Mr. Speaker, Mr.

Vice President, Members of Congress, fellow citizens:

Fifty-one years ago, John F. Kennedy declared to this Chamber that the
Constitution makes us not rivals for power but partners for progressIt 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 six million new jobs. We buy more American cars than we have in five
years, and less foreign oil than we have in twenty. Our housing market is healing,
our stock market is rebounding, and consumers, patients, and homeowners enjoy
stronger protections than ever before.

Together, we have cleared away the rubble of crisis, and 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 cant find full-time employment. Corporate profits have rocketed to
all-time highs but for more than a decade, wages and incomes have barely budged.

It is our generations task, then, to reignite the true engine of Americas

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, 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 dont expect government to solve every problem. They dont
expect those of us in this chamber to agree on every issue. But they do expect us
to put the nations 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.

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 couldnt 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. Theyd devastate priorities like education,
energy, and medical research. They would certainly slow our recovery, and cost us
hundreds of thousands of jobs. Thats 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 this 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 cant ask senior citizens and working families to shoulder the entire burden
of deficit reduction while asking nothing more from the wealthiest and most
powerful. We wont 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, cops, and firefighters. Most Americans
Democrats, Republicans, and Independents understand that we cant 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 thats the approach I offer tonight.

On Medicare, Im 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. The reforms Im proposing go even
further. Well reduce taxpayer subsidies to prescription drug companies and ask
more from the wealthiest seniors. Well bring down costs by changing the way our
government pays for Medicare, because our medical bills shouldnt 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 dont violate the guarantee of a secure retirement.
Our government shouldnt make promises we cannot keep but we must keep the
promises weve 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 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? 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. 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 cant 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 create jobs right here in America. Thats what tax reform
can deliver. Thats what we can do together.

I realize that tax reform and entitlement reform wont be easy. The politics will
be hard for both sides. None of us will get 100 percent of what we want. But the
alternative will cost us jobs, hurt our economy, and visit hardship on millions of
hardworking Americans. So lets set party interests aside, and work to pass a
budget that replaces reckless cuts with smart savings and wise investments in our
future. And lets 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. Lets agree, right
here, right now, to keep the peoples government open, 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 lets 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 needed to do those jobs? And how do we make sure that hard work
leads to a decent living?

A year and a half ago, I put forward an American Jobs Act that independent
economists said would create more than one million new jobs. I thank the last
Congress for passing some of that agenda, and I urge this Congress to pass the
rest. Tonight, Ill 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 Im proposing tonight should increase our deficit by a
single dime. Its not a bigger government we need, but a smarter government that
sets priorities and invests in broad-based growth.

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 three. Caterpillar is bringing jobs back from Japan.
Ford is bringing jobs back from Mexico. After locating plants in other countries
like China, Intel is opening its most advanced plant right here at home. 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 3D printing that has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost
everything. Theres no reason this cant happen in other towns. So tonight, Im
announcing the launch of three more of these manufacturing hubs, where businesses
will partner with the Departments 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 fifteen of these hubs and guarantee that the next
revolution in manufacturing is Made in America.

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.
Today, our scientists are mapping the human brain to unlock the answers to
Alzheimers; developing drugs to regenerate damaged organs; devising new material
to make batteries ten 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. And
today, no area holds more promise than our investments in American energy.

After years of talking about it, we are 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 everyones energy bill is lower because of it. And over the last four
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. Yes, its 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, and floods all are now more frequent and 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
its too late.

The good news is, we can make meaningful progress on this issue while driving
strong economic growth. I urge this Congress to 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 wont 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.

Four years ago, other countries dominated the clean energy market and the jobs that
came with it. Weve begun to change that. Last year, wind energy added nearly
half of all new power capacity in America. So lets generate even more. Solar
energy gets cheaper by the year so lets drive costs down even further. As long
as countries like China keep going all-in on clean energy, so must we.

In the meantime, the natural gas boom has led to cleaner power and greater energy
independence. Thats why my Administration will keep cutting red tape and speeding
up new oil and gas permits. But I also want to work with this Congress to
encourage the research and technology that helps natural gas burn even cleaner and
protects our air and water.

Indeed, much of our new-found energy is drawn from lands and waters that we, the
public, own together. So tonight, I propose we use some of our oil and gas
revenues to fund an Energy Security Trust that will drive new research and
technology to shift our cars and trucks off oil for good. If a non-partisan
coalition of CEOs and retired generals and admirals can get behind this idea, then
so can we. Lets take their advice and free our families and businesses from the
painful spikes in gas prices weve put up with for far too long. Im also issuing
a new goal for America: lets cut in half the energy wasted by our homes and
businesses over the next twenty years. The states with the best ideas to create
jobs and lower energy bills by constructing more efficient buildings will receive
federal support to help make it happen.

