Remarks by the President at the Memorial Service for Victims of the Navy Yard Shooting

The Marine Barracks
Washington, D.C.

THE PRESIDENT: Secretary Hagel, Secretary Mabus, Admirals Greenert and Hilarides, Mayor Gray, leaders from across this city and our Armed Forces, to all the outstanding first responders, and, most of all, the families whose hearts have been broken -- we cannot begin to comprehend your loss. We know that no words we offer today are equal to the magnitude, to the depths of that loss. But we come together as a grateful nation to honor your loved ones, to grieve with you, and to offer, as best we can, some solace and comfort.

On the night that we lost Martin Luther King Jr. to a gunman’s bullet, Robert Kennedy stood before a stunned and angry crowd in Indianapolis and he broke the terrible news. And in the anguish of that moment, he turned to the words of an ancient Greek poet, Aeschylus: “Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.” Pain which cannot forget -- drop by drop upon the heart.

The tragedy and the pain that brings us here today is extraordinary. It is unique. The lives that were taken from us were unique. The memories their loved ones carry are unique, and they will carry them and endure long after the news cameras are gone. But part of what wears on as well is the sense that this has happened before. Part of what wears on us, what troubles us so deeply as we gather here today, is how this senseless violence that took place in the Navy Yard echoes other recent tragedies.

As President, I have now grieved with five American communities ripped apart by mass violence. Fort Hood. Tucson. Aurora. Sandy Hook. And now, the Washington Navy Yard. And these mass shootings occur against a backdrop of daily tragedies, as an epidemic of gun violence tears apart communities across America -- from the streets of Chicago to neighborhoods not far from here.

And so, once again, we remember our fellow Americans who were just going about their day doing their jobs, doing what they loved -- in this case, the unheralded work that keeps our country strong and our Navy the finest fleet in the world. These patriots doing their work that they were so proud of, and who have now been taken away from us by unspeakable violence.

Once more we come together to mourn the lives of beauty and to comfort the wonderful families who cherished them. Once more we pay tribute to all who rushed towards the danger, who risked their lives so others might live, and who are in our prayers today, including Officer Scott Williams. Once more our hearts are broken. Once more we ask why. Once more we seek strength and wisdom through God's grace.

You and your families, this Navy family, are still in the early hour of your grief. And I'm here today to say that there is nothing routine about this tragedy. There is nothing routine about your loss. Your loved ones will not be forgotten. They will endure in the hearts of the American people and in the hearts of the Navy that they helped to keep strong, and the hearts of their coworkers and their friends and their neighbors.
“I want them to know how she lived,” Jessica Gaarde said of her mother Kathy. “She is not a number, or some statistic.” None of these 12 fellow Americans are statistics. Today, I want every American to see how these men and women lived. You may have never met them, but you know them. They're your neighbors -- like Arthur Daniels, out there on the weekend, polishing his white Crown Victoria; and Kenneth Proctor, with his beloved yellow Mustang, who, if you asked, would fix your car, too.

She was the friendly face at the store. Sylvia Frasier, with her unforgettable gold hair, who took a second job at Walmart because, she said, she just loved working with people. She was the diehard fan you sat next to at the game. Kathy Gaarde loved her hockey and her Caps, a season ticket holder for 25 years.

They were the volunteers who made your community better. Frank Kohler, giving dictionaries to every third-grader in his county; Marty Bodrog, leading the children’s Bible study at church. They lived the American Dream -- like Kisan Pandit, who left everything he knew in India for this land of opportunity, and raised a wonderful family and dedicated himself to the United States Navy. They were proud veterans -- like Gerald Read, who wore the Army uniform for more than 25 years; and Michael Arnold, who became one of the Navy’s leading architects, of whom a colleague said, “nobody knew those ships like him.”

They were dedicated fathers -- like Mike Ridgell, coaching his daughter’s softball teams, joining Facebook just to keep up with his girls, one of whom said, “he was always the cool dad.” They were loving mothers -- like Mary Francis Knight, devoted to her daughters, and who had just recently watched with joy as her older daughter got married. They were doting grandparents -- like John Johnson, always smiling, giving bear hugs to his 10 grandchildren, and who would have welcomed his 11th grandchild this fall.

These are not statistics. They are the lives that have been taken from us. This is how far a single act of violence can ripple. A husband has lost his wife. Wives have lost their husbands. Sons and daughters have lost their moms and their dads. Little children have lost their grandparents. Hundreds in our communities have lost a neighbor, and thousands here have lost a friend.

As has been mentioned, for one family, the Daniels family, old wounds are ripped open again. Priscilla has lost Arthur, her husband of 30 years. Only a few years ago, as Mayor Gray indicated, another shooting took the life of their son, just 14 years old. “I can’t believe this is happening again,” Priscilla says.

So these families have endured a shattering tragedy. It ought to be a shock to us all as a nation and as a people. It ought to obsess us. It ought to lead to some sort of transformation. That’s what happened in other countries when they experienced similar tragedies. In the United Kingdom, in Australia, when just a single mass shooting occurred in those countries, they understood that there was nothing ordinary about this kind of carnage. They endured great heartbreak, but they also mobilized and they changed, and mass shootings became a great rarity.

And yet, here in the United States, after the round-of-clock coverage on cable news, after the heartbreaking interviews with families, after all the speeches and all the punditry and all the commentary, nothing happens. Alongside the anguish of these American families, alongside the accumulated outrage so many of us feel, sometimes I fear there’s a creeping resignation that these tragedies are just somehow the way it is, that this is somehow the new normal.

We can’t accept this. As Americans bound in grief and love, we must insist here today there is nothing normal about innocent men and women being gunned down where they work. There is nothing normal about our children being gunned down in their classrooms. There is nothing normal about children dying in our streets from stray bullets.

No other advanced nation endures this kind of violence -- none. Here in America, the murder rate is three times what it is in other developed nations. The murder rate with guns is ten times what it is in other developed nations. And there is nothing inevitable about it. It comes about because of decisions we make or fail to make. And it falls upon us to make it different.

Sometimes it takes an unexpected voice to break through, to help remind us what we know to be true. And we heard one of those voices last week. Dr. Janis Orlowski’s team at Medstar Washington Hospital Center treated the wounded. And in the midst of one of her briefings, she spoke with heartbreaking honesty as somebody who sees, daily and nightly, the awful carnage of so much violence. We are a great country, she said, but “there’s something wrong.” All these shootings, all these victims, she said, “this is not America.” “It is a challenge to all of us,” she said, and “we have to work together to get rid of this.”

And that’s the wisdom we should be taking away from this tragedy and so many others -- not accepting these shootings as inevitable, but asking what can we do to prevent them from happening again and again and again. I've said before, we cannot stop every act of senseless violence. We cannot know every evil that lurks in troubled minds. But if we can prevent even one tragedy like this, save even one life, spare other families what these families are going through, surely we've got an obligation to try.

