Americans talk about folks like me paying my fair share of taxes, it's
not because they envy the rich. It's because they understand that when
I get a tax break I don't need and the country can't afford, it either
adds to the deficit or somebody else has to make up the difference,
like a senior on a fixed income or a student trying to get through
school or a family trying to make ends meet. That's not right.
Americans know that's not right. They know that this generation's
success is only possible because past generations felt a responsibility
to each other and to the future of their country, and they know our way
of life will only endure if we feel that same sense of shared
responsibility. That's how we'll reduce our deficit. That's an America
built to last.
Now, I recognize that people watching tonight have differing views
about taxes and debt, energy and health care. But no matter what party
they belong to, I bet most Americans are thinking the same thing right
about now: Nothing will get done in Washington this year or next year
or maybe even the year after that, because Washington is broken.
Can you blame them for feeling a little cynical?
The greatest blow to our confidence in our economy last year didn't
come from events beyond our control. It came from a debate in
Washington over whether the United States would pay its bills or not.
Who benefited from that fiasco?
I've talked tonight about the deficit of trust between Main Street and
Wall Street. But the divide between this city and the rest of the
country is at least as bad, and it seems to get worse every year.
Now, some of this has to do with the corrosive influence of money in
politics. So together, let's take some steps to fix that. Send me a
bill that bans insider trading by Members of Congress. I will sign it
tomorrow. Let's limit any elected official from owning stocks in
industries they impact. Let's make sure people who bundle campaign
contributions for Congress can't lobby Congress and vice versa, an idea
that has bipartisan support, at least outside of Washington.
Some of what's broken has to do with the way Congress does its business
these days. A simple majority is no longer enough to get anything--even
routine business--passed through the Senate. Neither party has been
blameless in these tactics. Now both parties should put an end to it.
For starters, I ask the Senate to pass a simple rule that all judicial
and public service nominations receive a simple up-or-down vote within
90 days.
The executive branch also needs to change. Too often, it's inefficient,
outdated, and remote. That's why I've asked this Congress to grant me
the authority to consolidate the Federal bureaucracy so that our
Government is leaner, quicker, and more responsive to the needs of the
American people.
Finally, none of this can happen unless we also lower the temperature
in this town. We need to end the notion that the two parties must be
locked in a perpetual campaign of mutual destruction, that politics is
about clinging to rigid ideologies instead of building consensus around
commonsense ideas.
I'm a Democrat, but I believe what Republican Abraham Lincoln believed:
That Government should do for people only what they cannot do better by
themselves and no more. That's why my education reform offers more
competition and more control for schools and States. That's why we're
getting rid of regulations that don't work. That's why our health care
law relies on a reformed private market, not a Government program.
On the other hand, even my Republican friends who complain the most
about Government spending have supported federally financed roads and
clean energy projects and Federal offices for the folks back home.
The point is, we should all want a smarter, more effective Government.
And while we may not be able to bridge our biggest philosophical
differences this year, we can make real progress. With or without this
Congress, I will keep taking actions that help the economy grow. But I
can do a whole lot more with your help. Because when we act together,
there's nothing the United States of America can't achieve.
That's the lesson we've learned from our actions abroad over the last
few years. Ending the Iraq war has allowed us to strike decisive blows
against our enemies. From Pakistan to Yemen, the Al Qaida operatives
who remain are scrambling, knowing that they can't escape the reach of
the United States of America.
From this position of strength, we've begun to wind down the war in
Afghanistan. Ten thousand of our troops have come home. Twenty-three
thousand more will leave by the end of this summer. This transition to
Afghan lead will continue, and we will build an enduring partnership
with Afghanistan so that it is never again a source of attacks against
America.
As the tide of war recedes, a wave of change has washed across the
Middle East and North Africa, from Tunis to Cairo, from Sana'a to
Tripoli. A year ago, Qadhafi was one of the world's longest serving
dictators, a murderer with American blood on his hands. Today, he is
gone. And in Syria, I have no doubt that the Asad regime will soon
discover that the forces of change cannot be reversed and that human
dignity cannot be denied.
How this incredible transformation will end remains uncertain. But we
have a huge stake in the outcome. And while it's ultimately up to the
people of the region to decide their fate, we will advocate for those
values that have served our own country so well. We will stand against
violence and intimidation. We will stand for the rights and dignity of
all human beings: men and women; Christians, Muslims, and Jews. We will
support policies that lead to strong and stable democracies and open
markets, because tyranny is no match for liberty.
And we will safeguard America's own security against those who threaten
our citizens, our friends, and our interests. Look at Iran. Through the
power of our diplomacy, a world that was once divided about how to deal
with Iran's nuclear program now stands as one. The regime is more
isolated than ever before. Its leaders are faced with crippling
sanctions, and as long as they shirk their responsibilities, this
pressure will not relent.
