We are now very proudly an exporter of energy to the world. In Detroit, I halted government mandates that crippled America's great, beautiful autoworkers so that we can get Motor City revving its engines again. Many car companies are now building and expanding plants in the United States - something we have not seen for decades. Chrysler is moving a major plant from Mexico to Michigan. Toyota and Mazda are opening up a plant in Alabama - a big one. And we have not seen this in a long time. Very soon, auto plants and other plants will be opening up all over our country. For many years, companies and jobs were only leaving us. They want to be in the United States of America. To speed access to breakthrough cures and affordable generic drugs, last year the FDA approved more new and generic drugs and medical devices than ever before in our country's history. We also believe that patients with terminal conditions, and terminal illness, should have access to experimental treatment immediately that could potentially save their lives. People who are terminally ill should not have to go from country to country to seek a cure. I want to give them a chance right here at home. It is time for Congress to give these wonderful, incredible Americans the right to try. One of my greatest priorities is to reduce the price of prescription drugs. In many other countries, these drugs cost far less than what we pay in the United States. That is why I have directed my administration to make fixing the injustice of high drug prices one of my top priorities for the year. America has also finally turned the page on decades of unfair trade deals that sacrificed our prosperity and shipped away our companies, our jobs, and our wealth. Our nation has lost its wealth, but we are getting it back so fast. The era of economic surrender is totally over. We will work to fix bad trade deals and negotiate new ones. And we will protect American workers and American intellectual property through strong enforcement of our trade rules. As we rebuild our industries, it is also time to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure. America is a nation of builders. We built the Empire State Building in just one year. Is not it a disgrace that it can now take 10 years just to get a minor permit approved for the building of a simple road? I am asking both parties to come together to give us safe, fast, reliable, and modern infrastructure that our economy needs and our people deserve.


Tonight, I am calling on Congress to produce a bill that generates at least $1.5 trillion for the new infrastructure investment that our country so desperately needs. Every federal dollar should be leveraged by partnering with state and local governments and, where appropriate, tapping into private sector investment to permanently fix the infrastructure deficit. And we can do it. Any bill must also streamline the permitting and approval process, getting it down to no more than two years, and perhaps even one. Together, we can reclaim our great building heritage. We will build gleaming new roads, bridges, highways, railways, and waterways all across our land. And we will do it with American heart, and American hands, and American grit. We want every American to know the dignity of a hard day's work. We want every child to be safe in their home at night. And we want every citizen to be proud of this land that we all love so much. We can lift our citizens from welfare to work, from dependence to independence, and from poverty to prosperity. As tax cuts create new jobs, let us invest in workforce development and let us invest in job training, which we need so badly. Let us open great vocational schools so our future workers can learn a craft and realize their full potential. And let us support working families by supporting paid family leave. As America regains its strength, opportunity must be extended to all citizens. That is why this year we will embark on reforming our prisons to help former inmates who have served their time get a second chance at life. Struggling communities, especially immigrant communities, will also be helped by immigration policies that focus on the best interests of American workers and American families. For decades, open borders have allowed drugs and gangs to pour into our most vulnerable communities. They have allowed millions of low-wage workers to compete for jobs and wages against the poorest Americans. Most tragically, they have caused the loss of many innocent lives. Their two teenage daughters - Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens - were close friends on Long Island. But in September 2016, on the eve of Nisa's 16th Birthday - such a happy time it should have been - neither of them came home. These two precious girls were brutally murdered while walking together in their hometown. Six members of the savage MS-13 gang have been charged with Kayla and Nisa's murders.

Remarks by President Trump in State of the Union Address


Many of these gang members took advantage of glaring loopholes in our laws to enter the country as illegal, unaccompanied alien minors, and wound up in Kayla and Nisa's high school. Tonight, everyone in this chamber is praying for you. Everyone in America is grieving for you. I want you to know that 320 million hearts are right now breaking for you. We love you. While we cannot imagine the depths of that kind of sorrow, we can make sure that other families never have to endure this kind of pain. Tonight, I am calling on Congress to finally close the deadly loopholes that have allowed MS-13, and other criminal gangs, to break into our country. We have proposed new legislation that will fix our immigration laws and support our ICE and Border Patrol agents - these are great people; these are great, great people - that work so hard in the midst of such danger so that this can never happen again. We are proud that we do more than any other country anywhere in the world to help the needy, the struggling, and the underprivileged all over the world. But as President of the United States, my highest loyalty, my greatest compassion, my constant concern is for America's children, America's struggling workers, and America's forgotten communities. I want our youth to grow up to achieve great things. I want our poor to have their chance to rise. So, tonight, I am extending an open hand to work with members of both parties, Democrats and Republicans, to protect our citizens of every background, color, religion, and creed. My duty, and the sacred duty of every elected official in this chamber, is to defend Americans, to protect their safety, their families, their communities, and their right to the American Dream. Here tonight is one leader in the effort to defend our country, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Celestino Martinez. He goes by DJ and CJ. He said, Call me either one. So we will call you CJ. At one point, MS-13 leaders ordered CJ's murder. But he did not cave to threats or to fear. Last May, he commanded an operation to track down gang members on Long Island. His team has arrested nearly 400, including more than 220 MS-13 gang members. And I have to tell you, what the Border Patrol and ICE have done - we have sent thousands and thousands and thousands of MS-13 horrible people out of this country or into our prisons.


So I just want to congratulate you, CJ. And I asked CJ, What is the secret? And I like that answer. Now let us get Congress to send you - and all of the people in this great chamber have to do it; we have no choice. CJ, we are going to send you reinforcements, and we are going to send them to you quickly. It is what you need. Over the next few weeks, the House and Senate will be voting on an immigration reform package. In recent months, my administration has met extensively with both Democrats and Republicans to craft a bipartisan approach to immigration reform. Based on these discussions, we presented Congress with a detailed proposal that should be supported by both parties as a fair compromise, one where nobody gets everything they want, but where our country gets the critical reforms it needs and must have. The first pillar of our framework generously offers a path to citizenship for 1.8 million illegal immigrants who were brought here by their parents at a young age. That covers almost three times more people than the previous administration covered. Under our plan, those who meet education and work requirements, and show good moral character, will be able to become full citizens of the United States over a 12-year period. The second pillar fully secures the border. That means building a great wall on the southern border, and it means hiring more heroes, like CJ, to keep our communities safe. Crucially, our plan closes the terrible loopholes exploited by criminals and terrorists to enter our country, and it finally ends the horrible and dangerous practice of catch and release. The third pillar ends the visa lottery, a program that randomly hands out green cards without any regard for skill, merit, or the safety of American people. It is time to begin moving towards a merit-based immigration system, one that admits people who are skilled, who want to work, who will contribute to our society, and who will love and respect our country. The fourth and final pillar protects the nuclear family by ending chain migration. Under the current broken system, a single immigrant can bring in virtually unlimited numbers of distant relatives. Under our plan, we focus on the immediate family by limiting sponsorships to spouses and minor children. This vital reform is necessary, not just for our economy, but for our security and for the future of America. In recent weeks, two terrorist attacks in New York were made possible by the visa lottery and chain migration.


In the age of terrorism, these programs present risks we can just no longer afford. It is time to reform these outdated immigration rules, and finally bring our immigration system into the 21st century. These four pillars represent a down-the-middle compromise, and one that will create a safe, modern, and lawful immigration system. For over 30 years, Washington has tried and failed to solve this problem. Most importantly, these four pillars will produce legislation that fulfills my ironclad pledge to sign a bill that puts America first. So let us come together, set politics aside, and finally get the job done. These reforms will also support our response to the terrible crisis of opioid and drug addiction. We have to do something about it. In 2016, we lost 64,000 Americans to drug overdoses - 174 deaths per day; 7 per hour. We must get much tougher on drug dealers and pushers if we are going to succeed in stopping this scourge. My administration is committed to fighting the drug epidemic and helping get treatment for those in need, for those who have been so terribly hurt. The struggle will be long and it will be difficult, but as Americans always do - in the end, we will succeed. As we have seen tonight, the most difficult challenges bring out the best in America. We see a vivid expression of this truth in the story of the Holets family of New Mexico. Ryan Holets is 27 years old, an officer with the Albuquerque Police Department. He is here tonight with his wife Rebecca. Last year, Ryan was on duty when he saw a pregnant, homeless woman preparing to inject heroin. When Ryan told her she was going to harm her unborn child, she began to weep. She told him she did not know where to turn, but badly wanted a safe home for her baby. You will do it, because you can. He heard those words. He took out a picture of his wife and their four kids. Then, he went home to tell his wife Rebecca. In an instant, she agreed to adopt. The Holets named their new daughter Hope. Ryan and Rebecca, you embody the goodness of our nation. As we rebuild America's strength and confidence at home, we are also restoring our strength and standing abroad. Around the world, we face rogue regimes, terrorist groups, and rivals like China and Russia that challenge our interests, our economy, and our values.


