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I will tell you another idea we need to do is we need to give workers the option that Congress has given itself, and that is to be able to take some of their own money, some of their own payroll taxes and set it aside in a personal savings account they call their own, a personal savings account that will let them earn a better rate of return on their money, a personal savings account they can leave to whomever they want, a personal savings account the Government cannot take away or spend on special programs. Ours is the party that believes in ownership. We want to extend the so-called investor class to all walks of life. We believe everybody should have an asset they can call their own. And we have a fantastic opportunity to strengthen and save Social Security for a generation of Americans to come and to give more Americans the great pride of owning something they call their own. Congress needs to act on this issue. Strengthening Social Security requires honesty and courage, and the party I am proud to lead will do our duty. Our children's retirement security is more important than partisan politics. Our party will continue to support the faith-based and community groups that bring hope to harsh places. We will continue to promote a culture of life in which every person is valued and every life has meaning. And we will defend the institution of marriage from being redefined forever by activist judges. And speaking about judges, the American people made it clear they want judges who faithfully interpret the law, not legislate from the bench. I applaud Senator Frist and Senator Specter and Senator Hatch and other Members of the United States Senate in confirming some outstanding nominees who have waited a long time for a vote, Priscilla Owen and Janice Rogers Brown and Bill Pryor. I will continue to urge the Senate to fulfill its constitutional responsibility by giving every judicial nominee an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor. And speaking of confirmations, the Senate must promptly confirm John Bolton, my nominee to be our Ambassador to the United Nations, so we can get on with the business of reforming that institution. My most solemn duty and the most solemn duty of those of us in Government here in Washington is to protect the American people. We will be relentless; we will never tire in chasing down the terrorists; we will confront them abroad so we do not have to face them here at home. We carried out the largest reorganization of Government in a half-century to form a single Department with a single mission, protecting America from attack.

monologic

The tireless efforts of the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security and Federal and State and local first-responders protecting our Nation and making this country more secure. And as they do so, they need to have all the tools to be able to help defend this country. And that is why I call upon the United States Congress to renew all the provisions of the PATRIOT Act. The PATRIOT Act is an important piece of legislation. It gives those folks who are on the frontline of fighting terror the same tools, many of the same tools that are used to track down drug kingpins or tax cheats. If those tools are good enough to track down drug kingpins, they ought to be good enough in this war on terror to give to our law enforcement so we can better defend this country. And we are making progress. Since September the 11th, 2001, we have closed down terrorist networks. We brought to justice many of the key leaders of Al Qaida. We are disrupting their finances. There is no place they can hide from the United States of America and our allies and friends. The best way to secure this country in the long run, though, is to spread democracy and freedom. We believe everybody has a deep desire in their heart to live in a free society. We believe mothers all around the world want to raise their children in a free and peaceful world. And the people of Afghanistan showed clearly the desire of those who have lived under tyranny to take the risks necessary to live in a free society. Think about how far that country has come in a brief period of time. We enforced doctrine that said, If you harbor a terrorist, you are just as guilty as the terrorist. And by removing the Taliban, America and the free world are safer. But at the same time, we gave the Afghan people a chance to live in a free and democratic society. And for the first time in the history of that country, for the first time in thousands of years, millions of people went to the polls to vote. And the first voter was a 19-year-old girl in Afghanistan. Freedom is on the march from the Ukraine to Afghanistan to the Palestinian Territory to Lebanon and to Iraq. By removing Saddam Hussein from power, America and the free world are safer. By removing Saddam Hussein from power, the people of Iraq have a chance to live in a free society.

monologic

President, the American people welcome you to the White House on this, the occasion of your first state visit to the United States. You have been an inspiration to the American people. You have been a genuine inspiration to the American people and to freedomloving people around the world, people who still marvel at the price you paid for your conviction, a conviction that our country embraces but still struggles to live up to, the conviction that all men and women are created equal and therefore ought to have a chance to live up to the fullest of their God-given potential and to have an equal say in the affairs of their land. Your captivity symbolized the larger captivity of your nation, shackled to the chains of prejudice, bigotry, and hatred. And your release also freed your nation and all its people to reach their full potential, a quest too long and so cruelly denied. But your story, thankfully, for all South Africans and for the rest of us as well, does not end with your freedom; it continues into what you have sought to do with your freedom. South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white. Now, instead of focusing on the past 342 years, when South Africa did not belong to all who lived in it, you are building a future of trust and tolerance. White South Africans might have fled in fear of retribution, but instead, they have had the courage to stay and to join you in building a new future for all the people of your land. Watch South Africa as it comes together, and follow South Africa's example. As an American, and as a child of the southern part of our country who grew up in a segregated environment and saw firsthand its horror and its debasement of all of us who lived in it, I must add that, as you well know, Mr. President, your presence here has special significance for Americans. We have been especially drawn to the problems and the promise of South Africa. We have struggled, and continue to struggle, with our own racial challenges. So we rejoice, especially, in what you have accomplished, and we hold it out. And as we hold it out as an example to others, so we also hold it out as an example to ourselves. President, I know how proud you are to have your daughter, Zinzi, with you on this trip, and I am proud to have her as my dinner partner tonight.

monologic

I want to add my congratulations to Nancy Maynard and to say hello to my friend Wilma Mankiller and to all of you in Atlanta at the Unity '94 Convention. I want to say a special word of congratulations, too, to the four minority journalist associations meeting together for the first time at this groundbreaking occasion. I must say that all of us have heard a lot about your meeting and have been following it with great interest. We are living in an extraordinary time when people in America and all across the world are searching for common ground and new solutions in a time of change. This has been a great week for America. The King of Jordan and the Prime Minister of Israel shared the stage on the White House lawn, opened a new era of dialog and cooperation between their people. At the same time, halfway around the world, the President of Russia made an announcement that by the end of August, for the first time since the end of World War II, all Russian troops would be gone from Germany and Central and Eastern Europe, a significant goal of our policy with Russia over the last year and a half. Over and over, we have learned from experiences like these that people can transcend great historical, political, and cultural obstacles in the name of progress of humanity. And we have also learned that here at home, the American people are our greatest asset as we try to meet the challenges of the coming century. All of us can take pride that we have helped Arabs and Israelis and other former enemies to bridge their own differences. But their examples must also inspire us to strengthen our own sense of community and to celebrate the rich diversity of the American culture. The job of your associations is to see that more Americans of diverse backgrounds, races and ethnic heritage have an equal chance in journalism. It is also to make sure that the Nation sees the faces and hears the voices of nonwhite Americans whose ideas and achievements too often are ignored. And my job here in Washington is to ensure that every citizen has an equal chance at the American dream. I have said it many times, and I firmly believe that we do not have a single person to waste, that every person, no matter what his or her background, has an idea, a vision, an opinion to share that can enrich our Nation. That is why I have been fighting to create new opportunities for people who work hard, take responsibility, try to make something of their lives.

monologic

I believe everybody has something to give, and we have to make it possible for everyone to give his or her best. One of my proudest accomplishments as President is the people I have appointed to serve in this administration. If you look at the top positions in the White House and the Cabinet today, you will see the most able, talented group ever assembled. These appointees also happen to make up the most diverse administration in the history of our Republic. If you look at our nominations to the Federal bench, you will see that a higher percentage of them have been rated well qualified by the American Bar Association than in any previous administration since these rankings have been made. A majority of those appointees are people of color and women, not a minority but a majority for the first time ever. None of these people were chosen because they were African-American or Hispanic or Asian-American or American Indian or because they were women. They were selected because they were the best qualified for the job. And they are proof that the American dream is still alive and within reach of those who choose to pursue it. Still, we cannot ignore the burdens and barriers that prevent too many of our people from moving forward in their lives still today. It is our job to renew the American dream. I sought the Presidency because I was worried that our country was going in the wrong direction. The deficit was going up; the economy was on the decline. Washington was placing heavier and heavier burdens on the backs of middle class Americans, and we were coming apart when we ought to be coming together. I believed then and I believe now that our job in this time is to restore the economy, rebuild our sense of community, empower individuals to take responsibility for their own lives, and put Government on the side of ordinary Americans. In just 18 months we have begun to renew that American dream. Our economic strategy will produce the smallest Federal bureaucracy in 30 years and 3 years in a row of deficit reduction for the first time since Harry Truman was President, while providing tax cuts for 15 million working American families and millions of small businesses. What is been the result of this economic strategy? Well, the economy has created 3.8 million new jobs; inflation is the lowest in two decades. Just today we have seen more evidence that this strategy is working. Today's report shows that the gross domestic product of the United States grew at a very impressive rate of 3.7 percent in the last quarter while inflation remained low.

monologic

And more important, we are reaching out with greater energy and compassion to responsible working families who too often have to struggle to make ends meet. Already in just a year and a half, through the increase of the earned-income tax credit, 15 million working parents have been able to get lower income taxes to encourage them to stay in the work force and to be good parents without having to go on welfare. We have made it easier for millions and millions of young people to get college loans by making those loans available with lower interest rates and more flexible repayment schedules. We have established more job training and school-to-work apprenticeships to help young people who are not going to college find and keep good jobs. We have sought tax incentives and grant money to stimulate economies in needy areas, through things like our empowerment zones and enterprise communities and new community development banks, the reform of the Community Reinvestment Act and making low income housing credits permanent. Some of these achievements, to be sure, have come easier than others. But I knew when I asked for this job that progress would not always be easy and that we'd have to fight for the kind of change that we need. Very often it takes years to get things done the Brady bill, 7 years; the family leave law, 7 years; years for motor voter. But these things all work because these things together and the efforts we are making have brought us to a pivotal, exciting moment in our history. on the verge of an historic victory in the toughest, largest, smartest Federal attack on crime in the history of the United States; not only making peace in the Middle East but trying to bring more peace to the families and children of America. Just think for a minute about what this crime bill means for all of us as citizens, for us as mothers and fathers, husbands and wives and children. Look at the cost of crime to our sense of community and to the idea that we are an American family, to our sense of personal freedom; the cost of crime to our efforts to empower every individual, including too many young people who are growing up in terribly difficult circumstances. Crime is holding too many of us back from reaching the American dream, splintering families, making people afraid of their neighbors, interfering with our children's education, robbing us of our literal sense of personal freedom.

monologic

No matter what other goals we seek for ourselves and our families and our children and for our country, we simply have to be able to live together with a shared respect for law and order and civility. The most important thing about this crime bill is that it creates a whole new way of thinking about how to deal with crime, one that does not pit one group of Americans against another. It does not ask us to make a false choice between tough punishment and strong prevention. It calls for a sensible balance between the two. It does not ask us to make a false choice between going after criminals and going after guns. It recognizes that those sorts of debates divided us for too long while more and more children were dying on our streets. The crime bill strengthens the police, our system of punishment, and our means of prevention. It will put 100,000 more police on our streets, a 20-percent increase in the number of police officers patrolling our neighborhoods. More police trained and properly deployed means lower crime and prevention. The bill includes a ban on assault-style weapons, something few people ever dreamed would be accomplished. It includes a ban on ownership of handguns by minors. It will send a strong message to criminals that behavior that is criminal and repeated will not be tolerated and that punishment will be tough and swift. And it will invest $9 billion in crime prevention over the next 6 years, something that law enforcement officers in every State and city asked us to do so that we could give young people more safe places to go, more positive role models, more opportunities to fulfill themselves in healthy constructive ways. And we have a program to make our schools safe so that our children can learn again in the absence of fear. For 6 years, this crime bill was debated over and over again. Because after intense argument and disagreement, a majority of people were able to find common ground. They were able to put people over politics. Now, I want Congress to put this bill on my desk within 2 weeks so that I can sign it before our children go back to school. Now, if you think 6 years was long enough to wait for a crime bill, then surely we can all agree that 60 years is far too long to wait before all American are guaranteed health security that can never be taken away. And health security, after all, is another crucial piece of the American dream. Many people across our country know what it is like to dig and scrape all their lives to have the opportunities that you have been given and that you have earned.

monologic

If you are like me, you actually know somebody without health insurance or somebody at risk of losing their health insurance. You know somebody whose coverage is so meager, they avoid the doctor because it costs too much. You know people who are eager to work but are trapped in the welfare system because it is the only way they can be assured of health care coverage for their children. We know these people because there are millions and millions of them out there, people who struggle all their lives and play by the rules so that they can move forward, make progress, build security for their families only to be knocked off the ladder because of the pink slip, the catastrophic illness, or a simple change in jobs. Indeed, we are moving in the wrong direction in our health care system. We are moving in the wrong direction when 5 million hardworking people, people with jobs, have lost their insurance in the last 5 years. Ever since I began pushing for reform, I have made it clear that I was open to suggestions about how to achieve it. I have listened to concerns about the approach we originally proposed. And in response to what all kinds of Americans told us, I have agreed that we should modify that approach to make it simpler, less bureaucratic, more flexible, to do more for small business. But I remain committed, and I hope all of you will be committed to giving every American health security, health that is guaranteed in law. We must have a system, I believe, where everyone shares responsibility, a private system that works. That is certainly what the vast majority of Americans want, because today the hardworking middle class Americans have that kind of coverage. Today we have moved a step closer to health care security. The House Speaker, Tom Foley, and the majority leader, Dick Gephardt, said they would put forward a bill that achieves universal coverage and controls costs. They have met their goal and the goal of the American people in doing that. The House bill tells the American people that they have been heard. It is simpler, more flexible, more sensitive to small business. Protections for small businesses have been strengthened. The bill is being phased in over a longer period of time. All Americans can keep their health plan and their doctor, and everybody will have coverage. We know from experiences across the country that this will work.

monologic

We have seen in State after State that if you have insurance reforms that sound very good without expanding to universal coverage, what is usually going to happen is that the cost of insurance goes up and then people's options for health care or even the number of people with health insurance, go down. But we also know from looking at the example of Hawaii that a private system of universal coverage in which employers and employees share responsibility for paying for private insurance premiums will not only control costs but will also lead to greater coverage and a healthier population. After all, in Hawaii, nearly everything is more expensive than any place else in the United States, but health care premiums for small business are 30 percent cheaper. Now, after 60 years of waiting, after 14 years in which costs have been going up dramatically, after a decade in which more and more Americans are losing coverage instead of getting coverage and most of those who lose their insurance are working people it is time to say to every American, if you change jobs, if you get sick, if you are laid off, if your child has a serious illness, you will always be able to afford health care as a citizen of the richest nation on Earth. Tomorrow I am going to Independence, Missouri, to Harry Truman's hometown, to talk about health care. Harry Truman was a man of great decency, common sense, and courage who believed that America would be much stronger if every American had health security. And he fought hard for it, though he did not succeed. And because he was right, President after President, Presidents of both parties have fought for that goal. Well, now it is up to us to fulfill their vision and once again to renew the American dream. It is time to build on our economic progress, build on the success of the crime bill, build on the progress we are making toward world peace, and take this next critical step by passing real, substantive health care reform. Well, I am not familiar with all the details of the gaming law. Let me say this. I have worked hard with Secretary Babbitt to work with the Native American tribes throughout the country I said I am not familiar with the details of the legislation.

monologic

I can tell you that for the last 18 months, Secretary Babbitt, on my behalf, has worked hard to try to work through the Indian gaming issue, to be supportive of the tribes, to protect and promote their legitimate rights, and also to urge that the income from gaming be used to diversify the economic activities of the tribes and to strengthen economic possibilities for Native Americans over the long run. So I am going to do my best to do that. As you know, there are a lot of thorny controversies between the States. A lot of States feel pressure to expand gaming beyond the reach of the Native American groups, and this has been a very difficult issue. But I think that our administration has worked very closely with the tribes. And I think we have shown our good faith in trying to protect these activities. I am not familiar with the specifics of the law, so I cannot comment on that. I am not sure that I can answer that question. And I am fairly sure that if I do, my answer will be blown all out of proportion to anything else I say today. But let me say that I believe that all of us in positions of responsibility with influence should strive to make our decisions through a process that involves all the American people, their insights, their understanding, their experience and it takes advantage of their talents. That is why I have worked so hard to have the most diverse administration in American history. And I believe we have proved beyond question that you can have diversity and excellence. That is another one of those false choices people are always trying to put on the American people. So if it is true for the United States Government, it ought to be true for the American press as well. I do not think I should say more than that, but I think that ought to be enough to say. Undocumented workers would not receive under our plan a health security card unless they had jobs anyway, so they got it because they were in the workplace. But under our plan we have a significant expansion in funds for public health units which are open to all people today and where a lot of the vaccinations, for example, are done today. In my State, over 80 percent of our children, including even upper middle class children, are vaccinated through the public health units.

monologic

So what we attempted to do to deal with this clear and present problem in the United States is to have a substantial increase in funding for public health and to do outreach so that we can vaccinate all the children and give basic health services to the children who are within the United States. Well first, let me say that I do not agree with the characterization there. If you look at the work that the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department has done, it is been more active than any civil rights division in a generation under the leadership of Deval Patrick. Look at a lot of the other issues in which they have been involved. If you look at the work that Henry Cisneros did in highlighting and directly confronting the problems in Vidor, Texas, in public housing, if you look at the work that we have done in trying to involve at the grassroots level community groups of minorities in things like developing the empowerment zone concepts, the community development banks, I think it is plain that this is an administration that is committed to stamping out racism, both in a negative sense by standing up to it and in a positive sense by working to bring people together to overcome it. If you can think of anything else I can and should do, I would be glad to have your recommendations and your suggestions. But the idea of stamping out racism, in my view, permeates everything I do. When I try to give kids a better life, a safer street, a better future, and I keep telling the American people we do not have anyone to waste, we have got to have everybody in here together one of the earlier questions referred to how the administration or what my opinion was about the way things were covered given the makeup of the press I have been repeatedly criticized by various sources in this town for trying to be more diverse and try to reach out and to achieve greater diversity, although no one has ever said that we could not have excellence and diversity at the same time. So I am trying to build the fight against racism into everything we do, both in a positive and negative sense. But I will say again, if anybody there not just you, Dorothy, but anybody has any other suggestions about what I can do, I would be happy to hear them, and I will do my best to respond. Well, what I have said is that we have to achieve universal coverage. The fight now is over how best to do it.

monologic

And what I have to tell you is there is a big argument about whether it can be achieved in any way other than the way I have proposed. I will not sign a bill that I think makes a false promise to the people of the United States. We have got to sign a bill that achieves full coverage for the American people. If you do not do it, you cannot contain costs, you cannot give the breaks that small business needs over the long run. You cannot achieve these things. So, yes, if Congress passes a bill that is different from the one I originally proposed, would I veto it? It depends on whether it achieves full coverage. If it is a credible attempt to do that, then I am open to it. But it must be a credible, credible bill to do that. And that is the only thing I ask all of you to focus on now. Instead of letting the political rhetoric control this debate on health care, let us ask simply what will work. The other day let me just give you this in closing because this is very important, and if I do not achieve anything else today in this conversation that I have had with you, which I have enjoyed immensely, if I can achieve agreement with you on this, it would be something profound to me. I have studied it for years and years. But the more complex it gets, the more you understand that in the end it comes down to some simple choices. In every nation that has covered everybody, quality health care can be provided at lower costs than in the United States, the only nation that does not cover everybody. Will it work? We are going in the wrong direction. We are losing coverage and exploding cost. I am not going to sign a bill that I think perpetrates these problems on the American people. If someone else can figure out how to get universal coverage in a different way than I have achieved it, I would be open to that. I have not seen it yet. That is why the American Medical Association, the National Medical Association, the American Nurses Association, other physicians' groups, and huge numbers of businesses and consumer groups have endorsed our approach. So that is what we ought to be doing. We should not be trying to get ourselves into word games now about what mechanism is appropriate. And I know my plan will work if we share responsibility and cover everybody.

monologic

This week, we received a powerful confirmation that America's economy is growing stronger. The Department of Labor reported that America added 308,000 jobs in March, the highest monthly job growth number since the spring of 2000. And since August, we have added over three-quarters of a million new jobs in America. The unemployment rate has fallen from 6.3 percent last June, to 5.7 percent last month. Over the last year, the unemployment rate has fallen in 45 of the 50 States. This is good news for American workers and good news for American families. Inflation is low, and interest rates and mortgage rates are near historic lows. Worker productivity is high, which means rising wages for American families. After-tax disposable income is up 10 percent since the end of 2000. And more Americans own their own home than at any time in history. People are finding jobs, and the Nation's future is bright. America's families and workers have reason to be optimistic. Tax relief put this economy on the path to growth. Since 2001, we have cut tax rates for everyone who pays income taxes. We have reduced the marriage penalty in our Tax Code. We raised the child credit to $1,000 per child, and we have reduced taxes on dividends and capital gains. This tax relief is critical because all workers are keeping more of what they earn, and small businesses, which create most of the new jobs in America, have the resources to expand and hire. As our economy adds more jobs, we will need to make sure all Americans are prepared to take advantage of new opportunity. We must help current workers and future workers learn the skills they need today and in the years to come. Our economy has increasing demand for workers with advanced skills, such as teachers, health care workers, and environmental engineers, but too many Americans do not have these kinds of skills. So on Monday, I will travel to North Carolina to propose reforms of our Federal job training system, to give our workers the help they need. Better job training will mean better jobs for American workers. We must also make sure our schools are preparing the next generation of workers. We have already taken action to improve our elementary schools with the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act. This good law is raising standards and hopes for all our children. But we must also address the needs of older students in high schools and colleges.