It's true that each of the tragedies I've mentioned is different. And in this case, it's clear we need to do a better job of securing our military facilities and deciding who gets access to them. And as Commander in Chief, I have ordered a review of procedures up and down the chain, and I know that Secretary Hagel is moving aggressively on that. As a society, it’s clear we've got to do a better job of ensuring that those who need mental health care actually get it, and that in those efforts we don't stigmatize those who need help. Those things are clear, and we've got to move to address them.

But we Americans are not an inherently more violent people than folks in other countries. We're not inherently more prone to mental health problems. The main difference that sets our nation apart, what makes us so susceptible to so many mass shootings, is that we don’t do enough -- we don’t take the basic, common-sense actions to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and dangerous people. What's different in America is it's easy to get your hands on gun -- and a lot of us know this. But the politics are difficult, as we saw again this spring. And that’s sometimes where the resignation comes from -- the sense that our politics are frozen and that nothing will change.

Well, I cannot accept that. I do not accept that we cannot find a common-sense way to preserve our traditions, including our basic Second Amendment freedoms and the rights of law-abiding gun owners, while at the same time reducing the gun violence that unleashes so much mayhem on a regular basis. And it may not happen tomorrow and it may not happen next week, it may not happen next month -- but it will happen. Because it's the change that we need, and it's a change overwhelmingly supported by the majority of Americans.

By now, though, it should be clear that the change we need will not come from Washington, even when tragedy strikes Washington. Change will come the only way it ever has come, and that’s from the American people. So the question now is not whether, as Americans, we care in moments of tragedy. Clearly, we care. Our hearts are broken -- again. And we care so deeply about these families. But the question is, do we care enough?

Do we care enough to keep standing up for the country that we know is possible, even if it’s hard, and even if it’s politically uncomfortable? Do we care enough to sustain the passion and the pressure to make our communities safer and our country safer? Do we care enough to do everything we can to spare other families the pain that is felt here today?

Our tears are not enough. Our words and our prayers are not enough. If we really want to honor these 12 men and women, if we really want to be a country where we can go to work, and go to school, and walk our streets free from senseless violence, without so many lives being stolen by a bullet from a gun, then we're going to have to change. We're going to have to change.

On Monday morning, these 12 men and women woke up like they did every day. They left home and they headed off to work. Gerald Read’s wife Cathy said, “See you tonight for dinner.” And John Johnson looked at his wife Judy and said what he always said whenever they parted, “Goodbye beautiful. I love you so much."

“Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.”

What Robert Kennedy understood, what Dr. King understood, what all our great leaders have always understood, is that wisdom does not come from tragedy alone or from some sense of resignation in the fallibility of man. Wisdom comes through the recognition that tragedies such as this are not inevitable, and that we possess the ability to act and to change, and to spare others the pain that drops upon our hearts. So in our grief, let us seek that grace. Let us find that wisdom. And in doing so, let us truly honor these 12 American patriots.

May God hold close the souls taken from us and grant them eternal peace. May He comfort and watch over these families. And may God grant us the strength and the wisdom to keep safe our United States of America.

WEEKLY ADDRESS: Congress Must Act Now to Pass a Budget and Raise the Debt Ceiling

WASHINGTON, DC— In his weekly address, President Obama said that the economy is making progress five years after the worst recession since the Great Depression, but to avoid another crisis, Congress must meet two deadlines in the coming weeks: pass a budget by the end of the month to keep the government open, and raise the debt ceiling so America can pay its bills. Congress should vote to do these now, so that we can keep creating new jobs and expanding opportunity for the middle class.

The audio of the address and video of the address will be available online at www.whitehouse.gov at 6:00 a.m. ET, September 21, 2013.

Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
September 21, 2013

Hi, everybody.  It was five years ago this week that a financial crisis on Wall Street spread to Main Street, and very nearly turned a recession into a depression. 

In a matter of months, millions of Americans were robbed of their jobs, their homes, their savings – after a decade in which they’d already been working harder and harder to just get by. 

It was a crisis from which we’re still trying to recover.  But thanks to the grit and determination of the American people, we are steadily recovering. 

Over the past three and a half years, our businesses have created seven and a half million new jobs. Our housing market is healing. We’ve become less dependent on foreign oil.  Health care costs are growing at the slowest rate in 50 years.  And in just over a week, millions of Americans without health care will be able to get covered for less than $100 a month. 

So our economy is gaining traction. And we’re finally tackling threats to middle-class prosperity that Washington neglected for far too long.  But as any middle-class family listening right now knows, we’ve got a long way to go to get to where we need to be.  And after five years spent digging out of crisis, the last thing we need is for Washington to manufacture another.

But that’s what will happen in the next few weeks if Congress doesn’t meet two deadlines.

First: the most basic Constitutional duty Congress has is passing a budget.  But if it doesn’t pass one before September 30^th – a week from Monday – the government will shut down.  And so will many services the American people expect.  Military personnel, including those deployed overseas, won’t get their paychecks on time.  Federal loans for rural communities, small business owners, and new home buyers will be frozen.  Critical research into life-saving discoveries and renewable energy will be immediately halted. All of this will be prevented if Congress just passes a budget.

Second: Congress must authorize the Treasury to pay America’s bills.  This is done with a simple, usually routine vote to raise what’s called the debt ceiling.  Since the 1950s, Congress has always passed it, and every President has signed it – Democrats and Republicans, including President Reagan.  And if this Congress doesn’t do it within the next few weeks, the United States will default on its obligations and put our entire economy at risk. 

This is important: raising the debt ceiling is not the same as approving more spending.  It lets us pay for what Congress already spent.  It doesn’t cost a dime, or add a penny to our deficit.  In fact, right now, our deficits are already falling at the fastest rate since the end of World War II.  And by the end of this year, we’ll have cut our deficits by more than half since I took office. 

But reducing our deficits and debt isn’t even what the current standoff in Congress is about. 

Now, Democrats and some reasonable Republicans are willing to raise the debt ceiling and pass a sensible budget – one that cuts spending on what we don’t need so we can invest in what we do.  And I want to work with those Democrats and Republicans on a better bargain for the middle class.

But there’s also a faction on the far right of the Republican party who’ve convinced their leadership to threaten a government shutdown if they can’t shut off the Affordable Care Act.  Some are actually willing to plunge America into default if they can’t defund the Affordable Care Act. 

Think about that.  They’d actually plunge this country back into recession – all to deny the basic security of health care to millions of Americans.

Well, that’s not happening.  And they know it’s not happening.