Americas energy sector is just one part of an aging infrastructure badly in need
of repair. Ask any CEO where theyd rather locate and hire: a country with
deteriorating roads and bridges, or one with high-speed rail and internet; high-
tech schools and self-healing power grids. The CEO of Siemens America a company
that brought hundreds of new jobs to North Carolina has said that if we upgrade
our infrastructure, theyll bring even more jobs. And I know that you want these
job-creating projects in your districts. Ive seen you all at the ribbon-cuttings.

Tonight, I propose a Fix-It-First program to put people to work as soon as

possible on our most urgent repairs, like the nearly 70,000 structurally deficient
bridges across the country. And to make sure taxpayers dont shoulder the whole
burden, Im also proposing a Partnership to Rebuild America that attracts private
capital to upgrade what our businesses need most: modern ports to move our goods;
modern pipelines to withstand a storm; modern schools worthy of our children.
Lets prove that there is no better place to do business than the United States of
America. And lets start right away.
Part of our rebuilding effort must also involve our housing sector. Today, our
housing market is finally healing from the collapse of 2007. Home prices are
rising at the fastest pace in six years, home purchases are up nearly 50 percent,
and construction is expanding again.

But even with mortgage rates near a 50-year low, too many families with solid
credit who want to buy a home are being rejected. Too many families who have never
missed a payment and want to refinance are being told no. Thats holding our
entire economy back, and we need to fix it. Right now, theres a bill in this
Congress that would give every responsible homeowner in America the chance to save
$3,000 a year by refinancing at todays rates. Democrats and Republicans have
supported it before. What are we waiting for? Take a vote, and send me that bill.
Right now, overlapping regulations keep responsible young families from buying
their first home. Whats holding us back? Lets streamline the process, and help
our economy grow.

These initiatives in manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, and housing will help

entrepreneurs and small business owners expand and create new jobs. But none of it
will matter unless we also equip our citizens with the skills and training to fill
those jobs. And that has to start at the earliest possible age.

Study after study shows that the sooner a child begins learning, the better he or
she does down the road. But today, fewer than 3 in 10 four year-olds are enrolled
in a high-quality preschool program. Most middle-class parents cant afford a few
hundred bucks a week for private preschool. And for poor kids who need help the
most, this lack of access to preschool education can shadow them for the rest of
their lives.

Tonight, I propose working with states to make high-quality preschool available to

every child in America. Every dollar we invest in high-quality early education can
save more than seven dollars later on by boosting graduation rates, reducing teen
pregnancy, even reducing violent crime. In states that make it a priority to
educate our youngest children, like Georgia or Oklahoma, studies show students grow
up more likely to read and do math at grade level, graduate high school, hold a
job, and form more stable families of their own. So lets do what works, and make
sure none of our children start the race of life already behind. Lets give our
kids that chance.

Lets also make sure that a high school diploma puts our kids on a path to a good
job. Right now, countries like Germany focus on graduating their high school
students with the equivalent of a technical degree from one of our community
colleges, so that theyre ready for a job. At schools like P-Tech in Brooklyn, a
collaboration between New York Public Schools, the City University of New York, and
IBM, students will graduate with a high school diploma and an associate degree in
computers or engineering.

We need to give every American student opportunities like this. Four years ago, we
started Race to the Top a competition that convinced almost every state to
develop smarter curricula and higher standards, for about 1 percent of what we
spend on education each year. Tonight, Im announcing a new challenge to redesign
Americas high schools so they better equip graduates for the demands of a high-
tech economy. Well reward schools that develop new partnerships with colleges and
employers, and create classes that focus on science, technology, engineering, and
math the skills todays employers are looking for to fill jobs right now and in
the future.

Now, even with better high schools, most young people will need some higher
education. Its a simple fact: the more education you have, the more likely you
are to have a job and work your way into the middle class. But today, skyrocketing
costs price way too many young people out of a higher education, or saddle them
with unsustainable debt.

Through tax credits, grants, and better loans, we have made college more affordable
for millions of students and families over the last few years. But taxpayers
cannot continue to subsidize the soaring cost of higher education. Colleges must
do their part to keep costs down, and its our job to make sure they do. Tonight,
I ask Congress to change the Higher Education Act, so that affordability and value
are included in determining which colleges receive certain types of federal aid.
And tomorrow, my Administration will release a new College Scorecard that parents
and students can use to compare schools based on a simple criteria: where you can
get the most bang for your educational buck.

