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  • (applause)

  • The President: Thank you.

  • Alright.

  • Let's bring this to order.

  • Paul Ryan: Members of Congress.

  • I have the high privilege, and the distinct honor of

  • presenting to you the President

  • of the United States.

  • (applause)

  • The President: Thank you very much.

  • Everybody, please have a seat.

  • Thank you.

  • Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President,

  • Members of Congress, my fellow Americans:

  • Tonight marks the eighth year I've come here to

  • report on the State of the Union.

  • And for this final one, I'm going to try to make

  • it shorter.

  • (applause)

  • I know some of you are antsy to get back to Iowa.

  • (laughter)

  • I've been there.

  • I'll be shaking hands afterwards,

  • if you want some tips.

  • (laughter)

  • I also understand that because it's an election

  • season, expectations for what we'll achieve this year

  • are low.

  • Still, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the constructive

  • approach you and the other leaders took at the end of

  • last year to pass a budget and make tax cuts permanent

  • for working families.

  • So I hope we can work together this year on

  • bipartisan priorities like criminal justice reform,

  • (applause)

  • -- and helping people who are battling prescription

  • drug abuse.

  • (applause)

  • So, who knows.

  • We just might surprise the cynics again.

  • But tonight, I want to go easy on the traditional list

  • of proposals for the year ahead.

  • Don't worry, I've got plenty,

  • from helping students learn to write computer code to

  • personalizing medical treatments for patients.

  • And I'll keep pushing for progress on the work that

  • still needs doing.

  • Fixing a broken immigration system.

  • (applause)

  • Protecting our kids from gun violence.

  • (applause)

  • Equal pay for equal work,

  • (applause)

  • paid leave, raising the minimum wage.

  • (applause)

  • All these things still matter to hardworking

  • families; they are still the right thing to do;

  • and I will not let up until they get done.

  • But for my final address to this chamber,

  • I don't want to talk just about the next year.

  • I want to focus on the next five years, ten years,

  • and beyond.

  • I want to focus on our future.

  • We live in a time of extraordinary change -

  • change that's reshaping the way we live,

  • the way we work, our planet and our place in the world.

  • It's change that promises amazing medical

  • breakthroughs, but also economic disruptions that

  • strain working families.

  • It promises education for girls in the most remote

  • villages, but also connects terrorists plotting

  • an ocean away.

  • It's change that can broaden opportunity,

  • or widen inequality.

  • And whether we like it or not,

  • the pace of this change will only accelerate.

  • America has been through big changes before - wars and

  • depression, the influx of immigrants,

  • workers fighting for a fair deal,

  • and movements to expand civil rights.

  • Each time, there have been those who told us to fear

  • the future; who claimed we could slam the brakes on

  • change, promising to restore past glory if we just got

  • some group or idea that was threatening America

  • under control.

  • And each time, we overcame those fears.

  • We did not, in the words of Lincoln,

  • adhere to the "dogmas of the quiet past."

  • Instead we thought anew, and acted anew.

  • We made change work for us, always extending America's

  • promise outward, to the next frontier,

  • to more and more people.

  • And because we did - because we saw opportunity where

  • others saw only peril - we emerged stronger and better

  • than before.

  • What was true then can be true now.

  • Our unique strengths as a nation - our optimism and

  • work ethic, our spirit of discovery and innovation,

  • our diversity and commitment to the rule of law - these

  • things give us everything we need to ensure prosperity

  • and security for generations to come.

  • In fact, it's that spirit that made the progress of

  • these past seven years possible.

  • It's how we recovered from the worst economic crisis

  • in generations.

  • (applause)

  • It's how we reformed our health care system,

  • and reinvented our energy sector;

  • (applause)

  • -- how we delivered more care and benefits to our

  • troops and veterans,

  • (applause)

  • that's how we secured the freedom in every state to

  • marry the person we love.

  • (applause)

  • But such progress is not inevitable.

  • It is the result of choices we make together.

  • And we face such choices right now.

  • Will we respond to the changes of our time with

  • fear, turning inward as a nation,

  • and turning against each other as a people?

  • Or will we face the future with confidence in who we

  • are, what we stand for, and the incredible things we can

  • do together?

  • So let's talk about the future,

  • and four big questions that we as a country have to

  • answer - regardless of who the next President is,

  • or who controls the next Congress.

  • First, how do we give everyone a fair shot at

  • opportunity and security in this new economy?

