It is about expecting high standards, understanding every child can learn, demanding the best, insisting upon hard work, rewarding success, solving failure. It is a great school, and I am grateful that I could come and herald the signing of an important piece of legislation here at this school. This is not only a testimony to Senator Ted Kennedy's hard work; it is a testimony to a fine public school. I appreciate the Governor coming, and I know the Governor is committed to quality education as well. I am honored that members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation came. Mayor, thank you for coming; it is good to see you again. I want to thank all of you for coming. I particularly want to thank the students who are here. I-you are seeing Government at its best with this piece of legislation. I know there is a lot of folks who look at Washington and say, Cannot they ever get along? All they do is call each other names. But on this piece of legislation, on this important piece of legislation, we figured out how to put our parties aside and focus on what is right for the American children. We showed the country that, if we so desire, it is possible in Washington to say the Nation matters more than our political parties matter. It took a lot of hard work, and it took the leadership of four fine Americans who are on this stage with me today. These four people decided they would rather see results than have empty rhetoric dominate the scene. These people said, Look, we disagree on some issues, but why do not we figure out where we agree and get something done. And it was in that spirit that we crafted a great piece of legislation. Big George Miller is out of California. He is-he might be considered left in Massachusetts. What do you think, Congressman? That is saying something. Before I went to Washington, I had a group of the gentlemen come down to Austin to talk about education reform, and George and I had a discussion about making sure that the systems did not simply shuffle children through, that we wanted to call a halt to what some call social promotion. I knew right then and there, when I heard his passion about focusing on each child, that there was a potential ally when it came to writing good legislation. And then Boehner from Ohio showed up. He did a fabulous job, by the way.


I signed the bill this morning in his district to really express my gratitude and the Nation's gratitude for his leadership on shepherding this bill through the House of Representatives. Without John Boehner, without George Miller, this bill never would have made it throughout the House, and I want to thank them both from the bottom of my heart. And the truth of the matter is, the bill would not have gotten out of the Senate had not Senator Kennedy and Judd Gregg put their minds to it. It was a convenient time for people to say, Well, we'd better not move anything out of the Senate because there is a war. But Ted Kennedy and Judd Gregg went to their respective caucuses and demanded action. And as a result, the bill came to the Senate floor, passed overwhelmingly, and I had the honor of signing it this morning. I wish you could have seen the piece of legislation. And I admit, I have not read it yet. But I know the principles behind the bill, and I want to describe some of them to you. First, this bill says that we will hold people accountable for results. It says, in return for receiving Federal money, States must design accountability systems to measure-to determine whether or not children are learning to read and write and add and subtract. In return for Federal money, the State of Massachusetts or the State of Texas or any other State in the Union must develop an accountability system to let us know whether children in grades three through eight are meeting standards. Now, I have heard them say, Well, tests- we are testing too much. If you do not like to take a test, too bad, because we need to know. I read a quote from a little girl from New York the other day that touched my heart, and I hope it touches yours. She said, I do not remember taking exams. They just kept passing me along. I ended up dropping out in the seventh grade. Well, she was- she is blowing the whistle on what happens in some of our schools in America. You see, sometimes it is easy to walk into a classroom and say, Certain children cannot learn. Therefore, let us just move them through. Let us do not test them. Let us just push them out at the end. And that is wrong in America. And if they cannot , we need to correct their problems early, before it is too late. The cornerstone of reform is strong accountability measures, just like you do here in the State of Massachusetts.

Remarks at Boston Latin School in Boston, Massachusetts


Secondly, in order for reform to mean anything, there must be consequences. Now in this bill, it says schools will be given time to correct. After posting the test scores and mailing out the report cards that show mediocrity or failure, schools will still be given a chance to correct the problems. And therefore, we provide incentives and resources to make sure that failing schools have got the opportunity to meet standards. But if they do not , the consequence is that parents must be empowered to make different choices. We must not trap children in schools that will not teach and will not change. And so, therefore, this bill says parents in failed schools can send their children to another public school or charter school or be able to get tutoring for their children in either the public or private sector. It is important to free families from failure in public education, and that is what this bill does. The third principle-it says that we trust the local people to make the right decisions for the schools. It says we trust the Governors and the school boards to design the path to excellence for every child. It says Washington has a role of providing money, and now Washington is demanding results. But Washington should not micromanage the process. And so, this bill provides a lot more flexibility for the local folks. In essence, it says the people of Boston care more about the children of Boston than people in Washington, DC. Rod Paige understands that. The reason I picked Rod to become the Secretary of Education is because he was the superintendent of schools in the Houston Independent School District. He knows what it means to run a school district. And when we implement this bill, I can assure you, Rod is going to make sure that the spirit of no child is left behind is a part of the regulations. But this bill says there- one size does not fit all when it comes to public schools. It fosters change by pushing power to the lowest level, and that is at the local school districts, which should make the teachers in this audience feel good. First of all, I want to thank all the teachers who are here. Yours is a noble profession, and thank you for taking on this tough job. But a system that devolves power says we have got to trust the teachers and principals to make the right decisions in the classrooms. And that is what this bill says. This bill also wages a battle against illiteracy.


It recognizes that spending money is important, but you need to spend money effectively in order to make a difference. We have spent a lot of money in education- a lot. And a lot of it has not made a difference. Well, one area where we are going to make a difference from this point forward in America is in reading-teaching every child to read. The numbers for inner-city kids or impoverished-kids from impoverished families-their ability to read, or the illiteracy rate-let me put it to you that way-is astounding. It is not right for America that over 60 percent of the children in the fourth grade from impoverished families cannot read. If you cannot read in the fourth grade, you are not going to read in the eighth grade. And if you cannot read in the eighth, you are not going to read in high school. And if you cannot read, you have got a tough life ahead of you. And we need to do something about it, America, and this bill does. It triples the amount of money for early reading programs, programs based upon the science of reading, not something that sounds good or feels good but something that works. There is money that says we are going to stay focused until we teach every child to read by the third grade in America. So those are the principles of a good bill. The bill is not only good for education, but it is a good go-by to show what can happen in Washington. And that is why the five of us-or the six of us, including Rod Paige-have been traveling around the Nation today, heralding the success-the joint success- the success of people from both political parties in both Houses of Congress. I know what is possible when it comes to educating children. You have seen it here in your own State, how the numbers have improved dramatically. It starts with an attitude that says public education is crucial; every child can learn; and we must set high standards. And that is what we have got to do in America, it seems like, all over the country. After 9/11, a lot of people have asked, What can I do to help? How can I make a difference in America? Well, my advice is, first, love your children like you have never loved them before. Show them that they are the most important people in the world. But a way you can help America is to mentor a child, to teach a child to read.


I appreciate the opportunity that you have provided for me to greet the Embassy personnel and also some of the members of their families that I see down here in front and also for those that are in this room. I want to express my regret that we were unable to be able to get everybody in the same room. I was going to say to the Ambassador that we probably needed a larger Embassy. No, I think we have got to speak to Mr. Rooney. But, nevertheless, on a visit of this type that is so filled with official talks and I move from here for my last talk during this visit with President de Gaulle and then we go on to see Pope Paul in Rome and then back to Washington tonight. But we spent the morning on Vietnam. But, nevertheless, I did not want to leave Paris without expressing to all of those in this Embassy, and all of those who are associated with it in any way, my appreciation for what you have done on this visit, first. I know what a burden a visit by VIP's places upon an Embassy. I first came to Paris, I remember, 22 years ago in this same building, and then as a Congressman. I know we caused a lot of trouble. But, anyway, then I came back as a Senator in 1951, and I have been here many times since. I did not come here as a Vice President, and now I come as a President. They tell me that that is even harder harder on the staff, I mean. But I do want you to know that I realize it is hundreds of people, literally hundreds of people, that I will never be able to thank personally or by letter, or to greet personally, who worked on this visit. And I am speaking now not simply of the officers of the Embassy, the Ambassador, of course, who has been so cooperative, and Bob Blake Deputy Chief of Mission. I rather grew up with him in Whittier. He is a little after my time. I should say, I knew his parents. But, nevertheless, I want you to know that not only the officers, but everybody in all the offices as I went down the halls today, I saw girls typing out schedules, and I know that you have got to run them through the mimeograph machines and-or, no, you put them through some other kind of a machine now to get them multilithed. And that is just part of it.

Remarks at the American Embassy in Paris.


