Remarks by the President at OFA Organizing Summit

Mandarin Oriental Hotel
Washington, D.C.

6:18 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, OFA!  (Applause.)  Hey!  Well, it is good to see all of you.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Everybody, sit down, sit down, sit down.  Everybody give Joshua a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  I thought he did an excellent job.  His parents and family, who are with him here today, are very proud. They get a little, special seat.  This is nice.  (Laughter.)

Well, it is great to see all of you.  And I could not be prouder of everything that you’ve done.  I just always get excited when I have a chance to see OFA because what I know is that each and every day you are out there in your communities, talking to your friends, talking to your neighbors, talking to your coworkers.  And that's how change is made.  That's how this country continues to constantly evolve so that it’s a little bit fairer, and more people have opportunity because wonderful folks, day in, day out, are out there doing their small part to make our democracy work.  So I am really, really proud of all of you, and it is great to see all of you.  (Applause.)

Four weeks ago tonight, actually, I delivered my State of the Union address.  (Applause.)  Yes.  And I focused on some ideas that have been at the heart of this journey dating back to 2007, when some of you may have gotten involved in the campaign for the first time.  That was back when I had no gray hair --

AUIDENCE MEMBER:  You look good!  (Applause.) 

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Michelle thinks so, too.  Michelle thinks so, too.  (Laughter.)

I didn't wear a tie back then, which I miss.  (Laughter.) 

But when we talked about our vision, about why I was running and why so many folks at a grassroots level were getting involved all across the country, there were some basic principles, some basic tenets.  And at the core of it was this idea of opportunity -- the idea that in America, it shouldn’t matter where you started, it shouldn’t matter what you look like, where you come from, who you love, what your last name is, what you worship.  What matters is you willing to work hard.  What matters is your willingness to take responsibility for yourself and your family and your community and your nation.  And if you are willing to do those things, you should be able to get ahead.  (Applause.) 

It doesn't mean that everybody is suddenly wildly rich.  It means that you can make it.  It means that you’ve got some basic security.  It means that you can afford a home and that you can send your kids to college and make sure they get a good education.  And you can retire with dignity and respect, and you’ve got health care you can count on.  And you can pass on a sense of hope and optimism to your children.  That was what we fought for.

And the problem at the time obviously was not just that that idea had been betrayed or was not being fully realized for decades; it was also that we were in the midst of one of the worst financial crises -- we didn't fully know it when I was running -- but we ended up being in one of the worst financial crises in our history. 

And so we’ve spent a lot of time now digging back, digging out of that -- fighting back and digging out of that hole.  And it’s been challenging, and it’s been tough.  And some of you in your own personal lives, you’ve seen the effects of it.  Some folks here may have lost their home during that crisis.  Some folks here may have lost their jobs during that crisis.  Some folks here may have seen someone else in their family suffer from the effects of that Great Recession.

And the good news is, is that over the course of the last four and a half years, we have seen the economy grow.  We’ve seen our businesses create more than 8.5 million new jobs.  (Applause.)  We’ve seen -- the auto industry has come roaring back.  We’ve seen manufacturing creating jobs consistently for the first time since the 1990s.  We’ve got a lot of work behind us clearing away the rubble of that crisis.

And so I believe that this year we are poised potentially to see a breakout year for America.  There’s no country on Earth that is better positioned to take advantage of the future than us.  We've got the best businesses, the best workers, the best universities, the best scientists -- (applause) -- the most innovative economy on Earth. 

But -- and here’s the catch, and this is what I talked about at the State of the Union address -- what we've still seen even as we've recovered from the recession is this long-term trend that has not yet been reversed in which we've got folks at the very top doing better than ever, and working-class families, middle-class families, folks struggling to get into the middle class have continued to have to work harder and harder and harder just to get by.  And more of those ladders of opportunity into the middle class have been taken away. 

And as I said at the State of the Union, our job, our generational task is to reverse those trends and get back to a point where our economy is growing in a broad-based way, an economy in which everybody feels the benefits; an economy in which everybody feels more secure.  That's what we're fighting for.  That's what we're fighting for.

And so I put forward then what we called an opportunity agenda.  And it’s pretty simple; we can break it down into four component parts:  Number one, more good jobs that pay a good wage -- because we know that work is not just a matter of a paycheck, it also gives people a sense of purpose and dignity and shape to their lives.  Number two, making sure that everybody who doesn’t have a job is trained in the skills they need to get those good jobs.  Number three, a world-class education for every child in America -- not just some, but every child in America.  (Applause.)  And number four, that work pays -- so that if you're working full-time, you're not in poverty; so that you're bringing home enough to cover your bills; that you have some semblance of security; that you have some savings that you can retire on; so that you’ve got health care that you can count on.  (Applause.) 