The United States of America is not a deadbeat nation.  We are a compassionate nation.  We are the world’s bedrock investment.  And doing anything to threaten that is the height of irresponsibility.  That’s why I will not negotiate over the full faith and credit of the United States.  I will not allow anyone to harm this country’s reputation, or threaten to inflict economic pain on millions of our own people, just to make an ideological point.

So, we are running out of time to fix this.  But we could fix it tomorrow.  Both houses of Congress can take a simple vote to pay our bills on time, then work together to pass a budget on time.

Then we can declare an end to governing by crisis and govern responsibly, by putting our focus back where it should always be – on creating new jobs, growing our economy, and expanding opportunity not just for ourselves, but for future generations.

Thank you.

###

Remarks by the President on the Economy -- Kansas City, MO

Ford Stamping Plant
Liberty, Missouri 

12:53 P.M. CDT
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Missouri!  (Applause.)  Everybody give Jordan a big round of applause.  (Applause.) 
 
I just want to say about Jordan -- third generation Ford employee.  She’s going to school during the week, works at the plant on the weekends, getting a degree in business management -- and will be taking Alan’s place running the company in about -- (laughter) -- I don't know -- oh, it may take a few years.  But we're so proud of her.  And congratulations for everything that she represents.  When you see young people like that who are working so hard, making something of themselves, and are rooted in a community like this one, it really makes you proud. 
 
Before I get started, there are a couple other folks that I want to introduce that are working for you day in, day out.  First of all, your outstanding Governor, Jay Nixon, and his wife Georganne.  (Applause.)  The plant might not have been here had it not been for the great work of Jay.  (Applause.)  So that's important to know. 
 
We've got my outstanding Secretary of Health and Human Services, former governor of Kansas -- Kathleen Sebelius is in the house.  (Applause.)  She basically just came because her son and his fiancé are here.  (Laughter.)  But we're glad she’s here. 
One of my greatest friends and just a tough, smart, dedicated public servant -- Senator Claire McCaskill is here.  Give Claire a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  Your former mayor, preacher, can do everything -- (applause) -- Emanuel Cleaver is in the house.  (Applause.)  Current Mayor of Kansas City, Sly James, is here.  (Applause.)  Mayor of Kansas City, Kansas, Mark Holland is here.  (Applause.)  And the Mayor right here in Liberty, Lyndell Brenton, and his lovely wife Roxanne are here.  Where are they?  (Applause.)  There they are. 
 
Now, when I said I was flying into Kansas City to see an incredible success story in action, I did not think I was going to be talking about the Chiefs.  (Applause.)
 
AUDIENCE:  Woo, woo, woo!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Before you get carried away, I just want to point out that the Bears are 2-0.  (Laughter.) 
 
AUDIENCE:  Booo --
 
THE PRESIDENT:  I'm just saying.  (Laughter.)  And we're actually able to pass more than 10 yards. 
 
AUDIENCE:  Ooooh -- (laughter.)
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Just a little trash-talking.  We'll see how we're looking at the end of the season. 
 
I want to give special thanks to Ford’s CEO.  This is one of our outstanding business leaders, has helped to lead Ford to be the number-one automaker in the United States of America -- Alan Mulally is here.  And we're very proud of him.  (Applause.) 
 
It doesn’t matter if you’ve got an outstanding CEO if you don't have outstanding workers.  And the President of Local 249, Jeff Wright, is here.  (Applause.)  Your launch manager, Todd Jaranowski, I really like because he is a Bears and a Sox fan.  Come on, give Todd a big round of applause.  (Applause.)  And I very much appreciate him and some of the other folks showing me around this new stamping plant right here. 
 
Now, you may not be aware of this, but you and I have a little history together.  I may roll in a Cadillac these days -- (laughter) -- no, no, but it’s not my car.  I’m just -- I’m renting, just like my house.  (Laughter.)  The lease runs out in about three and a half years.  (Laughter.)  But before that, I was driving around in a 2008 Ford Escape.  (Applause.)  It came right off these assembly lines.  Some of you might have been involved in building it.  It was a great car.  Problem is I got Secret Service about a month after I bought the car, so I’ve only got 2,000 miles on it.  (Laughter.)  It is in mint condition. 
 
So I want to say thank you for building my car.  But I also came here to talk about what’s got to be the number-one priority in this country, and that is growing our economy, creating new jobs, and making sure that everyone who works hard in America has a chance to get ahead.  It’s our number-one priority.  (Applause.) 
 
Now, some of you remember, five years ago a financial crisis hit Wall Street.  It then turned into a devastating recession on Main Street and it came close to being another Great Depression. By the time I took office, the economy was shrinking at a rate of 8 percent a year -- unprecedented.  Our businesses were shedding 800,000 jobs a month.  And you had this perfect storm, and millions of Americans lost their jobs, their homes, their savings they had been working a lifetime to get. 
 
But what the recession also showed was the fact that for decades, middle-class families had been working harder and harder just to get by, hadn’t seen their incomes go up, hadn’t seen their wages go up.  Manufacturing was moving overseas.  And so what built our middle class had been buckling, had been weakening.
 
And I think if you ask most Americans when the economic crisis hit, they might not date it to Lehman Brothers collapsing. They’d talk to you about when they got a pink slip that they didn’t expect, or the bank took away their home, or they didn’t have health insurance, or maybe they were told the plant was shutting down and the assembly line was going quiet.  Those were tough times.
 
Five years ago, plants like this one were closing their doors.  And the day I stepped into the Oval Office, the American auto industry -- which is the heartbeat of American manufacturing -- (applause) -- heartbeat of manufacturing -- the auto industry was flat-lining. 
 
Ford was standing on its own two feet, had made some smart decisions.  But Alan will tell you, if GM and Chrysler had gone down, suppliers would go down; dealers would have gone down.  And all of that would have had a profound impact on Ford. 
 
I refused to let that happen.  So we worked with labor, we worked with management.  Everybody had to make some sacrifices. Everybody put some skin in the game.  We bet on the American worker.  We bet on you.  And today, that bet has paid off because the American auto industry has come roaring back.  (Applause.) 
 
The Big Three are all profitable, hiring new workers.  You’re not just building more cars –-- you’re building better cars, better trucks.  Look at what’s going on right here at the plant.  The new F-150 is built tougher than ever, more fuel-efficient than ever.  (Applause.)  You’ve got trouble making them fast enough.  You had to bring on a third shift of 900 workers just to keep up with demand.  (Applause.) 
 
And because Ford invested $1.1 billion in this plant, pretty soon, 1,100 more new workers will be joining you on these assembly lines in good, union jobs, building the Ford Transit.  (Applause.)
 
So more jobs building cars -- that means more jobs for suppliers.  It means more jobs for distributors.  It means more jobs for the folks who own the restaurant here in town, or the bar, depending on -- (laughter.)  It has an impact on your tax base.  It has an impact on the teacher who teaches your kids, the first responders who keeps you safe.  All those people are impacted by your success. 
 