But the immense amount of logistical detail that is involved in a visit by a President and a Secretary of State is something that places an immense burden on the Embassy. I express appreciation for that. Beyond that, however, I want to tell you that the visit has been handled in this very brief time that we have been here with great precision. I have been trying to think of something that I could pick out as a mistake, you know, so that we could do better next time. I found on one of my schedules -I do not know who happened to prepare this, but nevertheless, the schedule said, with regard to the first dinner, the dinner that President de Gaulle was the host the second one, as you know, was in Ambassador Shriver's residence, and I was the host there but at the first dinner where he was the host, he was supposed to make a toast and I was supposed to prepare one to him. President Nixon will speak for 10 minutes and then his speech will be translated into English. I knew I had troubles in communicating, but not that much. But whether it was my French or English or whatever the case might be, that was the only thing I could find and we need to have a little humor in a trip. I think it was put in deliberately for that very purpose. Also, in this room are people who have dedicated their lives to the service of the Government of the United States, some in the Foreign Service and some in other branches of the service. You have been in this post; you have been in many others. I am sure there must be times when you wonder whether you made the right decision. There must be times when the boredom of what your job is, the failure to get the promotion that you think you should have had, the failure to have the responsibility which you think you might be capable of these are the things we all feel from time to time all of these things must run through your minds. And, also, perhaps, in the positions that you have you wonder if the country really appreciates people in Government. I can simply tell you that I, as one who has had the opportunity of traveling now to 73 countries and have seen our embassies abroad and our other missions in most of those countries, I appreciate what you are dang, both as the President of the United States and as an individual. I know, in many cases, what a sacrifice it is for you to continue in public service, as you have.


I know that many of you probably figure you could have done better economically if you had been in some other branch. But whatever the case might be, let me give you this one word of reassurance with regard to the decision you made sometime in your life to come into public service. I firmly am convinced of the fact that all of you are playing a great part in a cause that is much bigger than any of us. All of us have that privilege. And we in America can say that, and it cannot be said in all countries of the world. It can be said frankly in the free world, more in ours than in any other, not because we asked for that responsibility, but because it is ours. And as we play that great role, I want you to know that sometimes it appears that all that really matters is what a President says or what he does, or what the Ambassador says and what he does and all of those things are important or what the Secretary of State may declare in his various remarks or in the statements that he may send out around the world. But I can assure you that what the men at the top do does have an immense effect on the foreign policy of the United States and whether we have peace and freedom in the world, that the success of a policy depends upon thousands of people around, in an Embassy like this, an establishment like this, and millions around this world 3 million people, maybe 4 million, if you include military and the rest in the service of the United States. I think I can best bring that home by what Colonel Frank Borman said when I presented an award to him at the White House a few weeks ago, shortly after I was inaugurated. I congratulated him. I accept it not only for my two colleagues on the voyage to the moon, but for 400,000 Americans who, one way or another, worked on this project. that in that Apollo there are 2 million parts, and if something went wrong with one of those parts, who knows whether or not the project would have succeeded. I realize that the success of our efforts at the highest post in Government depends upon how every person in Government does his job.


On this day more than sixteen million young Americans are reviving the three-hundred-year-old American custom of the muster. They are obeying that first duty of free citizenship by which, from the earliest colonial times, every able-bodied citizen was subject to the call for service in the national defense. It is a day of deep and purposeful meaning in the lives of all of us. For on this day we Americans proclaim the vitality of our history, the singleness of our will and the unity of our nation. We prepare to keep the peace in this New World which free men have built for free men to live in. The United States, a nation of one hundred and thirty million people, has today only about five hundred thousand-half a million officers and men in ENTITY and National Guard. Other nations, smaller in population, have four and five and six million trained men in their armies. Our present program will train eight hundred thousand additional men this coming year and somewhat less than one million men each year thereafter. It is a program obviously of defensive preparation and of defensive preparation only. Calmly, without fear and without hysteria, but with clear determination, we are building guns and planes and tanks and ships-and all the other tools which modern defense requires. We are mobilizing our citizenship, for we are calling on men and women and property and money to join in making our defense effective. Today's registration for training and service is the keystone in the arch of our national defense. In the days when our forefathers laid the foundation of our democracy, every American family had to have its gun and know how to use it. Today we live under threats, threats of aggression from abroad, which call again for the same readiness, the same vigilance. Ours must once again be the spirit of those who were prepared to defend as they built, to defend as they worked, to defend as they worshipped. The duty of this day has been imposed upon us from without. Those who have dared to threaten the whole world with war-those who have created the name and deed of total war-have imposed upon us and upon all free peoples the necessity of preparation for total defense. But this day not only imposes a duty; it provides also an opportunity-an opportunity for united action in the cause of liberty-an opportunity for the continuing creation on this continent of a country where the people alone shall be master, where the people shall be truly free.

Radio Address on Registration Day.


I want to welcome you and all your brothers and sisters and your mom; Senator Kennedy. I want to thank the Attorneys General who are here. I want to thank our current Attorney General. I want to thank the Members of the Congress who are here, the Senators and Members of the House of Representatives for coming, both Republicans and Democrats. I want to thank Administrator Perry; ladies and gentlemen. I am so very pleased to be with you in giving this building a great American name. Seventy-nine Americans have held the title of Attorney General, and 25 of them worked in this building. But in the history of this Department and in the memory of our country we hold a special place for Robert Francis Kennedy. Just out of law school at the University of Virginia, he reported here every morning to the Criminal Division. He was 26, married, the father of one, a baby girl who is now the Lieutenant Governor of the State of Maryland. Ahead of him were many more accomplishments and a lot more children. There is no doubt in my mind that he would look upon his sons and daughters and his grandkids with such incredible pride. America first saw him and heard his voice in the mid-fifties when he was minority counselor to the Senate committee investigating organized crime. There was something about him that no one could miss, an intense intelligence present, a voice that could quiet a room. As a friend has remembered him, Robert Kennedy was not a hard man, but he was a tough man. He valued bluntness and precision and truth. Those under investigation learned those qualities firsthand. In the eyes of John F. Kennedy, no man ever had a more faithful brother. During his Presidential campaign, he said, I do not know what Bobby does, but it always seems to turn out right. We are told that after the election the younger brother was not sure he wanted to join the Cabinet, and he said so to the President-elect. Robert tried to make the case explaining why he should not become Attorney General. The President-elect simply left the room and casually returned a few minutes later to say, So that is it, General. To this day, visitors to the West Wing, seeing the Rose Garden and the Colonnade, instantly think of the pictures of the two brothers together. And from this day, his birthday, everyone who enters this building or passes by will think of Robert F. Kennedy and what he still means to this country.

Remarks on the Dedication of the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building


And few have filled their time here with so much energy or seen events of such consequence. He was at his brother's side during the 13 days in October 1962, where he was firm and discerning and calm. In this building, he set to work on what would become the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Here, he gave the orders sending 500 U.S. marshals to protect the Freedom Riders. He stood for racial desegregation. My belief does not matter. Some of you may believe the decision was wrong. With us today are some of the people who worked for our 64th Attorney General, each of whom counts it as an experience of a lifetime. They still look up to him. Time has done nothing to weaken their loyalty to the valiant and idealistic man they knew and followed. Robert Kennedy was a serious man, concerned with serious things. And he loved his friends. He was a strong man who understood weakness, a man who knew privilege but also suffering. He fought to gain power, chose to use it in the defense of the powerless. To millions who never knew him, he is still an example of kindness and courage. America today is passing through a time of incredible testing. And as we do so, we admire even more the spirit of Robert Kennedy, a spirit that tolerates no injustice and fears no evil. That is how this country sees him. But today and every November 20th, a large and loving family thinks of the dad they miss. Some of you know your way around this building because he brought you here. And as the photos displayed here make it clear, he also enjoyed one of my favorite perks of office-you get to bring your dog to work. Of all that he left behind, nothing brings Robert Kennedy more clearly to mind than his good wife. Whither thou goest, I will go, and we will be together forever. For 33 years, Ethel Kennedy has walked with grace and dignity, faithful to God and to the memory of her husband. Any tribute to Robert Kennedy must also be a tribute to Mrs. Robert Kennedy. She shares in all his achievements; she is added many of her own. Kennedy, America honors you as well. This great building, and all who work here, serve the public in the cause of justice. It now bears the name of a good and decent man, truly devoted to justice. On behalf of the people of the United States, I proudly dedicate the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building.


Well, thank you very much and I am thrilled to be back at the historic Jupiter Inlet, I know it very well. The lighthouse, it is , my home state is called the state of Florida and it is a great state. Do you have seats? Yeah, you do sit down everybody. The sunshine state is truly one of the most beautiful places on earth. I love it. And together we will preserve its breathtaking natural splendor for generations to come. We are here today to celebrate our incredible record of natural conservation and environmental protection. Over the last four years I have been working with your both governors, your last governors, your current governor is fantastic by the way and we have been working very, very hard. We have been working very hard together to make sure everything is perfect and to recommit ourselves to preserving the awesome majesty of God's great creation. Joining us in the wonderful support effort of that mission is secretary of the interior, a man who is worked so hard in this, David Bernhardt. When he says you can do it, you do it when he says you cannot it is over with, you do not have a chance, Andrew Wheeler. And of course your governor Ron DeSantis, who is run, not only did he run a great campaign, he is a great governor. What a great job he did. Of course we will let you know on November 3rd, I will let you know if he did a good job, okay? Also, I want to introduce Lieutenant Governor, Jeanette Nunez who is been such a fantastic friend and supporter. A man who everybody loves, he is highly respected in Washington, he is a great Senator, Lindsey Graham, South Carolina. We have a lot of good ones here. We have warriors. I call them my warriors, that is what they are, and Gus, the job you have done and Matt Gaetz, Where is Matt? That is not a very good location for you, Matt, I am used to having you sitting right up here. You see what they do. They have to fight Pelosi, Schumer, they have to fight all these characters and they do very well in the fights. We want them on our site, Greg Stuby, Greg, thank you very much. And from South Carolina, state representative Nancy Mace, who is got a very important race where I think you are doing very well. I think you are doing very well from what I hear, right?

