and there’s almost no money for things like textbooks.  This makes no sense.  I can tell you the last thing a superintendent wants to do is to lose good teachers.  (Applause.)  Your governor has been fighting against education cuts as well.  It’s unfair to our kids.  It undermines our future.  (Applause.)

        How are we going to compete when countries like Korea and Germany who are hiring teachers and preparing their kids for the global economy, and we’re laying off teachers left and right?  One North Carolina teacher said, “We didn't cause the poor economy; if anything, we built the good part.”  And he’s absolutely right.  Our teachers built the good parts of this economy.  They give our kids a chance to compete.  They give our kids a future.  That’s why we’ve got to look out for them.  And this jobs bill does it.  (Applause.)

        My jobs plan would mean more than 13,000 education jobs here in North Carolina.  (Applause.)  So when the Senate votes this week -- when the Senate votes this week, you all have to tell them it’s time to put our teachers back to work.  (Applause.)

        We’re going to give members of Congress a chance to vote on the other components of the bill -- so we’re going to ask them to vote on whether construction workers should sit idly by while China is building the newest roads and bridges and airports, or whether we should put our construction workers back to work rebuilding America so that we can compete in the 21st century.  (Applause.)  That’s a choice that Congress is going to have to make.

        Congress is going to have to make a decision whether they decide to help unemployed Americans who are struggling, or whether we should make sure that we give them the experience and support that they need to get back in the workforce and build a better life.  

        We’ll ask Congress whether we should stand back and let people like me take advantage of corporate loopholes and pay less in taxes, or should we ask folks like me to pay my fair share so that we give tax cuts to middle-class families and small businesses?  (Applause.)  

        These are the choices that members of Congress are going to have to make in the coming weeks.  And if they vote against these proposals, if they vote against taking steps that we know will put Americans back to work, they’ve got to explain not to me, but to you, why they’re doing it.  They don’t have to answer to me, but they do have to answer to you.  You sent them there.  They’re going to have to come down here to North Carolina and tell kids why they can’t have their teachers back.  They’re going to have to look construction workers in the eye and tell them why they shouldn’t be rebuilding roads and bridges and airports.  They’re going to have to explain to working families why their taxes are going up while the richest Americans and largest corporations are getting a sweet deal.  

        So that’s where you guys come in.  Some of these folks are just not getting the message, so I’ve got to make sure your voices are heard.  I need you to give Congress a piece of your mind.  (Applause.)  Tell these members of Congress that they don’t work for special interest, they don’t work for lobbyists            -- they work for you.  And if they’re not delivering, you need to let them know.  (Applause.)  And I don’t know whether you’re going to get on the phone, or you’re going to tweet them or write them a letter, or pay them a visit, but tell them to do the right thing.  Tell them what’s at stake here.    

        There are too many of our fellow Americans hurting, and you can’t stand by and do nothing.  Now is the time to act.  And, by the way, there’s going to be an election, and we’re going to have a convention right here in North Carolina.  (Applause.)  But that convention is 11 months away.  The election is 13 months away.  And folks can’t afford to wait that long.  

        AUDIENCE:  No!

        THE PRESIDENT:  They can’t sit around just listening to a bunch of political arguments.  They need action, and they need it now.  Because folks are living paycheck to paycheck.  There are folks who are living week to week.  And I don’t accept the idea that in the face of that kind of hardship that we’re going to stand by and do nothing.  That’s not who we are.  We are Americans.  (Applause.)  And you know what, we keep working at things until we get them fixed.  

        Yes, we have a problem with the financial -- and the economy is not where it needs to be, but we can fix it.  We just got to stay on it.  We got to be persistent.  We got to keep on trying things until folks are back to work and the economy is growing again.  And we’ve got to muster that spirit right now -- a “can do” spirit.  Not a “no, we can’t” spirit, but a “yes, we can” spirit.  (Applause.)  We don’t need a “why we can’t” attitude, we need a “why we can” attitude.  

        I know that sometimes everybody watches television and you see what’s going on in Washington, and you get discouraged.  But I just want you to remember that we’ve been through tougher times before.  This is a country that’s been through a Revolutionary War, a Civil War.  We got through slavery.  We got through a depression.  We got through World War I.  We got through World War II.  We have been through tougher times before.  We are going to get through this, and we’re going to get through it together.  Because Americans don’t quit.  