And that fundamental idea that when everybody is doing -- when some of us are doing well, it’s okay, but when everybody has got a stake, that’s when things really start rolling -- that’s at the heart of every decision I’ve made as President.  Because when the middle class does better, we all do better.  Shareholders do better.  CEOs do better.  Workers do better.  Everybody does better.  (Applause.)
 
So in the depths of the crisis, we passed a Recovery Act to make sure that we put a floor below which this country couldn’t fall.  We put money in folks’ pockets with tax breaks.  We made sure that people were rebuilding roads and bridges, keeping things going, helping to keep teachers and firefighters and cops on the job.  Today, three and a half years later, our businesses have added 7.5 million new jobs -- 7.5 million new jobs.  (Applause.)
 
We helped responsible homeowners stay in their homes -- won one of the biggest settlements in history on behalf of people who had wrongfully lost their homes because banks hadn’t done things right.  Today, our housing market is healing. 
 
We took on a tax code that was too skewed towards the wealthy.  We gave tax cuts, locked them in for 98 percent of families.  We asked those in the top 2 percent to pay a little bit more.  Today, middle-class tax rates are near their all-time low.  The deficits are falling at the fastest rate since World War II.  That’s what we did.  (Applause.)
 
We invested in new American technologies to end our addiction to foreign oil.  Today we're generating more renewable energy than ever before, produce more natural gas than anybody in the world.  We're about to produce more of our own oil than we buy from overseas for the first time in nearly 20 years.  (Applause.)
 
And we took on a broken health care system.  (Applause.)  And in less than two weeks, millions of Americans who’ve been locked out of the insurance market are finally going to be able to get quality health care.  (Applause.)  Out of every 10 Americans who are currently uninsured, six out of those 10 are going to be able to get covered for less than $100 a month -- less than your cell phone bill.  (Applause.)  
 
So we've been working, just like you've been working, over these last four and a half years.  We've cleared away the rubble from the crisis.  We've started to lay a new foundation for economic growth, a new foundation for prosperity.  And everybody here, we all had to make some adjustments.  I'm assuming some folks had to tighten their belts, get rid of some debt, focus on things that really matter, cut out some things you didn't need. 
 
We’ve shown the world that the American people are tough, they're resilient.  The only thing built tougher than Ford trucks are American workers, the American people.  (Applause.)  That's what we've shown.
 
All right, so that's the good news.  But any working person, any middle-class family, they'll tell you we're not yet where we need to be.  The economy is growing, but it needs to grow faster. We're producing jobs, but we need to create more jobs and more good-paying jobs.  We've got to make sure that we're rebuilding an economy that doesn't work from the top down, works from the middle out; that gives ladder of opportunity to folks who still don't have a job.  (Applause.) 
 
We've got to make sure that workers are sharing in growth and productivity.  Right now, even though businesses are creating jobs, the top 1 percent took home 20 percent of the nation’s income last year.  The average worker barely saw a raise. 
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  That's not fair.
 
THE PRESIDENT:  It ain't fair.  It ain't right. 
 
So in many ways, the trends that have taken hold over the past few years of a winner-take-all economy, a few folks at the top doing better and better and better, everybody else treading water or losing ground -- that's not a model that we want.  And it's been made worse by this recession. 
 
So what I've been doing over the last couple months, I've been visiting towns like Liberty, traveling all across the country talking about what we need to do to reverse those trends, make sure we've got a better bargain for middle-class America: Good jobs that pay good wages; an education that prepares our kids for a global economy; a home that is secure; affordable health care that is there when you get sick; a secure retirement even if you’re not rich -- all those things that make for a secure life so you can raise your kids and have confidence that they're going to do better than you did.  That’s what I’m focused on.  That's what you’re focused on.  That’s what Congress should be focused on.  (Applause.)
 
Which brings me to the current situation.  (Laughter.)   Let me talk a little bit about what’s going on back in Washington.  Right now, Congress is in the middle of a budget debate.  Now, there’s nothing new about that.  Every year Congress has got to pass a budget, and it’s always a contentious process.  But right now our recovery still needs to build more strength, so it’s important that we get it right in Washington, because even though our success as a country is ultimately going to depend on great businesses like Ford, hard workers like you, government has to do some things. 
 
Congress has to pass a budget to make sure our education system works, and prepares our kids and our workers for the global economy. If we’re going to rebuild our roads, our bridges, our airports, our ports, government has got to be involved in that.  If we’re going to have scientific research and development -- I was looking at all these newfangled pieces of equipment here -- some of the things that allowed the efficiencies of this plant originated in laboratories and scientists doing work on the government’s dime.  That's how we always maintain our cutting-edge.  These are things that help us grow.  These are things that help the private sector succeed.
 
So when people tell you somehow government is irrelevant.  No, everything we do has some connection to making sure that we, collectively, as a democracy, are making some smart investments in the future.  (Applause.)  That's how it’s always been.
 
So what Congress is doing right now is important.  Unfortunately, right now the debate that going on in Congress is not meeting the test of helping middle-class families.  It’s just they're not focused on you.  They're focused on politics.  They're focused on trying to mess with me.  (Laughter.)  They're not focused on you.  They're not focused on you.  (Applause.)
 
  So there are two deadlines coming up that Congress has to meet.  And I want folks to pay attention to this.  Congress has to meet two deadlines, and they're coming up pretty quick. 
 
The first deadline:  The most basic constitutional duty Congress has is to pass a budget.  That’s Congress 101.  If they don’t pass a budget by September 30th -- what’s the date today?  The 20th.  All right, so if Congress doesn't pass a budget in 10 days, a week from Monday, the government will shut down.  A government shutdown shuts down many services that the American people rely on. 
 
This is not abstract.  Hundreds of thousands of Americans will not be allowed to go to work.  Our men and women in uniform, even those deployed overseas, won’t get their paychecks on time. Small businesses, they won’t get their loans processed. 
 
Now, none of that has to happen, as long as Congress passes a budget.  Number one -- passing a budget. 
 
Number two:  In the next few weeks, Congress must vote to allow the Department of the Treasury to pay America’s bills.  Our Treasury Department, that’s where we take in money and we pay it, right?  Real simple.  This is usually done with a simple, routine vote to raise what’s called the debt ceiling.  If you don’t raise the debt ceiling, America can't pay its bills. 
 
Since the 1950s, Congress has always passed it.  Every President has signed it -- Democrats, Republicans, Ronald Reagan -- (laughter) -- Lyndon Johnson -- it doesn’t matter.  This is just a routine thing that you've got to do so that Treasury can pay the bills.  If Congress doesn’t pass this debt ceiling in the next few weeks, the United States will default on its obligations.  That’s never happened in American history.  Basically, America becomes a deadbeat. 
 
