The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 08, 2010

Remarks by the President at a Fundraiser for Senate Candidate Robin Carnahan

Kansas City Marriott, Kansas City, Missouri

1:36 P.M. CDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  Thank you, everybody.  Thank you.  Thank you so much.  Thank you.  Everybody have a seat.  Everybody have a seat.  Everybody enjoy themselves.  How’s lunch? All right, good.

Hello, Kansas City.  It is good to be back in the Midwest, even better to be back in the Midwest with Robin Carnahan.  (Applause.) 

You all have had a long tradition of sending tough, independent, no-nonsense leaders to Washington -- from Harry Truman, to my great friend Claire McCaskill, to some wonderful Missourians who go by the name of Carnahan.  (Applause.) 

Nobody fits this mold better than Robin.  She’s not going to Washington to represent the oil industry or the insurance industry or the banks on Wall Street.  She’s not even going there to represent every aspect of either party’s agenda or my agenda.  She’s going to Washington to represent one constituency, and that’s you, the people of Missouri.  She’s going to call them like she sees them, and she sees them the same way that most of you do, the same way that most of the people of Missouri do.

Robin is a small business owner, still runs her family farm.  That’s why as your Secretary of State, she cut red tape for small businesses and saved small business owners millions of dollars, so they can focus on growing their companies and creating jobs right here in this state.  That’s why she spent her time in office standing up for consumers -- got $10 billion back for Missourians who were being taken advantage of by big institutions.  That’s worth applauding -- $10 billion is real money.  (Applause.)  That’s why she worked with Democrats and Republicans to pass one of the strictest laws in the nation protecting seniors from fraud.  That’s why Missouri needs somebody like Robin Carnahan in Washington, D.C.  She is a fighter, she is a survivor, and she will never forget where she comes from or who she represents.  (Applause.)  And that’s why I’m glad to see that all of you are here today, because you know that about Robin.

We need tough leaders like Robin in Washington because these are tough times for America -- I don’t need to tell you that.  Eighteen months ago I took office after almost a decade of economic policies that gave us sluggish growth and falling or flat incomes and record deficits.  They were the policies that culminated in an economic crisis that was the worst since the Great Depression.  Three million Americans lost their jobs in the last six months of 2008.  The month I was sworn in, in January of 2009, more than 750,000 jobs were lost in that month alone.  These aren’t just numbers.  Most of you in this room were either touched by this or know somebody who was.   

The policies that led to this economic disaster were pretty straightforward:  You cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires who don’t need the tax cuts, didn’t even ask for them.  You cut rules and regulations for the most powerful institutions -- whether it’s big banks on Wall Street or big oil companies in the Gulf, and you cut working people loose to fend for themselves.  You tell them, you’re on your own.  You put a fancy name on it.  You call it the Ownership Society or whatever the new slogan is.  But it’s the same policy over and over again.

I think everybody here would agree those policies were bad for the people of Missouri.  They were bad for workers.  They were bad for responsible business owners.  They were bad for America.  And that’s why we took a different path when I got elected –- so we could stop the freefall and rebuild our economy for the long run. 

And our ideas have been pretty straightforward.  We cut taxes -- didn’t raise them, we cut them -- for 95 percent of working families and small business owners, the people who need it the most and were most impacted by the recession.  (Applause.)

We’re making sure that everybody -- the Wall Street banks, other big corporations -- are playing by the same rules as small business owners and everybody else in America.  We can’t have two sets of rules.  And we’re investing in our people, investing in them and their future –- in the skills and education of our workforce; in the research and clean energy technologies that will create thousands of new jobs and new industries and make our country competitive in the 21st century.  That’s our vision for America.   

Now, we knew from the very beginning that some of the steps that we had to take would be difficult and unpopular.  I love sometimes -- the pundits will say, boy, Obama is doing this stuff, it’s not very popular.  I’ve got pollsters, too.  (Laughter and applause.)  I know -- before we make decisions, we know initially how they’re going to play.  But our decision was not to worry about the next election.  We decided to worry about the next generation.  (Applause.)

We knew it took years to dig the hole that we were in and it would take some time to dig out -- longer than anybody would like.  But here’s what I also know:  An economy that was shrinking, if we did what we needed to do, would be growing.  And it has now been growing for the better part of a year.  An economy that was once losing jobs -- (applause) -- an economy that was once losing jobs has now been adding private sector jobs for six consecutive months.  During that time we have created nearly 600,000 jobs in the private sector -- not public sector jobs, private sector jobs -- 600,000.
 
Now, that’s not enough.  Not when there’s still five folks out of work for every available job.  Not when there are still storefronts on Main Streets all across the country that are sitting there empty.  It’s frustrating and it’s heartbreaking.  And we’ve got plenty more work to do.  But here’s what you need to know:  We are headed in the right direction.  And the last thing we should do is go back to the very ideas that got us into this mess in the first place.

That’s the choice that you’re going to be facing in November.  It’s a choice between the policies that led us into this mess and the policies that are leading us out of this mess.  It’s a choice between falling backwards or moving forward.  Robin wants to move us forward.  I want to move us forward.  And I believe that you and the rest of America are ready to move forward, and that’s why you’re going to send Robin Carnahan to Washington D.C.  (Applause.)  

Some of the same folks in the other party whose policies gave us the economic crisis are now looking for another chance to lead.  They spent nearly a decade driving the economy into the ditch, and now they’re asking for the car keys back.  (Laughter.)  They can’t have them back.  They don’t know how to drive.  (Applause.)  Don’t know how to drive, drive in the wrong direction, get us stuck.  And by the way, Robin’s opponent hasn’t just been along for the ride -- as one of the Republican leaders in the House of Representatives, he had his hands on the wheel.  He was there giving those tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires and oil companies without paying for them, adding to our deficit, adding to our debt.  He fought for fewer rules and less oversight for Wall Street, still fighting for them.  That’s how he makes his money.

So we already know how this story ends.  We don’t have to guess how the other party will govern because we’re still living with the results from the last time they governed.  And in the 18 months since I’ve been President, they have been singing from the same hymnal. 

Right after I took office, we passed an economic plan that cut taxes for over 2 million Missouri families; a plan that provided more than 1,500 loans to Missouri small businesses; a plan that has extended unemployment benefits to 170,000 Missourians who lost their jobs through no fault of their own.  Fifty-five thousand men and women in this state are working today because of this plan.  I just met 50 of them at the Smith Electric Vehicles plant in Kansas City that I visited right before I came here. 

So our plan was to provide grants to companies like Smith Electric Vehicles all across America -– businesses that are investing in clean energy manufacturing and technology.  Smith Electric is making the world’s largest battery-electric-powered trucks.  But there are also companies like Siemens Wind Power in Iowa that are making these wind turbines, delivering energy -- clean energy -- all across America.  Or Celgard in North Carolina, which is a battery technology company.  Or a biofuel refinery plant called Poet right here in Missouri.  That’s how we create jobs and economic growth.  That’s how we ensure that America leads in the industries of the future. 

I’ll give you an example.  Just a few years ago, America had the capacity to build only 2 percent of the world’s advanced batteries for electric and hybrid cars and trucks.  Today, thanks to our policies, thanks to a new focus on clean energy and the work taking place at plants like Smith Electric, in five years we could have as much as 40 percent of the world’s capacity to build these batteries -- 40 percent.  That means jobs right here in Missouri.  It also means we’re developing the expertise in a sector that is going to keep building and growing and innovating far into the future. 
 
That’s what our economic plan is doing.  Robin Carnahan supports that plan.  Her opponent doesn’t.  Like almost every member of the other party in Congress, he said no.  If he had his way, there would be a lot of Missouri families and small businesses paying higher taxes today.  There would be a lot of small business owners who wouldn’t have received the loans they need to keep their doors open and make payroll.  Those jobs at Smith Electric, those clean energy jobs and businesses that our policies are supporting across America, a lot of them wouldn’t be here today. 

These folks in the other party in Washington want to take us backwards.  But Robin and I and Claire McCaskill, Jay Nixon -– we want to take America forward.  And that’s the choice in this election.  

     You’d think that after this devastating financial crisis, we’d all agree that we believe in the free market system, we want a dynamic financial sector.  But it makes sense to have a little better oversight on Wall Street to prevent something like this from happening again.  That would be the sensible thing to do.  You’d think that would be a nonpartisan issue.  When we lost trillions of dollars of wealth, people’s 401(k)s plunged, stock market plunged, the entire economy went into a tailspin -- maybe we just want to make sure that doesn’t happen again.  That’d be the sensible approach.

Robin’s opponent -- and almost all of our friends in the other party -- are against Wall Street reform.  The Republican Leader, Mr. Boehner, said this reform was like employing nuclear weapons to kill an ant, he said.  An ant.  That’s what he called what we just went through.  You can imagine a movie:  “The Ant That Ate Our Economy.”  (Laughter.)  That’s a big ant.  (Applause.)

So they continue to defend the status quo that got us into this mess -- a system that allowed reckless speculators to gamble and left the rest of America to pay for their mistakes.  That doesn’t make sense to you; it doesn’t make sense to me.  It’s not good for our country.

In the end, it’s not good for all the hardworking, honest people in the financial industry who were put at a competitive disadvantage because of the recklessness of a few.

So let me tell you, when the Senate returns, we’re going to pass reform that ends this era of irresponsibility, reform that protects consumers against unfair practices of credit card companies and mortgage lenders, reform that makes sure taxpayers are never again on the hook for Wall Street’s mistakes. 

It’d be a lot easier to get it passed, it would already have been done, if I had Robin Carnahan there.  (Applause.)  She doesn’t want to move us backwards.  She wants to move us forward and that’s the choice in this election.  I need another vote.  It’d be helpful.  (Laughter.) 

Despite the growing burdens on middle-class families struggling to send their kids to college, Robin’s opponent and almost all our friends in the other party voted against a law that provides billions of dollars that were going to financial institutions, senseless subsidies, and now will be going to young people for scholarships -- billions of dollars for student loans, paid for because we’re eliminating subsidies that shouldn’t have been there in the first place.  Nearly a million more students from working families will have access to financial aid, access to college, because of what we did.  The other side said no.

They said no to laws that we passed to stop insurance companies from denying coverage to people with preexisting conditions.  They said no to requiring women to get equal pay for equal work.  They said no to extended unemployment insurance for folks who desperately needed help.  They said no to holding oil companies accountable when they bring on catastrophe.

You may have read the top Republican on the House Energy Committee, Mr. Barton, publicly apologizing to BP after we compelled them to set aside $20 billion to pay for the folks who have suffered as a consequence of the oil spill.  Does anybody here think BP should get an apology? 

AUDIENCE:  No!

THE PRESIDENT:  Mr. Barton did.  He called this a “tragedy” -- this fund that we had set up to compensate fishermen and small business owners throughout the Gulf.  That’s not the tragedy; the tragedy is if they didn’t get compensated.

So this is the leadership that we’ve gotten from Barton and Boehner and Blunt.  Sometimes I wonder if that “No” button is just stuck in Congress -- (laughter) -- so they just -- they can’t do what’s right for the American people.

And this isn’t just about politics.  But an awful lot of it has to do with politics because I think they figure if they just keep on saying no to everything and nothing gets done, they’re going to get more votes in November.  The theory is, if I lose, then they win.  But that’s the old brand of politics.  That just takes us backwards.  Robin wants to move America forward.  We want America to win -- not just Democrats to win.  That’s the choice in this election.  (Applause.)  Are we all going to pull in a single direction to get this country moving?  

Last point I’m going to make.  A lot of our friends in the other party like to talk a big game about fiscal responsibility and out-of-control spending.  I’ll be honest with you, it’s one of the things that keeps me up at night, thinking about all the debt and deficits that we inherited that have accumulated.  Often I hear Claire McCaskill’s voice in my head reminding me of that.  (Laughter.)  Maybe it’s just my voicemail.  (Laughter.)  Robin feels the same way.  She’s a small business owner.  She knows about making sure that she stays on budget, that she’s not spending more than she takes in.  And families around the country have been tightening their belts for a few years now.  So, rightly, they think it’s time that their government did the same thing. 

That’s why we proposed a three-year freeze on all government spending outside of national security, something that was never enacted in the previous administration.  That’s why we’ve gone through the budget line by line, identified more than 120 programs for elimination.  That’s why we put forward a fiscal commission that’s bringing both parties together to come up with a long-term solution for our deficit.  And working with leaders like Claire and Robin, we’re going to keep on taking the steps we need to in the months and years ahead, steps that don’t just make government leaner but also smarter and more efficient and more accountable.  That’s what Harry Truman did when he fought to hold war profiteers accountable.  That’s what Claire and I are fighting for today.