To grow our middle class, our citizens must have access to the education and
training that todays jobs require. But we also have to make sure that America
remains a place where everyone whos willing to work hard has the chance to get
ahead.

Our economy is stronger when we harness the talents and ingenuity of striving,
hopeful immigrants. And right now, leaders from the business, labor, law
enforcement, and faith communities all agree that the time has come to pass
comprehensive immigration reform.

Real reform means strong border security, and we can build on the progress my
Administration has already made putting more boots on the southern border than at
any time in our history, and reducing illegal crossings to their lowest levels in
40 years.

Real reform means establishing a responsible pathway to earned citizenship a path

that includes passing a background check, paying taxes and a meaningful penalty,
learning English, and going to the back of the line behind the folks trying to come
here legally.

And real reform means fixing the legal immigration system to cut waiting periods,
reduce bureaucracy, and attract the highly-skilled entrepreneurs and engineers that
will help create jobs and grow our economy.

In other words, we know what needs to be done. As we speak, bipartisan groups in

both chambers are working diligently to draft a bill, and I applaud their efforts.
Now lets get this done. Send me a comprehensive immigration reform bill in the
next few months, and I will sign it right away.

But we cant stop there. We know our economy is stronger when our wives, mothers,
and daughters can live their lives free from discrimination in the workplace, and
free from the fear of domestic violence. Today, the Senate passed the Violence
Against Women Act that Joe Biden originally wrote almost 20 years ago. I urge the
House to do the same. And I ask this Congress to declare that women should earn a
living equal to their efforts, and finally pass the Paycheck Fairness Act this
year.

We know our economy is stronger when we reward an honest days work with honest
wages. But today, a full-time worker making the minimum wage earns $14,500 a year.
Even with the tax relief weve put in place, a family with two kids that earns the
minimum wage still lives below the poverty line. Thats wrong. Thats why, since
the last time this Congress raised the minimum wage, nineteen states have chosen to
bump theirs even higher.

Tonight, lets declare that in the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one who works
full-time should have to live in poverty, and raise the federal minimum wage to
$9.00 an hour. This single step would raise the incomes of millions of working
families. It could mean the difference between groceries or the food bank; rent or
eviction; scraping by or finally getting ahead. For businesses across the country,
it would mean customers with more money in their pockets. In fact, working folks
shouldnt have to wait year after year for the minimum wage to go up while CEO pay
has never been higher. So heres an idea that Governor Romney and I actually
agreed on last year: lets tie the minimum wage to the cost of living, so that it
finally becomes a wage you can live on.

Tonight, lets also recognize that there are communities in this country where no
matter how hard you work, its virtually impossible to get ahead. Factory towns
decimated from years of plants packing up. Inescapable pockets of poverty, urban
and rural, where young adults are still fighting for their first job. America is
not a place where chance of birth or circumstance should decide our destiny. And
that is why we need to build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class for
all who are willing to climb them.

Lets offer incentives to companies that hire Americans whove got what it takes to
fill that job opening, but have been out of work so long that no one will give them
a chance. Lets put people back to work rebuilding vacant homes in run-down
neighborhoods. And this year, my Administration will begin to partner with 20 of
the hardest-hit towns in America to get these communities back on their feet.
Well work with local leaders to target resources at public safety, education, and
housing. Well give new tax credits to businesses that hire and invest. And well
work to strengthen families by removing the financial deterrents to marriage for
low-income couples, and doing more to encourage fatherhood because what makes you
a man isnt the ability to conceive a child; its having the courage to raise one.

Stronger families. Stronger communities. A stronger America. It is this kind of

prosperity broad, shared, and built on a thriving middle class that has always
been the source of our progress at home. It is also the foundation of our power
and influence throughout the world.

Tonight, we stand united in saluting the troops and civilians who sacrifice every
day to protect us. Because of them, we can say with confidence that America will
complete its mission in Afghanistan, and achieve our objective of defeating the
core of al Qaeda. Already, we have brought home 33,000 of our brave servicemen and
women. This spring, our forces will move into a support role, while Afghan
security forces take the lead. Tonight, I can announce that over the next year,
another 34,000 American troops will come home from Afghanistan. This drawdown will
continue. And by the end of next year, our war in Afghanistan will be over.

Beyond 2014, Americas commitment to a unified and sovereign Afghanistan will

endure, but the nature of our commitment will change. We are negotiating an
agreement with the Afghan government that focuses on two missions: training and
equipping Afghan forces so that the country does not again slip into chaos, and
counter-terrorism efforts that allow us to pursue the remnants of al Qaeda and
their affiliates.