        So let’s meet this moment.  Let’s get to work.  And let’s show the world once again why the United States of America is the greatest nation on Earth.  (Applause.)

        God bless you.  God bless the United States of America.

END 5:29 P.M. EDT

Remarks by the First Lady and Dr. Biden at Joining Forces Heroes at Home 1,000 Rebuild Event

New York Avenue Home Build Site
Washington, D.C.

11:57 A.M. EDT

DR. BIDEN: Thank you, David, for that introduction. And thank you for your continued work on behalf of our military families and veterans. And thanks, too, to Gary for all of the great work that Rebuilding Together is doing around the country to support veterans through projects just like this one.

And most of all, I want to thank Sergeant Johnny Agbi for welcoming us to his home today, and for this incredible commitment and service to our nation.

Sergeant Agbi, I know I speak for everyone here today when I say, you are a true hero. (Applause.) You and all of your fellow veterans and service members from across the country show us every day what words like "strength" and "courage" mean. And, of course, we're also grateful to your family members for their service to our country.

Projects like today's build represent some of the incredible ways that communities are coming together to support our veterans and military families all across the United States. And these projects, and all the partners and volunteers who make them possible, embody the spirit of the Joining Forces Initiative that the First Lady and I launched earlier this year.

So thank you to everyone for being here today. And now, it's my honor and a true privilege to introduce a true advocate for all of our veterans and military families -- my friend, our wonderful First Lady, Michelle Obama. (Applause.)

MRS. OBAMA: Good morning.

AUDIENCE: Good morning.

MRS. OBAMA: How's it going?

AUDIENCE: Good.

MRS. OBAMA: It's exciting. We're honored to be here. I want to thank Gary Officer from Rebuilding Together, and David Works from Sears Holdings for their leadership and for being here today. And of course, I want to thank my partner in crime, Jill Biden. We have done a lot together on this effort. We've traveled everywhere from North Carolina to Colorado to New Hampshire for Joining Forces. But I have to say it’s good to be right here in our own backyard, just a quick commute down the street.

And no matter where we are, one of our goals with Joining Forces is really to use what we have to shine a light not only on the incredible service of America’s military families who give our nation so much, but also on those Americans -- like all of you -- who are stepping up in so many important ways to give something back to these men and women and their families.

And that’s exactly what’s happening here today with these two wonderful announcements. First, we’re marking the 1,000th home that Sears and Rebuilding Together have refitted for our wounded warriors through the Heroes at Home Project. And that is a very impressive accomplishment and you all should be just so proud -- 1,000 homes. (Applause.)

And on top of that, Sears Holdings is pledging to increase the number of military family members in its workforce by 10 percent. I mean, that’s incredible. That's exactly what we're hoping to see happen. It means that more than 30,000 troops, veterans, and military spouses will be working at Sears. And it’s only the latest commitment that the Sears team has made. They have been working with us at Joining Forces since the very beginning. And we look forward to working with them even more, but more importantly, for them to serve as an example of how America’s businesses can look out for our heroes, particularly during these tough economic times.

And all of this is just amazing. It represents the best that our country has to offer. And just think about what those kind of numbers actually mean. Just think about the lives that are changed. Think about the renewed sense of security that each family feels because mom or dad just got hired; how the wounded warrior whose life is transformed by a refurbished home. Just think about what that new front door, that broader, wider front door means -- it's no longer an obstacle; the stairway that is no longer an adversary; the building that’s no longer just a house, but it's now become a home.

And then you take all that hope and all that change and you multiply it by 1,000. That’s what's happening here today. And that's why today is so big, and that's why Jill and I wanted to be a part of this very special day.

And that’s really what Joining Forces is all about. That’s what we were hoping to accomplish. Jill and I started this initiative to help marshal all of this country’s goodwill into something concrete -- something that folks like Johnny can feel in their daily lives. And let me tell you, from just briefly spending time with Johnny and his family, he is an amazing -- amazing -- young man deserving of everything that is happening here today -- kindness of spirit, a positivity. He’s got a strange sense of humor, too. (Laughter.) That’s good. I’m getting you back for that one. (Laughter.) He had us write on the wall, sign it, and then right when we were finished he was like, "Wrong spot." (Laughter.) It's very funny.

So we are grateful to Johnny and his family for all their service and sacrifice. And so, we’re also grateful for companies like Sears, organizations like Rebuilding Together, and more importantly, the volunteers like all of you who are here today for really leading the way, because none of this could happen without volunteers. I mean, I know you have been here for many, many weeks -- Johnny said many of you had become like family. And that’s really what this is all about.

