Skip to main content | Skip to footer site map

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

August 17, 2010

Remarks by the President at DCCC Finance Event

Los Angeles, California, August 16, 2010

7:22 P.M. PDT

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. (Applause.) What a spectacular evening. Let’s just hang out. (Laughter.) We don't need to make speeches. (Laughter.)

Well, it is wonderful to see all of you. There are a lot of friends here. There are a couple of people I’ve got to make special mention of.

First of all, obviously, thanks to John and Marilyn for their incredible hospitality. Thank you very much. Please give them a big round of applause. (Applause.)

To the best Speaker of the House that I can imagine working with. She has just been a fighter day in and day out. I couldn’t have a better partner in Washington than Nancy Pelosi. Please give her a big round of applause. (Applause.)

My Secretary of Labor is here, California’s own Hilda Solis. (Applause.)

Democratic Congressional Committee Chairman, a thankless job, and he is handling it with grace, Chris Van Hollen. (Applause.)

All of the members of California’s Congressional Delegation who are here, I want to just say thank you for your outstanding work.

I’m going to make mention of one person who is not yet member of the Congressional Delegation, but is going to be soon, the former Speaker of the House who is soon going to be the congresswoman from this district, Karen Bass, is here. Give Karen a big round of applause. (Applause.)

The mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, is here. (Applause.) We’re not going to let him on a bike any time soon. (Laughter.)

City Council President Eric Garcetti is here. Please give him a round of applause. (Applause.)

And there are at least -- just at least two members of Congress who are here that I just want to make special mention of: Barbara Lee because she is the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus and is doing outstanding work -- (applause) -- and Howard Berman who is helping to guide us through so many difficult foreign policy challenges, and I’m so grateful to him for his leadership. Please give Howard a big round of applause. (Applause.)

So it is wonderful to be back in Los Angeles. And I look out on this crowd and I see so many friends who helped me to get to the White House.

I am reminded of Lincoln’s story. He used to tell a story about a guy who showed up at the White House. Security was a little more lax at that time. (Laughter.) He insists on seeing the President during his office hours. Says, I am the guy who got Lincoln elected. And he kept on badgering whoever was at the door. And finally Lincoln lets him in. And Lincoln says, so, sir, I understand you are responsible for me having this job. He says, that's right. And Lincoln says, I forgive you. (Laughter.)

It is obviously an extraordinary honor to be the President, and an extraordinary privilege to be the President at this moment in history. A lot of people have said to me, I just can’t imagine all the things that you’re juggling right now. We’ve got two wars, coming out of this extraordinary recession that we’ve gone through. And I say this is exactly when you want to be President. This is why I ran, because we have the opportunity to shape history for the better, to create an America that will serve our children, our grandchildren, our great, great grandchildren well for -- if we are taking the right steps, if we recognize this is an inflection point.

And that means it’s difficult. That means it’s contentious. And that means there’s going to be passions that are stirred up that a quieter, more stable time might not. But it’s also exactly when I’d want to be in Washington, because I think we have the opportunity to make such a difference for so many people who need that help right now. And I know Nancy feels the same way about being Speaker of the House.

Now, I want to make special mention of what Congress has done and the House of Representatives have done. When you’re President, you’ve got the bully pulpit. And when you’re President, you’ve got four years. And as a consequence, I think there are a lot of things I’m very proud of that we’ve done over the last two years. But the pressures on me are different than the pressures on some of these congressional members.

Nancy has experienced the same thing that Harry Reid has experienced on the Senate side, which is just constant, nonstop opposition on everything. There hasn’t been an item that has come up in which there has not been just uniform insistence on the other side that it was a bad idea, that it was going to wreck the country, and that we shouldn’t be doing it.

And so for people like Nancy and Chris and all the members here to have stood up again and again and again under just fierce, withering criticism and opposition, and to do so with a smile on Nancy’s face and with the grace with which she’s done it, and for the members who have taken tough vote after tough vote over the course of the last two years, because they knew it was the right thing to do even when it wasn’t the popular thing to do, that's why we’re here tonight.

That's my focus over the next several months, because when I ran for the presidency, my firm belief was if you did the right thing, then eventually that was going to be good politics. It might not be good politics in the short term, but it was going to be good politics in the long term. I believe that now, just like I believed it then. But we’ve got to make sure that all those members in the House of Representatives who believed it and took a lot of big political risks over the last two years are rewarded for it.

So I hope you understand why we’re here tonight. It’s not to take a picture with the President. You know, I’m a lot grayer now. (Laughter.) But we’re here because we want to make sure that those folks who have taken the tough votes are supported.

I want to just remind everybody, because sometimes we’ve got short memories, of where we’ve been; the journey we’ve traveled over the last 20 months. When I was sworn in, a few of you were there, it was very cold that day, in January of 2009 -- do you remember, it was cold, yes -- that same month, we lost 750,000 jobs. In the six months leading up to my inauguration, we had lost 3 million jobs. In subsequent months, we were losing 600,000; 500,000. Before any of the steps we could take were put into place, we had already seen 8 million jobs lost. The worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The entire financial system on the verge of meltdown.

And I think it’s a good thing that we tend not to remember how worried everybody was. But people were worried. In March, when the stock market was dropping 300, 400 points, people were not sure whether or not we were going to be dipping into a Great Depression.

And so we had to take action, and we had to take action quickly. And not everything we did was popular. But we knew that if we didn’t act, if we were thinking about the next election instead of the next generation, then we were putting the country at risk.

So immediately we took steps to shore up the economy, to lift up demand, to make sure that people who were vulnerable got support, to make sure that states like California were getting enough help that they didn’t have to lay off teachers and firefighters and police officers across the board. And it worked. We were able to stabilize the economy.

But that still left all the damage that had already occurred. Eight million jobs had still been lost. And more than that, it still left undone the task that I had been running on as President, which was to create the kind of foundation for economic growth that had been missing for 10 years.

Part of what has made this recession so tough is middle-class families were struggling before the crisis hit. They were hurting before the storm struck. They had seen a decade of sluggish growth. They had seen a decade of sluggish job growth. Incomes and wages had gone down for most families when you factored in inflation, at the same time that health care and tuition were all skyrocketing.

So people felt less secure than they’d ever felt. And they kept on seeing jobs moving overseas. And they had a sense that nobody was thinking about them. And you know what? They were right. They were right.

The previous administration and the Republican Congress that had been in charge, they had a simple philosophy. They put a fancy name on it. They called it the “Ownership Society.” But when it came down to it, the philosophy was simple: We are going to cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires, folks who don't need it and weren’t even asking for it. We’re going to cut regulations and rules that provide some check on special interests. And then we’re going to cut loose ordinary folks and tell them, you’re on your own. You don't have health care? Tough luck, you’re on your own. You’re a young person and you didn't choose your parents properly -- (laughter) -- and so you’re poor. Maybe can’t afford college? Too bad, you’re on your own. You got laid off just short of retirement; you don't know what to do? Too bad, you’re on your own.

That was the reigning philosophy before this recession hit. And that's why I went to Washington -- to change that. So our job wasn’t just to make sure that we didn't go into a depression. Our job was to figure out how are we going to put this economy back on track so it works for everybody -- not just some, but for everybody.

So every kid here in California is able to say to themselves, if I work hard, if I’m studying, I’m going to be able to afford to go to college. And if I go to college, then I’m going to be able to get a job that pays me a decent wage. And if I’ve got a job, I’m going to be able to get health care and protect my family. And if I do those right things during the course of my life I’m going to be able to retire with some dignity and some respect.

That's why we went to Washington. That's why so many of you worked so hard to send me there. And so we had a tough task. We had to rescue the economy, but we also had to remind ourselves that we’ve got to put this country on a different trajectory than we’ve been on. And we went about the business of doing that, with the help of Nancy, with the help of Chris, with the help of every member of Congress here -- but with no help from the other side.

And as a consequence we have been able to deliver the most progressive legislative agenda; one that helps working families in not just one generation, maybe two, maybe three. So we were able to deliver on health care reform so that we enshrine the principle in this country, the wealthiest on Earth, that nobody should be bankrupt when they get sick. And we were able to make sure that we’ve got a financial system in which everybody follows the basic rules of the road and you don't make money by cheating people; you make money by offering them decent services.

And then we said, you know what, we’re going to make sure that college is accessible to every young person in America. And so we transformed how our student loan program works, so that millions more kids are able to get health -- able to get help on their student loans and their tuition.

Item after item after item when you look at what Nancy and the House have done in combination with Harry Reid in the Senate, what we’ve delivered is a package of changes that are going to help bolster security for middle-class families. And then we looked at the long term, and we said, look, what are we going to do about energy? And as a consequence invested -- made the biggest investments in clean energy in our history, building solar panels and wind turbines and advanced battery manufacturing plants, and biodiesel all across the country. And we said, we’re going to make the biggest investment in research and development in our history, and we did that. All designed to make sure that we are competitive in a 21st-century economy. And we did all this without any help from the other side.

Now, here’s the challenge that we’ve got. We’ve got a long way to go. People are still hurting. All across America I meet folks or I read letters that are sent to me every night: single moms who are sending out application after application and getting no response from potential employers; people who have been laid off their jobs and have been out of work for a year, year and a half, and now they’ve depleted all their savings and don't know where to turn.

And so in that environment, you can talk about saving the economy from a potential depression, and you can talk about the long-term vision that makes me so optimistic about America, but right here, right now we’ve still got a lot of work to do. And that's what makes this election so challenging.

But having said that, I am absolutely confident that we will do well in this election as long as we understand what this election is about, and that is we have a choice between the policies that got us into this mess and the policies that are getting us out of this mess. It’s a very simple choice. It’s pretty straightforward.