Let there be no doubt: America is determined to prevent Iran from
getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to
achieve that goal. But a peaceful resolution of this issue is still
possible, and far better. And if Iran changes course and meets its
obligations, it can rejoin the community of nations.
The renewal of American leadership can be felt across the globe. Our
oldest alliances in Europe and Asia are stronger than ever. Our ties to
the Americas are deeper. Our ironclad commitment--and I mean ironclad--to
Israel's security has meant the closest military cooperation between
our two countries in history.
We've made it clear that America is a Pacific power, and a new
beginning in Burma has lit a new hope. From the coalitions we've built
to secure nuclear materials, to the missions we've led against hunger
and disease, from the blows we've dealt to our enemies, to the enduring
power of our moral example, America is back.
Anyone who tells you otherwise, anyone who tells you that America is in
decline or that our influence has waned, doesn't know what they're
talking about. That's not the message we get from leaders around the
world who are eager to work with us. That's not how people feel from
Tokyo to Berlin, from Cape Town to Rio, where opinions of America are
higher than they've been in years. Yes, the world is changing. No, we
can't control every event. But America remains the one indispensable
nation in world affairs, and as long as I'm President, I intend to keep
it that way.
That's why, working with our military leaders, I've proposed a new
defense strategy that ensures we maintain the finest military in the
world, while saving nearly half a trillion dollars in our budget. To
stay one step ahead of our adversaries, I've already sent this Congress
legislation that will secure our country from the growing dangers of
cyber threats.
Above all, our freedom endures because of the men and women in uniform
who defend it. As they come home, we must serve them as well as they've
served us. That includes giving them the care and the benefits they
have earned, which is why we've increased annual VA spending every year
I've been President. And it means enlisting our veterans in the work of
rebuilding our Nation.
With the bipartisan support of this Congress, we're providing new tax
credits to companies that hire vets. Michelle and Jill Biden have
worked with American businesses to secure a pledge of 135,000 jobs for
veterans and their families. And tonight I'm proposing a veterans jobs
corps that will help our communities hire veterans as cops and
firefighters, so that America is as strong as those who defend her.
Which brings me back to where I began. Those of us who've been sent
here to serve can learn a thing or two from the service of our troops.
When you put on that uniform, it doesn't matter if you're Black or
White, Asian, Latino, Native American; conservative, liberal; rich,
poor; gay, straight. When you're marching into battle, you look out for
the person next to you or the mission fails. When you're in the thick
of the fight, you rise or fall as one unit, serving one nation, leaving
no one behind.
You know, one of my proudest possessions is the flag that the SEAL team
took with them on the mission to get bin Laden. On it are each of their
names. Some may be Democrats, some may be Republicans, but that doesn't
matter. Just like it didn't matter that day in the Situation Room, when
I sat next to Bob Gates, a man who was George Bush's Defense Secretary,
and Hillary Clinton, a woman who ran against me for President.
All that mattered that day was the mission. No one thought about
politics. No one thought about themselves. One of the young men
involved in the raid later told me that he didn't deserve credit for
the mission. It only succeeded, he said, because every single member of
that unit did their job: the pilot who landed the helicopter that spun
out of control, the translator who kept others from entering the
compound, the troops who separated the women and children from the
fight, the SEALs who charged up the stairs. More than that, the mission
only succeeded because every member of that unit trusted each other,
because you can't charge up those stairs into darkness and danger
unless you know that there's somebody behind you, watching your back.
So it is with America. Each time I look at that flag, I'm reminded that
our destiny is stitched together like those 50 stars and those 13
stripes. No one built this country on their own. This Nation is great
because we built it together. This Nation is great because we worked as
a team. This Nation is great because we get each other's backs. And if
we hold fast to that truth, in this moment of trial, there is no
challenge too great, no mission too hard. As long as we are joined in
common purpose, as long as we maintain our common resolve, our journey
moves forward, and our future is hopeful, and the state of our Union
will always be strong.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.
***
Address Before a Joint Session of Congress on the State of the Union
Barack Obama
February 12, 2013
Please, everybody, have a seat. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President,
Members of Congress, fellow Americans: Fifty-one years ago, John F.
Kennedy declared to this Chamber that "the Constitution makes us not
rivals for power, but partners for progress." "It is my task," he said,
"to report the state of the Union; to improve it is the task of us
all."
Tonight, thanks to the grit and determination of the American people,
there is much progress to report. After a decade of grinding war, our
brave men and women in uniform are coming home. After years of grueling
recession, our businesses have created over 6 million new jobs. We buy
more American cars than we have in 5 years and less foreign oil than we
have in 20. Our housing market is healing, our stock market is
rebounding, and consumers, patients, and homeowners enjoy stronger
protections than ever before.