monologic

This is not my normal custom, but I have been working the last 15 or 20 minutes on the Rhodesian question, and something came up at the last minute. This is an afternoon ceremony that is very significant to us. I think that my own background in environmental questions and in matters that relate to the quality of life has been one of intimate and deep concern. And when I was elected president, my major purpose in dealing with Federal Government agencies that relate to energy or to environment, to the quality of life in every way, was one of appointing people in whom I had complete confidence and, also, who had the confidence of those intensely committed environmentalists and conservationists in our country. At the same time, of course, in order for us to be effective, there must be a working relationship that cannot create insuperable barriers between those who are interested in development of jobs on the one hand, those who want to protect the quality of the outdoors, the purity of life on the other. I think that we have been successful so far, without abridging anyone's deep commitment and integrity in past statements and beliefs on the one hand, and adequate progress on the other. And I am very proud this afternoon to have a chance to introduce these men and women who will be serving in such important positions. Charles Warren is a man whom I first met when I was in Plains being briefed on the major questions concerning energy. He is a person who has been very effective in California, in the legislature, in devising and drafting and implementing major and very innovative decisions concerning the energy question, environmental questions, protection of the coastal regions, not only from a present-day point of view but as they would impact on the lives of people in years to come. And I think at some considerable sacrifice to himself, financially, but because of his interest in this subject, he is agreed to come and serve with us. And he will be the Chairman of those who will advise me on matters that relate to environmental quality. I am very glad that you have come to be with us. And I express my appreciation to you and look forward to working closely with you. Among my closest friends in the world are two people who mean a lot to me, and I think in the past and in the future will mean a lot to our country. One of them is Dr. Peter Bourne, who helped me in Georgia to set up one of the finest drug treatment programs in the Nation.

monologic

He is recognized as the foremost expert on alcoholism, drugs, their impact, and the way to control them properly. His wife, Mary King, is also one who has been very close to me. When I was campaigning for ENTITY, whenever I came to Washington, not having enough support or finances to afford a hotel room, I always slept on their folding bed and they always took me in. And I am very excited to know that Mary King, who is an expert on health care in all its forms, on the proper utilization of volunteer Americans, who has a sensitivity and a courage that is absolutely superlative, is willing to serve in an agency that will spread this kind of knowledge throughout the world. The ACTION program is one that is involved with the Peace Corps, with VISTA, and with the recruitment and use of Americans--sometimes outside Government itself--who are willing to serve this country and other nations who are friends of ours. I am very grateful that Mary King is going to be the Deputy Director of ACTION. And when I asked her to serve, she said that she would do it if I would be present at her swearing-in ceremony. Nothing could have kept me away. Mary, I am very proud of you. And I know this is going to be a great experience for you and for me both. This is one that, in a practical way, administers the laws evolved by the Congress and the President to make sure that the agencies of Government and business world, as well, are oriented toward the protection of the quality of life. And this requires men and women in administrative positions who are knowledgeable about law, who are thoroughly familiar with the rules that have been laid down in an administrative way, and who can deal with forcefulness and understanding with the State and local governments and with private industry to make sure that in the face of progress, which is inevitable, that we do not destroy what is precious to us. Doug Costle has had broad experience in this field and will be the Director of this agency, and another very close friend of mine, Barbara Blum, who helped me get many of the Georgia laws passed against formidable opposition because of her courage and tenacity and because of her knowledge of environmental questions while I was Governor of Georgia. And I am very grateful that they are willing to serve as the two top leaders in this important agency, the Environmental Protection Agency.

monologic

It is my honor to welcome your family here to the Roosevelt Room. And I am proud to welcome Bill Donaldson as the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Bill will be a strong leader of the SEC and a forceful advocate for the interests of investors. He is the right man at the right time. We are so honored you have agreed to accept this challenge, really appreciate it. Bill Donaldson spent a career preparing for this challenge. He has served as a founder of a leading investment banking firm, chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, the founding dean of the Yale School of Management. He has set high standards throughout his entire career. He will lead an active and energetic agency. They have last year filed a record number of actions for financial reporting and disclosure violations, sought the removal of more than 100 corporate officers and directors on the grounds of misconduct, and ordered corporations and executives to return to investors hundreds of million dollars in improper gains. This administration is committed to the enforcement of the security laws. We are committed to creating a climate of confidence in our markets. In the 2004 budget, I am asking Congress to increase SEC funding by 73 percent over the year 2002. We want to make sure the SEC has the tools necessary to pursue its important mission. This Nation is increasingly a nation of stockholders, who invest for their families and for their futures. Americans should be confident in the information they use in order to make investment decisions. All investors deserve to be treated fairly in the Tax Code as well. Investors should not be punished for saving and investing in America's future. Investors should not be- should be rewarded for taking risk in the marketplace. The Tax Code ought to treat these people fairly, and so that is why I have proposed that Congress end the unfair and unwise double taxation of dividends. This measure could improve corporate governance in America as well. Companies across America attract investors in a number of ways. One such way is to promise rapid growth, is to say, Even though we may not have cashflow, the future of our company is magnificent. Another way, of course, is to promise a steady source of income in the form of dividends. With dividends serving as a stronger foundation for long-term value, companies that pay them will have less motive to artificially inflate profits just to cause temporary increases in stocks. Our law should not discriminate against those companies that focus on stable, long-term growth.

monologic

Throughout our history and particularly in recent years, America's taken on an ever-increasing role as peacemaker taking the initiative time after time to try to help countries settle their differences peacefully. I do not need to recite the list of diplomatic efforts spanning all administrations in which we have been instrumental in ending war and restoring peace. Well, let us ask them, which country has nearly 100,000 troops trying to occupy the once nonaligned nation of Afghanistan? Which country has tried to crush a spontaneous workers' movement in Poland? And what country has engaged in the most massive arms buildup in history? Or, let us put the question another way. What country helped its World War II enemies back on their feet? What country is employing trade aid and technology to help the developing peoples of the world and actively seeking to bring peace to the Middle East, the South Atlantic, and to southern Africa? The answer is clear, and it should give us both pride and hope in America. Today, I know there are a great many people who are pointing to the unimaginable horror of nuclear war. I welcome that concern. Those who've governed America throughout the nuclear age and we who govern it today have had to recognize that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. So, to those who protest against nuclear war, I can only say, I am with you. Like my predecessors, it is now my responsibility to do my utmost to prevent such a war. No one feels more than I the need for peace. Throughout the first half of my lifetime, the entire world was engaged in war, or in recovering from war, or in preparing for war. This stretch of 37 years since World War II has been the result of our maintaining a balance of power between the United States and the Soviet Union and between the strategic nuclear capabilities of either side. As long as this balance has been maintained, both sides have been given an overwhelming incentive for peace. In the 1970's, the United States altered that balance by, in effect, unilaterally restraining our own military defenses while the Soviet Union engaged in an unprecedented buildup of both its conventional and nuclear forces. As a result, the military balance which permitted us to maintain the peace is now threatened. If steps are not taken to modernize our defense, the United States will progressively lose the ability to deter the Soviet Union from employing force or threats of force against us and against our allies.

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It would be wonderful if we could restore our balance with the Soviet Union without increasing our own military power. And ideally, it would be a long step in ensuring peace if we could have significant and verifiable reductions of arms on both sides. But let us not fool ourselves. The Soviet Union will not come to any conference table bearing gifts. Soviet negotiators will not make unilateral concessions. To achieve parity, we must make it plain that we have the will to achieve parity by our own effort. Many have been attracted to the idea of a nuclear freeze. Now, that would be fine if we were equal in strategic capability. We cannot accept an agreement which perpetuates current disparities. The current level of nuclear forces is too high on both sides. It must be the objective of any negotiations on arms control to reduce the numbers of nuclear weapons. Since World War II, the United States has attempted to get Soviet agreement to such reductions countless times. We began back when we alone had such weapons. We were never able to persuade the Soviet Union to join in such an understanding, even when we proposed turning all nuclear material and information over to an international body and when we were the only nation that had nuclear weapons. We are preparing a new arms reduction effort with regard to strategic nuclear forces and are already in negotiations in Geneva on intermediate-range missiles threatening Europe. Our objective in these talks is for the elimination of such missiles on the strategic nuclear forces. We will aim on those at substantial reductions on both sides leading to equal and verifiable limits. We will make every effort to reach an agreement that will reduce the possibility of nuclear war. If we can do this, perhaps one day we can achieve a relationship with the Soviet Union which does not depend upon nuclear deterrents to secure Soviet restraint. I invite the Soviet Union to take such a step with us. And I ask you, the American people, to support our efforts at negotiating an end to this threat of doomsday which hangs over the world. Thank you, and God bless you.

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We also saw the resilience and the goodness of decency of the American people. They are not looking for a handout, they just want a fair shot. My dad used to have an expression when he lost his job up in Scranton. When I was in grade school, my dad would say, and we had to move in with my grandparents. When he went down south from Scranton to Wilmington, Delaware looking for a job. And he used to always say that, The fact is Joey, I am not looking for government to solve my problems but I hope like hell they can at least understand my problems. He finally got a job, we could afford to buy a small home. He worked hard to build a decent middle class life. It was not easy for him, but he had an expression. As I said, a job joy about a lot more than a paycheck. It is about your dignity. It is about respect. It is about your place in the community. It is being uable to look your kidney eye and say, Honey, it is going to be okay. You deserve a president who understands what you are going through. Who sees you where you are and where you want to be. The last thing you need is a president who ignores you, looks down upon you, who just does not understand who in God's name we are. The destabilizing effect it is having on our government is unconscionable. He did not take the necessary precautions to protect himself or others. How can we trust him to protect this country? Governor, you have seen how he picks fights with states and pits them against one another. We lose anywhere from 700 to a thousand people every single day in America, worse than any country in the world. 80% of those deaths have been seniors over 60 years of age. Nationally, the infection rate among Latinos is almost three times higher than that of white non-Latinos and the death rate as well as three times higher. More than 40,000 Latinos have died from ENTITY. My heart goes out to all those families who got up this morning and there was an empty chair around the kitchen table. Or go to dinner tonight and the person that should be there is gone. They have lost part of their soul. They have lost part of their life. It is all about family. With you and I it is all about family.

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My heart goes out to everyone struggling with the economic crisis caused by the neglect, the simple neglect of this President. Nearly 11 million jobs lost since the beginning of this crisis. And they still have not come back, including 136,000 jobs here in Nevada. Temporary layoffs have turned to permanent layoffs. And the problem of long-term unemployment, once you get beyond a certain point, history shows us that they never get a job again. All told, there are now 30 million workers who either lost hours, lost paychecks, or lost their jobs entirely. Roughly 700,000 people have dropped out of the labor force last month. We are still down 647,000 manufacturing jobs nationwide since the crisis has started. And our balance of payments deficit is going up. And here in Nevada, the unemployment rate is 13.2%, the highest in the nation because of President Trump's negligence. The culinary union, has recently said publicly that 50% of their members are still out of work. Tourism in June was down 70% from a year ago. President Trump will be the first president in modern history since Hoover to leave office with fewer jobs than he had when he came into office. Here in Nevada, after seeing over 200,000 jobs created in the last seven years of the Obama-Biden administration, Nevada has actually seen jobs go down under the Trump presidency. He is leaving us with what he calls, he says is a V-shape recession. It is a K-shaped recession where those at the top keep going up and the middle-class and everyone else keeps going down, getting worse. Means essential workers who sacrificed to keep us going through this pandemic are being left behind by the most unequal recovery in modern history. You get this, the top 100 billionaires in America have done pretty well. Just in the pandemic, the top 100 billionaires have made an additional $300 billion, top 100. But you get the bottom half of that K and it is a downward slide. You are left to figure out how you are going to pay your bills, put food on the table. How to balance doing your job with being a teacher for your kids because of the negligence of the President, they cannot go back to school because they have not provided the wherewithal for schools to open. You are asked to risk your neck because you cannot work from home where the risk of ENTITY are kept outside.

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That is because you are a police officer, a firefighter, a nurse, or you are working on an assembly line in customer service or a checkout counter, or here in Vegas in hospitality. If you are a housekeeper, a casino worker, the ones who built this very stage. Governor Sisolak, your members of Congress are doing everything they possibly can to help turn things around. You followed science and put public health and safety. You made tough calls that saved lives. Working around the clock so we can reopen schools and the economy safely. Your members of Congress, have done the same. And the House passed what they call the HEROES Act months ago. Would have provided billions of dollars to help states keep first responders on the job. The safety measures needed, the PPP needed to open our schools and businesses but Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell, Republican leader did nothing to move the legislation. Nothing in June, nothing in July, nothing in August, nothing in September, things getting worse and worse and worse. And as people struggled and suffered, what did they focus on? If this was not so serious, you'd think I am making it up. What they focused on is more tax cuts for the wealthy, not a joke. They are proposal adds another $30 billion tax cut for millionaires and billionaires. Cutting the means by which we fund the Social Security system, leading the actuary of Social Security to say if they do it, by 2023, mid-2023, there'll be no money for Social Security. And a relentless effort to eliminate, as Alejandro said, the Affordable Care Act, which provides healthcare coverage for 22 million people, over 100 million with pre-existing conditions. This is going on at the same time he is already cost 10 million people their health insurance because their companies have gone bankrupt. Instead of focusing on our needs, your needs, he is trying to take your healthcare away. He is literally before the Supreme Court as I speak to strike down the entire Affordable Care Act, take away that healthcare for 20 million Americans. And complications from ENTITY like lung scarring and heart damage could well become the next pre-existing condition. Striking down the Affordable Care Act would toss out the rule that allows our children to be covered on their parents' insurance policy until age 26. Take us backward when insurance companies could change a woman more for healthcare than a man for the same procedure, just because she is a woman.

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And just as he vowed to terminate as I said earlier the funding for Social Security. The idea that in just a few years could put at risk 410,000 Nevadans that rely on a dignified retirement because of Social Security. And during all this, not once did President Trump call a high-level meeting of Democrats and Republicans to the White House to resolve these issues. I have served with a lot of presidents, never, no matter how good or bad you thought they were did they fail to try to bring parties together in the White House to reach a settlement. He spent so much time hiding in the bunker in the White House or on the bunker of his golf course, playing hundreds of rounds of golf. And then this Tuesday, what'd he do? He said, End the discussions. He was not even starting them. One thing for sure, Donald Trump shows no urgency to deliver hardworking Americans, like the family I grew up in. What they need now desperately. For exactly two months since the emergency small business program that your congresspeople voted, for has closed down two months of small business owners in Nevada and across the country, waiting, hoping, for just a little extra help to be able to stay open. By the way, the largest employers in America are small businesses. How many more dreams will be extinguished because of the selfishness of this President and the Republican leaders in Congress? Make no mistake, if you are out of work, if your business is closed, if your child's school was shut down, if you are facing eviction, as millions are, over 20 million Americans worry about whether they are going to be able to pay their mortgage next month. None of that seems to matter to Donald Trump. You are a firefighter, police officer, who depends on state and local budgets. He is turned his back on you as well, because they have got to balance their budgets. They are being laid off all over America. When Barack and I were elected, we inherited the worst recession short of the Great Depression in history. He put me in charge of what is called the Recovery Act. We passed and needed to get out into the economy within 18 months to prevent a depression. We did it with less than two tenths percent of waste or fraud. And I was able to see to it that the states in order to keep moving, keep teachers, firefighters, first responders, all employed. I was able to get $140 billion in aid out to the states.

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Right here in Clark County, I was able to bring to $1.2 billion to keep your economy going. We have that ability now. The House has already passed a similar piece of legislation. And we started the longest sustained recovery in American history. But you know what Mitch McConnell said about help with the states. I am not making this up. What in the hell is he talking about? Folks, we are so much better than this. We can turn this crisis into progress. We contain this virus and fully reopen our economy. We make up 4% of the world's population and we have 20% of the world's deaths. If we just follow the science, expand testing and tracing, social distance, washing our hands, implementing nationwide mask mandates. On the economy, bring the Congress back together to pass real relief to help people who've lost their unemployment checks as well. And then implement a comprehensive agenda that I have laid out to make bold investments so we can build back better. He keeps talking about the Republicans. Some Republicans, a lot of them are acknowledging and supporting me, but a lot of them also are talking about, Well, Biden's going to spend all this money. The independent analysis put out by Moody's, a Wall Street firm did a detailed analysis of my recovery plan and the President's. And here is what they said, it is off of Wall Street, that my plan will create 18.6 million jobs in four years. It is not going to raise a penny in tax for anyone making less than $400,000 a year. And how am I going to pay for all this? I am going to ask the big corporations and the wealthy to start paying their fair share. You realize that the Fortune 500 companies, 92 of them making billions of dollars, do not pay a single penny in taxes. Donald Trump paying $720 in taxes? The money we raise by eliminating the $1.3 trillion of his $2 trillion tax cut that affects the super wealthy and corporations, we are going to invest in working people. We are going to grow the middle class to make sure everyone's included on the deal. The kinds of investment that will stimulate the economy, including industries like tourism and hospitality. It means the analysis shows creating millions of good paying union jobs. Making sure our future is made in America. We and the President in the White House gives out $600 billion in contracts per year.

monologic

While I am President, it is going to go to no outfit that does not make it in America, the whole thing, and sell it in America. I mean it. Making the climate safer, saving hundreds of millions of barrels of oil. We will deal with climate change by creating millions of union jobs that build a climate resilience of our cities and our towns fighting back stronger, more frequent wildfires. By the way, did you hear what the President said about hurricanes this summer? He was told about how they are coming across the warm water in the Atlantic and the closer they get to the shore, the worse they get. You know what he said, Alejandro? He said, Maybe we should drop an atomic weapon on them and blow them up. As we say in my religion, Bless me father for I have sinned. Under my plan, small business come out the other side of this crisis with access to capital and the ability to deal with their debts. We are going to get $50 billion in new capital, especially for minority owned businesses and small businesses. We are going to make another hundred billion dollars in low-interest loans available to these businesses, creating jobs, increasing economic growth and increasing incomes. We are not just going to praise you, we are going to pay you with a good wage. Ensure you have strong benefits. We will ease the burden of the major cost in your life. We will build the Affordable Care Act, writing knew health insurance options, not for-profit public options, which give private insurers a real competitor. We are going to increase subsidies for premiums and lower your costs. Increase plans that will lower deductibles and lower out of pocket expenses. And we are going to take on the pharmaceutical industry with a plan that will slash costs of prescription drugs by 50%. The reason I am not going to more detail, you have been out here a long time, let us give me one example. If in fact Medicare is able to negotiate for all the drugs they buy and say you are not going to be able to sell them to them unless you pay the price we are suggesting, that would drop by 60% the cost the cost of drugs. We will work with the states to ensure that every three, four year old will get access to free, high quality preschool. We are going to make sure low and middle income families never have to spend more than 7% of their income to care for young children.

monologic

Because if we truly want to reward work in this country, we have to ease the financial burdens that created the care for families that are caring for raising a child and an aging loved one. Look at the professional caregivers out there, home health care workers, childcare workers, who are more often women. Women of color immigrants, are too often underpaid, under seen and undervalued. That is why my Build Back Better plan will elevate the compensation, benefits and dignity of caregiving workers and early childhood educators. We are also going to triple the funding for Title I schools like the one behind me here, which served high number of children from low-income families. We are going to make four years of public college and universities tuition free for any family that makes less than $125,000 a year. We are going to make community college and job training programs free for all hardworking Americans that qualify. And if you are buying your first home, we are going to provide a $15,000 tax credit to help you get there. We are going to protect Social Security. Look, I am not going to lay it out, but go to joebiden.com. We pay for all this and we grow the economy at the same time. The fact is, President of the United States can only see the world from Park Avenue. He thinks Wall Street built this country and CEOs. I see the world from where I grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania and Claymont. Communities like some that you live in. I know the middle-class working people built this country. The measure of economic success has been what our families are talking about around the kitchen table. Are you able to look your kid in the eye and say, Honey, it is going to be okay? How many times do you know somebody This morning I had to say, look, I know those tires are bald, but you got to ride on them for another 20,000 miles. We just do not have the money. We just cannot do it now. Who is going to tell her she cannot go back to school because we cannot continue to borrow the money to keep her in that community college? There was a discussion that took place around my table and I am sure yours as well. I made a speech I worked really, really hard on and thought really hard about before I made it in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the battlefield last week.

monologic

First of all, I'd like to say that we are delighted to have you here. This is our first dinner, or supper, in the Rose Garden, and it is worked out very well. This is kind of a test of NATO's influence with the weather. I would like to say, too, before anyone gets the wrong impression about our military commitment and our strength, although these representatives of our military bands can play the violin very beautifully, they also know how to fight. I have enjoyed very much being with our President this evening, Prime Minister Ecevit. I have learned a lot about politics from him. We have several very distinguished Members of the Congress here, and I called one over to meet him tonight, Senator Bob Morgan from North Carolina. And when he came over, Prime Minister Ecevit told him that he used to live in North Carolina and worked for the Winston-Salem newspaper, and he said, I have even got Tar Heel cuff links on. So he is taught me a great deal. This is a wonderful occasion for us. Very seldom in the history of our Nation and very seldom in the history of the White House, which has been here since 1801-except for a brief interlude when some of Jim Callaghan's 1 people got here in 1812- -have we had such a delightful and distinguished group of guests. As a matter of fact, you are not exactly guests, because you are partners of ours in one of the finest and most noble endeavors in the history of the United States of America. We are proud of our relationship. Yesterday was Memorial Day, and throughout our country we paused to recognize the tremendous contribution in past years of men and women who have given their lives and offered their lives in the defense of our Nation, what it stands for, our principles, our ideals. And it is a great reminder of what NATO has meant to us, too. We know what can be the price of preserving precious ideals. We know the value of a partnership formed in a time of danger, a time of war. We know the value of strong and able and deeply committed allies. And this is what NATO means to us. For 30 years now, almost 30 years, the strength of NATO has permitted democracy and freedom to flourish. And it is with a great gratitude and a sense of common commitment and common purpose that we have gathered here for these 2 days of deliberations.