So I got to say, when I hear the other party talking about fiscal responsibility, criticizing us for fiscal responsibility when I had a $1.3 trillion deficit wrapped in a big bow waiting for me when I got to the White House -- (laughter) -- I’ve got to scratch my head a little.  You’d think that after turning a record Clinton surplus into a record deficit and record debt, they’d be a little shy about this.  (Laughter.)  On their watch, they neglected to pay for two wars, neglected to pay for two tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, didn’t control spending, set up a worthy but expensive prescription drug program.  Didn’t pay for any of it.  So it’s a little odd getting lectures on sobriety from folks who spent like drunken sailors for the better part of the last decade.  (Laughter and applause.)  They want to take us backwards.  Robin and I and Claire, we want to take America forward.  That’s the choice in this election. 

So here’s the bottom line.  These are incredibly challenging times, there’s no doubt about it.  As I said every day during the campaign, change is hard.  Change takes time.  The problems we face have been building up for decades; they’re not going to go away overnight.  Not in one year, not in four years.  No President, no politician has the power to snap their fingers and fix everything.  A lot of folks will tell you that, the closer you get to Election Day, that they can, but you can’t believe them. 

Here’s what we can do.  We can make choices about which direction we want to take this country.  We can stop putting off the things that have been holding us back and going ahead and tackling them and fixing them.  We can do what we’ve always done –- whether it was on a farm or dealing with a crisis overseas.  We shape our own destiny as a nation.  We decide what we’re going to bequeath to our children and our grandchildren. 

The interests of the status quo, they’ll always have the most influential and vocal defenders.  There will always be lobbyists for the powerful industries that don’t want more regulation or would rather see tax breaks instead of more investments in education and infrastructure.  And let’s face it, the prospect of change is scary, even when we know the status quo isn’t working.

But there are no powerful interests to lobby for the clean energy company that may start for a few -- hiring folks a few years from now, or the research that may lead to a lifesaving medical breakthrough, or the student who may not be able to afford a college education -- but if they got that education their dreams would not just carry them, but carry other people with them. 

It’s our job as a nation to advocate on behalf of the America that we hope for -- even when it’s not popular, even if we can’t always see benefits in the short term, because we know it will pay off in the long term.  It’s our job to fight not just for the next election but for the next generation -- for our children and our children’s children.  (Applause.) 

And that’s what I’ve tried to do every day as President.  That’s what Robin Carnahan will do when she is the next great senator from the state of Missouri.  I need all of you to join us on this journey.  And if you’re willing to make that investment, I guarantee you our better days are not behind us, they are in front of us.

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

END
2:00 P.M. CDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 08, 2010

Remarks by the President on the Economy at Smith Electric Vehicles in Kansas City, Missouri

Smith Electric Vehicles
Kansas City, Missouri

12:13 P.M. CDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody.  Good to see you.  (Applause.)  You don’t need to do that.  It’s good to see you.  Thank you very much.  Thank you.  Thank you so much.  Everybody -- everybody have a seat. 

Usually they announce me with some fancy thing, and I think I messed up -- I just walked out here.  (Laughter.)  So I hope you didn’t mind.  But on the way out, if you want, we can play the Ruffles and Flourishes and all that.

I want to, before I start, acknowledge some people who have just done a wonderful job for this area, but also a wonderful job for the country.  First of all, one of the best governors that we’ve got in the United States of America, Governor Jay Nixon.  (Applause.)  One of my -- not just my favorite senators but one of my favorite people and a great friend of mine who is fighting every day for the people of Missouri, Senator Claire McCaskill.  (Applause.) 

We’ve got two outstanding members of Congress, one from this side and one from that side -- Congressman Emanuel Cleaver -- (applause) -- and Congressman Dennis Moore.  (Applause.) 

And finally, I just want to acknowledge all the wonderful people at Smith Electric Vehicles and their energetic and outstanding staff. 

It is outstanding to be here, and I’m not going to take a long time.  I just want to spend some time shaking hands and thanking you for the great work that you’ve done.  I just had a chance to get a tour and saw some of the battery-powered trucks that you’re manufacturing.  I had a chance to talk to some of the folks who build them.  But the reason I’m here today is because, at this plant, you’re doing more than just building new vehicles.  You are helping to fight our way through a vicious recession and you are building the economy of America’s future.

Now, it’s not easy.  We’ve gone through as bad a economic situation as we’ve had since the Great Depression.  And this recession was a culmination of a decade of irresponsibility -- a decade that felt like a sledgehammer hitting middle-class families.  For the better part of 10 years, people have faced stagnant incomes, skyrocketing health care costs, skyrocketing tuition costs, and declining economic security.  And this all came to a head in a massive financial crisis that sent our economy into a freefall and cost 8 million American jobs, including many in this community.

So it was in the middle of this crisis that my administration walked through the door, and we had to make some difficult decisions at a moment of maximum peril, to avoid a Great Depression, to make sure that we didn’t have a complete meltdown in our financial system.  It was a moment when the markets were in turmoil and we were losing 750,000 jobs every month. 

Some of the decisions we made weren’t popular at the time -- and some of them may still be unpopular today.  But we made those decisions because we had to stop that freefall.  And because we made those hard choices, our economy is in a different place today than it was just a year ago.

One of those decisions was to provide critical funding to promising, innovative businesses like Smith Electric Vehicles.  And because we did, there is a thriving enterprise here instead of an empty, darkened warehouse.  Because of the grant that went to this company, we can hear the sounds of machines humming and people doing their work, instead of just the ghostly silence of an emptied-out building and the memory of workers who were laid off a long time ago.

And we made that kind of decision all across America last year.  And we were guided by a simple idea:  Government doesn’t have all the answers.  Ultimately, government doesn’t create all the jobs.  Government can’t guarantee growth by itself.  But what government can do is lay the foundation for small businesses to expand and to thrive, for entrepreneurs to open up shop and test out new products, for workers to get the training that they need, and for families to achieve some measure of economic security.  And that role is especially important in tough economic times. 

And that’s why, when my administration began, we immediately cut taxes -- that’s right.  You wouldn’t know it from listening to folks, but we cut taxes for working families and for small business owners all across American to help them weather the storm.  Through our small business loans, and our focus on research and development, and our investment in high-tech, fast-growing sectors like clean energy, we’re helping to speed our recovery by harnessing the talent and the drive and the innovative spirit of the American people.  So our goal has never been to create another government program, our goal has been to spur growth in the private sector. 

For example, right here at Smith, you’ve recently passed a milestone -- hiring a 50th employee -- and I know you’re on the way to hire 50 more.  And we’re seeing similar things all across America, with incentives and investments that are creating wind turbines and solar panels.  We’re seeing investments in energy-efficient appliances and home-building materials, and in advanced battery technologies and clean energy vehicles. 

So just give you a couple examples, just last week, Abound Manufacturing in Colorado received backing for two plants to produce solar panels.  This is going to create 2,000 construction jobs and 1,500 permanent jobs.  One of the plants is actually taking over what’s now an empty Chrysler supplier factory.  Another company, called Abengoa Solar, is now planning to build one of the world’s largest solar plants right here in the United States.  And when it’s finished, this facility will be the first large-scale solar plant in the United States that can actually store energy that it creates for later use -- even at night. 

All told, we expect energy investments alone to generate 700,000 jobs over the next few years.  And this is not just going to boost our economy in the short term; this is going to lay a platform for the future.  It’s going to create opportunities year after year after year, decade after decade after decade, as companies like Smith, that start small, begin to expand.  And I was just talking to your CEO, and he says he wants to open up 20 of these all across the country, so that in each region you’re able to service -- Smith is able to service its customers, and they’re going to have a reliable sense that Smith is always going to be there for them, making sure that customer satisfaction and performance is high.

I’ll give you another example.  Just a few years ago, America had the capacity to build only about 2 percent of the world’s advanced batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles like Smith’s -- 2 percent, that was it.  We account for 25 percent of the world’s economy and we were only making 2 percent of the world’s advanced batteries. 

But thanks to our new focus on clean energy and the work that’s taking place in plants like this one, we could have as much as 40 percent of the world’s market by 2015 -- five years.  That means jobs.  But that also means we’re going to have an expertise in a sector that’s just going to keep on growing all around the world for years to come.  So all these efforts taken together are making a difference. 

A year and a half ago, our economy was shrinking at 6 percent a year; now it’s growing.  The economy was bleeding jobs.  We’ve now created private sector jobs, added private sector jobs, for six consecutive months. 

Now, obviously the progress we’ve made isn’t nearly enough to undo all the damage that was done as a consequence of the economic crisis.  There are still five unemployed workers for every vacancy.  There’s still too many empty storefronts on Main Street all across America.  And I’ve said since I took office that my administration will not rest until every American who is able and ready and willing to work can find a job, and a job that pays a decent wage and has decent benefits to support a family. 

We’re not there yet.  We’ve got a long way to go.  But what is absolutely clear is we’re moving in the right direction.  We are headed in the right direction.  And that’s -- the surest way out of this storm is to go forward, not to go backwards.  There are some people who argue that we should abandon some of these efforts -- some people who make the political calculation that it’s better to just say no to everything than to lend a hand to clean up the mess that we’ve been in. 

But my answer to those who don’t have confidence in our future, who want to stop -- my answer is come right here to Kansas City.  Come see what’s going on at Smith Electric.  I think they’re going to be hard-pressed to tell you that you’re not better off than you would be if we hadn’t made the investments in this plant.

For the naysayers, they ought to travel all across America and meet the people that I’ve met at places like Navistar in Indiana, where folks are being hired to build new electric trucks; or Siemens Wind Power in Iowa, where they’re making wind turbines in a factory that used to be empty just like this one; or Celgard, which is a battery technology company in North Carolina that hired more than 50 people because of the investments we made; or Poet Biorefinery here in Missouri that’s putting people to work harvesting homegrown energy. 

While they’re at it, they ought to talk to all the small business owners who’ve gotten tax breaks to pay for their health plans and new SBA loans to expand or keep their doors open -- and that includes tens of millions of dollars in loans for companies right here in Kansas City. 

Or they ought to talk to the crews that are rebuilding all the highways and laying tracks for new rail lines -- including road projects that are putting hundreds of people to work in this area.  They ought to talk to the scientists who are toiling day and night to develop the technologies and the cures with the potential to improve our economy and our health and our well-being. 

And they might want to talk to the teachers who didn’t get laid off because of the budget help that we gave the state of Missouri -- who are then going to be teaching our kids and they’re being incentivized to reform how they do business so we’ve got the best education system in the world and we’ve got the highest number of folks who are going to community colleges or four-year colleges than anyplace in the world.

That’s how we’re going to take charge of our destiny.  That’s how we create jobs and create lasting growth.  That’s how we ensure that America doesn’t just limp along, maybe recover to where we were before, but instead that we’re prospering -- that this nation leads the industries of the future. 

I mean, this has been a difficult time for America right now:  two years of brutal recession, a decade of economic insecurity.  And there are going to be some hard days ahead.  That’s the truth.  It’s going to take a while for us to dig ourselves out of this hole.  But what you are proving here -- each and every one of you who work here at Smith Electric -- is the promise of a brighter future.  What you’re proving is that if we hold fast to that spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation that’s always defined America, we’re not just going to emerge from this period of turmoil, we’re going to emerge stronger than we were before.

You’re proving that as long as we keep on moving forward, nobody can stop us.  And for that I want to thank you.  You are setting a model for what we need to be doing all across the country. 

So congratulations.  Thank you very much.  (Applause.)
                  
END
12:26 P.M. CDT

The White House

Office of the First Lady

For Immediate Release
July 07, 2010

Remarks by the First Lady during Department of Treasury Visit

Department of the Treasury
Washington, D.C.

11:40 A.M. EDT

MRS. OBAMA:  Thank you, everybody.  Thank you all so much.  You know, it is a pleasure for me to be here.  And those of you with seats, please sit.  Because there’s a reason you have seats.  (Laughter.)  I think you’ve worked hard enough.  They gave you seats, so use them.  Use them.

