(Applause)
(Barak Obama) Thank you
(Speaker) Members of Congress, I have the
high privilege and distinct honor
of presenting to you the President of the
United States.
(Applause)
(B. Obama) Thank you so much. Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of
Congress, my fellow Americans:
We are fifteen years into this new century.
Fifteen years that dawned with terror touching
our shores;
that unfolded with a new generation fighting
two long and costly wars;
that saw a vicious recession spread across
our nation and the world.
It has been, and still is, a hard time for
many.
But tonight, we turn the page.
Tonight, after a breakthrough year for America,
our economy is growing and creating jobs at
the fastest pace since 1999.
(Applause)
Our unemployment rate is now lower than it
was before the financial crisis.
More of our kids are graduating than ever
before;
more of our people are insured than ever before;
(Applause)
and we are as free from the grip of foreign oil
as we’ve been in almost 30 years.
(Applause)
Tonight, for the first time since 9/11, our
combat mission in Afghanistan is over.
(Applause)
Six years ago, nearly 180,000 American
troops served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Today, fewer than 15,000 remain.
And we salute the courage and sacrifice of
every man and woman
in this 9/11 Generation who has served to
keep us safe.
We are humbled and grateful for your service.
(Applause)
America, for all that we’ve endured;
for all the grit and hard work required to
come back;
for all the tasks that lie ahead, know this:
The shadow of crisis has passed,
and the State of the Union is strong.
(Applause)
At this moment
– with a growing economy, shrinking deficits,
bustling industry,
booming energy production —
we have risen from recession freer to write
our own future
than any other nation on Earth.
It’s now up to us to choose who we want
to be over the next fifteen years,
and for decades to come.
Will we accept an economy where only a few
of us do spectacularly well?
Or will we commit ourselves to an economy
that generates rising incomes
and chances for everyone who makes the effort?
(Applause)
Will we approach the world fearful and reactive,
dragged into costly conflicts that strain
our military and set back our standing?
Or will we lead wisely,
using all elements of our power to defeat
new threats and protect our planet?
Will we allow ourselves to be sorted into
factions and turned against one another —
or will we recapture the sense
of common purpose
that has always propelled America forward?
In two weeks, I will send this Congress a
budget filled with ideas
that are practical, not partisan.
And in the months ahead, I’ll crisscross
the country making a case for those ideas.
So tonight, I want to focus less on a checklist
of proposals,
and focus more on the values at stake in the
choices before us.
It begins with our economy.
Seven years ago, Rebekah and Ben Erler of
Minneapolis were newlyweds.
(Laughter)
She waited tables. He worked construction.
Their first child, Jack, was on the way.
They were young and in love in America,
and it doesn’t get much better than that.
“If only we had known,” Rebekah wrote
to me last spring,
“what was about to happen to the housing
and construction market.”
As the crisis worsened, Ben’s business dried
up, so he took what jobs he could find,
even if they kept him on the road for long
stretches of time.
Rebekah took out student loans,
and enrolled in community college,
and retrained for a new career.
They sacrificed for each other.
And slowly, it paid off.
They bought their first home.
They had a second son, Henry.
Rebekah got a better job, and then a raise.
Ben is back in construction — and home
for dinner every night.
“It is amazing,” Rebekah wrote,
“what you can bounce back from when you
have to…
we are a strong, tight-knit family
who has made it through some very,
very hard times.”
We are a strong, tight-knit family
who has made it through some very,
very hard times.
America, Rebekah and Ben’s story is our
story.
They represent the millions who have worked
hard,
and scrimped, and sacrificed, and retooled.
You are the reason that I ran for this office.
You’re the people I was thinking of six
years ago today,
in the darkest months of the crisis,
when I stood on the steps of this Capitol
and promised we would rebuild our economy
on a new foundation.
And it’s been your resilience, your effort
that has made it possible for our country
to emerge stronger.
We believed we could reverse the tide of outsourcing,
and draw new jobs to our shores.
And over the past five years,
our businesses have created more
than 11 millionnew jobs.
(Applause)
We believed we could reduce
our dependence on foreign oil
and protect our planet.
And today, America is number one in oil and
gas.
America is number one in wind power.
Every three weeks, we bring online as much
solar power as we did in all of 2008.
