(applause) The President: Thank you. Alright. Let's bring this to order. Paul Ryan: Members
of Congress. I have the high privilege,
and the distinct honor of presenting to you the
President of the United States. (applause) The President:
Thank you very much. Everybody, please
have a seat. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, Mr.
Vice President, Members of Congress,
my fellow Americans: Tonight marks the eighth
year I've come here to report on the
State of the Union. And for this final one,
I'm going to try to make it shorter. (applause) I know some of you are
antsy to get back to Iowa. (laughter) I've been there. I'll be shaking
hands afterwards, if you want some tips. (laughter) I also understand that
because it's an election season, expectations for
what we'll achieve this year are low. Still, Mr. Speaker, I
appreciate the constructive approach you and the other
leaders took at the end of last year to pass a budget
and make tax cuts permanent for working families. So I hope we can work
together this year on bipartisan priorities like
criminal justice reform, (applause) -- and helping people who
are battling prescription drug abuse. (applause) So, who knows. We just might surprise
the cynics again. But tonight, I want to go
easy on the traditional list of proposals for
the year ahead. Don't worry,
I've got plenty, from helping students learn
to write computer code to personalizing medical
treatments for patients. And I'll keep pushing for
progress on the work that still needs doing. Fixing a broken
immigration system. (applause) Protecting our kids
from gun violence. (applause) Equal pay for equal work, (applause) paid leave, raising
the minimum wage. (applause) All these things still
matter to hardworking families; they are still
the right thing to do; and I will not let up
until they get done. But for my final
address to this chamber, I don't want to talk
just about the next year. I want to focus on the
next five years, ten years, and beyond. I want to focus
on our future. We live in a time of
extraordinary change - change that's reshaping
the way we live, the way we work, our planet
and our place in the world. It's change that
promises amazing medical breakthroughs, but also
economic disruptions that strain working families. It promises education for
girls in the most remote villages, but also connects
terrorists plotting an ocean away. It's change that can
broaden opportunity, or widen inequality. And whether we
like it or not, the pace of this change
will only accelerate. America has been through big
changes before - wars and depression, the
influx of immigrants, workers fighting
for a fair deal, and movements to
expand civil rights. Each time, there have been
those who told us to fear the future; who claimed we
could slam the brakes on change, promising to restore
past glory if we just got some group or idea that was
threatening America under control. And each time, we
overcame those fears. We did not, in the
words of Lincoln, adhere to the "dogmas
of the quiet past." Instead we thought
anew, and acted anew. We made change work for us,
always extending America's promise outward, to
the next frontier, to more and more people. And because we did - because
we saw opportunity where others saw only peril - we
emerged stronger and better than before. What was true then
can be true now. Our unique strengths as a
nation - our optimism and work ethic, our spirit of
discovery and innovation, our diversity and commitment
to the rule of law - these things give us everything
we need to ensure prosperity and security for
generations to come. In fact, it's that spirit
that made the progress of these past seven
years possible. It's how we recovered from
the worst economic crisis in generations. (applause) It's how we reformed
our health care system, and reinvented
our energy sector; (applause) -- how we delivered more
care and benefits to our troops and veterans, (applause) that's how we secured the
freedom in every state to marry the person we love. (applause) But such progress
is not inevitable. It is the result of
choices we make together. And we face such
choices right now. Will we respond to the
changes of our time with fear, turning
inward as a nation, and turning against
each other as a people? Or will we face the future
with confidence in who we are, what we stand for, and
the incredible things we can do together? So let's talk
about the future, and four big questions that
we as a country have to answer - regardless of
who the next President is, or who controls
the next Congress. First, how do we give
everyone a fair shot at opportunity and security
in this new economy? (applause) Second, how do we make
technology work for us, and not against us -
especially when it comes to solving urgent challenges
like climate change? (applause) Third, how do we keep
America safe and lead the world without becoming
its policeman? (applause) And finally, how can we make
our politics reflect what's best in us, and
not what's worst? (applause) Let me start
with the economy, and a basic fact: the
United States of America, right now, has
the strongest, most durable economy
in the world. (applause) We're in the middle of
the longest streak of private-sector job
creation in history. (applause) More than 14
million new jobs; the strongest two years of
job growth since the '90s; an unemployment
rate cut in half. Our auto industry just