I’ve used this analogy before. You had a group of folks who drove the economy, drove the country, drove our car into the ditch. And so Nancy and Chris and Barbara and Howard and me, we put on our boots and walked down into the ditch -- it’s muddy, and hot, and dusty, and bugs everywhere -- (laughter) -- we’re pushing, and got our shoulders up, and we’re slipping and sliding and sweating, and the other side, the Republicans, they’re standing there with their Slurpees -- (laughter) -- watching us. “You’re not pushing fast enough!” (Laughter.) “That's not how you do it! Do it this way!” And so every once in a while we’d offer, “Why don’t you guys come down here, help us push?” “No, no, no.”

Finally we get this car to level ground. Finally we’re ready to move forward, go down that road once again of American prosperity, and what happens? They want the keys back. (Laughter.) And what this election is about is saying to them, you cannot have the keys back. You do not know how to drive. You don't know how to drive. We’re not going to let you take us in the ditch again. (Applause.)

I would make this observation. When you are driving and you want to go forward, what do you do? You put your car in D. (Laughter.) You want to go backwards? You put your car in R. (Applause.) We can’t afford to reverse back into the ditch. We’ve got to go forward. That's what this election is about. That's what this election is about. (Applause.)

Now, the Republicans don't have an affirmative agenda. They’re counting on two things. They’re counting on fear and they’re counting on amnesia. They understand the very legitimate fears that people have about the future. And so rather than offer solutions, practical solutions about how we are going to rework our energy policies so that we can deal not only with our national security challenges, not only with our economic challenges, but also create jobs right here in the United States of America, and, by the way, maybe save the planet in the process -- they don't have an answer for that; just more of the same. Same policies. Drill more. That's, I think, basically all we’ve heard from them.

When it comes to education, we haven’t heard new ideas out of them. When it comes to how we’re going to spur on innovation in research and development, they’re not talking about that. That's not what they are talking about.

When it comes to supposedly their signature issue -- if they want to do something about the big-spending Democrats, we’re going to do something about the deficit -- and you keep on asking them, okay, well, what are you going to do? Well, we’re going to cut, waste, fraud and abuse. Okay, what exactly waste, fraud and abuse are you going to cut? Well, we’ll get to that later.

They're offering fear and they're offering amnesia. They are counting on the notion that you won’t remember what happened when they were in charge.

I think the American people do remember. I think they understand exactly what happened when Republicans were in charge. And they’ve also been watching over the last several months, over the last two years.

My campaign, you’ll recall, our slogan was, “Yes, we can.” Their slogan is, “No, we can’t.” On every item. On health care, how many times, Nancy, did we reach out to them and say, you know what, we are willing to work with you to come up with some sort of cooperative way to make sure that people aren’t prohibited from getting health care because of preexisting conditions and to take seriously how we’re going to cut costs in our health care system and strengthen Medicare and make sure that people aren’t having unnecessary tests when their results could just be emailed to doctors because of electronic medical records? All kinds of ideas that we kept on offering up, and, “No, we can’t.”

On energy, we’re willing to compromise on a whole host of different issues, but we’ve got to have a strategy that starts reducing carbon because we want those clean energy jobs built here in the United States, not in China, not in Germany. (Applause.) What did they say, “No, no, we can’t.”

When the auto crisis struck, and we said we can’t afford to lose a million jobs in the Midwest in the midst of this huge downturn, and rather than just write checks to the auto companies -- which is what had been happening before our administration took over -- what we said was, we’re going to force the auto companies to restructure and hold them accountable and make sure management is producing the kinds of cars and trucks that speak to the future and not just the past. And we raised fuel efficiency standards on cars and trucks for the first time in 30 years. (Applause.)

And we said to the Republicans this represents something iconic about America, the fact that we make things right here in the United States of America. Help us. “No, we can’t.”

On issue after issue, they’ve just said no. Mitch McConnell was quoted I think last week -- maybe it was this week. He said, if we could have obstructed even more, we would have. Is that even possible? (Laughter.) How could you obstruct more?

And so that's what the choice in this election is going to be all about. Tax policy is going to be a major issue next year. The Democrats, Nancy, Chris, we want to stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas and give those tax breaks to companies that are creating jobs right here in the United States of America. That's common sense. (Applause.)

And we’ve got a track record. Right now we’ve got a bill pending to provide tax breaks, including the elimination of capital gains for small start-up businesses. We’ve been debating this thing how long now? Six months, a year. And these guys still aren’t going for it. The Chamber of Commerce is for it. (Laughter.) You know? Now, they usually don’t side with me on a lot of things -- although they sided with me on the Recovery Act and they’ve conveniently forgot about that.

So on issue after issue, the choice is going to be, are we moving forward or are we moving backwards. Now, I think that the American people want to move forward. I’m positive of it. And one of the things I’ve been saying as I travel around the country is, as tough as these times have been, we’ve been through tougher times. Our grandparents, our great grandparents, the parents before them, they’ve gone through Revolutionary War, Civil Wars, slavery and segregation, World War II, Great Depressions. This country has been through some tough stuff. There have been times where the naysayers and the cynics and the pessimists said, our better days are behind us. There have been times where the main currency of politics was making people afraid, trying to divide them, not offering up a way forward and a way to bring people together, but rather trying to point out who is to blame. We’ve seen that before.

But time after time, decade after decade, somehow we’ve always found it in ourselves to reach for what’s best in us. We’ve always been able to set our sights on the future. And as tough and sometimes depressing as our politics can get, in opposition to this notion that we can’t, somebody said we can.

That's the choice in this election. And if all of you who two years ago or four years ago or six years ago, if all of you remember why we worked so hard and what’s at stake, and understand that our task is not yet done, but also recognize the enormous progress that we’ve made because of the leadership of these members of Congress right here, then we’re going to do just fine. And this country is going to be just fine.

While I was taking photos, a woman came up to me. She said, thank you for health care because my child has Type 1 diabetes, couldn’t get health insurance once he graduated, and now I know that he’s going to be covered.

Today, I was in an advanced battery plant outside of Milwaukee where they are adding manufacturing jobs stamping green technology, “Made in America”. Across the country we’re seeing states suddenly reforming their education systems to make sure that we’re lifting up those who are underperforming because we know that we’ve got to have the best possible workforce to compete in the 21st century. We are making progress. We are moving forward.

And so even as the other side wants to offer fear, we’re going to offer hope. And I want to make sure everybody here understands, don't bet against the American worker. Don't bet against American businesses. Don't bet against Nancy Pelosi. (Laughter and applause.) We are going to move this country forward with your help. We’re going to move this country forward with your help, but we are going to need your help. We’re going to need your phone calls. We are going to need your knocking on doors. We need your enthusiasm. We need your spirit. We need your confidence that we can continue to make this country even better than it already is. All right?

And if everybody here is able to marshal that spirit once again, I’m absolutely positive we’re not just going to do well in this election, we’re going to do right by the next generation. (Applause.)

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

END 7:57 P.M. PDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

August 16, 2010

Remarks by the President on Clean Energy Manufacturing

ZBB Corporation Manufacturing Facility
Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin

11:08 A.M. CDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. (Applause.) Everybody, please have a seat. Thank you very much. It is wonderful to be at ZBB Energy. And thanks for your hospitality, and thanks for helping to build a future.

I've got a couple of people I want to acknowledge. First of all, your wonderful Governor and First Lady, Jim and Jessica Doyle are here. Please give them a big round of applause. (Applause.) We've got somebody who is fighting on behalf of Wisconsin families each and every day -- Russ Feingold, your wonderful U.S. senator. (Applause.) A great friend and somebody who has been really doing great work over her first couple of years in Congress -- Congresswoman Gwen Moore. Please give her a big round of applause. (Applause.)

And thank you, Eric, for the wonderful tour that you provided to us. Please give Eric Apfelbach a big round of applause -- CEO of ZBB. (Applause.)

It is great to be here. I just had a chance to see some of the batteries that you’re manufacturing and talk to a few of the men and women who are building them. And the reason I’m here today is because at this plant you’re doing more than just making high-tech batteries. You’re pointing the country towards a brighter economic future.

Now, that’s not easy. We’ve been through a terrible recession -– the worst that we’ve seen since the Great Depression. And this recession was the culmination of a decade that fell like a sledgehammer on middle-class families. For the better part of 10 years, people were seeing stagnant incomes and sluggish growth and skyrocketing health care costs and skyrocketing tuition bills, and people were feeling less secure economically.

And few parts of the economy were hit harder than manufacturing. Over the last 10 years, the number of people working in manufacturing shrank by a third. And that left millions of skilled, hardworking Americans sitting idle, just like the plants were sitting idle. That was before the recession hit. Obviously once the recession took hold, millions more were struggling in ways that they never imagined. And there’s nobody here who hasn’t been touched in some way by this recession. And certainly a state like Wisconsin or my home state of Illinois can tell a lot of stories about how badly hit manufacturing was, particularly in the Midwest.

Now, there’s some who suggest this decline is inevitable. But I don’t see it that way -– and I know neither do you. Yes, times are tough. But we’ve been through tough times before. And we’ve made it through because we are resilient -- Americans are resilient. We don't give in to pessimism; we don't give in to cynicism. We fight for our future. We work to shape our own destiny as a country.

And that’s what we’ve been trying to do since I took office. We’ve been fighting on all fronts -– inch by inch, foot by foot, mile by mile -– to get this country moving forward again, and going after every single job we can create right here in the United States of America.

So we’re investing in 21st century infrastructure -- roads and bridges, faster Internet access, high-speed railroads -- projects that will lead to hundreds of thousands of private sector jobs, but will also lay the groundwork so that our kids and our grandkids can keep prospering.

We’ve cut taxes for small businesses that hire unemployed workers. In fact, I’ve signed seven other small business tax cuts so that entrepreneurs can help expand and buy new equipment and add more employees. We’ve taken emergency steps to prevent layoffs of hundreds of thousands of teachers and firefighters and police officers, and other critical public servants in our communities. And I think that Governor Doyle will testify that we have made progress in part because everybody has pulled together. There was a great danger of even greater layoffs all across this state for vital services that would affect our kids and our families. These folks would have otherwise lost their jobs because of state and local budget cuts.