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This Alliance has guaranteed our own security here in the United States, and it is been of great value to us. It is one of the things that we cherish most highly. For us, therefore, it has been a matter of necessity to be a partner with you in the North American 2 Alliance, and it is also been a fulfillment of what to us has been in the past, and still is, a moral obligation. that through strength can come peace, and that in awareness of a common resolution among free men and women there can be a conviction of potential adversaries that is better for mutual respect and the preservation of peace. We want a strong defense. We have assured that. We want a general commitment to peace and mutual disarmament. And both those elements of our desires can be guaranteed only through the accurate image of a capable and deep commitment to mutual strength. I think the United States is particularly well qualified to be the host of NATO, the members of the North American Alliance. Throughout our country there are tens of millions of people who look upon your countries as their second homeland. And it would be impressive to you if you could have shared the 2 years of campaign experience that I enjoyed around this Nation or rather that I experienced around this Nation to witness the deep sense of pride and a desire to protect the heritage that Americans share with their relatives in your own home countries. So, that, I think, qualifies us to be the host for this notable occasion. In a few minutes we will leave here and go down on the front lawn to witness again one of the great ballet performances available throughout the world. And the heritage of common beliefs, common ideals, and also common culture and enjoyment, is what we enjoy from the older countries in the European area. We feel that we share a common commitment to democracy, we share a common commitment to liberty, we share a common commitment to the rule of law. So, I would like to propose a toast on behalf of the people of the United States of America to the people whom you represent as our allies in Canada and in the European area, to the North American Alliance, the guardian of safety, the servant of freedom, and the instrument of peace.

monologic

We have been through an arduous campaign. It has been almost unique as a campaign of education in the great domestic and international problems which have arisen out of events of the last 15 years. I have endeavored to place these problems before the people as I see them from the facts and experience that have come to me in these past years. I wished the people to realize more intimately the difficulties with which their Government has been confronted, the disasters which have been averted, and the forces which have been mobilized for their support and their protection. I hope from these discussions that the people will realize the great crisis that we have successfully passed and the unprecedented measures taken which have been designed solely that we might protect and restore the system of life and of government endeared to us over 150 years--a government that has given to us protection from distress and allayed the forces which would otherwise have wrecked our homes and our firesides. But more than that, I hope I have given an understanding of these measures that have been designed for counterattack upon this crisis. These measures are now demonstrating their strength and effectiveness not only at home but abroad, evidences of which are multiplying throughout the country in the return of more than half a million men to work monthly, and that we have again resumed the road toward prosperity. I might add that the figure which I have given during the last few days of the return of 1 million men to work since the adjournment of the Congress have been added to during the day today by the estimates of the American Federation of Labor which increased the estimates, which I have given to you, by nearly 300,000 men. I wish to emphasize the greatest function of the American citizen, the one which each of us should perform tomorrow. The ballot is that most sacred individual act which preserves the great system of self-government which we have inherited and which should carry forward at any cost. It is a direct opportunity for every man and woman to express their views in terms of equality with every other citizen as to the policies and kind of a government that they wish carried out in the next 4 years. And I have a deep feeling that the choice that you make now is more than the choice for another 4 years. There is great divergence in the philosophy of government between the parties which may affect events over a generation; a mistaken choice may hazard the welfare of our children and our children's children.

monologic

I have been fighting that the wrong course may not be adopted, not by appeal to destructive emotion, but by truth and logic. I have tried to dissolve the mirage of promises by the reality of facts. I am a believer in party government. It is only through party organization that our people can give coherent expression to their views upon public issues. There is no other way except by revolution, but we in America have ordained that the ballot shall be used for peaceful determination and not violence. We are a nation of progressives. We differ strongly as to the method to progress. I differ widely with the principles and views advocated by our opponents, but it is not my purpose to review them at this moment. I feel deeply that the Republican Party has been the party of progress in our history from the days of Abraham Lincoln. It has built the progress of the Nation upon the foundations of national principles and national ideals. We are a nation of homes from which the accomplishment of individuals is nurtured by the maximum freedom in an ordered liberty. The ultimate goal of our progress is to build for security and happiness in these homes where the inspiration of our religious faiths will implant in our children those principles of social order and idealism, and where our Government will contribute in safeguarding their future opportunity for them. The action of our Nation has been modified and benefited by the enfranchisement of women. They equally with the men bear the shocks from economic disaster. With them lies largely the guardianship of the fundamental ideals, because concentrated in their lives and their responsibilities is a solicitude for the preservation of the home and the inspiration for the future. And in these labors our Government can contribute to strengthen their accomplishment and their influence. Our women give with lavish hands, not only to childhood, but, as well, to the creation of those conserving customs upon which are builded all the blessings of our ordered Government. They thus give to government a large measure of the true strength of its foundations. It is but just that they receive back, in return, all that the Government can give them to assure them of security and the enlargement of the equal opportunity to their children and to themselves, to widen the field for the use of their own powers of mind and spirit. It is they who are mobilizing new public regard to our obligations to home and children of the future; it is they who are mobilizing the public opinion on the maintenance of peace in the world.

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The men of our country carry the frontline of battle through their initiative, their enterprise, their hopes, their courage. The immediate question before our country is in whose direction shall be the measures by which we shall emerge from our present difficulties. In the longer view our problems are the questions that the world should have peace; that the prosperity of the Nation shall be diffused to all, and that we shall build more strongly the ideal of equal opportunity amongst all our people; that we shall secure that obedience to law which is essential to assurance of life in our institutions; that honesty and righteousness in business shall confirm the confidence of our people in our institutions and laws; that our Government shall contribute to leadership in these matters. It is my deep conviction that for the welfare of the United States the Republican Party should continue to administer the Government. Those men and women who have supported the party over these many years should not be led astray by false gods arrayed in the rainbow colors of promises. They have but to review the performance and the sense of responsibility, the constructive action, the maintenance of national ideals by the Republican Party, in every national crisis including the present, always in opposition to the destructive forces of sectional and group action of our opponents. Election Day is more than a day set aside for casting of our several ballots. There is a solemnity in the feeling of that day, the sense of being in the presence of a great invisible power when the united people of a great nation give their final judgment on great issues. We cannot feel that any human power alone can give us such emotions; rather we must trust that we are sensing the movements of that Ruler of the universe in whose beneficence and in whose favor we have been blessed throughout our history. As a final word, I wish to convey my deep gratitude to the many hundreds of thousands of people who have come to stations and to meetings to welcome and encourage me during this past month and to the many millions more who have responded to me over the radio.

monologic

I am speaking to you today from a ship. It is a special kind of ship, and it will perform a very special mission. This vessel will not be armed with guns, or with any instruments of destruction. But it will be a valiant fighter in the cause of freedom. It will carry a precious cargo--and that cargo is truth. It is well named, for it will be carrying a message. It will be carrying a message of hope and friendship to all those who are oppressed by tyranny; it will be carrying a message of truth and light to those who are confused by the storm of falsehood that the Communists have loosed upon the world. This vessel is a floating radio transmitter which is to broadcast the programs for the Voice of America. It will be able to move from place to place, beaming our campaign of truth to people behind the Iron Curtain whom we have thus far been unable to reach. The Courier is a small ship--it is not as big as a destroyer but it is of tremendous significance. Its significance lies in the fact that it will carry on the fight for freedom in the field where the ultimate victory has to be won--that is in the minds of men. As the world stands today, free peoples must have strong military forces to protect themselves against aggression. But the final solution for the ills that plague the world can never lie in armies and navies and air forces. The final solution cannot be reached until all nations are willing to live together in peace. The rulers of the Kremlin are trying to make the whole world knuckle under to the godless, totalitarian creed of communism. They are busy everywhere spreading propaganda to stir up fear and hate and to set nation against nation. The free nations of the world have not yielded to the onslaught of Soviet propaganda. We have undertaken to answer propaganda with the truth--for we know that the truth is the best answer. To bring the truth to peoples everywhere, we are using magazines, newspapers, motion pictures, libraries, and information centers in all parts of the world. We must use every means to combat the propaganda of slavery. This ship is an important part of that campaign. Our arguments, no matter how good, are not going to influence people who never hear them. Our' arguments, no matter how good, are not going to influence people who never hear them. The purpose of this ship is to help get our message through.

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There are so many people who are proud of you--your parents, family, faculty, friends--all who share in this achievement. To all the moms who are here today, you could not ask for a better Mother's Day gift than to see all of these folks graduate. I have to say, though, whenever I come to these things, I start thinking about Malia and Sasha graduating, and I start tearing up and----it is terrible. I do not know how you guys are holding it together. I am a Columbia College graduate. I know there can be a little bit of a sibling rivalry here. But I am honored nevertheless to be your commencement speaker today, although I have got to say, you set a pretty high bar, given the past 3 years. But I will point out Hillary is doing an extraordinary job as one of the finest Secretaries of State America has ever had. We gave Meryl the Presidential Medal of Arts and Humanities. Sheryl is not just a good friend, she is also one of our economic advisers. Keep your friends close and your Barnard commencement speakers even closer. Now, the year I graduated--this area looks familiar----the year I graduated was 1983, the first year women were admitted to Columbia. Sally Ride was the first American woman in space. Music was all about Michael and the moonwalk. We had the Walkman---- No, no moonwalking. We had the Walkman, not iPods. Some of the streets around here were not quite so inviting. Nothing worse than commencement speakers droning on about bygone days. But for all the differences, the class of 1983 actually had a lot in common with all of you. For we too were heading out into a world at a moment when our country was still recovering from a particularly severe economic recession. It was a time of change. It was a time of uncertainty. It was a time of passionate political debates. You can relate to this because just as you were starting out finding your way around this campus, an economic crisis struck that would claim more than 5 million jobs before the end of your freshman year. Since then, some of you have probably seen parents put off retirement, friends struggle to find work. And you may be looking toward the future with that same sense of concern that my generation did when we were sitting where you are now.

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Of course, as young women, you are also going to grapple with some unique challenges, like whether you will be able to earn equal pay for equal work, whether you will be able to balance the demands of your job and your family, whether you will be able to fully control decisions about your own health. And while opportunities for women have grown exponentially over the last 30 years, as young people, in many ways you have it even tougher than we did. Some folks in the financial world have not exactly been model corporate citizens. No wonder that faith in our institutions has never been lower, particularly when good news does not get the same kind of ratings as bad news anymore. Every day you receive a steady stream of sensationalism and scandal and stories with a message that suggest change is not possible, that you cannot make a difference, that you will not be able to close that gap between life as it is and life as you want it to be. My job today is to tell you, do not believe it. Because as thing--as tough as things have been, I am convinced you are tougher. I have seen your passion, and I have seen your service. I have seen you engage, and I have seen you turn out in record numbers. I have heard your voices amplified by creativity and a digital fluency that those of us in older generations can barely comprehend. I have seen a generation eager, impatient even, to step into the rushing waters of history and change its course. And that defiant, can-do spirit is what runs through the veins of American history. It is the lifeblood of all our progress. And it is that spirit which we need your generation to embrace and rekindle right now. The question is not whether we have got the solutions to our challenges; we have had them within our grasp for quite some time. We know, for example, that this country would be better off if more Americans were able to get the kind of education that you have received here at Barnard, if more people could get the specific skills and training that employers are looking for today. We know that we'd all be better off if we invest in science and technology that sparks new businesses and medical breakthroughs, if we developed more clean energy so we could use less foreign oil and reduce the carbon pollution that is threatening our planet.

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We know that we are better off when there are rules that stop big banks from making bad bets with other people's money; when insurance companies are not allowed to drop your coverage when you need it most or charge women differently from men. Indeed, we know we are better off when women are treated fairly and equally in every aspect of American life, whether it is the salary you earn or the health decisions you make. The question is whether, together, we can muster the will--in our own lives, in our common institutions, in our politics--to bring about the changes we need. And I am convinced your generation possesses that will. And I believe that the women of this generation--that all of you--will help lead the way. Now, I recognize that is a cheap applause line when you are giving a commencement at Barnard. It is--in part, it is simple math. More and more women are outearning their husbands. You are more than half of our college graduates and master's graduates and Ph.D.'s. After decades of slow, steady, extraordinary progress, you are now poised to make this the century where women shape not only their own destiny, but the destiny of this Nation and of this world. But how far your leadership takes this country, how far it takes this world, well, that will be up to you. You have got to want it. It will not be handed to you. And as someone who wants that future--that better future--for you and for Malia and Sasha, as somebody who is had the good fortune of being the husband and the father and the son of some strong, remarkable women, allow me to offer just a few pieces of advice. Do not just get involved. It is been said that the most important role in our democracy is the role of citizen. And indeed, it was 225 years ago today that the Constitutional Convention opened in Philadelphia and our Founders, citizens all, began crafting an extraordinary document. Yes, it had its flaws, flaws that this Nation has strived to protect * over time. Questions of race and gender were unresolved. No woman's signature graced the original document, although we can assume that there were founding mothers whispering smarter things in the ears of the Founding Fathers. What made this document special was that it provided the space--the possibility--for those who had been left out of our charter to fight their way in.

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It provided people the language to appeal to principles and ideals that broadened democracy's reach. It allowed for protest and movements and the dissemination of new ideas that would repeatedly, decade after decade, change the world, a constant forward movement that continues to this day. And now that new doors have been opened for you, you have got an obligation to seize those opportunities. You need to do this not just for yourself, but for those who do not yet enjoy the choices that you have had, the choices you will have. One reason many workplaces still have outdated policies is because women only account for 3 percent of the CEOs at Fortune 500 companies. One reason we are actually refighting long-settled battles over women's rights is because women occupy fewer than one in five seats in Congress. Now, I am not saying that the only way to achieve success is by climbing to the top of the corporate ladder or running for office. Although, let us face it, Congress would get a lot more done if you did. That I think we are clear about. But if you decide not to sit yourself at the table, at the very least you have got to make sure you have a say in who does. Before women like Barbara Mikulski and Olympia Snowe and others got to Congress, just to take one example, much of federally funded research on diseases focused solely on their effects on men. It was not until women like Patsy Mink and Edith Green got to Congress and passed title IX, 40 years ago this year, that we declared women too should be allowed to compete and win on America's playing fields. Until a woman named Lilly Ledbetter showed up at her office and had the courage to step up and say, you know what, this is not right, women are not being treated fairly, we lacked some of the tools we needed to uphold the basic principle of equal pay for equal work. So do not accept somebody else's construction of the way things ought to be. It is up to you to right wrongs. It is up to you to point out injustice. It is up to you to hold the system accountable and sometimes upend it entirely. It is up to you to stand up and to be heard, to write and to lobby, to march, to organize, to vote. Those who oppose change, those who benefit from an unjust status quo, have always bet on the public's cynicism or the public's complacency.

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Throughout American history, though, they have lost that bet, and I believe they will this time as well. But ultimately, class of 2012, that will depend on you. Do not wait for the person next to you to be the first to speak up for what is right. Because maybe, just maybe, they are waiting on you. Never underestimate the power of your example. The very fact that you are graduating, let alone that more women now graduate from college than men, is only possible because earlier generations of women--your mothers, your grandmothers, your aunts--shattered the myth that you could not or should not be where you are. I think of a friend of mine who is the daughter of immigrants. When she was in high school, her guidance counselor told her, you know what, you are just not college material. Well, she was stubborn, so she went to college anyway. She got her master's. She ran for local office, won. She ran for State office, she won. She ran for Congress, she won. She is America's Secretary of Labor. So think about what that means to a young Latina girl when she sees a Cabinet Secretary that looks like her. Think about what it means to a young girl in Iowa when she sees a Presidential candidate who looks like her. Think about what it means to a young girl walking in Harlem right down the street when she sees a U.N. Ambassador who looks like her. This diploma opens up new possibilities, so reach back, convince a young girl to earn one too. If you earned your degree in an area where we need more women, like computer science or engineering, reach back and persuade another student to study it too. If you are going into fields where we need more women, like construction or computer engineering, reach back, hire someone new. Until a girl can imagine herself, can picture herself as a computer programmer or a combatant commander, she will not become one. Until there are women who tell her, ignore our pop culture obsession over beauty and fashion and focus instead on studying and inventing and competing and leading, she will think those are the only things that girls are supposed to care about. Now, Michelle will say, nothing wrong with caring about it a little bit. And never forget that the most important example a young girl will ever follow is that of a parent. Persevere. No one of achievement has avoided failure--sometimes catastrophic failures. But they keep at it.

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They learn from mistakes. You know, when I first arrived on this campus, it was with little money, fewer options. But it was here that I tried to find my place in this world. I knew I wanted to make a difference, but it was vague how, in fact, I'd go about it. I--but I wanted to do my part to shape a better world. So, even as I worked after graduation in a few unfulfilling jobs here in New York--I will not list them all----even as I went from motley apartment to motley apartment, I reached out. And I started to write letters to community organizations all across the country. And one day, a small group of churches on the South Side of Chicago answered, offering me work with people in neighborhoods hit hard by steel mills that were shutting down and communities where jobs were dying away. The community had been plagued by gang violence, so as--once I arrived, one of the first things we tried to do was to mobilize a meeting with community leaders to deal with gangs. And I'd worked for weeks on this project. We invited the police, we made phone calls, we went to churches, we passed out flyers. The night of the meeting, we arranged rows and rows of chairs in anticipation of this crowd. And finally, a group of older folks walked in to the hall and they sat down. And this little old lady raised her hand and asked, Is this where the bingo game is? And later, the volunteers I worked with told me, that is it, we are quitting. They'd been doing this for 2 years even before I had arrived. They had nothing to show for it. I did not know what I was doing. And as we were talking, I looked outside and saw some young boys playing in a vacant lot across the street. And they were just throwing rocks up at a boarded building. They had nothing better to do--late at night, just throwing rocks. Before you quit, answer one question. What will happen to those boys if you quit? Who will fight for them if we do not ? Who will give them a fair shot if we leave? And one by one, the volunteers decided not to quit.

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We went back to those neighborhoods, and we kept at it, and we registered new voters, and we set up afterschool programs, and we fought for new jobs and helped people live lives with some measure of dignity. And we sustained ourselves with those small victories. We did not set the world on fire. Some of those communities are still very poor. But I believe that it was those small victories that helped me win the bigger victories of my last 3 1/2 years as President. And I wish I could say that this perseverance came from some innate toughness in me. I got it from watching the people who raised me. More specifically, I got it from watching the women who shaped my life. I grew up as the son of a single mom who struggled to put herself through school and make ends meet. She had marriages that fell apart, even went on food stamps at one point to help us get by. And she earned her degree and made sure that, through scholarships and hard work, my sister and I earned ours. She used to wake me up when we were living overseas--wake me up before dawn to study my English lessons. And when I'd complain, she'd just look at me and say, This is no picnic for me either, buster. And my mom ended up dedicating herself to helping women around the world access the money they needed to start their own businesses; she was an early pioneer in microfinance. And that meant, though, that she was gone a lot, and she had her own struggles trying to figure out balancing motherhood and a career. And when she was gone, my grandmother stepped up to take care of me. She only had a high school education. She got a job at a local bank. She hit the glass ceiling and watched men she once trained promoted up the ladder ahead of her. Rather than grow hard or angry each time she got passed over, she kept doing her job as best as she knew how and ultimately ended up being vice president at the bank. And later on, I met a woman who was assigned to advise me on my first summer job at a law firm. And she gave me such good advice that I married her. And Michelle and I gave everything we had to balance our careers and a young family. But let us face it, no matter how enlightened I must have thought myself to be, it often fell more on her shoulders when I was traveling, when I was away.

