THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Admiral. And all you folks up on board, I'll tell you what, that's a platform for liberty -- I'm sure glad you're manning it. Thank you very much, and excuse my back.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's a great, great honor to be here on behalf of President Barack Obama and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mullen. I bring you their greetings.

But I also have to tell you a little story. Admiral Mullen, as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral, is supposed to be even-handed in terms of all the military services -- and he is. But I got to tell you a story, and I asked his permission to tell the story. I can't tell you the event because it's classified, but I can tell you what happened.

Not long ago we were down in the Situation Room with the President presiding -- and members of the Joint Chiefs, as well as the National Security Advisor, Secretary of State, myself, the Secretary of Defense. And there was a particular mission that was incredibly risky and required an immense -- immense amount of skill to pull off. And several of my uniformed brethren who weren't wearing Navy colors sat there and said, I think that's almost impossible. I'm not sure that can be done.

And this is a true story, Admiral. Without missing a beat, spontaneously, not his prejudice but his pride showed through, and he said, gentlemen, they're Navy SEALS. That was it. It could be done, no matter what it was, with regard to the Navy. And you've all proven him to be right.

Ladies and gentlemen, as I look out at all of you and look behind me, I see standing here -- and I think of what a former Navy man, the former President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, said when in fact -- in how he viewed his service. He was asked how he viewed it. And he said, "I can imagine no more rewarding career -- no more rewarding career. Any man, any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: 'I served in the United States Navy.'"

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it’s a new century. And this new century faced with immense challenges and bold new goals, President Kennedy's words are equally appropriate and applicable to you. When you are asked what did you do in this century to make your life worthwhile, you, too, can respond without hesitation, with pride and satisfaction, that you served in the United States Navy, and knowing that your nation is indebted to you and that it feels an immeasurable amount of respect for all you stand for.

Folks, those of you assembled before me in uniform, your generation is the most powerful, best disciplined, best-trained group of warriors the United States of America has ever produced. And don't you every forget it. Give yourselves a round of applause because you deserve it. (Applause.)

This Strike Group proves my point, as you prepare to deploy for your fourth time in four years. Your ops tempo has been incredibly demanding, but you’ve handled it with such skill and grace. You’ve been decorated for your service achievements "underway" -- a Battle "E" Winner for the most combat-efficient carrier in the Pacific for 2006 and 2008.

I know -- I know you're looking ahead to this new mission. But you should take time to pause and look back at what you’ve already done: extensive air operations over Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom; humanitarian assistance operations following a devastating typhoon in the Philippines; a counter-piracy operation off the Horn of Africa. You are agile, you're capable of a variety of missions, and you're brave enough to succeed every time you're deployed.

And for that I thank you. And for that a grateful nation owes you -- owes you. And I want to make it clear, when I say "owe," I am not exaggerating. We owe you.

That’s why our administration has focused so much of our nation’s resources in such difficult economic times -- not only on your training, your pay and your equipment, but on your health, your education, as well as the quality of life for you and your families. And I say families because your families are making significant sacrifices, as well.

The poet John Milton wrote: "They also serve who only stand and wait." They also serve who only stand and wait. We understand that; the sacrifices your families make and continue to make -- not just your sacrifices, the sacrifices they make to allow you to proudly wear that uniform and serve our country in such time of great need.

That's why we're working so hard to improve the quality of life on bases all across America. Ladies and gentlemen, that's why the Recovery Act which you read about includes more than $7 billion, in addition to the regular yearly budget, more than $7 billion for military construction projects: new hospitals, child care centers, better housing at all our defense installations across this entire country.

And here, at Coronado, that means immediately $138 million for 11 new projects to modernize your facilities and generally improve your quality of life, building everything from a new bachelors' quarters to a 24/7 child care center; replacing roofs and lowering energy costs. Just as we're doing for civilian workers, we're also using the Recovery Act money as an important means to give you what you need to do your job.

But our commitment doesn't end with this legislation, nor does it end when your time on this base comes to a close. That's why we've dramatically increased health care coverage, providing resources to give 5.5 million veterans timely and high-quality health care; expanding health care eligibility, bringing in an additional half a million veterans into the VA system. That's why we passed the most extensive GI Bill since World War II, allowing not only you but your children and your spouses to use those benefits if you choose you do not need them or you are not going to exercise them.

That's why today I'm so proud to announce that the Department of Defense, after strong support from a former Senate colleague named Jim Johnson from South Dakota, is dedicating over half a billion dollars from this Recovery Act to extend a program to assist military and Defense Department -- military as well as civilian Defense Department employees who are homeowners when they sell their homes at a loss, which many of you are faced with.