And thanks to lower gas prices and higher
fuel standards,
the typical family this year should save
about $750 at the pump.
(Applause)
We believed we could prepare our kids for
a more competitive world.
And today, our younger students have earned
the highest math and reading scores on record.
Our high school graduation rate has hit an
all-time high.
More Americans finish college than ever
before.
(Applause)
We believed that sensible regulations could
prevent another crisis,
shield families from ruin, and encourage fair
competition.
Today, we have new tools to stop
taxpayer-funded bailouts,
and a new consumer watchdog to protect us
from predatory lending and abusive credit
card practices.
And in the past year alone,
about ten million uninsured Americans finally
gained the security of health coverage.
(Applause)
At every step, we were told our goals were
misguided or too ambitious;
that we would crush jobs and explode deficits.
Instead, we’ve seen the fastest economic
growth in over a decade,
our deficits cut by two-thirds,
a stock market that has doubled,
and health care inflation at its lowest rate
in fifty years.
(Applause)
It's good news, people.
(Laughter)
So -- so -- the verdict is clear.
(Applause)
Middle-class economics works.
Expanding opportunity works.
And these policies will continue to work,
as long as politics don’t get in the way.
We can’t slow down businesses or put our
economy at risk
with government shutdowns or fiscal showdowns.
We can’t put the security of families at
risk by taking away their health insurance,
or unraveling the new rules on Wall Street,
or refighting past battles on immigration
when we’ve got to fix a broken system.
And if a bill comes to my desk that tries
to do any of these things,
I will veto it;
they will have earned my veto.
(Applause)
Today, thanks to a growing economy,
the recovery is touching more and more lives.
Wages are finally starting to rise again.
We know that more small business owners
plan to raise their employees’ pay
than at any time since 2007.
But here’s the thing
— those of us here tonight, we need
to set our sights higher
than just making sure government
doesn’t screw things up.
that government doesn't
halt the progress we’re making.
We need to do more than just do no harm.
Tonight, together, let’s do more
to restore the link between hard work and
growing opportunity for every American.
(Applause)
Because families like Rebekah’s still need
our help.
She and Ben are working as hard as ever,
but have had to forego vacations
and a new car
so they can pay off student loans and save
for retirement.
Friday night pizza, that's a big splurge.
Basic childcare for Jack and Henry costs
more than their mortgage,
and almost as much as a year
at the University of Minnesota.
Like millions of hardworking Americans,
Rebekah isn’t asking for a handout,
but she is asking that we look for more ways
to help families get ahead.
And in fact, at every moment
of economic change throughout our history,
this country has taken bold action to adapt
to new circumstances,
and to make sure everyone gets a fair shot.
We set up worker protections, Social Security,
Medicare, Medicaid to protect ourselves
from the harshest adversity.
We gave our citizens schools and colleges,
infrastructure and the internet
— tools they needed to go as far as
their effort and their dreams will take them.
That’s what middle-class economics is
— the idea that this country does best
when everyone gets their fair shot,
everyone does their fair share,
everyone plays by the same set of rules.
We --
(Applause)
We don’t just want everyone to share in
America’s success
— we want everyone to contribute to
our success.
(Applause)
So -- so what does middle-class economics
require in our time?
First — middle-class economics means
helping working families feel more secure
in a world of constant change.
That means helping folks afford childcare,
college, health care, a home, retirement —
and my budget will address each of these issues,
lowering the taxes of working families
and putting thousands of dollars back into
their pockets each year.
(Applause)
Here’s one example.
During World War II, when men like
my grandfather went off to war,
having women like my grandmother
in the workforce
was a national security priority
— so this country provided universal childcare.
In today’s economy, when having both
parents in the workforce
is an economic necessity for many families,
we need affordable, high-quality childcare
more than ever.
(Applause)
It’s not a nice-to-have
— it’s a must-have.
So it’s time we stop treating childcare as
a side issue, or a women’s issue,
and treat it like the national economic priority
that it is for all of us.
(Applause)
And that’s why my plan will make quality
childcare more available,
and more affordable,
for every middle-class and low-income family
with young children in America
— by creating more slots and a new tax
cut of up to $3,000 per child, per year.
(Applause)
Here’s another example.
Now, today, we’re the only advanced country
on Earth
that doesn’t guarantee paid sick leave or
paid maternity leave to our workers.