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I know that when she was with our girls, she'd feel guilty that she was not giving enough time to her work, and when she was at her work, she'd feel guilty she was not giving enough time to our girls. And both of us wished we had some superpower that would let us be in two places at once. And the reason Michelle had the strength to juggle everything and put up with me and eventually the public spotlight was because she too came from a family of folks who did not quit. Because she saw her dad get up and go to work every day even though he never finished college, even though he had crippling MS. She saw her mother, even though she never finished college, in that school, that urban school, every day making sure Michelle and her brother were getting the education they deserved. They never indulged in self-pity, no matter how stacked the odds were against them. Those are the folks who inspire me. People ask me sometimes, who inspires you, Mr. President? Those quiet heroes all across this country--some of your parents and grandparents who are sitting here--no fanfare, no articles written about them, they just persevere. They just do their jobs. They meet their responsibilities. I am only here because of them. They may not have set out to change the world, but in small, important ways, they did. They certainly changed mine. So whether it is starting a business or running for office or raising a amazing family, remember that making your mark on the world is hard. It takes patience. It takes commitment. It comes with plenty of setbacks, and it comes with plenty of failures. But whenever you feel that creeping cynicism, whenever you hear those voices say you cannot make a difference, whenever somebody tells you to set your sights lower, the trajectory of this country should give you hope. Previous generations should give you hope. What young generations have done before should give you hope. Young folks who marched and mobilized and stood up and sat in, from Seneca Falls to Selma to Stonewall, did not just do it for themselves; they did it for other people. That is how we achieved women's rights. That is how we achieved voting rights. That is how we achieved workers' rights. That is how we achieved gay rights.

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I am so happy to be back in ATL. Can we hear it for Rick Hart? He is the head of the Georgia There you are. You just tore it up. Rick is the head of the Georgia Students for Biden, the co-chair. And I will tell you one of the things that I love about Joe Biden, and he says it often. He understands his long life of service and dedication to public service, but he is always uplifting those who are the emerging leaders, and Rick Hart is one of them. So can we give it up for Rick, because that is what it is all about. That is what it is all about. It is about everybody taking on their role of leadership, knowing that we have so much at stake in this election. And so I came back to Atlanta. I love Atlanta. Last time I was here, it was before the pandemic. I spoke on the stage here at Morehouse in March of last year. And come into especially if you are black and hold elected office in America, coming to Atlanta is like coming back to the womb. Because Atlanta represents so much about who we are as America. Atlanta represents the hopes and the dreams and the fight to make real the promise of America. Atlanta is a place that has produced leaders who have been national leaders and international leaders. Who have always understood that hope will fuel the fight. Faith will be what grounds us in knowing what is possible. But then you got to just organize the folks, and bring people together, and recognize that nothing we have ever achieved as a nation by way of progress, came without a fight. And so that is what we have in front of us. We have for the next 11 days Georgia, a fight for the soul of our nation. This is a fight that we are engaged in, because we believe in the ideals of our country. We believe in our democracy. We know that America's democracy will always be as strong as we the people are in our willingness to fight for those ideals. And let us look at what is at stake. So we are dealing with a pandemic, and we are dealing with partly because of that, four crises that are occurring at one time in our nation. We are looking at because of the pandemic, a public health crisis. Where we have seen over 220,000 Americans lose their lives in just the last several months.

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Many of whom tragically in their last days on earth, could not even be with their family, with people they love, because of the nature of this pandemic. We are looking at over eight and a half million folks who have contracted the virus, thankfully have lived, but are looking at untold long-term consequences. Doctors are talking about things like lung scarring. And in the midst of this public health pandemic, we have a Donald Trump who thanks to Bob Woodward, we know knew back on January 28th, he knew the deal about ENTITY. He had been informed that it can kill people, that it is five times as likely to kill as the flu. He knew it could harm children. And he sat on that information and he did not tell the American people. Can you imagine what you might've done had you known what he knew on January 28th? How folks might've said, I got to buy some extra toilet paper, at the very least. But also how the fact is that even in Donald Trump's America before the pandemic, folks were working two and three jobs to try and pay the bills and pay the rent. Joe Biden I believe in our America, nobody should have to work more than one job to pay their bills and pay their rent and put food on the table. And he sat on this information. And then had the gall, had the nerve to say it was a hoax, to muzzle the public health experts. To suggest that he keeps a ledger, and you are on one side of his ledger if you do not wear a mask, you are on another side of his ledger if you wear a mask. And he is in the United States Supreme court where his boy Bill Barr, trying to sue to get rid of the Affordable Care Act. And let us step back for a moment and think about this. This man from the time he was Even before he was running for office when he questioned the legitimacy of the birthplace of the first black president of the United States, has been so weirdly obsessed with trying to get rid of whatever Barack Obama created. We do not need presidents who have weird obsessions. What is that about? So he is in court right now trying to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, which brought health coverage to over 20 million Americans. You know anybody who has diabetes, high blood pressure, breast cancer, lupus. And he wants to get rid of the thing that brought care and dignity to tens of millions of Americans.

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This is one of the reasons Donald Trump got to go. We are in the middle of all these crises, the economic crisis. Over 30 million people in just the last several months had to file for unemployment. We are looking at families that are getting up at the crack of dawn, to drive to sit in their car in a food line for hours. Praying that they can get to the end of the line before the food runs out. One in five mothers in America is describing her children under the age of 12 as being hungry. We are in the midst of a hunger crisis in America. And you see again, on the one hand you have Joe Biden who says Let me tell you how I measure the economy and how well it is doing. I measure the greatnesses of the economy based on how working people are doing. Which is why Joe Biden and I are saying, One, taxes will not be raised on anyone making less than $400,000 a year. We are saying that we know one of the greatest ways that we achieve access to economic health and intergenerational prosperity is home ownership. So we will have a $15,000 tax credit for first time home buyers, to help you with down payments and closing costs to buy a home. We understand working families need childcare, but nobody should have to pay more than 7% of their income in childcare. On the other hand you have Donald Trump. Who measures how well the economy is doing based on the stock market. Who as one of his first orders of business, passed a tax bill benefiting the top 1% and the biggest corporations of America. I will tell you, Joe Biden and I will make it one of our highest priorities to get rid of that tax bill, and do what we know needs to be done to invest that money in working families. Public health crisis and economic crisis is being compared to the great depression. So on one hand you have Joe Biden, who has the knowledge and the courage enough to use the term and speak those words, black lives matter. On the other hand you have Donald Trump, who refuses and will never say, Black lives matter. And people have asked me, they say, Well, ENTITY By the way senator is not on my birth certificate. We have seen that pattern going back to him questioning the legitimacy of Barack Obama, going back to Charlottesville. When people were peacefully protesting racial injustice in America, a woman was killed.

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And on the other side, you had a bunch of neo-Nazis wearing swastikas, carrying Tiki torches, slurring, throwing out anti-Semitic and racist slurs, and Donald Trump said, Well, there are fine people on both sides. A president of the United States who referred to Mexicans as rapists and criminals. A president of the United States who made as one of his first policy initiatives, a ban on Muslims entering our country. And then stood on that stage and would not condemn known white supremacist, and then double down and said, Well, they should stand back and stand by. This is not reflective of who we believe we are as a nation. We need a president who acknowledges systemic racism, who acknowledges the history of America, and uses that bully pulpit and that microphone, in a way that speaks truth with an intention to address the inequities and bring our country together. So I come from California. I was born in Oakland, California. And we have some. The West Coast has been burning because of those wildfires. California, Oregon, Washington, the Gulf States have been battered by these storms. People in the Midwest, farmers have lost whole season of crops because of the floods. So Joe Biden says, We need to embrace science. We need to deal with it. This is something that is hurting people. It is something that we can address in a way we also create jobs by investing in infrastructure, investing in building renewable energy. That is going to be about jobs. Joe Biden knows the seriousness of environmental justice issues. He knows that of all of the areas where people live in America with poor air quality, 70% of the people in those areas are people of color. Joe Biden knows what is going on at Flint. Joe Biden says, We need to address this and we need to pay attention to science. On the other hand you have Donald Trump, who recently when he was asked about the wildfires in California And the reporter said something like, Well, so the scientists are basically saying these fires, what is happening, the scientists are saying, 'there is a connection between this drastic changes in the climate and these wildfires.' You know what the president of the United States said in response? Science does not know the president of the United States. And what we see is a through line, right, on that issue and the first issue.

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An inability to do the job of Commander in Chief of the United States, whose first responsibility is to concern themselves with the health and safety of the American people. Now, you all know And Atlanta helped me when I ran for Senate, and I am now the only black woman in the United States Senate. Only the second in America's history to be elected to the United States Senate. And I am going to tell you because I have been there now for almost four years. The Senate is so important on all these issues. We need to take back the white house, there is no question about that. We also need to take back the Senate. We need to take back the Senate. It is the senators that will make decisions about advise and consent on who sits in the United States Supreme Court, right? One of the reasons I became a lawyer is because I was inspired by Thurgood Marshall and Charles Hamilton Houston and Constance Baker Motley, right? They are the ones who fought for Brown v. Board of Education. They are the ones who have fought for civil rights. Who sits in the United States Supreme Court has everything to do with our fight for equality. Well, it is going to be the president who nominates somebody, but it is the Senate who advise and consent will make the decision about whether it goes through. And right now we are seeing that battle in full relief, with this illegitimate process they have engaged in to try and fill the seat of the great Ruth Bader Ginsburg, while people are voting in an election. The majority of American people say, Let us decide who will be our president, and then let that person decide who fills that seat? The United States Senate is where there will be a decision on whether we put on the floor a bill that my brother Cory Booker from New Jersey and I wrote, called the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act. A bill that says like Joe Biden and I say, We should ban chokeholds and carotid holds, because George Floyd would be alive today if that were the case. A bill that says, Let us have a national registry of police officers who break the law, because that is the right thing to do. It says, We need to have a national standard for excessive use of force. Because it is not right that in some places when there is excessive use of force the question asked is, Was it reasonable? When we all know you could not reason a way just about anything. We need to change the standard.

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Those kinds of decisions, yes they get made from the White House, and we will make them. It also gets made in the Senate. And so that brings me to Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. And Georgia you got to send them to the United States Senate. Let them represent Georgia on all these issues. So I am here, Atlanta, Georgia, to ask you to do what I know you already know how to do so well. Which is to talk to folks about what is at stake. Which is to remind people on the issue of voting. That we have got so many reasons. One has to do with again, Atlanta, it has to do with John Lewis. It has to do with those men and women who shed blood on that Edmund Pettus Bridge and so many other places, for our right to vote. And so voting is about honoring those ancestors. Honoring what they fought for and what they sacrificed for our right to vote. Voting is because there is so much at stake. Everything that we discussed. Everything that affects our lives. And voting also is because we are not going to let anyone mess with our right to vote. Because here is how I think about that. Step back and think about And I have been spending a lot of time all over. I have been to Florida this week. I was in North Carolina this week. I will be in Ohio tomorrow. Ever since and even before they gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013, a whole lot of really powerful people including in this state, because otherwise we would be talking about Governor Stacey. A whole lot of powerful people for quite some time, have been trying to suppress our vote. Have been trying to confuse us about the process, to make it difficult. Oh, you can fill out your ballot and then put it in one envelope. But then you need to put it in another envelope and make sure that is signed. Trying to confuse us, trying to make it difficult. They are messing with the post office. And we have to at some point sit back and think, Why are they trying to make it so difficult and confusing for us to vote? And I think the answer is because they know our power. They know our power. And so I am here to say Atlanta, let us not let anybody take our power from us. We know the power of our voice. We know at election time the power of our voice is expressed through our vote. We are not going to let anybody take us out this game.

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Whoopi Goldberg, thank you for what you said and what you have done and for all the time you have given and the time you are willing to give because you never forgot where you came from and never stopped caring about how other people are doing who are not as fortunate as you are. Thank you, and God bless you. I want to thank all the dinner chairs and Chairman Fowler and your State chairman, Tom Byrne, and my former colleagues Jim Florio and Brendan Byrne, and Peter Duchin, who I have been enjoying for a year or two now, since I was a younger man. I want to say a special word of appreciation to Ray Lesniak because it is his birthday tonight, so I know we are all glad . I want to thank Senator Lautenberg for what he said and for what he is done in Washington, for standing up especially for the environment under a period of incredibly intense assault from the majority in Congress. Yes, you ought to clap for him because he did that. And as he leaves the United States Senate, I'd like to thank Senator Bradley for his 18 years of service to New Jersey and to America, for many, many years of friendship, counsel, and advice to me, and for the support that he gave this administration in the last 3 1/2 years. I know we all wish him well, and we know that the next chapter of his life will doubtless be just as exciting as the ones that have gone before. Thank you very much, Bill, and God bless you. You know, there have been a lot of sort of asides tonight about why Congressman Torricelli is not here. I think he is here for you, because he is down there voting on something you care about. And I have a message for those if there was some designed effort to keep him from coming up here tonight, guess what? He is still going to get the contributions, and we still know where he is, and we know what is at stake, and we are going to elect him in November, so it does not make any difference. One thing you know about Bob Torricelli is that he will stand up and fight for you with every fiber of his being. He does not do anything halfway; he is full of passion. He will fight for the water you drink, the land you live on, the air you breathe, the education of your children, the safety of your streets, and the example of your country as a beacon of freedom and democracy.

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He is been leading the fight to protect Sterling Forest here, the watershed for most of northern New Jersey. He wrote a section of the Superfund act that is focused on the chemical sites that are polluted here, something I am determined to see us finish the work on and another reason I do not want to see any further attempts to erode our investment in environmental protection. Bob Torricelli will protect all that. So I ask you to do what you can for the next 6 months to send Bob Torricelli to the United States Senate. Bill Bradley's shoes may be impossible to fill, but the people of New Jersey deserve someone fighting for them who is on their side and fighting for their future, not someone in the grip of an ideological theory that will only undermine our ability to go forward together. So I ask you again, do what you can, send him to the Senate. Do what you can for yourselves and your children and your future. We need Bob Torricelli, and I am going to depend on you to deliver New Jersey for us. Ladies and gentlemen, I do not want to keep you a long time tonight, but I want to just give a speech that in some ways is not particularly political. And after, I am going to ask you to do something that is intensely political. Usually these fundraisers we all know that our political system would not work without them, but a lot of times I think you come and go and you have your blood stirred, but I wonder if, when you leave, you think you have done your part and that is all there is to it. I want to talk to you tonight about what I believe is really going on in this country now, what I think is really at stake in this election, and why I hope you believe your financial contributions are only the beginning of your responsibilities as citizens for the next 6 months. We are clearly living through a time of change as profound as any the United States has endured in a hundred years in terms of the ways we work and live. Every so often our country is confronted with huge challenges, either to our very existence or at least to the ideals with which we started, that all of us are created equal and that we have inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that the Government is instituted to promote the general, the common welfare. We had a lot of trouble getting started in working that out.

monologic

Then we had to fight a great Civil War to hold the country together and to redeem the promise of equality by extending it when it had to be extended. And then, 100 years ago, we faced a period of change rather like today, when we moved from the farm to the factory, from the country to the city. There were vast new opportunities, but there was a lot of uprooting; a lot of people's lives were dislocated. And the progressive era began, with Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson saying that the power of the United States Government should be used to curb the abuses of that era and to make sure its benefits could be extended to all Americans. They had the antitrust laws, the child laws, the environment protection laws, all designed to let us have the benefits of the new industrial age without being broken by it, without having our identity as a nation, our character as a people, our ideals as expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution savaged. That is what it was all about. And then we underwent the Depression and World War II, and President Roosevelt and the Congress and the leaders of that time had to, first of all, defeat the opponents of freedom who would have killed our way of life beyond our borders and rally the American people to overcome that profound Depression and find a way to build a safety net under this country so that we could manage our economy in ways that did not permit it to crash again and break the lives of so many millions of people. Then we had to gird ourselves for the cold war, which we did, and wait for our victory to come, because communism was always founded on a total misunderstanding of human nature and the human condition. Now we are going through another period of change, economic and social change and the way we relate to the rest of the world, sort of like what happened 100 years ago. Now we have moved from a cold-war world to a global society, not just a global economy. big companies dramatically downsizing; new companies starting at a rapid rate; a lot of people doing exceedingly well; other people left behind; other people feeling uncertain about their future. When I ran for President in 1992, I got into that race because I was convinced we could no longer just sit by and let it happen, that we needed an aggressive response.

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I still believe our vision for the future should be animated by three things: One, the desire to give the American dream of opportunity to every person in this country without regard to their race, their gender, their station in life, where they live, and what they are up against. Two, the understanding that we cannot achieve that in the world in which we are living unless we find a way to come together to respect our diversity, to bridge all those gaps of race and religion and region and ethnicity. This country now has, more or less, 200 different racial and ethnic groups. It is an astonishing thing that we can find ways to come together around our core values and our respect for one another's differences. And I am sick and tired of seeing elections used as wedges to divide people one from another, to try to get people who are in the majority to look down on those who are not , and then hope we can pick up the pieces after the election. We should be uniting the American people and going forward together. And the third thing we have to do is continue to be the world's greatest force for peace and freedom and prosperity. And as I have said many times, that sounds great and everybody is for that in general, but often in particular they are not. When I took the action I did in Haiti and Bosnia, in becoming the first President to try to do something in Northern Ireland, all of the things we have done in the Middle East, what all the polls said was the most unpopular decision of my administration, trying to keep Mexico from collapsing, everything I did, I did because I know that our country has got to try to be the world's greatest source of energy for peace and freedom and prosperity, and because I know that 20 years from now we can be the strongest country in the world, but others will grow stronger, and we have to work with Russia, we have to work with China, we have to work with a uniting Europe, we have to work with emerging countries, to have them define their greatness in a way that helps us all to go forward in peace and prosperity. How will these other countries define their greatness? Will it be as we do, by how well they educate their people and what their economic achievements are and what their cultural achievements are and whether they can help their less fortunate neighbors? Or will it be by whether they can bully people just because they are smaller than they are? We cannot walk away from this.

monologic

You cannot live in the world we are going toward and pretend to stay within your own borders. So that is what I tried to do in 1992. And ever since I have been in this office, everything I have done can be explained in terms of either trying to create opportunity or to bring us together around our basic values and respecting our diversity or maintaining our leadership for peace and freedom. And you heard Senator Lautenberg talking about it. We are moving in the right direction. It is also true that there are a lot of challenges out there. In the economic arena, we have at least three big challenges, do not we? In New Jersey, you know what one of them is. We have to figure out what to do about all these people who get downsized from big companies but who still have a lot of good years left. And we are working on that. In the next few days, I am going to have a lot of companies in the country come in, and we are going to highlight the companies that have been able to avoid that and have been able to do things that really help their employees if they have to leave. We have got to find a way, secondly, to give all of our working people a greater sense of economic security. I have heard Senator Bradley talk about this. If you cannot guarantee somebody the same job with the same company for a lifetime, then they have to know if they work hard and play by the rules, they will always be able to get new training for new work, they will always have access to health care, and they will always be able to have a pension they can carry around with them, even if they change jobs. They have to be able to know that. And lastly, we have to remember that here in New Jersey and throughout this country, in spite of the 8 1/2 million jobs, there are vast expanses within our inner cities and in our rural areas that have not felt any new investment opportunity. And do not kid yourself, when you have new jobs and growth, you also drive down the welfare rolls, you drive down the crime rate, you drive down the despair that people feel. So we have to find a way to bring free enterprise back to the inner cities and back to the rural areas of America. I know we can do it. If we can do it for other countries, we can do it for our own.

monologic

If you look at this great country of ours, and you ask, how can we come together instead of be driven apart, you have to start with our basic values. We need to build up families and the integrity and strength of childrearing, not tear it down. That is why I have said many times, I am all for welfare reform that is tough on work if people can work, but I do not want to hurt the children. We should be supportive of good parenting and work. All of us try to succeed as workers and parents. That is what we should want poor people to do, too. Everybody should be able to succeed in that way. We have to create an educational system that gives everybody genuine opportunity. And that means, among other things, what I was doing here in New Jersey a couple of weeks ago, which is ensuring that we hook up every classroom and every library, even in the poorest schools in America, to the information superhighway in the next 4 years. We can do that, and we can revolutionize education if we do it. We have got to continue our work to lower the crime rate by having more police on the street, more prevention strategies, being tough in keeping the assault weapons ban in the Brady bill and not giving them up, and by actually doing something to give our young people something to say yes to as well as something to say no to. We can bring the crime rate down; we can make our streets safe again; we can make our neighborhoods whole again. We know how to do it. We have to continue this fight to protect the environment. It is woefully short-sighted to believe that we can walk away from our obligations to clean up the messes we have made and protect ourselves from making further ones and gain anything economically by it. Yes, we have to find smarter ways to do it. Our administration has worked hard to find ways to grow the economy and clean the environment. But if we walk away from that, we will not go into the 21st century as a country that is stronger with stronger families and stronger communities and a stronger future. All of these things we must do. We have to keep working and reaching out to the rest of the world, even when it is frustrating, when there are no easy answers. And to do it, we have to have an idea of Government that is fundamentally different from that embraced by the congressional majority.