Now, what I've also said is, look, I want to work with Congress wherever possible.  (Laughter.)  Now, folks shouldn’t laugh at that.  There are a lot of folks in Congress who I think want to get some stuff done, but unfortunately, not enough to break through some of this gridlock.  We're going to see this year, an election year, whether they can move forward on some of these priorities.  But what I also said is this is going to be a year of action, so I'm not going to wait.  (Applause.)  Where Congress does not act and I've got a chance to help middle-class Americans and folks trying to get in the middle class, we're going to go ahead and act without them.  (Applause.)

And over the past four weeks, we've tried to show what that means -- because we've moved on all four areas of this opportunity agenda.  (President sneezes.)  (Laughter.)  I've been working so hard I might be getting a cold.  (Laughter.)  I actually think I'm okay.  I'm just -- (laughter.)

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Get covered!  (Laughter.) 

THE PRESIDENT:  Got to get covered.  (Applause.)  Got to get covered.  (Laughter and applause.)

So just I’ll give you a couple of examples.  We’ve launched new hubs to help bring 21st century manufacturing jobs back to America, to our shores.  (Applause.)  We ordered reforms in our job training system so that folks are being trained for jobs that actually exist, so that when you get trained you know that there’s a job out there for you.  (Applause.)  

We rallied business leaders to help make sure that there’s the fastest possible broadband in every classroom in America.  (Applause.)  And we’ve already gotten that started with billions of dollars in commitments that are going to be going into classrooms.  And we’re going to help teachers so that they’re trained to help these students take advantage of these new technologies.

I signed, as many of you know, an executive order saying that if you want a contract with the federal government, you’ve got to pay your workers $10.10 an hour.  (Applause.)  They deserve fair pay.

So we’ve made some progress, but we’ve got more to do.  And as usual, I need your help.  You guys are going to be the key to helping to drive some of this agenda not just next month, not just over the next six months, but over the course of this year

-- because we want to be able to look back and say we’ve made some progress on this opportunity agenda. 

So let me just talk to you about what I really want you to focus on.  Number one, let’s make sure we’re giving America a raise.  (Applause.)  Let’s make sure we’re giving America a raise.  One thing that Americans across the board agree on is if you work full-time in the wealthiest nation on Earth, you shouldn’t be in poverty.  You shouldn’t be in poverty.  And in the year since I first asked Congress to raise the minimum wage, six states have gone ahead and raised theirs.  More are working on it.  I just met with the governors this past weekend -- you’ve got a whole bunch of governors who are saying we need to raise this minimum wage. 

In my State of the Union address, I called on business leaders to start raising their minimum wage.  And last week, the Gap announced that it was going to raise its base wage for 65,000 of its employees, which was good news, obviously, for them.  (Applause.)  This should not be hard to do. 

Three-quarters of Americans support raising the minimum wage -- not just Democrats; independents, Republicans support raising the minimum wage.  Unfortunately, so far we have seen Republicans in Congress not even want to vote on it, even though the current proposal would potentially provide more income for 16 million Americans.

Now, I know that OFA volunteers from coast to coast held a Day of Action last week to let people know it makes no sense to block a vote on raising the minimum wage, telling people how to fight back.  This is really important.  Three-quarters of your neighbors, your friends, your coworkers agree with us on this.  We just have to get them activated. 

It doesn’t involve a big, new government program.  It doesn’t involve a big, new bureaucracy.  It doesn’t involve new federal spending.  All it involves is Congress taking a vote, and three-quarters of the American people say it’s the right thing to do.  And it won’t just be good for those families, it will be good for our economy as a whole -- because when ordinary families have more money in their pockets, they go out and spend it.  And when they go out and spend it, that means business has more customers, and that means more profits and that means they can hire more workers.  And the whole economy starts going up.   

So this is good for our economy and it’s good for everybody. But I’m going to need all of you to keep on pushing on that front. 

The second thing, I could not be prouder of the work that you’ve done to help America get covered.  Joshua told you his story.  He is an example that is duplicated all across the country.  Because of you, we now have 4 million Americans who have signed up for quality, private health insurance through the marketplace exchanges; 4 million people have already signed up, because of you -- 4 million.  (Applause.)  That’s on top of the 3 million young people who have been able to get coverage by staying on their parents’ plan, and on top of the millions of Americans who are signing up to get Medicaid for the first time.