Donald Trump Speech in Jupiter, Florida Transcript September 8: Environmental Accomplishments


You got to win that one. We are behind you 1000%. You know that right? As well as mayor of Miami Dade County, Carlos Gimenez, where is Carlos? I want to thank you all for being here. My administration's proving every day that we can improve our environment while creating millions of high paying jobs. This is a really sharp contrast to the extreme, radical left that you have had to deal with and what you are doing right now is a lot better than anything you have ever been accustomed to, I will tell you that. Joe Biden's plan would destroy America's middle class while giving a free pass to the world's worst foreign polluters like China, Russia, India, and many others. They do not have to clean up their lands, but we have to clean up ours. The left's agenda is not about protecting the environment, it is about punishing America and that is true. Instead of focusing on radical ideology, my administration is focused on delivering real results and that is what we have and we right now have the cleanest air we have ever had in this country. Let us say over the last 40 years, because I assume 200 years ago was probably better. What do you think? I would say that. So I do want to preface that because the fake news is back there. When I say the cleanest air we have ever had over a 40 year period, Lindsay, is that okay? To safeguard our stunning coastal areas, I signed legislation authorizing $100 million to fight the red tide and toxic algae and to preserve the Everglades and defend Florida from catastrophic flooding. You know about the flooding. We spent a lot of money on flooding and a lot of money on hurricanes and when your governors came to me and they said, Can we have this? Can we have that? We need some more for the Panhandle, they said, We have to help the panhandle. I said, Without question and without any wait, let us go. That is what we said. You have never had it so easy in your life. He'd walk into my office, say, Sir, just one more. How much is it going to cost? We had to override the staff a couple of times. We have directed over a half, a billion dollars to fix the Herbert Hoover Dike and Lake Okeechobee, Lake Okeechobee.


We fixed it up good, Mr. Mayor, we did a good job. We will now compete with this project and we are way ahead, we are way ahead, about three years, I think, ahead of schedule from what the original time of completion was going to be and I am in particular happy with what we have done on Lake Okeechobee. I know it well, I know it well. Everyone said that one could not be done, Ron, you know that right? It is a big deal and it is all gotten done, including the tide is gone, will be gone, finally from all of the problems that they have had with it. We have expanded funding for the Everglades restoration by over 55% compared to four years ago and I also want to thank the ENTITY Corps of Engineers for their vital work on the C44 Reservoir and the help, they are unbelievable. One thing, when they build it, I said, You know you could do it a little bit less expensive than that. They could be two feet thick, but you know when the ENTITY Corps of Engineers do it, they do it right. That is one thing I can tell you. We are building the wall, the wall along Mexico, between Mexico and the United States. We are over 300 miles now of wall and that is a serious wall. That is a wall that is meant to last and meant to work, but that'll help revitalize the wetlands in the St. Lucie River estuary and the Indian River lagoon. We hit home with that one, huh? But today I have a very important announcement. I do not know if it is bigger than the things we just announced or the things that we have already done or we are in the process of completing. In a few moments I will sign a presidential order extending the moratorium on offshore drilling on Florida's Gulf Coast and expanding it to Florida's Atlantic coast, as well as the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina. I guess you like that one the best of all. This action follows close consultation with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, he is been unbelievable, Florida Senators Marco Rubio, and Rick Scott, they have worked so hard, as well as South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott. Lindsay liked the idea right from the beginning. I said, What do you think? It took you, how long? About two seconds to say I like it.


The Governor of South Carolina, a great man and a really great governor, Henry McMaster and I also want to thank the governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, he is doing a fantastic job and a Senator who from day one, he is been with me, Senator David Perdue, Georgia, and Senator Kelly Loefler and Congressman Doug Collins and South Carolina State Representative Nancy Mace. Again, I want to thank you all, incredible. Thanks to my administration's pro-American energy policies we can take this step and the next step while remaining the number one producer of oil and natural gas anywhere in the world, we are the largest producer now in the world by far. We are number one in the world and we are energy independent, which is a nice With fracking, the shale revolution and the tremendous surge in American energy production, we are showing that we can create jobs, safeguard the environment and keep energy prices low for America and low for our citizens and you see that, you also see it when you pump the gas into your car and you are paying sometimes a lot less than $2.00 Lately, right? So we are doing well and we have so much of it. I do not know, we got more than everybody, anybody ever thought possible, right? The approach of Joe Biden and the radical left is exactly the opposite. Their policies will destroy jobs, cause energy prices to double and triple and quadruple, to skyrocket beyond belief and the environment will be badly hurt. If you go by that, badly, badly hurt, it will be injured and permanently injured. And very importantly, they will take away our energy independence and they will do it quickly and they will not even know what happened to them. We are dealing with some smart customers. They know exactly what to do, and they do not like it when we are energy independent. They do not like it at all. So it is been a really amazing thing for Florida from the environmental standpoint, and I have to tell you, from the energy standpoint and from a very important level of cost. You are at a level of cost now with your electric and with so many other things caused and created by energy and fuel, the likes of which you have not seen in 30 years. As president I will defend our environment, I will defend our workers and our cherished way of life. Last month I signed the great American outdoors act, the most significant investment in our national parks in over a century, since Teddy Roosevelt.


You know, they came to my office, a lot of the senators that I just introduced and Ron and everybody, they came to my office they said that, This will make us and make you the number one environmental president since Teddy Roosevelt. Because I was not going to do it. I figured, you know, let us not do it. But when they said that, that was like a challenge. So I said, Well, why does it only have to go back to Teddy Roosevelt, which is over a hundred years? Why cannot we say from George Washington? They said, Well, we are not quite there yet, but one other bill like this we will be there, Lindsay, you know that right? But it is true, number one, since Teddy Roosevelt, who would've thought, ENTITY is the great environmentalist. You hear that, Ed? You hear that? I believe strongly in it. Through this legislation, we are providing nearly $10 billion for long delayed maintenance projects in our national parks and Florida has helped as much as anybody and maybe more. My administration has fully or partially cleaned up 61 EPA superfund pollution sites that were rotting all over our country. No matter how far you go back, more than any administration. Since my inauguration we have recovered more endangered or threatened species than any other administration has accomplished in its first term. Earlier this year, I announced that the United States would joined the one trillion trees initiative. We already have one billion trees pledged to be planted and it is moving very rapidly. We have opened land- As the last administration pursued its globalist agenda abroad, they were all over the place. They were everywhere but here, in our country. They were taking care of other lands, countries that you never heard of, they were taking care of and they did not do a good job there either. They neglected the fundamentals of public health right here in the United States, right here in our home. My administration is focused on ensuring crystal clean air and water. Under my administration we have seen a significant drop in air pollution since 2017, a very significant drop for the first time in nearly 30 years. We are strengthening standards to prevent vulnerable children from being exposed to lead and copper in drinking water, including in our schools. They were exposed to lead and copper in drinking water. We have done some job with that, that was an important one. And we have invested over $38 billion in drinking water infrastructure to care for our children.


I am committed to ensuring the United States has the cleanest air and cleanest water on earth. The contrast between our vision and the radical left has never been more clear. They talk a big game and they do nothing. They talk and talk the environment, they talk and talk, nothing happens. You ever hear that? To our political opponents, environmental policy is just an excuse to advance a socialist platform that will impose trillions and trillions of dollars in new taxes and send our jobs overseas, making it impossible to open up new companies and to live less expensively. Your energy costs would be four or five, sometimes even under scenarios, 10 times more expensive. And, really, you would not even have energy. To my administration, environmental protection is a sacred obligation and so it is our duty to fight for the dreams and livelihoods of the citizens we serve and to the citizens of Florida that I know so well and that I love , this is my home. We are rapidly restoring the greatest economy in history. We created the greatest economy in the history of our country, and then we had to close it up when the China plague came in, we closed it up. We saved millions of lives. We banned highly infected China from coming in, it was highly infected. Wu Han province, we banned them. Nobody said do it, everybody said I should not do it. Biden said, Do not do it, three months later he admitted I was right. But we banned people, we would have lost hundreds of thousands more, but we would have lost millions if we did not close it up and now we open it up and we are setting records at every single level. So we are maintaining that pristine resource of beautiful, clean environment at every single community in Florida and all over the country. We will always defend the Everglades and we will always safeguard the magnificent Florida coastline. We will expand access for fishermen and sportsmen, we will uphold your right to hunt and we will protect your right to keep and bear arms, your second amendment. And I can tell you this, if Joe Biden gets in, he will have nothing to say about it. He is not, let us face it. It is gone, either obliterated to a point of being gone or gone itself, okay? You will not have a second amendment. And the pressure put on me in the last four years to make massive changes to the second amendment, which would have really rendered it worthless, Ron knows, Ron knows.