Forty-three million workers have no paid sick
leave.
Forty-three million.
Think about that.
And that forces too many parents to make the
gut-wrenching choice
between a paycheck and a sick kid at home.
So I’ll be taking new action to help states
adopt paid leave laws of their own.
And since paid sick leave won where it was
on the ballot last November,
let’s put it to a vote right here in Washington.
Send me a bill that gives every worker in
America
the opportunity to earn seven days
of paid sick leave.
(Applause)
It’s the right thing to do.
It's the right thing to do.
(Applause)
Of course, nothing helps families make ends
meet like higher wages.
That’s why this Congress still needs to
pass a law
that makes sure a woman is paid the same as
a man for doing the same work.
Men (?): It’s 2015.
(laughter)
It’s time.
We still need to make sure employees get the
overtime they’ve earned.
And to everyone in this Congress who still
refuses to raise the minimum wage,
I say this:
If you truly believe you could work full-time
and support a family
on less than $15,000 a year, try it.
If not, vote to give millions of the
hardest-working people in America a raise.
(Applause)
Now, these ideas won’t make everybody rich,
or relieve every hardship.
That’s not the job of government.
To give working families a fair shot,
we’ll still need more employers to see beyond
next quarter’s earnings
and recognize that investing in their workforce
is in their company’s long-term interest.
We still need laws that strengthen rather
than weaken unions,
and give American workers a voice.
(Applause)
But --
(Applause)
But you know --
(Applause)
things like child care and sick leave
and equal pay;
things like lower mortgage premiums and a
higher minimum wage
— these ideas will make
a meaningful difference
in the lives of millions of families.
That is a fact.
And that’s what all of us
— Republicans
and Democrats alike —
were sent here to do.
Second, to make sure folks keep earning
higher wages down the road,
we have to do more to help Americans
upgrade their skills.
Now, America thrived in the 20th century
because we made high school free,
sent a generation of GIs to college,
trained the best workforce in the world.
We were ahead of the curve.
But other countries caught on.
And in a 21st century economy
that rewards knowledge like never before,
we need up our game (?)
we need to do more.
By the end of this decade,
two in three job openings will require some
higher education.
Two in three.
And yet, we still live in a country where
too many bright, striving Americans
are priced out of the education they need.
It’s not fair to them,
and it’s sure not smart for our future.
And that’s why I am sending this Congress
a bold new plan
to lower the cost of community college — to
zero.
(Applause)
Keep in mind: forty percent of our college students choose community college.
Some are young and starting out.
Some are older and looking for a better job.
Some are veterans and single parents trying
to transition back into the job market.
Whoever you are,
this plan is your chance to graduate ready
for the new economy,
without a load of debt.
Understand, you’ve got to earn it
— you’ve got to keep your grades up
and graduate on time.
Tennessee, a state with Republican leadership,
and Chicago, a city with Democratic leadership,
are showing that free community college is
possible.
I want to spread that idea all across America,
so that two years of college becomes as free
and universal in America
as high school is today.
(Applause)
Let's stay ahead of the curve.
(Applause)
And -- and I want to work with this Congress,
to make sure those already burdened
with student loans
can reduce their monthly payments,
so that student debt doesn’t derail anyone’s
dreams.
(Applause)
Thanks to Vice President Biden’s great work
to update our job training system,
we’re connecting community colleges with
local employers
to train workers to fill high-paying jobs
like coding, and nursing, and robotics.
Tonight, I’m also asking more businesses
to follow the lead of companies like CVS and
UPS,
and offer more educational benefits and paid
apprenticeships
— opportunities that give workers the
chance to earn higher-paying jobs
even if they don’t have a higher education.
And as a new generation of veterans comes
home,
we owe them every opportunity to live the
American Dream they helped defend.
Already, we’ve made strides towards ensuring
that
every veteran has access
to the highest quality care.
We’re slashing the backlog that had too
many veterans waiting years
to get the benefits they need,
and we’re making it easier for vets to translate
their training and experience
into civilian jobs.
And Joining Forces, the national campaign
launched by Michelle and Jill Biden,
(Applause)
Thank you, Michelle, thank you, Jill.
has helped nearly 700,000 veterans and
military spouses get a new job.