In confronting these horrible dangers, we know that weakness is the surest path to conflict, and unmatched power is the surest means to our true and great defense. For this reason, I am asking Congress to end the dangerous defense sequester and fully fund our great military. As part of our defense, we must modernize and rebuild our nuclear arsenal, hopefully never having to use it, but making it so strong and so powerful that it will deter any acts of aggression by any other nation or anyone else. Perhaps someday in the future, there will be a magical moment when the countries of the world will get together to eliminate their nuclear weapons. Last year, I also pledged that we would work with our allies to extinguish ISIS from the face of the Earth. One year later, I am proud to report that the coalition to defeat ISIS has liberated very close to 100 percent of the territory just recently held by these killers in Iraq and in Syria and in other locations, as well. We will continue our fight until ISIS is defeated. Near Raqqa, last November, Justin and his comrade, Chief Petty Officer Kenton Stacy, were on a mission to clear buildings that ISIS had rigged with explosive so that civilians could return to that city hopefully soon, and hopefully safely. Clearing the second floor of a vital hospital, Kenton Stacy was severely wounded by an explosion. Immediately, Justin bounded into the booby-trapped and unbelievably dangerous and unsafe building, and found Kenton, but in very, very bad shape. He applied pressure to the wound and inserted a tube to reopen an airway. He then performed CPR for 20 straight minutes during the ground transport, and maintained artificial respiration through two and a half hours and through emergency surgery. Kenton Stacy would have died if it were not for Justin's selfless love for his fellow warrior. Tonight, Kenton is recovering in Texas. And Justin is wearing his new Bronze Star, with a V for valor. Staff Sergeant Peck, all of America salutes you. Terrorists who do things like place bombs in civilian hospitals are evil. When possible, we have no choice but to annihilate them. When necessary, we must be able to detain and question them. And when captured overseas, they should be treated like the terrorists they are.


In the past, we have foolishly released hundreds and hundreds of dangerous terrorists, only to meet them again on the battlefield - including the ISIS leader, al-Baghdadi, who we captured, who we had, who we released. So today, I am keeping another promise. I just signed, prior to walking in, an order directing Secretary Mattis, who is doing a great job, thank you -- to reexamine our military detention policy and to keep open the detention facilities in Guantanamo Bay. I am asking Congress to ensure that, in the fight against ISIS and al Qaeda, we continue to have all necessary power to detain terrorists, wherever we chase them down, wherever we find them. And in many cases, for them, it will now be Guantanamo Bay. At the same time, as of a few months ago, our warriors in Afghanistan have new rules of engagement. Along with their heroic Afghan partners, our military is no longer undermined by artificial timelines, and we no longer tell our enemies our plans. Last month, I also took an action endorsed unanimously by the U.S. Senate just months before. I recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Shortly afterwards, dozens of countries voted in the United Nations General Assembly against America's sovereign right to make this decision. In 2016, American taxpayers generously sent those same countries more than $20 billion in aid. That is why, tonight, I am asking Congress to pass legislation to help ensure American foreign-assistance dollars always serve American interests, and only go to friends of America, not enemies of America. As we strengthen friendships all around the world, we are also restoring clarity about our adversaries. When the people of Iran rose up against the crimes of their corrupt dictatorship, I did not stay silent. America stands with the people of Iran in their courageous struggle for freedom. I am asking Congress to address the fundamental flaws in the terrible Iran nuclear deal. My administration has also imposed tough sanctions on the communist and socialist dictatorships in Cuba and Venezuela. But no regime has oppressed its own citizens more totally or brutally than the cruel dictatorship in North Korea. North Korea's reckless pursuit of nuclear missiles could very soon threaten our homeland. We are waging a campaign of maximum pressure to prevent that from ever happening. Past experience has taught us that complacency and concessions only invite aggression and provocation. I will not repeat the mistakes of past administrations that got us into this very dangerous position.


We need only look at the depraved character of the North Korean regime to understand the nature of the nuclear threat it could pose to America and to our allies. Otto Warmbier was a hardworking student at the University of Virginia - and a great student he was. On his way to study abroad in Asia, Otto joined a tour to North Korea. At its conclusion, this wonderful young man was arrested and charged with crimes against the state. After a shameful trial, the dictatorship sentenced Otto to 15 years of hard labor, before returning him to America last June, horribly injured and on the verge of death. He passed away just days after his return. Otto's wonderful parents, Fred and Cindy Warmbier, are here with us tonight, along with Otto's brother and sister, Austin and Greta. You are powerful witnesses to a menace that threatens our world, and your strength truly inspires us all. Tonight, we pledge to honor Otto's memory with total American resolve. Finally, we are joined by one more witness to the ominous nature of this regime. In 1996, Seong-ho was a starving boy in North Korea. One day, he tried to steal coal from a railroad car to barter for a few scraps of food, which were very hard to get. In the process, he passed out on the train tracks, exhausted from hunger. He woke up as a train ran over his limbs. He then endured multiple amputations without anything to dull the pain or the hurt. His brother and sister gave what little food they had to help him recover and ate dirt themselves, permanently stunting their own growth. Later, he was tortured by North Korean authorities after returning from a brief visit to China. His tormentors wanted to know if he'd met any Christians. He had - and he resolved, after that, to be free. Seong-ho traveled thousands of miles on crutches all across China and Southeast Asia to freedom. Most of his family followed. His father was caught trying to escape and was tortured to death. the truth. Today, he has a new leg. But, Seong-ho, I understand you still keep those old crutches as a reminder of how far you have come. Your great sacrifice is an inspiration to us all. Seong-ho's story is a testament to the yearning of every human soul to live in freedom.


I told somebody in the Oval Office before we came out here that, unlike a lot of us who are transients, Alice Rivlin's not going anywhere. Congressman Davis, Congressman Clinger, Congresswoman Morella, Congresswoman Norton, Mayor Barry, President Clarke, members of the City Council, and other friends of the District of Columbia, this is a very important day and a very important piece of legislation for all of us who care about our country's Capital and for all of us who love Washington as a city. I have lived here not only as President but also as a college student. I know this to be a city not only of our national monuments and political centers but also a city of neighborhoods, of Shaw and Anacostia and Cleveland Park and Adams Morgan and so many others. So this is a very important day for a city, a city and thousands and thousands of people who live in it, who love it, who care about it, who have lives, many of them who have nothing to do with the politics of the Nation's Capital but who deserve to live in a city that works, that functions, and that also can symbolize the very best in America. The health of the city and the security of its citizens have been threatened by the financial crisis. And I applaud all those who have come together to work together to begin the road back. The purpose of the bill I am signing today is just that; it is a road back. The Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Act will speed the District's recovery and return to fiscal health and will help over the long run to improve the delivery of services to its citizens. For the past 2 years, I have worked hard to turn the economy of our country around. And we have seen dramatic improvements in the deficit, in the ability of this country to create jobs, and having a Government that is both smaller and more efficient. But none of that means very much to people whose own lives are troubled with insecurity. And the citizens of the District of Columbia need to know that security, stability, growth, and opportunity will be the hallmarks of their living in our Nation's Capital. This effort, as Alice Rivlin has said, is proof of what we can accomplish when we work together, when we put the interests of real people first, when we ignore partisan politics, and when we get on with the job at hand.

Remarks on Signing the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Act of 1995


We are pleased tonight to welcome again a good friend who comes representing not one but two valued allies of the United States. I refer, of course, to the Federal Republic of Germany and to Harvard University. Our guest is one of the few men in public life whose title, Doctor, was earned academically long before it was conferred by honorary degree. Erhard, all Americans join in congratulating you upon the richly deserved honor that you have received and we are grateful that you honor us as our guest in this garden this evening. When the Chancellor was last in the United States, I expressed to him the hope that the dose relationship and the healthy friendship between our countries would grow in strength and in meaning. I am proud to say tonight that that hope has been the reality of the intervening half year. It is evident to us that the relations between our countries have never been better than at this time tonight. Our understanding is deepening, our cooperation is broadening, our hopes for the future are rising. We have come forward together, your country and mine, along the path of insuring freedom and security in a world where both are constantly threatened. German effort and foresight and determination and dedication along with those of our allies in Western Europe have made it possible to convert age-old rivalries into new and constructive relationships. Tonight our hopes rise from this foundation, the only real foundation that can support and sustain them, the foundation of strength. We of the United States of America value highly this relationship with the Federal Republic of Germany. The ties between the people of America and the people of Germany are many and close. From the dark days of our Valley Forge to the bright age of mankind's exploration of space the cause of freedom has prospered when the peoples of our two countries have worked together in peace. Tonight we are working together as allies in NATO, tonight we are working together as friends in freedom, and tonight we are working together as partners in peace. I have no doubt that Germany and the United States will continue to move along that road together surmounting the obstacles and serving the opportunities that we encounter together along that way. Our goal and our purpose is peace; peace with honor, peace with justice, peace under freedom. We seek to move only on a course of peace and justice, never a course of fear or hostility.