  • (applause)

  • Second, how do we make technology work for us,

  • and not against us - especially when it comes to

  • solving urgent challenges like climate change?

  • (applause)

  • Third, how do we keep America safe and lead the

  • world without becoming its policeman?

  • (applause)

  • And finally, how can we make our politics reflect what's

  • best in us, and not what's worst?

  • (applause)

  • Let me start with the economy,

  • and a basic fact: the United States of America,

  • right now, has the strongest,

  • most durable economy in the world.

  • (applause)

  • We're in the middle of the longest streak of

  • private-sector job creation in history.

  • (applause)

  • More than 14 million new jobs;

  • the strongest two years of job growth since the '90s;

  • an unemployment rate cut in half.

  • Our auto industry just had its best year ever.

  • (applause)

  • That's just part of a manufacturing surge that has

  • created nearly 900,000 new jobs in the past six years.

  • And we've done all this while cutting our deficits

  • by almost three-quarters.

  • (applause)

  • Anyone claiming that America's economy is in

  • decline is peddling fiction.

  • (applause)

  • What is true - and the reason that a lot of

  • Americans feel anxious - is that the economy has been

  • changing in profound ways, changes that started long

  • before the Great Recession hit and haven't let up.

  • Today, technology doesn't just replace jobs on the

  • assembly line, but any job where work can be automated.

  • Companies in a global economy can locate anywhere,

  • and face tougher competition.

  • As a result, workers have less leverage for a raise.

  • Companies have less loyalty to their communities.

  • And more and more wealth and income is concentrated at

  • the very top.

  • All these trends have squeezed workers,

  • even when they have jobs; even when the economy

  • is growing.

  • It's made it harder for a hardworking family to pull

  • itself out of poverty, harder for young people to

  • start on their careers, and tougher for workers to

  • retire when they want to.

  • And although none of these trends are unique to

  • America, they do offend our uniquely American belief

  • that everybody who works hard should get a fair shot.

  • For the past seven years, our goal has been a growing

  • economy that works better for everybody.

  • We've made progress.

  • But we need to make more.

  • And despite all the political arguments we've

  • had these past few years, there are some areas where

  • Americans broadly agree.

  • We agree that real opportunity requires every

  • American to get the education and training they

  • need to land a good-paying job.

  • The bipartisan reform of No Child Left Behind was an

  • important start, and together,

  • we've increased early childhood education,

  • lifted high school graduation rates to new

  • highs, and boosted graduates in fields like engineering.

  • In the coming years, we should build on that

  • progress, by providing Pre-K for all,

  • (applause)

  • -- offering every student the hands-on computer

  • science and math classes that make them job-ready on

  • day one, and we should recruit and support more

  • great teachers for our kids.

  • (applause)

  • And we have to make college affordable for every American.

  • (applause)

  • Because no hardworking student should be stuck in

  • the red.

  • We've already reduced student loan payments to ten

  • percent of a borrower's income.

  • Now, we've actually got to cut the cost of college.

  • (applause)

  • Providing two years of community college at no cost

  • for every responsible student is one of the best

  • ways to do that, and I'm going to keep fighting to

  • get that started this year.

  • (applause)

  • Of course, a great education isn't all we need in this

  • new economy.

  • We also need benefits and protections that provide a

  • basic measure of security.

  • After all, it's not much of a stretch to say that some

  • of the only people in America who are going to

  • work the same job, in the same place,

  • with a health and retirement package, for 30 years,

  • are sitting in this chamber.

  • (laughter)

  • For everyone else, especially folks in their

  • forties and fifties, saving for retirement or bouncing

  • back from job loss has gotten a lot tougher.

  • Americans understand that at some point in their careers,

  • they may have to retool and retrain.

  • But they shouldn't lose what they've already worked so

  • hard to build.

  • That's why Social Security and Medicare are more

  • important than ever; we shouldn't weaken them,

  • we should strengthen them.

  • (applause)

  • And for Americans short of retirement,

  • basic benefits should be just as mobile as everything

  • else is today.

  • That's what the Affordable Care Act is all about.

  • It's about filling the gaps in employer-based care so

  • that when we lose a job, or go back to school,

  • or start that new business, we'll still have coverage.

  • Nearly eighteen million have gained coverage so far.

  • (applause)

  • Health care inflation has slowed.

  • And our businesses have created jobs every single

  • month since it became law.

  • Now, I'm guessing we won't agree on health care

  • anytime soon.