I am thrilled to be here, your neighbor across the way.  Let me tell you, every time somebody comes over, they’re like, “What’s over there?”  (Laughter.)  Money, Treasury, something like that.  So it was very fun to make the commute.  I don’t get to walk much outside of the gate.  (Laughter.)  I walked across the street through the parking lot -- it was a thrill.  (Laughter.)  So it is good to finally come over and see our neighbors.

I want to start by thanking Secretary Geithner, not just for that kind introduction, but the tremendous work that he’s been doing here at Treasury, taking a lot of heat and still getting the job done.  My husband and I are so grateful for his leadership, his friendship, and his intelligence throughout.  So we need to give our Secretary a round of applause.  (Applause.)

And I want to join the Secretary in recognizing Valerie.  It is an honor to have you here.  As the Secretary said, you’ve put in your share of years at the IRS in Austin, Texas, and working in the same building where her husband was killed.  We are so incredibly sorry for your loss, but you should know that we are praying with you.  And it is just wonderful to see such a strong support system here for you.  So we are grateful that you’re here.  And I was honored to be able to take a picture with you and show it to -- if you can believe, she’s got six kids, seven grandkids.  She doesn’t look like she would have all that.  (Laughter.)  But thank you so much for being here today.

I also want to give a special welcome to someone else:  Pauline Fenderson.  Where is Pauline?  Is that -- I could have known it was you.  (Laughter.)  It was the hat that tipped me off.  But Pauline is from the IRS in Detroit, and Pauline started her career as a typist when Harry Truman was President of the United States.  (Applause.)

So she was a typing prodigy.  She was probably two when she did that.  (Laughter.)  Because she looks fantastic.  But now, 60 years later, she’s still working as an individual taxpayer assistance specialist.  And even though she says that sometimes -- just like all of us, she’s a mere mortal -- sometimes getting up on Mondays is hard –- (laughter) -– she does it because she enjoys giving folks a helping hand.

So I want to congratulate Pauline, and thank you for everything that you’ve done for so, so long for this country.  Let’s give Pauline a round of applause.  (Applause.)

But whether you’ve been here for 60 years or 60 days -- because we also know there are a lot of new folks who are just joining Treasury -- it’s wonderful to see a group of people who work so hard every day and make such a strong commitment to this country.

And it is a privilege, one of my greatest privileges as First Lady, to be able to travel throughout Washington to say hello and to thank you all for the work that you’re doing, because as my husband always says, he gets a lot of the glory and a lot of the sympathy for working long hours, but the truth is, you all are working hard, you’re making sacrifices.  And we couldn’t have accomplished the things that we have in this administration so quickly without your dedication.  So my job here is simply to say thank you for all that you do and all that you’ll continue to do.  We are truly grateful for your service.

And all of you here at Treasury have, as we know, your plates very full -- probably even an understatement -- for the past 18 months since this administration came onboard.  When my husband took office, our nation was in the midst of the worst economic crisis in generations.  The financial markets were in turmoil.  The auto companies were on the verge of collapse -- we don’t even talk about that anymore.  And for millions of Americans, the dreams that they worked so hard for were just slowly slipping away.

So there’s no question that these were difficult challenges, but together, you all have come together to help continue to move this country forward.  And for that you should be proud.

You’ve helped the auto industry get back on its feet.  You’re well on your way to winding down the TARP program -- I hear with a little cash in hand.  (Laughter.)  And now, with your help, we’re on the brink of passing financial regulation -- historic.  These reforms are going to prevent another crisis like we just saw, and protect all Americans, particularly our military families, from abusive consumer financial practices.  This is very important work that you all are accomplishing.

But as you all know, the work you do here at Treasury is about more than the stories that show up in the headlines and on the news.  You all do so much more.  And folks often don’t hear about all the work that you do.  You help families save money to send their kids to college or to buy a car or to pay their mortgage.  You help small businesses take out loans.  You make sure they’re meeting payroll.  One thing that my kids are grateful to you is that you print the currency that we use each and every day.  (Laughter.)  And I have to tell you, our first year here we did a lot of tours.  We went to all the monuments.  But we came here to watch money get printed, and it’s still the highlight.  Sasha loves those little balls of shredded-up money.  (Laughter.)

You all also do things that may be less obvious but equally important -- definitely important to me, like helping our children and our nation stay healthy.  As some of you probably know -- I don’t know if many others know -- I’ve been traveling around the country over the last year talking about a program we started called “Let’s Move!”  We’re trying to work to end the epidemic of childhood obesity in a generation so that children born today grow up healthy.  And one of the pillars of the program is to eliminate what we call “food deserts.”  And these are areas throughout the country where people don’t have access to fresh produce because they don’t have grocery stores.  And there are millions of Americans, millions of children living in these food deserts. 

And here at Treasury, you’re playing an incredibly important role in addressing this important challenge.  In the 2011 budget, this department has proposed to devote $250 million in New Markets Tax Credits and $25 million in grants to provide a powerful incentive for investors to take a chance on projects like grocery stores in underserved communities. 

And in February, Secretary Geithner, Secretary Vilsack and I got to visit one of those communities in North Philadelphia.  It was a place where, if you can believe it, they didn’t have a viable grocery store in their area for more than a decade -- more than 10 years.  So that meant that families trying to nourish their children had to rely on fast food and convenience stores. 

But today, thanks to the tax credits in place, the Fresh Grocer opened its doors in North Philadelphia.  It’s a beautiful grocery store.  And what it’s done, that one little store not only has made it easier for parents to put healthy food on the table for their kids, but it’s been a tremendous economic growth opportunity.  It’s created tons of jobs in that area.  And it is a beautiful store.

I remember during our visit, we were so mesmerized by the produce section that Secretary Geithner got on the phone, called his wife and asked if he could bring something home.  (Laughter.)  And he did.  What did you get?  You got green onions and --

SECRETARY GEITHNER:  Something healthy.

MRS. OBAMA:  It was very healthy.  (Laughter.)  It was all healthy.  And a smoothie.  (Laughter.) 

But that single grocery store in that community has instilled a great sense of pride in that small Philadelphia community -- providing both stability and sustenance.  It was even able to operate during the one of the worst snowstorms that the city experienced this winter because all the employees were determined to show up.  They live in the community and they wanted to make sure that that store was open and available for the community.

In the end, that’s really the sense of responsibility that also defines all of you here in the Department of Treasury.  From stabilizing our economy and protecting consumers, to creating business opportunities that support community development, to helping give our children the healthy futures they deserve, your work touches the lives of every single American –- even if they don’t always realize it.

For this you deserve our admiration and our respect and our thanks.  And we’ve got a long way to go.  There’s still a lot of work to do.  We need you all energized and feeling ready to continue to move that ball forward.  But please know that the President and I are truly grateful for what you’ve done and what you’re going to continue to do.  And this is just my small way of saying thank you to you. 

So I hope to be back -- if nothing else, to get another little bundle of shredded money.  (Laughter.)  And I will take some time to come out and shake hands.  So thank you all for the work that you’re doing.  We’re very proud.  (Applause.)

END
11:51 A.M. EDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 07, 2010

Remarks by the President Announcing the President's Export Council

East Room

11:50 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  (Applause.)    Everybody, please be seated.  Well, good morning.  Thank you, Jim McNerney, for being here.  And thank you to members of my Cabinet and my administration for coming.  Thank you, Gary Locke, for that introduction and the outstanding work that you’ve been doing at Commerce to move America’s economy forward.

Now, that work has been my driving focus since we walked through these doors a year and a half ago.  And at that time, our economy was shrinking at an alarming rate.  Nearly 3 million jobs were lost in the last half of 2008.  In January 2009 alone, more than 750,000 jobs had been lost here in the United States.  So every alarm bell was ringing at the prospect of a second Great Depression.

So our imperative was to stop that freefall and reverse direction -– to get our economy moving and get jobs growing again, which meant we took a series of dramatic and, frankly, sometimes unpopular actions.  But as a result of those actions, we broke the recession’s momentum, and we’re in a much different place today.

Our economy has now grown for three consecutive quarters and created nearly 600,000 private sector jobs in the first half of this year –- a stark contrast to the 3.7 [million] we lost over the first half of last year.  And despite uncertain world events and the resulting ups and downs in the market, we are moving America forward again.

But the progress we’ve made to date isn’t nearly enough to undo the damage that the recession visited on people and communities across our country.  Our businesses are hiring again, but there are still five unemployed workers for each job opening. The economy is growing, but empty storefronts still haunt too many Main Streets.  And the truth is the middle-class families that are the backbone of our economy have felt their economic security eroding since long before this recession hit.

So we’ve got much more work to do to spur stronger job growth and to keep the larger recovery moving.  The question is, over the months and years to come, how do we encourage the strong and lasting economic growth required for America to lead in this new century?  Where are we going to find the growth necessary to help us address all of our priorities -– from creating jobs and prosperity, to boosting our businesses and our workers, to improving our fiscal health and reducing our long-term deficits?

One thing we know is this growth won’t come from an economy where prosperity is based on fleeting bubbles of consumption, of debt; it can't rely on paper gains.  We’ve seen where that led us, and we’re not going back.  The truth is we’ve had to face over the past year and a half the truth that if we want to once again approach full employment and fuel real economic growth, then we need to put an end to the policies that got us here, tackle the challenges we’ve put off for decades, and move this economy forward.  We need to lay a new and stronger foundation on which businesses can thrive and create jobs and rising incomes, on which innovators and entrepreneurs can lead the world in generating new technologies and products and services.  We have to rely on a new foundation on which America can harness what has made our economy the engine and the envy of the world -- the talent and drive and creativity of our people.

So as business leaders and labor leaders representing some of America’s largest corporations and America’s workers, that’s what I want to talk to you about all today -- because America’s success ultimately depends on your success.  It’s the private sector that has always been the source of our job creation, our economic growth, and our prosperity; and it’s our businesses and workers who will take the reins of this recovery and lead us forward.
 
Same time, some might argue that government has no role to play at all in our economy.  But everybody in this room understands that the free market depends on a government that sets clear rules that ensure fair and honest competition, that lives within its means, that invests in certain things that the private sector can’t invest on its own.  In the absence of this kind of responsible government -– whenever government is dragged too far to one end or the other of the spectrum –- we see negative consequences for our economy. 

Too much regulation or too much spending can stifle innovation, can hamper confidence and growth, and hurt business and families.  A government that does too little can be just as irresponsible as a government that does too much -- because, for example, in the absence of sound oversight, responsible businesses are forced to compete against unscrupulous and underhanded businesses, who are unencumbered by any restrictions on activities that might harm the environment, or take advantage of middle-class families, or threaten to bring down the entire financial system.  That’s bad for everybody.  That’s the reason we pursued Wall Street reforms.  And when the Senate takes up its business again, I hope it moves as quickly as possible to finish this chapter and settle this issue. 

In the absence of sensible policies that invest in long-term public goods like education or basic research, roads, railways, broadband, a smart electric grid -- an absence of those investments can be equally disastrous.  Over time, failure to make such investments slowly degrades our competitiveness, leaving us without the skilled workforce or the technologies or the basic infrastructure that a 21st century economy requires.

So to make sure our workers can out-compete anybody, anywhere in the world, we’ve invested in the skills and education of our people.  Through the Race to the Top, we’re challenging our schools to raise their standards.  And I’ve pledged that by 2020, America will once again lead the world in the percentage of students graduating from college -– and by making higher education more affordable, we’re on our way to achieving that goal.

To strengthen our standing in a 21st century economy, we’ve invested in upgrading our critical infrastructure, from high-speed rail to high-speed Internet.  We’ve enacted reforms that will reduce the drag of health care costs on businesses and consumers alike.  And we are committed to bringing down the unsustainable debt that has ballooned over the past 10 years.

To spur lasting growth, we’ve invested in science and technology, research and development, and clean energy projects that will strengthen our global leadership.  Eighteen months ago, for example, American companies commanded just 2 percent of the global capacity for advanced battery technology.  Today, the seed money we provided has helped leverage substantial private investment, and by 2012, we expect America’s capacity to reach 20 percent of the global market -– and as high as 40 percent in 2015.

But government has another responsibility, and that is to remove barriers that stand in the way of opportunity and prosperity so that our people –- all of our people -- our workers, our entrepreneurs, our CEOs –- can build the future that we seek.  And that’s what I want to focus on now.

In my State of the Union address, I set a goal for America: Over the next five years, we will double our exports of goods and services around the world -– an increase that will boost economic growth and support millions of American jobs in a manner that is deficit-friendly.