Toasts of the President and Chancellor Erhard


Together with our allies we shall work to open new avenues of trade and we shall work to build new bridges of ideas toward the East, to improve relations, to lessen tensions, to enhance the prospect of all of us living in this world in peace. As we all recognize, there can be no real and lasting peace in Europe, or in the rest of the world for that matter, until Germany is united, united by self-determination in peace and in freedom. This can be done, and the people of the United States are determined that it shall be done to end the inequities and injustices of the division of the German people--until there is a unified Germany. Only the representative and democratic government of the Federal Republic of Germany can speak for the German people. It is a very great honor and a very proud privilege, Mr. Chancellor, to have you in our midst this evening. The scene is a little different from our last meeting, the friendship is a little stronger. I ask those of my friends who have come here this evening and our distinguished guests to join me in raising your glasses to the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, to the friendship between the people of the United States and all the people of Germany always. First of all let me express my gratitude for the congratulations which you expressed to me on the occasion of the honor which was bestowed upon me yesterday when I was granted an honorary doctor's degree at Harvard. This in itself would be sufficient to make me very happy, very proud indeed. But I was even more happy about this distinction and that honor because it afforded me an opportunity to come over again to the United States of America and to meet with you, Mr. President, and to have new talks with you, exchange of views, exchange of hopes, exchange of worries and problems. Some people said after our meeting in Texas at the end of last year that was, so to speak, the honeymoon between the two of us and they raised a warning voice saying, 'Well, let us wait until this period of the honeymoon is over; now everything is pleasant, everything is beautiful, but then they will be faced with the rough realities.' I think the honeymoon is over now and today we have reached, if I may put it this way, the state of marriage, but based on trust, on faithfulness. I think these are the pillars of this relationship between the two of us.


Though our talks dealt with a number of very serious problems, Mr. President, today I had the impression that our personal friendship had deepened and was strengthened over the last 6 months. And if I speak of the personal relationship between the two of us, I would add that I am inclined to apply that also to the relationship between our two countries, our two nations. As I look back over the period since I have been in political office, that means since the end of the last war, I think it was at that time unique, unique and unparalleled in world history, that the victor who had gained unimaginable strength and power through his victory showed such great generosity by helping all the countries of the world, including the vanquished, to reconstruct their countries. In this way you helped to secure the peace in the world. I said to you this morning, Mr. President, when we had our conversation, I understood that your feelings were a bit bitter about the fact that so little gratitude was shown by the countries for what the United States has done after the last war. But such is human nature, one cannot expect gratefulness, and what one has received in the way of good deeds is very easily forgotten. the more happy and pleased, Mr. President, to be able to say that these things are not forgotten in Germany. The German people will always remember what they have received from the United States of America, and this I feel is the basis of the friendship that exists between our two countries. That is the basis, the foundation, of the trust and confidence which enables genuine cooperation. I think we have all the essential objectives in common; and even if there should be some misunderstanding, some differences from time to time, I think there can be no doubt whatsoever, neither here in the United States nor in the Federal Republic of Germany, that this friendship between our two countries is a firm one, that there is also this conviction that we have common tasks and common missions to fulfill. I am not so presumptuous to say that Germany could speak for Europe, but on the other hand I feel that the Federal Republic of Germany can be, must be the stabilizing factor, the stabilizing element, in Europe. By our attitude we can show how necessary, how desirable it is for Europe to come closer to the United States and also to try and tie the United States of America, or let me put it this way, the North American Continent more closely to Europe.


We do not want to divide and to split up the world amongst ourselves, but though we ourselves in Germany, in our country, experience this tragic division and whatever it means, we want to make a contribution to overcome all these difficulties. I hope, I am sure we will succeed--what we have in common is this hope on behalf and for all the world. Today we are trying to make our contribution to these common objectives. We feel this responsibility for the countries which are still in a somewhat backward and underdeveloped stage, or countries which still have to live in slavery. On the other hand, we are grateful to you, Mr. President, and to the United States of America for the understanding you have been showing for our particular German problem. I have said on several occasions on this visit-I said it also today when I had the honor to address the Senate of the United States--that it would not be a good and a right alliance, it would not be real friendship, if each country were to look at its own interests only, were to look at the geographical area in which itself is situated and would not look beyond that. And it would be a bad alliance, it would be a bad friendship, if every partner were not ready also to stand up for the other partners. We fully recognize the seriousness of your problems. I think of Cuba, I think in terms of South Viet-Nam, we consider them also to be our problems. We also feel an obligation, as you are understanding our particular situation in the Federal Republic of Germany, our particular problems, and I hope and I am sure that this is a good firm foundation of our friendship and cooperation. And where there is so much good will and deep and honest friendship I am absolutely convinced that this good relationship will continue between our two countries and that it will continue to be an element of freedom, of security, and of peace in the world. President, today during our conversations we have assured one another of our mutual sympathy, and when I have done that I think it was more than a diplomatic phrase or a diplomatic formula. It was, so to speak, let me say that quite frankly, a human confession and I think it was understood in that way by the two of us. We are convinced that it is our common task, and I say that with all humility which is due to us Germans and which we must observe, I think this is a common task with which we are confronted.


It is great to be here in Michigan and with the United auto workers. As they say, in parts of my state, I got brung up on General Motors. My father ran a General Motors agency. He did not own it, but he ran it and cars or cars or cars. By the way, I still have my '67 Corvette that is new. I still keep that, but I got to tell you, I am waiting for that electric one you just made that goes 210 miles an hour, but that is a different story. Look, earlier this week and the reason we are a little bit late here, we found as I was getting off the plane, the press asked me a legitimate question that I did not have the background on because it occurred on the plane. Earlier this week, we celebrated Labor Day. And here in the heart of the American automobile industry, we never forget everything that we owe the unions. And unions, as you have heard me say many times, built this country. Unions built the economy. The economic engine has driven American manufacturing dynamism. And literally in the case of the auto workers, you are the ones that did it. So I want to thank you again, UAW region one, for hosting me today. And it is great to see Senator Stabenow. Got a chance to spend a little time with the governor, but Senator Stabenow and I worked together on an awful lot of matters over the years in the United States Senate. She was a great partner to me when I was vice president and we worked in lockstep to get the people in Michigan back on their feet. We are joined by one of the best and brightest and hardest working governors around, my friend, Gretchen Whitmer. And if you are wondering what responsible strong executive leadership looks like in ENTITY, just look at this executive right here. Governor, you have done an incredible job steering the people of Michigan through a turbulent time. Much of it is brought on by Donald Trump's lack of leadership. You have listened to the experts and you have led with science and you put the needs of the people, who are hurting first, helping them get through this crisis. Meanwhile, on the day that we hit 190,000 dead in the United States, because of ENTITY, we just learned from the Washington Post columnist Bob Woodward that the president of the United States has admitted on tape in February he knew about ENTITY that had passed through the air. It was much more deadly than the flu.

Joe Biden Speech Transcript Warren, Michigan September 9


He knew and purposely played it down. Worse, he lied to the American people. He knowingly and willingly lied about the threaded pose to the country for months. He had the information. Now, while this deadly disease ripped through our nation, he failed to do his job on purpose. It was a life and death betrayal of the American people. If he acted two weeks sooner, back in March, 54,000 lives would have been spared in March and April alone. His failure has not only costs lives. He sent our economy in a tailspin. It costs millions more in American livelihoods. This is a recession created by Donald Trump's negligence. And he is unfit for this job as a consequence of it. How many kids are starting a new school year the same way they ended the last one at home? How many frontline workers are exhausted and pushed to the limits? And how many families are missing loved ones at their dinner table tonight because of his failures? It is a dereliction of duty. We are going to hear a lot more about this. I am sure, not just from me, but from the news media and a lot of others, but I want to ask you one simple question. What is the value of a promise? What is the worth of a woman or man's word, of a president's word, if it is not matched with action? In 2016, then candidate Trump came here to Warren just a few days before the election. Here is what he said. He said, If I am elected, you will not lose one plant. You have plants coming into this country. You are going to have jobs again. You will not lose one plant. I promise you. I promise you. That is what he said. Donald Trump makes a lot of promises. He promised that he alone could stop the off shoring of jobs. He promised he bring back jobs, stop companies from leaving. He could do what, Nobody else could do it, but him. Nut he promised it has administration would enforce every last buying American provision on behalf of the American people. And what makes his wild claims and hopes, he now hopes we do not notice what he said or will not remember. And when he does follow through or does not do with follow through the exact opposite, he is hoping we just have poor memories. He does not give us much credit, but the American people are smart, honest, decent, and they are hard working.