And it’s important during this time to also highlight that each of you is giving back in a way that makes sense for you. And by that I mean Rebuilding Together already knows how to refurbish homes; they’re just figuring out how to do it for veterans. Sears needs effective, committed employees, so they’re turning that need into opportunity for thousands of veterans and military family members by hiring some of the most highly skilled, dedicated individuals this country has to offer.

And as we heard, this isn’t just about doing the right thing; it’s about doing what makes the best business sense. That’s why it makes sense. And for volunteers who have the time and the talent to give -- what you all are doing is directing all of that wonderful energy toward your neighbors and your fellow citizens who have given this nation so much.

So all of this is exactly the message of Joining Forces. We’re not asking anyone to do anything extraordinary. We’re not asking people to start a brand new organization, or to raise or spend millions of dollars. We just want everyone to ask themselves one simple question -- (baby starts to cry) -- now, he’s really cute. (Laughter.) And he’s been very good.

But we have -- we’re just asking people to ask one simple question, and that is: “What can I do?” That’s really the question out there -- “What can I do?” And then we need you to get out there and actually do it. And that’s what makes today so special.

But even with all the wonderful work going on here today, we also know that we’ve got so much more work to do. Today is not the finish line, even though it’s the 1,000th home. Instead, it’s a mile marker. Jill and I are not going to stop until every American -- every single American in this country -- is joining forces with our military families. Our hope, at the very least, is that these families know how much we appreciate their service. Sometimes it’s as simple as a thank you. Sometimes it’s as simple as a basic stop by to visit, go grocery shopping, to spend some time so that these individuals and their families know that their sacrifice was not in vain.

We want every single company out there -- every single one -- to figure out how they can do something, or do more. Every single organization, we want them to step up in some way. Every school, every faith community, and every citizen -- we want everyone to do something. Not something grand, just something. Anything to show the support in a way that is worthy of the strength, courage, and sacrifice of our troops and their families.

A day like today reminds all of us just how possible that goal is. This is happening everywhere, all over the country. And we just need to lift it up so that we remind ourselves how great we are as a nation, and how, when people fall on times when they need support, there are thousands of us -- millions of us -- ready to step up and lend a hand.

So I want to thank you all. Thank you, once again. Thank you for having us here at this glorious day. Thank you for your accomplishments and for your achievements. And thank you for being a model of what we want the rest of the country to do.

So Jill and I are going to keep joining forces, and we hope that you continue to do the same, and call on others in your neighborhoods and your families and your communities to do the same as well.

Thank you all, and congratulations. (Applause.)

END
12:08 P.M. EDT

Remarks by the President at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Dedication

The National Mall
Washington, D.C.

11:51 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Please be seated.

An earthquake and a hurricane may have delayed this day, but this is a day that would not be denied.

For this day, we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s return to the National Mall.  In this place, he will stand for all time, among monuments to those who fathered this nation and those who defended it; a black preacher with no official rank or title who somehow gave voice to our deepest dreams and our most lasting ideals, a man who stirred our conscience and thereby helped make our union more perfect.

And Dr. King would be the first to remind us that this memorial is not for him alone.  The movement of which he was a part depended on an entire generation of leaders.  Many are here today, and for their service and their sacrifice, we owe them our everlasting gratitude.  This is a monument to your collective achievement.  (Applause.)

Some giants of the civil rights movement –- like Rosa Parks and Dorothy Height, Benjamin Hooks, Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth –- they’ve been taken from us these past few years.  This monument attests to their strength and their courage, and while we miss them dearly, we know they rest in a better place. 

And finally, there are the multitudes of men and women whose names never appear in the history books –- those who marched and those who sang, those who sat in and those who stood firm, those who organized and those who mobilized –- all those men and women who through countless acts of quiet heroism helped bring about changes few thought were even possible. “By the thousands,” said Dr. King, “faceless, anonymous, relentless young people, black and white…have taken our whole nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in the formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.”  To those men and women, to those foot soldiers for justice, know that this monument is yours, as well.

Nearly half a century has passed since that historic March on Washington, a day when thousands upon thousands gathered for jobs and for freedom.  That is what our schoolchildren remember best when they think of Dr. King -– his booming voice across this Mall, calling on America to make freedom a reality for all of God’s children, prophesizing of a day when the jangling discord of our nation would be transformed into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.