Export growth leads to job growth and economic growth.  In 2008, American exports accounted for nearly 7 percent of our total employment, one in three manufacturing jobs, and supported 10.3 million jobs in all -– jobs that pay 15 percent more than average.  So at a time when jobs are in short supply, building exports is an imperative.

But this isn’t just about where jobs are today; this is where American jobs will be tomorrow.  Ninety-five percent of the world’s customers and fastest growing markets are beyond our borders.  So if we want to find new growth streams, if we want to find new markets and new opportunity, we’ve got to compete for those new customers -– because other nations are competing for those new customers.

As I’ve said many times, the United States of America should not, cannot, will not, play for second place.  We mean to compete for those jobs -– and we mean to win.  But we’re going to have to change how we do business.

To meet this goal, we launched the National Export Initiative -– an ambitious effort to team up with America’s businesses, large and small, and help them unleash their energy and innovation, grow their markets, support new jobs selling their goods and services all across the globe.  And we’re bringing to bear the full resources of the United States government. 

One of the first things we did was establish an Export Promotion Cabinet made up of Cabinet members and senior administration officials whose work affects exports.  Yesterday, I assembled this cabinet for an update on our efforts so far.  We’re going to hold these meetings every few months -– and I’ve asked for a progress report at our next meeting in September.

But this is about more than what government can do; this is about what our businesses can do.  And that’s why we are re-launching the President’s Export Council, a group that includes business and labor leaders who will offer their unfiltered advice and expertise on how best to promote exports.  We’ve also included congressional leaders and senior representatives of my administration. 

And earlier today, members of my Cabinet and I met with this council to begin soliciting advice.  And I want to, again, thank Jim, President and CEO of Boeing, as well as Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox, for agreeing to serve as the chair and vice chair.

Our efforts are off to a solid start.  American exports grew almost 17 percent over the first four months of this year compared to the same period last year.  Part of this, of course, is due to the global recovery.  But we’re also moving forward on improving conditions for America’s exporters.  And since we launched the National Export Initiative, we’ve made progress across its five objectives.

First, we said that America would be a strong partner and better advocate in the international marketplace for its businesses and workers.  And we’re going to go to bat for everyone from the largest corporations to the smallest business owner with an idea that she wants to market and sell to the world.

So, for example, already this year, the Commerce Department has coordinated 18 trade missions with over 160 companies that compete in 24 countries, and we’ve got 8 more planned over the next three months.  Their Advocacy Center has assisted American companies competing for export opportunities, supporting $11.4 billion in exports and an estimated 70,000 jobs. 

Secretary Clinton recently held a roundtable with businesses in Shanghai, and next week, she’ll host another one with Secretary Locke to discuss removing barriers that stand in the way of their success. 

Meanwhile, we’re moving forward with strengthening our business assistance centers across the country, and in our embassies and consulates abroad, so that they can provide a comprehensive toolkit of services to help potential exporters gain a foothold in new markets and expand -– especially small businesses that might not know how to sell their products abroad.

Second, we’re increasing access to export financing for small and medium-sized businesses that want to export their goods and services, but just need a boost.  So the Export-Import Bank has more than doubled its loans in support of American exporters since last year, and that step alone has helped support nearly 110,000 jobs.

Third, we’re upping our efforts to remove barriers to trade and open new markets and new opportunities for American business. On a global level, this begins with pushing hard in the Doha Round to improve those negotiations so that they have a higher level of ambition in the way that will translate directly into more opportunities for American exporters.  Regionally, we’re working on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement to expand our commercial presence in some of the most dynamic markets in Asia.  And where our businesses run up against barriers in individual markets, we are acting. 

In March, for example, we reached an agreement with China to reopen their market to American pork and pork products.  And last month, during President Medvedev’s visit, we reached an agreement with Russia to reopen their market to American poultry.  And these steps are worth more than $1 billion to American business.

We’re also reforming our own restrictions on exports, consistent with our national security interests.  And we hope to move forward on new agreements with some of our key partners.  I’ve instructed U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk to begin discussions to help resolve outstanding issues with the pending Korean Free Trade Agreement before my visit to Korea in November. It’s an agreement that will create new jobs and opportunity for people in both of our countries. 

We also want to deepen and broaden our relations with Panama and Colombia.  So we’re working to resolve outstanding issues with the free trade agreements with those key partners, and we’re focused on submitting them as soon as possible for congressional consideration.  And we’ll make sure each agreement we pursue doesn’t just advance the interests of our businesses, workers, and farmers, but also upholds our most cherished values.

Fourth, as we help American businesses access new markets, we’re making sure that the access is free and fair.  The United States offers some of the world’s lowest barriers to trade, and when we give other countries the privilege of that free and fair access, we expect it in return.  Where American producers face unfair trade practices, we’ll use every tool at our disposal to enforce trade agreements.  Last week, for example, the WTO ruled in favor of the United States on a case that found European governments were subsidizing planes that Airbus manufactures.  That practice was unfair and hurt American workers.  This ruling will help keep the playing field level and boost American jobs.

And finally, we continue to coordinate with other nations around the world to promote strong, sustainable, and balanced growth.  At last month’s G20 summit, we built on the actions we took last year -– actions that have replaced global contraction with global growth, and trade that was plummeting with trade that’s bounced back.

Sustaining that recovery, however, also involves rebalancing our economies.  As I told other leaders at the G20, after years of taking on too much debt, Americans will no longer borrow and buy the world’s way to lasting prosperity.  We alone cannot be the engines of economic growth.  Furthermore, a strong and durable recovery requires that countries not have an undue advantage. 

So we discussed the need for market-driven currencies -- and I welcome China’s decision to allow its currency to appreciate in response to market forces.  Our discussion with China has also addressed the important challenge of how to create a more level playing field for American companies seeking to expand their access to the growing Chinese market.  And I made it clear to all that the United States of America is prepared to compete aggressively for the jobs and industries and markets of the future.

The bottom line is this.  For a long time we were trapped I think in a false political debate in this country where business was on one side, labor was on the other.  There were partisan divides.  The argument was either you were pro-trade or you were anti-trade.  What we now have an opportunity to do is to refocus our attention where we’re all in it together.  Businesses, workers, government -- everybody is focused on the same goal.

We live in a interconnected world.  There are global challenges and global opportunities.  This nation has never shied away from the prospect of competition.  We thrive on competition. And we are better positioned than anybody -- as uniquely positioned as ever -- to compete with anyone in the world.  We’ve got the most respected brands, the best products, the most vibrant companies in the world.  We’ve got the most productive workers in the world.  We’ve got the finest universities in the world.  We’ve got the most open, dynamic and competitive market in the world.  When the playing field is even, nobody can beat us.  And we are upping our game for the playing field of the 21st century.

But we’ve got to do it together.  We’ve got to all row in the same direction.  There’s no doubt that these are challenging times.  But I’m absolutely convinced that we will rise to meet them -– to grow our economy, to put our people back to work, to forge our own future once more.  We are Americans, and that is what we do. 

I appreciate all your participation and I’m looking forward to getting busy working with you.  Thank you.  (Applause.)
 
END
12:11 P.M. EDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 06, 2010

Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel in Joint Press Availability

Oval Office

12:38 P.M. EDT

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, I just completed an excellent one-on-one discussion with Prime Minister Netanyahu, and I want to welcome him back to the White House.
 
I want to, first of all, thank him for the wonderful statement that he made in honor of the Fourth of July, our Independence Day, when he was still in Israel.  And it marked just one more chapter in the extraordinary friendship between our two countries. 

As Prime Minister Netanyahu indicated in his speech, the bond between the United States and Israel is unbreakable.  It encompasses our national security interests, our strategic interests, but most importantly, the bond of two democracies who share a common set of values and whose people have grown closer and closer as time goes on.

During our discussions in our private meeting we covered a wide range of issues.  We discussed the issue of Gaza, and I commended Prime Minister Netanyahu on the progress that's been made in allowing more goods into Gaza.  We've seen real progress on the ground.  I think it’s been acknowledged that it has moved more quickly and more effectively than many people anticipated.

Obviously there’s still tensions and issues there that have to be resolved, but our two countries are working cooperatively together to deal with these issues.  The Quartet has been, I think, very helpful as well.  And we believe that there is a way to make sure that the people of Gaza are able to prosper economically, while Israel is able to maintain its legitimate security needs in not allowing missiles and weapons to get to Hamas.
 
We discussed the issue of Iran, and we pointed out that as a consequence of some hard work internationally, we have instituted through the U.N. Security Council the toughest sanctions ever directed at an Iranian government.  In addition, last week I signed our own set of sanctions, coming out of the United States Congress, as robust as any that we've ever seen.  Other countries are following suit.  And so we intend to continue to put pressure on Iran to meet its international obligations and to cease the kinds of provocative behavior that has made it a threat to its neighbors and the international community.

We had a extensive discussion about the prospects for Middle East peace.  I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu wants peace. I think he’s willing to take risks for peace.  And during our conversation, he once again reaffirmed his willingness to engage in serious negotiations with the Palestinians around what I think should be the goal not just of the two principals involved, but the entire world, and that is two states living side by side in peace and security. 

Israel’s security needs met, the Palestinians having a sovereign state that they call their own -- those are goals that have obviously escaped our grasp for decades now.  But now more than ever I think is the time for us to seize on that vision.  And I think that Prime Minister Netanyahu is prepared to do so.  It’s going to be difficult; it’s going to be hard work.  But we've seen already proximity talks taking place.  My envoy, George Mitchell, has helped to organize five of them so far.  We expect those proximity talks to lead to direct talks, and I believe that the government of Israel is prepared to engage in such direct talks, and I commend the Prime Minister for that.

There are going to need to be a whole set of confidence-building measures to make sure that people are serious and that we're sending a signal to the region that this isn’t just more talk and more process without action.  I think it is also important to recognize that the Arab states have to be supportive of peace, because, although ultimately this is going to be determined by the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, they can't succeed unless you have the surrounding states having as -- a greater investment in the process than we've seen so far.

Finally, we discussed issues that arose out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Conference.  And I reiterated to the Prime Minister that there is no change in U.S. policy when it comes to these issues.  We strongly believe that, given its size, its history, the region that it’s in, and the threats that are leveled against us -- against it, that Israel has unique security requirements.  It’s got to be able to respond to threats or any combination of threats in the region.  And that's why we remain unwavering in our commitment to Israel’s security.  And the United States will never ask Israel to take any steps that would undermine their security interests.

So I just want to say once again that I thought the discussion that we had was excellent.  We’ve seen over the last year how our relationship has broadened.  Sometimes it doesn’t get publicized, but on a whole range of issues -- economic, military-to-military, issues related to Israel maintaining its qualitative military edge, intelligence-sharing, how we are able to work together effectively on the international front -- that in fact our relationship is continuing to improve.  And I think a lot of that has to do with the excellent work that the Prime Minister has done.  So I’m grateful.

And welcome, once again, to the White House.

PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU:  Thank you, Mr. President. 

The President and I had an extensive, excellent discussion in which we discussed a broad range of issues.  These include of course our own cooperation in the fields of intelligence and security.  And exactly as the President said, it is extensive.  Not everything is seen by the public, but it is seen and appreciated by us. 

We understand fully that we will work together in the coming months and years to protect our common interests, our countries, our peoples, against new threats.  And at the same time, we want to explore the possibility of peace.

The greatest new threat on the horizon, the single most dominant issue for many of us, is the prospect that Iran would acquire nuclear weapons.  Iran is brutally terrorizing its people, spreading terrorism far and wide.  And I very much appreciate the President’s statement that he is determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

That has been translated by the President through his leadership at the Security Council, which passed sanctions against Iran; by the U.S. bill that the President signed just a few days ago.  And I urge other leaders to follow the President’s lead, and other countries to follow the U.S. lead, to adopt much tougher sanctions against Iran, primarily those directed against its energy sector.

As the President said, we discussed a great deal about activating, moving forward the quest for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.  We’re committed to that peace.  I’m committed to that peace.  And this peace I think will better the lives of Israelis, of Palestinians, and it certainly would change our region. 

Israelis are prepared to do a lot to get that peace in place, but they want to make sure that after all the steps they take, that what we get is a secure peace.  We don’t want a repeat of the situation where we vacate territories and those are overtaken by Iran’s proxies and used as a launching ground for terrorist attacks or rocket attacks.

I think there are solutions that we can adopt.  But in order to proceed to the solutions, we need to begin negotiations in order to end them.  We’ve begun proximity talks.  I think it’s high time to begin direct talks.  I think with the help of President Obama, President Abbas and myself should engage in direct talks to reach a political settlement of peace, coupled with security and prosperity.