The pressure put on me, very few people would have been able to withstand that pressure. They would have made big, big cuts and big changes. Your second amendment will remain powerful, will remain strong, will remain with you. We will reassure our critical supply chains and we will bring back jobs in factories from China and other foreign polluters and everything we do will be guided by our love of this state, its people and its priceless natural treasures. I can tell you, I am so happy to have helped because when I was first elected, you had things that were in such bad shape and now they are fixed or being fixed at a cost of a lot of money, but they are either fixed or being fixed and soon there'll be in better condition than they were the day they were built, which was many, many decades ago. We have things that were built a long time ago that were in a state of disrepair that you would not believe. As long as I am president of the United States, we will conserve this wondrous national inheritance from Key West to Key Biscayne, from Tampa to Tallahassee, from the Pensacola, beautiful Pensacola, I love Pensacola. I think it was 97%, that is one of the reasons I like it. They say, How'd you do in Pensacola? Right here to Jupiter, which I know very well, we will preserve this glorious land for our children, for our grandchildren and for every generation of American to come. And I will now sign this order. It is an order that does so much for the state of Florida. It is an order that I am so proud to sign. I have been talking about this with Ron and with all of the people I have mentioned for a long time and I said, we want to get it done and this protects your beautiful Gulf and your beautiful ocean and it will for a long time to come. But I want to just thank everybody for being here and this is a true honor for me to sign this order.


I am here in the briefing room to break some news. I have asked Tony Snow to serve as my new Press Secretary. Tony already knows most of you, and he is agreed to take the job anyway. I am confident Tony Snow will make an outstanding addition to this White House staff. I am confident he will help you do your job. My job is to make decisions, and his job is to help explain those decisions to the press corps and the American people. He understands, like I understand, that the press is vital to our democracy. As a professional journalist, Tony Snow understands the importance of the relationship between Government and those whose job it is to cover the Government. He is going to work hard to provide you with timely information about my philosophy, my priorities, and the actions we are taking to implement our agenda. He brings a long record of accomplishment to this position. He has spent a quarter of a century in the news business. print, radio, and television. He started his career in 1979 as an editorial writer for the Greensboro Record in North Carolina. He is going to-went on to write editorials for the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk. He ran the editorial pages in both the Daily Press of Newport News and the Washington Times. He is written nationally syndicated columns for both the Detroit News and USA Today. During his career in print journalism, he is been cited for his work by the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press, and Gannett. For 7 years, he served as the host of FOX News Sunday. Most recently, he reached Americans all across our country as the host of The Tony Snow Show on FOX News Radio and Weekend Live with Tony Snow on the FOX News Channel. He is not afraid to express his own opinions. For those of you who have read his columns and listened to his radio show, he sometimes has disagreed with me. I asked him about those comments, and he said, You should have heard what I said about the other guy. I like his perspective; I like the perspective he brings to this job, and I think you are going to like it too. Tony knows what it is like to work inside the White House. In 1991, he took a break from journalism to serve as Director of Speechwriting and Deputy Assistant to the President for Media Affairs. He is taught children in Kenya. He belongs to a rock band called Beats Workin'. He is a man of courage; he is a man of integrity; he loves his family a lot.

Remarks Announcing the Appointment of Tony Snow as White House Press Secretary


And it is good to see you all. Hope you had a great weekend at your convention. And we are going to have a great convention coming up, and I look forward to it. But before I discuss a very historic breakthrough in our fight against the China virus, I'd like to provide an update on the recent wildfires in California and the storms in the Gulf of Mexico. Yesterday I approved a major disaster declaration for California-spoke to Governor Newsom-as they battle two of the worst wildfires in the history of their State. The Federal Government has already deployed over 26,000 first responders and personnel to battle the wildfires. We are working very closely with the Governor and very closely with a lot of great State representatives and local representatives, and we will take care of the situation. But we have 26,000 first responders already. Our hearts go out to the thousands of families who have lost their homes. As we grieve for the families of two first responders and five residents who have tragically lost their lives in a very horrific fire, one of the biggest we have ever seen. My administration is also closely monitoring Hurricane Marco and Tropical Storm Laura, which are coming in rapidly. Hurricane Marco is expected to make landfall in Louisiana tomorrow, and Tropical Storm Laura is expected to hit Louisiana 2 days later. the scope of the storms and also the fact that they come so quickly after one another. Both storms have the potential of gathering strength before they make landfall and could cause significant damage across the Gulf Coast and also in Puerto Rico. We have everybody stationed and ready to go in Puerto Rico and the Gulf Coast, and we have tremendous-and tremendous people. The Coast Guard has done a fantastic job. They do so many-they do such good work, and we want to thank our great Coast Guard. I am asking all Americans in the storm's path to follow the instructions of your State and local Governments very closely. And I have approved emergency declarations for Puerto Rico and for Louisiana. FEMA is mobilized on the ground and is ready to help. And I spoke to Governor John Bel Edwards also, of Louisiana, and I have informed him. And at his request, also, a major disaster declaration is signed and ready to go. We have everybody ready in Puerto Rico, the Gulf Coast, Louisiana, and also on the forest fires in California. So we have a great team. Unfortunately, we have some very, very powerful natural disasters.

The President's News Conference


On the therapeutics front, this is what I have been looking to do for a long time. Today I am pleased to make a truly historic announcement in our battle against the China virus that will save countless lives. emergency use authorization-for a treatment known as convalescent plasma. This is a powerful therapy that transfuses very, very strong antibodies from the blood of recovered patients to help treat patients battling a current infection. It is had an incredible rate of success. Today's action will dramatically expand access to this treatment. And I want to thank Dr. Hahn and Secretary Azar. I want to thank the FDA-all of the people that have been working very hard on this. It showed tremendous potential. This is the only possible-and it is only made possible because of Operation Warp Speed-that is everybody working together. We are years ahead of approvals. We would be-if we went by the speed levels of past administration, we'd be 2 years, 3 years behind where we are today, and that includes in vaccines that you will be hearing about very soon, very shortly. To deliver treatments and vaccine to save lives, we are removing unnecessary barriers and delays, not by cutting corners, but by marshaling the full power of the Federal Government. We have provided $48 million to fund the Mayo Clinic study that tested the efficacy of convalescent plasma for patients with the virus. Through this study, over 100,000 Americans have already enrolled to receive this treatment, and it has proven to reduce mortality by 35 percent. The FDA, MIT, Harvard, and Mount Sinai hospital have also found convalescent plasma to be a very effective method of fighting this horrible disease. Based on the science and the data, the FDA has made the independent determination that the treatment is safe and very effective. Recently, we provided up to $270 million to the American Red Cross and America's Blood Centers to support the collection of up to 360,000 units of plasma. In late July, we launched a nationwide campaign to ask patients to have-who have recovered-and these are patients that have been incredible, the way they have donated-but these are people recovered from the virus-to donate plasma. And today I once again urge all Americans who have recovered from the virus to go to coronavirus.gov and sign up and donate plasma today, please. The country has united so strongly behind this.

The President's News Conference


Man, it is good to be back in Pennsylvania. What beautiful weather we got here. I know the president spent some time in Erie last night, and apparently he complained about having to travel here. And then he cut the event short, poor guy. I love coming to Pennsylvania. You guys delivered for me twice and I am back here tonight to ask you to deliver the White House for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. I want to thank Mr. Philadelphia, Charlie Mack, his daughter, India Marie. Those of you who are fathers and have daughters you know how that feels when you see your daughters just shining. I know a little bit about that. And it was great to see representatives, Brendan Boyle, Mary Gay Scanlon, Governor Tom Wolf, Attorney General Josh Shapiro, Mayor Jim Kenney. Philadelphia we got 13 days. And you do not have to wait for November 3rd to cast your ballot. You have got two ways to vote right now. Number one, you can vote early in person through next Tuesday. If you have not , just go to iwillvote.com/pa and find out where you can vote early. Number two, you can vote from home with a mail-in ballot. And before you send it back, Pennsylvania's got this thing where you have got to use both envelopes. So you have got to read the directions carefully to make sure your vote counts. And if you have already voted, then you have got to help your friends and family make a plan to vote. Take them with you if you vote early, or if you vote in-person on election day, because this election requires every single one of us to do our part. And what we do these next 13 days will matter for decades to come. Now, last time I was in Philadelphia, I was at the constitution center and I was delivering a speech for the Democratic National Convention this year. And I said, during that speech, I have sat in the Oval Office with both of the men who are running for president. I explained that I never thought Donald Trump would embrace my vision or continue my policies but I did hope for the sake of the country that he might show some interest in taking the job seriously, but it has not happened. He has not shown any interest in doing the work or helping anybody but himself and his friends or treating the presidency like a reality show that he can use to get attention. And by the way, even then his TV ratings are down.