If the world sees America not paying its bills, then they will not buy debt, Treasury bills from the United States, or if they do, they'll do it at much higher interest rates.  That means somebody wanting to buy an F-150 will have to pay much higher interest rates eventually, which means you will sell less cars.  That’s just one example of how profoundly destructive this could be.  This is not some abstract thing.
 
And this is important:  Raising the debt ceiling is not the same as approving more spending, any more than making your monthly payment adds to the total cost of your truck.  You don’t say, well, I'm not going to pay my bill, my note for my truck because I'm going to save money.  No, you're not saving money.  You already bought the truck, right?  (Laughter.)  You have to pay the bills.  You're not saving money.  You might have decided at the front end not to buy the truck, but once you've bought the truck you can't say you're saving money just by not paying the bills.  Does that make sense?  (Applause.) 
 
So raising the debt ceiling, it doesn’t cost a dime.  It does not add a penny to our deficits.  All it says is you've got to pay for what Congress already said we're spending money on.  If you don’t do it, we could have another financial crisis. 
 
And the fact is -- I know a lot of people are concerned about deficits -- our deficits are now coming down so quickly that by the end of this year we will have cut them in more than half since I took office.  (Applause.)  Cut deficits in half. 
 
So I just want to break this down one more time.  I go into a Ford dealership.  I drive off with a new F-150.  Unless I paid cash, I've still got to pay for it each month.  I can’t just say, you know, I’m not going to make my car payment this month.  That’s what Congress is threatening to do -- just saying, I'm not going to pay the bills. 
 
There are consequences to that.  The bill collector starts calling you, right?  Your credit goes south, and you've got all kinds of problems.  Same is true for a country. 
 
So if we don’t raise the debt ceiling, we're dead beats.  "If we fail to increase the debt limit, we would send our economy into a tailspin” -- that’s a quote, by the way, what I just said. You know who said it?  The Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner.
 
AUDIENCE:  Ooooh --
 
THE PRESIDENT:  The Republican Speaker has said if we don't pay our bills, we'll have an economic tailspin.  So this is not just my opinion.  This is everybody's opinion.
 
All right. Now, why haven't we already gotten it done if it's such a simple thing?  Everybody is nodding, they're all like, yes, why didn't we already get this done?  Democrats and some reasonable Republicans in Congress are willing to raise the debt ceiling and pass a sensible budget.  And I want to work with Democrats and Republicans to do just that.  Claire McCaskill, she’s ready to do it.  (Applause.)  Congressman Cleaver, he’s ready to do it.  (Applause.)  And if we just pass the budget, raise the debt ceiling, we can get back to focusing on growing this economy and creating jobs, educating our kids -- all the things we got to do. 
 
Unfortunately, there is a faction on the far right of the Republican Party right now -- it's not everybody, but it's a pretty big faction -- who convinced their leadership to threaten a government shutdown and potentially threaten to not raise the debt ceiling if they can't shut off the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. 
 
Now, think about this.  They're not talking now about spending cuts.  They're not talking about entitlement reform.  They're not talking about any of that.  Now they're talking about something that has nothing to do with the budget -- right?  They're actually willing to plunge America into default if we can't defund the Affordable Care Act. 
 
Now, let’s put this in perspective.  The Affordable Care Act has been in law for three and a half years.  It passed both houses of Congress.  The Supreme Court ruled it constitutional.  It was an issue in last year’s elections.  The guy who was running against me said he was going to repeal it.  We won.  (Applause.)  So the voters were pretty clear on this. 
 
And then, Republicans in Congress, they've tried to repeal or sabotage this -- more than 40 times they've had these repeal votes.  Every time they fail.  This law that is in place is already providing people benefits.  It's not holding back economic growth; it's helping millions of Americans, including some of you or your family members that you may not be aware of. 
You can keep your kid on your own health insurance plan -- somebody is raising their hand right here -- until they're 26, because of the Affordable Care Act -- (applause) -- which is one of the main reasons why the number of uninsured among young people has gone down over the last three years. 
 
Seniors, they are benefitting right now from discounted prescription drug costs because of the law.  (Applause.)  If you’ve got health insurance, insurance companies can't impose lifetime limits on you.  They can't use the fine print not to pay if you get sick.  Insurance companies have to spend 80 percent of your premiums on your health care, not on administrative costs and CEO bonuses.  (Applause.)  Those are happening right now. 
And health care costs have actually increased at the slowest rate in 50 years.  So this is helping to reduce health care costs across the economy.  (Applause.)
 
Finally, starting on October 1st, it’s going to help millions of more people.  People who don't have health insurance right now, what it’s going to do is we’re going to set up pools so that just like a worker at Ford can benefit from good insurance rates because you got a lot of workers in one big pool, now people who don't have the good fortune to work at a big company like Ford, they can also get a good deal.  (Applause.)
 
Now, that's what -- so that's what they're fighting for.  They want to repeal all that, and they're saying, we’re going to hold our breath, and if you don't repeal it -- which I’ve already said I’m not going to do -- we’re going to send the economy into default.  They will send our economy into a tailspin, just like Speaker Boehner said.  They want to threaten default just to make sure that tens of millions of Americans continue not to have health care. 
 
Defunding Affordable Health Care would rob 25 million Americans of the chance to get health care coverage.  It would cut basic health care services for tens of millions of seniors on Medicare already.  That's what House Republicans are fighting for. 
 
And now they’ve gone beyond just holding Congress hostage, they're holding the whole country hostage.  One Republican senator called shutting down the government over the Affordable Care Act “the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard.”  I agree with him.  (Applause.)  But that's the strategy they're pursuing.  House of Representatives just voted on it today. 
 
Now, I tell you what, Missouri.  The American people have worked too hard for too long, digging out of a real crisis just to let politicians in Washington cause another crisis.  (Applause.)
 
This is the United States of America.  We’re not some banana republic.  This is not a deadbeat nation.  We don’t run out on our tab.  We’re the world’s bedrock investment.  The entire world looks to us to make sure the world economy is stable.  We can't just not pay our bills.  And even threatening something like that is the height of irresponsibility.
 
So what I’ve said is I will not negotiate over the full faith and credit of the United States.  (Applause.)  I am not going to allow anyone to harm this country’s reputation.  I’m not going to allow them to inflict economic pain on millions of our own people just so they can make an ideological point. 
 
But I need you to help.  I need you to help tell Congress, pay our bills on time.  Pass a budget on time.  Stop governing from crisis to crisis.  Put our focus back on where it should be: On you, the American people.  (Applause.)   On creating new jobs. On growing our economy.  On restoring security for middle-class families.  That’s what you deserve.  (Applause.)
 