In the middle of a credit and housing crisis, we recognize that military families cannot generally choose, to put it mildly, when they move. So we used this half a billion dollars to dramatically expand what was once a fairly small program assisting your families forced to relocate due to base closures and/or normal assignment rotations. And that's why we give priority access to this program to the survivors of those killed while deployed and those who were wounded or injured while they were deployed.

President Obama and I are extremely proud that in our first budget in these very tough times, we've increased funding for veterans to the tune of $25 billion. It's the biggest budget increase in a generation. And when we proposed it -- as you may have read, if you are on -- stateside -- people said, how can we do that in the midst of this great economic crisis? And our response is simple: How can we not do that, while we're waging two wars and relying on you -- relying on you -- to protect the United States of America?

But as parents, as mentioned earlier, of a son deployed, Jill and I understand it's not just the big things that make a difference in your quality of life, it's a lot of little things. Jill and the First Lady have been using their influence to remind the nation of the incredible sacrifices so many are making while their loved ones are at war. Jill's comment was, she never again wants to see what she saw as a young woman when soldiers and sailors, getting off aircraft coming home, walking through airports, and having people turn their backs on them, as they did in my generation. We want to guarantee that every American knows the sacrifices you're making. So few are serving and so few are giving so much, so many should appreciate.

And, ladies and gentlemen, Jill feels passionately that we have to use all of our power to give both the emotional as well as the physical support, of those who, as Milton said, "only stand and wait."

We owe you. But we owe, as you all would agree, an inordinately large debt to the families of the 4,295 fallen angels in Iraq, and the 679 fallen angels in Afghanistan -- and the 34,084 wounded in both theaters -- all of them -- all of them. We say to those families we're indebted to you more deeply than we are to any other group of Americans under any other circumstance.

For as Jill said, we have only one -- we have only one sacred obligation as a nation, an obligation that exceeds all others. And that's to care for those we send, and care for those who come home. If we only have $10 to spend as a nation, and it takes $8 to meet the needs of the families who have served, then we will spend that $8 before we'll spend a penny on anything else, whether it's education, health care, or all those important items. It's the single, only obligation that is sacred that we have as a nation.

So, from the bottom of my heart, on behalf of every one of those young men and women -- like you, and my son's outfit in Iraq -- serving the nation on the ground, in the air, at sea -- I say to all of you I admire you, the President admires you, and the nation is grateful for what you do. And we will make sure that everything you need when you deploy is available, and with the grace of God, when you come home everything you need is available as well.

If you sailors will forgive a Vice President for quoting an Army general on a Navy base, I would like to quote something General Washington said. He said: "It follows, then, as certain as night succeeds the day -- that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive -- and with it, everything honorable and glorious."

So when you reach these shores after deploying, after another successful mission, our country, as a consequence of your deployment will be even more honorable, more glorious than it is today. The USS Ronald Reagan, named for a great and patriotic American, a man I had the opportunity to serve with eight years and came to know well -- we were in opposite parties. We often were on opposite sides of issues, on social issues. But he was a man whose personal warmth and generosity my family and I felt in our time of need.

He said it best when he said: "Peace is the highest aspiration of the American people. We will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, but we will never surrender for it" -- never, ever, ever.

Ladies and gentlemen, we will never have to surrender for it because of all of you. May God bless you and keep you safe, and may God protect all of our troops.

Thank you. Thank you for your service. (Applause.)

END

7:59 P.M. MST

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you, ASU.  (Applause.)  Thank you very much.  Thank you very much.  Thank you so much.  Thank you -- please.  Well, thank you, President Crow, for that extremely generous introduction, for your inspired leadership as well here at ASU.  And I want to thank the entire ASU community for the honor of attaching my name to a scholarship program that will help open the doors of higher education to students from every background.  What a wonderful gift.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  That notion of opening doors of opportunity to everybody, that is the core mission of this school; it's a core mission of my presidency; and I hope this program will serve as a model for universities across this country.  So thank you so much.  (Applause.)

I want to obviously congratulate the Class of 2009you’re your unbelievable achievement.  (Applause.)  I want to thank the parents, the uncles, the grandpas, the grandmas, cousins -- Calabash cousins -- everybody who was involved in helping these extraordinary young people arrive at this moment.  I also want to apologize to the entire state of Arizona for stealing away your wonderful former governor, Janet Napolitano.  (Applause.)  But you've got a fine governor here and I also know that Janet is applying her extraordinary talents to serve our entire country as the Secretary of Homeland Security, keeping America safe.  And she's doing a great job.  (Applause.)

Now, before I begin, I'd just like to clear the air about that little controversy everybody was talking about a few weeks back.  I have to tell you, I really thought this was much ado about nothing, but I do think we all learned an important lesson.  I learned never again to pick another team over the Sun Devils in my NCAA bracket.  (Applause.)   It won't happen again.  President Crow and the Board of Regents will soon learn all about being audited by the IRS.  (Laughter and applause.)