And at the same time what we've been trying to do -- and that's why I'm here at ZBB -- is to jumpstart a homegrown, clean energy industry –- building on the good work of your governor and others in this state. That’s why I’m here today. Because of the steps we’ve taken to strengthen the economy, ZBB received a loan that’s helping to fund an expansion of your operations. Already, it’s allowed ZBB to retain nearly a dozen workers. And over time, the company expects to hire about 80 new workers. This is leading to new business for your suppliers, including MGS Plastics and other manufacturer here in Wisconsin.

And ZBB is also planning to take advantage of a special tax credit to build another factory in southeastern Wisconsin, so we can create even more jobs and more opportunity. And Eric is confident that you can expand because you’re seeing rising demand for advanced batteries. And all this is part of steps we’ve taken in clean energy -– steps that have led to jobs manufacturing wind turbines and solar panels, building hybrid and electric vehicles, modernizing our electric grid so that we have more sources of renewable energy but we can also use it more effectively.

We expect our commitment to clean energy to lead to more than 800,000 jobs by 2012. And that’s not just creating work in the short term, that’s going to help lay the foundation for lasting economic growth. I just want everybody to understand --just a few years ago, American businesses could only make 2 percent of the world’s advanced batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles -- 2 percent. In just a few years, we’ll have up to 40 percent of the world’s capacity.

Here at ZBB, you’re building batteries to store electricity from solar cells and wind turbines. And you’ve been able to export batteries around the globe, and that’s helping lead this new industry. For years, we’ve heard about manufacturing jobs disappearing overseas. Well, companies like this are showing us how manufacturing can come back right here in the United States of America, right back here to Wisconsin. (Applause.)

Now, obviously, we’ve got a lot more work to do. The damage that was done by this recession was enormous. Eight million people lost their job; 750,000 lost jobs the month I was sworn into office; 3 million had lost their jobs by the time we took office, and several more million in those first few months of 2009. So too many of our family members and our friends and our neighbors are still having a tough time finding work. And some of them have been out of work a long time.

And I’ve said before and I’ll say it again, my administration will not rest till every American who is willing to work can find a job, and a job that pays decent wages and decent benefits to support a family.

But what’s clear is that we’re headed in the right direction. A year and a half ago, this economy was shrinking rapidly. The economy is now growing. A year and a half ago, we were losing jobs every month in the private sector. We’ve now added private sector jobs for seven months in a row. And that means the worst mistake we could make is to go back to doing what we were doing that got us into the mess that we were in. We can’t turn back. We’ve got to keep going forward. We’ve got to keep going forward. (Applause.)

Now, I’ll be honest with you, there’s going to be a big debate about where we go. There are folks in Washington right now who think we should abandon our efforts to support clean energy. They’ve made the political calculation that it’s better to stand on the sidelines than work as a team to help American businesses and American workers.

So they said no to the small business tax cuts I talked about. They said no to rebuilding infrastructure. And they said no to clean energy projects. They even voted against getting rid of tax breaks for shipping jobs overseas so we could give those tax breaks to companies that are investing right here in Wisconsin.

And my answer to people who have playing politics the past year and a half is, they should come to this plant. They should go to any of the dozen new battery factories, or the new electrical vehicle manufacturers, or the new wind turbine makers, or the solar plants that are popping up all over this country, and they should have to explain why they think these clean energy jobs are better off being made in Germany or China or Spain, instead of right here in the United States.

See, when folks lift up the hoods on the cars of the future, I want them to see engines stamped “Made in America.” When new batteries to store solar power come off the line, I want to see printed on the side, “Made in America.” When new technologies are developed and new industries are formed, I want them made right here in America. That's what we’re fighting for. That's what this is about. (Applause.)

So, ZBB, you’re part of that process. You guys are at the cutting edge. You’re how we’re going to strengthen this economy.

These have been a couple of very hard years for America. And we’re not completely out of the woods yet. There are going to be some more tough days ahead. It would be a mistake to pretend otherwise. But we are headed in the right direction. You’re pointing us in the right direction. And I am confident about our future, because of what I have seen at this plant and what I see when I talk to workers like all of you, what I have seen all across this country. When the chips are down, it’s always a mistake to bet against the American worker. It’s a mistake to bet against American businesses. It’s a mistake to bet against the American people.

This is the home to the most skilled, hardworking people on Earth. There’s nothing we cannot achieve when we set our minds to it. All we’ve got to do is harness the potential that’s always been central to our success. That’s not just how we’re going to come through the storms we’ve been in recently. That’s how we’re going to emerge even stronger than before.

So I want to say thank you to Eric. I want to thank ZBB for hosting us. More importantly, I want to thank all of you for setting a model for how we’re going to create the kind of lasting economy that’s going to be good not just for this generation, but for the next generation.

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

END
11:27 A.M. CDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

August 16, 2010

Remarks by the President on Clean Energy Manufacturing in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin

11:08 A.M. CDT

And thank you, Eric, for the wonderful tour that you provided to us. Please give Eric Apfelbach a big round of applause -- CEO of ZBB. (Applause.)

So, ZBB, you’re part of that process. You guys are at the cutting edge. You’re how we’re going to strengthen this economy.
These have been a couple of very hard years for America. And we’re not completely out of the woods yet. There are going to be some more tough days ahead. It would be a mistake to pretend otherwise. But we are headed in the right direction. You’re pointing us in the right direction. And I am confident about our future, because of what I have seen at this plant and what I see when I talk to workers like all of you, what I have seen all across this country. When the chips are down, it’s always a mistake to bet against the American worker. It’s a mistake to bet against American businesses. It’s a mistake to bet against the American people.

This is the home to the most skilled, hardworking people on Earth. There’s nothing we cannot achieve when we set our minds to it. All we’ve got to do is harness the potential that’s always been central to our success. That’s not just how we’re going to come through the storms we’ve been in recently. That’s how we’re going to emerge even stronger than before.

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

END
11:27 A.M. CDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

August 14, 2010

Remarks by the President on Gulf Coast Recovery in Panama City, Florida

U.S. Coast Guard Panama City District Office

Panama City, Florida

12:00 P.M. CDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody. It is a privilege to be here in Panama City Beach with the men and women of the United States Coast Guard. I wanted to come here personally and express my gratitude to you for the effort that you've waged in response to the BP oil spill. And I know Michelle wanted to do the same, so we're looking forward to having a chance to shake hands with you and thank you personally for this great work that you've been doing day in, day out.

Michelle, just last month, was down in Mississippi, where she met folks from the Coast Guard about the spill, and she had the chance to christen the new cutter -- the Stratton.

The Coast Guard was the first on the scene, immediately launching a search-and-rescue operation for the missing. And you were the first to recognize that we were potentially looking at a massive spill even before the rig collapsed and the oil began to leak from the seafloor. And a day and a half later, in a meeting with Thad Allen and others, I instructed the Coast Guard, the Department of Homeland Security, and other agencies to treat this response as their number-one priority. And that's exactly what all of you have done.

Under the leadership of Admiral Allen, the Coast Guard, along with other federal agencies and state and local governments, has directed the largest response to an environmental disaster in American history. The response has included more than 7,000 vessels, and more than 47,000 people on the ground. And I know that two cutters -- the Aspen and the Juniper -- are here in port this week, after tours skimming and performing other recovery work. As I said before, many of the folks here have toiled day and night, spending weeks, even months, away from their families to stop the leak, remove the oil, and protect waters and coastline. So I want to thank all those who continue to participate in this effort.

I also want to make mention and thank Dr. Stephen Chu and our team of scientists assembled from across federal agencies, around the country and all over the world, who have been working nonstop to kill the well once and for all. This has not only been the biggest oil spill in our history; it's also been the most technologically complex. It pushed the boundaries of our scientific know-how, as engineers wrestled with a massive and unpredictable leak -- and faced setbacks, faced complications, all in pitch-black waters nearly a mile beneath the surface of the Gulf.

Well, today the well is capped. Oil is no longer flowing into the Gulf. It has not been flowing for a month. And I'm here to tell you that our job is not finished and we are not going anywhere until it is. That's the message that I wanted to come here and deliver directly to the people along the Gulf Coast -- because it's the men and women of this region who have felt the burden of this disaster. They watched with anger and dismay as their livelihoods and their way of life was threatened these past few months. And that's why I made a commitment in my visits here that I was going to stand with you not just until the well was closed, not just until the oil was cleaned up, but until you had fully recovered from the damage that's been done. And that is a commitment that my administration is going to keep.

That's also why my Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, is here. A former governor of Mississippi, a son of the Gulf, he has been traveling all across this region, gathering up information and data to make sure that we are following through on our commitments for rebuilding.

And I reiterated this just now when I met with a few small business owners from the Panama City area, along with Governor Charlie Crist and not only the mayors of this region, but also some of the business owners who are affected -- folks like Captain Gary Jarvis, a charter boat operator from Destin. Gary started fishing as a deckhand back in 1978, and he's been captain for the past three decades, making his living on the water. He's lost fully half of his business because of the spill, though he's been able to use his boat as a vessel of opportunity in the past few months. And he's extraordinarily knowledgeable about these waters, being both a charter fisherman and a commercial fisherman. And he had some terrific suggestions about how, working with scientists from NOAA and other federal agencies, we can do even more to make sure that we are monitoring and maintaining and improving the fishing off the coast of Florida and across the Gulf.

I also had a chance to speak to Lee Ann Leonard, general manager of By the Sea Resorts. She's seen a big decline in tourism. June wasn’t too bad, but July was tough. And she's now hoping that August, September and October can help them rebound from what have been significant losses.

I met with Carolyn Holman, who's got two commercial fishing boats and owns the Captain's Table Fish House in Panama City Beach with her husband. And I appreciated the chance to sit down with them to hear firsthand what they've been going through and to make clear that we're going to keep standing by them. Part of the concern that Carolyn expressed was the issue of seafood and our testing and making sure that it's safe. And we are all over that and monitoring that carefully each and every day, hopefully continuing to deliver good news as the days go on. And I mentioned to her that we already had some seafood in the White House. When the New Orleans Saints came up, we had a couple of po'boys. So right now we're feeling pretty good.