So you’ve already, because of the work that you’ve done, made sure that people all across America are getting better coverage.  And that is also in addition to seniors who have gotten discounts on their prescription drugs because we’ve closed the doughnut hole, and all the people who already had health insurance but now don’t have to face lifetime limits now aren’t going to be -- because of some fine print -- left out in the lurch when they actually need their health insurance.  It doesn’t count all the preventive care that’s suddenly available to everybody. 

And those things are making a difference in people’s lives right now, and you’ve done that.  But we’ve got more work to do. The fact is, is that we want everybody covered, not just some. That was always the intention and everybody now has the opportunity to get covered.  But let’s face it, a combination of an implacable opposition that has spent hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions of dollars, spreading misinformation on this plan -- you combine that with, let’s face it, the website didn’t work for the first month, and all those things combined mean that a lot of people who really could use this coverage are still unsure, or dissuaded, or haven’t checked it out for themselves. 

And we’ve got to make sure that they know that this will pay off for them; that the majority of people out there, if they actually check their plans, when you combine it with the tax credits, can get health insurance for $100 or even less -- in some cases, less than the cost of their cell phone bill or their cable bill.  And they’ll have that security, that peace of mind. It means women can’t be charged more than men just because they’re women.  (Applause.)  It means that if you’ve got a preexisting condition, you don’t have to worry about being able to get coverage if you lose your job anymore.  (Applause.) 

So everybody here has got a story.  A lot of you, you got involved in the first place because of this health care issue, a lot of you -- because I know I met you on the campaign trail in some cases, and you came up and told me about a story of how painful and difficult an illness in the family had been, and not knowing how you were going to pay for coverage, how you were going to pay for the care for a loved one. 

So you all know this, and you can tell these stories in ways that are outside of politics.  Politicians, if they’re talking here in Washington, people discount them.  I’ll just be honest with you.  People, they just assume, you know what, everybody is just yacking and trying to win an election.  And so that’s why misinformation can thrive. 

But when they hear from their friends and their neighbors and their coworkers like you, and you’re able to say, hey, here check it out, take a look on the website -- if you reach out to your Republican friend who can't stand Obama, but is basically a nice person and they just --  (laughter) -- but they watch the wrong newscast or -- (laughter) -- you all know those folks.  Some uncle or cousin, you love them to death, but they come in with all this information that's just wrong, and you’re shaking your head, but you decide you don't want to get in an argument with them because you haven’t seen them in a while and you miss them.  (Laughter.)  Right?  Everybody has got those folks.  You know them.  (Applause.)

So if you’re able to reach out to them, and you just say, take a look, here, here, let’s get on the website.  There’s the price.  There’s the plan.  Here’s the tax credit.  Here’s what it will cost for you.  Come on, Uncle Joe, I know you don't have health insurance.  You may not like the President, but this really is a good deal.  (Laughter.)  They’ll listen to you, right?

And then there are some folks actually who do like me, but they just don't know.  (Laughter.)  Because they're not paying attention.  Because they're on one of the other channels that has “Real Housewives” or something.  (Laughter.)  They really don't know that there’s this health care plan out there.

So what you need to do is to continue what you’re doing and reach out with your teams in your respective cities, states, towns, counties, because right now we’ve only got a few weeks left.  March 31^st, that's the last call.  If folks aren’t signed up by March 31st, they can't sign up again until the next open enrollment period with the 2015 rates.  So if they want health insurance now, they need to sign up now.

And we’re going to make a big push these last few weeks.  But as I said, I can talk, my team can talk here in Washington; it’s not going to make as much of a difference as if you are out there making the case. 

The work you’re doing is God’s work.  It is hard work.  You don't have the prerogative -- (applause) -- you don't have the prerogative to just go around and say no to everything.  You don't have the prerogative to just be cynical.  You don't think that the country moves forward just on its own.  You understand that it happens because ordinary people come together to do some extraordinary things.  And let other people root for failure or refight the old battles.  Our job is to make sure that this law works for everybody and to keep up the long fight to restore opportunity for all.

So let’s get that minimum wage done and give America a raise.  (Applause.)  Let’s get people signed up and make sure that everybody has coverage.  (Applause.)  Let’s keep going on all the issues of equity and equal pay for equal work -- (applause) -- and making sure that families have security, and that we’re bringing jobs back to America, and our kids are getting the education they need and that college is affordable. Let’s keep working on these issues. 