And we expect our president to be straight with us, to do what he or she says they are going to do. So let us look at the reality of Donald Trump's economy and what exactly his promise to the American people and workers are worth. He is on track to be the first president since Herbert Hoover in the Great Depression to see the number of jobs in our economy go down, not up while being president. Our economy's down 4.7 million jobs since he took office, 4.7. Even before President Trump's failed response to ENTITY crashed through our economy, his reckless and chaotic trade policy had thrown American manufacturing into recession. It was already contracting in 2019, even when ENTITY hit, before it hit. Trump was creating an average of 500,000 jobs fewer per year than the last three years when President Obama and I were an office. When the GM transmission plant here in Warren close last year, I bet the workers around were not all that comforted by Trump's empty promises. Under Donald Trump, Michigan lost auto jobs, even before ENTITY did. Has Trump delivered on stopping companies from shipping jobs overseas, American jobs? You already know the answer. The rate of offshoring by federal contractors, there are people that get federal dollars from the federal government to do things. The off shoring, big companies being paid by US Taxpayers has doubled, doubled under Trump. They have doubled the number that had been off shored. He invited companies to the White House to make what he called the pledge to American workers. He could not even keep those firms from outsourcing. Many were given lucrative federal contracts, but then some of them turned around and shipped 7,000 jobs overseas. Under President Trump, US trade deficit has grown. It is hit an all time high. Let me say that again. US trade deficit is at an all time high under Trump in the last three years. President Trump's answered all this as the same as he is answered everything. Corporate tax giveaways that actually ward off shoring. You heard me right. Giveaways that reward offshoring. If you offshore, you get more tax breaks. His 2017 tax bill slashed taxes on companies that sent production and jobs overseas. Those corporations then make huge profits by shipping these foreign made products back to the United States to sell to American consumers. And no industry has taken a greater advantage of Trump's offshoring tax loopholes than the pharmaceutical industry.


Big pharma lobbied Trump for a handout. That is exactly what they got from him. US pharma is building factories overseas instead of the United States, skipping out on having to pay US taxes and then sending those same foreign made drugs back to American consumers, all while raising their prices on prescription drugs that union families and working people have to rely on. And in the process by the way, he is trying to do away with all healthcare in America. During a pandemic, we are seeing not only the inequity of this policy, but the enormous vulnerability that this creates for our own health security. And our security requires us to have supply chains of the necessary drugs based here, not overseas. Like the rest of President Trump's promise it has nothing to do with reality. It is all a bunch of hot air. In fact, contracts awarded by US governments to foreign companies using American tax dollars went up 30% since he is been president. So to recap, one, Trump has not stopped companies from closing plants and sending jobs overseas. Two, he is rewarded companies that have cut jobs and failed to invest here at home with billions of dollars in tax breaks. And three, he is awarding more and more federal contracts to foreign companies. President Trump has broken just about every promise he is ever made to the American worker. He is failed our economy and our country. But look, would you really expect anything different from this guy? From someone who called those of you and those who are serving in uniform, who have given their lives to the country losers and suckers? Let me tell you something. He volunteered to go to Kosovo to help them set up a government in the middle of the war. I know I am being proud here, but he is the only foreigner has a monument that they raised and built in service to him, thanking him for what he did. My son also then as attorney general volunteered to go to Iraq for one year. No one who served this nation has been a loser or a sucker. Or would you expect anything different than someone who could stand next to a father of a fallen soldier and say at a cemetery and say, I do not get it. What was in it for them? What was in it for them? Donald Trump does understand what it means to serve something bigger than yourself. He does not understand duty, honor, country. He lives by a different code.


Yes, Donald Trump and I have a pretty different philosophy when it comes to giving our word. Mine means something. When I tell the American people I am going to do something, I follow through. Here in Michigan, you know that is true. When Barack and I took office back in 2009, the economy was crashing. We inherited an economy in free fall. And millions of Americans, including so many right here in Michigan, lost their jobs, their homes, and their savings. With the help of Debbie breaking her neck here, President Obama and I worked hard. He put me in charge of the Recovery Act. I spent a lot of time here in Michigan and Detroit, working with you and Senator Stabenow, and thinking every single day about the folks on the factory line, busting their necks, just trying to put food on the table. A lot of folks were all ready to count Detroit out as well as the auto American industry to count it out. But I knew what Debbie knew. It is never a good bet to bet against the American worker. So when we promise to stand with the American auto industry, we delivered. We did not do it to help wealthy investors or pad bonus checks for CEOs, we did it to save an iconic American industry, a testament to the skills and ingenuity of American manufacturing. When Detroit declared bankruptcy, I was right here working alongside the city leaders to get the lights turned back on to revitalize the future of Detroit. Well, nearly 20,000 auto manufacturing jobs have been lost in Michigan under Trump. Nearly 80,000 were created during the Obama Biden administration. I have got long history. I am not just talking about what I am going to do, but delivering results for Michiganders. And now, we need to do it again. We need to do the hard work, not only to recover, but to build the economy back for the future once more. That is why my build back better agenda, that is what it is all about. Back in July, I made the first plank in my agenda a plan to modernize American manufacturing and technology to ensure that the future is made in America, by all of you. And today, I am announcing some additional steps to make this plank even stronger. First, we are going to impose a tax penalty on companies that avoid paying US taxes by off shoring jobs and manufacturing, only to sell those goods back to the American consumer.


If your big corporate strategy is to boost your shareholders profits, your CEOs' bonuses by moving jobs out, well, we are going to make sure you not only pay full US taxes on those profits, but we are going to guarantee. We are going to add a 10% off shoring penalty surge tax to your bill. No more deductions for writing off expenses for the cost of sending jobs overseas, which is a big deal that could be done here at home by qualified American workers. I am not looking to punish American business, but there is a better way. That is what this is about. You are the best craftsmen and women in the world. If you are ready to make it in America, then just like there are consequences for off showing, there will be rewards and incentives for creating good paying jobs here at home. Today, I am announcing my new Made in America tax credit, a 10% advanceable tax credit for companies that invest in the United States and American workers, to help accelerate the recovery under our build back better agenda. So if your company revitalizes a closing facility here in the United States, like the transmission plant that got closed last year, we will take care of 10% of the investment that company makes to reopen it. If you retool a manufacturing facility to make it more competitive, for example, by shifting to help build a new fleet of clean American vehicles made by UAW members, we will make sure that is more than affordable for you. We are going to make sure you will get a tax credit. If you reshore jobs that have previously been sent overseas, expand your operations in the United States or increase wages for manufacturing jobs will make an even smarter strategic decision for your company because we will make sure you get a tax credit. These two steps on top of my plans to close each and every one of the Trump loopholes that he created in 2017 with his tax cut to reward companies with big tax breaks for off shoring. If you are going to want to build things here in the United States, because under our administration, the Biden Harris Administration, is going to deliver on the promise to buy American. It is been a law for almost a century, but we have never lived up to it. Today, the US government spends about $600 billion of taxpayer's money on federal contracts annually. And that money should go to support American jobs and American businesses. But President Trump has only ever treated it like it was a weak suggestion.


Agencies of the federal government can waive the requirements, explanations that Trump does not bother even kick back on. We are going to change that when I am president. In my first week, I will sign a series of executive actions to make sure we enforce by America and direct the full purchasing power of the federal government to fulfill his promise, starting by closing those waiver loopholes immediately. And I promise you, I will use the full power of the Defense Production Act to enforce buy American and tighten the rules for public infrastructure projects, roads, bridges, canals, airports. And I am going to crack down on companies that label products as made in America, even if they are coming from China or elsewhere. We found out that on Trump's watch a company selling deployment bags to active duty troops being deployed falsely claimed this product was made in America. When in fact, it was really made mostly in China. Trump did not do anything to respond. I am not going to let that happen on my watch. We are going to have an office at the White House dedicated to making sure everyone is playing by the same made in America rules. And one more thing, when I say we are going to use the purchasing power of the federal government to reinvigorate domestic manufacturing, I mean. We are going to do that with the American automobile industry as well. United States government owns and maintains an enormous fleet of vehicles. We are going to convert those government vehicles into electric vehicles, made in America, sourced right here in the United States of America. With the government providing the demand and support to retool factories that are suggesting they are struggling to compete, the United States automobile industry will set up expanding the capacity in the United States, not China, to lead the world in clean energy vehicles. I cannot wait to get, I said, behind that all electric Corvette that goes 210 miles an hour. I mean it. Last year, that converted Corvette set a speed record of 210.2 miles per hour, electric vehicle. So do not tell me we do not still make the best cars right here in the United States of America, and trucks. We are going to make it easy for American consumers to switch to electric vehicles. We are going to build on all the new infrastructure we are going to build on highways. We are going to build a network of 500,000 charging stations across America, providing prevailing wage jobs for the IBW and other craftsmen all across the country.


And together, this will mean, listen to me now, 1 million new jobs in the American automobile industry, 1 million. With supply chain, as well as the associated infrastructure, we can do this. We can do this. We can revitalize our industrial base as the heart of the American middle class. Think about the worker in Warren who when the transmission plant closed, he told a reporter and I am quoting him, Getting a good GM job 23 years ago for me was like winning the lottery, he said. I was trying to start a family. I was able to buy a house. I went to Disney world, all that. A job that felt like winning a lottery because it opened the door to a life that you wanted for yourself, because it gave you dignity, allowed you to provide for your family. It should be an absolute expectation for everyone. I do not accept the defeatist view that the forces of automation and globalization mean we cannot keep good paying union jobs here in America and create more of them. I do not buy for one second that the vitality of American manufacturing is a thing of the past. We have the most qualified workers in the world. American manufacturing, is the old expression you heard your grandpop say or your grandmother, was the arsenal of democracy in World War II. It is going to be part of the engine of American prosperity now in 2021, and we are going to make it happen with American grit, American determination, and American union workers. That is my promise to you. And keep in mind, back in the 30s, they set up the law relating to unions. It said that not you could have a union, it said the government should encourage unions to increase . You are going to have the best, most friendly union president in history of the United States of America, when I am in the White House. I want to thank you all, for all you do. I want to thank you all. I carry with me I do not have it. I gave it to my staff. I carry with me in my pocket Do I have that around, anyone? I gave it away. Anyway, I carry a schedule in my pocket that lists every single day the number of troops lost in Afghanistan and Iraq. The back of the schedule is always a black box. You cannot really see it. It says daily US updates.