(Applause)
So to every CEO in America, let me repeat:
If you want somebody who’s going to get
the job done, and done right, hire a veteran.
(Applause)
Finally, as we better train our workers, we
need the new economy
to keep churning out high-wage jobs for our
workers to fill.
Since 2010, America has put more people
back to work than Europe, Japan,
and all advanced economies combined.
(Applause)
Our manufacturers have added almost
800,000 new jobs.
Some of our bedrock sectors, like our auto
industry, are booming.
But there are also millions of Americans
who work in jobs that didn’t even exist
ten or twenty years ago
— jobs at companies like Google, and eBay,
and Tesla.
So no one knows for certain which industries
will generate the jobs of the future.
But we do know we want them here in America.
(Applause)
We know that.
And that’s why the third part of
middle-class economics is all about
building the most competitive economy anywhere,
the place where businesses want to locate
and hire.
21st century businesses need 21st century
infrastructure
— modern ports, stronger bridges, faster
trains and the fastest internet.
Democrats and Republicans used to agree on
this.
So let’s set our sights higher than a single
oil pipeline.
Let’s pass a bipartisan infrastructure plan
that could create
more than thirty times as many jobs per year,
(Applause) and make this country stronger for decades to come.
Let's do it. Get it done.
(Applause)
Let's get it done.
(Applause)
21st century businesses, including small businesses,
need to sell more American products overseas.
Today, our businesses export more than ever,
and exporters tend to pay their workers higher
wages.
But as we speak,
China wants to write the rules for the world’s
fastest-growing region.
That would put our workers and businesses
at a disadvantage.
Why would we let that happen?
We should write those rules.
We should level the playing field.
That’s why I’m asking both parties
to give me trade promotion authority to protect
American workers,
with strong new trade deals
from Asia to Europe
that aren’t just free, but also fair.
That's the right thing to do.
(Applause)
Look, I’m the first one to admit --
I'm the first one to admit that past trade deals
haven’t always lived up to the hype,
and that’s why we’ve gone after countries
that break the rules at our expense.
But ninety-five percent of the world’s
customers live outside our borders.
We can’t close ourselves off from those
opportunities.
More than half of manufacturing executives
have said
they’re actively looking at bringing jobs
back from China.
So let’s give them one more reason to get it
done.
21st century businesses will rely on American
science and technology,
research and development.
I want the country that eliminated polio and
mapped the human genome
to lead a new era of medicine
— one that delivers the right treatment
at the right time.
(Applause)
In some patients with cystic fibrosis,
this approach has reversed a disease once
thought unstoppable.
So tonight, I’m launching a new
Precision Medicine Initiative
to bring us closer to curing diseases like
cancer and diabetes
— and to give all of us access to the
personalized information we need
to keep ourselves and our families healthier.
(Applause)
We can do this.
I intend to protect a free and open internet,
extend its reach to every classroom,
and every community,
and help folks build the fastest networks,
so that the next generation of digital
innovators and entrepreneurs
have the platform to keep reshaping our world.
I want Americans to win the race for the kinds
of discoveries that unleash new jobs
— converting sunlight into liquid fuel;
creating revolutionary prosthetics,
so that a veteran who gave his arms for his
country can play catch with his kids again;
pushing out into the Solar System not just
to visit, but to stay.
Now, last month, we launched
a new spacecraft
as part of a re-energized space program
that will send American astronauts to Mars.
And in two months,
to prepare us for those missions,
Scott Kelly will begin a year-long stay in
space.
So, good luck, Captain —
and make sure to Instagram it.
(Applause)
Now, the truth is,
when it comes to issues like infrastructure
and basic research,
I know there’s bipartisan support in this
chamber.
Members of both parties have told me so.
Where we too often run onto the rocks is how
to pay for these investments.
As Americans, we don’t mind paying our fair
share of taxes,
as long as everybody else does, too.
But for far too long, lobbyists have rigged
the tax code with loopholes
that let some corporations pay nothing while
others pay full freight.
They’ve riddled it with giveaways
that the superrich don’t need,
while denying a break to
middle class families who do.
This year, we have an opportunity to change
that.
Let’s close loopholes so we stop rewarding
companies that keep profits abroad,
and reward those that invest in America.
(Applause)
Let’s use those savings to rebuild our infrastructure
and to make it more attractive for companies
to bring jobs home.