monologic

If you listen to them, what they say is, Government is the source of all of our problems; this new world is going to be so wonderful; if we could just get Government out of the way, all of our problems would be solved; what we need is empowerment defined as more choice and freedom from Government. If you listen to our crowd, what do we say? We are not for big Government anymore where it is not necessary. Just remember, folks, when election time comes, they bad-mouth the Government, but we are the ones that reduced it. But we did it in a way that treated those Federal workers with dignity. We gave them generous early retirement packages and severance packages and time to find other jobs. And we did not try to make some big thing out of it. We just did it because it needed to be done. But we believe that there is a different sort of empowerment. We believe that real opportunity means not only choice but the ability to exercise the choice. You remember the great French writer Anatole France said the rich and poor are equally free to sleep under the bridge at night. Now, that is what choice is without the capacity to exercise it. We believe our job in Washington is to give people the ability to make the most of their own lives as individuals, workers, as citizens, in families, in communities, and as citizens of this great Nation. That is what we believe, the power to make the most of their own lives. We cannot guarantee results for people, but if we do not make sure everybody has got a chance to do the most that they can with their lives and live out their dreams, this country will never be what it ought to be in the 21st century. That is the main choice you face in 1996. And let me say, in terms of the election, why you have to work at it. And you have to talk to people about what the nature of this time is, what the nature of this period of change is, and what should we be doing. And every one of you who can afford to be here tonight has a voice, a mind, a spirit that can be brought to bear on your friends and neighbors. And you need to take this opportunity to use this election as elections should always be used, as a genuine educational opportunity to learn about where we are. And every question then becomes, how do we do this in a way that gives everybody a chance to make the most of their own lives?

monologic

How do we do this in a way that brings the American people together and does not divide them? How do we do this in a way that maintains our leadership in the world for peace and freedom? So it is not a question of whether we balance the budget. We have reduced the deficit more than our predecessors. The question is, how we balance the budget, not whether we do it. So in every case, I ask you to think about this. You can look at the budget of 1995, which I vetoed, at the environmental initiatives, at the differences between us. Who is right about family and medical leave? Were we right to say that you should not lose your job if you have got to take a little time off when a baby is born or a parent is sick or a child is in the hospital? We now have gotten a bipartisan study of the family and medical leave law that says one in six American workers covered by the law have taken advantage of it, and about 90 percent of the businesses say it did not cost them any money to comply and did not cause them any problems. I think that is what we are about. All we did was to empower people to succeed at work and at home. That is what we should be doing. Were we right to fight for the 100,000 police and the assault weapons ban and the Brady bill? All I know is that the crime rate is down all across America now for 3 or 4 years in a row because of more police and prevention. All I know is that no lawful hunter has lost his or her weapon, but there are 60,000 people who did lose their weapons, the 60,000 people with criminal records who tried to buy a handgun and could not do it because of the Brady bill in the last year and a half. Were we right to fight for national service, to give people a chance to serve their community, solve the problems, work with people of different backgrounds, and earn some money to go to college, or were they right to say that is a luxury we cannot afford?

monologic

Were we right to change the student loan laws so that more people could borrow money to go to college on better terms and pay it back as a percentage of their income so that if you have a high tuition cost but you want to be a schoolteacher, a police officer, a nurse, or somebody else doing public service and you know you are not going to be rich, you still can always borrow the money to go to college, and you can still always pay it back? I believe we were right about that. All we were trying to do was to give people the means to make the most of their own lives, to seize the American dream, to come together instead of being divided, to stand up for the things we believe in around the world. That is all we did, and it makes all the difference. So I say to you, this is not like 1992 when the question was the status quo or change. The question is, which road will you walk into the 21st century? And I tell you, I see pictures in my mind all the time that give me the answer. The other day I was at Eastern High School in Washington, DC, where all of the students are African-American except the Russian exchange students, a program you have done a lot of work on. There they were, reaching for unity over diversity. There they were, struggling to come out of poverty. There they were, asking not for a guarantee, but just for a good education and a chance at the American dream. And if I have got anything to do about it, they are going to get it. That is what they are going to get. I got two letters from two married couples I got to know not very long ago because they had desperately sick children. I know as the father of only one child, there must be no greater pain in the world than having a child die before you do. And both these couples lost their children, but they got to be good parents because of the family and medical leave law that they helped us fight for. I think we were right, and I think that is the kind of change we want. I got a letter that I signed today back to a man who is now in his mid-sixties who lost a job 4 years ago at an aerospace plant, did not know where to turn.

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But he wrote us, and because we found him the kind of training program that others are trying to eliminate, that man started his life over again in his early sixties and is working again and has dignity and is supporting himself and his family. That is what I believe we ought to be doing. It is not about big Government programs. It is not about yesterday's ideas. This is about which road we will walk into the future. It is about whether we will walk it together. I was over there today at the high school. We were at the high school; Senator Lautenberg talked about it. We did this antismoking program. And I was talking to the mayor on the way in about what kind of community it was. It was, except they had not only Christians and Jews among the student body, they had Hindus and Muslims among the student body, even there. I am telling you, this business of trying to drive a stake between people in this country based on their race, their ethnic background, or their religion has got to stop. We have got to stop it. We have got to stop it. Now, you do not have to guess about this; look around the rest of the world. Which road do you want to walk into the future? And I know that either I or my successors will make some mistakes in our judgments about what the United States should do around the world. But basically, it is right for us to continue to reach out to other countries. It is right for us to support peace and freedom and to try to expand our own prosperity by expanding that of others. It is right for us to be partners with other countries, even when we are tired and we want to lay our burdens down, because it is the only way to fight terrorism, the only way to fight drug dealing, the only way to fight organized crime; it is right to do that. So you get to decide about that, which road will you walk into the future. And I want to ask you when you leave here tonight to think about what else you can do for the next 6 months. I appreciate the money you have given Bob Torricelli and the Democratic Party and our efforts. I am grateful for that. But it is not enough, because the American people are trying to get a grip on this period of change. You should feel privileged to live in this time.

monologic

Please be seated, unless you do not have a seat. I appreciate the chance to come to this vital facility to meet the workers who make it go, meet the planners who keep it modern, and meet some of the people who benefit from the electricity that is generated out of here. I come knowing our Nation faces some great challenges. The biggest challenge we face is the security of our people. We have got to make sure that America is secure from the enemies which hate us. And we have got to make America secure by having an economy that grows so people can find work. On the first front, to make sure America is secure, we are making good progress. The 2 years from September the 11th-we got hit. We got hit by people who cannot stand what America believes in. We love freedom, and we are not going to change. Therapy will not work with this bunch. So we will bring people to justice. It does not matter how long it takes. America and many of our friends will find those who would harm the American people and bring them to justice. The only way to win the war on terror is to stay on the offensive. We can do a lot of things here at home. We can support our first-responders. We can make sure our law enforcement agencies talk to each other. But the best way to make sure the homeland is secure is to hunt these killers down one by one and bring them to justice, which the United States of America will do. As part of making sure America is secure, I laid out a doctrine that said, If you harbor a terrorist, if you feed a terrorist, if you hide a terrorist, you are just as guilty as the terrorists. To provide money to terrorists, you are guilty. And we will hold you account. And the Taliban found out what we meant. We gave an ultimatum to Mr. Saddam Hussein. We said, Get rid of your weapons. He ignored not only the United States but the civilized world. No terrorist organization will ever get a weapon of mass destruction from Mr. Sad-dam Hussein. This Nation yearns for peace, but we understand the nature of the enemy. For those of you who have got relatives in the United States military, I want to thank you, for a grateful nation. And you thank them, on behalf of the Commander in Chief and the people of this country, for the sacrifices they are willing to make on behalf of the rest of us. Economic security is on my mind.

monologic

I am sure the numbers are beginning to look better, but there is still people looking for work. My attitude is, so long as somebody is looking for work, then we have got to continue to try to create the conditions necessary for job growth. We want the moms and dads to be able to make a living, to be able to put food on the table for their children. National security means economic security for every single citizen. And one of the lessons we learned a while ago was that a reliable, affordable electrical power is essential for economic growth in America. It is an essential part of an economic plan. If you are interested in creating jobs, you'd better have energy. You are not going to have an economy grow without reliable sources of energy. Lights went out last month-you know that. It might have been good for candle sales, but it certainly was not good for-job growth. It recognizes that we have got an issue with our electricity grid, and we need to modernize it. We need to make sure it works in the future. The first thing we are going to do is find out what went wrong and address the problem. Secretary of Energy Spence Abraham, right here, from the State of Michigan, is leading that investigation. We want the facts. We will put the spotlight of truth on the facts, and then we will deal with it. But also, it is clear that the power grid needs an overhaul. As we go into an exciting new period of American history, we want the most modern electricity grid for our people. When I first got in in Washington, I put out a plan, a national energy strategy. I felt like we needed an energy strategy for the country. If energy is an issue, first of all you need a strategy and a plan. And we laid one out. And part of that plan modernizes-called for the modernization of the electricity grid. We need more investment. We need research and development to make sure we are -as we invest new technologies, they are the latest and best for the people of this country. We also want to make sure voluntary reliability standards for utilities are now mandatory reliability standards. We want mandatory reliability standards, so people can count on the deliver-to have their electricity delivered. This is part of the plan I announced, as well as we have got to make sure that the energy we use, we have the best technologies to make sure we burn it as clean as we can.

monologic

That is why I have a strong initiative for clean coal technology. We want to make sure we encourage conservation. But the truth of the matter is, we need to become less dependent on foreign sources of energy, For the sake of economic security. We lead the world in new technologies when it comes to energy, and we not only can find new ways of producing energy and make sure we do so in an efficient way, we can make sure we do so in a clean way. You know right here what I am talking about, at this plant. We lead the world in technologies to make the production of energy cleaner. And so therefore, I am confident in predicting to the American people, not only can we promote job security and increase jobs, but we can do so in way that protects our environment. And I believe we have a duty to do so. I believe a responsible nation is one that protects the environment. And that is what I am here to discuss- -those moments when the Government does not help, when the Government stands in the way. For example, powerplants are discouraged from doing routine maintenance because of Government regulations. And by routine maintenance, I mean replacing wornout boiler tubes or boiler fans. So I changed those regulations-my administration did. And I am here to explain why we did, in a way that I hope the American people can understand. Before I begin, I do want to thank Tony Earley for that introduction. I just had a great tour of your facility, Tony, by Paul- Paul Fessler. He said to make sure I did not bring up the Michigan-Notre Dame game. So I will not bring it up. I am traveling today with Marianne Horinko, who is the Acting Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. She understands that we can grow our economy and protect the environment at the same time. When we talk about environmental policy in this Bush administration, we not only talk about clean air; we talk about jobs. And I believe we can do both, and so does Marianne. I want to thank you for your service. I thank Paul for the tour, and I was joined on the tour by Mike Smith, who is a senior union committeeman, Local 223. I appreciate Mike taking me around and introducing me to some of the fellow workers in the plants. You are providing a service. For all the workers who work here, I want you to know you are providing an important service. You are creating the conditions so people can find a job.

monologic

You are working hard to make sure somebody can turn on a light switch, and they can realize the comforts of modern life. Thanks for what you do. I am also traveling today with Members of the United States Congress, Congresswoman Candice Miller and Congressman Fred Upton. I want to thank you all for coming. We have got the secretary of state, Terri Lynn Land, with us, the attorney general, Mike Cox, the speaker of the house, Rick Johnson, members of the-all working hard at the State level. And finally, Mayor Al is with us, the mayor of Monroe. You must be filling the potholes--picking up the garbage--that is the way to go. Today when I landed, I met Claire Jennings. Let me describe right quick--it sounds like they know you, Claire. One of the things I try to do when I come to communities is to herald those folks who are volunteering their own time to make the world a better place. It is amazing the people I have been able to meet in our country. We have got all kinds of people from all walks of life taking time out to mentor a child or to take care of a-somebody who is lonely, to help heal a broken heart, surround somebody who hurts with love. It is really the strength of our country. I am proud of our military. I intend to keep our military strong. But the strength of the country is the heart and souls of our citizens. It is the willingness of people to lend a helping hand. What Claire has done is, she decided to enhance the wildlife growth around this plant. It is a wonderful-she is done a wonderful job, as have coworkers, in making sure the 800 acres here at the Monroe plant is spectacular to look at. And it will leave behind something like a legacy for future generations. So Claire, I want to thank you for setting a good example. I am glad you brought your daughter too. I said as plainly as I could that I believe we can grow our economy and protect the quality of our air at the same time. And we made progress doing just that. Let me give you a statistic or two. Our economy has grown 164 percent in three decades. And yet, according to a report that the EPA is releasing today, air pollution from six major pollutants is down by 48 percent during that period of time. So you nearly double your economy, and yet pollution is down by nearly 50 percent.

monologic

That should say to people that we can grow our economy, that we can work to create the conditions for job growth, and that we can be good stewards of the air that we breathe. And this plant is a good example of that achievement. Since 1974, the power generated from here has increased by 22 percent. You have created more power so more people can live a decent life. And yet, the particulate matter emissions have fallen by 80-81 percent. You are good stewards of the quality of the air as well. You work hard in this plant to put energy on the grid, and at the same time, you are protecting the environment. There is reason for this progress, and it is because our Nation made a commitment. Starting in the Clean Air Act of 1970, we set high goals. Let us work together to achieve these priorities. This administration, my administration strongly supports the Clean Air Act, and I believe that by combining the ethic of good stewardship-in other words, convince people that it is an important goal- and the spirit of innovation, we will improve the quality of our air even further, and, at the same time, make sure people can find a job. There is more to do, and so I want to talk about three ideas that-three commonsense steps that I put out to help us meet the new air quality standards and further improve quality of life. I hope you find that they make sense. They certainly do to me. They are commonsense ways to deal with our environment. First, we are going after the pollution that comes from diesel vehicles. We worked with the energy companies and the agricultural concerns and the manufacturers; we worked with environment groups; we worked with union groups to come up with a commonsense policy. We developed one, and it is now being implemented. Oil companies will lower the sulphur in diesel fuel. We will enforce new emission limits on diesel truck engines. And we are going to put forward new rules that will control pollution from off-road vehicles like heavy construction equipment. The stakeholders came; we developed good policy. Everybody is on board, and now we are headed toward a cleaner-cleaner quality air for all Americans. Again, you heard the CEO talk about this legislation. Clear Skies legislation will help cut powerplant emissions without affecting job growth and/or jobs at this plant. We are interested in reducing the nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide in mercury, coming out of the powerplants around America.

monologic

We have put forth a plan; we brought people in a room; we discussed it with them. The stakeholders agreed; union workers-union leaders have agreed; utilities have agreed; manufacturing companies have agreed to a plan that will reduce those three key pollutants by 70 percent over a reasonable period of time. We have got an interesting approach. It is been tried in the past. We put mandatory caps on emissions. Instead of the Government telling utilities where and how to cut pollution, we will work with them to create a cap, how much to cut and when we expect it cut by, but you figure out how. You are a lot better in figuring out the how than people in Washington, DC. Each year, each facility will need a permit for each ton of pollution it emits. Companies that are able to reduce their pollution below the amount can sell the surplus to others that need more time to meet the national goal and the national standard. The system makes it worthwhile for companies to invest earlier in controls and therefore pollute less. It ensures that high standards are met in a commonsense way that is cost-effective and saves jobs. And under the legislation, communities that have had trouble meeting air quality standards will finally have a clear and a more effective method to get them help. I am going to be talking about this tomorrow at the White House. I will be doing it in Washington because I expect Congress to act. Instead of playing politics with environmental legislation, we need to come together and do what is right for American workers and American families. Finally, I want to speak to one other matter. We need to fix those and have-we are in the process of fixing what they call New Source Review regulations. After I explain it, I think it will make sense as to why we are doing it. The old regulations, let me start off by telling you, undermined our goals for protecting the environment and growing the economy. The old regulations on the book made it difficult to either protect the economy or-protect the environment or grow the economy. Therefore, I wanted to get rid of them. I am interested in job creation and clean air, and I believe we can do both. One of the things we have got to do is encourage companies to invest in new technologies, convince utilities to modernize their equipment, so they can produce more energy and pollute less. In other words, as technologies come on, we want to encourage companies to make investment in those technologies.

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Yet old regulations, the ones we are changing, actually discourage companies from even making routine repairs and replacing old equipment. Regulations intended to enhance air quality made it really difficult for companies to do that which is necessary to not only produce more energy but to do it in a cleaner way. Powerplants and companies wanted to make one change they could afford. The regulators could come in and order them to change everything, making every change a massive multiyear battle. That is the reality here at Monroe plant. The people who are trying to modernize this plant and do their job on behalf of the people of Michigan found out that the regulations were so complex that they could be interpreted any different way. And when you have complex regulations that are open for interpretation, guess what happens? And then you have litigation, and then things grind to a standstill. So a lot of planners and people who were charged with providing electricity and to protect the air decided not to do anything. They did not want to have to fight through the bureaucracy or fight through the endless lawsuits. They become old and tired, which means people start losing their jobs, which means our economy is not robust so people can find work if they are looking for work, which means some cases, energy costs are higher than they should be. And so we decided to do something about it-I did. It is been in the process for a while, and I decided to move, particularly when I heard stories like this one here at Monroe. In 1999, Detroit Edison made a decision to upgrade the turbine steam generators here. For the men and women who work at that plant, you understand, when I say vital decision, that it is a vital decision. The company wanted to give more efficient- wanted this plant to have new, efficient blades on the turbines, which will allow more electricity to be generated with the same amount of coal without causing emission increases. It seems like a commonsense policy. If I were running this plant, I would want to modernize it so we could produce more energy for the same amount of input and continue doing a good job of protecting the quality of the air. That is the kind of corporate behavior that I appreciate. Yet when the company took the plan to the EPA, the first thing that happened is they had to wait a year for an answer. They said, We have got a good way to do something, but please tell us if we can move forward.

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And when the answer did come back, it was so complicated, because the rules are so complicated, that Detroit Edison decided to delay part of the project until its experts could decipher the details of the ruling. On the one hand, the rules are so complex that the answer coming back was even more complex, evidently, because nothing happened for a while. That does not make any sense. The quicker we put modern equipment into our powerplants, the quicker people are going to get more reliable electricity. If we are interested in job creation in America, we'd better have the most modern facilities to make sure that electricity is available so people can expand their job base. The rules created too many hurdles, and that hurts the working people. And so, as I said, we decided to do something about it. We began to review the old rules and regulations. And we wanted to do so in a careful way. The EPA held five public meetings. In other words, we said, If you have got a problem with the change, please bring them forward. Or you support the change, bring them forward. We wanted to hear from people, and the EPA did a good job of collecting data. In December, we issued the first set of rules to clarify and simplify regulations for manufacturers to do projects in an energy-efficient way and to promote policy that would discourage pollution. And now we have issued new rules that will allow utility companies like this one right here to make routine repairs and upgrades without enormous costs and endless disputes. We simplified the rules. We trust the people in this plant to make the right decisions. It makes sense to change these regulations. It makes sense for the workplace environment. It makes sense for the protection of our air. Not only do I believe that, but union leaders believe that. Manufacturers believe that. The utilities believe that. A bipartisan coalition in Congress believes it. We have done the right thing. The people at this plant wanted to put the most modern equipment, use the most modern technology to make sure the people of Michigan got energy at a reasonable and affordable price and at the same time protect the environment. Government policy prevented them from doing so. We have changed the Government policy for good of the people of this country. I mentioned the challenges we face, but I am an optimist, because I understand America. It is been my privilege to see the character of the American people. We set goals, and we work together to achieve those goals.

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I was going to say, thank you, Laura, for those kind remarks. This is one of the great afternoons for Laura and me. We love to recognize our teachers. Actually, this is an annual event started by Harry Truman. And I am glad to be a part of a tradition here at the White House, saying thanks to our teachers. I admire teachers and like teachers so much, I married one. Laura is a great advocate for literacy and a strong supporter for America's teachers, and I am really proud to have her by my side during these unbelievable times and this great experience of serving our country-other than being a fine introducer. The thing I like about teaching is, teaching is such an optimistic profession. I know when teachers look out at their classrooms, you see more than a child at play or at study. You are able to see a child with big dreams and big hopes. You see future doctors and scientists and entrepreneurs and inventors, and I hope you see even a teacher or two. You dedicated your lives to the formation of young minds. You are giving our children the skills they need to succeed in life and equally important, the courage and the drive to realize those dreams. Our Nation is grateful for your hard work. We appreciate what you do, and we are honored you are here at the White House. I want to thank our Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings. She believes strongly in the classroom teacher, and she believes in the potential of every child. I am pleased to recognize Senator Sam Brownback, for the State of Kansas. I am glad you are here-and his wife, Mary; thank you for coming. thank you all for taking time to honor the teachers who are here. Sam Bennett from Florida- say hello to the Governor-Ron Poplau of Kansas-no wonder you all are here-and Susan Barnard of Washington State. Everybody here has been introduced to Kim Oliver, but you have not met her parents, Vincent and Veronica. I want to thank all the Teachers of the Year from around our country who are here. I really-Laura and I really enjoyed having our picture with you. But nevertheless, it is thanks from the bottom of our hearts. I thank Dr. Tom Houlihan, who is the executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers. That is one of the sponsoring organizations. I want to thank Margery for being here. That is also a sponsoring organization of this event.