I want to thank all the outstanding leaders that we have got here today. I want to introduce some of them. We have got Secretary of Labor Tom Perez here. We have got Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan here. Senator Gary Peters is in the house. Now, I have to say, I love the Secret Service, I love the Beasts that they put me in and-that is what we call the cars I drive in, the Beasts. So I like my ride these days. And it was made in Michigan too. But I just had a chance to look at these new Mustangs, and I have got to say that the Mustangs had a little more style, a little more flavor. Bill Ford is in the house. Surprisingly enough, we talked a little bit about Sunday. You beat us twice. But all I can say-because I am used to saying this, I am a Bears fan-there is always next year. And look, you have got a lot to be hopeful for. First of all, you have got one of the best defenses in the league. And if there is one thing that you can take to the bank when talking about Detroit is that Detroit always comes back. One of my New Year's resolutions is to make sure that more Americans in Wayne, more Americans in Michigan, more Americans all across this great country-that everybody feels like they are coming back. And there is no doubt, thanks to the steps that we took early on to rescue our economy and to rebuild it on a new foundation, we are entering into the new year with new confidence that America is coming back. Now, you do not have to take my word for it. And let us face it, a lot of times the media does not like reporting on good news, but every once in a while, it is important for us to hear some good news, not to make us complacent, but to give us confidence that if we work harder, we can make even more good news. Last year, 2014, was the strongest year for job growth since the 1990s. We have now had a 57-month streak of private sector job creation. We have created nearly 11 million new jobs. That is the longest stretch in our history of private sector, uninterrupted job creation. Here is another way of thinking about it. Since 2010, we, America, have put more people back to work than Europe, Japan, and every other advanced economy combined. American manufacturing.

Remarks at the Ford Motor Company Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan


After a decade of decline, American manufacturing is in its best stretch of job growth since the 1990s. Here in Michigan, manufacturers have created more than a hundred thousand jobs, helping to cut your unemployment rate in half. So we are making more stuff. We are selling it around the world. America is the number-one producer of oil, the number-one producer of gas. It is helping to save drivers about a buck-10 a gallon at the pump over this time last year. And the cars that you make help everybody go a little further on that gallon of gas. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act-also known as Obamacare-about 10 million Americans gained health insurance just over this last year. We have cut our deficits by about two-thirds. I'd like people to think about that, because when they do surveys of, like, ordinary folks on the street and they ask them, are the deficits going up or are they coming down, everybody automatically assumes, well, Government spending and deficits must be going up. Deficits have come down by two-thirds since I took office-by two-thirds. And after 13 long years, our war in Afghanistan has come to a responsible end, which means more of our brave troops have come home and spent time with their families during the holidays. These 6 years have been tough, demanded hard work, demanded sacrifice on everybody's part. You guys know that more than most. Which means that as a country, we have every right to be proud of what we have got to show for all that hard work. Do not let anybody tell you otherwise. We have got the best cards, and we are doing better than just about anybody else on Earth. And now that we have got some calmer waters, now that the worst of the crisis is behind us, if we all do our part, if we all pitch in, then we can make sure that this rising tide is actually lifting all the boats, not just some. We can make sure that the middle class is the engine that powers American prosperity for decades to come. building on the progress that we have already made. But I have got to admit, I have only got 2 years left in office; I did not want to wait for the State of the Union to talk about all the things that make this country great and how we can make it better. It is like opening your Christmas presents a little early.


So today I am here in Detroit, going to talk about the incredible things that have happened in the auto industry and what more we can do with manufacturing. Tomorrow I am going to visit Arizona, a State that is -was hit about as hard as anybody by the housing crisis, because we want to talk about how we are making homeownership a reality for more middle class families. On Friday, I am going to go to Tennessee, a State that is making big strides in education, to show how we can help every American get the education they need to get ahead in this new economy. But today I wanted to come here to Michigan because this State proves no matter how tough times get, Americans are tougher. So-and plus, I wanted to see the new Mustang. Now, just-let us just take a minute and think about what you have had to fight through. A few years ago, nearly one in five autoworkers got a punch in the gut with a pink slip. The year before I took office, 400,000 jobs vanished in this industry-400,000. And then, as the financial crisis built, we faced what once seemed unimaginable when just two of the Big Three-GM and Chrysler-were on the brink of failure. Now, this is the heartbeat of American manufacturing right here. And we had a choice to make. We could have kept giving billions of taxpayer dollars to the auto industry without asking for accountability or change in return. But that would have just kicked the problem down the road. We could have done nothing, which some people said we should do, and let those companies fail. But think about what that would have meant for this country. The suppliers, the distributors, the communities that depend on the workers who patronize the restaurants and shop at the stores-all those companies would have gone under also. And look, the fact is, nobody was in a stronger position than Ford. Bill and the team had done a great job steering Ford through tough times, but Bill and others are the first to admit that you could have had a cascading effect if the whole supply chain in the U.S. auto industry starts declining. We would have lost this iconic industry, sold for scraps. And folks like you-the men and women who built these companies with your hands-would have been left hanging out to dry.


And the communities you depended on-the schoolteachers, the small-business owners, the servers in the diner, and, let us face it, the barkeep--I am just saying. Are you a barkeep, or you are just waving at me? Their jobs were at stake too. And it is more than that. The jobs in the auto industry have always been about more than a paycheck. They are a source of pride for generations. It was representative of what it meant to get into the middle class. You work hard in this job, you could afford to raise a family, buy a house, go on vacation, retire with some dignity. You knew you were making something that people could count on. It meant something. Every car you sent off the line brought you that step closer to doing the right thing by your family and giving something to your kids and having a sense of security in your life. So plants like this one built more than just cars, they built the middle class in this country. So in exchange for the help, we demanded responsibility. We said to the auto industry, you have got to change with the times. Labor and management worked together, settled their differences. Everybody put some skin in the game. Everybody made some sacrifices. It was not just some, it was not just the workers who gave something up-everybody. when workers and businesses work together; when whoever is in the boardroom and folks on the floor, they both understand they are in it together. And we believe America is best when everybody is in it together. And we rejected the false choice that either unions or businesses could succeed but not both. You know what, what is going to work for the company is also going to work for that worker and vice versa, which means when the company is doing better, then the workers have got to get their share as well. And Ford rejected the false choice that they could either take care of their shareholder or take care of their worker. They did both. We believed in shared sacrifice and that shared sacrifice leads to shared prosperity. Now, I have got to tell you, I was talking to the Detroit News. What was it like when you were making this decision? Even in Michigan, it was not popular. I remember they did a poll and, like, in Michigan, it was like only 10 percent were in favor. And look-and it was not on my to-do list when I ran for President.


I was not expecting to have to do this. But I ran not to be just doing the popular things, I ran not just to do the easy things, I ran to do the right thing. And that bet has paid off for America, because the American auto industry is back. Now, part of the reason that we wanted to start this trip here is not just because I wanted to see the new Mustang--not just because the American auto industry is back, but because last month, we actually marked a milestone. Last month, the rescue of the auto industry officially came to an end. The auto companies have now repaid taxpayers every dime and more of what my administration invested in you. You paid the taxpayers back with your hard work, with your dedication. And over the past 5 years, this industry created about 500,000 new jobs. Last year, American autoworkers churned out cars faster than any year since 2005. Ford has brought jobs back from Mexico, created nearly 24,000 new jobs across this country, including 1,800 new jobs right here in this plant. one production line for gas, electric, hybrid, plug-in vehicles. That is the first in the world, right here in Wayne, Michigan. That is always cool when you do something first. And you are helping rebuild the middle class for the 21st century. Just down the road, in Lincoln Park, UAW-Ford Joint Apprenticeship Program is providing workers with hands-on training in the skills that employers need for the jobs of tomorrow. And nationally, by the way, 87 percent of all apprentices are employed after they complete their apprenticeship program, with an average starting wage of $50,000. So the more folks we get into apprenticeships, the more folks are getting middle class jobs. And that is why I called on last year for businesses across the country to create more and expand more apprenticeship programs. And since then, we have seen the largest increase in apprenticeships in nearly a decade. And now my administration is investing a hundred million dollars in an American Apprenticeship Grant competition. We are going to build on this momentum. We are going to expand successful programs. We want young people to see that they have opportunities. They do not all have to go to a 4-year college. They can get an apprenticeship, save some money, start working, build a family, buy a home, get some Lions tickets.