Let’s simplify the system
and let a small business owner file based
on her actual bank statement,
instead of the number of accountants she can
afford.
(Applause)
And let’s close the loopholes that lead
to inequality
by allowing the top one percent to avoid
paying taxes on their accumulated wealth.
We can use that money to help more families
pay for childcare
and send their kids to college.
We need a tax code that truly helps working
Americans trying to get a leg up
in the new economy, and we can achieve that
together.
(Applause)
We can achieve it together.
Helping hardworking families make ends meet.
Giving them the tools they need for
good-paying jobs in this new economy.
Maintaining the conditions for growth and
competitiveness.
This is where America needs to go.
I believe it’s where the American people
want to go.
It will make our economy stronger a year from
now, fifteen years from now,
and deep into the century ahead.
Of course, if there’s one thing this new
century has taught us,
it’s that we cannot separate our work at
home from challenges beyond our shores.
My first duty as Commander-in-Chief is to
defend the United States of America.
In doing so, the question is not --
In doing so, the question is not whether America leads in the world, but how.
When we make rash decisions, reacting to the
headlines instead of using our heads;
when the first response to a challenge is
to send in our military
— then we risk getting drawn into
unnecessary conflicts,
and neglect the broader strategy we need for
a safer, more prosperous world.
That’s what our enemies want us to do.
I believe in a smarter kind of American leadership.
We lead best when we combine
military power with strong diplomacy;
when we leverage our power with coalition
building;
we don’t let our fears blind us to
the opportunities
that this new century presents.
That’s exactly what we’re doing right
now
— and around the globe, it is making a
difference.
First, we stand united with people around
the world
who’ve been targeted by terrorists — from
a school in Pakistan to the streets of Paris.
We will continue to hunt down terrorists and
dismantle their networks,
and we reserve
the right to act unilaterally,
as we have done relentlessly
since I took office,
to take out terrorists who pose a direct threat
to us and our allies.
(Applause)
At the same time, we’ve learned some costly
lessons over the last thirteen years.
Instead of Americans patrolling the valleys
of Afghanistan,
we trained their security forces, who’ve
now taken the lead,
and we’ve honored our troops’ sacrifice
by supporting that country’s first democratic
transition.
Instead of sending large ground forces overseas,
we’re partnering with nations from South
Asia to North Africa
to deny safe haven to terrorists who threaten
America.
In Iraq and Syria, American leadership
— including our military power —
is stopping ISIL’s advance.
Instead of getting dragged into another
ground war in the Middle East,
we are leading a broad coalition, including
Arab nations,
to degrade and ultimately destroy this terrorist
group.
(Applause)
We’re also supporting a moderate opposition
in Syria that can help us in this effort,
and assisting people everywhere
who stand up to the bankrupt ideology
of violent extremism.
Now, this effort will take time.
It will require focus.
But we will succeed.
And tonight, I call on this Congress to show
the world
that we are united in this mission
by passing a resolution to authorize the use
of force against ISIL.
We need to add a form (?)
(Applause)
Second, we are demonstrating the power of
American strength and diplomacy.
We’re upholding the principle that bigger
nations can’t bully the small
— by opposing Russian aggression,
and supporting Ukraine’s democracy,
and reassuring our NATO allies.
(Applause)
Last year,
as we were doing the hard work of imposing
sanctions along with our allies,
as we were reinforcing our presence with the front-line states,
Mr. Putin’s aggression, it was suggested,
was a masterful display of strategy and strength.
That's what I heard from some folks.
Well, today, it is America that stands strong
and united with our allies,
while Russia is isolated, with its economy
in tatters.
That’s how America leads — not with
bluster, but with persistent, steady resolve.
(Applause)
And in Cuba, we are ending a policy
that was long past its expiration date.
(Applause)
When what you’re doing doesn’t work for
fifty years,
it’s time to try something new.
(Laughter and applause)
And our shift in Cuba policy has the potential
to end a legacy of mistrust in our hemisphere;
it removes a phony excuse for restrictions in
Cuba;
stands up for democratic values;
and extends the hand of friendship to the
Cuban people.
And this year, Congress should begin
the work of ending the embargo.
You know, as --
(Applause)
As His Holiness, Pope Francis, has said,
(Applause)
diplomacy is the work of “small steps.”