I also want to recognize that Mayor Gayle Oberst and Mayor Scott Clemons had some terrific suggestions about how we might help to diversify the economies down here so that they're in a better position to -- if we ever had a crisis again -- manage it, but more importantly, to provide more jobs and opportunity in this extraordinary and beautiful region.

Now, I want to go over a couple steps that we are going to be focused on over the next several weeks. First and foremost, we're going to continue to monitor and remove any oil that reaches the surface and clean up any oil that hits the shore. As I mentioned, Gary has been offering up his ship as a vessel of opportunity and he confirms what you've been seeing in the news reports, which is there aren’t a lot of patches out there that are visible right now. But we've got to constantly anticipate that at any given time you might see a patch of oil that starts coming in, and we've got to be able to capture that before it hits these beautiful beaches around here.

As a result of the massive cleanup operation that's already taken place, a recent report by our top scientists found that the majority of oil has now evaporated or dispersed, or it's been burned, skimmed, or recovered from the wellhead. And the dispersed oil is in the process of degrading. But I will not be satisfied until the environment has been restored, no matter how long it takes.

I also want to point out that as a result of the cleanup effort, beaches all along the Gulf Coast are clean, they are safe, and they are open for business. That's one of the reasons Michelle, Sasha, and I are here. The Governor and the mayors and others invited us down to enjoy the beach and the water -- to let our fellow Americans know that they should come on down here. It is spectacular. Not just to support the region; come down here because it's just a beautiful place to visit.

Next we're going to continue testing fisheries and we'll be reopening more areas for fishing as tests show that the waters are safe. Already, more than 26,000 square miles were reopened at the end of July, and another 5,000 were reopened earlier this week. I know this takes some time, and it's been incredibly hard on the people who earn their living on the water. Carolyn's boats, for example, have had to find different areas to fish that are further away and require more fuel, so she's been having to make some decisions, maybe I don't send out my boat this time out. But their livelihoods, not to mention the health of the people across this country, obviously depends on making sure that folks can trust the seafood coming from the Gulf, trust that it's safe, as it always has been.

And as I told Carolyn, we've already been enjoying Gulf seafood, but we are going to keep on monitoring this to make sure that everybody's favorite seafood from the Gulf and favorite recipes are going to be treated -- are going to be just fine.

The third thing we're focused on is claims. When I came down to the Gulf previously, I heard a lot of frustration about the way BP was handling claims. So in June I met with BP's executives, and in that meeting they agreed to put aside $20 billion in a special fund to pay damages. It's being run by an independent overseer so that people can trust that they'll get a fair shake. Now we need to make sure claims are processed quickly, because many who have lost their only source of income, they don't have a lot of leeway; they don't have months to wait to be compensated. The folks we just met with -- Lee Ann, Gary, Carolyn -- they've all got outstanding claims. So I want to be clear about this. Any delay by BP or those managing the new funds are unacceptable. And I will keep pushing to get these claims expedited.

Finally, I have charged, as I mentioned earlier, Ray Mabus to develop a long-term Gulf Coast restoration plan as soon as possible. That plan needs to come from the people in the Gulf, which is why he's been meeting with folks from across the region to develop this plan of action. That's how we can ensure that we do everything in our power to restore the environment and reverse the economic damage caused by the spill.

So, with the closure of the well we mark an important milestone. But this is not the end of the journey. And in completing the work ahead I'm reminded of what I heard when I was in Louisiana back in June. I spent time with folks on Grand Isle, meeting with fishermen and small business owners, and the town's mayor, David Camardelle. And he told me what his friends and neighbors were going through. He talked about how hard things had been. But he also explained the way folks rallied to support one another, and said, the people in this community may not have a lot of money, but that didn’t matter. "We help each other," he said. "That's what we do."

That's what folks do for one another in the Gulf. That's what the Coast Guard has been doing for folks in need. That's what we do as Americans. And my job is to make sure that we live up to this responsibility, that we keep up our efforts until the environment is clean, polluters are held accountable, businesses and communities are made whole, and the people of the Gulf Coast are back on their feet.

So to the men and women of the Coast Guard, thank you again for your extraordinary service. To the people here in the Gulf, we are going to be standing by your side. And to Americans all across the country, come on down and visit.

Thank you.

END
12:13 P.M. CDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

August 13, 2010

Remarks by the President at Iftar Dinner

State Dining Room

8:37 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good evening, everybody. Welcome. Please, have a seat. Well, welcome to the White House. To you, to Muslim Americans across our country, and to more than one billion Muslims around the world, I extend my best wishes on this holy month. Ramadan Kareem.

I want to welcome members of the diplomatic corps; members of my administration; and members of Congress, including Rush Holt, John Conyers, and Andre Carson, who is one of two Muslim American members of Congress, along with Keith Ellison. So welcome, all of you.

Here at the White House, we have a tradition of hosting iftars that goes back several years, just as we host Christmas parties and seders and Diwali celebrations. And these events celebrate the role of faith in the lives of the American people. They remind us of the basic truth that we are all children of God, and we all draw strength and a sense of purpose from our beliefs.

These events are also an affirmation of who we are as Americans. Our Founders understood that the best way to honor the place of faith in the lives of our people was to protect their freedom to practice religion. In the Virginia Act of Establishing Religion Freedom, Thomas Jefferson wrote that “all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion.” The First Amendment of our Constitution established the freedom of religion as the law of the land. And that right has been upheld ever since.

Indeed, over the course of our history, religion has flourished within our borders precisely because Americans have had the right to worship as they choose -– including the right to believe in no religion at all. And it is a testament to the wisdom of our Founders that America remains deeply religious -– a nation where the ability of peoples of different faiths to coexist peacefully and with mutual respect for one another stands in stark contrast to the religious conflict that persists elsewhere around the globe.

Now, that's not to say that religion is without controversy. Recently, attention has been focused on the construction of mosques in certain communities -– particularly New York. Now, we must all recognize and respect the sensitivities surrounding the development of Lower Manhattan. The 9/11 attacks were a deeply traumatic event for our country. And the pain and the experience of suffering by those who lost loved ones is just unimaginable. So I understand the emotions that this issue engenders. And Ground Zero is, indeed, hallowed ground.

But let me be clear. As a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. (Applause.) And that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America. And our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country and that they will not be treated differently by their government is essential to who we are. The writ of the Founders must endure.

We must never forget those who we lost so tragically on 9/11, and we must always honor those who led the response to that attack -– from the firefighters who charged up smoke-filled staircases, to our troops who are serving in Afghanistan today. And let us also remember who we’re fighting against, and what we’re fighting for. Our enemies respect no religious freedom. Al Qaeda’s cause is not Islam -– it’s a gross distortion of Islam. These are not religious leaders -– they’re terrorists who murder innocent men and women and children. In fact, al Qaeda has killed more Muslims than people of any other religion -– and that list of victims includes innocent Muslims who were killed on 9/11.

So that's who we’re fighting against. And the reason that we will win this fight is not simply the strength of our arms -– it is the strength of our values. The democracy that we uphold. The freedoms that we cherish. The laws that we apply without regard to race, or religion, or wealth, or status. Our capacity to show not merely tolerance, but respect towards those who are different from us –- and that way of life, that quintessentially American creed, stands in stark contrast to the nihilism of those who attacked us on that September morning, and who continue to plot against us today.

In my inaugural address I said that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus —- and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and every culture, drawn from every end of this Earth. And that diversity can bring difficult debates. This is not unique to our time. Past eras have seen controversies about the construction of synagogues or Catholic churches. But time and again, the American people have demonstrated that we can work through these issues, and stay true to our core values, and emerge stronger for it. So it must be -– and will be -– today.

And tonight, we are reminded that Ramadan is a celebration of a faith known for great diversity. And Ramadan is a reminder that Islam has always been a part of America. The first Muslim ambassador to the United States, from Tunisia, was hosted by President Jefferson, who arranged a sunset dinner for his guest because it was Ramadan —- making it the first known iftar at the White House, more than 200 years ago. (Applause.)

Like so many other immigrants, generations of Muslims came to forge their future here. They became farmers and merchants, worked in mills and factories. They helped lay the railroads. They helped to build America. They founded the first Islamic center in New York City in the 1890s. They built America’s first mosque on the prairie of North Dakota. And perhaps the oldest surviving mosque in America —- still in use today —- is in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Today, our nation is strengthened by millions of Muslim Americans. They excel in every walk of life. Muslim American communities —- including mosques in all 50 states —- also serve their neighbors. Muslim Americans protect our communities as police officers and firefighters and first responders. Muslim American clerics have spoken out against terror and extremism, reaffirming that Islam teaches that one must save human life, not take it. And Muslim Americans serve with honor in our military. At next week’s iftar at the Pentagon, tribute will be paid to three soldiers who gave their lives in Iraq and now rest among the heroes of Arlington National Cemetery.

These Muslim Americans died for the security that we depend on, and the freedoms that we cherish. They are part of an unbroken line of Americans that stretches back to our founding; Americans of all faiths who have served and sacrificed to extend the promise of America to new generations, and to ensure that what is exceptional about America is protected -– our commitment to stay true to our core values, and our ability slowly but surely to perfect our union.

For in the end, we remain “one nation, under God, indivisible.” And we can only achieve “liberty and justice for all” if we live by that one rule at the heart of every great religion, including Islam —- that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us.

So thank you all for being here. I wish you a blessed Ramadan. And with that, let us eat. (Applause.)

END
8:47 P.M. EDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

August 13, 2010

Remarks by the President at Iftar Dinner

State Dining Room

8:37 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good evening, everybody. Welcome. Please, have a seat. Well, welcome to the White House. To you, to Muslim Americans across our country, and to more than one billion Muslims around the world, I extend my best wishes on this holy month. Ramadan Kareem.