And some of the most high-tech, fuel-efficient, high-powered, heart-pounding, good-looking, well-designed, fuel-efficient cars in the world are once again designed, engineered, forged, and built not in Europe, not in Asia, right here in the United States of America. So because of you-because of you-manufacturing has a future in this country. Manufacturing's actually grown faster than other parts of the economy. You know what, we have got to get back to America; we have got to relocate. And that means, because of you, the middle class has a future in this country. And by the way, so has Motor City. A year and a half ago, Detroit became the largest city ever to file for bankruptcy. Today, under the leadership of Mayor Duggan, Detroit is charting a new course. Businesses and private investors are making big investments, including Ford, which is helping to launch a tech startup incubator downtown. Residents are fighting blight, securing abandoned homes, cleaning up neglected neighborhoods. We are seeing stories of young people who left town for other opportunities, did not think they could make it here, and suddenly, they are saying, You know what, maybe I want to get back to Detroit, hoping to be part of the rebirth of this city. Now, this city still faces big challenges, but you are coming back. Just like the auto industry is going to have to continue to come up with new ideas and new designs and address competition. Just like the Lions got to still come up with a little more work. We may not all root for the Lions, but America is rooting for Detroit. America is rooting for Detroit. And behind the stories of plants and cities and economic data, it is people. It is all of you. So I will just close with a story of a guy named Ramone, because we are rooting for guys like Ramone. Ramone spent 8 years in the military, served in Afghanistan, served in Iraq. So Ramone is somebody who fought for our freedom, fought for our security. But sometimes, we give lip service to supporting our troops, and then when they come home, they get lost. So when Ramone came home, he had a hard time finding a job because it was a tough economy. He did not want to be a burden on his family, so he moved into a homeless shelter, took whatever work he could get.


Prime Minister Gandhi, Nancy and I are delighted to welcome you to the White House. And let me add a personal note. It is good to see you here again as leader of the great Indian democracy, which provides a unique opportunity for us to broaden and deepen the dialog we began last autumn in Mexico. Through our talks, we can help to reach a renewed recognition of the mutual importance of strong, constructive ties between India and the United States. In searching for words to describe the focus of your visit to Washington this week, I came upon a statement that you had made in Delhi when Roy Jenkins visited in 1980. And at that time, you said, The great need in the world today is to so define national interest that it makes for greater harmony, greater equality and justice, and greater stability in the world. Well, that is more than an eloquent description of enlightened national interest. It can also serve to describe the foundation of the relationship between the United States and India, a relationship we seek to reaffirm this week. A strengthening of that relationship, based on better understanding, is particularly important at this time. Your father once said that the basic fact of today is the tremendous pace of change in human life. The conflicts and the tensions of the 1980's pose new challenges to our countries and to all nations which seek, as India and the United States do, freedom in a more stable, secure, and prosperous world. As leaders of the world's two largest democracies, sharing common ideals and values, we can learn much from one another in discussing concerns and exploring national purposes. From this understanding can come greater confidence in one another's roles on the world's stage and a rediscovery of how important we are to one another. Prime Minister Gandhi, we recognize that there have been differences between our two countries, but these should not obscure all that we have in common, for we are both strong, proud, and independent nations guided by our own perceptions of our national interests. We both desire the peace and stability of the Indian Ocean area and the early end of the occupation of Afghanistan. We both seek an equitable peace in the Middle East and an honorable settlement of the Iran-Iraq conflict. We both seek a constructive approach to international economic cooperation, building on the strong links even today being forged between the economies of the United States and India.

Remarks at the Welcoming Ceremony for Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India


A particularly warm welcome to the Members of Congress, both House and Senate, that are with us today. I have just come from a working session in the White House, working with some of the great experts on school choice. The parents, I think, made the most significant contribution to our working session because their dreams for their kids are the same dreams that all of us have. They want their kids to have a first-class education. They know from practical experience that a good education is absolutely essential to making a good living and to making a good life. So let me just share a little from that meeting. Janette Williams told me about her son, Javon. The Williamses are here with us somewhere here today whoops, here she is over here. Her kid starred on 60 Minutes, and that says something about the guy, if you go on that program and come off in one piece. But here is what she said, and this is serious. She said, At his old school that was crowded, he used to get so bored that he would walk out. And thanks to the choice program in Milwaukee, he is at a new school. He is not doing those things anymore. He is doing his homework; he is even helping clean up the classroom after school. They took the energy and turned it around. Now, the Governor here, Tommy Thompson, the Governor of Wisconsin, is here with us today. I am sorry that Polly Williams, who is been at the forefront of the school choice movement, could not be here, but she is at home looking after her mother. I would salute her values. But we miss her very, very much. Together, Polly and Tommy Thompson, the Governor, have taken the lead in helping parents like Janette Williams realize her dreams for her son Javon, creating scholarships for 1,000 Milwaukee children from low-income families so that they can attend private schools. Now, theirs is a bold experiment, to give low-income families more of the same choices of schools already available to wealthier families. Mike Joyce of the Bradley Foundation was also in our meeting. And Bradley recently joined with other foundations and Milwaukee businesses to raise $3 million so that Milwaukee's low-income families will be able to choose their family's schools, including the religious schools. Mike told us this morning that parents picked up every one of the 4,500 scholarship applications the day after the scholarships were announced, 4,500, that fast.

Remarks Announcing Proposed Legislation To Establish a GI Bill for Children


And do not let anybody tell you that the people of Milwaukee do not care about their kids' education. No one should underestimate what is at stake here. A revolution is underway in Milwaukee and across this country, a revolution to make American schools the best in the world. I salute our Secretary of Education who is helping lead that revolution, Lamar Alexander. Together with the Nation's Governors, we have set six ambitious national education goals. And I might say that this was not a partisan move; Democrats and Republicans alike of the Governors coming together to set six ambitious national education goals. In 44 States and 1,400 communities, we have already launched America 2000 to meet these goals. Even earlier still, in January 1989, just before I was sworn in as ENTITY, we helped organize the White House Conference on Choice in Education. We believed then and we believe today a few fundamental truths. Parents, not bureaucrats, know what is best for their kids. At this point I would like to salute one of the two in purple, Barbara Bush for her pointing this out to parents, that it is what they do, what happens in their home. Barbara's done a lot of that here and around the country. I might say that Marilyn Quayle's taking that same message of parental involvement all across our country, and we are very grateful to her. So, it is our belief then that parents, not the Government, should choose their children's schools. So today I am proposing that we take another giant step forward in this revolution. I am sending to Congress legislation that would authorize an ambitious demonstration program, half a billion new Federal dollars to help communities all across America give $1,000 scholarships to children of middle- and low-income families so they can choose which schools their kids will attend. This revolution is in the greatest American tradition. We have done it before, and it is worked. Forty-eight years ago this very week, President Roosevelt signed the GI bill, creating scholarships that veterans could use at any college, any college of their choice. The GI bill created opportunity for Americans who never would have had it, and in doing so it helped create the best system of colleges and universities in the world. Now we can do that again, this time by helping State and local governments and we are delighted the Mayor of Milwaukee is with us here today this time by helping State and local governments create the best elementary and secondary schools in the world. The GI bill for children will help.


It will provide that help to these families. These dollars to spend at the schools of their choice will become the muscle that parents need to create the best schools for their kids. Let me say to those who will attack our school choice initiative on the ground that it permits Government money to go to religious schools, you are wrong. This is aid to the families, not aid to institutions. And again, if you set the clock back to the creation of that original GI bill, no one told the GI's that they could not go to S.M.U. or Notre Dame or Yeshiva or Howard. I have not heard Members of Congress suggest that students stop using Pell grants and guaranteed student loans at Baptist colleges or Presbyterian seminaries. I do not hear an outcry because poor children at Catholic schools get their lunch paid for by Federal taxpayers. In the same way, parents must be free to use this money at the school they believe will best teach their child, whether the school is public, private, or religious. Accepting students with vouchers does not mean a school must sacrifice school prayer. I simply do not buy the idea that someone cannot make a good decision just because that person is poor. We heard the same argument when we proposed child care vouchers for low-income families or when we proposed help for public housing tenants to own their own homes. So it is my belief that we ought to let families own their own home and choose their own schools regardless of their income level and give them help. Give them a shot at the American dream, if you will. All of this new money can go to public schools if that is where the child chooses to go, where the family chooses to have the kid go. That decision will be in the hands of families, where it belongs. First, I want to make it clear that we are not talking here about a new Federal entitlement program. The Federal Government cannot afford one more entitlement, even for education. The United States already spends more per student for schools than any country in the world except Switzerland. I do not have to tell you where we stand in the international rankings of educational performance at the level we are talking about here today. Our universities and colleges are respected and have achieved the highest levels of achievement. But that, unfortunately, is not true as we talk about K through 12. So we need a revolution in American education, not more money to do it the same old way.


