Remarks by vice President Joe Biden to Romanian Civil Society Groups and Students

Cotroceni Palace
Bucharest, Romania

2:45 P.M. (Local)

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Mr. President, we may be listening to a future president.  I don't know.  (Laughter.)

I want to thank you, Mr. Prime Minister.  It was a pleasure having an opportunity to spend some time with you as well, and Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, and the President of the Senate, and the Justice Minister, and to all the distinguished guests here, it’s a great honor to be in this magnificent venue and at such an important time in U.S.-Romanian relations.

Laura, thank you for the introduction, but more importantly, thank you for your continuing involvement.  As I -- the first time our paths crossed was five years ago, as you said, and look at you now, pursuing an advanced degree, an advocate for international education.  And you are a reflection of the progress your country has made and continues to make.

Mr. Prime Minister, judges, prosecutors, leaders of the parliament, thank you all for coming.  In America, for all those of you who are public officials, we call this a “busman’s holiday,” having to listen to another public official make a speech.  But I’m flattered that you are here.

And the fact that you’re here, I think, is a reflection of the common recognition that while there may be political differences, one thing that unites all Romanian leaders is a strong stand in favor of democracy under the rule of law without question and without any caveats.

I want to thank you all, but I particularly want to thank the civil society members here today for demanding greater freedoms, fairness and social justice, and maybe most importantly dignity for all the people of Romania. 

There is a great expectation I will say to those of you who are the younger members of the audience -- there’s a great expectation not only of the people of Romania but the people in Europe and the United States that nations who join the alliance, both in NATO as well as the EU have a shared value system.  It’s the value system that is the foundation of the Western alliance.  It’s what built the alliance in the first place.

And the most fundamental of these values is not a free market; it’s an open, free, and transparent society, where corruption is viewed as the enemy, where government is honest and accountable, and people are given a fair opportunity at success and all -- regardless of their station -- are treated with dignity.

As I said when I visited five years ago as I became Vice President, the story of freedom -- your society -- is one of the great achievements in modern European history.  I admire -- and I mean this sincerely -- I admire both the moral and physical courage so many Romanians demonstrated who put everything on the line, everything including their lives, to build this new, free, democratic society.

And I’m proud that America played a small part in helping you make that journey.  And as I told Romanian troops last night, when I met them as I got off of the aircraft, American troops are honored to stand shoulder to shoulder with Tricolor warriors as NATO allies in Afghanistan and other places we’ve stood together. 

And one other important point to make I’ve made to the President and the Prime Minister today in my separate meetings:  America’s commitment to the collective defense under Article 5 of the NATO Treaty is absolutely ironclad.  It’s a sacred commitment in the eyes of the President and myself.

As President Obama said, “NATO nations never stand alone.”  NATO nations never stand alone.  We protect one another.

And one of the most remarkable changes in this relationship from years past is we no longer discuss what America can do for Romania, we discuss what we can do together for one another.  Romania has made a remarkable journey from tyranny to freedom, from captive nation to NATO ally -- and it happened, it’s happened in the space of a single generation.

For you younger members of the audience, it was your parents’ generation.  And as one of America’s Founding Fathers said, his name was Thomas Jefferson, he observed that, “The generation which commences a revolution rarely completes it.”

Well, I’m here to tell you it’s your job to complete -- to complete it.  And when you do, your children’s generation will be eternally grateful because it will solidify for the remainder of this century the democracy your parents fought so hard to establish.

For any young democracy, the most difficult but important step is burying the legacy of tyranny and establishing an economy and a government and institutions that abide by the rule of law.  Every country faces challenges to the rule of law,
including my own.  And the choices each of our countries make matter immensely -- not only for our own country, but for our neighbors. 

In the 21st century, the countries that thrive will be the ones where citizens know their voices will be heard because the institutions are transparent.  Their efforts will be rewarded because there is a fairness in the court system; where businesses can compete without having to worry about paying bribes; where judges hand down verdicts free from political influence.

The European Commission recently found that corruption costs the European Union as a whole $160 billion, or 120 billion euros every single year.  That’s 1 percent of the total GDP of the entire European Union.