I want to welcome members of the diplomatic corps; members of my administration; and members of Congress, including Rush Holt, John Conyers, and Andre Carson, who is one of two Muslim American members of Congress, along with Keith Ellison. So welcome, all of you.

Here at the White House, we have a tradition of hosting iftars that goes back several years, just as we host Christmas parties and seders and Diwali celebrations. And these events celebrate the role of faith in the lives of the American people. They remind us of the basic truth that we are all children of God, and we all draw strength and a sense of purpose from our beliefs.

These events are also an affirmation of who we are as Americans. Our Founders understood that the best way to honor the place of faith in the lives of our people was to protect their freedom to practice religion. In the Virginia Act of Establishing Religion Freedom, Thomas Jefferson wrote that “all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion.” The First Amendment of our Constitution established the freedom of religion as the law of the land. And that right has been upheld ever since.

Indeed, over the course of our history, religion has flourished within our borders precisely because Americans have had the right to worship as they choose -– including the right to believe in no religion at all. And it is a testament to the wisdom of our Founders that America remains deeply religious -– a nation where the ability of peoples of different faiths to coexist peacefully and with mutual respect for one another stands in stark contrast to the religious conflict that persists elsewhere around the globe.

Now, that's not to say that religion is without controversy. Recently, attention has been focused on the construction of mosques in certain communities -– particularly New York. Now, we must all recognize and respect the sensitivities surrounding the development of Lower Manhattan. The 9/11 attacks were a deeply traumatic event for our country. And the pain and the experience of suffering by those who lost loved ones is just unimaginable. So I understand the emotions that this issue engenders. And Ground Zero is, indeed, hallowed ground.

But let me be clear. As a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. (Applause.) And that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America. And our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country and that they will not be treated differently by their government is essential to who we are. The writ of the Founders must endure.

We must never forget those who we lost so tragically on 9/11, and we must always honor those who led the response to that attack -– from the firefighters who charged up smoke-filled staircases, to our troops who are serving in Afghanistan today. And let us also remember who we’re fighting against, and what we’re fighting for. Our enemies respect no religious freedom. Al Qaeda’s cause is not Islam -– it’s a gross distortion of Islam. These are not religious leaders -– they’re terrorists who murder innocent men and women and children. In fact, al Qaeda has killed more Muslims than people of any other religion -– and that list of victims includes innocent Muslims who were killed on 9/11.

So that's who we’re fighting against. And the reason that we will win this fight is not simply the strength of our arms -– it is the strength of our values. The democracy that we uphold. The freedoms that we cherish. The laws that we apply without regard to race, or religion, or wealth, or status. Our capacity to show not merely tolerance, but respect towards those who are different from us –- and that way of life, that quintessentially American creed, stands in stark contrast to the nihilism of those who attacked us on that September morning, and who continue to plot against us today.

In my inaugural address I said that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus —- and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and every culture, drawn from every end of this Earth. And that diversity can bring difficult debates. This is not unique to our time. Past eras have seen controversies about the construction of synagogues or Catholic churches. But time and again, the American people have demonstrated that we can work through these issues, and stay true to our core values, and emerge stronger for it. So it must be -– and will be -– today.

And tonight, we are reminded that Ramadan is a celebration of a faith known for great diversity. And Ramadan is a reminder that Islam has always been a part of America. The first Muslim ambassador to the United States, from Tunisia, was hosted by President Jefferson, who arranged a sunset dinner for his guest because it was Ramadan —- making it the first known iftar at the White House, more than 200 years ago. (Applause.)

Like so many other immigrants, generations of Muslims came to forge their future here. They became farmers and merchants, worked in mills and factories. They helped lay the railroads. They helped to build America. They founded the first Islamic center in New York City in the 1890s. They built America’s first mosque on the prairie of North Dakota. And perhaps the oldest surviving mosque in America —- still in use today —- is in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Today, our nation is strengthened by millions of Muslim Americans. They excel in every walk of life. Muslim American communities —- including mosques in all 50 states —- also serve their neighbors. Muslim Americans protect our communities as police officers and firefighters and first responders. Muslim American clerics have spoken out against terror and extremism, reaffirming that Islam teaches that one must save human life, not take it. And Muslim Americans serve with honor in our military. At next week’s iftar at the Pentagon, tribute will be paid to three soldiers who gave their lives in Iraq and now rest among the heroes of Arlington National Cemetery.

These Muslim Americans died for the security that we depend on, and the freedoms that we cherish. They are part of an unbroken line of Americans that stretches back to our founding; Americans of all faiths who have served and sacrificed to extend the promise of America to new generations, and to ensure that what is exceptional about America is protected -– our commitment to stay true to our core values, and our ability slowly but surely to perfect our union.

For in the end, we remain “one nation, under God, indivisible.” And we can only achieve “liberty and justice for all” if we live by that one rule at the heart of every great religion, including Islam —- that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us.

So thank you all for being here. I wish you a blessed Ramadan. And with that, let us eat. (Applause.

END
8:47 P.M. EDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

August 11, 2010

Declaraciones del Presidente Tras Promulgación de la Ley de Impulso Industrial

Salón Este

3:07 P.M. EDT

EL PRESIDENTE: Gracias. Muchas gracias a todos. Por favor, tomen asiento.

Buenas tardes a todos. Bienvenidos a la Casa Blanca. Desde el día que asumí la presidencia, la principal prioridad de mi gobierno ha sido rescatar a nuestra economía de la crisis, reconstruirla sobre nuevas bases para lograr un crecimiento duradero y cada día hacer todo lo posible para ayudar a los estadounidenses cuya vida ha sido duramente afectada por una brutal recesión.

Ahora bien, sabíamos desde el principio que iba a tomar tiempo revertir el daño hecho por la peor crisis financiera y la peor recesión en varias generaciones; más tiempo de lo que queríamos. Y sabíamos que iba a requerir esfuerzo continuo en todos los frentes.

Los desafíos que enfrentamos se ven en los datos económicos que vemos desde la primavera pasada, cuando los sucesos en Europa perturbaron el mercado y generaron vientos desfavorables para nuestra recuperación económica. También los veo todos los días cuando hablo con gente de todo el país y en cartas que leo cada noche, historias de estadounidenses que todavía están buscando trabajo y hombres y mujeres que todavía tienen dificultad para expandir sus negocios y contratar en tiempos difíciles.

Y si bien ya hemos superado lo peor de esta recesión, todavía queda mucho por hacer. Todavía nos queda un largo camino por recorrer. Y estoy más decidido que nunca a hacer todo lo posible para acelerar nuestra recuperación económica y hacer que nuestra gente vuelva a trabajar. Por eso me complace promulgar hoy una ley que fortalecerá el sector industrial de Estados Unidos y los empleos estadounidenses. Y al hacerlo me acompañan dos miembros de mi equipo económico, el secretario de Comercio Gary Locke, un incansable defensor de la industria en Estados Unidos, y el embajador Ron Kirk, quien está haciendo un trabajo estupendo y acumulando millas como el representante comercial de Estados Unidos.

Pocos aspectos de nuestra economía se han visto tan afectados como el sector industrial, no sólo en los últimos años, sino en las últimas décadas. En todo el siglo XX, la producción industrial abrió las puertas a una vida mejor para varias generaciones de trabajadores estadounidenses. Fue el caldero donde se forjó nuestra clase media. Pero con el tiempo, los empleos se fueron esfumando. Las compañías aprendieron a hacer más con menos, y enviaban empleos al extranjero cada vez que podían. Otras naciones no siempre cumplieron con los acuerdos comerciales, y nosotros no siempre verificábamos su cumplimiento. Y en la última década, la fuerza laboral se redujo en 33 por ciento, y millones de esmerados y capaces estadounidenses se vieron forzados a dejar de trabajar, quedar inactivos como las fábricas en las que antes trabajaron. Esto ocurrió antes de que la reciente recesión los afectara a ellos y a millones de estadounidenses mas que ahora pasan dificultades que nunca imaginaron.

Y hay algunos que sostienen que esta caída es inevitable, que la única manera de que Estados Unidos progrese es abandonar a los trabajadores y comunidades del sector industrial. Yo no lo veo así. La respuesta no es dejar de fabricar, dejar de construir; la respuesta es hacerlo mejor, elevar la calidad y hacerlo aquí mismo en Estados Unidos. Reconstruiremos esta economía que sea más sólida que antes, y al centro de este esfuerzo habrá tres imponentes palabras: Made in America. (Hecho en Estados Unidos.)

Desde hace demasiado tiempo, compramos demasiado del resto del mundo, cuando deberíamos estar vendiendo más al resto del mundo. Por eso, en mi discurso sobre el Estado de la Nación, fijé una meta ambiciosa para este país. En los próximos cinco años, vamos a aumentar al doble nuestras exportaciones de bienes y servicios, un aumento que propiciará el crecimiento de nuestra economía y respaldará millones de empleos estadounidenses. Hay mucho que hacer para alcanzar esta meta. Nuestra economía está acostumbrada a comprar del extranjero y a no vender como necesita hacerlo. Pero es de vital importancia que revirtamos esa tendencia. Al fin y al cabo, 95 por ciento de los clientes del mundo y los mercados de mayor crecimiento del mundo están en el extranjero. Y cuando las condiciones sean equitativas, los trabajadores estadounidenses podrán competir con cualquiera. Y continuaremos compitiendo enérgicamente por cada empleo, por cada sector y por cada mercado existente.

Por eso luchamos por y logramos que se aprobaran créditos tributarios para compañías que están invirtiendo aquí en Estados Unidos en lugar de mantener sus ganancias en el extranjero. Por eso cerramos brechas legales que alentaban a las compañías a trasladar puestos estadounidenses al extranjero. Por eso estamos verificando el cumplimiento de nuestras leyes comerciales, en algunos casos, por primera vez. Por eso les dijimos a los fabricantes de autos estadounidenses que si tomaban las decisiones difíciles para competir en el futuro, Estados Unidos los respaldaría. Y por eso estamos invirtiendo en el sector de energía limpia y los empleos que ésta genera, empleos que pagan bien y llevan a Estados Unidos a un futuro más limpio, más seguro y más independiente en materia energética.