Today, the organization that attacked us on 9/11 is a shadow of its former self.
Different al Qaeda affiliates and extremist groups have emerged from the Arabian
Peninsula to Africa. The threat these groups pose is evolving. But to meet this
threat, we dont need to send tens of thousands of our sons and daughters abroad,
or occupy other nations. Instead, we will need to help countries like Yemen,
Libya, and Somalia provide for their own security, and help allies who take the
fight to terrorists, as we have in Mali. And, where necessary, through a range of
capabilities, we will continue to take direct action against those terrorists who
pose the gravest threat to Americans.
As we do, we must enlist our values in the fight. That is why my Administration
has worked tirelessly to forge a durable legal and policy framework to guide our
counterterrorism operations. Throughout, we have kept Congress fully informed of
our efforts. I recognize that in our democracy, no one should just take my word
that were doing things the right way. So, in the months ahead, I will continue to
engage with Congress to ensure not only that our targeting, detention, and
prosecution of terrorists remains consistent with our laws and system of checks and
balances, but that our efforts are even more transparent to the American people and
to the world.

Of course, our challenges dont end with al Qaeda. America will continue to lead
the effort to prevent the spread of the worlds most dangerous weapons. The regime
in North Korea must know that they will only achieve security and prosperity by
meeting their international obligations. Provocations of the sort we saw last
night will only isolate them further, as we stand by our allies, strengthen our own
missile defense, and lead the world in taking firm action in response to these
threats.

Likewise, the leaders of Iran must recognize that now is the time for a diplomatic
solution, because a coalition stands united in demanding that they meet their
obligations, and we will do what is necessary to prevent them from getting a
nuclear weapon. At the same time, we will engage Russia to seek further reductions
in our nuclear arsenals, and continue leading the global effort to secure nuclear
materials that could fall into the wrong hands because our ability to influence
others depends on our willingness to lead.

America must also face the rapidly growing threat from cyber-attacks. We know
hackers steal peoples identities and infiltrate private e-mail. We know foreign
countries and companies swipe our corporate secrets. Now our enemies are also
seeking the ability to sabotage our power grid, our financial institutions, and our
air traffic control systems. We cannot look back years from now and wonder why we
did nothing in the face of real threats to our security and our economy.

Thats why, earlier today, I signed a new executive order that will strengthen our
cyber defenses by increasing information sharing, and developing standards to
protect our national security, our jobs, and our privacy. Now, Congress must act
as well, by passing legislation to give our government a greater capacity to secure
our networks and deter attacks.

Even as we protect our people, we should remember that todays world presents not
only dangers, but opportunities. To boost American exports, support American jobs,
and level the playing field in the growing markets of Asia, we intend to complete
negotiations on a Trans-Pacific Partnership. And tonight, I am announcing that we
will launch talks on a comprehensive Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership
with the European Union because trade that is free and fair across the Atlantic
supports millions of good-paying American jobs.

We also know that progress in the most impoverished parts of our world enriches us
all. In many places, people live on little more than a dollar a day. So the
United States will join with our allies to eradicate such extreme poverty in the
next two decades: by connecting more people to the global economy and empowering
women; by giving our young and brightest minds new opportunities to serve and
helping communities to feed, power, and educate themselves; by saving the worlds
children from preventable deaths; and by realizing the promise of an AIDS-free
generation.

Above all, America must remain a beacon to all who seek freedom during this period
of historic change. I saw the power of hope last year in Rangoon when Aung San
Suu Kyi welcomed an American President into the home where she had been imprisoned
for years; when thousands of Burmese lined the streets, waving American flags,
including a man who said, There is justice and law in the United States. I want
our country to be like that.

In defense of freedom, we will remain the anchor of strong alliances from the
Americas to Africa; from Europe to Asia. In the Middle East, we will stand with
citizens as they demand their universal rights, and support stable transitions to
democracy. The process will be messy, and we cannot presume to dictate the course
of change in countries like Egypt; but we can and will insist on respect for
the fundamental rights of all people. We will keep the pressure on a Syrian regime
that has murdered its own people, and support opposition leaders that respect the
rights of every Syrian. And we will stand steadfast with Israel in pursuit of
security and a lasting peace. These are the messages I will deliver when I travel
to the Middle East next month.