This requires that the Palestinian Authority prepare its people for peace -- schools, textbooks, and so on.  But I think at the end of the day, peace is the best option for all of us, and I think we have a unique opportunity and a unique time to do it. 

The President says that he has a habit of confounding all the cynics and all the naysayers and all those who preclude possibility, and he’s shown it time and time again.  I think I've had my opportunity to confound some cynics myself, and I think if we work together, with President Abbas, then we can bring a great message of hope to our peoples, to the region, and to the world.

One final point, Mr. President -- I want to thank you for reaffirming to me in private and now in public as you did the longstanding U.S. commitments to Israel on matters of vital strategic importance.  I want to thank you, too, for the great hospitality you and the First Lady have shown Sara and me and our entire delegation.  And I think we have to redress the balance -- you know, I’ve been coming here a lot.  It’s about time --

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  I'm ready.

PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU:  -- you and the First Lady came to Israel, sir.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  We look forward to it.  Thank you.

PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU:  Any time.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Thank you very much.  Thank you.

All right, we’ve got time for one question each.  I’m going to call on Stephen Collinson, AFP.

Q    Thank you, Mr. President.  As part of the steps which need to be taken to move proximity talks on to direct talks, do you think it would be helpful for Israel to extend the partial settlement moratorium, which is set to expire in September? 

And if I could just briefly ask the Prime Minister, with regards to the sanctions you mentioned, do you think that these measures will contain or halt Iran’s nuclear program where others have failed?
    
PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Let me -- let me, first of all, say that I think the Israeli government, working through layers of various governmental entities and jurisdictions, has shown restraint over the last several months that I think has been conducive to the prospects of us getting into direct talks. 

And my hope is, is that once direct talks have begun, well before the moratorium has expired, that that will create a climate in which everybody feels a greater investment in success. Not every action by one party or the other is taken as a reason for not engaging in talks.  So there ends up being more room created by more trust.  And so I want to just make sure that we sustain that over the next -- over the next several weeks.

I do think that there are a range of confidence-building measures that can be taken by all sides that improve the prospects of a successful negotiation.  And I’ve discussed some of those privately with the Prime Minister.  When President Abbas was here, I discussed some of those same issues with him. 

I think it’s very important that the Palestinians not look for excuses for incitement, that they are not engaging in provocative language; that at the international level, they are maintaining a constructive tone, as opposed to looking for opportunities to embarrass Israel.

At the same time, I’ve said to Prime Minister Netanyahu -- I don't think he minds me sharing it publicly -- that Abu Mazen working with Fayyad have done some very significant things when it comes to the security front.  And so us being able to widen the scope of their responsibilities in the West Bank is something that I think would be very meaningful to the Palestinian people.  I think that some of the steps that have already been taken in Gaza help to build confidence.  And if we continue to make progress on that front, then Palestinians can see in very concrete terms what peace can bring that rhetoric and violence cannot bring -- and that is people actually having an opportunity to raise their children, and make a living, and buy and sell goods, and build a life for themselves, which is ultimately what people in both Israel and the Palestinian Territories want.

PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU:  I think the latest sanctions adopted by the U.N. create illegitimacy or create de-legitimization for Iran’s nuclear program, and that is important.  I think the sanctions the President signed the other day actually have teeth.  They bite. 

The question is -- how much do you need to bite is something I cannot answer now.  But if other nations adopted similar sanctions, that would increase the effect.  The more like-minded countries join in the American-led effort that President Obama has signed into act, into law, I think the better we’ll be able to give you an answer to your question.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Is there somebody you want to ask here?

Q    Mr. President, in the past year, you distanced yourself from Israel and gave a cold shoulder to the Prime Minister.  Do you think this policy was a mistake?  Do you think it contributes to the bashing of Israel by others?  And is that -- you change it now, and do you trust now Prime Minister Netanyahu?

And if I may, Mr. Prime Minister, specifically, did you discuss with the President the continuing of the freezing of settlements after September?  And did you tell him that you’re going to keep on building after this period is over?

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, let me, first of all, say that the premise of your question was wrong and I entirely disagree with it.  If you look at every public statement that I’ve made over the last year and a half, it has been a constant reaffirmation of the special relationship between the United States and Israel, that our commitment to Israel’s security has been unwavering.  And, in fact, there aren’t any concrete policies that you could point to that would contradict that.

And in terms of my relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu, I know the press, both in Israel and stateside, enjoys seeing if there’s news there.  But the fact of the matter is that I’ve trusted Prime Minister Netanyahu since I met him before I was elected President, and have said so both publicly and privately.

I think that he is dealing with a very complex situation in a very tough neighborhood.  And what I have consistently shared with him is my interest in working with him -- not at cross-purposes -- so that we can achieve the kind of peace that will ensure Israel’s security for decades to come. 

And that's going to mean some tough choices.  And there are going to be times where he and I are having robust discussions about what kind of choices need to be made.  But the underlying approach never changes, and that is the United States is committed to Israel’s security; we are committed to that special bond; and we are going to do what’s required to back that up, not just with words but with actions.

We are going to continually work with the Prime Minister and the entire Israeli government, as well as the Israeli people, so that we can achieve what I think has to be everybody’s goal, which is that people feel secure.  They don't feel like a rocket is going to be landing on their head sometime.  They don't feel as if there’s a growing population that wants to direct violence against Israel. 

That requires work and that requires some difficult choices -- both at the strategic level and the tactical level.  And this is something that the Prime Minister understands, and why I think that we’re going to be able to work together not just over the next few months but hopefully over the next several years.

PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU:  The President and I discussed concrete steps that could be done now, in the coming days and the coming weeks, to move the peace process further along in a very robust way.  This is what we focused our conversation on.  And when I say the next few weeks, that's what I mean.  The President means that, too.

Let me make a general observation about the question you posed to the President.  And here I’ll have to paraphrase Mark Twain, that the reports about the demise of the special U.S.-Israel relations -- relationship aren’t just premature, they're just flat wrong.  There’s a depth and richness of this relationship that is expressed every day.  Our teams talk.  We don't make it public.  The only thing that's public is that you can have differences on occasion in the best of families and the closest of families; that comes out public -- and sometimes in a twisted way, too. 

What is not told is the fact that we have an enduring bond of values, interests, beginning with security and the way that we share both information and other things to help the common defense of our common interests -- and many others in the region who don't often admit to the beneficial effect of this cooperation.

So I think there’s -- the President said it best in his speech in Cairo.  He said in front of the entire Islamic world, he said, the bond between Israel and the United States is unbreakable.  And I can affirm that to you today.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Thank you very much, everybody.  

END
1:01 P.M. EDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 06, 2010

Remarks by the President at Independence Day Celebration

Blue Room Balcony

July 4, 2010    

7:00 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Good evening, everybody.  (Applause.)  On behalf of Michelle and myself, and the girls -- and Bo -- welcome to the White House.  And Happy Fourth of July.  (Applause.) 

 All across our great country today, folks are coming together, decked out in their red and white and blue, firing up the grill, having a good time with family -- just like here today.  Now, of course, I'll admit that the backyard is a little bigger here.  (Laughter.)  But it’s the same spirit.  And Michelle and I couldn’t imagine a better way to celebrate America’s birthday than with America’s extraordinary men and women in uniform —- and your families.  (Applause.)   

Now, we decided to let you leave your uniforms at home.  (Applause.)  Although I have to say I met a young corporal here who was wearing a black suit.  And I said, “Man, it’s hot here.” He said, “I'm sorry, sir, I know you're my Commander-in-Chief, but my grandma told  me I had to wear a suit.”  (Laughter.)  I can't -- you can't argue with grandma.  (Laughter.) 

But we do want all of you to relax and have some fun today. And that also goes for the leaders who are joining us here today, including Deputy Secretary of Defense Bill Lynn; the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Jim “Hoss” Cartwright; Navy Secretary Ray Mabus; Air Force Secretary Mike Donley; Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Robert Papp; and the many outstanding senior enlisted officers who are here today.  (Applause.) 

I want to acknowledge that my Vice President, Joe Biden, and his wonderful wife, Dr. Jill Biden, aren’t with us because they’re spending the Fourth of July with our troops in Iraq.  (Applause.)  And I would add that because of the honor and heroism of our troops, we are poised to end our combat mission in Iraq this summer —- on schedule.  That's thanks to so many of you.  (Applause.)  

Now, this is the day when we celebrate the very essence of America —- and the spirit --

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Bring the boys home!

THE PRESIDENT:  They’re coming.  (Laughter.)  This is the day when we celebrate the very essence of America and the spirit that has defined us as a people and as a nation for more than two centuries.  Even now, all these years later, we still look in awe at the small band of patriots who stood up and risked everything, and defied an empire to declare “that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states.”

We're amazed at the debt to a founding generation that gave their blood to give meaning to those words, pledging to each other their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.  And we celebrate the principles that are timeless —- tenets first declared by men of property and wealth, but which gave rise to what Lincoln called a “new birth of freedom” in America:  civil rights and voting rights, workers’ rights and women’s rights, and the rights of every American.  

And on this day that is uniquely American, we’re reminded that our Declaration, our example, made us a beacon to the world, not only inspiring people to demand their own freedom -- from Latin American to Africa, from Europe to Asia -- but even now, in this time, these ideals still light the world.
 
Two hundred and thirty-four years later, the words are just as bold, just as revolutionary, as they were when they were first pronounced:  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

These are not simply words on aging parchment.  They are the principles that define us as a nation, the values we cherish as a people, and the ideals we strive for as a society, even as we know that we constantly have to work in order to perfect our union, and that work is never truly done. 

The Founders understood this.  There in that hall in Philadelphia, as they debated the Declaration, John Adams wrote to his beloved Abigail.  He predicted that independence would be celebrated “from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forever.”  But he added, “I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost us to maintain this declaration and support and defend these states.”

So today we also celebrate all of you —- the men and women of our Armed Forces who defend this country we love.  We salute the United States Army —- (applause) -- including a soldier who served on more than 150 combat missions in Afghanistan, and after losing most of his arm in an IED attack, recently completed a grueling 26-mile run, inspiring all who know him, and all of us  —- that’s Staff Sergeant Gabriel Garcia.  Gabriel.  (Applause.) 

     We salute the United States Navy -— (applause) -- and a sailor who excels in a job few can imagine but for which all are grateful -- a commander of an explosive ordinance disposal team in Iraq, his nerve and steady hand has diffused countless bombs and saved countless lives —- that's Lieutenant Erich Frandrup.  Where’s Erich?  (Applause.)

We salute the United States Air Force —- (applause) -- and an airman who during an attack on her vehicle in Iraq that left her seriously wounded, directed medics to help another wounded American first, and offered her own bandages to help save his life —- that's Captain Wendy Kosek.  (Applause.)

We salute the United States Marine Corps -- (applause) -- and a Marine who for his heroic actions in Afghanistan, exposing himself to enemy machine gunfire to help rescue his fellow Marines, was recognized with the Bronze Star for valor —- Staff Sergeant Jonathan Piel.  (Applause.)

And we salute the United States Coast Guard —- (applause) -- including a Coast Guardsman who commanded the first U.S. vessel to arrive in Haiti after the earthquake, helping to pave the way for the one of the most complex humanitarian efforts ever attempted -— Commander Diane Durham.  (Applause.)

This is the spirit of which Adams spoke so long ago.  You are the men and women who toil to defend these states.  You are patriots, and you have earned your place among the greatest of generations.

Yet on this day we know that America’s journey is not sustained by those in uniform alone.  It must be the calling and cause of every American.  So let us ensure that our troops always have the support that they need to succeed in the missions we ask of them —- and that includes public support here at home.

Let us forge a national commitment to support our extraordinary military families, not just now, during war, but at every stage of your lives.  (Applause.)  And thanks to Michelle and Jill Biden for challenging us to do just that.  (Applause.)

Let us resolve, as citizens, to carry on the improbable experiment that began more than 200 years ago; not simply declaring our principles, but living them here at home; not simply celebrating our union, but always working to perfect it.

And here in a still young century, let us renew our commitment to stand with those around the world who, like us, still believe in that simple yet revolutionary notion —- that we are all endowed by our Creator “with certain unalienable rights.”

So, happy Fourth of July, everybody.  God bless all of you, and all our men and women in uniform and your families.  And God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)

And with that, let me turn it over to our outstanding United States Marine Band.  (Applause.)