Barack Obama Campaign Rally for Joe Biden & Kamala Harris Speech Transcript October 21


So you know that upsets him. And the rest of us have had to live with the consequences of him proving himself incapable of taking the job seriously. Millions of jobs are gone. Our proud reputation around the world is in tatters. Presidents up for reelection usually ask if the country is better off than it was four years ago. I will tell you one thing, four years ago you'd be tailgating here at the Lincoln instead of watching a speech from your cars. The only people truly better off than they were four years ago are the billionaires who got his tax cuts. Right now as we speak, Trump will not even extend relief to the millions of families who are having trouble paying the rent or putting food on the table because of this pandemic. But he is been doing all right by himself. As it turns out, this was just reported in the last 48 hours. We know that he continues to do business with China because he is got a secret Chinese bank account. Listen, can you imagine if I had had a secret Chinese bank account when I was running for reelection. You think Fox News might have been a little concerned about that? They would've called me Beijing Berry. It is not a great idea to have a president who owes a bunch of money to people overseas. I mean, of the taxes Donald Trump pays, he may be sending more to foreign governments than he pays in the United States. His first year in the White House he only paid $750 in federal income tax. Listen, my first job was at a Baskin Robbins when I was 15 years old. I think I am might have paid more taxes that year working at a dispensing ice cream. How many people here pay less than that? It is just possible now that if you are living high on the hog and you only pay $750 in taxes that maybe, just maybe he might not know what working people are going through here in Pennsylvania. We cannot afford four more years of this, Philadelphia. But the good news is right now you can choose change. Right now you can vote for my friend Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris as the next president and vice president of the United States of America. You know him and he knows you. But let me, let me tell you how I came to Norman and how I came to love him. 12 years ago, when I chose Joe Biden as my vice presidential running mate, I did not know Joe all that well.


We had served in the Senate together, but we were not super close. He and I came from different places. We came from different generations. But I came to admire Joe as a man who has learned early on to treat everybody he meets with dignity and respect, living by the words his parents taught him, no one's better than you Joe, but you are better than nobody. And I can tell you the presidency does not change who you are, it reveals who you are. And Joe has shown himself to be a friend of working people. For eight years, Joe was the last one in the room when I faced a big decision. He made me a better president and he is got the character and experience to make us a better country. And he and Kamala are going to be in the fight, not for themselves but for every single one of us. Well, I get that this president wants full credit for the economy he inherited and zero blame for the pandemic that he ignored. Making stuff up does not make people's lives better. You have got to have a plan. You have got to put in the work. And along with the experience to get things done, Joe Biden has concrete plans and policies that will turn our vision of a better, fairer, stronger country into a reality. We literally left this White House a pandemic playbook that would have shown them how to respond before the virus reached our shores. They probably used it to I do not know, prop up a wobbly table somewhere. Eight months into this pandemic, cases are rising again across this country. Donald Trump is not suddenly going to protect all of us. He cannot even take the basic steps to protect himself. Just last night, he complained up in eerie that the pandemic made him go back to work. I am quoting him. He was upset that the pandemic's made him go back to work. This pandemic would have been challenging for any president but this idea that somehow this White House has done anything but completely screw this up. I will give you a very specific example. Korea identified it is first case at the same time that the United States did. At the same time, their per capita death toll is just 1.3% of what ours is. In Canada, it is just 39% of what ours is.


Other countries are still struggling with the pandemic but they are not doing as bad as we are because they have got a government that is actually been paying attention. And that means lives lost. And that means an economy that does not work. And just yesterday, when asked if he'd do anything differently, Trump said, Not much. Nothing you can think of that could have helped some people keep their loved ones alive? So, Joe's not going to screw up testing. He is not going to call scientists idiots. He is not going to host a super spreader event at the White House. Joe will get this pandemic under control with a plan to make testing free and widely available, to get a vaccine to every American cost free and to make sure our frontline heroes never ask other countries for their equipment they need. His plan will guarantee paid sick leave for workers and parents affected by the pandemic and make sure that the small businesses that hold our communities together and employ millions of Americans can reopen safely. Donald Trump likes to claim he built this economy but America created 1.5 million more jobs in the last three years of the Obama-Biden administration than in the first three years of the Trump-Pence administration. How you figure that? And that was before he could blame the pandemic. Now, he did inherit the longest streak of job growth in American history but just like everything else he inherited, he messed it up. The economic damage he inflicted by botching the pandemic response means he will be the first president since Herbert Hoover to actually lose jobs. Joe's got a plan to create 10 million good clean energy jobs as part of a historic $2 trillion investment to fight climate change, to secure environmental justice. And he will pay for it by rolling back that tax cut for billionaires. And Joe sees this moment not just as a chance to get back to where we were but to finally make long overdue changes so that our economy actually makes life a little easier for everybody, the waitress trying to raise her kid on her own, the student trying to figure out how to pay for next semester's classes, the shift worker who is always on the edge of getting laid off, the cancer survivor who is worried about her preexisting conditions, protections being taken away. Let me tell you something Pennsylvania. This I know to be true, Joe and Kamala will protect your healthcare and expand Medicare and make insurance more affordable for everybody.


Republicans love to say right before an election that they will protect your preexisting conditions. Now, Joe and I actually protected your policies to make sure people with preexisting conditions could get health insurance and have coverage. We did it through something called the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a Obamacare. And Republicans tried to repeal or undermine it more than 60 times. And when they have been asked about, they keep on promising, We are going to have a great replacement. It is been coming in two weeks for the last 10 years. Where is this great plan to replace Obamacare? They have had 10 years to do it. They have never had one. Instead they have attacked the Affordable Care Act at every turn, driving up costs, driving up the uninsured. Now, they are trying to dismantle your care in the Supreme court as we speak as quickly as they can in the middle of a pandemic with nothing but empty promises to take its place. The idea that you would take healthcare away from people at the very moment where people need it most, what is the logic of that? Joe knows that the first job of a president is to keep us safe from all threats, foreign, domestic or microscopic. When the daily intelligence briefings flash warning signs about a virus, a president cannot ignore them. Just like when Russia puts bounties on the heads of our soldiers in Afghanistan, the commander-in-chief cannot be missing in action. I can tell you this, Joe Biden would never call the men and women of our military suckers or losers. Who does that? He understands that. And he is going to restore our standing in the world because he knows that America's true strength comes from setting an example that the world wants to follow. A nation that stands with democracy, not dictators, a nation that can mobilize and inspire others to overcome threats like climate change and terrorism and poverty and disease. And with Joe and Kamala at the helm, you are not going to have to think about the crazy things they said every day. You are not going to have to argue about them every day. You might be able to have a Thanksgiving dinner without having an argument. You will be able to go about your lives knowing that the president is not going to retweet conspiracy theories about secret cabals running the world or that maybe seals did not actually kill bin Laden. The president of the United States retweeted that.


We are not going to have a president that goes out of his way to insult anybody who does not support him or threaten them with jail. We would not tolerate it from a high school principal. We would not tolerate it from a coach. We would not tolerate it from a co-worker. We would not tolerate it in our family, except for maybe crazy uncle somewhere. I mean, why would we expect and accept this from the President of the United States? And why are folks making excuses for that? They embolden other people to be cruel and divisive and racist, and it frays the fabric of our society, and it affects how our children see things. And it affects the ways that our families get along. It affects how the world looks at America. And by the way, while he is doing all that, it distracts all of us from the truly destructive actions that his appointees are doing all across the government, actions that affect your lives. The Environmental Protection Agency that is supposed to protect our air and our water is right now run by an energy lobbyist that gives polluters free reign to dump unlimited poison into our air and water. The Labor Department that is supposed to protect workers and their rights, right now it is run by a corporate lobbyist who is declared war on workers, guts protections to keep essential folks safe during a pandemic, makes it easier for big corporations to shortchange them on their wages. The Interior Department, that is supposed to protect our public lands and wild spaces, our wildlife and our wilderness. And right now that is run by an oil lobbyist who is determined to sell them to the highest bidder. You have got the Education Department that is supposed to give every kid a chance, and that is run by a billionaire who guts rules designed to protect students from getting ripped off by for profit colleges and stiffs arm students looking for loan relief in the middle of an economic collapse. I mean, the person who runs Medicaid right now is doing their best to kick people off of Medicaid instead of sign them up for Medicaid. When Joe and Kamala are in charge, they are not going to surround themselves with hacks and lobbyists, but they are going to appoint qualified public servants who actually care about looking out for you, for your job, for your family, for your health, for your security, for your planet, and that more than anything is what separates them from their opponents.