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Kathleen Murphy is the president of ING, is here with us, as well as Tom Waldron, who is the executive vice president. These are the sponsoring groups of this important occasion. I also want to thank the chief state school officers who are with us. It is a job that requires compassion and determination and extraordinary patience. And as Laura hinted, or maybe did not hint, I was probably one of those kind that tested your patience. You are helping young people to learn the basics of reading and writing and adding and subtracting. You are serving as mentors and, probably most importantly, as role models. You help kindle young imaginations, and you inspire a love of learning. It is a pretty significant job description, when you think about it. And the teachers we honor here today are excelling at that job. Your daily efforts help young Americans grow into successful adults. In other words, you are building the future for the country. We ask a lot of our teachers, and we owe you a lot in return. And when I first came to office, I worked with members of both political parties-believe it or not, it is possible here in Washington to occasionally do that-to increase funding from the Federal level but also to pass the No Child Left Behind Act. The spirit of the No Child Left Behind Act basically says, society has a deep obligation to challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations, that we believe every child can learn, and therefore, we believe it makes sense to determine whether or not every child is learning. And if not, there ought to be extra help so that no child in our society is left behind. We are beginning to see good results, thanks to our Nation's teachers. The 2005 Nation's Report Card showed America's fourth graders are posting the best scores in reading and math in the history of the test. African American and Hispanic fourth graders set records in reading and math last year. America's eighth graders earned the best math scores ever recorded. Eighth grade Hispanic and African American students achieved their highest math scores ever. We are making really important strides toward closing an achievement gap in America, and I want to thank our teachers for your hard work. I have recently launched the American Competitiveness Initiative, which will help our students do better in math and science. We need to train 70,000 high school teachers to lead AP courses in math and science. I know we have got some AP teachers here, and I want to thank you for that.

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It is okay to be a mathematician or a scientist-as a matter of fact, it is cool. We want to make sure that we help students who struggle with math get extra help to make sure that-to make sure they have a chance to be able to earn the high-wage jobs of the 21st century. If we ensure that America's children have the skills they need to succeed in life, we will make sure America succeeds in the world. Improving the quality of education for young Americans requires good laws and good policies, but ultimately it depends on good teachers. And that is why we are here on the South Lawn, to honor really good teachers. The Teacher of the Year, Kim Oliver, teaches kindergarten at Broad Acres Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland. Broad Acres is Montgomery County's highest poverty school, a place where 90 percent of the children qualify for federally-subsidized meals and about 75 percent have parents who do not speak English at home. It is a school filled with the kind of students that inspired Kim Oliver to become a teacher. Kim decided to become a teacher at a young age. It is really interesting for teachers to hear what she said. She said, As a young child, I loved and admired my day care teacher, Mrs. Chandler. I wanted to be just like her. Chandler made me feel special, as if I were the only child in her class. Kim Oliver had many friends growing up who came from unstable and impoverished homes. She says, I watched so many of my friends live up to the low expectations that were set for them. To this day, I find myself wondering, what if my disadvantaged friends had 12 years worth of Mrs. Chandlers in their lives? Kim went on to say, I chose to become a teacher to motivate and inspire the neediest students, who many have written off, and let them know they can achieve and succeed in life regardless of what the statistics may show. I love that attitude. I think you are beginning to get the drift of why she is the Teacher of the Year. When Kim Oliver arrived at Broad Acres in 2000, the school was threatened with forced restructuring by the State as a result of poor academic performance. Oliver took a leadership role at the school. That is what good teachers do; they take the lead. She became a teacher-leader and helped lead a collaborative effort to improve the curriculum, instruction, and assessment. She helped establish instructional planning sessions and formal procedures to examine student work and improve student performance.

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She noticed that many parents at the school lacked the language skills to be able to read to their children and to be able to help with their school work. And so she and her colleagues purchased cassette players and recorded books on tape for the students to take home and share with their families, which made it a lot easier for parents who struggle with English to help their children. Kim Oliver also organized a regular Books and Supper Night, where families could check out books from the library and read together before sharing a dinner, which fostered learning and family involvement in their children's education. If you can get the parents involved in the child's education, you have a much better chance of succeeding. She set high expectations. Good teachers set high expectations. She provided needed assistance. She involved families, and she helped turn that school around. Within 2 years of her arrival, kindergarten students at Broad Acres were mastering early reading skills at higher rates than other schools in the district. After 3 years, Broad Acres students were meeting or exceeding all requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. She has a rare gift for touching hearts and minds, inspiring in her students to aim high and believe in their potential. A Broad Acres parent says, She knows how to talk to the children so they will listen. And all her students know that she cares about them. She made them all feel like they were smart and could learn anything. One of her colleagues says, When you walk into Ms. Oliver's classroom, one cannot help but notice that this is a special place. She is dedicated to her school community and committed to excellence, and she has been an instrumental force in improving student achievement at her school. I have high expectations for each of them. I teach them that they can accomplish anything with hard work and persistence. Kim Oliver understands that the key to helping children succeed is fighting the soft bigotry of low expectations. America is blessed to have teachers like Kim Oliver. We are blessed to have teachers like all those who are gathered here at the White House. We thank you for the love and devotion you have shown our children each day. May God continue to bless your work, and may God continue to bless our country.

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It seems to me that this is becoming a spring tradition. For the fourth year in a row, the football team from the Naval Academy is here to receive the Commander in Chief's Trophy-the Rose Garden should be called the Yard. This year's team was among the Navy's best ever. That says a lot. This is a team that had the most rushing yards in the Nation. That says a lot. You had the highest graduation rate of any football team in the country. That says even more. You made it to the bowl game. And you beat ENTITY. I thank you all for coming. Deputy Secretary of the VA Gordon Mansfield; Secretary Don Winter of the Navy; General Pete Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff-and, I might add, the first marine to serve in that capacity; Admiral G, Ed Giambastiani-that is hard for a Texan to say, but it is not hard to tell you how much I admire Admiral G and Pete Pace; Admiral Mike Mullen, Chief of Naval Operations, thank you for coming, Chief; General Jim Conway, Commandant of the Marine Corps; and Ellen Moyer, the mayor of Annapolis. Vice Admiral Rod Rempt-Rod, I notice that you gathered up my speech. Just remember, page three follows page two. But it is good to have you again. Coach Paul Johnson-you talk about a winner, this guy knows how to build winners. I am proud to welcome you and your staff. I appreciate very much the members of the football team that have joined us, and I thank all of the Naval Academy supporters who are here. The Navy's fourth consecutive winning season may not sound like much to people who do not follow football, but it is a remarkable feat considering that the team was 0 and 10, 6 years ago. And here they are, standing in the Rose Garden with the Commander in Chief. It says a lot about resilience and a lot about determination and a lot about correcting past mistakes. Coach Johnson has put together a really good coaching staff, and I appreciate very much, Coach, you motivating these players toward championship-toward the championships that you have earned. The season started with three wins in a row, including a blowout over Stanford. You beat Air Force in Colorado Springs. You beat ENTITY by 12 points, the fifth win in a row for the Naval Academy. They tell me that is a pretty big deal.

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You earned a spot in the Meineke Car Care Bowl-Meineke Car Care Bowl. Boston College. I watched it. I was impressed by the 322 yards you earned. I know you are disappointed with the one-point loss, but you cannot be disappointed with the effort. I appreciate the fact that your class is the first in school history to win four straight Commander in Chief trophies, the first to go 8 and 0 against ENTITY and Air Force, and the first to play in four straight bowl games. That is a lot of firsts. Your class won 35 games in 4 years. The only Navy class to win more games graduated in 1909. I do not know whether William Howard Taft welcomed the team in 1909, but I can tell you, the 43rd President is proud to welcome such champions here to the Rose Garden. One of the reasons your team was so successful this year, of course, is because you had a captain from Texas. Five different Navy players rushed for more than 100 yards in a game this season. That is more than any other team in the Nation. I appreciate the fact that one of your quarterbacks stepped in for an injured starter and went on to score four touchdowns in a single game. I would like to say his name; I will probably bungle it. I will just say, the guy is from Hawaii. I appreciate the fact that Keenan Little became the first player in Navy history to score defensive touchdowns against Air Force and ENTITY in the same season. I am proud to be up here with a fellow Texan from Lewisville, Texas-the mascot of one of the high school teams in Lewisville, believe it or not, is the Fighting Farmers. He gained 134 yards against Air Force. When he was named MVP, he wisely-wisely-gave the credit to his offensive line. You know, it is interesting-how would you like to be the punter on the Navy team who went full-two full games without showing up on the field? Veteto-Greg is his first name-was, like, the punter on the team, and for two games in a row, he was never used. The team had a special leader in Eddie Martin. I do not know if the country knows this, but he was diagnosed with cancer last year. He did not play any games this year, but he always led the team out of the locker room for every home game. And so, Eddie, I appreciate the inspiration you have provided for your team and for the Academy.

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I know you are fighting a brave battle, and a lot of people will pray for your full recovery. When you signed up for the Naval Academy, you signed up for more than playing football. I am glad Coach Johnson-I am sure Coach Johnson was glad that you said, I want to be a football player at the Naval Academy. But you signed up to become officers in the finest military the world has ever known. But you cannot have the finest military the world has ever known without men and women who volunteer to wear the uniform, just like you have done. You volunteered after September the 11th, 2001. I vowed after September 11th, 2001, that I would use the full power of our Government to protect the American people from harm, and I meant what I said. And therefore, anybody who signed up afterwards knew what they were getting into. It is a remarkable country when people make such a noble decision to serve their country in a time of war. And I am proud to be the Commander in Chief of such decent, honorable, sacrificing men and women. The lessons you have learned on the football field and at the Naval Academy will serve you well on the battlefield. You learned the importance of teamwork and leadership and strong personal character. And you are going to put those qualities to the highest possible use, and that is to protect the American people and to lay the foundation of peace for generations to come. The Navy and Marine Corps are on the frontline of fighting and winning the war against the extremists, radicals who would do this country harm. Every day we are on the offense against an enemy. My attitude is, I would rather defeat them over there so we do not have to face them here. And the Marine Corps and the Navy are helping to lead that charge. The sailors and marines on the high sea are sending a clear message to the world that we stand for strength, and we stand for peace. Former Navy football players have distinguished themselves in the line of duty. Marine First Lieutenant Brian Stann comes to mind, the class of '03. He won the Silver Star. Ron Winchester of '01, J.P. Blecksmith of the class of '03. Another gave his life in flight over the Pacific, Navy Lieutenant Commander Scott Zellem, the class of '91. The United States of America will not forget their sacrifices. We will complete our missions so that their sacrifices will not have gone in vain.

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I am about to sign into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964. I want to take this occasion to talk to you about what that law means to every American. One hundred and eighty-eight years ago this week a small band of valiant men began a long struggle for freedom. They pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor not only to found a nation, but to forge an ideal of freedom--not only for political independence, but for personal liberty--not only to eliminate foreign rule, but to establish the rule of justice in the affairs of men. That struggle was a turning point in our history. Today in far corners of distant continents, the ideals of those American patriots still shape the struggles of men who hunger for freedom. Yet those who founded our country knew that freedom would be secure only if each generation fought to renew and enlarge its meaning. From the minutemen at Concord to the soldiers in Viet-Nam, each generation has been equal to that trust. Americans of every race and color have died in battle to protect our freedom. Americans of every race and color have worked to build a nation of widening opportunities. Now our generation of Americans has been called on to continue the unending search for justice within our own borders. Yet many are denied equal treatment. We believe that all men have certain unalienable rights. Yet many Americans do not enjoy those rights. We believe that all men are entitled to the blessings of liberty. Yet millions are being deprived of those blessings--not because of their own failures, but because of the color of their skin. The reasons are deeply imbedded in history and tradition and the nature of man. We can understand--without rancor or hatred--how this all happened. Our Constitution, the foundation of our Republic, forbids it. The principles of our freedom forbid it. Morality forbids it. And the law I will sign tonight forbids it. That law is the product of months of the most careful debate and discussion. It was proposed more than one year ago by our late and beloved President John F. Kennedy. It received the bipartisan support of more than two-thirds of the Members of both the House and the Senate. An overwhelming majority of Republicans as well as Democrats voted for it. It has received the thoughtful support of tens of thousands of civic and religious leaders in all parts of this Nation. And it is supported by the great majority of the American people. The purpose of the law is simple.

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It does not restrict the freedom of any American, so long as he respects the rights of others. It does not give special treatment to any citizen. It does say the only limit to a man's hope for happiness, and for the future of his children, shall be his own ability. It does say that there are those who are equal before God shall now also be equal in the polling booths, in the classrooms, in the factories, and in hotels, restaurants, movie theaters, and other places that provide service to the public. I am taking steps to implement the law under my constitutional obligation to take care that the laws are faithfully executed. First, I will send to the Senate my nomination of LeRoy Collins to be Director of the Community Relations Service. Governor Collins will bring the experience of a long career of distinguished public service to the task of helping communities solve problems of human relations through reason and commonsense. Second, I shall appoint an advisory committee of distinguished Americans to assist Governor Collins in his assignment. Third, I am sending Congress a request for supplemental appropriations to pay for necessary costs of implementing the law, and asking for immediate action. Fourth, already today in a meeting of my Cabinet this afternoon I directed the agencies of this Government to fully discharge the new responsibilities imposed upon them by the law and to do it without delay, and to keep me personally informed of their progress. Fifth, I am asking appropriate officials to meet with representative groups to promote greater understanding of the law and to achieve a spirit of compliance. We must not approach the observance and enforcement of this law in a vengeful spirit. Its purpose is not to divide, but to end divisions--divisions which have all lasted too long. Its purpose is to promote a more abiding commitment to freedom, a more constant pursuit of justice, and a deeper respect for human dignity. We will achieve these goals because most Americans are law-abiding citizens who want to do what is right. This is why the Civil Rights Act relies first on voluntary compliance, then on the efforts of local communities and States to secure the rights of citizens. It provides for the national authority to step in only when others cannot or will not do the job. This Civil Rights Act is a challenge to all of us to go to work in our communities and our States, in our homes and in our hearts, to eliminate the last vestiges of injustice in our beloved country.

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I hope you all had a good weekend. Nobody likes paying taxes, particularly in times of economic stress. But most Americans meet their responsibilities because they understand that it is an obligation of citizenship, necessary to pay the costs of our common defense and our mutual well-being. And yet, even as most American citizens and businesses meet these responsibilities, there are others who are shirking theirs. And many are aided and abetted by a broken tax system, written by well-connected lobbyists on behalf of well-heeled interests and individuals. It is a Tax Code full of corporate loopholes that makes it perfectly legal for companies to avoid paying their fair share. It is a Tax Code that makes it all too easy for a number--a small number of individuals and companies to abuse overseas tax havens to avoid paying any taxes at all. And it is a Tax Code that says you should pay lower taxes if you create a job in Bangalore, India, than if you create one in Buffalo, New York. Now, understand, one of the strengths of our economy is the global reach of our businesses. And I want to see our companies remain the most competitive in the world. But the way to make sure that happens is not to reward our companies for moving jobs off our shores or transferring profits to overseas tax havens. This is something that I talked about again and again during the course of the campaign. The way we make our businesses competitive is not to reward American companies operating overseas with a roughly 2-percent tax rate on foreign profits, a rate that costs tens--that costs taxpayers tens of billions of dollars a year. The way to make American businesses competitive is not to let some citizens and businesses dodge their responsibilities while ordinary Americans pick up the slack. Unfortunately, that is exactly what we are doing. These problems have been highlighted by Chairmen Charlie Rangel and Max Baucus, by leaders like Senator Carl Levin and Congressman Lloyd Doggett. And now is the time to finally do something about them. And that is why today I am announcing a set of proposals to crack down on illegal overseas tax evasion, close loopholes, and make it more profitable for companies to create jobs here in the United States. For years, we have talked about ending tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas and giving tax breaks to companies that create jobs here in America. That is what our budget will finally do.

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We will stop letting American companies that create jobs overseas take deductions on their expenses when they do not pay any American taxes on their profits. And we will use the savings to give tax cuts to companies that are investing in research and development here at home, so that we can jump-start job creation, foster innovation, and enhance America's competitiveness. For years, we have talked about shutting down overseas tax havens that let companies setup operations to avoid paying taxes in America. That is what our budget will finally do. On the campaign, I used to talk about the outrage of a building in the Cayman Islands that had over 12,000 businesses claim this building as their headquarters. And I have said before, either this is the largest building in the world or the largest tax scam in the world. It is the kind of tax scam that we need to end. And that is why we are closing one of our biggest tax loopholes. It is a loophole that lets subsidiaries of some of our largest companies tell the IRS that they are paying taxes abroad, tell foreign governments that they are paying taxes elsewhere, and avoid paying taxes anywhere. And closing this single loophole will save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars, money that can be spent on reinvesting in America. And it will restore fairness to our Tax Code by helping ensure that all our citizens and all our companies are paying what they should. Now, for years, we have talked about stopping Americans from illegally hiding their money overseas and getting tough with the financial institutions that let them get away with it. The Treasury Department and the IRS, under Secretary Geithner's leadership and Commissioner Shulman's, are already taking far-reaching steps to catch overseas tax cheats, but they need more support. And that is why I am asking Congress to pass some commonsense measures. One of these measures would let the IRS know how much income Americans are generating in overseas accounts by requiring overseas banks to provide 1099s for their American clients, just like Americans have to do for their bank accounts here in this country. If financial institutions will not cooperate with us, we will assume that they are sheltering money in tax havens and act accordingly. And to ensure that the IRS has the tools it needs to enforce our laws, we are seeking to hire nearly 800 more IRS agents to detect and pursue American tax evaders abroad.

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I am going to be here for a while. Well, it is wonderful to be in Alaska. And I look forward to spending some quality time here. And I have gotten such a wonderful welcome all across the State, so I want to thank all of you. I want to acknowledge the presence of our Lieutenant Governor here-thank you so much, Byron Mallott. Sometimes, you get some hecklers. I did have my team look into what other Presidents have done when they visited Alaska. I am not the first President to come to Alaska. Warren Harding spent more than 2 weeks here, which I would love to do. But I cannot leave Congress alone that long. When FDR visited-Franklin Delano Roosevelt-his opponents started a rumor that he left his dog Fala on the Aleutian Islands and spent 20 million taxpayer dollars to send a destroyer to pick him up. Now, I am astonished that anybody would make something up about a President. But FDR did not take it lying down. I do not resent attacks, and my family does not resent attacks. But Fala does resent attacks. President Carter did some fishing when he visited. And I would not mind coming back to Alaska to do some fly fishing someday. You cannot see Alaska in 3 days. I may not be President anymore, but hopefully, I still get a pretty good reception. I am going to-the. And just in case, I will bring Michelle, who I know will get a good reception. In fact, on Monday, Governor Walker and Byron personally gave me a fishing license. But there is one thing no American President has done before, and that is travel above the Arctic Circle. So I could not be prouder to be the first and to spend some time with all of you. Before I begin my remarks, I want to thank our veterans who are in the audience, because we have so many Alaska Natives who serve our country and defend us. And in fact, I have met some World War II vets and Korean war vets. And we want to make sure that they know how much we appreciate everything that they have done on our behalf. So we appreciate them very much. And I want to thank everybody in Kotzebue for something else, which is taking such good care of my team over the past week. I know that when I come to town there are a lot of people who come first, and it is a big footprint.