Corruption is a cancer, a cancer that eats away at a citizen’s faith in democracy, diminishes the instinct for innovation and creativity; already-tight national budgets, crowding out important national investments.  It wastes the talent of entire generations.  It scares away investments and jobs.  And most importantly it denies the people their dignity.  It saps the collective strength and resolve of a nation.  Corruption is just another form of tyranny.

And corruption can represent a clear and present danger not only to a nation’s economy, but to its very national security.  There are nations, and we’ve seen it recently, that exploit corruption to exercise malign influence and undermine the very sovereignty and independence of their neighbors.

In this way, corruption has become an instrument of foreign policy for some nations.  When politicians can be bought, when courts can be manipulated, when the media becomes a tool of propaganda, there you will find a society that is susceptible to manipulation from the outside.  There you’ll find a society that loses control of its own destiny -- not only its political security, but its physical security and military readiness is also compromised. 

We’ve recently seen that in Ukraine.  We saw how over a decade and a half of corruption, literally has hollowed out their military institutions and weakened that country’s very capacity to defend itself. 

So fighting corruption is more than just good government.  It’s self-defense.  It’s a guarantor of your national sovereignty.

Many of you, inside government and out, have been working to root out corruption for years.  And I applaud you all for your efforts.  With your help, Romania has made significant achievements in fighting corruption.  Your National Anti-Corruption Agency has firmly established its independence and sent 1,000 cases to court just since last year.  Your National Integrity Agency sent forward 6,000 cases of incompatibility -— people holding office that should be mutually exclusive -— and 50 cases of elected officials with unjustified assets. 

Of course there’s work to do to see these cases through, but it’s a significant start.   It’s no wonder that your anti-corruption institutions are the most highly rated institutions in Romania in the minds of the Romanian people.  You have heroes like the Supreme Court President fighting to protect the independence of judges to speak truth to power and render justice for all.  

Romanian citizens are getting directly involved as well, many of you in this audience.  From high school students learning in your classrooms not to pay bribes to avoid traffic tickets, to young professionals holding “check-a-thons” to demand honesty from politicians and hold them accountable.  I understand some of you may be here fact-checking my speech as well.  And that's good.    For corruption is a complex and difficult problem to solve in all countries, but it can be solved.

I strongly urge you to keep taking steps forward and keep resisting the instinct to step back.  Keep demanding that your judicial institutions remain free from political influence; keep insisting that no one -- no one -- no one is above the law. 

Now, some of you may argue this focus on transparency is a foreign invention that doesn’t apply to Romania.  But you know better.  Romanians have been fighting corruption for a long time.  I was recently told a story, an old story of Cuza, the founder of modern Romania, who as legend has it disguised himself as a peasant and went to the market.  He pretended to buy milk from a merchant who was cheating customers by using two different measuring cups.  The large one he showed to the customer, and the small one he used to actually measure out the milk they were purchasing.

The ruler revealed his identity, confronted the crooked merchant, and forced him to parade through the marketplace
with his two measuring cups held high where everybody could see them —- the real one and the fake one.  And no one bought from that merchant again. 

It’s a parable, but it says a lot about how modern day economic investors think about the global marketplace.  They want to do business where they’re treated fairly, and where there is transparency, where they know the real cup from the phony cup.

Of course no leader -— in Cuza’s time or in our own -— can hope to protect these principles alone.  I have worked on this issue around the world.  And I’ve seen how it’s done well and where it’s done poorly.  And I’ve learned that it takes fearless judges, brave police, and prosecutors working 14 hours a day to investigate complex crimes —- ignoring pressure and intimidation to ensure that justice is done.

It takes leaders in the business community who recognize that fighting corruption is good for everyone because it improves the business climate and generates economic growth.  It takes politicians who understand that government exists not for our purposes but to serve the people.   And it takes a free and independent press —- under no one’s thumb -— with the protections necessary to hold all of us who are leaders accountable.  And above all, it takes an active, passionate, vigilant engagement by every citizen, like all of you in this room.