END
7:11 P.M. EDT 

 

The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
July 04, 2010

Remarks by the Vice President at a Fourth of July Reception

New Embassy Compound, Baghdad, Iraq

7:33 P.M. (Local)

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much, Mr. Ambassador.  Let me begin by saying, Mr. President, it’s great to see you again, and all of my friends; Mr. Minister.  So many of you I’ve known for so long.

I came once again with a distinguished American delegation, because they don’t trust me alone.  (Laughter.)
Because they know I like you too much. 

Let me say to all of you before I reference our Fourth of July celebration, the first time I was here was very shortly after -- a matter of weeks after the statue of Saddam was famously pulled from its moorings.

Everything since then has changed but the heat.  (Laughter.)  As I flew into the embassy on a helicopter after landing at the airport last time I was here, it was in the evening.  And I think General Odierno was with me, and I think you were in the helicopter as well, Mr. Ambassador.  And I looked down -- and I mean this seriously -- I observed something remarkable.  There was a traffic jam.  Every road around Baghdad and coming into Baghdad was backed up bumper to bumper with automobiles.  Welcome to peace and democracy.  (Laughter.) 

But it is the most significant sign that life and commerce and celebration has returned.  And speaking of celebration, my -- our comrade in arms, our United States military, of whom I’m incredibly proud, and all the government officials and Americans that are here in Baghdad and throughout Iraq celebrate today in our country’s history because we’re so proud of what the day stands for.

As I’ve traveled around the world on our Fourth of July, many leaders of other countries assume we celebrate the Fourth of July because of our victory over the British in the Revolutionary War.  But that date occurred much later.  We celebrate the Fourth of July because of our Declaration of Independence.  It was the day that our Founders laid out and signed, literally risking their own lives, what we believed our country should stand for and what all humanity was entitled to.

They made a universal statement, applying to all mankind.  They said, “We hold these truths self-evident, that all men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among them, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” free of any king or potentate, free of any foreign government.

The creation of the United States was a conscious, a deliberately conscious act to bring liberty and prosperity to all people in the world.

I’m not saying that we have been a perfect nation; we certainly have not.  But as my grandfather would say, in the main, over the past 234 years, we’ve abided by those principles.

That’s why I sent my son here in uniform for a year.  That’s why tens of thousands of Americans have sent their sons and daughters here for extended periods of time, because we know what you fight for.  You hold all these truths self-evident. 

But as you know better than we do -- and I see my good friend Mr. Hashimi has just walked in the door -- all of you know it requires great sacrifice and the willingness to subordinate your individual interest to the communal good.

As I said, I’ve met with all of you for many years, and hopefully you view me as I view you, as a personal friend.  I just wanted to make it clear I’m not lecturing, I’m not imparting any great wisdom that you don’t already know.  But the concept of subordinating your individual interest is fundamental to the success of any nation.  And it’s enshrined in the immortal words of a famous American revolutionary leader who said, “United we stand; divided we fall.” 

The American people stand with you, stand united with you, at a time when a new Iraq has been born.  Over the past several years, you’ve made extraordinary progress, and you’ve had extraordinary sacrifices you’ve made.  These sacrifices have been both public and personal. 

Some of you have lost your brothers.  Some of you have lost your sisters.  Some of you have lost family.  It’s the responsibility, it seems to be now of all of us, but primarily all of you assembled here, to honor those sacrifices and honor the public trust that was awarded to all of you in the elections you just held.

You should not -- and I’m sure you will not -- let any state, from the United States to any state in the region, dictate what will become of you all.

So my plea to you is, finish what you started -- a truly legitimate and representative government that meets the needs and aspirations of all Iraqi people.

To the extent you continue that quest, we will stand with you -- not telling you what to do, but stand with you in doing what you need help doing if you ask us.

I hope you know we’ve kept our commitment so far, and on August 31st, we will change our military mission by drawing closer to all of you, not further apart.

We will still have 50,000 of our sons and daughters who can shoot straight, who can work with you, but they will be in reserve.  You, your military, has acquired the capacity to lead your country.

As we enter this new relationship, I want to reiterate -- and I can speak and I do speak for the President of the United States -- our commitment to you will not disappear on August 31st; it will grow stronger.  As you continue to stand up and build your democracy, we’ll be there with you economically, politically, socially, science, education.  I’ve been put in charge of our government’s effort to unite all the elements of our government, from the Department of Education to the Department of Commerce to the Department of Science and Technology -- to work with you if you want us to.

America has no hidden agenda.  We have nothing more than to want you to grow as an independent, prosperous democracy.  That will benefit our interest more than anything that else could happen in the region.

What I’m about to say is the only thing that may border on sounding like I am lecturing.  In my humble opinion, in order for you to achieve your goals, you must have all communities’ voices represented in this new government -- proportionately.

Iraqiyya, State of Law, Iraqi National Alliance, the Kurdistan Alliance -- all are going to have to play a meaningful role in this new government for it to work, in my humble opinion. 

As a piece of American history, when our Founders did it, when they signed that Declaration, many of them did not even like one another.  (Laughter.)  You think I’m joking; I’m not. 

So I’ll end by repeating what I said to the press when I arrived:  I’m absolutely confident you will do it, because I’ve met so many of you.  There’s so much talent here.  And what I’ve watched grow is an Iraqi interest before a sectarian interest; an Iraqi interest before a regional interest; a national interest that I believe is real.

So Godspeed in your effort, and may God bless you all.

END
7:50 P.M. (Local)

The White House

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release
July 04, 2010

Remarks by the Vice President at a Naturalization Ceremony for U.S. Service Members

Al Faw Palace, Camp Victory, Baghdad, Iraq

10:45 A.M. (Local)
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  General, all the general officers, Command Sergeant Major, all our military men and women and all the civilians here helping to free and make secure this great country -- I have to tell you, this is the second year in a row I’ve gotten to do this, and this is among the biggest kicks I’ve gotten since I’ve been Vice President of the United States of America.  What an incredible honor.
 
And I have to say it again, what -- the thing I love so much about today is the irony.  Here we are in the hunting lodge of a dictator who subjugated a people; who, in fact, stood for everything that we don’t stand for.  And we’re in the middle of this marble palace, making a lie of everything that he stood for.  I find it delicious that that’s happening.  (Applause.) 
 
I can think of no better place to be sworn in.  We hold these truths self-evident, that all men -- all men, all men -- are created equal.
 
You’re a remarkable bunch of women and men.  I’ve said this in every country and conflict that I’ve been in since I’ve been a United States senator -- was elected to the Senate 37 years ago.  The one lesson every country has to learn, in my humble opinion, particularly as we deal with the resurrection of failed states around the world, is what you symbolize here today.  And that is, until people understand that there is strength in diversity and not division, it makes it awfully difficult to unite a country. 

 Our Iraqi brethren are learning that right now, as they held a free election -- Sunni, Shia, Kurd, Indo-European, Arab.  Ladies and gentlemen, their future lies in what you demonstrate, and I’m confident they’ll achieve it.
 
General, thank you for the introduction and, of course, for your extraordinary service, and I mean extraordinary service, to our country and, quite frankly, to this country, Iraq.  And all of you, all of you, thank you from the bottom of America’s heart for your service and, I might add, for choosing us, for choosing America.
 
What a sight you are today.  And what a powerful symbol -- what a powerful symbol you represent to those who yearn for freedom all across the world.
 
I can’t think of a more stirring example of patriotism than men and women volunteering, as the general pointed out, volunteering to fight for their country, to put their lives on the line, and some of your brethren, having lost their lives and limbs, to fight on foreign soil for their adopted country.  You’re remarkable. 
 
On this Fourth of July weekend, I’m reminded that you have carried the torch of our Founding Fathers, the one that they lit 234 years ago, you carried it around the world, in this case into a nation that’s not your own, in a uniform representing a nation that, until now, was not your own.  
 
You hail from over 60 -- almost 60 countries, different countries, from Brazil to South Korea, and many more in between.
 
You came to America at different points in your lives.  You came with parents aching for a better life than the ones they knew; others, to give a better life to their own children.
 
Your stories may all be different, but today you write a common chapter in American history.  You’ll each raise your right hand in a moment, and in one proud moment together, you’ll recite the oath to be a citizen of the United States of America.
 
The general said he lived essentially in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty.  All of us up here, we spend our time, some more laboriously than others, tracing our roots as to how we got to this status of citizenship.
 
My wife and I, we were kidding, I may be Irish, but I was smart enough to marry an Italian.  I married Dominique Gioccopa’s granddaughter.  But we were going back and looking.  On my side of the family we are Irish, we are English, we are German, we are French.  We are all a mixture.  And you’re just adding to that rich, rich, rich culture.
 
It’s the reason -- I would argue it’s the reason -- it’s the reason why we are who we are, because we have a document called the Constitution that ensures that that mixture will result in the incredible, incredible strain that we have spread all around the world; about freedom.
 
     And for that, I congratulate you, and I welcome you.  I know your service here has not been easy and as the general pointed out, some of you, it’s the third, fourth, fifth time you have served here in Iraq.  Not long ago, Iraq was a country on the brink of civil war.  This is my 15th, 16th, 17th trip in.  And every time I come -- this is four times or five times since I’ve been Vice President -- every time I come, because of an awful lot of brave Iraqis who gave their lives and tens of thousands of Americans who risked and/or gave their lives, it gets better, every single time I’m here.
 
     I was telling the general, last trip in, we were coming in, landing at night, coming in the on the helicopter because we were going into the Green Zone, and I looked down, I thought, what a wonderful thing -- there was a traffic jam.  There were traffic jams.  First time I flew in here, right after the war, there was nobody, nobody, nobody on the road.
 
     This nation, once embroiled in sectarian strife and violence is moving toward a lasting security and prosperity with a government that represents the interest of every member of the community in Iraq, because until they get that straight -- and they’re getting it straight -- there’s no real shot they can become what they’re capable of.
 
     And the United States is committed, we’re committed to cement that relationship through economic, political and diplomatic cooperation, not just by the use of arms.
 
     Last year at this ceremony, I made what I was criticized for saying a bit of a bold statement.  But I was confident then as I am now about other things that are going to happen.
 
     I said last August of this year that we will have achieved two goals.  We will have helped Iraq’s leaders set the conditions for a sovereign, stable and self-reliant nation for future generations of Iraqis within a year, and we will have ended our combat mission here after more than seven years.  And I’m proud to report that because of you, and tens of thousands of our sons and daughters, including our son, we’ve made good on that promise.
 
     Iraq recently held its second national election.  You know the story, guys.  The first election is not the one that determines, is not the most important election in a country’s history.  It’s the second election -- the second election.
 
     Now there’s a new parliament that’s been seated, and when the new government is formed, it will mark something absolutely extraordinary -- a peaceful transition of power encompassing all the people of Iraq, maybe for the first time in their history.  We’re keeping -- we’re keeping our commitments.
 
     Last year we pulled American combat troops out of all major cities on time and, on August 31st, the American combat mission in Iraq will end.  We’ll go from 140,000 troops the day I was sworn in as Vice President with the President of the United States to 50,000, who will remain.
 
     And of those 50,000 American, those forces will train and assist the Iraqi national security forces and be prepared to deal with exigencies that they may face. 
 
But even as we draw down our forces, as I’ve said before, we are ramping up -- we are ramping up our engagement with the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government, diplomatically, politically, economically, culturally, scientifically, in the hope of building a long and strong relationship and partnership with Iraq.
 
In the meantime, for those of you who remain, your safety and security has been and always will be the number one priority for the President and me and for the general officers of this United States military.  And we promise, we make the commitment that we will keep, that everything you need to complete your mission will be available to you.  And while you’re here, rest assured that your families at home will be honored and cared for as well. 
 
     And when you return home, all of your needs as veterans will be attended to as well.  I’ve often said that the United States has only one -- and I mean this sincerely -- only one truly sacred obligation.  That is to care for those who we send to war by giving them everything they need and making sure that everything that they need when they return home is available to them. 
 
That’s the only sacred -- we have many obligations.  Quite simply, we owe you.  We owe all of you.  And we owe your families.  There’s that famous expression:  “They also serve who stand in wait.”
 
My wife Jill was quite jealous of me the last four trips that I was in here.  Our son was here, and she didn’t understand why she couldn’t come then.  And so she is here with me now because she’s going to be meeting with an awful lot of the families here as well.  But the point is, your families, we owe them as well, because they’re making a real, genuine sacrifice for the United States of America.
 