Now, in all seriousness, I come here not to dispute the suggestion that I haven't yet achieved enough in my life.  (Laughter.)  First of all, Michelle concurs with that assessment.  (Laughter.)  She has a long list of things that I have not yet done waiting for me when I get home.  But more than that, I come to embrace the notion that I haven't done enough in my life; I heartily concur; I come to affirm that one's title, even a title like President of the United States, says very little about how well one's life has been led -- that no matter how much you've done, or how successful you've been, there's always more to do, always more to learn, and always more to achieve.  (Applause.)

And I want to say to you today, graduates, Class of 2009, that despite having achieved a remarkable milestone in your life, despite the fact that you and your families are so rightfully proud, you too cannot rest on your laurels. Not even some of those remarkable young people who were introduced earlier -- not even that young lady who's got four degrees yet today.  You can't rest.  Your own body of work is also yet to come.

Now, some graduating classes have marched into this stadium in easy times -- times of peace and stability when we call on our graduates simply to keep things going, and don't screw it up.  (Laughter.)  Other classes have received their diplomas in times of trial and upheaval, when the very foundations of our lives, the old order has been shaken, the old ideas and institutions have crumbled, and a new generation is called upon to remake the world.

It should be clear to you by now the category into which all of you fall.  For we gather here tonight in times of extraordinary difficulty, for the nation and for the world.  The economy remains in the midst of a historic recession, the worst we've seen since the Great Depression; the result, in part, of greed and irresponsibility that rippled out from Wall Street and Washington, as we spent beyond our means and failed to make hard choices.  (Applause.)  We're engaged in two wars and a struggle against terrorism.  The threats of climate change, nuclear proliferation, and pandemic defy national boundaries and easy solutions.

For many of you, these challenges are also felt in more personal terms.  Perhaps you're still looking for a job -- or struggling to figure out what career path makes sense in this disrupted economy.  Maybe you've got student loans -- no, you definitely have student loans -- (applause) -- or credit card debts, and you're wondering how you'll ever pay them off.  Maybe you've got a family to raise, and you're wondering how you'll ensure that your children have the same opportunities you've had to get an education and pursue their dreams.

Now, in the face of these challenges, it may be tempting to fall back on the formulas for success that have been pedaled so frequently in recent years.  It goes something like this:  You're taught to chase after all the usual brass rings; you try to be on this "who's who" list or that top 100 list; you chase after the big money and you figure out how big your corner office is; you worry about whether you have a fancy enough title or a fancy enough car.  That's the message that's sent each and every day, or has been in our culture for far too long -- that through material possessions, through a ruthless competition pursued only on your own behalf -- that’s how you will measure success.

Now, you can take that road -- and it may work for some.  But at this critical juncture in our nation's history, at this difficult time, let me suggest that such an approach won't get you where you want to go; it displays a poverty of ambition -- that in fact, the elevation of appearance over substance, of celebrity over character, of short-term gain over lasting achievement is precisely what your generation needs to help end.  (Applause.)

Now, ASU, I want to highlight -- I want to highlight two main problems with that old, tired, me-first approach.  First, it distracts you from what's truly important, and may lead you to compromise your values and your principles and commitments.  Think about it.  It's in chasing titles and status -- in worrying about the next election rather than the national interest and the interests of those who you're supposed to represent -- that politicians so often lose their ways in Washington. (Applause.)   They spend time thinking about polls, but not about principle.  It was in pursuit of gaudy short-term profits, and the bonuses that came with them, that so many folks lost their way on Wall Street, engaging in extraordinary risks with other people's money.

In contrast, the leaders we revere, the businesses and institutions that last -- they are not generally the result of a narrow pursuit of popularity or personal advancement, but of devotion to some bigger purpose -- the preservation of the Union or the determination to lift a country out of a depression; the creation of a quality product, a commitment to your customers, your workers, your shareholders and your community.  A commitment to make sure that an institution like ASU is inclusive and diverse and giving opportunity to all.  That's a hallmark of real success.  (Applause.)

That other stuff -- that other stuff, the trappings of success may be a byproduct of this larger mission, but it can't be the central thing.  Just ask Bernie Madoff.  That's the first problem with the old attitude.

But the second problem with the old approach to success is that a relentless focus on the outward markers of success can lead to complacency.  It can make you lazy.  We too often let the external, the material things, serve as indicators that we're doing well, even though something inside us tells us that we're not doing our best; that we're avoiding that which is hard, but also necessary; that we're shrinking from, rather than rising to, the challenges of the age.  And the thing is, in this new, hyper-competitive age, none of us -- none of us -- can afford to be complacent.