I never promised you it was going to be easy.  I never did. And I always have to remind people that.  (Laughter.)  Progress is hard.  But progress is possible, and it’s possible because of you.  And that's why I couldn’t be prouder of you.  All right?

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

END
6:40 P.M. EST

Remarks by the President on Manufacturing Innovation Institutes

East Room

3:19 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody!  Everybody, please have a seat.  Thank you.  Thank you very much.  Hey!  Thank you.  (Applause.) 

Welcome to the White House, everybody.  We’ve got some pretty cool stuff up here, and we also have people here who can explain what it all is.  But thank you so much for being here.  We’ve got, first and foremost, some people who I’m proud to call friends and have been fighting on behalf of American workers every single day. 

We’ve got the Governor of the great state of Illinois -- Pat Quinn is here in the house.  (Applause.)  We’ve got somebody who is responsible for trimming my trees and potholes in front of my house -- (laughter) -- and shoveling snow.  And I haven’t been back for a while; I don’t know how it’s going, but I’m assuming he’s handling his business -- the Mayor of the great city of Chicago, Rahm Emmanuel is here.  (Applause.)  We’ve got Phil LaJoy, who’s the supervisor of Canton Township, Michigan, who is here.  There he is.  (Applause.)  Good job, Phil. 

And we’ve got some outstanding members of Congress who are here, especially someone who just announced that this would be his last term in Congress, but is somebody who so many of us have learned from, have admired.  He is a man who has every single day of his life, in office, made sure that he was fighting on behalf of people who really needed help.  And he’s going to be very missed.  John, you are not just the longest-serving member of Congress in American history, you’re also one of the very best.  Michigan’s own John Dingell is here.  (Applause.)  And we are better off because of John’s service, and we’re going to miss you.

Now, today I am joined by researchers who invent some of the most advanced metals on the planet, designers who are modeling prototypes in the digital cloud, folks from the Pentagon who help to support their work.  Basically, I’m here to announce that we’re building Iron Man.  (Laughter.)  I’m going to blast off in a second.  (Laughter.)  We’ve been -- this has been a secret project we’ve been working on for a long time.  (Laughter.)  Not really.  Maybe.  It’s classified.  (Laughter.)

But keeping America at the cutting edge of technology and innovation is what is going to ensure a steady stream of good jobs into the 21st century.  And that’s why we’re here today -- to take new action to put America at the forefront of 21st century manufacturing.

This is a moment when our economy is growing, and it has been growing steadily for over four years now.  Our businesses have created about 8.5 million new jobs over the past four years.  The unemployment rate is the lowest it’s been in over five years.  Our manufacturing sector is adding jobs for the first time since the 1990s.  So there’s some good news to report, but the trends that have battered the middle class for decades have become, in some ways, even starker.  While those at the top are doing better than ever, average wages have barely budged.  Too many Americans are working harder than ever just to keep up.  And it’s our job to reverse those trends. 

We’ve got to build an economy that works for everyone, not just a fortunate few.  We’ve got to restore opportunity for all people.  That’s the essence of America:  No matter who you are or where you come from, what you look like, how you started out -- if you are willing to work hard and take responsibility, you can get ahead in America. 

So I’ve been talking now for months about an opportunity agenda.  And let me break it down into four parts.  Number one, more good jobs that pay good wages -- jobs in American manufacturing, rebuilding our infrastructure, innovation, energy.  Number two, training workers with the skills they need to fill those jobs.  Number three, guaranteed access to a world-class education for every child in America.  And number four, making sure that hard work pays off with wages you can live on and savings you can retire on and health insurance you can count on when you need it. 

Now, I’m looking forward to working with Congress wherever they’re willing to do something on any of these priorities.  And I have to say that the members of Congress who are here all care deeply about these issues.  But let’s face it -- sometimes it’s hard to get moving in Congress.  We’ve got a divided Congress at this point.  And so, in this year of action, wherever I can act on my own to expand opportunity for more Americans, I’m going to seize that opportunity.

And that’s why we’re here today.  Already, my administration has launched two hubs for high-tech manufacturing.  One is in Youngstown, Ohio and is focused on 3-D printing, an entirely new way by which the manufacturing process can accelerate and supply chains get stitched together, and you integrate design and all the way through production in ways that can potentially be revolutionary.  We’ve also focused on energy-efficient electronics in Raleigh, North Carolina.  And what happens at each of these hubs is we’re connecting leading businesses to research universities, so they’re able to ensure that America leads the world in the advanced technologies that are going to make sure that we’re at the forefront when it comes to manufacturing.  