I mean, I don't know -- it’s like they do this every six months.  (Laughter.)  Isn’t it?  I mean, I don't mind them disagreeing with me.  They don't like the Affordable Care Act, they’d rather have people not have health insurance, I’m happy to have that debate with them.  But you don't have to threaten to blow the whole thing up just because you don't get you way.  (Laughter.)  Right?  (Applause.)
 
I think about something that Jordan said.  Her grandfather worked in this plant; uncle, stepmom worked in this plant.  Now she and her brother work in this plant, punching in as part of the next generation of American workers at a great, iconic American company.  Our economy is coming back because of the resilience and determination of American workers like Jordan and her family. 
 
And every day, all over this country, there are men and women just like Jordan, just like her brother, they wake up, maybe pack a lunch for their kids, kiss them goodbye, go to work, live up to their responsibilities, do their jobs, pay their bills. 
 
Shouldn’t you expect the same thing from people in Washington? 
 
AUDIENCE:  Yes!  (Applause.)
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Shouldn’t you expect the same thing from members of Congress?  (Applause.)
 
Just do your job.  Don't be the other guy, be the guy who's doing your job.  No obstruction.  No games.  No holding the economic hostage -- economy hostage if you don’t get 100 percent of what you want. 
 
Nobody gets 100 percent of what you want.  You guys know that in your own lives, in your own families.  I don’t know how many people are married here, but you know you better learn not to expect getting 100 percent of what you want.  (Applause.)  Otherwise you'll be divorced real quick.  (Laughter.)  Especially you men, I'm telling you.  (Laughter.) 
 
So you should expect the same thing -- same common sense out of Congress.  You should expect some compassion.  You should expect some compromise.  You should expect the conviction of leaders who wake up and go to work every day, not to tear something down, but to build something better; not just for today but for the world we want to leave our kids. 
 
That’s my conviction.  That’s my commitment to you.  If we start thinking about you instead of politics and how you can get your base stirred up, then we're going to be able to get back to the point where this country is what we want it to be.  If Washington will act with the same decency and common purpose that you and Americans all across the country do every single day, the economy will be stronger not just a year from now or five years from now or 10 years from now, but 20 and 30 and 50 years from now. 
 
And as long as I have the privilege of serving you as your President, that’s what I'm going to be focused on.
 
Thank you very much, everybody.  God bless.  (Applause.)
 
END   
1:29 P.M CDT

Remarks by Vice President Joe Biden at the U.S.-Mexico High Level Economic Dialogue

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Mexico City, Mexico

10:24 A.M. (Local)

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, Mr. Minister, Foreign Minister, Finance Minister, thank you very, very much.  It’s a delight to be back in Mexico.  I’ve been in public life for a long time, as you can tell.  (Laughter.)  And my first visits to Mexico occurred in the early ‘70s, as a young Senator.  And as you were both speaking, I was thinking about the significant contrast with the meeting we’re having today, and all the meetings I have had in the ‘70s and the ‘80s and the ‘90s.  Almost all of them were uni-dimensional; they were always about a single subject -- mostly, about security issues, mostly about drugs, mostly about immigration.  But finally, finally, we have reached the point where we should have reached a long time ago, I think.  It began -- beginning with NAFTA 20-some years -- 20 years ago, where we’re looking at the relationship as partners in a wholesome -- way -- and I mean that in a literal sense -- all of the relationship:  the cultural, political, economic, security, as mature partners do.  And on behalf of the President, I am delighted to be here.
 
President Peña Nieto, who I’ve gotten to know -- I don’t want to exaggerate it, but gotten to know a little bit -- I have personal admiration for him.  And I think, as the Foreign Minister said -- I think it was the Foreign Minister who said, that your President said that there’s no reason why North America cannot be the most dynamic area in the world.  We share that view, right to our -- the marrow of our bones.
 
As a matter of fact, the President asked me at the beginning of this new administration, to take an even broader look and to look at the hemisphere.  For the first time in all of our lives, looking at the entire Western Hemisphere, it is possible to envision a hemisphere that is middle class, democratic and secure.  It’s not there yet, but it is possible to envision that.  From Canada to the tip of Argentina, there is no reason why in the 21st century the hemisphere will not be the most potent economic engine in the world. 
 
But that won’t happen without Mexico, and that won’t happen without this North American engine gaining more power, more steam and more capacity. 
 
I want to begin by recognizing the incredible work of your excellent delegation.  A lot of work has gone into this meeting.  And I want to thank all of you on my team who have made the journey here with me.  As a matter of fact, I was worried there weren’t going to be enough seats on the plane, so many people wanted to come.  (Laughter.)  You think I’m kidding; I am not kidding.  (Laughter.)  Every Cabinet member wanted to participate in this, because they see the potential.
 
I always joke at home when they say, define America for me, meaning the United States.  And I say it’s about one thing:  It’s about promise.  It’s about the future.  It’s always looking at the future.  You’re in the same position.  You can see it.  You can almost taste it, can’t you?  A new day, a new time coming forward -- not because of the United States, but from Mexico.
 
And so I’ve come at a moment when I have personally, at the request of the President, been focused heavily on the Middle East and on Syria and the events that are taking place in the region.  But the President made it clear to me, and it was like, as they say, pushing on an open door, that no matter what was occupying us immediately, that it was important to be here.  So I want to make it clear to you that President Obama is deeply invested in the maturation of this relationship at every level -- at every level.  This is a different day.  This is a different day.
 
And so -- but I wanted to be here with you because my country’s foreign policy is about more than dealing with threats, as we are dealing with in the Middle East.  It’s also about partnerships -- partnerships that we believe, the President and I, are literally going to shape the future for my country for the next 10, 20, 30, 40 years.  And there is no reason -- there is absolutely no reason in my view -- some of you know I’ve held this view for some time, but I think everyone thinks it now -- there is no reason why our partnership, the U.S.-Mexico partnership, should not be among the strongest that we have.  We are grounded in a common border, a common culture, common values, common dreams and common potential. 
 
So it’s truly my honor to be here as part of this first-ever U.S.-Mexico High Level Economic Dialogue.  As I said, it’s nice to be talking about things beyond the narrow things we’ve focused on talking about the past 20 years, although we have talked about the economy.  This is a different time. 
 
It’s been nearly two decades since the United States and Mexico tore down the barriers between our economies, and since then, as has been pointed out, there has been -- we have quadrupled our rate of exchange -- as your Minister of the Treasury said, a million dollars per minute, a billion dollars a day.  There is no question our economic partnership has been a success.  But there is also no question that there’s much, much, much, much more potential.  And I would add, there’s also no question lest we seize the opportunity, it may pass us by because the world is moving rapidly. 
 