That's true in whatever profession you choose.  Professors might earn the distinction of tenure, but that doesn't guarantee that they'll keep putting in the long hours and late nights -- and have the passion and the drive -- to be great educators.  The same principle is true in your personal life.  Being a parent is not just a matter of paying the bills, doing the bare minimum -- it's not bringing a child into the world that matters, but the acts of love and sacrifice it takes to raise and educate that child and give them opportunity.  (Applause.)  It can happen to Presidents, as well.  If you think about it, Abraham Lincoln and Millard Fillmore had the very same title, they were both Presidents of the United States, but their tenure in office and their legacy could not be more different.

And that's not just true for individuals -- it's also true for this nation.  In recent years, in many ways, we've become enamored with our own past success -- lulled into complacency by the glitter of our own achievements.

We've become accustomed to the title of "military super-power," forgetting the qualities that got us there -- not just the power of our weapons, but the discipline and valor and the code of conduct of our men and women in uniform.  (Applause.)  The Marshall Plan, and the Peace Corps, and all those initiatives that show our commitment to working with other nations to pursue the ideals of opportunity and equality and freedom that have made us who we are.  That's what made us a super power.  (Applause.)

We've become accustomed to our economic dominance in the world, forgetting that it wasn't reckless deals and get-rich-quick schemes that got us where we are, but hard work and smart ideas -- quality products and wise investments.  We started taking shortcuts.  We started living on credit, instead of building up savings.  We saw businesses focus more on rebranding and repackaging than innovating and developing new ideas that improve our lives.

All the while, the rest of the world has grown hungrier, more restless -- in constant motion to build and to discover -- not content with where they are right now, determined to strive for more.  They're coming.

So graduates, it's now abundantly clear that we need to start doing things a little bit different.  In your own lives, you'll need to continuously adapt to a continuously changing economy. You'll end up having more than one job and more than one career over the course of your life; to keep gaining new skills -- possibly even new degrees; and you'll have to keep on taking risks as new opportunities arise.

And as a nation, we'll need a fundamental change of perspective and attitude.  It's clear that we need to build a new foundation -- a stronger foundation -- for our economy and our prosperity, rethinking how we grow our economy, how we use energy, how we educate our children, how we care for our sick, how we treat our environment.  (Applause.)

Many of our current challenges are unprecedented.  There are no standard remedies, no go-to fixes this time around.  And Class of 2009 that's why we're going to need your help.  We need young people like you to step up.  We need your daring, we need your enthusiasm and your energy, we need your imagination.

And let me be clear, when I say "young," I'm not just referring to the date of your birth certificate.  I'm talking about an approach to life -- a quality of mind and quality of heart; a willingness to follow your passions, regardless of whether they lead to fortune and fame; a willingness to question conventional wisdom and rethink old dogmas; a lack of regard for all the traditional markers of status and prestige -- and a commitment instead to doing what's meaningful to you, what helps others, what makes a difference in this world.  (Applause.)

That's the spirit that led a band of patriots not much older than most of you to take on an empire, to start this experiment in democracy we call America.  It's what drove young pioneers west, to Arizona and beyond; it's what drove young women to reach for the ballot; what inspired a 30 year-old escaped slave to run an underground railroad to freedom -- (applause) -- what inspired a young man named Cesar to go out and help farm workers; what inspired a 26 year-old preacher to lead a bus boycott for justice.  It's what led firefighters and police officers in the prime of their lives up the stairs of those burning towers; and young people across this country to drop what they were doing and come to the aid of a flooded New Orleans.  It's what led two guys in a garage -- named Hewlett and Packard -- to form a company that would change the way we live and work; what led scientists in laboratories, and novelists in coffee shops to labor in obscurity until they finally succeeded in changing the way we see the world.

That's the great American story:  young people just like you, following their passions, determined to meet the times on their own terms.  They weren't doing it for the money.  Their titles weren't fancy -- ex-slave, minister, student, citizen.  A whole bunch of them didn't get honorary degrees.  (Laughter and applause.)  But they changed the course of history -- and so can you ASU, so can you Class of 2009.  (Applause.)  So can you.

With a degree from this outstanding institution, you have everything you need to get started.  You've got no excuses.  You have no excuses not to change the world.  Did you study business?  (Applause.)  Go start a company.  (Applause.)  Or why not help our struggling non-profits find better, more effective ways to serve folks in need.  (Applause.)  Did you study nursing?  (Applause.)  Understaffed clinics and hospitals across this country are desperate for your help.  Did you study education?  (Applause.)  Teach in a high-need school where the kids really need you; give a chance to kids who can't-- who can't get everything they need maybe in their neighborhood, maybe not even in their home we can't afford to give up on -- prepare them to compete for any job anywhere in the world.  (Applause.)  Did you study engineering?  (Applause.)  Help us lead a green revolution -- (applause) -- developing new sources of clean energy that will power our economy and preserve our planet.