Because as surely as a man cannot live without blood pumping through his veins, democracy cannot survive without the active participation of its citizens.  That’s what we mean when we say civil society is the lifeblood of democracy.  In a literal sense it is.  We count on civil society to shine a light on injustice; to give voice to minorities and marginalized groups; to demand checks on power.

And here in “Unity Hall,” we look to all of you to champion the dignity, the protections, the fundamental human rights of all people -- of women, of Roma, of Jews, of LGBT.  For they're all God’s children.  And they deserve to be treated equally and with respect.  

There’s always going to be cynics and doubters.  But I urge you to never forget that civil society has changed countries and the world before.  And it can do it again.  And this is an urgent time for all of Central and Eastern Europe for civil societies to be awakened.  As the saying goes, democracy is not a destination.  It’s a road traveled.  So long as you travel this road, you will never be alone.  You will have the United States and many other countries as your allies, your friend, your fellow free nations standing by your side because we face a different kind of threat today than we did even a year ago.  We face a different kind of threat that preys upon nations who are not just weak, but whose governments are not solid, sustained, free of corruption.

Your government is making great progress.  The people of Romania are making great progress.  And I’ll conclude by saying what I said to both your Prime Minister and your President, I cannot imagine a Europe whole, free and secure without a strong, united and independent Romania.  So it’s not only in your interest and the interest of your countrymen to deal in a way that delivers for your constituents and for your people, the stronger you are, the more independent you, the more capable you are, the better off we all are.  As I said, it’s not what America can do for Romania, it’s what we can do together for one another.

May God bless Romania.  May God bless America, and may God protect our Romanian and American troops who are still in harm’s way in Afghanistan.  Thank you all for the honor of being able to address you.

END
3:05 P.M. (Local)

Remarks by vice President Joe Biden and Romanian President Traian Basescu in a Joint Press Statement

Cotroceni Palace
Bucharest, Romania

11:10 A.M. (Local)

PRESIDENT BASESCU: (As interpreted) Good afternoon.  Welcome to Cotroceni Palace.

Today we had a meeting, which is extremely important, with Mr. Vice President Joe Biden, a meeting in which we have discussed the main topics on our bilateral agenda and also on the regional agenda. 

I can say that after Romania joined NATO and the Europe Union, the strategic partnership for the 21st century that we have pinned down with the U.S. is the third major political achievement after the December revolution.  We welcome the firm commitment of the U.S. for the fifth article of the NATO Treaty.

We have also discussed about the need to consolidate the rule of law in Romania, the rule of law as a premise for progress further in achieving at the maximum level the strategic partnership we have with the U.S.

In our talks, I thanked Vice President Biden for the immediate reaction, the immediate response that the U.S. had when the conflict started in Ukraine and Crimea was illegally annexed.  The U.S. reacted by supplementing air forces, naval forces and land forces that are ready to participate in any kind of mission, particularly in a mission of discouraging Russia’s attitude, Russia’s desire to become again the USSR.  It is a reconfirmation and this time a proof to the fact that the United States of America are true to their word.

That's why the U.S. are so demanding in their relationship with Romania that we also should be true to our word and make the rule of law in Romania.

We have also discussed of the vulnerabilities created at the Black Sea, and also we have tackled the issue of the future summit of NATO.  A great weakness, vulnerability of the region, we analyzed it, and it means the energy dependence, the very high energy dependence on the Russian gas.

Last but not least, we have also reviewed the very strong rise in American investments in Romania, which created tens of thousands of jobs.  And I give an example to Mr. Vice President.  I have recently visited a large company, an American company, which is Lufkin, which opened a shop in Romania.  And the first pumps, oil pumps produced for the oil industry were actually meant for export to the U.S. 

Thank you so much.

VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN:  Well, thank you very much, Mr. President.  It’s a great pleasure to be back in Romania, particularly on such a beautiful day.  I’ve always enjoyed my visits here.

I want to thank you, Mr. President, for your candid and insightful advice, not just on this trip, but over the years, and for your commitment, as strong as it is to the transatlantic partnership. 

Every time I come to Romania, I’m impressed again at just how much progress you’ve made.  In a single generation your country has risen from tyranny to join the ranks of the world’s free nations, the European Union, and the most powerful alliance in human history, the NATO alliance.