had its best year ever. (applause) That's just part of a
manufacturing surge that has created nearly 900,000 new
jobs in the past six years. And we've done all this
while cutting our deficits by almost three-quarters. (applause) Anyone claiming that
America's economy is in decline is peddling fiction. (applause) What is true - and the
reason that a lot of Americans feel anxious - is
that the economy has been changing in profound ways,
changes that started long before the Great Recession
hit and haven't let up. Today, technology doesn't
just replace jobs on the assembly line, but any job
where work can be automated. Companies in a global
economy can locate anywhere, and face tougher
competition. As a result, workers have
less leverage for a raise. Companies have less loyalty
to their communities. And more and more wealth and
income is concentrated at the very top. All these trends have
squeezed workers, even when they have jobs;
even when the economy is growing. It's made it harder for a
hardworking family to pull itself out of poverty,
harder for young people to start on their careers,
and tougher for workers to retire when they want to. And although none of
these trends are unique to America, they do offend our
uniquely American belief that everybody who works
hard should get a fair shot. For the past seven years,
our goal has been a growing economy that works
better for everybody. We've made progress. But we need to make more. And despite all the
political arguments we've had these past few years,
there are some areas where Americans broadly agree. We agree that real
opportunity requires every American to get the
education and training they need to land a
good-paying job. The bipartisan reform of
No Child Left Behind was an important start,
and together, we've increased early
childhood education, lifted high school
graduation rates to new highs, and boosted graduates
in fields like engineering. In the coming years,
we should build on that progress, by providing
Pre-K for all, (applause) -- offering every student
the hands-on computer science and math classes
that make them job-ready on day one, and we should
recruit and support more great teachers for our kids. (applause) And we have to make college
affordable for every American. (applause) Because no hardworking
student should be stuck in the red. We've already reduced
student loan payments to ten percent of a
borrower's income. Now, we've actually got to
cut the cost of college. (applause) Providing two years of
community college at no cost for every responsible
student is one of the best ways to do that, and I'm
going to keep fighting to get that started this year. (applause) Of course, a great education
isn't all we need in this new economy. We also need benefits and
protections that provide a basic measure of security. After all, it's not much of
a stretch to say that some of the only people in
America who are going to work the same job,
in the same place, with a health and retirement
package, for 30 years, are sitting in this chamber. (laughter) For everyone else,
especially folks in their forties and fifties, saving
for retirement or bouncing back from job loss has
gotten a lot tougher. Americans understand that at
some point in their careers, they may have to
retool and retrain. But they shouldn't lose what
they've already worked so hard to build. That's why Social Security
and Medicare are more important than ever; we
shouldn't weaken them, we should strengthen them. (applause) And for Americans
short of retirement, basic benefits should be
just as mobile as everything else is today. That's what the Affordable
Care Act is all about. It's about filling the gaps
in employer-based care so that when we lose a job,
or go back to school, or start that new business,
we'll still have coverage. Nearly eighteen million
have gained coverage so far. (applause) Health care
inflation has slowed. And our businesses have
created jobs every single month since it became law. Now, I'm guessing we won't
agree on health care anytime soon. (laughter) But there should be other
ways both parties can work together to improve
economic security. Say a hardworking American
loses his job - we shouldn't just make sure he can get
unemployment insurance; we should make sure that
program encourages him to retrain for a business
that's ready to hire him. If that new job
doesn't pay as much, there should be a system of
wage insurance in place so that he can still
pay his bills. And even if he's
going from job to job, he should still be able to
save for retirement and take his savings with him. That's the way we make the
new economy work better for everyone. I also know Speaker Ryan has
talked about his interest in tackling poverty. America is about giving
everybody willing to work a hand up, and I'd welcome
a serious discussion about strategies we
can all support, like expanding tax cuts for
low-income workers who don't have children. (applause) But there are other areas
where it's been more difficult to find agreement
over the last seven years - and a lot of them fall under the category of what role the government should play in making sure the system's
not rigged in favor of the wealthiest and
biggest corporations. (applause) It's an honest disagreement. And the American people
have a choice to make. I believe a thriving private
sector is the lifeblood of our economy. I think there are outdated