But you can also make your mark in smaller, more individual ways.  That's what so many of you have already done during your time here at ASU -- tutoring children; registering voters; doing your own small part to fight hunger and homelessness, AIDS and cancer.  One student said it best when she spoke about her senior engineering project building medical devices for people with disabilities in a village in Africa.  Her professor showed a video of the folks they'd been helping, and she said, "When we saw the people on the videos, we began to feel a connection to them.  It made us want to be successful for them."  Think about that:  "It made us want to be successful for them."

That's a great motto for all of us -- find somebody to be successful for.  Raise their hopes.  Rise to their needs.  As you think about life after graduation, as you look into the mirror tonight after the partying is done -- (laughter and applause) -- that shouldn't get such a big cheer -- (laughter) -- you may look in the mirror tonight and you may see somebody who's not really sure what to do with their lives.  That's what you may see, but a troubled child might look at you and see a mentor.  A homebound senior citizen might see a lifeline.  The folks at your local homeless shelter might see a friend.  None of them care how much money is in your bank account, or whether you're important at work, or whether you're famous around town -- they just know that you're somebody who cares, somebody who makes a difference in their lives.

So Class of 2009, that's what building a body of work is all about -- it's about the daily labor, the many individual acts, the choices large and small that add up over time, over a lifetime, to a lasting legacy.  That's what you want on your tombstone.  It's about not being satisfied with the latest achievement, the latest gold star -- because the one thing I know about a body of work is that it's never finished.  It's cumulative; it deepens and expands with each day that you give your best, each day that you give back and contribute to the life of your community and your nation.  You may have setbacks, and you may have failures, but you're not done -- you're not even getting started, not by a long shot.

And if you ever forget that, just look to history.  Thomas Paine was a failed corset maker, a failed teacher, and a failed tax collector before he made his mark on history with a little book called "Common Sense" that helped ignite a revolution.  (Applause.)  Julia Child didn't publish her first cookbook until she was almost 50.  Colonel Sanders didn't open up his first Kentucky Fried Chicken until he was in his 60s.  Winston Churchill was dismissed as little more than a has-been, who enjoyed scotch a little bit too much, before he took over as Prime Minister and saw Great Britain through its finest hour. No one thought a former football player stocking shelves at the local supermarket would return to the game he loved, become a Super Bowl MVP, and then come here to Arizona and lead your Cardinals to their first Super Bowl.  (Applause.)  Your body of work is never done.

Each of them, at one point in their life, didn't have any title or much status to speak of.  But they had passion, a commitment to following that passion wherever it would lead, and to working hard every step along the way.

And that's not just how you'll ensure that your own life is well-lived.  It's how you'll make a difference in the life of our nation.  I talked earlier about the selfishness and irresponsibility on Wall Street and Washington that rippled out and led to so many of the problems that we face today.  I talked about the focus on outward markers of success that can help lead us astray.

But here's the thing, Class of 2009:  It works the other way around too.  Acts of sacrifice and decency without regard to what's in it for you -- that also creates ripple effects -- ones that lift up families and communities; that spread opportunity and boost our economy; that reach folks in the forgotten corners of the world who, in committed young people like you, see the true face of America:  our strength, our goodness, our diversity, our enduring power, our ideals.

I know starting your careers in troubled times is a challenge.  But it is also a privilege.  Because it's moments like these that force us to try harder, to dig deeper, and to discover gifts we never knew we had -- to find the greatness that lies within each of us.  So don't ever shy away from that endeavor.  Don't stop adding to your body of work.  I can promise that you will be the better for that continued effort, as will this nation that we all love.

Congratulations, Class of 2009, on your graduation.  God bless you.  And God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)

END                                      
8:26 P.M. MST

###

10:20 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Good morning, everybody.  This is a gorgeous day and an encouraging day, because we just wrapped up, as the Speaker said, a extremely productive meeting with the chairmen of the relevant committees, as well as the Majority Leader and Vice President Biden, to discuss one of the key pillars of a new foundation for our economy, and that is affordable, accessible, high-quality health care for all Americans.

I want to take a moment before I start talking about health care just to congratulate Chairman Waxman and the Energy and Commerce Committee Democrats, who've made such extraordinary progress in reaching a deal on comprehensive energy reform and climate legislation.  This is a major step forward in building the kind of clean-energy economy that will reduce America's dependence on foreign oil.  And I once again call on Congress to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution, which will then drive incent for the kind of innovation and dynamic, new clean-energy economy that can create jobs and new businesses all across America.

