Remarks of U.S. President Barack Obama -- As Prepared for Delivery
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, fellow citizens:
Fifty-one
years ago, John F. Kennedy declared to this Chamber that “the
Constitution makes us not rivals for power but partners for progress…It
is my task,” he said, “to report the State of the Union – to improve it
is the task of us all.”
Tonight, thanks to the grit and
determination of the American people, there is much progress to report.
After a decade of grinding war, our brave men and women in uniform are
coming home. After years of grueling recession, our businesses have
created over six million new jobs. We buy more American cars than we
have in five years, and less foreign oil than we have in twenty. Our
housing market is healing, our stock market is rebounding, and
consumers, patients, and homeowners enjoy stronger protections than ever
before.
Together, we have cleared away the rubble of crisis, and
can say with renewed confidence that the state of our union is stronger.
But
we gather here knowing that there are millions of Americans whose hard
work and dedication have not yet been rewarded. Our economy is adding
jobs – but too many people still can’t find full-time employment.
Corporate profits have rocketed to all-time highs – but for more than a
decade, wages and incomes have barely budged.
It is our generation’s task, then, to reignite the true engine of America’s economic growth – a rising, thriving middle class.
It
is our unfinished task to restore the basic bargain that built this
country – the idea that if you work hard and meet your responsibilities,
you can get ahead, no matter where you come from, what you look like,
or who you love.
It is our unfinished task to make sure that this
government works on behalf of the many, and not just the few; that it
encourages free enterprise, rewards individual initiative, and opens the
doors of opportunity to every child across this great nation.
The
American people don’t expect government to solve every problem. They
don’t expect those of us in this chamber to agree on every issue. But
they do expect us to put the nation’s interests before party. They do
expect us to forge reasonable compromise where we can. For they know
that America moves forward only when we do so together; and that the
responsibility of improving this union remains the task of us all.
Our
work must begin by making some basic decisions about our budget –
decisions that will have a huge impact on the strength of our recovery.
Over
the last few years, both parties have worked together to reduce the
deficit by more than $2.5 trillion – mostly through spending cuts, but
also by raising tax rates on the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans. As a
result, we are more than halfway towards the goal of $4 trillion in
deficit reduction that economists say we need to stabilize our finances.
Now we need to finish the job. And the question is, how?
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