They actually care about every American, including the ones that do not agree with them. And they are going to fight for you every day. They care about you and they care about this democracy. They believe in a democracy. The right to vote is sacred and that we should not be making people wait in line for 10 hours to cast their ballot. They believe that no one, especially the President, is above the law. They understand that protest on behalf of social justice is not un-American. That is how this country was founded, protesting injustice. They understand we do not threaten our political opponents threatening to throw them in jail, just because we disagree with them. They understand that our ability to work together to solve big problems like a pandemic depends more than on just photo-ops. It depends on actually learning the facts and following the science and not just making stuff up whenever it is convenient. Our democracy is not going to work if the people who are supposed to be our leaders lie every day and just make things up. And we have just become numb to it. We have just become immune to it. And, look, this notion of truthfulness and democracy and citizenship, and being responsible, these are not Republican or democratic principles, they are American principles. They are what most of us grew up learning from our parents and our grandparents. They are not White or Black or Latino or Asian values, they are American values, human values, and we need to reclaim them. We have to get those values back at the center of our public life. But to do it, we have got to turn out like never before. We cannot leave any doubt in this election, because you know the President's already said, If this is even close, I am going to just make stuff up. He is already started to do it. So we cannot have any doubt. I do not care about the polls. There were a whole bunch of polls last time, did not work out, because a whole bunch of folks stayed at home and got lazy and complacent. I understand why a lot of Americans can get frustrated by government and can feel like it does not make a difference. Even supporters of mine, during my eight years, there were times where stuff we wanted to get done did not get done and people said, Well, gosh, if Obama did not get it done, then maybe it is just not going to happen. Look, government is not going to solve every problem, it is true.


Every elected officials going to make some mistakes. And believe me, I have got firsthand experience with the way Republicans in Congress abused the rules to make it easy for special interest to stop progress. A president by himself cannot solve every challenge in a global economy. But if we have got Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the White House at a House and Senate that are focused on working people, it can make a difference and get millions of people the help they need. A president by himself cannot eliminate all racial bias in our criminal justice system. But if we have got district attorneys and state's attorneys and sheriffs and police chiefs focused on equality and justice, it can make things better. In Pennsylvania, you have just got to flip nine seats in your State House, just five seats in your State Senate, to give Democrats control and new life for policies that'll make a real difference to working families right now. In the end, Pennsylvania, that is what voting's about, making things better, not making things perfect, but putting us on track so that a generation from now we can look back and say, Things got better starting now. And that is what voting's about. Voting's about using the power we have and pooling it together to get a government that is more concerned and more responsive and more focused on you and your lives and your children and your grandchildren and future generations. and future generations. And the fact that we do not get 100% of what we want right away is not a good reason not to vote. It means we have got to vote and then get some change and then vote some more and then get some more change, and then keep on voting until we get it right. And we will never come close to seeing what it would be like if everybody voted, when I hear people say, Well, I do not know, you are voting do not make a difference. We get 50, 55% of people voting. Imagine January 20th, when we swear in a president and a vice president who have a plan to get us out of this mess, who believe in science, and they have a plan to protect this planet for our kids, and who care about working Americans, and they have a plan to help you start getting ahead.


And who believe in racial equality and gender equality, and believe in not discriminating against people because of their sexual orientation, and are willing to bring us closer to an America where no matter what we look like and where we come from, who we love and what our last name is, if we go out there and we work, we can make it. And we are part of an American family. All of that is possible. All of that is within our reach, if we vote. Because let me tell you something Pennsylvanians, people ask me sometimes, they say, Man, how have you been able to take these last four years, just watching all this? How do you keep your spirits up? And I tell him, I say, look for all the times, these last four years that we have seen our worst impulses revealed, we have also seen what our country can be at its best. We have seen folks of every age and background who've packed city centers and airports in town squares, just so families would not be separated. So another classroom would not get shot up, so our kids would not grow up on an uninhabitable planet. We have seen Americans more racist, joining together to declare in the face of injustice that black lives matter, no more, but no less, so that no child in this country feels the continuing sting of racism. We have seen folks, our essential workers, our healthcare workers risking their lives day in day out to save somebody else's loved ones. We have seen people volunteer and contribute to help those who are having an especially difficult time that right now. That is true in Pennsylvania, that is true all across the country. America is a good and decent place, but we have just seen so much noise and nonsense that sometimes it is hard for us to remember. Philadelphia, I am asking you to remember what this country can be. What it is like when we treat each other with respect and dignity, what it is like when our elected officials actually behave responsibly. I am asking you to believe in Joe's ability, in Kamala's ability to lead this country out of these dark times, and help us build it back better, because we cannot abandon those who are hurting right now. We cannot abandon the children who are not getting the education they need right now. We cannot abandon those protesters who inspired us. We have got to channel their activism into action, we cannot just imagine a better future.


It was 54 years ago that our Government first established the Department of Labor in the United States. It was a confirmation of America's concern for the heart of American society--that is, the workingman and his family. Today, more Americans are working in the United States than have ever worked before. Since 1963 alone, we have added more than 6 million people to the ranks of productive labor. They are earning more, they are working under better conditions, with a greater personal dignity than ever before in all of American history. No one man or no single administration can claim credit for this. But if he is faithful to the people's trust, every President must give perpetual priority to strengthening this very vital Department, for it touches the lives of every citizen in this country. I know that every employee of the Department of Labor shares my very great satisfaction in the success of our recent efforts on behalf of the American workers. We have included more than 8 million new workers under the minimum wage act. We have opened up close to 1 million job opportunities for needy young people under the Neighborhood Youth Corps. We have helped thousands of communities all across America attack poverty. In these and in other efforts, the Department of Labor, under the brilliant leadership of Willard Wirtz, plays a major and a strategic role. We must press on to reduce unemployment. We must raise family incomes in the slums. We must wipe out discrimination because of age in employment. We must give greater self-help assistance to American Indians and migratory farmworkers whose plight continues to trouble the conscience of America. We must strengthen the system of unemployment compensation and insurance to help the jobless and their families live until they can find work. In this Department, as in all concerned with the well-being of America, there is no end to challenge and no limit to the qualifications of the people who are asked to lead it. We have come here to the East Room this afternoon to recognize two such leaders. One is the new Under Secretary of Labor, James J. Reynolds. The other is Thomas R. Donahue, who succeeds him as Assistant Secretary for Labor-Management Relations. Both of these men have most distinguished careers behind them. They both have spent their lives in preparation for the tasks that they undertake. They have demonstrated their capacity to exercise the greatest trust that is known to human affairs--and that is the public trust. America now offers them a new challenge, grateful for their willingness to accept it and confident in their ability to execute it.

Remarks at the Swearing In of James J. Reynolds as Under Secretary and Thomas R. Donahue as Assistant Secretary of Labor.


Any good American who comes to the home of the town meeting feels that he comes to sit at the feet of Gamaliel as regards republican democratic government. And you in New England, in the country which, with the sole exception of the little republic of Switzerland, has developed to a higher degree than anywhere else the true principle of democratic republican representative government you have done more, much more than your share in leavening the whole Republic; and just as long as our people show the capacity for self-government which is made evident in towns like this, just so long we shall prosper as a whole. And when I address an audience like this, which takes part itself in all the workings of the government, I do not have to explain as I have to explain to some other audiences that the government cannot do everything. You can do a good deal through the town, but you can do more for the town than it can do for you. Some people make the mistake of thinking you can convert that, but you cannot. I am glad to be here to speak to you after coming through your library, and especially escorted out here by the veterans of the great war, and by you, Gen. Curtis Guild, my comrade of the lesser war. It is a very good thing, indeed it is an indispensable thing, to have material well-being. You have got to have that as the basis of our civilization, but if you do not build something more on top of that you will have only the foundation, and that is a bad place to live. You have got to have a superstructure, too. In addition to the material prosperity, you must have the spirit which makes that prosperity count. You must have it in peace; you must have it in war. The spirit that has made New England identified not only with self-government, but with the spread of education; the spirit that produces the school and the library; that is the spirit upon which we must build if we hope to make this great nation rise loyally both to her deeds and her opportunities. The men of thin intellects, the men who are competent to feel only intellectual emotions, are not the men who will make a great nation. You have got to have, in addition to the intellect, what counts for much more than intellect character. And in character you must have men good, and you must have them strong. Now you representatives of the great war, who are here today, you went out from '61 to '65.