So together, we have cleared away the rubble of crisis, and we can say
with renewed confidence that the state of our Union is stronger.
But we gather here knowing that there are millions of Americans whose
hard work and dedication have not yet been rewarded. Our economy is
adding jobs, but too many people still can't find full-time employment.
Corporate profits have skyrocketed to alltime highs, but for more than
a decade, wages and incomes have barely budged.
It is our generation's task, then, to reignite the true engine of
America's economic growth: a rising, thriving middle class.
It is our unfinished task to restore the basic bargain that built this
country: the idea that if you work hard and meet your responsibilities,
you can get ahead, no matter where you come from, no matter what you
look like or who you love.
It is our unfinished task to make sure that this Government works on
behalf of the many, and not just the few; that it encourages free
enterprise, rewards individual initiative, and opens the doors of
opportunity to every child across this great Nation.
The American people don't expect government to solve every problem.
They don't expect those of us in this Chamber to agree on every issue.
But they do expect us to put the Nation's interests before party. They
do expect us to forge reasonable compromise where we can. For they know
that America moves forward only when we do so together and that the
responsibility of improving this Union remains the task of us all.
Now, our work must begin by making some basic decisions about our
budget, decisions that will have a huge impact on the strength of our
recovery.
Over the last few years, both parties have worked together to reduce
the deficit by more than $2.5 trillion, mostly through spending cuts,
but also by raising tax rates on the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans.
As a result, we are more than halfway towards the goal of $4 trillion
in deficit reduction that economists say we need to stabilize our
finances.
Now we need to finish the job. And the question is, how?
In 2011, Congress passed a law saying that if both parties couldn't
agree on a plan to reach our deficit goal, about a trillion dollars'
worth of budget cuts would automatically go into effect this year.
These sudden, harsh, arbitrary cuts would jeopardize our military
readiness. They'd devastate priorities like education and energy and
medical research. They would certainly slow our recovery and cost us
hundreds of thousands of jobs. And that's why Democrats, Republicans,
business leaders, and economists have already said that these cuts--
known here in Washington as the sequester--are a really bad idea.
Now, some in Congress have proposed preventing only the defense cuts by
making even bigger cuts to things like education and job training,
Medicare, and Social Security benefits. That idea is even worse.
Yes, the biggest driver of our long-term debt is the rising cost of
health care for an aging population. And those of us who care deeply
about programs like Medicare must embrace the need for modest reforms;
otherwise, our retirement programs will crowd out the investments we
need for our children and jeopardize the promise of a secure retirement
for future generations.
But we can't ask senior citizens and working families to shoulder the
entire burden of deficit reduction while asking nothing more from the
wealthiest and the most powerful. We won't grow the middle class simply
by shifting the cost of health care or college onto families that are
already struggling or by forcing communities to lay off more teachers
and more cops and more firefighters. Most Americans--Democrats,
Republicans, and Independents--understand that we can't just cut our way
to prosperity. They know that broad-based economic growth requires a
balanced approach to deficit reduction, with spending cuts and revenue
and with everybody doing their fair share. And that's the approach I
offer tonight.
On Medicare, I'm prepared to enact reforms that will achieve the same
amount of health care savings by the beginning of the next decade as
the reforms proposed by the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles Commission.
Already, the Affordable Care Act is helping to slow the growth of
health care costs. And the reforms I'm proposing go even further. We'll
reduce taxpayer subsidies to prescription drug companies and ask more
from the wealthiest seniors. We'll bring down costs by changing the way
our Government pays for Medicare, because our medical bills shouldn't
be based on the number of tests ordered or days spent in the hospital;
they should be based on the quality of care that our seniors receive.
And I am open to additional reforms from both parties, so long as they
don't violate the guarantee of a secure retirement. Our Government
shouldn't make promises we cannot keep, but we must keep the promises
we've already made.
To hit the rest of our deficit reduction target, we should do what
leaders in both parties have already suggested and save hundreds of
billions of dollars by getting rid of tax loopholes and deductions for
the well-off and the well-connected. After all, why would we choose to
make deeper cuts to education and Medicare just to protect special
interest tax breaks? How is that fair? Why is it that deficit reduction
is a big emergency justifying making cuts in Social Security benefits,
but not closing some loopholes? How does that promote growth?
Now is our best chance for bipartisan, comprehensive tax reform that
encourages job creation and helps bring down the deficit. We can get
this done. The American people deserve a Tax Code that helps small
businesses spend less time filling out complicated forms and more time
expanding and hiring; a Tax Code that ensures billionaires with high-
powered accountants can't work the system and pay a lower rate than
their hard-working secretaries; a Tax Code that lowers incentives to
move jobs overseas and lowers tax rates for businesses and
manufacturers that are creating jobs right here in the United States of
America. That's what tax reform can deliver. That's what we can do
together.