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But all of them have told me incredible stories of your kindness. I heard that you stuffed them full of all kinds of meat at Cariboufest. John Baker, who was the winner of the 2011 Iditarod, let them play with his Husky puppies. I heard about offers to go berry picking on the tundra, last night's cultural night. And I heard that you are even teaching them some Iupiaq. They are probably a little better than me. But the teams that advance my trip, they spend a lot of time far away from home. They do great work. Most of them are really young people. So I just want to say thank you to all of you for making them feel so at home even when they are 4,000 miles away. So I have had a great week here in Alaska. the Great One, Denali. We restored its Alaska Native name. I know that it is been a long time coming for Alaskans. I have had a chance to sit in the cockpit of a floatplane. But the Secret Service did not let me fly it. I still enjoyed it. We had a chance to hike to the Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park. I went out on Resurrection Bay and saw dolphins and a humpback whale and otters and puffins. And in Dillingham, just earlier today, I watched Alaska Native fishermen bring in their salmon catch and a tribal elder prepare it in the traditional way. I had a chance to visit a middle school where Alaska Native youth performed a traditional Yup'ik dance. It is on video. So the warmth and hospitality has been incredible, and I am so grateful for it. We talk a lot about the pioneering, independent spirit of America. It is something that we are very proud of as Americans. But what is clear is that, up here, it is not just a spirit, it is not just a slogan, it is a way of life. The-and it is out of necessity. You cannot just drive down to the shopping mall to get what you need. Help, if you need it, is a long way away. This far north, everybody has to look out for each other. And even with all those efforts, there is still isolation, and there is poverty, and it can be harsh. And that means that you depend on each other. Now, I grew up in Hawaii, which obviously, the weather is a little different.

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And I know you have the same spirit here, the notion that we are all in this together. And that is all the more profound in a place above the Arctic Circle. We know that Alaska is big, and sometimes, I have to describe for people in the lower 48, if you dropped it on the lower 48, it would stretch from Florida to California, from the Dakotas to Texas. So the people of Alaska can be just as different as all the differences that exist across America. But even though we all look different and come from different places and believe in different things, we all stand united around some similar values. We all want a chance at opportunity. We all want to be able to pass down our traditions and our culture and our language to our kids. We all want the same chance at the American Dream as everybody else. We believe that every community deserves access to great jobs. And that is why, to boost commerce in the Arctic and to maintain America's status as an Arctic power, we have called for the accelerated replacement of the Coast Guard's heavy-duty icebreaker, and we are planning for construction of more icebreakers. And I am urging Congress to make sure we have got the resources to do this. To boost tourism, I am asking Congress to speed up maintenance and modernization of our national parks in time for the centennial next year, including right here in Alaska. We believe every child deserves a shot at a great education. One of the initiatives I am proudest of is something we call ConnectEd, and it is a program we started to close the technology gaps in our schools and connect 99 percent of America's students to high-speed Internet by the year 2018. And if you want to see the difference this can make in a child's life, look at Nanwalek, on Alaska's southern coast. Like a lot of Alaskan communities, you can only get there by boat or by plane. But today, with the help of Apple, all 80 of its students, most of whom are Native-Alaska Natives, now learn in classrooms with fast Internet and iPads and digital content. Most of these kids do not have Internet at home. But in the classroom, they have got the tools to compete with any child around the world. And I know you are taking advantage of this program here in Kotzebue, with wireless Internet and 3-D printing. And that is great, because that is what we want for all these kids.

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We want nothing less than the best. And as President, one of the reasons I am here is to tell you that I am behind those efforts. I want to make sure these young people know we care about them and we are fighting for them. We believe every American deserves access to quality, affordable health care. And since I signed the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare--we signed it 5 years ago-since then, 16 million Americans have gotten covered. More than 18,000 Alaskans have been able to purchase private plans through healthcare.gov. Thanks to the leadership of Governor Walker and Lieutenant Governor Mallott, another 17,000 are projected to gain access to health insurance under Medicaid next year. So we appreciate that. And that means more Alaskans can get things like mammograms and physicals. It will save this State an estimated $20 million in costs of care for people who cannot afford to pay for it. So it is going to make a difference. We also believe in being good stewards of our land and our planet for the next generation. And that is what I want to spend the rest of my time talking about. One of the reasons I came up here is to really focus on what is probably the biggest challenge our planet faces. If there is one thing that threatens opportunity and prosperity for everybody, wherever we live, it is the threat of a changing climate. I do not need to tell people here in Alaska what is happening. And over the past few years, I have been trying to make the rest of the country more aware of a changing climate, but you are already living it. You have got longer, more dangerous fire seasons in Alaska, thawing permafrost that threatens homes and infrastructure. Melting sea ice that contributes to some of the fastest coastal erosion in the world. I met Alaska Natives whose way of life that they have practiced for centuries is in danger of slipping away. On Monday, one Alaska Native woman told me she does not want her way of life to go on the endangered species list. And I have talked with folks whose villages are literally in danger of slipping away. So on my way here, I flew over the island of Kivalina, which is already receding into the ocean. That is what Millie was talking about. Waves sweep across the entire island at times, from one side clear across the other.

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And for many of those Alaskans, it is no longer a question of if they are going to relocate, but when. If another country threatened to wipe out an American town, we'd do everything in our power to protect it. Well, climate change poses the same threat right now. And that is why I care so deeply about this. If we do nothing, temperatures in Alaska are projected to rise between 6 and 12 degrees by the end of the century. That means more melting, more fires, more erosion, more thawing of the permafrost, more warming after that. And it threatens all of us with hardship, not just people up north. There are not many other places in America that have to deal with those questions right now. And that is why, over the past 6 years, we have been working to do something about it. We are the number-one producer of oil and gas. But we are transitioning away from energy that creates the carbon that is warming the planet and threatening our health and our environment, and we are going all in on clean, renewable energy sources like wind and solar. And Alaska has the natural resources to be a global leader in this effort. America right now harnesses three times as much electricity from the wind and 20 times as much from the sun as we did back in 2008. That is how much progress we have already made. And Alaskans now lead the world in the development of hybrid wind energy systems for remote grids, which help, obviously, villages that are not hooked up to a big power grid. And you are expanding your solar and biomass resources. So Kodiak Island, for example, recently achieved 99.7 percent of its electricity from renewable sources. Its wind power alone displaces more than 2 million gallons of diesel fuel every year. So people are saving money and helping the environment. And today Kodiak Island announced a $3 million public-private partnership that will make the island the first in the world to adopt new technology that lets it stabilize and store the energy it generates from the wind. And I know you guys have started putting up solar panels and wind turbines around Kotzebue. And because energy costs are pretty severe up here, for remote Alaskan communities, one of the biggest problems is high energy costs. So we are going to deploy more new clean energy projects on Native lands, and that is going to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, promote new jobs and new growth in your communities.

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in our buildings, in our cars, our trucks, our homes, our appliances. And all that saves billions of dollars for consumers along the way. So more than 15,000 Alaska homeowners have cut their energy bills by 30 percent on average, and that saves folks here in Alaska more than $50 million a year. Anchorage became the first city in the world to replace more than a quarter of its roadway lighting with LED lighting, and that saves the city $260,000 a year, cuts its energy consumption from lighting by nearly 60 percent. In the town of Tok, the school district replaced its expensive diesel heating and power systems with one fueled by biomass; saved enough money to rehire the counselor, the music teacher, and the boiler operator. And last month, I announced the first set of nationwide standards to end the limitless carbon emissions from our power plants. And that is the most important step we have ever taken on climate change. So the good news is, we have made a lot of progress in the last 6 years. But I am here to tell you we have got to do more. And for the sake of our kids, we have got to keep going. America has to lead the world in transitioning to a clean energy economy. Now, as we make this transition, we have also got to take more seriously our obligation to help those communities that are already at risk so that they can become more resilient in the face of climate change. Because some of it we are not going to be able to avoid. And so communities are already going to be affected, and that is especially pressing here in Alaska. And that is why today I am announcing that the Denali Commission will serve as a central coordinator in building what we call climate resilience, helping people adapt. And this is going to cut through bureaucracy and redtape, frees up communities like yours to develop and implement solutions for events like coastal erosion and flooding, and permafrost degradation. And the Denali Commission is also committing $2 million to support voluntary relocation efforts for vulnerable rural communities. The Department of Housing and Urban Development is going to consult with Arctic coastal tribes, on a nation-to-nation basis, on your unique needs. And we are also going to help communities build more resilient infrastructure. We should see if we can invest in communities before the disaster strikes to prevent it.

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So today we are announcing more than $17 million in USDA rural water grants for infrastructure projects in remote Alaskan communities, including one right here in Kotzebue. And we are launching a new competition to support cutting-edge energy efficiency solutions. So the Department of Energy is going to offer technical assistance and advice. If your communities come up with the best strategy for sustainable, efficient energy that is tailored for your community, you are going to get Federal support to make your plans a reality. And to help Alaskans better plan for sustainable development, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency and the National Science Foundation are leading a public-private collaboration to create the first-ever publicly available, high-resolution, satellite-based elevation map of Alaska by next year and the entire Arctic by the year after that so that we know exactly what is taking place all across this great State. So before we came up here, we had a conference down in Anchorage, not just with Americans but from-leaders from around the world. And I told them that when it comes to climate change, there is such a thing as being too late. And you know this better than anybody. I want you to know, as your President, I am here to make sure that you get the support that you need. But we should be optimistic about what can be accomplished, because there is nothing that we cannot do if we work together. America is full of dreamers. We push new frontiers by choice. Whether we live in the Arctic Circle or on the Hawaiian Islands, whether we are in big cities or small towns, we are one people. And our future is only as good as the efforts that we put into it. But when people are determined and hopeful and generous, as the people here in Kotzebue are, it makes me optimistic. It tells me that this country's best days are still ahead. So I want to thank all of you. I especially want to thank the young people for being here today. God bless you. God bless the United States of America.

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You have come here this afternoon for something more than a mere formality. This structure is worthy to rank among the foremost of the Capital's architectural achievements; and you and I have gathered here to pay tribute to the beauty and dignity of line and form wrought by those who conceived and executed this building. But we are conscious of a larger meaning in this brief ceremony, of the role that the Federal Reserve plays in the broad purpose which this Government must serve. That purpose is to gain for all of our people the greatest attainable measure of economic well-being, the largest degree of economic security and stability. It cannot be attained by that System alone, but neither can it be reached without the proper functioning of our monetary and credit machinery. That machinery must be steadily perfected and coordinated with all other instruments of Government in order to promote the most productive utilization of our human and material resources. Only in that way can we hope to achieve and maintain an enduring prosperity, free from the disastrous extremes of booms and depressions. Only in that way can our economic system and our democratic institutions endure hand in hand. Nearly a quarter of a century has passed since the Federal Reserve System was established. Its creation, out of the nation's banking experience from the beginning of the Republic, was due to the statesmanship of President Wilson, and to the courageous leadership in the Congress for which the Senior Senator from Virginia, Carter Glass, will always deserve the Nation's gratitude. It is fitting that President Wilson's portrait in bronze should have the place of honor in the main entrance to this building. And it is appropriate that the words inscribed under it should be taken from his first inaugural address. We shall deal with our economic system as it is and as it may be modified, not as it might be if we had a clean sheet of paper to write upon; and step by step we shall make it what it should be. Those penetrating words admirably apply to our banking system, which must be constantly alert to changing conditions in order that it may be prepared to adapt itself to the growing and changing needs of our people in their daily life and work. The Federal Reserve System, as it was originally established, was adapted to the pre-war world and brought about a great improvement in the money system. Steps were taken in 1917 to adapt it to the urgent necessities of a war-ridden world.

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In mobilizing the country's gold reserves and in facilitating the Government's vast financing operations, the Reserve System performed a vital role in the winning of that war. It is clear now, in retrospect, that if further changes to meet post-war conditions had been made in our banking system in the 2920's, it would have been in a far better position to moderate the forces that brought about the great depression. But from the end of the war until we were in the midst of economic collapse a decade later, no changes were made in the banking structure to make it function more effectively in the public interest. Since that time the nation has done much to improve its banking system. It must continue step by step to make the banking system what it should be. We must not complacently suppose that we have achieved perfection. We have provided for the insurance of deposits for the benefit of the great mass of small depositors. By the Banking and Security Exchange Acts of 2933,1934 and 1935, the Federal Reserve System was given increased power to improve banking conditions and to aid the Government in combating practices which were evil in their results. Those powers have been concentrated to a greater degree than before in a single public body, so that they can be used promptly and effectively in accordance with the changing needs of the country. 1937 is not 1913; nor do we want to turn the hands of the clock back. The Federal Reserve System, tested by nearly. a quarter of a century of operation, is a public institution capable of adaptation to future, as it has been to past needs and conditions. It is a piece of machinery vital to the Nation's steady progress towards the goal of a sounder banking system capable of contributing its full share to lasting economic progress and well-being. The Board of Governors, whose building we are dedicating today, was reconstituted by the Banking Act of 1935. To this public body the Congress has entrusted broad powers which enable it to affect the volume and the cost of money, thus exerting a powerful influence upon the expansion and contraction in the flow of money through the channels of agriculture, trade and industry. In this way much can be done towards the maintenance of more stable employment. Much can be done to aid in achieving greater stability of the true value of the dollar. By their nature these important powers are of public concern and the responsibility for their exercise is properly vested in a public body.

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I stand before you in this house, the seat of one of the world's greatest legislatures, with feelings of profound friendship and respect. I bring with me the warm greetings and good wishes of the people of the second largest democracy on Earth, the United States of America, to the people of the largest democracy, the Republic of India. Not long ago, both of our people's governments passed through grave crises. In different ways, the values for which so many have lived and died were threatened. In different ways, and on opposite sides of the world, these values have now been triumphant. It is sometimes argued that the modern industrial state with its materialism, its centralized bureaucracies, and the technological instruments of control available to those who hold power must inevitably lose sight of the democratic ideal. There are those who say that democracy is a kind of rich man's plaything, and that the poor are too pre occupied with survival to care about the luxury of freedom and the right to choose their own government. This argument is repeated all over the world mostly, I have noticed, by persons whose own bellies are full and who speak from positions of privilege and power in their own societies. Their argument reminds me of a statement made by a great President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. He said, Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally. The evidence, both in India and in America, is plain. It is that there is more than one form of hunger, and neither the rich nor the poor will feel satisfied without being fed in body and in spirit. Is human freedom valued by all people? India has given her affirmative action and answer in a thunderous voice, a voice heard around the world. Something momentous happened here last March not because any party in particular won or lost, but rather, I think, because the largest electorate on Earth freely and wisely chose its leaders at the polls. In this sense, democracy itself was the victor in your country. Together, we understand that in the field of politics, freedom is the engine of progress. India and America share practical experience with democracy. We in the United States are proud of having achieved political union among a people whose ancestors come from all over the world. Our system strives to respect the rights of a great variety of minorities, including, by the way, a growing and productive group of families from your own country, India.

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But the challenge of political union is even greater here in your own country. In the diversity of languages, religions, political opinions, and racial and cultural groups, India is comparable to the continent of Europe, which has a total population about the same size as your own. Yet India has forged her vast mosaic of humanity into a single great nation that has weathered many challenges to survival both as a nation and as a democracy. This is surely one of the greatest political achievements of this century or any other century. India and the United States are at one in recognizing the right of free speech-which Mahatma Gandhi called the foundation-stone of Swaraj or self-government and the rights of academic freedom, trade union organization, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion. All these rights are recognized in international covenants. There are few governments which do not at least pay lip service to them. And yet, to quote Gandhi once more, No principle exists in the abstract. Without its concrete application it has no meaning. In India, as in the United States, these rights do have concrete application, and they have real meaning, too. It is to preserve these rights that both our nations have chosen similar political paths to the development of our resources and to the betterment of the life of our people. There are differences between us in the degree to which economic growth is pursued through public enterprise on one hand and private enterprise on the other hand. But more important than these differences is our shared belief that the political structure in which development takes place should be democratic and should respect the human rights of each and every citizen in our countries. Our two nations also agree that human needs are inseparable from human rights; that while civil and political liberties are good in themselves, they are much more useful and much more meaningful in the lives of people to whom physical survival is not a matter of daily anxiety. To meet these ends orderly economic growth is crucial. And if the benefits of growth are to reach those whose need is greatest, social justice is critical as well. India is succeeding in this historic task. Your economic challenges are no secret, and their seriousness is well understood in the West. But what is far less well understood is the degree to which Indian social and economic policy has been such a success. In the single generation since your independence was gained, extraordinary progress has been made. Your economy ranks among the 10 largest in the whole world.

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You are virtually self-assured and self-sufficient in consumer goods and in a wide variety of other products, such as iron and steel. There have been notable increases in production in nearly every important sector of your economy increases which reflect an economy of great technological sophistication. This kind of growth is doubly important to try to reduce trade barriers and to promote both bilateral trade and mutual responsibility for the whole world's trading system. But most important are the advances in human welfare that have touched the lives of ordinary Indians. Life expectancy has increased by 20 years since your independence. The threat of major epidemics has receded. The literacy rate in your country has doubled. While only a third of Indian children went to school in the years just after independence,. nearly 90 percent of primary-age Indian children now receive schooling. Nine times as many students go to universities as they did before. I mention these gains that we tend to overlook in our preoccupation with the problems that quite properly face and engage our attention. India's difficulties, which we often experience ourselves and which are typical of the problems faced in the developing world, remind us of the task which lie ahead. But India's successes are just as important, because they decisively refute the theory that in order to achieve economic and social progress, a developing country must accept an authoritarian or a totalitarian government, with all the damage to the health of the human spirit which comes with it. We are eager to join with you in maintaining and improving our valuable and mature partnership of political and economic cooperation. It is a sobering fact, for instance, that in a nation of so many hundreds of millions of people, only a few American business leaders are now involved, on a daily basis, in the economic and commercial life of your country. We need to identify more areas where we can work together for mutual benefit and, indeed, for the benefit of the whole world. In the area of development, I am deeply impressed with the creative direction that the Government of India has taken in the new economic statement. You have committed your nation unequivocally to rural improvement and the creation of rural employment. This policy now faces a test of implementation and, especially, the test of bringing its benefits to the very poorest areas of your rural population. The seriousness and the determination, however, of your commitment is a cause for optimism. We want to learn from you and to work with you however we can.

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In agriculture, there are also exciting new areas of technology on which we can work together. After a decade of importing grain, India now stands with a surplus of nearly 20 million tons. This is a tribute to the growing productivity of your agriculture and the competence, also, of your administrative services. We applaud the grain reserve program that you have begun, and we would welcome the opportunity to share with you our resources and our experience in dealing with storage problems that surpluses bring with them. Our countries must be in the forefront of the effort to bring into existence the international food reserve that would mitigate the fear of famine in the rest of the world. At the same time, we must recognize that today's surpluses are likely to be a temporary phenomenon. The best estimates indicate that unless new productive capacity is developed, the whole world with its rapidly growing population may be facing large food shortages in the mid-1980's. The greatest opportunities to increase agricultural productivity exist here in India and elsewhere in the developing world. These opportunities must be seized not just so that Indians can eat better, but so that India can remain self-sufficient and, perhaps, even continue to export food to countries with less agricultural potential than you have. In the past, America and India have scored monumental achievements in working together in the agricultural field. I would like to see an intensified agricultural research program aimed both at improving productivity in India and at developing processes that could then be used elsewhere. This program could be based in the agricultural universities of our two countries, but would also extend across the whole frontier of research. And beyond research, I would like to identify joint development projects where research can be tested and put to work. Perhaps Prime Minister Desai and I may now instruct our governments to focus on these matters and to come up with specific proposals within the next few months. One of the most promising areas for international cooperation, which I have already discussed with your Prime Minister, is in the regions of eastern India and Bangladesh, where alternating periods of drought and flood cut cruelly into food production. Several hundred million people live in this area. They happen to be citizens of India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Great progress has already been made between your nations in resolving questions concerning water.

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And we are prepared to give our support when the regional states request a study that will define how the international community, in cooperation with the nations of South Asia, can help the peoples of this area use water from the rivers and the mountains to achieve the productivity that is inherent in the land and the people. Sustained economic growth requires a strong base in energy as well as in agriculture. Energy is a serious problem in both our countries, for both of us import oil at levels that can threaten our economic health and expose us, even, to danger if supplies are interrupted. American firms are already working with Indians in developing the oil-producing area off the shores of India, near Bombay. We also have a long record of cooperation in the development of nuclear power, another important element of India's energy plans. Our work together will continue in this field, as well. But Prime Minister Desai and I had warm and productive discussions about this field. We have notified him that shipments of nuclear fuel will be made for the Tarapur reactor. And because of an accident that did occur in your heavy water production plant, we will make available to India, also, supplies from our reserves of heavy water. Additionally, we stand ready to work with you in developing renewable energy resources, especially solar energy. And the lack of a massive, existing infrastructure tied to fossil fuel use will make the application of solar and solar-related energy vastly easier here than it will be in my own country, where we are so heavily dependent upon other sources of energy. However, the inherently decentralized nature of solar energy makes it ideal as a complement to your government's stress on developing self-reliant villages and communities. The silent void of space may seem remote from these challenges. But the intricate electronics of a space satellite can be as useful to earthbound farmers as a new plow. The Indian and American Governments will tomorrow exchange diplomatic notes confirming that the United States will program its Landsat Earth resources satellite to transmit data directly to a ground receiving station that India will own and operate. This satellite service will provide India with comprehensive topographic and minerals information and timely data on the ever-changing condition of weather, agricultural, water, and other natural resources. Under the terms of the agreement, India will make available to neighboring countries any information that affects them. Also, India has already reserved space on board the American space shuttle in 1981 to initiate a domestic communications satellite system, using a satellite designed to Indian specifications.