So this is an example of the extraordinary productivity that we're seeing over in the House right now.  On health care, as Speaker Pelosi just mentioned, the House is working to pass a comprehensive health care reform bill by July 31st, before they head out for the August recess.  And that's the kind of urgency and determination that we need to achieve what I believe will be historic legislation.

As I've said before, and as all Americans know, our health care system is broken.  It's unsustainable for families, for businesses.  It is unsustainable for the federal government and state governments. 

We've had a lot of discussions in this town about deficits and people across the political spectrum like to throw barbs back and forth about debt and deficits.  The fact of the matter is the most significant driver by far of our long-term debt and our long-term deficits is ever-escalating health care costs.  And if we don't reform how health care is delivered in this country, then we are not going to be able to get a handle on that.

Now, in addition to the implications for the federal budget, obviously we're also thinking about the millions of American families out there who are struggling to pay premiums that have doubled over the last decade -- rising four times the rate of their wages -- and 46 million Americans who don't have any health insurance at all. 

Businesses are using money to pay their rising health care costs that could be going to innovation and growth and new hiring.  Far too many small businesses are dropping health care altogether.  In fact, you've got small business owners who can't afford health care for themselves, much less for their employees. And as we learned yesterday, pressures on Medicare are growing, which only underscores the need for reform.

That's why we've got to get this done.  We've got to get it done this year.  We've got to get it done this year -- both in the House and in the Senate.  And we don't have any excuses; the stars are aligned.

Now, the problems in our health care system didn't emerge overnight.  We've debated about what to do about them for decades, but too often efforts at comprehensive reform have fallen apart due to special-interest lobbying and petty politics and the failure of all sides to come together.  What's been so encouraging this week is you're starting to see a shift in these patterns. 

On Monday I met with representatives of the insurance and the drug companies, doctors and hospitals, and labor unions, groups that included some of the strongest critics of past comprehensive reform proposals.  We discussed how they're pledging to do their part to reduce our nation's health care spending by 1.5 percent per year.  Coupled with comprehensive reform, this could result in our nation saving over $2 trillion over the next 10 years, and that could save families $2,500 in the coming years -- $2,500 per family.

Yesterday I met with CEOs from some of America's leading corporations who are finding innovative ways to cut their own health care costs by improving the health of their workers through prevention and wellness programs.

In the coming weeks and months, I believe that the House and Senate will be engaged in a difficult issue, and I'm committed to building a transparent process to get this moving.  But whatever plans emerge, both from the House and the Senate, I do believe that they've got to uphold three basic principles:  first, that the rising cost of health care has to be brought down; second, that Americans have to be able to choose their own doctor and their own plan; and third, all Americans have to have quality, affordable health care. 

These are the principles to which I'm committed.  These are the principles to which the chairmen and the Speaker and the Majority Leader, my Vice President are committed.  We're seeing now that traditional opponents of health care reform are embracing these ideas.  They recognize that the time is now. 

And so I am just deeply encouraged.  And I want the message to go out all across America, we are not going to rest until we've delivered the kind of health care reform that's going to bring down cost for families, and improve quality, affordability, accessibility for all Americans.

So, thank you very much, and enjoy this wonderful weather.

END                                      
10:27 A.M. EDT
 

   

2:42 P.M. EDT

MRS. OBAMA: Thank you, guys. Thanks so much. (Applause.) Okay, you all can sit down now -- (laughter) -- because you've been working so hard. You need to relax, take a load off. I am just excited to be here. It's like coming home. (Laughter.)

I want to thank Nicky for her wonderful introduction and the leadership and dedication that she has provided. I mean, she talked about you all and the work and the hours that you've put in through this transition and even before, but Nicky has really been holding down the fort.

And I not only want to acknowledge her, but since I know her family is here, and I know how the only way that people can do this is -- and I see two young men in suits -- (laughter) -- and I think out of this crowd I think I've narrowed it down -- (laughter) -- to the two -- Nicky's sons right there. (Laughter.) So I want to thank you guys and Dad for hanging in there with Mom and loving her through all of this. So let's give you guys a round of applause. (Applause.)

And I also want to recognize a good friend of ours, somebody who I met on the campaign trail who has been a supporter of ours and a supporter of national service for quite some time, who's the chair of the board. I want to recognize Alan Solomont and all of the board members who are here today. Let's give them all a round of applause. (Applause.) Thank you, everybody. It is true that through their leadership and commitment we've helped to shape what national service is and will become.

I'd also like to thank and acknowledge Melody Barnes who leads the President's Domestic Policy Council, and she was instrumental in getting the Serve America Act passed, and she's right over there. Melody, raise your hand. Melody Barnes. (Applause.) We are lucky to have Melody. She is, as some person -- somebody said, "wicked smart." And she's not just working on this piece but so many important pieces of the domestic policy agenda. She has been fabulous and we are just so delighted to have her onboard.