These small steps have added up
to new hope for the future in Cuba.
And after years in prison,
we’re overjoyed that Alan Gross is back
where he belongs.
Welcome home, Alan. We're glad you're here.
(Applause)
Our diplomacy is at work with respect to Iran,
where, for the first time in a decade,
we’ve halted the progress of its nuclear
program
and reduced its stockpile of nuclear material.
Between now and this spring,
we have a chance to negotiate
a comprehensive agreement
that prevents a nuclear-armed Iran;
secures America and our allies — including
Israel;
while avoiding yet another Middle East conflict.
There are no guarantees that negotiations
will succeed,
and I keep all options on the table to prevent
a nuclear Iran.
But new sanctions passed by this Congress,
at this moment in time,
will all but guarantee that diplomacy fails
— alienating America from its allies;
making it harder to maintain sanctions,
and ensuring that Iran starts up its nuclear
program again.
It doesn’t make sense.
And that's why I will veto any new sanctions
bill that threatens to undo this progress.
(Applause)
The American people expect us to only go to
war as a last resort,
and I intend to stay true to that wisdom.
Third, we’re looking beyond the issues that
have consumed us in the past
to shape the coming century.
No foreign nation, no hacker, should be able
to shut down our networks,
steal our trade secrets, or invade the privacy
of American families,
especially our kids.
(Applause)
So we are making sure our government
integrates intelligence
to combat cyber threats,
just as we have done to combat terrorism.
And tonight, I urge this Congress to finally
pass the legislation we need
to better meet the evolving threat of
cyber-attacks,
combat identity theft, and protect
our children’s information.
That should be a (UNCLEAR)
(Applause)
You know, if we don’t act, we’ll leave
our nation and our economy vulnerable.
If we do, we can continue to protect the technologies
that have unleashed untold opportunities for
people around the globe.
In West Africa, our troops, our scientists,
our doctors, our nurses
and healthcare workers are rolling back Ebola
— saving countless lives and stopping
the spread of disease.
(Applause)
I couldn’t be prouder of them,
and I thank this Congress for your bipartisan
support of their efforts.
But the job is not yet done — and the
world needs to use this lesson
to build a more effective global effort to
prevent the spread of future pandemics,
invest in smart development, and eradicate
extreme poverty.
In the Asia Pacific, we are modernizing alliances
while making sure that other nations play
by the rules
— in how they trade, how they resolve
maritime disputes,
how they participate in meeting common
international challenges
like nonproliferation and disaster relief.
And no challenge — no challenge — poses
a greater threat to future generations
than climate change.
(Applause)
2014 was the planet’s warmest year on record.
Now, one year doesn’t make a trend, but
this does
— 14 of the 15 warmest years on record
have all fallen
in the first 15 years of this century.
I’ve heard some folks try
to dodge the evidence
by saying they’re not scientists;
that we don’t have enough information
to act.
Well, I’m not a scientist, either.
But you know what — I know a lot of
really good scientists at NASA, and NOAA,
and at our major universities.
And the best scientists in the world
are all telling us
that our activities are changing the climate,
and if we do not act forcefully,
we’ll continue to see rising oceans, longer,
hotter heat waves,
dangerous droughts and floods,
and massive disruptions that can trigger
greater migration,
and conflict, and hunger around the globe.
The Pentagon says that climate change poses
immediate risks to our national security.
We should act like it.
And hat’s why --
(Applause)
that's why over the past six years,
we’ve done more than ever before to combat
climate change,
from the way we produce energy, to the way
we use it.
That’s why we’ve set aside more public
lands and waters
than any administration in history.
And that’s why I will not let this Congress
endanger the health of our children
by turning back the clock on our efforts.
I am determined to make sure
that American leadership drives
international action.
(Applause)
In Beijing, we made an historic announcement
— the United States will double the pace
at which we cut carbon pollution,
and China committed, for the first time, to
limiting their emissions.
And because the world’s
two largest economies came together,
other nations are now stepping up,
and offering hope that, this year,
the world will finally reach an agreement
to protect the one planet we’ve got.
And there’s one last pillar to our leadership —
and that’s the example of our values.
As Americans, we respect human dignity,
even when we’re threatened,
which is why I’ve prohibited torture,
and worked to make sure our use
of new technology like drones
is properly constrained.