regulations that need to be changed, and there's red
tape that needs to be cut. (applause) But after years of
record corporate profits, working families won't get
more opportunity or bigger paychecks by letting big
banks or big oil or hedge funds make their own rules
at everybody else's expense. (applause) Middle-class families are
not going to feel more secure because a lot of
times we allow attacks on collective bargaining
to go unanswered. Food Stamp recipients didn't
cause the financial crisis; recklessness on
Wall Street did. (applause) Immigrants aren't the
principal reason wages haven't gone up enough;
those decisions are made in the boardrooms that too
often put quarterly earnings over long-term returns. It's sure not the average
family watching tonight that avoids paying taxes
through offshore accounts. The point is, I believe,
in this new economy, workers and start-ups and
small businesses need more of a voice, not less. The rules should
work for them. And this year I plan to
lift up the many businesses who've figured out that
doing right by their workers or their customers, or their communities, ends up being good for
their shareholders, and I want to spread
those best practices across America. That's a part of
a brighter future. (applause) In fact, many of our best
corporate citizens are also our most creative. This brings me to the second
big question we have to answer as a country: how do
we reignite that spirit of innovation to meet our
biggest challenges? Sixty years ago, when the
Russians beat us into space, we didn't deny
Sputnik was up there. (laughter) We didn't argue
about the science, or shrink our research
and development budget. We built a space program
almost overnight, and twelve years later, we
were walking on the moon. (applause) That spirit of
discovery is in our DNA. We're Thomas Edison and the
Wright Brothers and George Washington Carver. We're Grace Hopper and
Katherine Johnson and Sally Ride. We're every immigrant and
entrepreneur from Boston to Austin to Silicon Valley
racing to shape a better world. (applause) And over the
past seven years, we've nurtured that spirit. We've protected
an open internet, and taken bold new steps
to get more students and low-income Americans online. (applause) We've launched
next-generation manufacturing hubs, and
online tools that give an entrepreneur everything
he or she needs to start a business in a single day. But we can do so much more. Last year, Vice President
Biden said that with a new moonshot, America
can cure cancer. Last month, he worked
with this Congress to give scientists at the National
Institutes of Health the strongest resources they've
had in over a decade. (applause) Tonight, I'm announcing a
new national effort to get it done. And because he's gone to
the mat for all of us, on so many issues over
the past forty years, I'm putting Joe in charge
of Mission Control. (applause) For the loved ones
we've all lost, for the family we
can still save, let's make America the
country that cures cancer once and for all. (applause) Medical research
is critical. We need the same level of
commitment when it comes to developing clean
energy sources. (applause) Look, if anybody still
wants to dispute the science around climate
change, have at it. You'll be pretty lonely,
because you'll be debating our military, most of
America's business leaders, the majority of the
American people, almost the entire
scientific community, and 200 nations around
the world who agree it's a problem and intend
to solve it. (applause) But even if the planet
wasn't at stake; even if 2014 wasn't the
warmest year on record - until 2015 turned out even
hotter - why would we want to pass up the chance for
American businesses to produce and sell the
energy of the future? (applause) Seven years ago, we made the
single biggest investment in clean energy in our history. Here are the results. In fields from
Iowa to Texas, wind power is now
cheaper than dirtier, conventional power. On rooftops from
Arizona to New York, solar is saving Americans
tens of millions of dollars a year on their
energy bills, and employs more Americans
than coal - in jobs that pay better than average. We're taking steps to give
homeowners the freedom to generate and store their
own energy - something environmentalists and Tea
Partiers have teamed up to support. Meanwhile, we've cut our
imports of foreign oil by nearly sixty percent, and
cut carbon pollution more than any other
country on Earth. (applause) Gas under two bucks a
gallon ain't bad, either. (laughter) Now we've got to accelerate
the transition away from dirty energy. Rather than
subsidize the past, we should invest in the
future - especially in communities that
rely on fossil fuels. That's why I'm going to push
to change the way we manage our oil and coal resources,
so that they better reflect the costs they impose on
taxpayers and our planet. That way, we put money back
into those communities and put tens of thousands of
Americans to work building a 21st century
transportation system. (applause) None of this will happen
overnight, and yes, there are plenty of
entrenched interests who want to protect
the status quo. But the jobs we'll create,
the money we'll save, and the planet we'll
preserve - that's the kind of future our kids
and grandkids deserve. And it's within our grasp. Climate change is just one
of many issues where our security is linked to
the rest of the world. And that's why the third big