And finally, thanks to the men and women here who have been with the Corporation since its founding. Your commitment is an inspiration. You know, just knowing that there are people who have been here throughout all of these transitions, who have dedicated their life to this work, and who have seen this Corporation through so many transitions, this couldn't be possible, this day, this growth, this expansion without all of you.

And as you know, national and community service is near and dear to my heart. It is the reason that I breathe. And as Nicky said, it has become my life's work in so many ways. Like many people, when I was coming out of high school and going into college, I did what most working-class kids did -- I had to work. And I had to work all the time because I had to have enough money for books for the year, and I had to help out with tuition. I had to chip in.

So during my college years I had to do work-study in order to get through. And what I had to do to get through, I typed, I worked at a bindery, I did a whole bunch of babysitting and piano tutoring and dog training. I did a little bit of everything. (Laughter.)

And when I was coming up, volunteering and doing an internship seemed to be a luxury that a working-class kid couldn't afford, because ironically, you know, in order to do some of that service, you had to have somebody supporting you for the summer that you weren't working and you were doing something interesting. So I could never afford to do that.

And I didn't realize how much I had missed. I had some good experiences, but some of these wonderful internships and opportunities to work in community groups, I didn't have access to those. And more importantly, I felt guilty to even ask parents who were already working hard to let me take a summer or a semester off to do something like that. So oftentimes I never asked. I studied, I worked, I worked and I'd studied, and that's how I sort of developed my thinking of career.

And I went from college to law school to a big ol' fancy law firm where I was making more money than both of my parents combined. I thought I had arrived. I was working on the 47th floor of one of the largest buildings in the city of Chicago. And I thought, well, I must be doing okay.

But then several things happened over the course of my life in a year to make me stop and actually think for the first time about what I wanted. I lost my father. I lost one of my good friends to cancer suddenly. She was in her mid-20s when she died. And I thought that -- for the first time I had to think about life and the life that I was building for myself, and I had to ask myself whether, if I died tomorrow, would I want this to be my legacy, working in a corporate firm, working for big companies? And when I asked myself the question, the resounding answer was, absolutely not. This isn't what I want to leave behind, this isn't why I went to Princeton and Harvard, this isn't why I was doing what I was doing. I thought I had more to give.

So people were quite surprised when I told them at the firm that I was going to leave this big lucrative paycheck behind and a promising career, and go on to do something more service-oriented. They all told me to wait and to become a partner first, and then leave. And I was -- that was financially the better option, but I knew in my heart that I was making the right decision to leave then.

So I left my job at the firm and started to then think about what I wanted my life to become. And when I thought about the things that I cared about, the things that I was passionate about, service was always somewhere in there. I thought about the things that I did for enjoyment. They were always mentoring, working with other young people, trying to help them get to where I had -- I was to help them think about their lives differently. So I knew that service was always going to be a part of that passion. So my goal was to figure out how I could not do that in my spare time, but how I could make my work service.

So I started doing a bunch of crazy things: working in city government, and that's when -- after city government I left to start this wonderful organization in Chicago, Public Allies, which many of you know of, because it's one of the first model AmeriCorps national service programs. It was right when President Clinton got elected to office, and there was an infusion of new resources for wonderful innovative ideas, and Public Allies was an organization that would help 18- to 30-year-olds pursue careers in public service. And I helped to build that. And I had -- I was never happier in my life than when I was working to build Public Allies.

And for those of you who have committed your lives to careers in service, you probably know what I'm talking about. You probably understand that feeling that you get when you help somebody achieve their goals, when you help a group of young people learn more about themselves by working with others, when you hire young diverse people, and you see them grow and develop. There is nothing more fulfilling. It's an opportunity to put your faith into action in a way that regular jobs don't allow; to use your larger talents for the greater good. It felt really good.

And for many Americans, it may seem impossible to squeeze even more time out of the day and do more, because we all have busy lives, but I still strongly encourage people to think about volunteering and community service.

And people are doing it all over the place. Families are getting involved every day in their communities more and more in ways that are just inspiring, serving food at homeless shelters or giving time to their church or their mosque or their temple, or participating in walk-a-thons. I mean, there are so many ways, big and small, that people can and are engaging.

And for parents in particular, now that I have my own children, service is a great way to demonstrate values and to teach children firsthand what it means to think outside of themselves. And we've relied on service so much as a tool of teaching and education for our kids.

And when I talk to kids everywhere, I remind them that they're never too young to serve, that they're never too small to do something big, because that's the way that they learn what it means to make a lifelong commitment to service.

And volunteering as a family has a very lasting impact. In many ways this campaign has been a family-service initiative for us. Supporting Barack in this post has been just a wonderful way for our family to connect and grow and become stronger, because with whatever little sacrifice we give together, we're coming together even more as a unit.