Now, my friend Congressman Tim Ryan, who’s here today, helped -- where’s Tim? I just saw him, there he is -- helped us get the first of these hubs off the ground.  There’s growing bipartisan momentum now behind these efforts.  We’ve got two Republicans and two Democrats, Roy Blunt and Sherrod Brown in the Senate, and Tom Reed and Joe Kennedy in the House, that have written bills that would help us create a true network of these hubs all across the country. 

So I’m really encouraging Congress to pass these bills.  They’re good ideas.  And what they do is not only help link up our top researchers with our best business people, but suddenly they become a focal point of opportunity, and businesses around the country and around the world start seeing, huh, if I’m interested in digital technologies that’s the place I should locate.  If I’m interested in 3-D printing, let me go there.  And so you get a virtuous cycle that can take place.   And Congress I think has an opportunity to really expand these in a significant way.

In the meantime, while Congress decides on what it’s going to do, we’re going to go ahead and take some action to launch more of these hubs this year.  And today, we’re announcing the next two advanced manufacturing hubs.  One is in the Detroit area, and the other is in Chicago, Illinois.  (Applause.)

Now, let me describe a little more why this is so important.  For generations of Americans, manufacturing was the ticket to a good middle-class life.  We made stuff.  And the stuff we made -- like steel and cars and planes -- made us the economic leader of the world.  And the work was hard, but the jobs were good.  And if you got on an assembly plant in Detroit or in a steel plant in Youngstown, you could buy a home.  You could raise kids.  You could send them to college.  You could retire with some security.  And those jobs didn’t just tell us how much we were worth, they told us how we were contributing to the society and how we were helping to build America, and gave people a sense of dignity and purpose.  They saw a Boeing plane or one of the Big Three cars rolling off the assembly line, and they said, you know what, I made that.  And they were iconic.  And people understood that’s what it meant for something to be made in America.

Now, advances in technology have allowed manufacturers to do more with less.  Global competition means a lot of good manufacturing jobs went overseas.  There was just more competition.  Folks caught up to us, and they in some cases just copied what we were doing with lower wages, so the competition was fierce.  And in the 2000s alone, we lost about one-third of all American manufacturing jobs -- and the middle class suffered for it.

Now, the good news is, today, our manufacturers have added more than 620,000 new manufacturing jobs over the last four years.  That’s the first sustained manufacturing growth in over 20 years.  But the economy has changed.  So if we want to attract more good manufacturing jobs to America, we’ve got to make sure we’re on the cutting edge of new manufacturing techniques and technologies. 

And I just have to emphasize here that -- because you’ll hear some people say, well, why are manufacturing jobs so special, and this is a service economy.  Nobody believes that we’re going to duplicate all the manufacturing jobs that existed back in the ‘40s and the ‘50s just because the economy has changed.  You go into an auto plant now, it’s different then it was.  Fewer people can make more cars. 

But keep in mind that when we have manufacturing in this country, what ends up happening is that, first of all, there are a whole lot of suppliers to those manufacturers, so that one plant may be deceptive.  It doesn't tell you all the companies all across the country that are working on behalf of those manufacturers.  The services that are provided to those manufacturers, the advertising that's connected to it, and the architects and the designers and the software engineers -- all those things may not be counted as manufacturing, but by us having those hubs of manufacturing, it has a ripple effect throughout the economy.

So we’ve got to focus on advanced manufacturing to keep that manufacturing here in the United States.  That's what’s going to help get the next Stark Industries off the ground.  (Laughter.)

So today -- by the way, my Commerce Secretary, Penny Pritzker, is not here because she’s in Silicon Valley meeting with business leaders and talking about how together we can work together to spur economic growth.

The point is, I don't want the next big job-creating discovery to come from Germany or China or Japan.  I want it to be made here in America. 

And this is one last point I’m going to make about this. Typically, a lot of research and development wants to be co-located with where manufacturing is taking place -- because if you design something, you want to see how is it working and how is it getting made, and then tinker with it and fix it, and try something different.  So if all the manufacturing is somewhere else, the lead we’ve got in terms of design and research and development, we’ll lose that too.  That will start locating overseas.  And we will have lost what is the single most important thing about American economy, and that is innovation.

So that's what all these hubs are about.  They’re partnerships that bring together companies and universities to develop cutting-edge technology, train workers to use that technology, and then make sure that the research is translated into real-world products made by American workers.    