  • (laughter)

  • But there should be other ways both parties can work

  • together to improve economic security.

  • Say a hardworking American loses his job - we shouldn't

  • just make sure he can get unemployment insurance;

  • we should make sure that program encourages him to

  • retrain for a business that's ready to hire him.

  • If that new job doesn't pay as much,

  • there should be a system of wage insurance in place so

  • that he can still pay his bills.

  • And even if he's going from job to job,

  • he should still be able to save for retirement and take

  • his savings with him.

  • That's the way we make the new economy work better

  • for everyone.

  • I also know Speaker Ryan has talked about his interest in

  • tackling poverty.

  • America is about giving everybody willing to work a

  • hand up, and I'd welcome a serious discussion about

  • strategies we can all support,

  • like expanding tax cuts for low-income workers

  • who don't have children.

  • (applause)

  • But there are other areas where it's been more

  • difficult to find agreement over the last seven years -

  • and a lot of them fall under the category of what role

  • the government should play in

  • making sure the system's not rigged in favor of the

  • wealthiest and biggest corporations.

  • (applause)

  • It's an honest disagreement.

  • And the American people have a choice to make.

  • I believe a thriving private sector is the lifeblood of

  • our economy.

  • I think there are outdated regulations that need to be

  • changed, and there's red tape that needs to be cut.

  • (applause)

  • But after years of record corporate profits,

  • working families won't get more opportunity or bigger

  • paychecks by letting big banks or big oil or hedge

  • funds make their own rules at everybody else's expense.

  • (applause)

  • Middle-class families are not going to feel more

  • secure because a lot of times we allow attacks on

  • collective bargaining to go unanswered.

  • Food Stamp recipients didn't cause the financial crisis;

  • recklessness on Wall Street did.

  • (applause)

  • Immigrants aren't the principal reason wages

  • haven't gone up enough; those decisions are made in

  • the boardrooms that too often put quarterly earnings

  • over long-term returns.

  • It's sure not the average family watching tonight that

  • avoids paying taxes through offshore accounts.

  • The point is, I believe, in this new economy,

  • workers and start-ups and small businesses need more

  • of a voice, not less.

  • The rules should work for them.

  • And this year I plan to lift up the many businesses

  • who've figured out that doing right by their workers

  • or their customers, or their communities,

  • ends up being good for their shareholders,

  • and I want to spread those best practices

  • across America.

  • That's a part of a brighter future.

  • (applause)

  • In fact, many of our best corporate citizens are also

  • our most creative.

  • This brings me to the second big question we have to

  • answer as a country: how do we reignite that spirit of

  • innovation to meet our biggest challenges?

  • Sixty years ago, when the Russians beat us into space,

  • we didn't deny Sputnik was up there.

  • (laughter)

  • We didn't argue about the science,

  • or shrink our research and development budget.

  • We built a space program almost overnight,

  • and twelve years later, we were walking on the moon.

  • (applause)

  • That spirit of discovery is in our DNA.

  • We're Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers and George

  • Washington Carver.

  • We're Grace Hopper and Katherine Johnson

  • and Sally Ride.

  • We're every immigrant and entrepreneur from Boston to

  • Austin to Silicon Valley racing to shape a better world.

  • (applause)

  • And over the past seven years,

  • we've nurtured that spirit.

  • We've protected an open internet,

  • and taken bold new steps to get more students and

  • low-income Americans online.

  • (applause)

  • We've launched next-generation

  • manufacturing hubs, and online tools that give an

  • entrepreneur everything he or she needs to start a

  • business in a single day.

  • But we can do so much more.

  • Last year, Vice President Biden said that with a new

  • moonshot, America can cure cancer.

  • Last month, he worked with this Congress to give

  • scientists at the National Institutes of Health the

  • strongest resources they've had in over a decade.

  • (applause)

  • Tonight, I'm announcing a new national effort to get

  • it done.

  • And because he's gone to the mat for all of us,

  • on so many issues over the past forty years,

  • I'm putting Joe in charge of Mission Control.

  • (applause)

  • For the loved ones we've all lost,

  • for the family we can still save,

  • let's make America the country that cures cancer

  • once and for all.

  • (applause)

  • Medical research is critical.

  • We need the same level of commitment when it comes to

  • developing clean energy sources.

  • (applause)

  • Look, if anybody still wants to dispute the science

  • around climate change, have at it.