The rise of the Mexican middle class, more than 40 million, has not only bettered the lives of the Mexican people but it has created incredible opportunities inside of Mexico and outside of Mexico.  A generation ago, there weren’t as many customers, investors, trading partners.  This has a synergy, as you mentioned, of its own.  As the living standard, as wages increase here, the whole world benefits.  We benefit.  We used to think in terms of zero-sum games around the world:  If that country’s GDP rises and ours -- it’s a different time. 
 
A strong, integrated North American economy, grounded on the respect and 21st-century rules of the road, is going to attract investment and make us both better in the global economy.  You’ve already seen it.  What do you see happening?  Manufacturing is coming back to North America.  It’s coming back after having left us, then left you, and headed to China, and headed for the Far East.  It’s coming back.  Why?  Why?  Because of the incredible potential.  Also because we have a system that makes it more sustainable for folks to be here than there.  It’s created jobs from Puebla to Pittsburgh.  And I mean that literally.  It’s not just the major cities.  This global economy is changing fast and we need to keep up.
 
And I know it’s a delicate subject, but NAFTA set a new standard for global trade, but that was 20 years ago -- 20 years ago.  We all know the 21st century demands even higher standards to meet the full potential of world trade.  Countries around the world are already adapting, already moving, opening industries that have been closed in order to strengthen competition and bring better delivery to their own citizens; removing barriers that function as disguised trade barriers in order to generate their own indigenous growth; working to increase economic transparency to root out corruption and improve business confidence; expanding protections for the environment and labor and intellectual property.
 
I hope we’re beyond those arguments about whether or not the environment matters, whether minimum standards are important.  I think we are, at least most of the world is.  And that’s what it takes to compete.  In the new global economy that’s emerging, the price of admission to participate is to play by these new rules.  And we each make our own national judgment about what is necessary to realize the economic potential of our own countries. 
 
I’m supposedly a foreign policy expert, but I speak very plainly.  It’s a real simple thing:  I never ask another man or woman to act against their own interest; I never tell another country what’s in their interest.  I determine what’s in my country’s interest and try to identify where there’s a mutual interest.  So it’s Mexico’s decision and every country’s decision how they adapt, if they adapt, to these new rules. 
 
But we’re here because both our Presidents and I agree that it’s fundamentally in our mutual interest to broaden and deepen our economic relationship.  And that means we cannot settle for business as usual.  And so the President -- at President Obama’s direction, every federal agency here today has taken part in a thorough preparation so that we could begin to get down to the details.  What are the impediments?  What is the sand in the gears to keep this from working better?  We all know there are sand in the gears.  We also know any change affects stakeholders, not all the same way.  Change is hard.  But we have to be ready to deliver results if we’re going to move to this next phase.
 
I know your side has done the same exact thing.  Together we have a chance to make progress on modernizing our border, linking our aviation sectors, increasing economic transparency.  If you have been in a space capsule, sent to Mars and been away for the last 50 years, and you’re coming back and they’re bringing you up to date on everything on a big screen of what’s happened in the recent past, and where you are, and you take a look at the United States, Mexico and Canada, you’d sit there and say, “Why?  Why isn’t there even more cooperation?  It’s just so natural geographically, politically, economically. 
 
Our ability to do what we have to do is going to tell us an awful lot about the broader partnership that I think both our countries seek.  So let me talk briefly about some of the work ahead, and I’ll be brief.
 
First, we need to make it more efficient for goods, people, and information to move across our borders.  Security is important, but we have to have as the goal the ability to move faster and more goods, people, and information across our borders, while improving security as is pointed out.
 
Our border is the site of more than -- as I said as pointed out a billion dollars a day in trade.  But is there any reason why -- is there any one of you businessmen or women in here can't rationally picture 10 years from now that being $2 billion?  But it won’t if we don't make some of the changes that are going to be difficult.
 
On our side that's going to require extending, for example -- to move more rapidly across the border extending business hours at border crossings, basic simple things.  For Mexico it’s going to demand greater effort to connect our roads, our rails, our infrastructure.  It just makes no sense that we don't.  Both of us can do more to modernize investment through a stronger North American Development Bank.
 
And beyond our border, with a simple agreement, we can make it more affordable to fly between every single city and every single town in your state -- I mean in your country and my country.  Why is that so difficult? 
 
Second, there are steps where each of us can take to drive growth and innovation on both sides of the border.  We are convinced that innovation flourishes where people can breathe free air as they do in Mexico and America, where they have a court system that's free of corruption and adjudicates disputes fairly, where intellectual property is protected.  That's the new minimum standard.  You businessmen and women know what’s going to happen is the free enterprise system is going to drive business to those locales where that prevails.  It’s just basic.
 
And by the way, it’s in the overall self-interest of a country to establish that, otherwise indigenous innovation is not likely to prosper.  That's why -- that's the way you create homegrown, innovative capacity.  But we also know innovation can't flourish in the absence of education.
 
Both our Presidents are passionate about this issue, and apparently some of your citizens are passionate about this issue.  (Laughter.)  I thought they all gathered to welcome me to Mexico City.  (Laughter.)  I was quite frankly somewhat disappointed when I found out that 15 or so thousand people weren’t there hollering “Biden, Biden.”  (Laughter.)  But all kidding aside, it stirs passions as you well know.
 
But both our systems need improving.  And I’m not here to lecture you.  I’m not here to say, well, the United States system is one you should -- we have a lot of improvement ourselves to make.  My wife is I think -- maybe not -- I think the first time the first Second Lady or First Lady to teach full time.  She teaches 15 credits, and she has for years, at a community college in Northern Virginia.  She has a great expression.  She says, “Any country, Joe, that out-educates us will out-compete us.” 
 
The new currency is cognitive capability.  That's the new currency.  We are told and we know six out of 10 jobs in the next 10 years in America will require something beyond a high school education -- six out of 10.  We have 600,000 high-tech manufacturing jobs going unfilled in America today because of the lack of a skilled workforce on the specific needs that exist whether it’s -- whatever it is.  And we’ve figured out a way to adapt our community colleges.  It’s cheaper.  It’s more expedient.  And it’s the single, best-kept secret in America.  We’d like to share it with you if you’re interested.  I mean it sincerely.
 
Every country I go to it’s the same for Mexico as the United States, we in the United States don't, as I said, have all the answers.  But we do -- and this is somewhat chauvinistic and I apologize for it, but you're used to chauvinistic Americans.  (Laughter.)  But I think most of the world would acknowledge only one thing about our education system.  We have the finest university system in the world.  And you have too many, but you have -- UNAM and Monterrey Tech are as good as Harvard or University of Pennsylvania or Yale.  But one of the things we all try to do as economic growth focused on, and particularly as we’re building middle class is countries tend to say, let’s go out and build more Monterrey Techs or more Universities of Pennsylvania.  That takes decades.  That takes decades.  And not everyone will qualify.
 