So the first hub, in Michigan, is going to focus on developing advanced lightweight materials.  Detroit has already helping lead the American comeback in manufacturing.  Since we stepped in to help our automakers retool, the American auto industry has created almost 425,000 new jobs.  And they’ve already begun using new high-strength steel to make lighter cars that use less gas, save money, help save the planet, cars are still safe -- because of these new metals.

And that's just one example of the incredible things these new metals can do.  You’re seeing the same thing when it comes to lighter armored vehicles for our troops; planes and helicopters that can carry bigger payloads.  If you look at some of the new planes that Boeing is manufacturing, they look lighter; even though they have the same capacity, they use less fuel.  Wind turbines that generate more power at less cost.  Prosthetic limbs that help people walk again who never thought they could.  So we believe there’s going to be an incredible demand for these metals, both from the military and from the private sector, and we want to make sure they're made right here in America.  We want our workers to have those jobs.  So that's what our first hub is going to do -- focus on making these cool metals.

Second hub -- based in Chicago, but keep in mind this is a consortium of more than 40 companies, 23 universities, labs like Northwestern and the University of Illinois, and nearly 200 small businesses.  A number of other states are participating in this consortium.  It’s funded by a $70-million award led by the Defense Department, but the state and its businesses raised $250 million in private funding commitments to help win this bid and make it happen. 

So this Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation [Institute] is going to be headquartered not far from downtown Chicago, on Goose Island, where there’s also a very superior beer in case you are -- (laughter and applause) -- I’m just letting you know.  (Laughter.)  A little hometown plug there.  Feel free to use that, Goose Island.  (Laughter.)  And it’s going to focus on using digital technology and data management to help manufacturers turn their ideas into real-world products faster and cheaper than before.  And it will include training to help more Americans earn the skills to do these digital manufacturing jobs. 

And this is critical:  The country that gets new products to market faster and at less cost, they’ll win the race for the good jobs of tomorrow.  And if you look at what’s happening in manufacturing, a lot of it is much more specific.  Companies want to keep their inventories low.  They want to respond to consumer demand faster.  And what that means is, is that manufacturers who can adapt, retool, get something out, change for a particular spec of a particular customer, they’re going to win the competition every time. 

And we want that country that is specialized in this to be us, the United States of America.  We want suppliers to be able to collaborate with customers in real-time, test their parts digitally, cut down on the time and money that they spend producing expensive prototypes.  We want our manufacturers to be able to custom-design products tailored to each individual consumer.  We want our troops to be able to download digital blueprints they can use to 3-D print new parts and repair equipment right there in the field.  And these are all ambitious goals, but this is America -- that’s what we do, we’re ambitious.  We don’t make small planes. 

Now, that doesn’t mean we’re going to be able to make all these happen overnight.  This stuff takes time.  And we also know these manufacturing hubs have the potential to fundamentally change the way we build things in America.  So 10 years from now, 20 years from now, imagine our workers manufacturing materials that used to be science fiction -- a sheet of metal that’s thinner than paper but is strong as steel.  Or our workers being able to design a product using these materials entirely on a computer, they bring it to market, less money, hire folks to build it right here, sell it all over the world.  That’s what the next generation of American manufacturing could look like. 

But to get there, we can’t stop at just four of these hubs.  I’m really excited about these four hubs; the only problem is Germany has 60 of them.  Germany has 60 of them.  Part of the reason Germany has been able to take the lead in certain manufacturing areas is because they’ve invested in these hubs and then they invest in the training of the workers for these very precise machines and tools, and that means that that cuts into our market share when it comes to manufacturing around the world.

So we can’t let Germany have 60 and us have four.  We’ve got to do better.  So I’m hoping that we can get these outstanding members of Congress to push this through so I can sign a bill.  But without waiting for Congress, we can launch four new manufacturing hubs this year.  That’s our intention.  My Department of Energy is announcing the competition for the first of these new hubs today.  So to businesses and universities or civic leaders who are watching, start forming those partnerships now.  Turn your community into a global center for creating high-tech jobs. 

We can’t turn the clock back to earlier, easier times when thousands of Americans would just punch in at a single factory and pound out the products for the industrial age.  But thanks in part to our investment and most importantly to the collaboration of some of these outstanding institutions and leaders, factories that once went dark are turning their lights on again.  More assembly lines are churning out the cars that the world wants to buy, humming with components of the clean energy age.  If we stay focused on winning this race, we will make sure the next revolution in manufacturing is an American revolution.  (Applause.)  And we’ll make sure that opportunity for all is something that’s made in the USA. 

