This is historical material “frozen in time”. The website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work.

Search form

The White House
For Immediate Release

WHITE HOUSE VIDEO MESSAGE: Themes from the 2014 State of the Union

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

______________________________________________________________________________

EMBARGOED UNTIL 6:00 AM ET, SATURDAY, February 1, 2014

WHITE HOUSE VIDEO MESSAGE: Themes from the 2014 State of the Union

Washington, DC – In this week’s message, Director of Hispanic Media Katherine Vargas discussed the themes from the President’s State of the Union Address on Tuesday. The President laid out a set of concrete, practical proposals to grow the economy, strengthen the middle class, and to empower all those hoping to join the middle class.

The audio of the address and video of the message is available online HERE.

Remarks by Katherine Vargas

Spanish Language Video Message

The White House

February 1, 2014

Hi, everybody. 

This week, the President delivered his State of the Union Address.  Today, here’s the three-minute version.

After four years of economic growth with eight million new private sector jobs, our unemployment rate is the lowest it’s been in more than five years and continues to decrease for Hispanics.  And with the economy picking up speed, companies say they intend to hire more people this year. 

But while those at the top are doing better than ever, average wages have barely budged.  Inequality has deepened.  Too many Americans are working harder and harder just to get by.  And too many still aren’t working at all.

Our job is to reverse those trends.  It’s time to restore opportunity for all – the idea that no matter who you are, if you work hard and live up to your responsibilities, you can make it if you try.

The opportunity agenda that the President laid out on Tuesday has four parts.

Job one is more new jobs: jobs in construction and manufacturing, jobs in innovation and energy.

In Wisconsin, the President talked with plant workers at GE about part two: training more Americans with the skills to fill those jobs.

In Tennessee, the President talked with students about part three: guaranteeing every child access to a world-class education, from early childhood, through college, and right into a career. The President also mentioned that the dropout rate among Hispanics has fallen by half since 2000, but there is more we can do to expand access to education and graduation.

And with steelworkers in Pittsburgh, and retail workers in Maryland, the President laid out part four: making sure hard work pays off for men and women, with wages you can live on, savings you can retire on, and health insurance that’s there for you when you need it.

These ideas will strengthen the middle class and help more people work their way into the middle class.  Some of them will require Congress.  But wherever the President can take steps to expand opportunity for more families on his own, he will. 

And every single day, the President is going to fight for these priorities – to shift the odds back in favor of more working and middle-class Americans, and to keep America a place where you can make it if you try.

Thanks.  Have a great weekend.  And enjoy the Super Bowl.

###