Ahora bien, estamos empezando a ver que algunas de estas inversiones están dando resultado. Lo he visto con mis propios ojos en fábricas donde los trabajadores estadounidenses ahora fabrican turbinas eólicas, paneles solares y componentes para las baterías avanzadas del mañana.

Lo he visto en las plantas automotrices que han sido reequipadas, donde trabajadores estadounidenses construyen autos y camiones de alta calidad y consumo más eficiente de combustible, que pueden competir mano a mano con cualquier otro del mundo. De hecho, por primera vez en más de cinco años, las tres grandes empresas automotrices no operan a pérdida, y el sector automotor ha generado 76,000 empleos desde junio pasado, el periodo más sólido de crecimiento laboral en más de 10 años.

Así que en general, el sector industrial en efecto ha generado 183,000 empleos en lo que va del año. En los últimos siete meses, se ha producido la mayor generación de empleo en el sector industrial en más de una década. En lugar de cerrar fábricas para abrirlas en el extranjero, hemos empezado a ver lo opuesto: un número cada vez mayor de compañías están abriendo fábricas aquí y contratando dentro del país.

Todavía no alcanzamos la meta a la que necesitamos llegar, pero estamos viendo buenas proyecciones. Y no podemos quedarnos aquí. Debemos continuar. Por eso he promulgado hoy una ley que les facilitará la vida a los fabricantes estadounidenses y a los trabajadores estadounidenses, para que hagan lo que mejor saben hacer: fabricar excelentes productos y venderlos en todo el mundo.

La Ley de Impulso Industrial 2010 (Manufacturing Enhancement Act of 2010) generará empleos, ayudará a las compañías estadounidenses a competir y fortalecerá la producción industrial, que es el motor clave de nuestra recuperación económica. Y funciona de la siguiente manera: Para fabricar sus productos, los industriales, algunos de los cuales están presentes hoy, a menudo tienen que importar ciertos materiales de otros países y pagar aranceles por esos materiales. Esta ley reducirá o eliminará algunos de esos aranceles, lo cual disminuirá significativamente los costos de las compañías estadounidenses en todo el sector industrial, desde autos hasta productos químicos; desde dispositivos médicos hasta equipo deportivo. Y eso impulsará la producción, respaldará buenos empleos en el país, y los consumidores estadounidenses verán precios más bajos.

Esta ley fue aprobada por ambas cámaras del Congreso con el apoyo abrumador de ambos partidos, y quiero agradecer a demócratas y republicanos por unirse por el bien de las empresas y trabajadores estadounidenses. Y antes de promulgar la ley, quiero aprovechar la oportunidad de alentar ese mismo espíritu bipartidista para otra medida que generará empleos y permitirá que Estados Unidos progrese.

El extraordinario crecimiento que hemos visto en el sector de energía limpia se debe sobre todo y ante todo al ímpetu empresarial de nuestras empresas y trabajadores. Pero también se debe al hecho que hemos invertido en ellos. Una de esas inversiones se dio a manera de créditos tributarios para la producción de energía limpia. Lo que les dijimos a las fábricas de energía limpia fue: si están dispuestas a poner el 70 por ciento del capital para un proyecto que merece la pena, nosotros ponemos el resto. Eso significa que por cada dólar que invertimos, generamos más de dos dólares de inversión privada.

El único problema que tenemos es que estos créditos generaron tanto interés que no había suficientes para todos. Más de 180 proyectos de energía limpia en más de 40 estados recibieron $2,300 millones en créditos tributarios, pero el programa fue tan exitoso, que recibimos 500 solicitudes que reunían los requisitos para $8,000 millones en créditos tributarios.

Creo que si una empresa estadounidense desea innovar, expandirse y generar empleos aquí mismo, en Estados Unidos, debemos darle el respaldo que necesita para ello. Por eso estamos exhortando el Congreso una vez más a que invierta $5,000 millones en estos créditos tributarios para la producción de energía limpia. Es una inversión que generará $12,000 millones o más en inversiones privadas y decenas de miles de empleos nuevos.

Y como lo dije antes, el país que gane la carrera de la economía de energía limpia será el líder económico del siglo XXI. Otras naciones lo saben. Vienen invirtiendo cantidades enormes en ese futuro. Quieren esos empleos. Pero Estados Unidos de América no desea el segundo puesto. Juega a ganar. Y ganaremos si nos movemos libres de politiquería, enfocados sólo en lo que se necesita hacer para lograr la meta.

Ésta es una idea que ya tiene apoyo bipartidista, pero la están postergando desde hace meses. Así que mi mensaje es claro: No impidan que se haga lo correcto por el bien de nuestra economía y nuestro futuro. Y no apuesten en contra del trabajador estadounidense, ni pierdan la fe en la industria estadounidense. Ésta es una nación que siempre se ha enorgullecido de lo que construye, y ése es el espíritu que llevará a la recuperación.

Hemos pasado por tiempos difíciles en ocasiones anteriores, y fue precisamente en esas épocas que reconstruimos, reequipamos, aprovechamos el ingenio y la fortaleza que hace de ésta una gran nación. Fue así que nuestros predecesores forjaron el primer siglo estadounidense. Será así que forjaremos el próximo. Y con ese espíritu, promulgaré esta ley. Muchas gracias a todos. (Aplausos.)

(Se promulgó la ley.)

FIN

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

August 11, 2010

Remarks by the President at the Signing of the Manufacturing Enhancement Act of 2010

East Room

3:07 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you very much. Everybody please have a seat.

Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to the White House. From the day I took office, my administration’s highest priority has been to rescue our economy from crisis, rebuild it on a new foundation for lasting growth, and do everything we can, every single day, to help the American people whose lives have been upended by a brutal recession.

Now, we knew from the beginning that reversing the damage done by the worst financial crisis and the deepest recession in generations would take some time -- more time than anyone would like. And we knew that it would require an ongoing effort across all fronts.

Now, the challenges we face have been confirmed not just by the economic data that we’ve seen since last spring, when events in Europe roiled the markets and created headwinds for our economic recovery. They’re also confirmed every day in the conversations that I have with folks around the country, and in the letters that I read at night -- stories of Americans who are still looking for work, and the men and women who are still struggling to grow their businesses and hire in these challenging times.

So while we have fought back from the worst of this recession, we’ve still got a lot of work to do. We’ve still got a long way to go. And I’m more determined than ever to do every single thing we can to hasten our economic recovery and get our people back to work. So that’s why I’m pleased today to sign into law a bill that will strengthen American manufacturing and American jobs. And as I do, I’m joined by two members of my economic team -- Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, who’s been a tireless advocate for America’s manufacturers; and Ambassador Ron Kirk, who’s been doing a great job and putting in a lot of miles as our U.S. Trade Representative.

Few areas of our economy have been as hard-hit as manufacturing -- not just in recent years, but in recent decades. Throughout the 20th century, manufacturing was the ticket to a better life for generations of American workers. It was the furnace that forged our middle class. But over time, the jobs dried up. Companies learned to do more with less, and outsourced whatever they could. Other nations didn’t always live up to trade agreements and we didn’t always enforce them. And over the last decade, the manufacturing workforce shrank by 33 percent, leaving millions of skilled, hardworking Americans sitting as idle as the plants that they once worked in. This was before the recent recession left them and millions more struggling in ways they never imagined.

Now, some suggest this decline is inevitable, that the only way for America to get ahead is to leave manufacturing communities and their workers behind. I do not see it that way. The answer isn’t to stop building things, to stop making things; the answer is to build things better, make things better, right here in the United States. We will rebuild this economy stronger than before and at its heart will be three powerful words: Made in America.

For too long, we’ve been buying too much from the rest of the world, when we should be selling more to the rest of the world. That’s why, in my State of the Union address, I set an ambitious goal for this country. Over the next five years, we are going to double our exports of goods and services, an increase that will grow our economy and support millions of American jobs. We’ve got a lot of work to do to reach this goal. Our economy has fallen into the habit of buying from overseas and not selling the way it needs to. But it is vitally important that we reverse that trend. After all, 95 percent of the world’s customers and the world’s fastest-growing markets are beyond our borders. And when the playing field is even, American workers can compete with anybody. And we’re going to compete aggressively for every job, for every industry, and every market out there.

That’s why we fought for and passed tax breaks for companies that are investing here in the United States rather than companies that are keeping profits offshore. That’s why we closed loopholes that encourage corporations to ship American jobs overseas. That’s why we’re enforcing our trade laws -- in some cases, for the very first time. That’s why we told America’s automakers that if they made the tough decisions required to compete in the future, that America would stand by them. And that’s why we’re investing in a clean energy industry and the jobs that come with it -– jobs that pay well and carry America to a cleaner, more secure and more energy-independent future.

Now, already we’re beginning to see some of these investments pay off. I’ve seen it myself in factories where American workers are now manufacturing wind turbines and solar panels, components for the advanced batteries of tomorrow.

I’ve seen it in retooled auto plants where American workers are building high-quality, fuel-efficient cars and trucks that can go toe to toe with any in the world. In fact, for the first time in more than five years, the Big Three are operating at a profit, and the auto industry has added 76,000 jobs since last June -– that’s the strongest period of job growth in more than 10 years.

So overall, the manufacturing sector has actually added 183,000 jobs so far this year. That’s the strongest seven months of manufacturing job growth in more than a decade. Instead of plants leaving America to set up shop overseas, we’ve actually begun to see the opposite -– a growing number of firms setting up shop and hiring here at home.

So we’re not yet where we need to be, but there are some good trends out there. And we can’t let up. We’ve got to keep moving forward. That’s why today, I’m signing a bill into law that will make it cheaper and easier for American manufacturers and American workers to do what they do best: build great products and sell them around the world.