  • You'll be pretty lonely, because you'll be debating

  • our military, most of America's business leaders,

  • the majority of the American people,

  • almost the entire scientific community,

  • and 200 nations around the world who agree it's a

  • problem and intend to solve it.

  • (applause)

  • But even if the planet wasn't at stake;

  • even if 2014 wasn't the warmest year on record -

  • until 2015 turned out even hotter - why would we want

  • to pass up the chance for American businesses to

  • produce and sell the energy of the future?

  • (applause)

  • Seven years ago, we made the single biggest investment in

  • clean energy in our history.

  • Here are the results.

  • In fields from Iowa to Texas,

  • wind power is now cheaper than dirtier,

  • conventional power.

  • On rooftops from Arizona to New York,

  • solar is saving Americans tens of millions of dollars

  • a year on their energy bills,

  • and employs more Americans than coal - in jobs that pay

  • better than average.

  • We're taking steps to give homeowners the freedom to

  • generate and store their own energy - something

  • environmentalists and Tea Partiers have teamed up

  • to support.

  • Meanwhile, we've cut our imports of foreign oil by

  • nearly sixty percent, and cut carbon pollution more

  • than any other country on Earth.

  • (applause)

  • Gas under two bucks a gallon ain't bad, either.

  • (laughter)

  • Now we've got to accelerate the transition away

  • from dirty energy.

  • Rather than subsidize the past,

  • we should invest in the future - especially in

  • communities that rely on fossil fuels.

  • That's why I'm going to push to change the way we manage

  • our oil and coal resources, so that they better reflect

  • the costs they impose on taxpayers and our planet.

  • That way, we put money back into those communities and

  • put tens of thousands of Americans to work building a

  • 21st century transportation system.

  • (applause)

  • None of this will happen overnight, and yes,

  • there are plenty of entrenched interests who

  • want to protect the status quo.

  • But the jobs we'll create, the money we'll save,

  • and the planet we'll preserve - that's the kind

  • of future our kids and grandkids deserve.

  • And it's within our grasp.

  • Climate change is just one of many issues where our

  • security is linked to the rest of the world.

  • And that's why the third big question we have to answer

  • is how to keep America safe and strong without either

  • isolating ourselves or trying to nation-build

  • everywhere there's a problem.

  • I told you earlier all the talk of America's economic

  • decline is political hot air.

  • Well, so is all the rhetoric you hear about our enemies

  • getting stronger and America getting weaker.

  • The United States of America is the most powerful nation

  • on Earth.

  • Period.

  • (applause)

  • It's not even close.

  • (applause)

  • We spend more on our military than the next eight

  • nations combined.

  • Our troops are the finest fighting force in the

  • history of the world.

  • (applause)

  • No nation dares to attack us or our allies because they

  • know that's the path to ruin.

  • Surveys show our standing around the world is higher

  • than when I was elected to this office,

  • and when it comes to every important international

  • issue, people of the world do not look to Beijing or

  • Moscow to lead - they call us.

  • (applause)

  • As someone who begins every day with an intelligence

  • briefing, I know this is a dangerous time.

  • But that's not because of diminished American strength

  • or some looming superpower.

  • In today's world, we're threatened less by evil

  • empires and more by failing states.

  • The Middle East is going through a transformation

  • that will play out for a generation,

  • rooted in conflicts that date back millennia.

  • Economic headwinds blow from a Chinese economy

  • in transition.

  • Even as their economy contracts,

  • Russia is pouring resources to prop up Ukraine and Syria

  • - states they see slipping away from their orbit.

  • And the international system we built after World War II

  • is now struggling to keep pace with this new reality.

  • It's up to us to help remake that system.

  • And that means we have to set priorities.

  • Priority number one is protecting the American

  • people and going after terrorist networks.

  • (applause)

  • Both al Qaeda and now ISIL pose a direct threat to our

  • people, because in today's world,

  • even a handful of terrorists who place no value on human

  • life, including their own, can do a lot of damage.

  • They use the Internet to poison the minds of

  • individuals inside our country;

  • they undermine our allies.

  • But as we focus on destroying ISIL,

  • over-the-top claims that this is World War III just

  • play into their hands.

  • Masses of fighters on the back of pickup trucks and

  • twisted souls plotting in apartments or garages pose

  • an enormous danger to civilians

  • and must be stopped.

  • But they do not threaten our national existence.

  • That's the story ISIL wants to tell;

  • that's the kind of propaganda they use to recruit.