2014 marks the 10-year anniversary since your admission to NATO.  As you’ll remember, in 1999, I tried to get you included in NATO.  If I had my way it would have been the 15th anniversary we’d be having.  But I tried to bring it about even sooner.  As a matter of fact, back in those days, Mr. President, then-President Clinton always used to kid me -- was the deal -- was I pushing so hard because I wanted NATO headquarters moved to my home constituency in Delaware.  (Laughter.) 

But I can say I had high hopes for Romania then as an ally, and every one of my hopes and expectations have been met.  And, Mr. President, thank you for proving me right about Romania’s entry into NATO.

Romanians have stood shoulder to shoulder with us in the Balkans, in Iraq and Afghanistan.  About 1,000 Tricolor troops continue to serve there -- all courage and no caveats on the battlefield; all courage, no caveats.  All in. 

And you’ve offered us a transit hub to help draw down our force in Afghanistan, and you’ve also embraced the post-2014 mission in Afghanistan; and just as you immediately embraced our phased adaptive approach to ballistic missile defenses five years ago when I came to visit with you.

And I want to reaffirm that we’re on track to open the missile defense site at Deveselu next year that will be opened.  And we encourage Romania and the leadership you begin in its efforts to bring its defense budget up to the 2 percent of GDP that NATO members have committed to.  Your supplemental funding, Mr. President, this year is a good step forward in Romania keeping that commitment to NATO.

And as we’ve talked often, Mr. President, both here in person and on the telephone, we in the United States -- the President and I -- we value our alliance with you.  It’s no longer just what we can do for Romania, it’s what we can do together.  And we’re doing a good deal together.

One of the main reasons why I came today is to stand on Romanian soil and say what cannot be said often enough.  We will honor -- we will honor Article 5 of the NATO Treaty.  It is a sacred obligation.  There should be no doubt about it.  It should not be in question.  No NATO ally stands alone.  We protect one another.  Period.  We protect one another.  Period.  End of discussion.

And, Mr. President, the aggression in Crimea, less than 250 miles from Romanian territory, reminds us of why we need NATO and why Romania belongs to NATO.

Today the President and I discussed the security of this region and the situation in Ukraine, as we have by telephone recently as well.  And we commend the Ukrainian government for the steps they have taken to ingrain -- engage Ukrainians from all parts of that country, including the east and the south on the issues of constitutional reform.  Sunday is election day in Ukraine, as it is here.  And it’s a chance for Ukrainians to decide their own future.

All countries in Europe, all countries should use their influence to promote a stable and positive environment so the Ukrainian citizens can cast their ballots freely. 

The President and I have agreed that if Russia undermines these elections on Sunday, we must remain resolute in imposing greater cost on Russia.  And we must be equally resolute in reinvesting in the NATO alliance. 

In that spirit, we spoke about the ongoing, urgent U.S. and NATO efforts to step up our military presence in Central and Eastern Europe in the air, on the ground, and at sea.  Romania is contributing to these efforts.

Last night, I visited when I landed the joint military exercises, Carpathian Spring, where Romanian and American troops are sharpening their skills and demonstrating our collective resolve.  We support the Supreme Allied Commander of Europe’s intention to finalize contingency plans for our Black Sea allies and do that at the Wales summit.  And we have assigned extra strategic planners to help NATO meet this goal when we assemble in Wales.

Of course, what’s at stake for Romania is more than its physical security.  It’s a chance for your people, Mr. President, to live lives defined by freedom, prosperity and dignity.  All three of those -- freedom, prosperity and dignity -- depend on equal treatment of citizens under the predictable rule of law.

In my travels over the years, and recently from Latin America to the Middle East to this very region of Europe, I’ve seen countries depose tyrants only to struggle to reclaim their future from the oligarchs and vested interests who remain after the tyrants have been deposed.  I’ve seen how countries that protect the rule of law and build strong institutions thrive, and those who do not do not.

As we saw in the Maidan, those who don't do these things tend to face instability.  They underperform in the global economy where jobs and investment can always go somewhere else.