So as we begin to think about what national service can be in this time, we've got to think about all these wonderful components; you know, what it means to the individual, to the family, to our children. So we're grateful for where we are today. I know I am.

And we wouldn't be here today without the bipartisan support for the Serve America Act. It's just beautiful to see this country and people of all walks of life, regardless of party, recognizing that this is a really good thing; that this is where patriotism begins.

So it was nice to see this Act pass by such an overwhelming amount of support. And it happened because of many of you laying that foundation, being able to help a set of programs grow, to show the impact that these programs can have on young people and on communities. That hard-core evidence helped us get to where we are.

And you all know what this bill has done. Because of this bill we were able to dramatically expand AmeriCorps from 75,000 positions a year to 250,000 by 2017, and focusing that service on the issues that are so important today: clean energy, education, health care, economic opportunities, and caring for our veterans. That's how this service is going to be targeted.

The bill is going to invest in service learning, a concept that now is a part of this culture, thanks to you. When I was coming up, no one knew what service learning was. And now it's a part of educational experiences throughout this nation, so more kids are going to have the opportunity to serve, not just those who can afford it. And that goes back to my story.

It is so important that young people, regardless of their race or their age or their financial ability, that they have a chance to serve; that it isn't a luxury just for wealthy kids but it's something that all kids can do. And we're seeing that through programs like YouthBuild and City Year and Public Allies and Teach for America, and we could go on and on. You go into these programs and you see kids, young people of all walks of life, serving together and learning together and growing together.

It's going to help this Act tap into the experience and the knowledge of our retired Americans, as well. Service isn't just for the young. We have so many people who are retired who are at the prime of their lives, because now 70 and 80 is like 50 and 60 was. Let me tell you, with my mom, we got to keep her moving. (Laughter.) And this bill will allow us to capture the energy of so many of our older Americans, and allow them to continue to use their skills and gifts to pass on to the next generation.

This Act is going to also help fund a new Social Innovation Fund, which is very cutting-edge. And thanks to the hard-thinking of Melody Barnes and many other people, this fund will invest in ideas that work. It'll leverage private-sector dollars to encourage further innovation, and then expand those innovations to other communities. That's how AmeriCorps got started, model programs that were sort of at the cutting edge of getting more funding and expanding to become national organizations that have gone on to impact thousands and thousands of people in communities across the country.

The President has asked Congress for $50 million in next year's budget for this fund, and it'll be housed right here at the Corporation. And we are so excited about that.

By creating this infrastructure, President Obama has sent a clear signal: The nation must invest in innovation targeted at the public good. This is a new vision of how government can work. We know that the next great social innovation won't just come from government programs. Rather, it's likely to come from someone out there that's trying to fix a problem in their own community. That's when some of the best ideas happen, because they come organically out of real problems.

We're at a critical time in our nation's history, and we need all the hands-on-deck kind of experience we can get to help solve these big problems. And as you know, government resources are scarce. As you know, philanthropic dollars are dwindling. So it's imperative that we all use our resources more effectively. And the Corporation for National Community Service is the link between the government, non-profits, foundations, community organizers, and social entrepreneurs. You play that important role of bringing them all together.

And the President is counting on you to take this vision and make it a reality. Thomas Edison once said, "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." (Laughter.) And for some people that's what service sounds like, it sounds like work. But for those of us in this room, service is a limitless opportunity, it is the reason why we breathe.

So I want to simply thank you all as I've done on many of my agency visits. But this one is a special one for me, because national service helped to transform my career. I could be some rich lawyer somewhere -- (laughter) -- only slightly writing a check here or there to President Obama's campaign. (Laughter.) But instead I'm at the core, so this message is personal. And I know how hard you have all worked, how hard the people on this stage, many of whom have been here more than 15 years, have worked to get us where we are today. And I am personally grateful to all of you all for your belief in this possibility, for your dedication.

But now that we've got this Act passed, we're going to need you now more than ever, because we've got a lot to do. We've got to get this money out. We've got to develop strong and impactful programs. And you guys know that there's a difference between programs that work and programs that don't. Yes, I hear that groan. (Laughter.) And not every well-meaning idea is worthy of development. But that's why you're here.

So we're going to need you every step of the way feeling just as encouraged, just as excited, even more so, ready to roll up your sleeves, put in more time, and really push service to the point in this nation where it belongs. It should be a part of everyone's life. From the moment someone can walk to the day they leave this planet, service should be a part of how we give back, how we say thank you, how we express our gratitude for the lives that we've been given. And I know you all understand that, and you can help to spread that message.

So I want to thank you in advance, and I look forward to seeing great things coming out of the Corporation. You all take care. And good luck.

END
3:01 P.M. EDT