(Applause)
It’s why we speak out against the deplorable
anti-Semitism
that has resurfaced in certain parts of the
world.
It’s why we continue to reject offensive
stereotypes of Muslims
— the vast majority of whom share our
commitment to peace.
That’s why we defend free speech,
and advocate for political prisoners,
and condemn the persecution of women,
or religious minorities,
or people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual,
or transgender.
We do these things not only because
they’re the right things to do,
but because ultimately,
they will make us safer.
(Applause)
As Americans, we have a profound
commitment to justice
— so it makes no sense to spend three
million dollars per prisoner
to keep open a prison
that the world condemns
and terrorists use to recruit.
(Applause)
Since I’ve been President, we’ve worked
responsibly
to cut the population of GTMO in half.
Now it’s time to finish the job.
And I will not relent in my determination
to shut it down.
It’s not who we are, it's time to close GTMO.
(Applause)
As Americans, we cherish our civil liberties
— and we need to uphold that commitment
if we want maximum cooperation from other
countries and industry
in our fight against terrorist networks.
So while some have moved on from the
debates over our surveillance programs,
I have not.
As promised, our intelligence agencies have
worked hard,
with the recommendations of privacy advocates,
to increase transparency and build more
safeguards against potential abuse.
And next month, we’ll issue a report on
how we’re keeping our promise
to keep our country safe while strengthening
privacy.
Looking to the future instead of the past.
Making sure we match our power with
diplomacy, and use force wisely.
Building coalitions to meet new challenges
and opportunities.
Leading — always — with the example
of our values.
That’s what makes us exceptional.
That’s what keeps us strong.
That’s why we have to keep striving
to hold ourselves to the highest of standards
— our own.
You know, just over a decade ago, I gave a
speech in Boston
where I said there was no liberal America,
or a conservative America;
a black America or a white America
— but a United States of America.
I said this because I had seen it
in my own life,
in a nation that gave
someone like me a chance;
because I grew up in Hawaii,
a melting pot of races and customs;
because I made Illinois my home — a
state of small towns, rich farmland,
and one of the world’s great cities;
a microcosm of the country where Democrats
and Republicans and Independents,
good people of every ethnicity and every faith,
share certain bedrock values.
Over the past six years, the pundits have
pointed out more than once
that my presidency hasn’t delivered on this
vision.
How ironic, they say, that our politics seems
more divided than ever.
It’s held up as proof not just of my own
flaws — of which there are many —
but also as proof that the vision itself is
misguided, naïve,
that there are too many people in this town
who actually benefit from partisanship and
gridlock
for us to ever do anything about it.
I know how tempting such cynicism may be.
But I still think the cynics are wrong.
I still believe that we are one people.
I still believe that together, we can do great
things, even when the odds are long.
(Applause)
I believe this because over and over in my
six years in office,
I have seen America at its best.
I’ve seen the hopeful faces
of young graduates
from New York to California;
and our newest officers at West Point,
Annapolis, Colorado Springs,
New London.
I’ve mourned with grieving families in Tucson
and Newtown; in Boston,
in West Texas, and West Virginia.
I’ve watched Americans beat back adversity
from the Gulf Coast to the Great Plains;
from Midwest assembly lines
to the Mid-Atlantic seaboard.
I’ve seen something like gay marriage
go from a wedge issue used to drive us apart
to a story of freedom across our country,
a civil right now legal in states that seven
in ten Americans call home.
(Applause)
So I know the good, and optimistic,
and big-hearted generosity
of the American people who, every day,
live the idea that we are our brother’s
keeper, and our sister’s keeper.
And I know they expect those of us who serve
here to set a better example.
So the question for those of us here tonight
is how we, all of us,
can better reflect America’s hopes.
I’ve served in Congress with many of you.
I know many of you well.
There are a lot of good people here, on both
sides of the aisle.
And many of you have told me that this isn’t
what you signed up for
— arguing past each other on cable shows,
the constant fundraising,
always looking over your shoulder at how the
base will react to every decision.
Imagine if we broke out of these tired old
patterns.
Imagine if we did something different.
Understand — a better politics isn’t
one where Democrats abandon their agenda
or Republicans simply embrace mine.
A better politics is one where we appeal to
each other’s basic decency
instead of our basest fears.