This is also a matter of sovereignty and independence, and even national security, all of which are undermined when others use corruption to exercise influence in your society.  Corruption saps the collective strength and resolve of a nation.  It is merely another form of tyranny.  And fighting corruption is more than just about good government.  It’s patriotism plain and simple.

And, Mr. President, as I’ve told you on many occasions, that's why I and the President and the American people so appreciate your personal efforts to reinforce and protect the rule of law here in Romania and why it’s so important.  It’s important for your economy.  It’s important for your democracy.  And it’s important for your freedom.  And above all, it’s important for the lives of citizens who deserve to know their voices will be heard in government, that their businesses can compete fairly without bribes, that their disputes will be adjudicated transparently by a court system that is trusted, and that no Romanian -- any more than any American -- is above the law.

On so many fronts, Mr. President, there’s still important work ahead -- on trade, investment, energy security, all of which we discussed today and we’ll continue to discuss.  Mr. President, the state of our alliance is already strong in no small part because of your efforts over the years.

And I’m honored -- I’m honored to be able to make this visit and to make them even stronger.  The future should be ours -- freedom.  And, ladies and gentlemen, I want to personally tell the President I know his term will be up before mine.  I will miss him.  I will miss him.  And God bless Romania.  God bless America and may God protect our troops.

Thank you very much.

END
11:25 A.M. (Local)

Remarks by the President at Meeting with Business Leaders

Roosevelt Room

11:05 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  For the press, I just want to point out these are some outstanding companies, all of whom are investing in the United States, are representing major companies that see the U.S. as a great place to do business.  We have made enormous strides over the last several years not just recovering from a Great Recession, but taking advantage of and now marketing the advantages of doing business in the United States -- whether it’s low energy costs, an incredibly productive workforce.

Obviously, we have the most dynamic and creative and innovative economy in the world, but we don’t always do what it takes to go after business around the world and make sure that they know the benefits of investing in the largest market on Earth.  And we want to be more systematic about it.  We want to make sure that the federal government is working in sync with state and local governments when it comes to locating businesses here in the United States. 

SelectUSA turned out to be an enormously successful process where we’re coordinating between agencies as well as other stakeholders.  And we want to make sure that it’s even more successful the next time.  So this is a terrific venue for us to learn from some outstanding companies.  And we’re announcing that we’ll have our next SelectUSA conference -- give me the exact date, Jeff.

MR. ZIENTS:  March of 2015.

THE PRESIDENT:  March of 2015 -- which is right around the corner.  (Laughter.) 

So thank you for participating.  We’re very excited about it.  Thanks, everybody.

END               
11:07 A.M. EDT

Remarks by the President at a DCCC Dinner

Private Residence
Potomac, Maryland

7:18 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you so much.  Thank you, everybody.  Everybody, please have a seat.  Well, first of all, I just want to thank Jeff and Lora for the incredible hospitality and arranging great weather.  And it’s just nice to be out with some trees and greenery –- (laughter)  -- and to be with a whole bunch of good friends. 

There are a number of people that I want to acknowledge here today.  I’m going to start with Chris Van Hollen.  Chris did a lot of work on this race –- or on this event.  But Chris also happens to be one of the most thoughtful and effective members of Congress that we’ve ever seen.  And I always like working with Chris Van Hollen, and I think everybody else who knows him does, too.  So just please give Chris a big round of applause.  (Applause.) 

On the list of thankless jobs, being chair of the DCCC I think ranks right up there.  (Laughter.)  Nobody is working harder, more tirelessly and more effectively than Steve Israel.  We’re glad Steve is here.  (Applause.)  

We’ve got the pride of Maryland and one of our most critical leaders on a whole range of issues here as well -- Steny Hoyer -- thank you.  Steny.  (Applause.)  The outstanding Elijah Cummings is in the house.  (Applause.)  The fabulous John Delaney is here.  (Applause.)  D.C.’s own Eleanor Holmes Norton is in the house.  (Applause.)  Donna Edwards, who’s now engaged, is here.  (Applause.)  Good job, Donna.  I don’t know if that was public, but you shouldn’t have told me.  (Laughter.)  Dutch Ruppersberger is here.  (Applause.)  Dutch is doing great work on a whole range of issues.  And the outstanding John Sarbanes is in the house.  (Applause.) 