  • We don't need to build them up to show that we're

  • serious, nor do we need to push away vital allies in

  • this fight by echoing the lie that ISIL is

  • representative of one of the world's largest religions.

  • (applause)

  • We just need to call them what they are - killers and

  • fanatics who have to be rooted out, hunted down,

  • and destroyed.

  • (applause)

  • That's exactly what we are doing.

  • For more than a year, America has led a coalition

  • of more than 60 countries to cut off ISIL's financing,

  • disrupt their plots, stop the flow of terrorist

  • fighters, and stamp out their vicious ideology.

  • With nearly 10,000 air strikes,

  • we are taking out their leadership, their oil,

  • their training camps, and their weapons.

  • We are training, arming, and supporting forces who are

  • steadily reclaiming territory in Iraq and Syria.

  • If this Congress is serious about winning this war,

  • and wants to send a message to our troops and the world,

  • you should finally authorize the use of military force

  • against ISIL.

  • Take a vote.

  • (applause)

  • But the American people should know that with or

  • without Congressional action,

  • ISIL will learn the same lessons as terrorists

  • before them.

  • If you doubt America's commitment - or mine - to

  • see that justice is done, ask Osama bin Laden.

  • (applause)

  • Ask the leader of al Qaeda in Yemen,

  • who was taken out last year, or the perpetrator of the

  • Benghazi attacks, who sits in a prison cell.

  • When you come after Americans, we go after you.

  • It may take time, but we have long memories,

  • and our reach has no limit.

  • (applause)

  • Our foreign policy must be focused on the threat from

  • ISIL and al Qaeda, but it can't stop there.

  • For even without ISIL, instability will continue

  • for decades in many parts of the world - in the Middle

  • East, in Afghanistan and Pakistan,

  • in parts of Central America, Africa and Asia.

  • Some of these places may become safe havens for new

  • terrorist networks; others will fall victim to ethnic

  • conflict, or famine, feeding the next wave of refugees.

  • The world will look to us to help solve these problems,

  • and our answer needs to be more than tough talk or

  • calls to carpet bomb civilians.

  • That may work as a TV sound bite,

  • but it doesn't pass muster on the world stage.

  • We also can't try to take over and rebuild every

  • country that falls into crisis.

  • That's not leadership; that's a recipe for

  • quagmire, spilling American blood and treasure that

  • ultimately weakens us.

  • It's the lesson of Vietnam, of Iraq - and we should have

  • learned it by now.

  • (applause)

  • Fortunately, there's a smarter approach,

  • a patient and disciplined strategy that uses every

  • element of our national power.

  • It says America will always act, alone if necessary,

  • to protect our people and our allies;

  • but on issues of global concern,

  • we will mobilize the world to work with us,

  • and make sure other countries pull their own weight.

  • That's our approach to conflicts like Syria,

  • where we're partnering with local forces and leading

  • international efforts to help that broken society

  • pursue a lasting peace.

  • That's why we built a global coalition,

  • with sanctions and principled diplomacy,

  • to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran.

  • As we speak, Iran has rolled back its nuclear program,

  • shipped out its uranium stockpile,

  • and the world has avoided another war.

  • (applause)

  • That's how we stopped the spread of Ebola in West Africa.

  • (applause)

  • Our military, our doctors, and our development workers

  • set up the platform that allowed other countries to

  • join us in stamping out that epidemic.

  • That's how we forged a Trans-Pacific Partnership to

  • open markets, protect workers and the environment,

  • and advance American leadership in Asia.

  • It cuts 18,000 taxes on products Made in America,

  • and supports more good jobs.

  • With TPP, China doesn't set the rules in that region,

  • we do.

  • You want to show our strength in this century?

  • Approve this agreement.

  • Give us the tools to enforce it.

  • (applause)

  • Fifty years of isolating Cuba had failed to promote

  • democracy, setting us back in Latin America.

  • That's why we restored diplomatic relations,

  • opened the door to travel and commerce,

  • and positioned ourselves to improve the lives

  • of the Cuban people.

  • (applause)

  • You want to consolidate our leadership and credibility

  • in the hemisphere?

  • Recognize that the Cold War is over.

  • Lift the embargo.

  • (applause)

  • American leadership in the 21st century is not a choice

  • between ignoring the rest of the world - except when we

  • kill terrorists; or occupying and rebuilding

  • whatever society is unraveling.

  • Leadership means a wise application of military

  • power, and rallying the world behind causes

  • that are right.