Thanks very much, everybody.  Congratulations.  Good job.  Keep it up.  (Applause.)

END
3:40 P.M. EST

Remarks by the First Lady After "The Trip to Bountiful" Screening

South Court Auditorium

4:19 P.M. EST

MRS. OBAMA:  Hello!  (Applause.)  Well, hello there.  Yay, yay, yay!  You guys rest.  Sit yourselves down.  Welcome to the White House -- or the building across the street from the White House.  (Laughter.)  It’s the same thing.  I am so glad you all could join us as we celebrate African American History Month.  And I want to thank Valerie for that introduction and for everything she’s doing to have our backs and to take care of stuff in this country every single day.

I also want to give a big shoutout to all the college students here from schools in and around D.C. and Baltimore.  Yay to all of you.  (Applause.)  You’re working hard, right?

STUDENTS:  Yes.

MRS. OBAMA:  Getting the grades, right?

STUDENTS:  Yes.

MRS. OBAMA:  That’s all I’m going to say.  (Laughter.)  Very proud of you all. 

And I would also like to recognize all of you representing some of our country’s leading women’s organizations.  And, as Valerie said, thank you for being here today and working so hard to get folks signed up for health care over these past few months.  This is a little bit of a reward for your hard work, right?  Just a little something.

And finally, I want to thank our special guests that are here with us -- Michele Norris from National Public Radio, as well as the cast of “The Trip to Bountiful.”  Blair Underwood -- ah!  (Laughter and applause.)  Vanessa Williams -- the men go, ah!  (Applause.)  Keke Palmer, my girl.  (Applause.)  And of course, the one and only Cicely Tyson.  (Applause.)  Yes, indeed!  I told Ms. Tyson I’m trying to be like her when I grow up.  (Laughter.) 

This is so exciting.  It is a wonderful movie, and I am so thrilled that we had the opportunity to show it here at the White House.  And I had the pleasure of seeing the Broadway play last summer in New York with my girls, and we were blown away by this story of persistence and hope and the ties that bind us all together. 

It’s a story that makes us think back to the house we all grew up in, right; the things that our moms and dads, grandparents used to say to us, the path that all of us have taken to come here and be who we are today.  And nowhere does that sense of home come through more clearly than in Ms. Tyson’s moving portrayal of Carrie Watts.  That was a lot of dialogue, that was a lot of monologue to remember.  I can barely remember what I’m supposed to do the next hour.  (Laughter.)  Impressive.

This was a role Ms. Tyson had been waiting to play for decades, and it’s a role that helped her win a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play -- and that’s in addition to all the other Oscar nominations and the three Emmys that she’s already won.  But Ms. Tyson’s story is about so much more than honors and accolades.  It is really about character -- can we say that again, young people -- character and determination.  And it’s about breaking barriers not just for herself but for all of us who are blessed by her legacy.  

Ms. Tyson grew up in the New York City tenements, and her father was a carpenter and her mother cleaned houses.  And as a child, Ms. Tyson sold shopping bags on the street to help her family get by.  And after she graduated from high school, she took a job as a secretary, and then pursued modeling and acting.  But this was the early ‘60s, and there weren’t many roles for black women -- still a challenge today.  So Ms. Tyson took whatever parts she could find. 

Two of the first characters she played on stage were prostitutes.  And soon after, she was offered a third role -– again, as a prostitute.  But this time Ms. Tyson said no, because she believed that playing only those types of roles was demeaning not just to her but to black women everywhere.  And as she later said -- and these are her words -- she said, “When I became aware of the kind of ignorance that existed, I made a very conscious decision that I could not afford the luxury of just being an actress.  I decided that I had some very important things to say, and that I would say them through my work.”  She said, “There are people who wave banners and picket,” she said, “my platform happens to be my work.”

Now, just hear that, young folks, for a while, as you start pursuing your opportunities.  There is more to your life than just pursuing your own work.  So much of what we all do will impact everyone who follows us.  So in the decades that have followed Ms. Tyson, she has used her work to carry that banner forward, even if it meant waiting years between roles until she found one that was acceptable to her.  But, as we all know, make no mistake, she found those roles.  They found her.  It was undeniable.  She’s won accolades for her portrayals of strong, resilient women like Harriet Tubman, a sharecropper’s wife, Kunta Kinte’s mother in the famous miniseries “Roots” -- we all know “Roots,” we all gathered round to watch “Roots” -- (applause) -- and now, Carrie Watts. 