All this work depends on the courage and sacrifice of those who serve in dangerous
places at great personal risk our diplomats, our intelligence officers, and the
men and women of the United States Armed Forces. As long as Im Commander-in-
Chief, we will do whatever we must to protect those who serve their country abroad,
and we will maintain the best military in the world. We will invest in new
capabilities, even as we reduce waste and wartime spending. We will ensure equal
treatment for all service members, and equal benefits for their families gay and
straight. We will draw upon the courage and skills of our sisters and daughters,
because women have proven under fire that they are ready for combat. We will keep
faith with our veterans investing in world-class care, including mental health
care, for our wounded warriors; supporting our military families; and giving our
veterans the benefits, education, and job opportunities they have earned. And I
want to thank my wife Michelle and Dr. Jill Biden for their continued dedication to
serving our military families as well as they serve us.

But defending our freedom is not the job of our military alone. We must all do our
part to make sure our God-given rights are protected here at home. That includes
our most fundamental right as citizens: the right to vote. When any Americans
no matter where they live or what their party are denied that right simply
because they cant wait for five, six, seven hours just to cast their ballot, we
are betraying our ideals. Thats why, tonight, Im announcing a non-partisan
commission to improve the voting experience in America. And Im asking two long-
time experts in the field, whove recently served as the top attorneys for my
campaign and for Governor Romneys campaign, to lead it. We can fix this, and we
will. The American people demand it. And so does our democracy.

Of course, what Ive said tonight matters little if we dont come together to
protect our most precious resource our children.

It has been two months since Newtown. I know this is not the first time this
country has debated how to reduce gun violence. But this time is different.
Overwhelming majorities of Americans Americans who believe in the 2nd Amendment
have come together around commonsense reform like background checks that will
make it harder for criminals to get their hands on a gun. Senators of both parties
are working together on tough new laws to prevent anyone from buying guns for
resale to criminals. Police chiefs are asking our help to get weapons of war and
massive ammunition magazines off our streets, because they are tired of being
outgunned.

Each of these proposals deserves a vote in Congress. If you want to vote no,
thats your choice. But these proposals deserve a vote. Because in the two months
since Newtown, more than a thousand birthdays, graduations, and anniversaries have
been stolen from our lives by a bullet from a gun.
One of those we lost was a young girl named Hadiya Pendleton. She was 15 years
old. She loved Fig Newtons and lip gloss. She was a majorette. She was so good
to her friends, they all thought they were her best friend. Just three weeks ago,
she was here, in Washington, with her classmates, performing for her country at my
inauguration. And a week later, she was shot and killed in a Chicago park after
school, just a mile away from my house.

Hadiyas parents, Nate and Cleo, are in this chamber tonight, along with more than
two dozen Americans whose lives have been torn apart by gun violence. They deserve
a vote.

Gabby Giffords deserves a vote.

The families of Newtown deserve a vote.

The families of Aurora deserve a vote.

The families of Oak Creek, and Tucson, and Blacksburg, and the countless other
communities ripped open by gun violence they deserve a simple vote.

Our actions will not prevent every senseless act of violence in this country.
Indeed, no laws, no initiatives, no administrative acts will perfectly solve all
the challenges Ive outlined tonight. But we were never sent here to be perfect.
We were sent here to make what difference we can, to secure this nation, expand
opportunity, and uphold our ideals through the hard, often frustrating, but
absolutely necessary work of self-government.

We were sent here to look out for our fellow Americans the same way they look out
for one another, every single day, usually without fanfare, all across this
country. We should follow their example.

We should follow the example of a New York City nurse named Menchu Sanchez. When
Hurricane Sandy plunged her hospital into darkness, her thoughts were not with how
her own home was faring they were with the twenty precious newborns in her care
and the rescue plan she devised that kept them all safe.

We should follow the example of a North Miami woman named Desiline Victor. When
she arrived at her polling place, she was told the wait to vote might be six hours.
And as time ticked by, her concern was not with her tired body or aching feet, but
whether folks like her would get to have their say. Hour after hour, a throng of
people stayed in line in support of her. Because Desiline is 102 years old. And
they erupted in cheers when she finally put on a sticker that read I Voted.

We should follow the example of a police officer named Brian Murphy. When a gunman
opened fire on a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, and Brian was the first to arrive, he
did not consider his own safety. He fought back until help arrived, and ordered
his fellow officers to protect the safety of the Americans worshiping inside even
as he lay bleeding from twelve bullet wounds.

When asked how he did that, Brian said, Thats just the way were made.

Thats just the way were made.

We may do different jobs, and wear different uniforms, and hold different views
than the person beside us. But as Americans, we all share the same proud title:

We are citizens. Its a word that doesnt just describe our nationality or legal
status. It describes the way were made. It describes what we believe. It
captures the enduring idea that this country only works when we accept certain
obligations to one another and to future generations; that our rights are wrapped
up in the rights of others; and that well into our third century as a nation, it
remains the task of us all, as citizens of these United States, to be the authors
of the next great chapter in our American story.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.