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We are very pleased that our space technology, together with India's superb space communications capability, will serve the cause of practical progress in your country. Our scholarly exchanges have already enriched the lives of Americans who participated in them. And I hope the same has been true of Indian participants. In matters of culture and the arts, we know how much we have to gain. Not only India but also the rest of Asia and Africa and the Middle East have much to offer us. I hope to expand the opportunities for our own citizens to appreciate and to enjoy the strong and varied culture in the nations of your part of the world. In global politics, history has cast our countries in different roles. The United States is one of the so-called super powers; India is the largest of the nonaligned countries. But each of us respects the other's conception of its international responsibilities, and the values that we do share provide a basis for cooperation in attacking the great global problems of economic justice, human rights, and the prevention of war. This pursuit of justice and peace and the building of a new economic order must be undertaken in ways that promote constructive development rather than fruitless confrontation. Because India is both a developing country and also an industrial power, you are in a unique position to promote constructive international discussion about trade, energy, investment, balance of payments, technology, and other questions. I welcome your playing this worldwide leadership role. I know that there will be times when we will disagree on specific issues and even on general approaches to larger problems. But I hope and believe that our shared interests and our common devotion to democratic values will help us to move toward agreement on important global and bilateral issues. But neither of us seeks to align with the other except in the pursuit of peace and justice. We can even help each other to alleviate differences which might exist between ourselves and other nations. Our two countries are part of a democratic world that includes nations in all stages of development, from Sweden and Japan to Sri Lanka and Costa Rica. We share many common problems. But we also share an obligation to advance human rights not by interfering in the affairs of other nations, not by trying to deny other nations the right to choose their own political and social system, but by speaking the truth as we see it and by providing an admirable example of what democracy can mean and what it can accomplish.

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The danger of war threatens everyone, and the United States is trying to help reduce that danger in the SALT negotiations with the Soviet Union, in talks aimed at a comprehensive ban of the testing of all nuclear explosives anywhere on Earth, and in our own policy of restraint on conventional arms transfers. We are also working hard to restrict the proliferation of nuclear explosives. We are seeking to help the process of peace in Africa and the Middle East. And we are taking steps to forestall, along with the Soviets, great power rivalry and the escalation of military presence in your own Indian Ocean. India is pledged to peaceful cooperation with your neighbors, and India is an important part of almost any United Nations peacekeeping force. India is a present and frequent member of the Security Council and has been in the forefront of campaigns against colonialism and against apartheid. The motto of my country is In God We Trust; India's is Satyameva Jayte- Truth Alone Prevails. I believe that such is the commonality of our fundamental values that your motto could be ours, and perhaps our motto could also be yours. Our nations share the goals of peace in the world and human development in our own societies. And we share, as well, the conviction that the means that we employ to reach these goals must be as much in keeping with the principles of freedom and human dignity and social justice as are the goals themselves. This affinity of belief is as strong a tie as there can be between any two nations on Earth. The values that Americans and Indians share have deeply affected my own life. I come to you as a national leader, yes, in the hope that my visit will mark a new and a higher stage in the steadily improving relations between our two countries. But in a more personal sense a sense that is very close to my own heart I come also as a pilgrim. This morning I had the honor of laying a wreath on the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi. In that sacred place, so simple and so serene, I recalled anew the ways in which Gandhi's teachings have touched the lives of so many millions of people in my own country. When I was growing up on a farm in the State of Georgia, in the heart of the Southern United States, an invisible wall of racial segregation stood between me and my black classmates, schoolmates, playmates, when we were old enough to know what segregation was. But it seemed then as if that wall between us would exist forever.

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And though the rubble has not yet been completely removed, it no longer separates us from one another, blighting the lives of those on both sides of it. Among the many who marched and suffered and bore witness against the evil of racial prejudice, the greatest was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a son of Georgia and a spiritual son of Mahatma Gandhi. The most important influence in the life and work of Dr. King, apart from his own religious faith, was the life and work of Gandhi. Martin Luther King took Gandhi's concepts of nonviolence and truth-force and put them to work in the American South. Like Gandhi, King believed that truth and love are the strongest forces in the universe. Like Gandhi, he knew that ordinary people, armed only with courage and faith, could overcome injustice by appealing to the spark of good in the heart, even, of the evil-doer. Like Gandhi, we all learned that a system of oppression damages those at the top as surely as it does those at the bottom. And for Martin Luther King, like Mahatma Gandhi, nonviolence was not only a political method, it was a way of life and a spiritual path to union with the ultimate. These men set a standard of courage and idealism that few of us can meet, but from which all of us can draw inspiration and sustenance. The nonviolent movement for racial justice in the United States, a movement inspired in large measure by the teachings and examples of Gandhi and other Indian leaders some of whom are here today changed and enriched my own life and the lives of many millions of my countrymen. I am sure you will forgive me for speaking about this at some length. I do so because I want you all to understand that when I speak of friendship between the United States and India, I speak from the heart as well as the head. I speak from a deep, firsthand knowledge of what the relationship between our two countries has meant in the past and how much more, even, it can mean for all of us in the future. how our political and spiritual values can provide the basis for dealing with the social and economic strains to which they will unquestionably be subjected. The experience of democracy is like the experience of life itself always changing, infinite in its variety, sometimes turbulent, and all the more valuable for having been tested by adversity. We share that experience with you, and we draw strength from it.

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We are about to mark an important anniversary, but it'll be no cause for celebration. Eight years ago tomorrow, the Sandinista Communists came to power in the Central American country of Nicaragua. It may be hard to remember now, the great hopes with which their revolution was first greeted. The hated dictator Anastasio Somoza had been toppled, and the world looked forward to a bright future for Nicaragua. Little did we think then that the future the Sandinistas were planning for Nicaragua would be darker than anything that suffering country had ever before experienced. The Sandinistas spelled out their plans for subversion and aggression throughout Central America in the secret, but now notorious, 72-Hour Document, and it was not long before they started carrying them out. Arms shipments began flowing to the Communist guerrillas throughout Latin America-in El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia, and other countries. closing churches and extinguishing the free press . The ranks of political prisoners swelled into the thousands, and beatings, torture, and official murder became the order of the day. Meanwhile, the Sandinistas began a campaign of slaughter against the peaceful Miskito Indians. One in every ten Nicaraguans is now a refugee-leaving home, family, and friends to escape the oppression inside that country. If the Sandinistas get their way, the torment of that sad country will soon spread throughout the entire region, engulfing the young democracies that surround Nicaragua. As I said in New York a few months ago, the democratic aspirations of millions in Central America now hang in the balance. The elected leaders of neighboring Central American countries know that until democracy comes to Nicaragua their own democracies will never be safe. free, fair, and regularly scheduled elections in Nicaragua, the establishment of a genuinely democratic system and all the freedoms such a system depends on and encourages-freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of worship. This is what the Nicaraguan freedom fighters are fighting for, and this is why we must support them. We have worked in many ways to counter the spread of communism in Central America and those nations I have mentioned that are threatened by Nicaragua. We have instituted economic assistance to the region, military assistance to threatened democracies, and, together with our Central American allies, vigorous efforts to negotiate a peaceful and democratic outcome. But we know from experience that the Sandinistas will never negotiate seriously unless they see that the freedom fighters are a force to be reckoned with.

monologic

Gee, it is really great to be back in New Hampshire and particularly in Keene, and I thank you all very, very much. Let me assure you that New Hampshire is vitally important, and you can put us on the road to victory next Tuesday. Actually, the purpose of my visit can be summed up in just a very, very few words. I believe very strongly in a strong and prosperous American automobile industry, but I am here to say that this year there is absolutely no reason to trade in your Ford on a new model. Some of those new models might be mighty expensive. Actually, I am looking forward to your questions, but first let me make just a very few brief remarks. I have been ENTITY now for almost 19 months. When I took office in August of 1974, America was faced with some of its most pressing and serious problems in our country's history. Our economy had gone haywire with prices going up at an annual rate of more than 12 percent and everything else slowing down. Our national resolve to meet our international commitments was being called into question by both our allies and our adversaries. Underlying these serious problems was a crisis of confidence in our Government, a crisis of the spirit among our American people. With the understanding of the American people, with your prayers and your support and your help, I set about to do what I could to meet those challenges, to put America at peace with itself and throughout the world. The past 19 months have seen many of these efforts succeed. I believe my policy of common sense and a realistic approach to America's problems has helped restore confidence in our great Government. As I said on my first day as ENTITY, truth is the glue that holds government together, and as long as I am ENTITY, I intend to be forthright, candid, frank with all of the American people and make this system work the way it should work. The inflation rate that was over 12 percent has been cut almost in half. That is still not good enough, but that is progress by any standard and we are going to keep making that kind of progress in the months ahead with the right kind of policies that we are pursuing right now. We have recovered 2,100,000 jobs since last March. That is 96 percent of all the jobs that we lost during the recession. Unemployment is still too high, but we are headed in the right direction.

monologic

The Commerce Department announced just yesterday that personal income has risen by 9.2 percent in the past year, well above the current inflation rate. That means real earnings, real purchasing power is climbing; that is good news for every American. We are on the attack, and we will stay on the attack and win this important victory over inflation and unemployment and every other economic enemy of the American people. In foreign affairs, we have pursued a policy of peace through strength. That policy has been successful, so successful that tonight we can say that America is at peace with every nation on Earth, and we will keep it that way in the future. We will keep it that way by keeping our defenses strong. As long as I am ENTITY, America's defenses will be strong and ready without equal in the world in which we live. Our strength makes it possible for us to negotiate with other great powers of the world from a position that commands their respect and invites their cooperation. We are now negotiating with the Soviet Union for a further reduction in the level of strategic nuclear arms, a reduction in the potential terror and destruction that each nation can inflict upon each other. We have entered these negotiations with our eyes open, our guard up, and our powder dry. Yankee traders have always known the score, and we continue in that great tradition in 1976. With our military strength we can strengthen peace and not return to the cold war. One way to reduce the dangers to peace in the world is to have a reliable, responsible, and effective intelligence-gathering capability. I have taken steps, as I am sure you know, to reorganize and reform America's intelligence community, to make it an instrument of peace and an object of pride for the American people. ability by destroying it, as some would like to (to. I have no intention of seeing the intelligence community dismantled, and I know you do not want it dismantled either. The irresponsible release of classified information by people who should know better must cease. The abuses of the past must be corrected and never, never repeated. I have made concrete recommendations to ensure that the intelligence community keeps out of politics and out of people's private lives. As ENTITY, I intend to see that the Federal Government is under the people's control and not the other way around. We must never forget that a government big enough to give us everything we want is a government big enough to take from us everything we have.

monologic

But the American people know that it is not enough to talk about the evils of big government. They know that it just is not realistic nor is it wise to turn back the clock and undo all the progress we have made with the help of responsible and constructive government programs. It is easy to say we ought to cut $90 billion or so from the Federal budget. It is easy to say we ought to toss a lot of very worthwhile programs into the laps of the individual States and let them administer those programs if the local taxpayers will assume the extra burden. It is easy to say that people who do not like the way the programs are administered in one State can just Vote with their feet and move to another State. I have always believed that Americans, Democrat or Republican, vote with their heads and not with their feet. Oh, it is easy to say that the Social Security Trust Fund upon which 32 million Americans---older and disabled in our society--that that trust fund should be invested in the stock market, making the Federal Government a major stockholder in most American businesses, but that is the best blueprint for back door socialism that I ever heard. I want to improve the social security system, not cripple it. I want to make sure that program is strong, sound, and certain, not only for the present generation of beneficiaries but for every generation of working men and women, and that is what I intend to do. I want to improve the Medicare system. I want better and more comprehensive medical coverage for our older citizens. There is absolutely no reason why older Americans or their loved ones should have to go broke just to get well or stay well in the United States of America. We have to be realistic about what the Government can do and what it cannot do, but we must also recognize that there are certain things that Government must do and do better if we are to continue the progress we have made in the past. We have a great, great country, and I am proud to be an American, and I am proud of America as you are. We have our problems, and we are not afraid to admit them. But I think it is high time people stopped running America down. We should brag about America. I think it is time we remembered that we are the most richly blessed nation in the history of the world. We have special gifts, special resources, and special responsibilities greater than any nation on Earth.

monologic

Governor Shapp, I am deeply grateful for your very kind and generous remarks. The Sun always shines in Pennsylvania. They came here in the snows of winter over a trail marked with the blood of their rag-bound feet. The iron forge that gave this place its name had been destroyed by the British when General Washington and his ragged Continental ENTITY encamped here exhausted, outnumbered, and short of everything except faith. We gather here today, the 200th anniversary of our independence, to commemorate their sacrifices even before we celebrate the glorious Declaration. Americans will remember the name of Valley Forge as long as the spirit of sacrifice lives within their hearts. Here the vein of iron in our national character was forged. In the 18th century the colonial American was far more free and far more prosperous than his European cousin. Englishmen regarded us with some envy as appropriate subjects to share their grinding tax burdens. After Concord Bridge and Breed's Hill, the British generals were impressed with our marksmanship and fighting spirit, but they still dismissed Washington's militiamen as a rabble of arms. Many years later, when he was 91, a veteran of Concord was interviewed and asked why he took up his rifle against his King. Well, then, what did all the fighting mean? We had always governed ourselves, and we always meant to. Without Jefferson's eloquence, those are the words of the American people's Declaration of Independence. That was the straight talk that brought some 11,000 ordinary Americans farmers, workers, tradesmen, and shopkeepers-into this valley of sacrifice in the bitter winter of 1777. They did not die amid the banners and the fearful sounds of battle. They weakened slowly and quietly succumbed to cold, sickness, and starvation. Yet their courage and suffering those who survived as well as those who fell-were no less meaningful than the sacrifices of those who manned the battlements of Boston and scaled the parapets of Yorktown. In the battle against despair, Washington and his men kept freedom's lonely vigil. The leader and the led drew strength and hope from one another. Around the winter campfires that dotted these fields, the flame of liberty was somehow kept burning. Something happened at Valley Forge. That ragged, starving ENTITY here emerged and changed in a way that can be sensed but never fully described. They suffered, they trained, they toughened, they buried their dead, and they stayed. They stuck it out.

monologic

When spring melted the snows and green returned to this beautiful countryside, a proud and disciplined fighting force marched out of this valley to victory, into the pages of history, unaware of the greatness they had done and oblivious of our gratitude. As Abraham Lincoln noted long afterwards at another sacred site in Pennsylvania, nothing we can say here today can further consecrate or hallow this ground. But we can rededicate ourselves to the spirit of sacrifice shown at Valley Forge, Gettysburg, the Argonne Forest, Anzio Beach, and Iwo Jima. Not all sacrifices are made in war. The sturdy wagon trains that have returned here, the wonderful people who drove them, and those along the way who rededicated themselves to the great principles of the Declaration of Independence offer heartwarming proof that our American adventure has just begun. Our Bicentennial is the happy birthday of all 50 States, a commonwealth, and self-governing territories. It is not just a celebration for the original Thirteen Colonies. Americans are one people, and we can still hear them saying, We have always governed ourselves, and we always mean to. The earliest English settlers carried the Bible and Blackstone's Commentary across the Atlantic among their few cherished possessions and established their own stir-governments on a strange and hostile coast. American families in prairie schooners like these took with them on the overland trails the principles of equality and the God-given rights of the Declaration of Independence. Their restless search for a better life was begun in the spirit of adventure, but it was the spirit of sacrifice that sustained them. They suffered cruel winters, savage attacks, blazing deserts, and bloody feet. Many were buried beside the trail, but many stuck it out, dug in, and built permanent settlements where women stood the same sentry duty as the men. In the West, the Declaration's promise of legal and political equality for women was first broadened. The American pioneers knew that in their wilderness homes they could not be colonials ruled by a distant government. They had assurance that in due course they could govern themselves as full citizens of equal States. Their children and future generations would have all the rights of Washington, Jackson, and Lincoln. Though prosperity is a good thing, though compassionate charity is a good thing, though institutional reform is a good thing, a nation survives only so long as the spirit of sacrifice and self-discipline is strong within its people. Freedom is always worth fighting for, and liberty ultimately belongs to those willing to suffer for it.

monologic

This meeting, insofar as it involves a talk from me, is sort of an added number on my schedule. I have no text, and I think I have no particularly brilliant ideas. But I must say that the great pleasure of meeting with a group of people that you know to be friendly, who wish well to you and to the cause for which you struggle, is a very warm feeling. And this inspires me to tell you a little bit of what we are trying to do, how truly simple it is, and therefore, to see whether we may not draw even a little closer together because of the simplicity of these ideas and, I think, the fact that we see all right-thinking Americans should be for, in general this kind of thing. Carter Glass once went to a great university. He was to receive an honorary degree of doctor of laws; and the dean of the law school, in presenting him to the president of the university, read a long citation. This citation had to deal largely, almost exclusively, with the long record of Carter Glass's integrity, his absolute unimpeachable honesty as a public servant throughout his life. It dwelt on this theme in numerous ways and I think even quoted examples. My friends, I think I should decline to receive this decoration, because if the time has come when the American people and their great institutions of learning find it proper or necessary or desirable to decorate a man and give him awards because he is honest in the public service, then I despair of the Republic. This, he said, is something you can demand of your public servants; you do not .have to reward them for it. You can demand it through the proper use of your authority as an American citizen, through the ballot box, and you can see that you get good men--honest men and women in government. ' ' We are very apt, when we speak about government in Washington, to think of some rather amorphous, distant, bewildering, comprehensive, complex thing. We do not really know what we mean when we say government. We realize there is a President up there, and a few leaders in the Senate and the House, and we sort of have them visualized; and the rest of it is just a bunch of bureaucrats. government is nothing in the world but men and women that you select and send to fill the several offices.

monologic

Now of course, there is an organization roughly outlined by a Constitution, and more crystallized through our laws as the decades have gone on. But the only thing that comprises government is men and women. Now those men and women, therefore, must be the people that you carefully select. Frankly, that is all that the administration that you people have sent to Washington is trying to do. what is the good of 160 million people? That must be, of course, the purpose in their hearts, but take a look at their heads. You have to send people who are, by their reputations in their own localities, fitted to tackle such complex jobs as now plague a government. They have to be men that have established some success. And you have got to work out in your own mind, What kind of man do I believe is a good Senator, a good Congressman, a good Governor? Incidentally, may I pause to say, you have so many good ones in California, you seem to know more about this, maybe, than I do. we must not have doctrinaires. We outlined, through our forefathers, a great set of principles in the Constitution, and that Constitution--through our Supreme Courts, through actions of the Congress and the Chief Executive down through the years--has been molded and modeled to our needs. It is just as senseless, today, to talk about the social security of today in the same terms we would have talked about social security when there were free lands everywhere, and this country was a debtor country with great assets and resources yet to be explored, as it is to talk about taking off here and flying to the moon, instead of waiting for the 50 years that it is going to take for the scientists to show how to do it. It is just that silly, to talk about going back to that kind of thing. Now, how do we get a man that is that flexible, that adjustable? We want men that can take and listen to facts, who are not so doctrinaire that every fact that is brought in front of them, if it does not agree with their preconceptions, it is just thrown out in the woodpile. And I want to assure you that in the last 20 months I have watched some very great people making up the executive department--I have watched them work.

monologic

I do not know of a single one who comes in with the theory--into the Cabinet meeting, or anywhere else--and with this theory fixed in the back of his mind forces everything to conform to it. On the contrary, every one of them is supported by his own selected group of associates, of advisers throughout this country--from trade associations, from every kind of professional group, from businessmen--everywhere. Those people are the ones that come in and help formulate the policies that this group then tries to translate into recommendations for the legislature to consider. that throughout the ten governmental departments, through the heads of agencies, of the FOA, and the Office of Defense Mobilization, and everything else, there is a very earnest attempt on the part of these people to get the opinion of the United States. There is a very great conviction there that the commonsense of the United States--if we avoid both extremes, and take the commonsense judgment of the United States, you have got a pretty good guide as to where we should move in legislation and in programs. I commend, therefore, the kind of man whom you know to be absolutely unimpeachable in his honesty, who has shown by his standing in the community that he deserves the respect of that community, and who has been something of a success, either as a young man or at any stage of life. And finally, a man who has got the flexibility of brain, in this day and time, to try to adjust the basic principles in which we believe, the liberty of the individual and his rights, and adjust to the problems that face us every day, whether it be in Indochina, Formosa, or whether it be right here in your great city of Los Angeles. That is the kind of people that we need so desperately in Washington. And I think that you people who helped to send this administration there, if you will look at the character and types of people now occupying the executive positions, all the way from the Secretary of State on down to the newest appointee, that you can take some pride in the people that have been selected. And largely, after the Cabinet is selected, remember, all these other people are selected by those Cabinet officers. This same applies, of course, in the Congress, by their very nature being so representative.

monologic