A better politics is one where we debate
without demonizing each other;
where we talk issues, and values,
and principles, and facts,
rather than “gotcha” moments, or trivial
gaffes,
or fake controversies that have nothing to
do with people’s daily lives.
(Applause)
A politics --
A better politics is one where we spend less
time
drowning in dark money for ads that pull us
into the gutter,
and spend more time lifting young people up,
with a sense of purpose and possibility,
asking them to join in the great mission
of building America.
If we’re going to have arguments,
let’s have arguments
— but let’s make them debates worthy
of this body and worthy of this country.
We still may not agree on a woman’s right
to choose,
but surely we can agree it’s a good thing
that teen pregnancies and abortions
are nearing all-time lows,
and that every woman should have access to
the health care she needs.
(Applause)
Yes, passions still fly on immigration,
but surely we can all see something
of ourselves in the striving young student,
and agree that no one benefits
when a hardworking mom
is snatched from her child,
and that it’s possible to shape a law that
upholds our tradition as a nation of laws
and a nation of immigrants.
I've talked to Republicans and Democrats
about that.
That's something that we can share.
We may go at it in campaign season,
but surely we can agree that the right to
vote is sacred;
that it’s being denied to too many;
and that, on this 50th anniversary of the
great march from Selma to Montgomery
and the passage of the Voting Rights Act,
we can come together,
Democrats and Republicans
to make vote immediate
for every single man.
(Applause)
We may have different takes on the events
of Ferguson and New York.
But surely we can understand a father
who fears his son can’t walk home without
being harassed.
And surely we can understand the wife
who won’t rest until the police officer
she married
walks through the front door at the end of
his shift.
And surely we can agree it’s a good thing that
for the first time in 40 years,
the crime rate and the incarceration rate
have come down together,
and use that as a starting point for Democrats
and Republicans,
community leaders and law enforcement,
to reform America’s criminal justice system
so that it protects and serves all of us.
(Applause)
That’s a better politics.
That’s how we start rebuilding trust.
That’s how we move this country forward.
That’s what the American people want.
That’s what they deserve.
I have no more campaigns to run.
My only agenda --
(laughter)
I know because I won both of them
(laughter and cheers)
My only agenda for the next two years is the
same as the one I’ve had
since the day I swore an oath on the steps
of this Capitol
— to do what I believe is best for America.
If you share the broad vision I outlined tonight,
I ask you to join me in the work at hand.
If you disagree with parts of it,
I hope you’ll at least work with me where
you do agree.
And I commit to every Republican here tonight
that I will not only seek out your ideas,
I will seek to work with you to make this
country stronger.
(Applause
Because -- I want this chamber,
I want this city, to reflect the truth
— that for all our blind spots and
shortcomings,
we are a people with the strength and
generosity of spirit to bridge divides,
to unite in common effort, and help our neighbors,
whether down the street or on the other side
of the world.
I want our actions to tell every child, in
every neighborhood:
your life matters, and we are as committed
to improving your life chances
as we are to work on behalf of my own kids.
(Applause)
I want future generations to know that we
are a people
who see our differences as a great gift,
that we are a people who value the dignity
and worth of every citizen
— man and woman, young and old, black
and white, Latino and Asian,
immigrant and Native American, gay and straight,
Americans with mental illness or physical
disability.
Everybody matters.
I want them to grow up in a country
that shows the world
what we still know to be true:
that we are still more than a collection of
red states and blue states;
that we are the United States of America.
(Applause)
I want them to grow up in a country
where a young mom
can sit down and write a letter to her President
with a story to sum up these past six years:
“It is amazing what you can bounce back
from when you have to…
we are a strong, tight-knit family
who has made it through
some very, very hard times.”
My fellow Americans, we too are a strong,
tight-knit family.
We, too, have made it through some hard times.
Fifteen years into this new century,
we have picked ourselves up,
dusted ourselves off,
and begun again the work of remaking America.
We’ve laid a new foundation.
A brighter future is ours to write.
Let’s begin this new chapter — together — and
let’s start the work right now.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless this
country we love. Thank you.
(Applause)
(鼓掌)
(巴拉克奥巴马)谢谢大家!
(演讲人)
特别感谢大家。
我们跨入这个世纪十五年了。