  • It means seeing our foreign assistance as part of our

  • national security, not charity.

  • When we lead nearly 200 nations to the most

  • ambitious agreement in history to fight climate

  • change - that helps vulnerable countries,

  • but it also protects our children.

  • When we help Ukraine defend its democracy,

  • or Colombia resolve a decades-long war,

  • that strengthens the international order

  • we depend upon.

  • When we help African countries feed their people

  • and care for the sick.

  • (applause)

  • It's the right thing to do.

  • And it prevents the next pandemic from reaching

  • our shores.

  • Right now, we are on track to end the scourge of

  • HIV/AIDS, and we have the capacity to accomplish the

  • same thing with malaria - something I'll be pushing

  • this Congress to fund this year.

  • (applause)

  • That's American strength.

  • That's American leadership.

  • And that kind of leadership depends on the power

  • of our example.

  • That is why I will keep working to shut down the

  • prison at Guantanamo: it's expensive, it's unnecessary,

  • and it only serves as a recruitment brochure

  • for our enemies.

  • (applause)

  • That's why we need to reject any politics that targets

  • people because of race or religion.

  • (applause)

  • This is not a matter of political correctness.

  • It's a matter of understanding

  • what makes us strong.

  • The world respects us not just for our arsenal;

  • it respects us for our diversity and our openness

  • and the way we respect every faith.

  • His Holiness, Pope Francis, told this body from the very

  • spot I stand tonight that "to imitate the hatred and

  • violence of tyrants and murderers is the best way to

  • take their place."

  • When politicians insult Muslims,

  • when a mosque is vandalized, or a kid bullied,

  • that doesn't make us safer.

  • That's not telling it like it is.

  • It's just wrong.

  • It diminishes us in the eyes of the world.

  • (applause)

  • It makes it harder to achieve our goals.

  • And it betrays who we are as a country.

  • (applause)

  • "We the People."

  • Our Constitution begins with those three simple words,

  • words we've come to recognize mean all the

  • people, not just some; words that insist we rise

  • and fall together.

  • That brings me to the fourth,

  • and maybe the most important thing I want to say tonight.

  • The future we want - opportunity and security for

  • our families; a rising standard of living and a

  • sustainable, peaceful planet for our kids - all that is

  • within our reach.

  • But it will only happen if we work together.

  • It will only happen if we can have rational,

  • constructive debates.

  • It will only happen if we fix our politics.

  • A better politics doesn't mean we have to agree

  • on everything.

  • This is a big country, with different regions and

  • attitudes and interests.

  • That's one of our strengths, too.

  • Our Founders distributed power between states and

  • branches of government, and expected us to argue,

  • just as they did, over the size and shape of

  • government, over commerce and foreign relations,

  • over the meaning of liberty and the imperatives of security.

  • But democracy does require basic bonds of trust between

  • its citizens.

  • It doesn't work if we think the people who disagree with

  • us are all motivated by malice,

  • or that our political opponents are unpatriotic.

  • Democracy grinds to a halt without a willingness to

  • compromise; or when even basic facts are contested,

  • and we listen only to those who agree with us.

  • Our public life withers when only the most extreme voices

  • get attention.

  • Most of all, democracy breaks down when the average

  • person feels their voice doesn't matter;

  • that the system is rigged in favor of the rich or the

  • powerful or some narrow interest.

  • Too many Americans feel that way right now.

  • It's one of the few regrets of my presidency - that the

  • rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse

  • instead of better.

  • There's no doubt a president with the gifts of Lincoln or

  • Roosevelt might have better bridged the divide,

  • and I guarantee I'll keep trying to be better so long

  • as I hold this office.

  • But, my fellow Americans, this cannot be my task - or

  • any President's - alone.

  • There are a whole lot of folks in this chamber who

  • would like to see more cooperation,

  • a more elevated debate in Washington,

  • but feel trapped by the demands of getting elected.

  • I know; you've told me.

  • And if we want a better politics,

  • it's not enough to just change a Congressman or a

  • Senator or even a President; we have to change the system

  • to reflect our better selves.

  • We have to end the practice of drawing our congressional

  • districts so that politicians can pick their

  • voters, and not the other way around.

  • (applause)

  • We have to reduce the influence of money in our

  • politics, so that a handful of families and hidden

  • interests can't bankroll our elections - and if our

  • existing approach to campaign finance can't pass

  • muster in the courts, we need to work together to

  • find a real solution.