Remarks in Nahant, Massachusetts


I want to begin by offering an update on the tragedy that took place yesterday at Fort Hood. This morning I met with FBI Director Mueller and the relevant agencies to discuss their ongoing investigation into what caused one individual to turn his gun on fellow service men and women. We do not know all the answers yet, and I would caution against jumping to conclusions until we have all the facts. What we do know is that there are families, friends, and an entire nation grieving right now for the valiant men and women who came under attack yesterday in one of the worst mass shootings ever to take place on an American military base. So from now until Veterans Day, I have ordered the flags at the White House and other Federal buildings to be flown at halfstaff. This is a modest tribute to those who lost their lives even as many were preparing to risk their lives for their country. And it is also recognition of the men and women who put their lives on the line every day to protect our safety and uphold our values. We honor their service, we stand in awe of their sacrifice, and we pray for the safety of those who fight and for the families of those who have fallen. And as we continue to learn more about what happened at Fort Hood, this administration will continue to provide you updates in the coming days and weeks. Now, I would also like to announce that I just signed into law a bill that will help grow our economy, save and create new jobs, and provide relief to struggling families and businesses. The need for such a measure was made clear by the jobs report that we received this morning. Although we lost fewer jobs than we did last month, our unemployment rate climbed to over 10 percent, a sobering number that underscores the economic challenges that lie ahead. When we first came into office, our immediate goal was to stop the freefall that caused our economy to shrink at an alarming rate. We have succeeded in achieving that goal, as our economy grew last quarter for the first time in a year. But history tells us that job growth always lags behind economic growth, which is why we have to continue to pursue measures that will create new jobs. And I can promise you that I will not let up until the Americans who want to find work can find work and until all Americans can earn enough to raise their families and keep their businesses open. The bill I signed today will help folks do that while continuing to grow our economy.

Remarks on Signing the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009


It is a bill that extends unemployment benefits for up to 20 additional weeks, with the longest extension for the hardest hit States. Already these benefits have helped 16 million unemployed Americans, and now that I have signed this bill, an additional 700,000 Americans who are still searching for work will be able to sign up for an extension of those benefits immediately. Although the extension will help over 1 million Americans, it will not just put money into the people's pockets who are receiving the benefits. Economists tell us that when these benefits are spent on food or clothing or rent, it actually strengthens our economy and creates new jobs. Now, this bill will also cut taxes for struggling businesses, with even larger cuts for small businesses, which means that thousands of entrepreneurs will get the cash they need to avoid laying off workers or closing their doors, and will extend the tax credit for all home buyers through April of next year while strengthening it with stronger antifraud measures. The rebound in the housing market was one of the big factors that contributed to the growth of the economy last quarter and brought hundreds of thousands of families into the housing market. We want to give even more families the chance to own their own home. Now, it is important to note that the bill I signed will not add to our deficit. It builds on a Recovery Act that is already saved or created over 100-over 1 million jobs, and it will lead to even more in the weeks and months ahead. We will also build on the measure I signed today with further steps to grow our economy in the future. To that end, my economic team is looking at ideas such as additional investments in our aging roads and bridges, incentives to encourage families and businesses to make buildings more energy efficient, additional tax cuts for businesses to create jobs, additional steps to increase the flow of credit to small businesses, and an aggressive agenda to promote exports and help American manufacturers sell their products around the world. So although it will take time and it will take patience, I am confident that our economy will recover. I am confident that we are moving in the right direction.


As you know, I just met with leaders of both parties to discuss a way forward in light of the severe budget cuts that start to take effect today. I told them these cuts will hurt our economy. They will cost us jobs. They fought hard to recover from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and we will get through this as well. Even with these cuts in place, folks all across this country will work hard to make sure that we keep the recovery going. At a time when our businesses have finally begun to get some traction-hiring new workers, bringing jobs back to America-we should not be making a series of dumb, arbitrary cuts to things that businesses depend on and workers depend on, like education and research and infrastructure and defense. And at a time when too many Americans are still looking for work, it is inexcusable. Now, what is important to understand is that not everyone will feel the pain of these cuts right away. Beginning this week, many middle class families will have their lives disrupted in significant ways. Businesses that work with the military, like the Virginia shipbuilder that I visited on Tuesday, may have to lay folks off. Communities near military bases will take a serious blow. Hundreds of thousands of Americans who serve their country-Border Patrol agents, FBI agents, civilians who work at the Pentagon-all will suffer significant pay cuts and furloughs. All of this will cause a ripple effect throughout our economy. Layoffs and pay cuts means that people have less money in their pockets, and that means that they have less money to spend at local businesses. That means lower profits. That means fewer hires. a slow grind that will intensify with each passing day. So economists are estimating that as a consequence of this sequester, that we could see growth cut by over one-half of 1 percent. It will cost about 750,000 jobs at a time when we should be growing jobs more quickly. So every time that we get a piece of economic news, over the next month, next 2 months, next 6 months, as long as the sequester is in place, we will know that that economic news could have been better if Congress had not failed to act. None of this is necessary. It is happening because a choice that Republicans in Congress have made. They have allowed these cuts to happen because they refuse to budge on closing a single wasteful loophole to help reduce the deficit.

The President's News Conference


As recently as yesterday, they decided to protect special interest tax breaks for the well off and well connected, and they think that that is apparently more important than protecting our military or middle class families from the pain of these cuts. smart spending cuts, entitlement reform, tax reform that makes the Tax Code more fair for families and businesses without raising tax rates-all so that we can responsibly lower the deficit without laying off workers or forcing parents to scramble for childcare or slashing financial aid for college students. It is the kind of approach that I have proposed for 2 years. It is what I ran on last year. The majority of the American people agree with me in this approach, including, by the way, a majority of Republicans. We just need Republicans in Congress to catch up with their own party and their country on this. And if they did so, we could make a lot of progress. I do know that there are Republicans in Congress who privately, at least, say that they would rather close tax loopholes than let these cuts go through. I know that there are Democrats who'd rather do smart entitlement reform than let these cuts go through. In the coming days and in the coming weeks I am going to keep on reaching out to them, both individually and as groups of Senators or Members of the House and say to them, let us fix this, not just for a month or two, but for years to come. Because the greatest nation on Earth does not conduct its business in month-to-month increments or by careening from crisis to crisis. And America has got a lot more work to do. In the meantime, we cannot let political gridlock around the budget stand in the way of other areas where we can make progress. I was pleased to see that the House passed the Violence Against Women Act yesterday. That is a big win for not just women, but for families and for the American people. It is a law that is going to save lives and help more Americans live free from fear. It is something that we have been pushing on for a long time. And it is an example of how we can still get some important bipartisan legislation through this Congress even though there is still these fiscal arguments taking place. And I think there are other areas where we can make progress even with the sequester unresolved. I will continue to push for those initiatives. I am going to keep pushing for high-quality preschool for every family that wants it.

The President's News Conference


President, Mr. Secretary General, my fellow delegates, to all those who dedicate themselves to this noble mission of this institution. It is my honor to speak to you for the first time as president of the United States. We meet this year in a moment of intermingled with great pain and extraordinary possibility. We have lost so much to this devastating pandemic that continues to claim lives around the world and impact so much on our existence. We are mourning more than 4.5 million people, people of every nation, from every background. Each death is an individual heartbreak, but our shared grief is a poignant reminder that our collective future will hinge on our ability to recognize our common humanity and to act together. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the clear and urgent choice that we face here at the dawning of what must be a decisive decade for our world. A decade that will quite literally determine our futures. As a global community, we are challenged by urgent and looming crises, and where in lie enormous opportunities if we can summon the will and resolve to seize these opportunities. Will we work together to save lives, defeat ENTITY everywhere and take the necessary steps to prepare ourselves for the next pandemic, for there will be another one? Or will we fail to harness the tools at our disposal as more virulent, dangerous variants take hold? Will we meet the threat of the challenging climate we are all feeling already ravaging every part of our world with extreme weather, or will we suffer the merciless march of ever worsening droughts and floods, more intense fires and hurricanes, longer heat waves and rising seas? Will we affirm and uphold the human dignity and human rights under which nations in common cause more than seven decades ago formed this institution? Will we apply and strengthen the core tenants of the international system, including the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as we seek to shape the emergence of new technologies and deter new threats. Or will we allow those universal principles to be trampled and twisted in the pursuit of naked political power? In my view, how we answer these questions in this moment, whether we choose to fight for our shared future or not, will reverberate for generations yet to come. Simply put, we stand in my view at an inflection point in history. And I am here today to share with you how the United States intends to work with partners and allies to answer these questions.