Investment in our schools will remain a primarily State and local responsibility. But Federal support for State and local scholarships can be a catalyst. For schools that attract choice students, it will give teachers and principals a welcome source of new funds. For our children, choice can help open up opportunities, create genuine change in our schools. For too long, we have shielded schools from competition, allowed our schools a damaging monopoly power over our children. This monopoly turns students into statistics and turns parents into pawns. It is time we began thinking of a system of public education in which many providers offer a marketplace of opportunities, opportunities that give all of our children choices and access to the best education in the world. And so it is our firm belief, it is our firm belief that this GI bill for children will move America inevitably in that direction. Milwaukee is not the only place in America that our revolution is underway. Last year in Indianapolis, Pat Rooney and the Educational CHOICE Charitable Trust began to offer tuition vouchers to Indianapolis students. I understand a bus-load of parents and students drove all night to be here today. If you are still awake, welcome, a special welcome to all of you. In San Antonio, the CEO Foundation has earmarked $1.5 million in vouchers for children in their community. Joe Alibrandi and thousands of supporters are pushing for a ballot initiative to provide voucher scholarships for every school-age child in the State. Overall in 1991, 10 States approved some form of new choice legislation, and 37 States had choice legislation pending in one form or another. I have been told that there may just be a few folks here from Pennsylvania. The children of Pennsylvania will have school choice. From California to East Harlem, from coast to coast, the leaders of the school choice movement are sparking a revolution in American education. They are the true heroes of this education reform, and some of them are here with us today. They are not afraid to stand up to the status quo, to say loud and clear that when it comes to educating our kids, business-as-usual simply is not good enough. Barbara and I and the Vice President and Marilyn, and certainly our Secretary, are very proud to stand with you. It will succeed because it draws its strength from the very heart of the American creed. We have no truth more enduring than the idea that every American should have the opportunity for a first-class education. We have no principles more important than freedom, opportunity, and choice.


Today I am able to talk to you in a more hopeful and positive vein about how we are moving this Nation and the world toward a lasting peace. We have brought ourselves to a time of transition, from war toward peace, and this is a good time to gain some perspective on where we are and where we are headed. Today I am sending to the Congress my second annual comprehensive report on the conduct of our foreign affairs. It discusses not only what we have done but why we have done it, and how we intend to proceed in the future. I do not intend to summarize all that is in my detailed report on foreign policy at this time. How we are getting out of the war this Nation has been in for the past 6 years; How we have created a new and different foreign policy approach for the United States in a greatly changed world; and How we are applying that approach in working with others to build a lasting peace. The most immediate and anguishing problem that faced this Administration 2 years ago was the war in Vietnam. Two years ago, when this Administration took office, there were almost 550,000 Americans in Vietnam. Within 60 days we will have brought home 260,000 men, and this spring I will announce a new schedule of withdrawals. Two years ago, the additional demands of the Vietnam war cost us approximately $22 billion per year. That cost has been cut in half. Much of the progress in Vietnam was due to the success of the allied operations against the enemy sanctuaries in Cambodia last spring. American casualties after Cambodia have been half the rate they were before Cambodia. Our decision to clean out the sanctuaries in Cambodia saved thousands of American lives. And it enabled us to continue withdrawing our men on schedule. Just as last year's cutoff of supplies through Cambodia has saved lives and insured our withdrawal program this year, the purpose of this year's disruption of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos is to save lives and insure the success of our withdrawal program next year. The disruption of the Communist supply line through Laos is being accomplished by South Vietnamese troops, with no U.S. ground troops or advisers. Their army is doing the fighting, with our air support, and the intensity of the fighting is evidence of the importance of that supply line to the enemy. We have kept our commitments as we have taken out our troops. South Vietnam now has an excellent opportunity not only to survive but to build a strong, free society.

Radio Address About Second Annual Foreign Policy Report to the Congress.


Thanks to the disruption of so much of the enemy's supplies, Americans are leaving South Vietnam in safety; we would much prefer to leave South Vietnam in peace. Negotiation remains the best and quickest way to end the war in a way that will not only end U.S. involvement and casualties but will mean an end to the fighting between North and South Vietnamese. On October 7, we made a proposal that could open the door to that kind of peace. an immediate standstill cease-fire throughout Indochina to stop the fighting, an Indochina peace conference, the withdrawal of all outside forces, a political settlement fair to both sides, the immediate release of all prisoners of war. I reaffirm that proposal today. It is supported by every government in Indochina except one the Government of North Vietnam. I once again urge Hanoi to join us in this search for peace. If North Vietnam wishes to negotiate with the United States, they will have to recognize that time is running out. With the exception of the prisoners-of-war issue, if North Vietnam continues to refuse to discuss our peace proposals, they will soon find they have no choice but to negotiate only with the South Vietnamese. Our eventual goal is a total withdrawal of all outside forces. But as long as North Vietnam continues to hold a single American prisoner, we shall have forces in South Vietnam. The American prisoners of war will not be forgotten by their Government. I am keeping my pledge to end America's involvement in this war. But the main point I want to discuss with you today and the main theme of my report to the Congress is the future, not the past. It matters very much how we end this war. But to end a war in a way that will not bring on another war is far from simple. In Southeast Asia today, aggression is failing thanks to the determination of the South Vietnamese people and to the courage and sacrifice of America's fighting men. aggression trained back, a war ending. What America does or fails to do will determine whether peace and freedom can be won in the coming generation. That is why the way in which we end this conflict is so crucial to our efforts to build a lasting peace in coming decades. The right way out of Vietnam is crucial to our changing role in the world and to peace in the world. To understand the nature of the new American role we must consider the great historical changes that have taken place.


For 25 years after World War II, the United States was not only the leader of the non-Communist world, it was the primary supporter and defender of this free world as well. But today our allies and friends have gained new strength and self-confidence. They are now able to participate much more fully not only in their own defense but in adding their moral and spiritual strength to the creation of a stable world order. Today our adversaries no longer present a solidly united front; we can now differentiate in our dealings with them. Today neither the United States nor the Soviet Union has a clear-cut nuclear advantage; the time is therefore ripe to come to an agreement on the control of arms. Our foreign policy must change with it. We have learned in recent years the dangers of over-involvement. That deceptively smooth road of the new isolationism is surely the road to war. Our foreign policy today steers a steady course between the past danger of over involvement and the new temptation of under-involvement. 1 We will maintain our commitments, but we will make sure our own troop levels or any financial support to other nations is appropriate to current threats and needs. We shall provide a shield if a nuclear power threatens the freedom of a nation allied with us or of a nation whose survival we consider vital to our security. But we will look to threatened countries and their neighbors to assume primary responsibility for their own defense, and we will provide support where our interests call for that support and where it can make a difference. These principles are not limited to security matters. We shall pursue economic policies at home and abroad that encourage trade wherever possible and that strengthen political ties between nations. As we actively seek to help other nations expand their economies, we can legitimately expect them to work with us in averting economic problems of our own. As we continue to send economic aid to developing nations, we will expect countries on the receiving end to mobilize their resources; we will look to other developed nations to do more in furnishing assistance; and we will channel our aid increasingly through groups of nations banded together for mutual support. This new sharing of responsibility requires not less American leadership than in the past, but rather a new, more subtle, form of leadership. No single nation can build a peace alone; peace can only be built by the willing hands and minds-of all.


In the modern world, leadership cannot be do-it-yourself the path of leadership is in providing the help, the motive, the inspiration to do it together. In carrying out what is referred to as the Nixon Doctrine, we recognize that we cannot transfer burdens too swiftly. We must strike a balance between doing too much and preventing self-reliance, and suddenly doing too little and undermining self-confidence. We intend to give our friends the time and the means to adjust, materially and psychologically, to a new form of American participation in the world. How have we applied our new foreign policy during the past year? And what is our future agenda as we work with others to build a stable world order? In Western Europe, we have shifted from predominance to partnership with our allies. Our ties with Western Europe are central to the structure of peace because its nations are rich in tradition and experience, strong economically, vigorous in diplomacy and culture; they are in a position to take a major part in building a world of peace. Our ties were strengthened on my second trip to Europe this summer and reflected in our close consultation on arms control negotiations. At our suggestion, the NATO alliance made a thorough review of its military strategy and posture. As a result, we have reached new agreement on a strong defense and the need to share the burden more fairly. In Eastern Europe, our exchange of state visits with Romania and my meeting last fall with Marshal Tito in Yugoslavia are examples of our search for wider reconciliation with the nations that used to be considered behind an Iron Curtain. We shall cooperate in our political and economic relations across the Atlantic as the Common Market grows. We and our allies will make the improvements necessary to carry out our common defense strategy. Together we stand ready to reduce forces in Western Europe in exchange for mutual reductions in Eastern Europe. The problems of Africa are great, but so is her potential. The United States will support her peoples' efforts to build a continent that provides social justice and economic expansion. Recently, we have paid new respect to their proud traditions. Our trade, credit, and economic policies have been reexamined and reformed to respond to their concerns and their ideas, as well as to our own interests. Our new Latin American policy is designed to help them help themselves; our new attitude will not only aid their progress but add to their dignity. Great changes are brewing throughout the American hemisphere.