Quite frankly, folks, without you we wouldn’t survive.  Without new blood and without those of you in uniform, we would not survive, we would not prevail.  You represent what America has always stood for:  strength, resolve, sacrifice and diversity.
 
America is that rare place where citizens are not defined by their ethnicity or by their religion, not by their nationality, but what they are committed to, their ideas and ideals, as stated in our Constitution.
 
Oh, I know everyone doesn’t -- can’t refer to the Constitution.  When you ask people what it constitutes to be American, try it out.  Literally try it out when you get back home.  No one -- no one -- unlike any country in the world, will define it in terms other than ideas.  They will not define it on what their race or religion is.
 
That’s our strength.  That, coupled with our diversity, creates a way of life that most of the rest of the world aspires to if they haven’t already achieved it.
 
So what I see in front of me today is people of a different color, different stripes, of different backgrounds, of different beliefs -- all wearing the same uniform.  And that uniform you wear is the ultimate symbol of what it means to be an American.
 
For me, this ceremony is only a formal declaration of what the President and I and your fellow countrymen believe to be true.  You are already Americans. 
 
But let’s go on now and make it official.  Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for the service.  It’s an honor to be with you.  May God bless you and all may God protect our troops.  Thank you very much.  (Applause.)

END
10:57 A.M. (Local)

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 02, 2010

Remarks by the President and the Vice President at a Memorial Service for Senator Robert C. Byrd

West Virginia State Capitol, Charleston, West Virginia

1:09 P.M. EDT

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Bishop, Reverend Clergy, Mona and Marjorie, the entire Byrd family -- if you didn’t already know it, it’s pretty clear the incredible esteem your father was held in.  I know you’ve known that your whole life.

     To my fellow members of the Senate, you know, I was telling the President, when I got elected the last time and had the great honor of running with the President, I was elected Vice President and United States senator in the same day for my seventh term.  And in talking to -- and I got sworn in for that seventh term because we thought we might need a vote there in those first couple weeks.  And every time I sat with the Leader -- I never called Senator Byrd “Senator,” I always called him “Leader” -- when I sat with the Leader, I could see that look in his face and he said, “Joe, you sure you’re making the right decision giving up the Senate for Vice President?”  (Laughter.)  Because as the senators know, he revered the Senate.  As Danny Inouye said going into the chamber when we were going in to honor your father, yesterday we walked in together, he said, “You know, Joe, had you stayed, you’d be number two.”  I’m still number two, Danny.  (Laughter.)  I’m still number two.

     Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. President, yesterday I had the opportunity to pay my respects to Leader Byrd as he lay in repose in the Senate chamber.  I met the family then and again today.  And the last time that happened was 50 years ago; the last time that that chamber I revere served as a resting place for anyone was 50 years ago.

     But although I and my colleagues behind me revere the Senate, Robert C. Byrd elevated the Senate.  Other great men and their families would have chosen for them to lay in state in the Rotunda.  But Bob Byrd and his family chose to lay in state in the Senate chamber.  And to me, this is completely appropriate, having served with him for 36 plus years.  For the Senate chamber was Robert C. Byrd’s cathedral.  The Senate chamber was his cathedral, and West Virginia was his heaven.  (Applause.)

     And there’s not a lot of hyperbole in that.  Every person in the Senate, as my colleagues behind you can tell you, brings something special about them.  I’ll never forget having privately criticized a senator when I was there the first year.  I was sitting with the previous leader, Senator Mansfield, who was an incredible guy.  And he told me that -- he said, “Why are you upset?”  And I told him about a particular senator railing against something I thought was very worthy, the Americans With Disabilities Act.  And he went on to tell me that every member of the Senate represented something in the eyes of their state that was special and represented a piece of their state.

     Well, if there was ever a senator who was the embodiment of his state, if there was ever a senator who, in fact, reflected his state, it was Robert C. Byrd.
    
     The fact of the matter is, the pick of the banjo, the sweet sound of the fiddle, ramp dinners in the spring, country fairs in the summer, the beauty of the laurels in the mountains, the rush of the rapids through the valleys -- these things not only describe West Virginia, but from an outsider’s point of view who has been here many times at the invitation of Jennings Randolph and Robert C. Byrd, it seems to me they define a way of life.  It’s more than just a state.

     And Robert C. Byrd was the fierce -- most fierce defender of not only the state, but the way of life -- I think the most fierce defender that probably this state has ever known in its history.

     You know, Robert Byrd did use the phrase, “When I die, West Virginia will be written on my heart.”  And I used to kid him, I said, “You have so many Scotch-Irish down there, you don’t acknowledge it was an Irish Catholic named Joyce who said that first.”  (Laughter.)  Reverend, he quoted everybody else, but when he used that phrase, he’d never acknowledge that it was James Joyce who said, “When I die, Dublin will be written in my heart.”  And all he would do is laugh. 

     The fact of the matter is, West Virginia was not only written in his heart but he wore it on his sleeve.  He took such pride in this place.  He took such pride in all of you.  I remember he asked me, one of the few races he had -- it was a race -- whether I’d come down because I was the young guy and I’d come down and demonstrate to everybody that I could not keep up with Robert C. Byrd, which happened to be true.  And I was -- I think, Nick, you were at the dinner.  We had a Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner down here, and Robert C. Byrd did something never happened before in all the dinners I’ve spoken at.  He stood up and he said, “We’re honored to have Senator Joe Biden from Delaware here tonight, and Joe, I’d like to introduce you to West Virginia.”  Then he spent, as Nick will remember, the next probably 10 minutes talking about everyone in the audience by name -- where they were from, what they had done, how they had fought through difficulty.  And then he said, kind of like Johnny Carson, “Here’s Joe.”  (Laughter.)

     Well, I thought it was pretty impressive -- literally.  Robert C. Byrd asked me to speak, but he knew the privilege was mine, not the people to whom I was speaking.  He was devoted to all of you like few senators in the 37 years I was there, 36 plus years I was there, that I have ever, ever known.

     He was fiercely devoted, as you’ve all heard, to his principles.  Even once he became power, he always spoke truth to power, standing up for the people he proudly was part of, and you’ve heard it many times today but it bears repeating again, in defense of the Constitution he revered.

     I always wear a flag pin, but I was afraid he’d be looking down today because every time I’d wear the flag pin on the floor, he would grab me, take my pin, and put on a Constitution pin.  That’s the pin I’m wearing.  So, Boss, I’m wearing the pin.  (Applause.)

     Robert C. Byrd said many things, but he once said, “As long as there is a forum in which questions can be asked by men and women who do not stand in awe of a chief executive, and one can speak as long as one’s feet will allow one to stand, the liberties of the American people will be secure.”

     Eleven Presidents knew Robert C. Byrd.  He served, as he pointed out, concurrently with them, not under them.  (Applause.)  And 11 Presidents -- were they all here and two are here -- can attest to the fact that he always showed respect but never deference.  And he stood in awe of none. 

He had an incredible, prodigious memory that I will not take the time to regale you about.  I just remember one time sitting with the Queen of England at a formal dinner, and he recited the entire -- the entire lineage of the Tudors and every year each one had served.  And she sat there, and I thought her bonnet was going to flip off her head.  (Laughter.)  It was like, what did I just hear?  She learned about relatives she probably forgot she had.  (Laughter.)

     As also noted, Robert C. Byrd was a parliamentary library, a keeper of the institution of the Senate, and he was the institution itself.  But to me and many people here today, like guys I see, Bill Bradley and Jim Sasser, who long left the Senate for greener pastures, and I hope better remuneration -- we used to kid about that, too -- but I -- for a lot of us, he was a friend, and he was a mentor and he was a guide.

     Nick and I were talking a little bit earlier, because Nick -- I commuted every day for 36 years in the United States Senate 250 miles a day.  Robert C. Byrd was a stickler about when he’d set votes.  And I’d drive down from Washington, and I’d call Nick on this old big old car phone I first had -- it was about that big.  And I’d say, “Nick, I can see the dome.  Hold the vote, I can see the dome.”

     Finally, Nick caught on, he said, “Joe -- Senator -- how far away can you see the dome?”  (Laughter.)  Because he’d be the one to go to the Leader and say, “Can you hold the vote two more minutes for Biden?”  As long as I was behaving, he held the vote.  But when I found myself in disagreement, I’d stand there to catch a 7:00 train -- he’d set a vote for 7:00.  (Laughter.)  And I’d walk up to him and I’d say “I need seven minutes from the chamber.”  And Nick knows this -- I’d walk up to him and I’d stand -- I always stood down in the well.  And he stood in the first riser, and I’d say, “Mr. Leader, I know there’s no -- we got an hour.”  I said, “You set the vote for 7:00.  Any possibility for setting it at 10 to 7:00 so I could get the train?”  He’d go like this -- he’d look at the clock, look at me, look at the clock and say, “No.”  (Laughter.)  “No.” 

     But that’s because I misbehaved once.  I voted with George Mitchell on a matter relating to miners and that was a big mistake.  (Laughter.)  He literally took the roll call sheet -- there’s these sheets, as the staff members know -- with every senator’s name and how they voted.  He took the roll call sheet, had it framed, had my name circled in red, and literally -- literally -- had it screwed to the ornate doorframe in his office then as the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee.  So every single senator coming to see him would walk out, and at eye height, they’d see Biden circled in red and know darn well they better not vote against Robert C. Byrd ever.  (Laughter and applause.)  You think I’m joking.  I’m not joking. 

     And then I got in his good graces -- I tried to run for President, he said, “I don’t want any senators running for President.”  I said, “Why, Mr. Leader?”  He said, “Because you never come back and vote when I need you.”  (Laughter.)  So I made a promise that no matter where I was, if he called me and said he needed my vote, I’d drop whatever I was doing and I’d come.  And I kept the commitment -- the only one I might add.  That got me back in his good graces again.

     The point is that this is a man who knew exactly what he was doing.  After I was elected 1972 as a 29-year-old kid, I was number 100 out of 100 in Senate seniority.  And Leader Byrd offered up -- he was then the whip -- he offered his office to me to come down from Delaware so I could have a place to interview staff members.  It was in his office, and in the connection his secretary put through, that I received a call telling me that -- about an accident which took the life of my wife and my daughter.  And when they were buried, we held a memorial service a couple days later in Delaware where thousands of people showed up, and it was a bone-chilling slate day of rain.  And people couldn’t get in the church. 

And I never knew it initially, but Robert C. Byrd -- and I think you may have driven him up, Nick -- drove up on his own with Nick to that church.  He stood outside for the better part of an hour in a driving rainstorm where the temperature was below 32.  When my brother saw him and asked him to come in, he said no; he wouldn’t displace anyone.  He stayed there for the entire service.  When the service was over, he got in his vehicle and he drove back, never attempting to be noticed, never seeking that to know, as my deceased wife used to say, the real measure of generosity is would you do it and no one ever knew you did it.

     Well, Robert C. Byrd did that.  I was appreciative of what he did, but I quite frankly didn’t understand till a couple years later I was in his office, and behind his desk was a huge boot cast in bronze.  It was Michael’s boot; it was his grandson’s boot.  And all of a sudden, it came so crystal clear to me who this guy was.  I’d known him, but I understood immediately what he was about.  For him it was all about family.  It was not just Erma, his beloved wife of 69 years.  It was not just his daughters, his grandchildren, great grandchildren -- all of whom are in our prayers today.  It was an awful lot of you.  I’ll bet if he were here he could look out and name -- name you, and tell you what your father or mother did for him, what your grandmother or grandfather did for him, and how you made such and such of yourself.

     Clearly in his own life, Robert Byrd suffered a lot of hardships.  You all know the story -- losing his mom, being raised and adopted by an aunt and uncle, growing up in a home without electricity or water, having to work at an early age.  He had an incredible, incredible determination, one that I don’t think any of my colleagues have ever witnessed, would be my guess.  But, you know, this man was -- it wasn’t just that, as President Clinton pointed out, that at age 47 and as a sitting congressman, he -- or 45 -- he went and got a law degree.  I don’t know that you know -- you probably do, Mr. President -- he got that law degree without having a college degree.  And at age 77, he went to Marshall University and completed his work, getting his college degree.  (Applause.)

     Because to him, in my view -- and I don’t know, the family would tell you this -- and to him, I think he felt there was something wrong with the fact that he got the law degree without graduating.  He didn’t need that undergraduate degree, but it was Bob Byrd.  To quote John Stennis, “Plow into the hedgerow and to the end of the row.” 
    