  • (applause)

  • We've got to make it easier to vote, not harder,

  • and modernize it for the way we live now.

  • (applause)

  • This is America.

  • We want to make it easier for people to participate.

  • And over the course of this year,

  • I intend to travel the country to push for reforms

  • that do just that.

  • But I can't do these things on my own.

  • Changes in our political process - in not just who

  • gets elected but how they get elected - that will only

  • happen when the American people demand it.

  • It will depend on you.

  • That's what's meant by a government of, by,

  • and for the people.

  • What I'm asking for is hard.

  • It's easier to be cynical; to accept that change isn't

  • possible, and politics is hopeless,

  • and to believe that our voices and actions don't matter.

  • But if we give up now, then we forsake a better future.

  • Those with money and power will gain greater control

  • over the decisions that could send a young soldier

  • to war, or allow another economic disaster,

  • or roll back the equal rights and voting rights

  • that generations of Americans have fought,

  • even died, to secure.

  • As frustration grows, there will be voices urging us to

  • fall back into tribes, to scapegoat fellow citizens

  • who don't look like us, or pray like us,

  • or vote like we do, or share the same background.

  • We can't afford to go down that path.

  • It won't deliver the economy we want,

  • or the security we want, but most of all,

  • it contradicts everything that makes us the envy of

  • the world.

  • So, my fellow Americans, whatever you may believe,

  • whether you prefer one party or no party,

  • our collective future depends on your willingness

  • to uphold your obligations as a citizen.

  • To vote.

  • To speak out.

  • To stand up for others, especially the weak,

  • especially the vulnerable, knowing that each of us is

  • only here because somebody, somewhere, stood up for us.

  • (applause)

  • We need every American to stay active in our public

  • life, and not just during election time,

  • so that our public life reflects the goodness and

  • the decency that I see in the American people

  • every single day.

  • It is not easy.

  • Our brand of democracy is hard.

  • But I can promise that a little over a year from now,

  • when I no longer hold this office,

  • I will be right there with you as a citizen - inspired

  • by those voices of fairness and vision,

  • of grit and good humor and kindness that have helped

  • America travel so far.

  • Voices that help us see ourselves not first and

  • foremost as black or white or Asian or Latino,

  • not as gay or straight, immigrant or native born;

  • not as Democrats or Republicans,

  • but as Americans first, bound by a common creed.

  • Voices Dr. King believed would have the final word -

  • voices of unarmed truth and unconditional love.

  • They're out there, those voices.

  • They don't get a lot of attention,

  • nor do they seek it, but they are busy doing the work

  • this country needs doing.

  • I see them everywhere I travel in this incredible

  • country of ours.

  • I see you.

  • I know you're there.

  • You're the reason why I have such incredible confidence

  • in our future.

  • Because I see your quiet, sturdy citizenship all the time.

  • I see it in the worker on the assembly line who

  • clocked extra shifts to keep his company open,

  • and the boss who pays him higher wages to keep him

  • on board.

  • I see it in the Dreamer who stays up late to finish her

  • science project, and the teacher who comes in early

  • because he knows she might someday cure a disease.

  • I see it in the American who served his time,

  • and dreams of starting over - and the business owner who

  • gives him that second chance.

  • The protester determined to prove that justice matters,

  • and the young cop walking the beat,

  • treating everybody with respect, doing the brave,

  • quiet work of keeping us safe.

  • I see it in the soldier who gives almost everything to

  • save his brothers,

  • (applause)

  • the nurse who tends to him 'til he can run a marathon,

  • and the community that lines up to cheer him on.

  • It's the son who finds the courage to come out as who

  • he is, and the father whose love for that son overrides

  • everything he's been taught.

  • I see it in the elderly woman who will wait in line

  • to cast her vote as long as she has to;

  • the new citizen who casts his vote for the first time;

  • the volunteers at the polls who believe every vote

  • should count, because each of them in different ways

  • know how much that precious right is worth.

  • That's the America I know.

  • That's the country we love.

  • Clear-eyed.

  • Big-hearted.

  • Optimistic that unarmed truth and unconditional love

  • will have the final word.

  • That's what makes me so hopeful about our future.

  • I believe in change, because I believe in you.

  • The American people.

  • And that's why I stand here confident that the State of

  • our Union is strong.

  • Thank you, God bless you,

  • and God bless the United States of America.

  • (applause)

(applause)

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