It is right that we honor that march, that we lift up Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech –- for without that shining moment, without Dr. King’s glorious words, we might not have had the courage to come as far as we have.  Because of that hopeful vision, because of Dr. King’s moral imagination, barricades began to fall and bigotry began to fade.  New doors of opportunity swung open for an entire generation.  Yes, laws changed, but hearts and minds changed, as well. 

Look at the faces here around you, and you see an America that is more fair and more free and more just than the one Dr. King addressed that day.  We are right to savor that slow but certain progress -– progress that’s expressed itself in a million ways, large and small, across this nation every single day, as people of all colors and creeds live together, and work together, and fight alongside one another, and learn together, and build together, and love one another.

So it is right for us to celebrate today Dr. King’s dream and his vision of unity.  And yet it is also important on this day to remind ourselves that such progress did not come easily; that Dr. King’s faith was hard-won; that it sprung out of a harsh reality and some bitter disappointments. 

It is right for us to celebrate Dr. King’s marvelous oratory, but it is worth remembering that progress did not come from words alone.  Progress was hard.  Progress was purchased through enduring the smack of billy clubs and the blast of fire hoses.  It was bought with days in jail cells and nights of bomb threats.  For every victory during the height of the civil rights movement, there were setbacks and there were defeats. 

We forget now, but during his life, Dr. King wasn’t always considered a unifying figure.  Even after rising to prominence, even after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. King was vilified by many, denounced as a rabble rouser and an agitator, a communist and a radical.  He was even attacked by his own people, by those who felt he was going too fast or those who felt he was going too slow; by those who felt he shouldn’t meddle in issues like the Vietnam War or the rights of union workers.  We know from his own testimony the doubts and the pain this caused him, and that the controversy that would swirl around his actions would last until the fateful day he died.

I raise all this because nearly 50 years after the March on Washington, our work, Dr. King’s work, is not yet complete.  We gather here at a moment of great challenge and great change.  In the first decade of this new century, we have been tested by war and by tragedy; by an economic crisis and its aftermath that has left millions out of work, and poverty on the rise, and millions more just struggling to get by.  Indeed, even before this crisis struck, we had endured a decade of rising inequality and stagnant wages.  In too many troubled neighborhoods across the country, the conditions of our poorest citizens appear little changed from what existed 50 years ago -– neighborhoods with underfunded schools and broken-down slums, inadequate health care, constant violence, neighborhoods in which too many young people grow up with little hope and few prospects for the future.

Our work is not done.  And so on this day, in which we celebrate a man and a movement that did so much for this country, let us draw strength from those earlier struggles.  First and foremost, let us remember that change has never been quick.  Change has never been simple, or without controversy.  Change depends on persistence.  Change requires determination.  It took a full decade before the moral guidance of Brown v. Board of Education was translated into the enforcement measures of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, but those 10 long years did not lead Dr. King to give up.  He kept on pushing, he kept on speaking, he kept on marching until change finally came.  (Applause.)

And then when, even after the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act passed, African Americans still found themselves trapped in pockets of poverty across the country, Dr. King didn’t say those laws were a failure; he didn’t say this is too hard; he didn’t say, let’s settle for what we got and go home.  Instead he said, let’s take those victories and broaden our mission to achieve not just civil and political equality but also economic justice; let’s fight for a living wage and better schools and jobs for all who are willing to work.  In other words, when met with hardship, when confronting disappointment, Dr. King refused to accept what he called the “isness” of today.  He kept pushing towards the “oughtness” of tomorrow.

And so, as we think about all the work that we must do –- rebuilding an economy that can compete on a global stage, and fixing our schools so that every child -- not just some, but every child -- gets a world-class education, and making sure that our health care system is affordable and accessible to all, and that our economic system is one in which everybody gets a fair shake and everybody does their fair share, let us not be trapped by what is.  (Applause.)  We can’t be discouraged by what is.  We’ve got to keep pushing for what ought to be, the America we ought to leave to our children, mindful that the hardships we face are nothing compared to those Dr. King and his fellow marchers faced 50 years ago, and that if we maintain our faith, in ourselves and in the possibilities of this nation, there is no challenge we cannot surmount.