We can have no greater goal than to help provide the means for necessary change to be accomplished in peace and for all change to be in the direction of greater self-reliance. a new Asia is emerging. The old enmities of World War II are dead or dying. Asian states are stronger and are joining together in vigorous regional groupings. Here the doctrine that took shape last year is taking hold today, helping to spur self-reliance and cooperation between states. In Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and the Philippines, we have consolidated bases and reduced American forces. We have relaxed trade and travel restrictions to underline our readiness for greater contact with Communist China. While continuing to help our friends help themselves, we must begin to consider how regional associations can work together with the major powers in the area for a durable peace. We will work to build a strong partnership with Japan that will accommodate our mutual interests. We will search for consecutive discussions with Communist China while maintaining our defense commitment to Taiwan. When the Government of the People's Republic of China is ready to engage in talks, it will find us receptive to agreements that further the legitimate national interests of China and its neighbors. In Asia, we can see tomorrow's world in microcosm. An economically powerful democratic free nation, Japan, is seeking new markets; a potentially powerful Communist nation, China, will one day seek new outlets and new relations; a Communist competitor, the Soviet Union, has interests there as well; and the independent non-Communist nations of Southeast Asia are already working together in regional association . These great forces are bound to interact in the not too distant future. In the way they work together and in the way we cooperate with their relationship is the key to permanent peace in that area the Far East, the scene of such a painful legacy of the recent past, can become an example of peace and stability in the future. In the Middle East, the United States took the initiative to stop the fighting and start the process of peace. Diplomacy was at an impasse. The danger of local conflict was magnified by growing Soviet involvement and the possibility of great powers being drawn into confrontation. America took the lead in arranging a cease-fire and getting negotiations started. We are seeing to it that the balance of power, so necessary to discourage a new outbreak of fighting, is not upset. Working behind the scenes, when a crisis arose in Jordan, the United States played a key role in seeing that order was restored and an invasion was abandoned.


We recognize that centuries of suspicion and decades of hostility cannot be ended overnight. There are great obstacles in the way of a permanent, peaceful settlement, and painful compromise is required by all concerned. We are encouraged by the willingness of each of the parties to begin to look to the larger interest of peace and stability throughout the Middle East. There is still the risk of war, but now for the first time in years the parties are actively calculating the risks of peace. The policy of the United States will continue to be to promote peace talks-not to try to impose a peace from the outside, but to support the peace efforts of the parties in the region themselves. One way to support these efforts is for the United States to discourage any outside power from trying to exploit the situation for its own advantage. The United States is fully prepared to play a responsible and cooperative role in keeping the peace arrived at through negotiation between the parties. We know what our vital interests are in the Middle East. Those interests include friendly and constructive relations with all nations in the area. Other nations know that we are ready to protect those vital interests. And one good reason why other nations take us at our word in the Middle East is because the United States has kept its word in Southeast Asia. the relations between the world's two great super powers. Over the past e years, in some fields the Soviet Union and the United States have moved ahead together. We have taken the first step toward cooperation in outer space. We have both ratified the treaty limiting the spread of nuclear weapons. Just 2 weeks ago, we signed a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons from the seabeds. These are hopeful signs, but certain other Soviet actions are reason for concern. We must also discourage the temptation to raise new challenges in sensitive areas such as the Caribbean. In the long run, the most significant result of negotiations between the super powers in the past year could be in the field of arms control. The strategic arms limitation talks with the Soviet Union have produced the most searching examination of the nature of strategic competition ever conducted between our two nations. Each side has had the chance to explain at length the concerns caused by the posture of the other side. The talks have been conducted in a serious way without the old lapses into propaganda. If both sides continue in this way, there is reason to hope that specific agreements will be reached to curb the arms race.


Taking a first step in limiting the capacity of mankind to destroy itself would mark a turning point in the history of the postwar world; it would add to the security of both the Soviet Union and the United States, and it would add to the world's peace of mind. In all our relations with the Soviets, we shall make the most progress by recognizing that in many cases our national interests are not the same. It serves no purpose to pretend they are; our differences are not matters of mood, they are matters of substance. But in many other cases, our separate national interests can best be pursued by a sober consideration of the world interest. We will not reduce our defenses below the level I consider essential to our national security. A strong America is essential to the cause of peace today. Until we have the kind of agreements we can rely on, we shall remain strong. But America's power will always be used for building a peace, never for breaking it only for defending freedom, never for destroying it. America's strength will be, as it must be, second to none; but the strength that this Nation is proudest of is the strength of our determination to create a peaceful world. We all know how every town or city develops a sense of community when its citizens come together to meet a common need. The common needs of the world today, about which there can be no disagreement or conflict of national interest, are plain to see. We know that we must act as one world in restoring the world's environment, before pollution of the seas and skies overwhelms every nation. We know we must stop the flow of narcotics; we must counter the outbreaks of hijacking and kidnaping; we must share the great discoveries about the oceans and outer space. The United States is justly proud of the lead it has taken in working within the United Nations, and within the NATO alliance, to come to grips with these problems and with these opportunities. Our work here is a beginning, not only in coping with the new challenges of technology and modern life but of developing a worldwide sense of community that will ease tension, reduce suspicion, and thereby promote the process of peace. That process can only flourish in a climate of mutual respect. We can have that mutual respect with our friends, without dominating them or without letting them down. We can have that mutual respect with our adversaries, without compromising our principles or weakening our resolve.


President, it is an honor and a pleasure to welcome you on your first official visit to the United States. You and all the people of Mali are good friends of the United States. In addition to deeply appreciating your support on international issues, we admire Mali as a country where people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds respect each other and live together in peace. You and your country have also courageously embarked on an economic reform program. As a result, Mali has been one of the major aid recipients in Africa, and we are pleased to have been able to assist you with this program. President, we are also pleased by your visit because you represent not only Mali but also the Organization of African Unity, of which you were recently elected chairman. And we ask you to accept our congratulations on your election to this important post. Earlier this year, the OAU celebrated its 25th anniversary. During its history, the OAU has played a vital role in resolving regional conflicts in Africa and has helped African countries to work together to solve problems and promote economic development. Under your leadership, Mr. President, I am confident the OAU will continue with these crucial activities. You have already demonstrated your interest in helping to promote regional settlements in southern Africa and the western Sahara. We hope the OAU can play an even more active role in solving those regional problems and play a key role in promoting development in Africa by encouraging economic reform and cooperation. Bolokoni kelen te bele ta-One finger cannot lift a rock. I think this proverb expresses perfectly the goal and the strength of the Organization of African Unity. And we wish you and the OAU great success in working together to achieve common goals during your time as chairman and throughout the OAU's next 25 years. President, we look forward to talking with you over the next few days, not only about bilateral concerns and African regional issues but about concerns we share in other parts of the world. For Africa, I believe-which represents nearly one-third of the member nations of the United Nations-truly has come of age as a participant in the international arena. Let me say again how pleased we are to welcome you to the United States. We wish you an enjoyable and profitable visit. Thank you, and God bless you. President, I should like on behalf of my delegation and my own name to express my very sincere thanks to you for the kind invitation extended to us to visit this great nation, the United States of America.

Remarks at the Welcoming Ceremony for President Moussa Traore of Mali


Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to make some fairly brief comments today about the situation in Kosovo and the humanitarian issue, and also about the good news today we received on the domestic economy. Let me make the economic remarks first, and then I will talk about Kosovo and refer to the folks from the administration who are here to my right. As I think all of you know by now, it was reported today that last month the unemployment rate in the United States dropped to 4.2 percent, the lowest in this long expansion and the lowest monthly unemployment rate the United States has enjoyed since 1970. This is also an expansion that is widening the circle of opportunity. We had, among other things in this last monthly report, the lowest Hispanic unemployment rate ever recorded. Now we know also that real wages went up last year at the highest rate in two decades. Now, these economic indicators are more than just economic indicators; they mean wider opportunity and a better chance for millions of Americans to have stronger families and give their children a better chance. It is a reminder of the gains we have made because we have done the right things economically for the long run. And now we must act to extend that prosperity. That means, among other things, we have to be very, very smart about how we deal with the question of the surplus. In the coming months, I will continue to insist that a substantial portion of the surplus-the majority-as I have outlined since the State of the Union, be set aside in a way that will save Social Security and Medicare and will enable us to pay down the debt, to keep interest rates low, to keep investment high, to keep this economy going. I hope that today this good news on unemployment will remind us of how we got here and not make us forget how we got here. Now, let me say a few words about Kosovo, and in particular, the humanitarian situation. Hattie Babbitt, the Deputy USAID Administrator; Julia Taft, the Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration; General John McDuffie, the Chairman's Director for Logistics of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Eric Schwartz, who is our Director for Multilateral and Humanitarian Affairs at the NSC. The humanitarian situation, as all of you know, remains grave in Kosovo. Since last year, nearly one in three people there have been pushed from their homes. I met this morning with representatives of humanitarian organizations that are leading relief efforts in the area. They are doing courageous work under difficult circumstances.

Remarks on the National Economy and Kosovar Refugees and an Exchange With Reporters