There’s a vast majority of capable people out there who in this new high-tech economy can be given all the tools for less investment and more focus in our view.  But that's for you to decide.
 
The fastest way to prepare a citizen for a job of the 21st century in our experience is through the community college system.  And as I said, we have some unique experience in this.
 
We also want to welcome, as was pointed out, more Mexican students to the United States and more United States students to Mexico.  That's why we committed to doubling the number of students by 2020, doubling the number of U.S. students -- doubling it both ways through our 100,000 Strong Initiative.  You all know it matters.  Some of you were educated in the United States.  Some Americans, not as many, educated here in Mexico.  It has a -- it creates a sinew, a tissue that goes beyond just the education in terms of understanding one another as well.
 
We look forward to launching this Bilateral Forum on Education to get much more done together.  And we have much to learn from you as well.
 
Domestically, the President and I when we announced our candidacy back in 2008 were very straightforward.  We think the measure of our success and the measure of the growth and the strength of the American economy will rest upon on whether or not the middle class is once again growing.
 
We’re proud to say we have -- major industrialized -- has the largest middle class in the world.  That is the heart, strength, and backbone of our country.  So we have focused on -- they took a real beating over the last 15 years in America, particularly during the recession.  So we’re focusing on the building blocks like you:  a health care system that's universal and it’s affordable; a safe and responsible -- universal education that's quality and affordable where everyone has access to go as far as their intellectually capable of going, not just based on what neighborhood they grew up on.
 
We want responsible exploration of significant new energy supplies, including the United States we now have -- just as a matter of good fortune, 100 years of reserve of natural gas.  We’re figuring out how to tap it and tap it in an environmentally safe way.
 
And an infrastructure that's the most modern in the world -- both of us have to compete.  Go around the world, as many of you have.  I’ve traveled over 750,000 just in the last four years.  If I took some folks from Mexico City or New York City and I dropped them in the Port of Hong Kong and they took a look at it, say, where is this?  They’d assume it’s in the United States -- Americans would.  It’s not.  Take them to an airport in Beijing.  They’d assume it’s in the United States, the Americans.  But it’s not.  We need a 21st century infrastructure, particularly along our border -- particularly along our border.
 
And a finance system that is flourishing but also is accountable.  We both know reform is hard.  Believe me we know reform is hard.  We have entrenched interests -- and they're not bad folks.  They're good folks.  But there are always winners and losers when the rules of the road change.  Even when those rules better the interest of the country, you’re changing the rules.  And it’s hard.  But as difficult as it’s been, some of the changes the President and I have been able to make are beginning to bear fruit.  We have much more to do, but they’ve helped our businesses create 7.5 million new jobs in the past four years.
 
Mexico too has embraced historic changes.  You’re reforming your telecommunications, education, and even your energy sector.  These decisions belong -- and I want to make it clear to the press -- these decisions belong exclusively and only to the people of Mexico, not the people of the United States.  But we wish you well in those reforms.  Because as an outsider looking in, they're all needed.  They're all needed in order to equip you, and in turn, selfishly benefit us as you move down to establish a new role in the 21st century.  Because as you choose, we stand ready to help you realize those benefits in any way we can. 
 
With regard to immigration, let me make two things absolutely clear.  It is not only from the perspective of the President, myself and the American people a matter of justice, respect, and according dignity to all people to bring 11 million undocumented men, women, and children out of the shadows, but it’s also overwhelmingly in the self-interest, the economic self-interest of the United States. 
 
The Congressional Budget Office, which is sort of our gold standard that is truly nonpartisan, in a study released in June, estimates that comprehensive immigration reform will grow the U.S. economy by $1.4 trillion by the year 2033.  It will facilitate travel in business and workers, and it will bring economic security to families with members on both side of the border regardless of which side they call home.
 
The third thing I’d like to point out is our two economies should look outward together.  The United States and Canada have created a -- the United States, Canada, and Mexico have created a trillion-dollar trade relationship.  Imagine what we can accomplish if we extend that economic cooperation, as I said, south.  And that's why Mexico, through your leadership, the Alliance of the Pacific, is integrating stock markets and customs unions with Peru, Chile and Columbia.
 
Mexico is also investing Central America, and we want to be partners with you in that to the extent you want us.  We’re already working together to connect North America and some of the southern neighbors with economies in Asia through the Trans-Pacific Partnership.  I just got back from visiting the Pacific Rim.  They understand.  They understand that there’s nothing local anymore.
 
That's why when I meet with your President, that's why when I meet with the President of Colombia, the President of Chile they all understand the future is there.  There.
 
When this is finished -- and we believe it will be -- 40 percent of the entire global economy will be signed on to a single, new gold standard for 21st century trade agreements.
 
And finally, both our countries have suffered greatly from natural disasters.  Our prayers are with the victims of the devastating floods and storms that ravage your country right now.  And we stand ready.  It's your decision.  We stand ready to help in any way we can.  As a matter of fact, I'm leaving from here and I'm going to Colorado, an area the size of the state of Connecticut has been devastated in the state of Colorado.  The estimates are well over $1.2 billion in damage thus far.  There are hundreds of people still missing and many have died.
 
So we understand.  We understand, but that doesn't mean we still can't help, if you want us too.  That doesn't mean we still can't help.  We contributed a quarter million dollars to the Red Cross effort down here, but that's a decision for you to make if you -- whatever else we can do, because it's a common concern.  In a sense, we are a single people. 
 
What benefits Mexico and the people of Mexico ultimately has a resounding benefit in the United States.  And so we want to be part of a partnership where you grow, where you prosper and when you seek your place in the international community as one of the most vibrant economies in the world.
 
The work of updating that partnership like ours is not easy.  We're going to need the help of all you businessmen and women in this room of civil society and citizens on both sides to make it happen, in addition to our governments, in addition to our governments
 
There's an old -- and I'll conclude -- there's an old story about a group of activists who made their case for some reform to Franklin -- President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  And he told them, and I quote, “You have convinced me, now make me do it.”  (Laughter.)  “You have convinced me, now make me do it.” 
 
So I say to those of you here from outside of government, we have been convinced of your message, now make us do it.  Make us do it.  Hard-working people in both our countries are building our economic partnerships from the ground up every single solitary day.  And our job is to take the difficult steps that make their job easier, just a little bit easier.  I know we can, and I'm absolutely confident we will.
 
So let me close by saying, once again, it's great to be here in Mexico, this time talking about the entirety of our relationship and the awesome potential and promise it has if we have the courage, the political courage to take what in retrospect will look like easy, but presently look like some very difficult steps to break down barriers and to set a new set of rules of the road. 
 
So thank you all.  May God bless you and may God protect all those people who are still being ravaged and left out in the cold because of the storm.  Thank you all very much.  I look forward to seeing you again.  (Applause.)

END
10:50 A.M. (Local)