And just as we draw strength from Dr. King’s struggles, so must we draw inspiration from his constant insistence on the oneness of man; the belief in his words that “we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”  It was that insistence, rooted in his Christian faith, that led him to tell a group of angry young protesters, “I love you as I love my own children,” even as one threw a rock that glanced off his neck. 

It was that insistence, that belief that God resides in each of us, from the high to the low, in the oppressor and the oppressed, that convinced him that people and systems could change.  It fortified his belief in non-violence.  It permitted him to place his faith in a government that had fallen short of its ideals.  It led him to see his charge not only as freeing black America from the shackles of discrimination, but also freeing many Americans from their own prejudices, and freeing Americans of every color from the depredations of poverty.
    
And so at this moment, when our politics appear so sharply polarized, and faith in our institutions so greatly diminished, we need more than ever to take heed of Dr. King’s teachings.  He calls on us to stand in the other person’s shoes; to see through their eyes; to understand their pain.  He tells us that we have a duty to fight against poverty, even if we are well off; to care about the child in the decrepit school even if our own children are doing fine; to show compassion toward the immigrant family, with the knowledge that most of us are only a few generations removed from similar hardships.  (Applause.)

To say that we are bound together as one people, and must constantly strive to see ourselves in one another, is not to argue for a false unity that papers over our differences and ratifies an unjust status quo.  As was true 50 years ago, as has been true throughout human history, those with power and privilege will often decry any call for change as “divisive.”  They’ll say any challenge to the existing arrangements are unwise and destabilizing.  Dr. King understood that peace without justice was no peace at all; that aligning our reality with our ideals often requires the speaking of uncomfortable truths and the creative tension of non-violent protest.

But he also understood that to bring about true and lasting change, there must be the possibility of reconciliation; that any social movement has to channel this tension through the spirit of love and mutuality. 

If he were alive today, I believe he would remind us that the unemployed worker can rightly challenge the excesses of Wall Street without demonizing all who work there; that the businessman can enter tough negotiations with his company’s union without vilifying the right to collectively bargain.  He would want us to know we can argue fiercely about the proper size and role of government without questioning each other’s love for this country -- (applause) -- with the knowledge that in this democracy, government is no distant object but is rather an expression of our common commitments to one another.  He would call on us to assume the best in each other rather than the worst, and challenge one another in ways that ultimately heal rather than wound.

In the end, that’s what I hope my daughters take away from this monument.  I want them to come away from here with a faith in what they can accomplish when they are determined and working for a righteous cause.  I want them to come away from here with a faith in other people and a faith in a benevolent God.  This sculpture, massive and iconic as it is, will remind them of Dr. King’s strength, but to see him only as larger than life would do a disservice to what he taught us about ourselves.  He would want them to know that he had setbacks, because they will have setbacks.  He would want them to know that he had doubts, because they will have doubts.  He would want them to know that he was flawed, because all of us have flaws.

It is precisely because Dr. King was a man of flesh and blood and not a figure of stone that he inspires us so.  His life, his story, tells us that change can come if you don’t give up.  He would not give up, no matter how long it took, because in the smallest hamlets and the darkest slums, he had witnessed the highest reaches of the human spirit; because in those moments when the struggle seemed most hopeless, he had seen men and women and children conquer their fear; because he had seen hills and mountains made low and rough places made plain, and the crooked places made straight and God make a way out of no way.

And that is why we honor this man –- because he had faith in us.  And that is why he belongs on this Mall -– because he saw what we might become.  That is why Dr. King was so quintessentially American -- because for all the hardships we’ve endured, for all our sometimes tragic history, ours is a story of optimism and achievement and constant striving that is unique upon this Earth.  And that is why the rest of the world still looks to us to lead.  This is a country where ordinary people find in their hearts the courage to do extraordinary things; the courage to stand up in the face of the fiercest resistance and despair and say this is wrong, and this is right; we will not settle for what the cynics tell us we have to accept and we will reach again and again, no matter the odds, for what we know is possible.

That is the conviction we must carry now in our hearts.  (Applause.)  As tough as times may be, I know we will overcome.  I know there are better days ahead.  I know this because of the man towering over us.  I know this because all he and his generation endured -- we are here today in a country that dedicated a monument to that legacy. 

And so with our eyes on the horizon and our faith squarely placed in one another, let us keep striving; let us keep struggling; let us keep climbing toward that promised land of a nation and a world that is more fair, and more just, and more equal for every single child of God.

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

END
12:12 P.M. EDT