The Manufacturing Enhancement Act of 2010 will create jobs, help American companies compete, and strengthen manufacturing as a key driver of our economic recovery. And here’s how it works. To make their products, manufacturers -- some of whom are represented here today -- often have to import certain materials from other countries and pay tariffs on those materials. This legislation will reduce or eliminate some of those tariffs, which will significantly lower costs for American companies across the manufacturing landscape -– from cars to chemicals; medical devices to sporting goods. And that will boost output, support good jobs here at home, and lower prices for American consumers.

This bill passed both houses of Congress on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis, and I want to thank Democrats and Republicans for coming together on behalf of America’s businesses and workers. And before I sign it into law, I want to take this opportunity to encourage that same kind of bipartisan spirit on another step that will create jobs and move America forward.

The extraordinary growth we’ve seen in the clean energy sector is due first and foremost to the entrepreneurial drive of our businesses and our workers. But it’s also due to the fact that we invested in them. One of these investments came in the form of clean energy manufacturing tax credits. What we said to clean energy firms was, if you’re willing to put up 70 percent of the capital for a worthy endeavor, we’ll put up the other 30 percent. That means that for every dollar we invest, we leverage more than two private sector dollars.

The only problem we have is, these credits worked so well, there weren’t enough to go around. More than 180 clean energy projects in over 40 states received $2.3 billion in tax credits, but the program was such a success that we received 500 qualified applications for $8 billion in tax credits.

I believe that if an American company wants to innovate, grow, and create jobs right here in the United States, we should give them the support they need to do it. That’s why I’m urging Congress, once again, to invest $5 billion in these clean energy manufacturing tax credits. It’s an investment that will generate $12 billion or more in private sector investment and tens of thousands of new jobs.

And as I’ve said before, the nation that wins the race for the clean energy economy will lead the 21st century economy. Other nations know this. They’ve been investing heavily in that future. They want those jobs. But the United States of America doesn’t play for second place. We compete to win. And we will win this if we move forward free of politics, focused on just what it takes to get the job done.

This is an idea that already has bipartisan support, but it’s been delayed for months. So my simple message is, don’t let politics get in the way of doing what’s right for our economy and for our future. And don’t bet against the American worker or lose faith in American industry. This is a nation that has always been proud of what it builds, and it is that spirit that’s going to lead our recovery forward.

We’ve been through tough times before, and it is precisely in those times that we rebuilt, we retooled, we recaptured the ingenuity and resilience that makes this nation so great. That’s how our predecessors built the first American century. That’s how we’ll build the next. And it’s in that spirit that I will now sign this bill into law. Thank you very much, everybody. (Applause.)

(The bill is signed.)

END
3:17 P.M. EDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

August 10, 2010

Remarks by the President on Teacher Jobs

Rose Garden

11:43 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, everybody. One of the biggest challenges of this recession has been its impact on state and local communities. With so many Americans unemployed or struggling to get by, states have been forced to balance their budgets with fewer tax dollars, which means that they’ve got to cut critical services and lay off teachers and police officers and firefighters.

It’s one thing for states to get their fiscal houses in order and tighten their belts like families across America -- because families have been doing it, there’s no reason that states can’t do it, too. That’s a welcome thing. But we can’t stand by and do nothing while pink slips are given to the men and women who educate our children or keep our communities safe. That doesn’t make sense. And that’s why a significant part of the economic plan that we passed last year provided relief for struggling states -- relief that has already prevented hundreds of thousands of layoffs.

And that’s why today we’re trying to pass a law that will save hundreds of thousands of additional jobs in the coming year. It will help states avoid laying off police officers, firefighters, nurses and first responders. And it will save the jobs of teachers like the ones who are standing with me today. If we do nothing, these educators won’t be returning to the classroom this fall. And that won’t just deprive them of a paycheck, it will deprive the children and parents who are counting on them to provide a decent education. It means that students in Illinois and West Virginia who count on Rachel and Shannon are going to be not getting the education that they deserve. It will deprive countless cities and towns of the law enforcement officials and first responders who risk their lives to keep us out of harm’s way. It will cost us jobs at a time when we need to be creating jobs. In other words, it will take us backwards at a time when we need to keep this country moving forward.

Now, this proposal is fully paid for, in part by closing tax loopholes that encourage corporations to ship American jobs overseas. So it will not add to our deficit. And the money will only go toward saving the jobs of teachers and other essential professionals.

It should not be a partisan issue. I heard the Republican Leader in the House say the other day that this is a special interest bill. And I suppose if America’s children and the safety of our communities are your special interests, then it is a special interest bill. But I think those interests are widely shared throughout this country -- a challenge that affects parents, children and citizens in almost every community in America should not be a Democratic problem or a Republican problem. It is an American problem.

I’m grateful that two Republicans joined Democrats to pass this proposal in the Senate last week. And I’m equally grateful that Speaker Pelosi has called back the House of Representatives to a special session so that they can vote as well.

I urge members of both parties to come together and get this done so that I can sign this bill into law. I urge Congress to pass this proposal so that the outstanding teachers who are here today can go back to educating our children. America is watching and America is waiting for Washington to act. So let’s show the nation that we can.

I want to thank Rachel as well as Shannon not only for being here today, but for the extraordinary work that they’re doing each and every day with special education children, with kindergarteners so they’re getting off to a right start. And I also want to thank Arne Duncan, who has been doing as much as anybody all across the country to try to emphasize how important it is to make sure that we are providing a first-class education to every single one of our children.

This bill helps us do that. And so it’s time for Democrats and Republicans to come together and get it done.

Thank you very much, everybody.

END
11:48 A.M. EDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

August 10, 2010

Remarks by the President at a DSCC Finance Event in Dallas, Texas

Private Residence
Dallas, Texas

August 9, 2010
4:34 P.M. CDT

THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much, everybody. It is wonderful to be with you. And I just first of all want to thank Russell and Dori for the wonderful hospitality in a gorgeous home. So thank you very much. Give them a big round of applause. (Applause.)

And I want to also say thank you for doing such a great job training my Ambassador Ron Kirk. (Laughter.) He has been doing yeoman’s work internationally, and I know it’s because he has such good friends in Dallas who, along with Matrice, keep him straight. (Laughter.) So we are pleased to have him in the administration. He is just a great friend as well as a great national leader.

And thanks to all of you who’ve done so much not only to help support my campaign in 2008 but to help Democrats here in Texas, here in Dallas County, and all across the United States of America.

I was down in Austin before we came here and I mentioned that Austin was really the first big rally we had after I had just announced that I was running for President of the United States back in February of 2007. We had more than 20,000 people show up. And so I have a lot of friends in Texas, a lot of friends in Dallas, a lot of friends in Austin.

And I was reminded of a story Abraham Lincoln used to tell about a guy who came to see him looking for patronage work. He had really tried to get in to see the President, and back then security was a little more lax than it is now. And eventually he got an audience with the President, and he looked at Lincoln and he said, “You know, I am responsible for you being in office. If it wasn’t for me, you would not be here.” And Lincoln said, “Is that true?” He said, “Yes.” He said, “Well, I forgive you.” (Laughter.)

There are times, given all the grey hairs that I’ve been accumulating here over the last two years, that I understand Lincoln’s joke. But obviously being President is the most extraordinary privilege that anyone could have, and with it comes such sober responsibilities. That’s particularly at a time of great national challenge.

All of you remember the wonderful spirit that existed in Washington on that very cold January day when I was sworn in, but I think we also have to remind ourselves that in the previous six months we had already lost three million jobs; that the financial system had all but locked up and was on the verge of meltdown. The month that I was sworn in, we lost 750,000 jobs; subsequently, we lost 600,000 jobs in each month after that. The stock market plunged; the country had lost trillions of dollars worth of wealth. And people were talking about us possibly tipping into a Great Depression.

And so we knew we had to act quickly, and we did. And as a consequence of the actions we took -- not all of which were popular at the time -- we were able to stabilize the financial system and get finance circulating again. We were able to stabilize the economy, stop just the complete bloodletting of jobs throughout the economy. And whereas we were losing 750,000 jobs every single month, we’re now -- we have now seen private sector job growth for seven consecutive months. Where we were contracting at a rate of 6 percent per quarter, we’re now growing once again.

And so there is a sense that we are now moving in the right direction, but understanding that we’ve got to move a little faster. We’ve got to keep on going. Because there are a lot of people here in Dallas, there are a lot of people all across America, who are struggling. I see it every single time I pick up a letter from a constituent who’s working hard, has sent out resume after resume, and yet just haven’t gotten hired yet; or the person who was laid off just on the verge of retirement and they’re trying to figure out how can I ever possibly afford to retire; what are we going to do because our -- we had saved for our child’s college education but now we’re on the verge of losing our house and we’re having to make that horrible choice between our child’s future and the needs of the present.

So we’ve got some big challenges out there. And the question we’re going to have in this election is whether we’re going to continue down a path of creating greater opportunity, making that opportunity available to all people -- are we going to become more competitive in this 21st century economy -- or are we are going to go backwards to the exact same policies that got us into this mess in the first place?

And if you don’t think that’s what the choice is, you haven’t been paying attention to what the other side is offering for November. I mean, this is not a situation where the Republicans, having run the economy into the ground, having taken record surpluses when Bill Clinton left office and turned them into record deficits, this is not a situation where they’ve done a bunch of reflection here. They didn’t go off into the desert and say to themselves, “Boy, we really screwed up.” (Laughter.)

“You know, I don’t know exactly what we did wrong here, but, gosh, things did not work out the way we expected. Let’s come up with some new ideas for moving the country forward in how we’re going to educate our kids and provide health care to all Americans and make sure that we’ve got the highest college graduation rates once again, that research and development and innovation here in this country is on the move.”

That’s not what’s happened. They are not offering a single idea that is new. All they are offering is retreads of what they’ve offered before.

And so what they’re counting on in this election is amnesia. (Laughter.) They’re counting on you not remembering the disastrous consequences of economic policies that, by the way, had caused problems for working-class families, for middle-class families, before the recession hit, before the crisis hit. We had had almost a decade of sluggish growth, sluggish job growth, and incomes and wages that had flat-lined even as the cost of health care, the cost of college tuition, the cost of energy had all skyrocketed.