     The remarkable thing about him is he traveled a hard path.  He devoted his life, though, to making that path a little easier for those who followed.  This is a guy who continued to taste and smell and feel the suffering of the people of his state.  He tasted it.  That’s why it was so deeply ingrained in him. 

     It wasn’t just a moral obligation.  This guy remembered.  And he unapologetically -- as has been pointed out -- did everything to improve the lives of the people of Delaware [sic] by stealing all the money from Delaware, Tennessee, Texas, California, that he could possibly get.  (Laughter.) 

     Remember, Governor, there were two campaigns ago he’s getting beat up for trying to move -- was it two campaigns ago? -- to have the FBI moved down to West Virginia.  And the national press was beating him up.  And I was on the floor with him.  And he just had gotten ripped in a press conference about that.  And he -- you know how he used to grab you by the arm, walk you back -- he walked me back, he said, “Joe, I hope they keep throwing me in the briar patch.”  (Laughter.)

     But I tell you what, you West Virginians owe a lot of people in Delaware for a lot of money we should have gotten and you got.  (Laughter.)  I just want you to know that.  So be nice to the rest of us.  (Applause.) 

     And by the way, if you doubt any of it, you just drive here, you cross the Robert C. Byrd Drive, the Robert C. [Byrd] Appalachian Highway, the Robert C. [Byrd] Library and Learning Center, the Robert C. Byrd Clinic, the Robert C. [Byrd] Federal Building in Charleston and on and on and on. 

But, ladies and gentlemen, of course, it’s more than the name we’re not going to forget.  It’s his courage.  He died like he lived.  He died like he lived his life.  He never stopped fighting.  How many people would have hung on as long as he did?  How many people would have the ability to get back out of that hospital bed and get in a wheelchair and come in and vote, vote for this?  He never stopped thinking about his people and the things he cared about.

     Speaking several weeks ago, this week actually, when Robert Byrd said, “Like Jefferson and Adams, I’m inspired to continue serving the land I love to the very best of my abilities, for the whole of my years.

Well, he served the land he loved.  He served the people he loved.  He served the people who were in his blood.  And because of that service, you had gained greatly.  And with his loss, you’re the first who will feel that loss. 

But it’s not just West Virginia alone.  It’s all of us.  I said to him -- I said of him when I learned of his death, I was on an errand for the President in Cleveland, and I said, “You know, to paraphrase the poet, we shall not see his like again.”  Had he been there, he would have said, “Joe, that’s Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act I, Scene ii” -- (laughter) -- “and the actual quote is, I shall not look upon his like again.”

     Mr. Leader, we’re not going to look upon your like again.  I’m not even going to ask God to bless you because he already had and I know where you are.  And may God bless your family.  May God bless this state and this country.  And may God protect our troops.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

* * * * *

     THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  To Mona and Marjorie, and to Senator Byrd’s entire family, including those adorable great granddaughters that I had a chance to meet -- Michelle and I offer you our deepest sympathies.

To Senator Byrd’s friends, including the Speaker of the House, the Majority Leader, the Republican Leader, President Clinton, Vice President Biden, Vicki Kennedy, Nick Rahall and all the previous speakers; Senator Rockefeller for the outstanding work that you’ve done for the state of West Virginia; to his larger family -- the people of West Virginia -- I want you all to know that all America shares your loss.  May we all find comfort in a verse of Scripture that reminds me of our dear friend:  “The time of my departure has come.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

It’s interesting that you’ve heard that passage from several speakers now, because it embodies somebody who knew how to run a good and long race, and somebody who knew how to keep the faith -- with his state, with his family, with his country and his Constitution.

Years from now, when I think of the man we memorialize today, I’ll remember him as he was when I came to know him, his white hair full like a mane, his gait steadied with a cane.

Determined to make the most of every last breath, the distinguished gentleman from West Virginia could be found at his desk until the very end, doing the people’s business, delivering soul-stirring speeches, a hint of the Appalachians in his voice, stabbing the air with his finger, fiery as ever, years into his 10th decade.

He was a Senate icon.  He was a Party leader.  He was an elder statesman.  And he was my friend.  That’s how I’ll remember him.

Today we remember the path he climbed to such extraordinary peaks.  Born Cornelius Calvin Sale, Jr. -- Corny, he joked, for short -- his mother lost her life in the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918.  From the aunt and uncle who raised him, amid West Virginia’s coal camps, he gained not only his Byrd name but a reverence for God Almighty, a love of learning that was nurtured at Mark Twain School.  And there he met Erma, his sweetheart for over 70 years, by whose side he will now rest for eternity.

Unable to afford college, he did what he could to get by, finding work as a gas station attendant, a produce salesman, a meat-cutter, and a welder in the shipyards of Baltimore and Tampa during World War II.  Returning home to West Virginia after the war, he ran for the state House of Delegates, using his fiddle case as a briefcase, the better to stand out on the stump.

Before long, he ran for Congress, serving in the House before jumping over to the Senate, where he was elected nine times, held almost every leadership role imaginable, and proved as capable of swaying others as standing alone, marking a row of milestones along the way.  Longest-serving member of Congress.  Nearly 19,000 votes cast.  Not a single loss at the polls -- a record that speaks to the bond that he had with you, the people of his state.

Transplanted to Washington, his heart remained here, in West Virginia, in the place that shaped him, with the people he loved.  His heart belonged to you.  Making life better here was his only agenda.  Giving you hope, he said, was his greatest achievement.  Hope in the form of new jobs and industries.  Hope in the form of black lung benefits and union protections.  Hope through roads and research centers, schools and scholarships, health clinics and industrial parks that bear his name.

His early rival and late friend, Ted Kennedy, used to joke about campaigning in West Virginia.  When his bus broke down, Ted got hold of the highway patrol, who asked where he was.  And he said, “I’m on Robert Byrd highway.”  And the dispatcher said, “Which one?”  (Laughter.)

It’s a life that immeasurably improved the lives of West Virginians.  Of course, Robert Byrd was a deeply religious man, a Christian.  And so he understood that our lives are marked by sins as well as virtues, failures as well as success, weakness as well as strength.  We know there are things he said -- and things he did -- that he came to regret.  I remember talking about that the first time I visited with him.  He said, “There are things I regretted in my youth.  You may know that.”  And I said, “None of us are absent some regrets, Senator.  That’s why we enjoy and seek the grace of God.” 

And as I reflect on the full sweep of his 92 years, it seems to me that his life bent towards justice.  Like the Constitution he tucked in his pocket, like our nation itself, Robert Byrd possessed that quintessential American quality, and that is a capacity to change, a capacity to learn, a capacity to listen, a capacity to be made more perfect.

Over his nearly six decades in our Capitol, he came to be seen as the very embodiment of the Senate, chronicling its history in four volumes that he gave to me just as he gave to President Clinton.  I, too, read it.  I was scared he was going to quiz me.  (Laughter.) 

But as I soon discovered, his passion for the Senate’s past, his mastery of even its most arcane procedures, it wasn’t an obsession with the trivial or the obscure.  It reflected a profoundly noble impulse, a recognition of a basic truth about this country that we are not a nation of men, we are a nation of laws.  Our way of life rests on our democratic institutions.  Precisely because we are fallible, it falls to each of us to safeguard these institutions, even when it’s inconvenient, and pass on our republic more perfect than before.

Considering the vast learning of this self-taught Senator -- his speeches sprinkled with the likes of Cicero and Shakespeare and Jefferson -- it seems fitting to close with one of his favorite passages in literature, a passage from Moby Dick:

“And there is a Catskill eagle in some souls that can alike dive down into the blackest gorges, and soar out of them again and become invisible in the sunny spaces.  And even if he forever flies within the gorge, that gorge is in the mountains; so that even in his lowest swoop the mountain eagle is still higher than any other bird upon the plain, even though they soar.”

Robert Byrd was a mountain eagle, and his lowest swoop was still higher than the other birds upon the plain.  (Applause.)

May God bless Robert C. Byrd.  May he be welcomed kindly by the righteous Judge.  And may his spirit soar forever like a Catskill eagle, high above the Heavens.  Thank you very much. 

END
1:44 P.M. EDT

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
July 02, 2010

Declaraciones del Presidente Sobre las Cifras Laborales de Junio

Base Aérea Andrews

9:38 A.M. EDT
 
   EL PRESIDENTE: Buenos días a todos. Antes de partir, me gustaría decir unas cuantas palabras sobre el estado de nuestra economía.
 
   Esta mañana, recibí el informe sobre el empleo correspondiente a junio. Reflejó el plan para la eliminación paulatina de 225,000 empleos temporales con el Censo. Pero también reflejó el sexto mes consecutivo de crecimiento laboral en el sector privado. En total, la economía ha creado casi 600,000 empleos en el sector privado este año. Ése es un marcado cambio con relación a los primeros seis meses del año pasado, cuando perdimos 3.7 millones de empleos en lo peor de la recesión.
 
   Ahora bien, no hay duda de que vamos por el camino correcto. Pero como me recordaron en un viaje a Racine, Wisconsin, esta semana, para muchos estadounidenses, no lo estamos haciendo suficientemente rápido. Y yo coincido en que no lo estamos haciendo suficientemente rápido. La recesión nos metió en un hoyo con una profundidad de aproximadamente 8 millones de empleos. Y continuamos combatiendo vientos contrarios de los volátiles mercados internacionales. Por lo tanto, todavía nos queda mucho trabajo por hacer para solucionar los problemas de la economía y volver a poner al pueblo estadounidense a trabajar.
 
   Por eso estamos continuando un esfuerzo infatigable en frentes múltiples para hacer que esta recuperación continúe. Y hoy, me gustaría hacer un anuncio rápido sobre las nuevas inversiones en infraestructura con la Ley para la Recuperación, inversiones que crearán empleos del sector privado y harán a Estados Unidos más competitivo.
 
   El secretario Locke y el secretario Vilsack se han sumado a mí hoy aquí para anunciar que los departamentos de Comercio y Agricultura invertirán en 66 nuevos proyectos en todo Estados Unidos que finalmente llevarán servicio seguro de Internet por banda ancha a comunidades que actualmente tienen acceso limitado o no tienen acceso.
 
   A corto plazo, esperamos que estos proyectos generen aproximadamente 5,000 empleos de construcción e instalación en todo el país. Y una vez que salgamos de la crisis inmediata, serán inconmensurables los beneficios económicos a largo plazo para las comunidades que han quedado rezagadas en la era digital.
 
   A fin de cuentas, estas inversiones beneficiarán a decenas de millones de estadounidenses… más de 685,000 empresas, 900 instalaciones de cuidado de salud y 2,400 escuelas en todo… en todo el país. Y los estudios han indicado que cuando las comunidades adoptan acceso de banda ancha, pueden generarse cientos de miles de nuevos empleos. La banda ancha elimina barreras geográficas entre pacientes y sus médicos. Puede darles a nuestros niños a las aptitudes digitales y educación del siglo XXI necesarias para los empleos del futuro. Y puede preparar a Estados Unidos para consumir energía limpia al ayudarnos a actualizar nuestra red a fin de que sea más inteligente, mejor y segura.
 
   Entonces, estamos invirtiendo en nuestra gente y estamos invirtiendo en su futuro. Estamos compitiendo enérgicamente para asegurarnos de que los empleos y las industrias y los mercados del mañana echen raíces aquí en Estados Unidos. Estamos avanzando. Y a todo estadounidense que busca trabajo, le prometo que vamos a seguir haciendo todo lo que podamos… haré todo lo que esté en mis manos para contribuir a que nuestra economía genere empleos y cree oportunidades para todos.
 
   Ahora, este domingo es el Cuatro de Julio. Y si esa fecha nos recuerda de algo, es que Estados Unidos nunca le ha temido a un desafío. Hemos enfrentado muchos momentos difíciles. Pero en esos momentos, no nos echamos atrás. Nos esforzamos más, innovamos, competimos y vencemos. Está en nuestro ADN. Y es lo que nos permitirá sobrellevar estos tiempos difíciles hasta que vengan días mejores.
 
   Entonces, quiero desearles un feliz Cuatro de Julio a todos. Quiero que nuestros soldados en el extranjero sepan que estamos pensando sobre su valentía y que estamos agradecidos por su servicio.
 
Muchas gracias, a todos.
 
FIN      9:42 A.M. EDT