And that’s truly what we are celebrating this month –- those who moved us past ignorance with their wisdom and perseverance, those who demanded more from the world around them, and those who reached for higher standards through their life’s work, whether that’s as a movie star like Ms. Tyson or the millions of folks out there like Carrie Watts -- folks who did their work in a classroom or in a congregation or around the kitchen table. 

Because it is that slow, grinding work of progress that all too often, like Bountiful itself, goes unnoticed, almost forgotten.  But we will never forget, right?  Because, as Carrie Watts says from in front of her old house at the end of the movie, she said, “We’re all a part of this.  We can never lose what it’s given us.” 

And that’s what African American History Month is all about.  It’s about honoring those who came before us.  It’s about resolving to do our part to live up to that example.  So let us all resolve today to do just that.  But let’s do that every day, not just February.  (Laughter.)  There’s a lot of days in the year, let’s just keep doing it. 

And we are counting on our young people -- let me just say for a moment -- to take up that mantle.  So in order to do that, you all have to be right.  You have to have your stuff together.  You have to be clear of mind and clear of heart.  You’ve got to be educated, because we’re counting on you.  We’re not going to solve these problems in our lifetimes, but we’re going to pass them on to you.  So that’s why we’re so proud to have you here, and so proud to have you be a part of this conversation. 

So I’m going to turn it over and let you get to the business of talking, but I want to encourage all of you to feel at home.  Raise your hand, ask questions -- especially our young people.  Jump in, use your voices.  Because this is a rare opportunity -- do not be shy about it.

And I want to thank you all for being here.  I want to thank you all for everything that you do for your families and for our communities and for our country.  We are so proud of you.  And now, it is my pleasure to turn this stage over to my dear friend Michele Norris who is going to open things up for a wonderful panel discussion with the cast. 

So thank you, guys.  Have a good time, and God bless you all.  (Applause.)

END
4:28 P.M. EST

Remarks by the President at the National Governors Association Dinner

State Dining Room

7:11 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Good evening, everybody.  Please have a seat.  Have a seat.  Well, welcome to the White House.  Everybody looks fabulous.  I am truly honored to be one of Michelle Obama’s guests tonight here at dinner.  (Laughter.)  I want to thank all the governors and their better halves for being here tonight, especially your chair, Mary Fallin, and your vice chair, John Hickenlooper.  (Applause.)  

Tonight, we want to make sure that all of you make yourselves at home, to which I’m sure some of you are thinking that’s been the plan all along.  (Laughter.)  But keep in mind what a wise man once wrote:  “I am more than contented to be governor and shall not care if I never hold another office.”  Of course, that was Teddy Roosevelt.  (Laughter.)  So I guess plans change.

I look forward to working with each of you not just in our meetings tomorrow, but throughout this year, what I hope to be a year of action.  Our partnership on behalf of the American people, on issues ranging from education to health care to climate change runs deep, deeper than what usually hits the front page. 

Being here tonight, I’m thinking about moments that I’ve spent with so many of you during the course of the year -- with Governor Patrick in a hospital in Boston, seeing the survivors of the Boston bombing, seeing them fight through their wounds, determined to return to their families, but also realizing that a lot of lives were saved because of the preparations that federal and state and local officials had carried out beforehand; with Governor Fallin at a firehouse in Moore, thanking first responders who risked their lives to save others after a devastating tornado, but once again seeing the kind of state-federal cooperation that’s so vital in these kinds of circumstances; spending time with Governor O’Malley at the Naval Academy graduation last spring and looking out over some of our newest sailors and Marines as they join the greatest military in the world, and reminding ourselves that on national security issues, the contributions of the National Guard obviously are extraordinary and all of you work so closely with them.

So if there’s one thing in common in the moments like these, it’s that our cooperation is vital to make sure that we’re doing right by the American people.  And what’s common also is the incredible resilience and the goodness and the strength of the American people that we’re so privileged to serve.  And that resilience has carried us from the depths of the worst economic crisis in our lifetimes to what I am convinced can be a breakthrough year for America and the American people. 

That of course will require that we collectively take action on what matters to them -- jobs and opportunity.  And when we’ve got a Congress that sometimes seems to have a difficult time acting, I want to make sure that I have the opportunity to partner with each of you in any way that I can to help more Americans work and study and strive, and make sure that they see their efforts and their faith in this country rewarded.

I know we’ll talk more about areas where we can work together tomorrow.  So tonight, I simply would like to propose a toast to the families that support us, to the citizens that inspire us and to this exceptional country that has given us so much.  Cheers.  

END
7:16 P.M. EST