And somebody who -- I have said this publicly before, I will say it again -- being the Speaker of the House or the Democratic Leader of the House Caucus is a tough job.  And I don’t think there’s been somebody who’s done it more effectively, who’s tougher, who is smarter or has more compassion with respect to the people who sent us here than Nancy Pelosi.  I want her back as Speaker.  (Applause.)  I’m very proud of everything that she’s done. 

Her brother, Tommy, is here.  Tommy is the former mayor of Baltimore.  (Applause.)  He maintains that he taught Nancy everything she knows, but I don’t believe him.  (Laughter.)  And Nancy denies it. 

But anyway, because we have a fairly intimate setting, I’m not going to speak long because I want the chance to have a conversation with you and ask questions, or have you ask questions or give me advice.  (Laughter.)  But let me pick up off something Jeff said.

First of all, in five years it will no longer be called Obamacare, because when something is working they’re definitely not going to -- there will be a whole renaming process similar to National.  (Laughter.)  I don’t know if it will be “Reagancare,” but it will definitely be -- it will be something different. 

I’m at the tail end of my fifth year in office, and that gives you some perspective.  And so at times I think back to what the situation was when I first came into office and the progress that we’ve made.  At a time when we were losing 800,000 jobs a month, we’ve now created over 9 million new jobs.  The unemployment rate is as low as it’s been since before the Lehman Brothers crash and the financial crash.  We’ve restored trillions of dollars of wealth to families all across the country -- in housing, in 401(k)s. 

We produce more energy than we ever have and import less oil than we ever have -- or than we have in a very long time -- and have doubled clean energy, reduced carbon emissions, doubled fuel efficiency standards on cars.

Our deficits have been cut by more than half.  And in part because of the Affordable Care Act, health care inflation has actually gone up at the slowest rate in 50 years.  College attendance is higher than it’s been in a very long time, and the dropout rate has actually gone down.  The Latino dropout rate has been cut in half since the year 2000.

Manufacturing has come roaring back -- not just the auto industry that was on the brink of extinction when I came into office, but manufacturing across the board is starting to pick up for the first time since the 1990s.  We’re actually adding jobs. 

And so when you look at are you better off now than you were when I came into office, the answer is pretty clear -- the answer is yes.  (Applause.)  Now, despite that, people feel anxious.  They feel anxious about their own futures; they feel anxious about their children’s futures.  And part of it is because what 2007, 2008 taught us is that in this global economy things can happen very fast that cut any kind of sense of stability for a lot of working families.  What’s also true is, is that the trend lines over the last two decades have rewarded folks at the very top in extraordinary fashion, but the wages and incomes of ordinary folks have barely budged.  And so for a country that was built -- whose central premise is that if you work hard and you’re responsible, you can make it, for too many Americans there remains that sense of maybe that’s not true for me, maybe that’s not true for my child, maybe that’s not true for our future.

And our entire task as a government, regardless of party, should be to focus on how do we restore for the American people that sense that if I work hard in this country, I can make it; that regardless of where I come from, what I look like, I can make it if I try.  And in economic terms, the most important task for us is to restore that sense that the economy grows best when prosperity is broadly shared, when the middle class is growing and there are ladders into the middle class, and a sense of upward mobility and a sense of possibility in people’s lives.

Now, we know how to do it.  There’s some long-term trends that are challenging -- globalization, technology.  There are some jobs that aren’t coming back.  But we know right now if we invest in education -- early childhood education, making college more affordable -- that will make a difference.  We know that we’re going to have to transition to a clean energy economy.  If we’re the ones at the forefront of that, that will position us well for the rest of the century.  We know it has to happen.  (Applause.)

We know that if we invest in research, then not only can we find cures for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, not only can we find new sources of energy, but we can also create entire new industries.  We know it.  We know that if we rebuild our infrastructure -- we’ve got $2 trillion worth of deferred maintenance right now that at some point is going to have to be rebuilt.  Why not now, when there’s still so many folks out of work, and that their ripple effects from rebuilding our roads and our bridges and our ports and our air traffic control systems would allow businesses to move products and employees faster and make sure more dynamic and competitive.  We know that.