Joe Biden UN General Assembly Speech Transcript: Climate Agenda, COVID-19 Vaccines


And the commitment of my new administration helped lead the world toward a more peaceful, prosperous future for all people. Instead of continuing to fight the wars of the past, we are fixing our eyes on devoting our resources of the challenges that hold the keys to our collective future. Ending this pandemic, addressing the climate crisis, managing the shifts in global power dynamics, shaping the rules of the world on vital issues like trade, cyber, and emerging technologies and facing the threat of terrorism as it stands today. We have ended 20 years of conflict in Afghanistan. And as we close this period of relentless war, we are opening a new era of relentless diplomacy, of using the power of our development aid to invest in new ways of lifting people up around the world, of renewing and defending democracy, proving that no matter how challenging or how complex the problems we are going to face, government by and for the people is still the best way to deliver for all of our people. And as the United States turns our focus to the priorities and the regions of the world, like the Indo-Pacific that are most consequential today and tomorrow, we will do so with our allies and partners through cooperation and multilateral institutions like the United Nations to amplify our collective strength and speed, our progress toward dealing with these global challenges. It is the fundamental truth of the 21st century within each of our countries and as a global community, that our own success is bound up in other succeeding as well. To deliver for our own people, we must also engage deeply with the rest of the world to ensure that our own future, we must work together with other partners, our partners toward a shared future. Our security, our prosperity, and our very freedoms are interconnected in my view as never before. Over the last eight months, I prioritized rebuilding our alliances, revitalizing our partnerships, and recognizing they are essential and central to America's enduring security and prosperity. We have reaffirmed our sacred NATO Alliance to article five commitment. We are working with our allies toward a new strategic concept that will help our alliance better take on the evolving threats of today and tomorrow. We renewed our engagement with the European Union, a fundamental partner in tackling the full range of significant issues facing our world today. We elevated the quad partnership among Australia, India, Japan, and the United States to take on challenges ranging from health security, to climate, to emerging technologies.


We are engaging with regional institutions from to the African Union to the Organization of American States, to focus on people's urgent needs for better health and better economic outcomes. We are back at the table in international forums, especially the United Nations to focus attention and dispar global action on shared challenges. We are reengaged at the World Health Organization and working in close partnership with Kovacs to deliver life-saving vaccines around the world. We rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement and we are running to retake a seat in the Human Rights Council next year at the UN. And as the United States seeks to rally the world action, we will lead not just through the example of our power, but God willing with the power of our example. The United States will continue to defend ourselves, our allies, and our interest against attack, including terrorist threats, as we prepare to use force, if any is necessary. US military power must be our tool of last resort. It should not be used as an answer to every problem we see around the world. Indeed, today, many of our greatest concerns cannot be solved or even addressed through the force of arms. Bombs and bullets cannot defend against ENTITY or its future variants. To fight this pandemic, we need a collective act of science and political will. We need to act now to get shots and arms as fast as possible, and expand access to oxygen, tests, treatments to save lives around the world. And for the future, we need to create a new mechanism to finance global health security that builds on our existing development assistance and a global health threat council that is armed with the tools we need to monitor and identify emerging pandemics so that we can take immediate action. Already the United States has put more than $15 billion toward the global ENTITY response. We have shipped more than 160 million doses of ENTITY vaccine to other countries. This includes 130 million doses from our own supply and the first tranches of the half a billion doses of Pfizer vaccine, we purchased to donate through COVAX. Planes carrying vaccines from the United States have already landed in 100 countries, bringing people all over the world, a little dose of hope as one American nurse termed it to me. And tomorrow at the US hosted Global ENTITY Summit, I will be announcing additional commitments as we seek to advance the fight against ENTITY and hold ourselves accountable around specific targets on three key challenges. This year has also brought widespread death and devastation from the borderless climate crisis.


The extreme weather events that we have seen in every part of the world, and you all know it and feel it represent what the Secretary General has rightly called code red for humanity. And the scientists and experts are telling us that we are fast approaching a point of no return in a literal sense. To keep within our reach the vital goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, every nation needs to bring their highest possible ambitions to the table when we meet in Glasgow for COP26. In April, I announced the United States ambitious new goal under the Paris Agreement. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the United States by 50 to 52% below 2005 levels by 2030, as we work toward achieving the clean energy economy with net zero emissions by 2050. And my administration's working closely with our Congress to make critical investments in green infrastructure and electric vehicles will help us lock in progress at home toward our climate goals. And the best part is making these ambitious investments is not just good climate policy, it is a chance for each of our countries to invest in ourselves and our own future. It is an enormous opportunity to create good paying jobs for workers in each of our countries and to spur long-term economic growth that will improve the quality of life for all of our people. We also have to support the countries and people that will be hit the hardest and that have the fewest resources to help them adapt. In April, I announced that United States will double our public international financing to help developing nations tackle the climate crisis. And today, I am proud to announce that we will work with the Congress to double that number again, including for adaptation efforts. This will make the United States leader in public climate finance, and with our added support together with increased private capital from other donors, we will be able to meet the goal of mobilizing $100 billion to support climate action in developing nations. As we deal with these crises, we are also encountering a new era. An era of new technologies and possibilities that have potential to release and reshape every aspect of human existence. And it is up to all of us to determine whether these technologies are forced to empower people or to deepen repression. As new technologies continue to evolve, we will work together with our democratic partners to ensure that new advances in areas from biotechnology to quantum computing, 5G, artificial intelligence, and more are used to lift people up, to solve problems and advance human freedom, not to suppress dissent or target minority communities.


And the United States tends to make a profound investment in research and innovation, working with countries at all stages of economic development to develop new tools and technologies to help us tackle the challenges of this second quarter of the 21st century and beyond. We are hardening our critical infrastructure against cyber attacks, disrupting ransomware networks and working to establish clear rules of the road for all nations, as it relates to cyberspace. We reserve the right to respond decisively to cyber attacks that threaten our people, our allies, or our interest. We will pursue new rules of global trade and economic growth to strive a level of playing field. So it is not artificially tipped in favor of any one country at the expense of others. And every nation has the right and opportunity to compete fairly. We will strive to ensure that basic labor rights, environmental safeguards, and intellectual property are protected, and that the benefits of globalization are shared broadly throughout all our societies. We will continue to uphold the long-standing rules and norms that have formed the guardrails of international engagement for decades that have been essential to the development of nations around the world. Bedrock commitments, like freedom of navigation, adherence to international laws and treaties, support for arms control measures to reduce the risk and enhance transparency. Our approach is firmly around it and fully consistent with the United Nation's mission and the values we have agreed to when we drafted this charter. These are commitments we all made, and that we are all bound to uphold. And as we strive to deal with these urgent challenges, whether they are long-standing or newly emerging, we must also deal with one another. All of the major powers of the world have a duty, in my view, to carefully manage their relationships. So they do not tip from responsible competition to conflict. The United States will compete and we will compete vigorously and lead with our values and our strength. We will stand up for our allies and our friends and oppose attempts by stronger countries to dominate weaker ones, whether through changes to territory by force, economic coercion or technical exploitation or disinformation, but we are not seeking, say it again, we are not seeking a new cold war or a world divided into rigid blocks. Even if we have intense disagreement in other areas, because we will all suffer the consequences of our failure, if we do not come together to address the urgent threats like ENTITY and climate change or enduring threats like nuclear proliferation. The United States remains committed for ready to preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.


We are prepared to return to full compliance if Iran does the same. Similarly, we seek serious and sustained diplomacy to pursue the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. We seek concrete progress toward an available plan with tangible commitments that would increase stability on the peninsula and in the region, as well as improve the lives of the people in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. We must also remain vigilant to the threat of terror, that terrorism poses to all our nations. We know the bitter string of terrorism. The bitter sting of terrorism is real. We have almost all experienced it. Last month, we lost 13 American heroes and almost 200 innocent Afghan civilians in a heinous terrorist attack at Kabul airport. Those who commit acts of terrorism against us will continue to find a determined enemy in the United States. The world today is not the world of 2001 though, and the United States is not the same country we were when we were attacked on 9/11, 20 years ago. Today, we are better equipped to detect, to prevent terrorist threats and we are more resilient in our ability to repel them and to respond. We know how to build effective partnerships to dismantle terrorist networks by targeting their financing and support systems, countering their propaganda, preventing their travel as well as disrupting imminent attacks. We will meet terrorist threats that arise today and the future with a full range of tools available to us, including working in cooperation with local partners so that we need not be so reliant on large scale military deployments. One of the most important ways we can effectively enhance security and reduce violence is by seeking to improve the lives of the people all over the world, who see that their governments are not serving their needs. Corruption fuels inequality, siphons off a nation's resources, spreads across borders and generates human suffering. It is nothing less than a national security threat in the 21st century. Around the world, we are increasingly seeing citizens demonstrate their discontent. Seeing the wealthy and well connected grow richer and richer, taking payoffs and bribes, operating above the law while the vast majority of the people struggle to find a job or put food on the table or to get their businesses off the ground, or simply send their children to school. People have taken to the streets in every region to demand that their governments address people's basic needs, give everyone a fair shot to succeed and protect their God-given rights.