I realize that tax reform and entitlement reform will not be easy. The
politics will be hard for both sides. None of us will get a hundred
percent of what we want. But the alternative will cost us jobs, hurt
our economy, visit hardship on millions of hard-working Americans. So
let's set party interests aside and work to pass a budget that replaces
reckless cuts with smart savings and wise investments in our future.
And let's do it without the brinksmanship that stresses consumers and
scares off investors. The greatest nation on Earth cannot keep
conducting its business by drifting from one manufactured crisis to the
next. We can't do it.
Let's agree right here, right now to keep the people's Government open
and pay our bills on time and always uphold the full faith and credit
of the United States of America. The American people have worked too
hard, for too long, rebuilding from one crisis to see their elected
officials cause another.
Now, most of us agree that a plan to reduce the deficit must be part of
our agenda. But let's be clear: Deficit reduction alone is not an
economic plan. A growing economy that creates good, middle class jobs,
that must be the north star that guides our efforts. Every day, we
should ask ourselves three questions as a nation: How do we attract
more jobs to our shores? How do we equip our people with the skills
they need to get those jobs? And how do we make sure that hard work
leads to a decent living?
Now, a year and a half ago, I put forward an American Jobs Act that
independent economists said would create more than 1 million new jobs.
And I thank the last Congress for passing some of that agenda. I urge
this Congress to pass the rest. But tonight I'll lay out additional
proposals that are fully paid for and fully consistent with the budget
framework both parties agreed to just 18 months ago. Let me repeat:
Nothing I'm proposing tonight should increase our deficit by a single
dime. It is not a bigger Government we need, but a smarter Government
that sets priorities and invests in broad-based growth. That's what we
should be looking for.
Our first priority is making America a magnet for new jobs and
manufacturing. After shedding jobs for more than 10 years, our
manufacturers have added about 500,000 jobs over the past 3.
Caterpillar is bringing jobs back from Japan. Ford is bringing jobs
back from Mexico. And this year, Apple will start making Macs in
America again.
There are things we can do right now to accelerate this trend. Last
year, we created our first manufacturing innovation institute in
Youngstown, Ohio. A once-shuttered warehouse is now a state-of-the-art
lab where new workers are mastering the 3-D printing that has the
potential to revolutionize the way we make almost everything. There's
no reason this can't happen in other towns.
So tonight I'm announcing the launch of three more of these
manufacturing hubs, where businesses will partner with the Department
of Defense and Energy to turn regions left behind by globalization into
global centers of high-tech jobs. And I ask this Congress to help
create a network of 15 of these hubs and guarantee that the next
revolution in manufacturing is made right here in America. We can get
that done.
Now, if we want to make the best products, we also have to invest in
the best ideas. Every dollar we invested to map the human genome
returned $140 to our economy--every dollar. Today, our scientists are
mapping the human brain to unlock the answers to Alzheimer's. They're
developing drugs to regenerate damaged organs, devising new materials
to make batteries 10 times more powerful. Now is not the time to gut
these job-creating investments in science and innovation, now is the
time to reach a level of research and development not seen since the
height of the space race. We need to make those investments.
Today, no area holds more promise than our investments in American
energy. After years of talking about it, we're finally poised to
control our own energy future. We produce more oil at home than we have
in 15 years. We have doubled the distance our cars will go on a gallon
of gas and the amount of renewable energy we generate from sources like
wind and solar, with tens of thousands of good American jobs to show
for it. We produce more natural gas than ever before, and nearly
everyone's energy bill is lower because of it. And over the last 4
years, our emissions of the dangerous carbon pollution that threatens
our planet have actually fallen.
But for the sake of our children and our future, we must do more to
combat climate change. Now, it's true that no single event makes a
trend. But the fact is, the 12 hottest years on record have all come in
the last 15. Heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods--all are now more
frequent and more intense. We can choose to believe that Superstorm
Sandy and the most severe drought in decades and the worst wildfires
some States have ever seen were all just a freak coincidence. Or we can
choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment of science and act
before it's too late.
Now, the good news is we can make meaningful progress on this issue
while driving strong economic growth. I urge this Congress to get
together, pursue a bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change,
like the one John McCain and Joe Lieberman worked on together a few
years ago. But if Congress won't act soon to protect future generations,
I will. I will direct my Cabinet to come up with executive actions we
can take, now and in the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our
communities for the consequences of climate change, and speed the
transition to more sustainable sources of energy.