And so they are not offering a single new idea. They are counting on you forgetting that it was a consequence of these policies that got us into this mess in the first place.

You know, I’ve been using the analogy of the folks who drove the car into the ditch. And so we decided, you know what, we’re going to do the responsible thing. We put on our boots, we got into the mud, we got into the ditch. We pushed, we shoved, we’re sweating. They’re standing on the sidelines sipping a Slurpee -- (laughter) -- sort of watching us, saying, “Well, you’re not pushing hard enough,” or “Your shoulder is not positioned the right way,” giving us a whole bunch of advice on how to push -- not lifting a finger to help.

And finally we get this car up back on the road again, and finally we’re ready to move forward again. And these guys turn around and say, “Give us the keys.” Well, no, you can’t have the keys back -- you don’t know how to drive. (Applause.) You don’t know how to drive.

They don’t know how to drive. And I also want to point out, by the way, when you want to go forward in a car, what do you do? You put it in “D.” (Laughter.) When you want to go backwards, you put it in “R.” (Laughter.) We cannot go backwards -- we’ve got to move forwards. That’s what we’re fighting for in this election -- moving forwards. (Applause.)

Think about what we’ve done over the last 20 months to move the country forward. Not only did we prevent another Great Depression, not only did we stabilize the financial system, but we have finally enshrined the idea that every American should be able to get health care that’s affordable and nobody should be bankrupt when they get sick. (Applause.)

We’ve done so, by the way, combining those reform efforts with the strongest patient bill of rights than we’ve ever seen, so that insurance companies can’t drop your coverage; can’t deny you coverage because you’ve got a preexisting condition; making sure that young people are able to stay on their parents’ health insurance until they’re 26 years old; eliminating lifetime limits that were causing people great hardship; and reducing costs so that the Medicare trustees just last week said that as a consequence of health reform we have extended the life of Medicare for another 12 years -- meaning this was one of the most important deficit-reduction steps that we could have taken. (Applause.)

We have instituted a financial regulatory reform package that makes sure that we’re not going to have taxpayers bailouts again; at the same time, making sure that you as consumers are not being taken advantage of, so that credit card companies can’t just raise your rates arbitrarily on existing balances, or mortgage companies can’t have hidden fees, or mortgage brokers can’t steer you into more expensive interest rates on your mortgage.

We have instituted housing reform. We have instituted credit card reform. We have made sure that tobacco companies can’t market to our kids. We have raised national mileage standards on cars and trucks -- the first time in 30 years -- so that we have the opportunity now to make sure that the clean energy cars of the future are made right here in the United States of America.

We have created wind turbine plants and solar plants all across America, and are creating an advanced battery manufacturing industry in this country. Where we used to have 2 percent of that market, we’re going to have 40 percent of that market by 2015, in five years. Oh, and by the way, we’ve also appointed two Supreme Court Justices -- (applause.)

So that’s what we’ve got to offer, and we’re just getting started. Because we’ve got more work to do. The problem we’ve got right now is we’ve got folks on the other side of the aisle who have spent 20 months politicking while we’ve spent those 20 months governing. They’ve been thinking about the next election instead of the next generation.

I mean, think about it. When the leader of the Republicans on the House side was asked, “What’s your idea for job creation,” he said, “Repeal health care reform.” (Laughter.) I don’t know what jobs that would create except maybe for the guys who are paid to deny you claims.

When they asked them about Wall Street reform, they said, no, we think actually the status quo is okay. Now, think about this. You have the worst financial crisis since the 1930s and they said no to reforming the system.

When we had a crisis down in the Gulf -- unprecedented oil spill -- and I went down there and I met with fishermen and small business owners who were being devastated economically and were seeing their way of life potentially threatened, and we made sure that BP was going to be accountable to those folks and put together a $20 billion fund to make sure they were getting paid off, what happened? The guy who would be in line to chair the Energy Committee on behalf of the Republicans apologized to BP. Said we are sorry about the President shaking you down. That’s how he characterized our efforts to make sure that people were treated fairly after a big oil company wrecked their livelihood.

So across the board, what you see is a governing philosophy on their part that basically comes down to we’re going to extend tax cuts for the wealthiest among us -- folks who don’t need those tax cuts and weren’t even asking for them, which would cost $700 billion -- these are the folks who say they’re concerned about the deficit but are willing to spent $700 to those who are luckiest and least in need in our society.

Their agenda is we’re going to eliminate rules and regulations that rein in special interests, and then we’re going to cut the middle class loose, say you’re on your own. You can’t afford health care? Tough luck, you’re on your own. You can’t afford to send your kids to college? Tough luck, you’re on your own. You can’t afford to retire? Too bad, you’re on your own.

That is the philosophy that held sway in Washington for eight years before I came in, and that is what they want to go back to.

So I just want everybody here to understand very clearly, this is a sharp and clear choice. If you are interested in a clean energy future in which we continue to build our solar industry and wind power and biodiesel and natural gas and we are shaping a strategy to wean ourselves off our dependence on foreign oil, then you better go out there and support those Democratic members of Congress. Because the other side is just going to say no to that.

If you are interested in ending tax cuts for companies that ship jobs overseas, and instead want tax cuts to go to small businesses like the bill that we’ve got right now in the Senate that would eliminate capital gains for small businesses, would be additional tax cuts on top of the eight tax cuts we’ve already given to small businesses so far, then you’d better go out there and help some Democratic candidates. Because the other side is not interested in helping folks who are starting things up -- they’re interested in the special interests who can afford to hire lobbyist in Washington.

If you’re interested in things like equal pay for equal work -- because I’ve got two daughters and I want to make sure they’re treated just like any boys as they’re coming up -- then you better make sure that you’re working on behalf of these Democratic candidates out here. Because we’ve got a big job ahead of us.

I was just down in Austin talking about education. We have gone in a single generation from ranking number one in college graduates to ranking number 12 in this country. We cannot compete if we lose our edge when it comes to having the best colleges and the best universities in the country, but also the best-trained workers.

Which is why one of the things that we did -- didn’t get a lot of notice over the last 20 months, but one of the most important thing we did was we eliminated the middleman on the federal student loan program and obtained an additional $60 billion to provide student loans to millions of more young people all across America. (Applause.) By the way, the other side said no to that. The other side wouldn’t have anything to do with it. They thought it was a bad idea.

So we’re going to have choice after choice on every single issue that you care deeply about. If you care about education, if you care about health care, if you care about civil rights and equal pay for equal work, if you care about consumer protections, if you care about jobs and growth in this economy -- if you care about building a new foundation so that we’re not just going back to the same tired, worn-out theories that didn’t work for the last decade but are instead instituting something that’s going to work for the 21st century -- then we’re going to need you to really step up and work hard in this election.

Now, that’s hard to do at a time when people are feeling like, boy, this is a polarized electorate and it makes people dispirited -- all the yelling and the shouting and the cable chatter and the punditry. And I’ll be honest with you, sometimes Democrats, we’re our own worst enemies, because we can do great stuff and somehow still feel depressed. (Laughter.) You know, there’s -- sometimes we do a little too much handwringing. Say, well, you know, I don't know, I wish we had gotten that public option. Well, that’s great, but we got 31 million people health insurance and we’re reducing costs for people and we are -- (applause) -- consumer protections when it comes to the health insurance industry.

We have had an extraordinary record of accomplishment over the last 20 months, and we can continue those efforts but we’re going to need you in this election season. We’ve got to have you talking to your friends, we’ve got to have you talking to your neighbors, your coworkers. We’re going to need you to contribute to congressional candidates who are going to have very tough races out there.

And part of what’s happened in this landscape is the Supreme Court -- those of you who don’t think the Supreme Court matters, their ruling in Citizens United, which said that corporations, including potentially foreign corporations, can go ahead and spend unlimited amounts without disclosing who they are during election season -- means that you’re going to have a whole bunch of organizations like Americans for Prosperity -- (laughter) -- spending millions of dollars trying to roll back reforms that we’ve initiated. And you won’t even know who they are, because right now the law says they don’t have to disclose who they are.

Now, we’re going to try to change that. We’ve got legislation in the Senate and the House that says, you know what, the least we can do is, on behalf of our democracy, is to make sure that if somebody is spending millions of dollars to try to influence an election, they’ve got to disclose who they are. That’s the least we can do, so the American people know who’s out there making these arguments. (Applause.)

But the other side won’t have any of that. Because they want help and support from those special interests, and they don’t want to face up to the consequences if the American people knew who was paying for these ads.

So we’ve got some tough work ahead of us. We’ve got some headwinds because we’re still working our way out of this hole. We’re going to have a lot of money on the other side. They think that the American people have forgotten how badly they mismanaged this economy. And the only way we are going to win is if all of you are engaged and informed and are out there engaging and informing other people.

But in the end, I’m confident you can do that. Remember, when I started this fascinating journey, not a lot of people knew who I was. In fact, nobody could pronounce my name. But there were people all across America who had this basic sense that we had put off for too long some things that were holding this country back and who believed that there’s nothing we can’t accomplish when a group of citizens decide it’s time to go out and about and bring about change.

That sense of fundamental optimism, that sense that this country still has its best days ahead of it, that belief that if we make sure that our young people get the educational opportunities they deserve, if we are spurring innovation, if we are making sure that we have a free market that works because it’s got rules of the road that work for everybody and not just those who are well connected in Washington, that belief that America works best when it’s inclusive and everybody has a shot at the American Dream -- that’s what propelled me into office. That’s what moved so many of you to get involved. That’s what we’re going to have to rekindle over the next several months. I’m confident we can do it.

And when we do -- if you guys are working hard, if you’re making those phone calls and sending out those emails and doing what needs to be done -- I feel very optimistic not just about the next election, but more importantly I feel optimistic about the next generation.

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

END
5:00 P.M. CDT