And we know we can do all this without raising the deficit, because the economy would grow faster and because we’ve got a tax system that too often rewards folks at the very top who don’t need it, when, in fact, we could have a tax system that’s made for a more competitive America. 

So the problem is not that we lack solutions -- tested solutions, ones that if you pulled the average economist they say, yeah, that’s a good idea.  The problem we have is very simple.  We’ve got one party in Congress right now that has been captured by ideologues whose core premise is “no” -- who fundamentally believe that the problem is government; who don’t believe that we as a community, as a country have any serious role to play in giving people a hand up; whose budget reflects an interest in cutting back commitments to the most vulnerable and freeing the most powerful from any constraints; and whose principal focus at any given point in the day is trying to figure out how can they make people sufficiently cynical, sufficiently angry, sufficiently suspicious that they can win the next election. 

I hate to be blunt about it, but that’s the play.  And, by the way, when I say a party has been captured, it’s because I actually want an effective, serious, patriotic, capable, sober-minded Republican Party.  And we’ve had that in the past.  I come from the land of Lincoln.  Abraham Lincoln thought infrastructure was a pretty good idea.  That’s part of why we got a Intercontinental Railroad system.

Teddy Roosevelt thought conservation was a pretty smart thing.  That’s why we got the national parks. 

Dwight Eisenhower thought it made sense for us to invest in science and education.  And that’s part of the reason why we produced so many engineers and scientists in the ‘50s and ‘60s. 

So this is -- I constantly try to remind people that what’s going on right now is not a debate between traditional Democratic and Republican values.  Yes, there are folks who shade more to the conservative side, more to the liberal side.  Yes, we can have a legitimate debate about does every government program work.  The answer, by the way, is no.  Yes, we could reform government and streamline it and update it so that it is capable to meet the concerns of the 21st century and it can be more customer-friendly.  And yes, we do have to worry about issues like long-term debt -- although the primary source of long-term debt is health care costs, and if we can help drive those down we’ll be just fine.

But that’s not the debate that’s taking place right now.  The debate we’re having right now is about, what, Benghazi?  Obamacare?  And it becomes this endless loop.  It’s not serious.  It’s not speaking to the real concerns that people have. 

So let me just close by saying this.  These midterms are critical.  And if you look at where we stand on issues, the public is on our side on almost all of them.  That’s part of the thing that I know must drive Steve crazy, because he keeps on looking at the polling.  Minimum wage -- majority of the people agree with us.  Comprehensive immigration reform -- people agree with us; they know that immigration is going to help drive this economy forward.  Equal pay for equal work -- there should be no debate about it. 

On issue after issue, people believe what we believe.  But what they don’t really believe at this point is that government can get anything done.  And they’ve been persuaded in part because of how it’s presented that it’s the fault of both parties -- Democrats are just as unreasonable as Republicans, and that must be why nothing works.  Well, you know what, when Nancy Pelosi was Speaker, we got a lot done and it made a big difference to the people and it helped folks.

And so if we are to push back against the cynicism that is always good for Republicans -- because it means folks don’t vote -- then we’ve got to win these midterms.  And we’ve got to be serious about it.  We have to have the same sense of urgency that we do when presidential candidates are at the top of the ballot.  We turn out during presidential elections; we don’t in midterms.  Our voters do not.  And that’s why an event like this is so important.  We know how to turn folks out.  We’ve got to make sure that we’ve got the resources to do it. 

And I have to close by saying this:  Despite the current frustrations when it comes to Washington, we’ve got the best cards when it comes to our future.  There’s no other country I would rather be.  We got the best workers, the best universities, the best scientists, the most dynamic economy.  We’re blessed by this incredible natural bounty.  We have got everything it takes to pass on to our children and our grandchildren an America that is greater than the one we live in now.  But we’ve got to seize the moment, and to do that we’ve got to have a Congress that functions.  And to have a Congress that functions, we’ve got to make sure that Democrats are making progress in this midterm. 

So thank you for being here.  We’ve got a lot of work to do.  (Applause.) 

END
7:33 P.M. EDT