question we have to answer is how to keep America safe
and strong without either isolating ourselves or
trying to nation-build everywhere
there's a problem. I told you earlier all the
talk of America's economic decline is
political hot air. Well, so is all the rhetoric
you hear about our enemies getting stronger and
America getting weaker. The United States of America
is the most powerful nation on Earth. Period. (applause) It's not even close. (applause) We spend more on our
military than the next eight nations combined. Our troops are the finest
fighting force in the history of the world. (applause) No nation dares to attack us
or our allies because they know that's the
path to ruin. Surveys show our standing
around the world is higher than when I was
elected to this office, and when it comes to every
important international issue, people of the world
do not look to Beijing or Moscow to lead
- they call us. (applause) As someone who begins every
day with an intelligence briefing, I know this
is a dangerous time. But that's not because of
diminished American strength or some looming superpower. In today's world, we're
threatened less by evil empires and more
by failing states. The Middle East is going
through a transformation that will play out
for a generation, rooted in conflicts that
date back millennia. Economic headwinds blow
from a Chinese economy in transition. Even as their
economy contracts, Russia is pouring resources
to prop up Ukraine and Syria - states they see slipping
away from their orbit. And the international system
we built after World War II is now struggling to keep
pace with this new reality. It's up to us to help
remake that system. And that means we have
to set priorities. Priority number one is
protecting the American people and going after
terrorist networks. (applause) Both al Qaeda and now ISIL
pose a direct threat to our people, because
in today's world, even a handful of terrorists
who place no value on human life, including their own,
can do a lot of damage. They use the Internet
to poison the minds of individuals inside
our country; they undermine our allies. But as we focus on
destroying ISIL, over-the-top claims that
this is World War III just play into their hands. Masses of fighters on the
back of pickup trucks and twisted souls plotting in
apartments or garages pose an enormous danger to
civilians and must be stopped. But they do not threaten
our national existence. That's the story
ISIL wants to tell; that's the kind of
propaganda they use to recruit. We don't need to build
them up to show that we're serious, nor do we need to
push away vital allies in this fight by echoing
the lie that ISIL is representative of one of the
world's largest religions. (applause) We just need to call them
what they are - killers and fanatics who have to be
rooted out, hunted down, and destroyed. (applause) That's exactly
what we are doing. For more than a year,
America has led a coalition of more than 60 countries
to cut off ISIL's financing, disrupt their plots, stop
the flow of terrorist fighters, and stamp out
their vicious ideology. With nearly 10,000
air strikes, we are taking out their
leadership, their oil, their training camps,
and their weapons. We are training, arming, and
supporting forces who are steadily reclaiming
territory in Iraq and Syria. If this Congress is serious
about winning this war, and wants to send a message
to our troops and the world, you should finally authorize
the use of military force against ISIL. Take a vote. (applause) But the American people
should know that with or without
Congressional action, ISIL will learn the same
lessons as terrorists before them. If you doubt America's
commitment - or mine - to see that justice is done,
ask Osama bin Laden. (applause) Ask the leader of
al Qaeda in Yemen, who was taken out last year,
or the perpetrator of the Benghazi attacks, who
sits in a prison cell. When you come after
Americans, we go after you. It may take time, but
we have long memories, and our reach has no limit. (applause) Our foreign policy must be
focused on the threat from ISIL and al Qaeda, but
it can't stop there. For even without ISIL,
instability will continue for decades in many parts
of the world - in the Middle East, in Afghanistan
and Pakistan, in parts of Central
America, Africa and Asia. Some of these places may
become safe havens for new terrorist networks; others
will fall victim to ethnic conflict, or famine, feeding
the next wave of refugees. The world will look to us to
help solve these problems, and our answer needs to
be more than tough talk or calls to carpet
bomb civilians. That may work as
a TV sound bite, but it doesn't pass
muster on the world stage. We also can't try to take
over and rebuild every country that
falls into crisis. That's not leadership;
that's a recipe for quagmire, spilling American
blood and treasure that ultimately weakens us. It's the lesson of Vietnam,
of Iraq - and we should have learned it by now. (applause) Fortunately, there's
a smarter approach, a patient and disciplined
strategy that uses every element of our
national power. It says America will always
act, alone if necessary, to protect our people
and our allies; but on issues of
global concern, we will mobilize the
world to work with us, and make sure other
countries pull their own weight. That's our approach to
conflicts like Syria, where we're partnering with
local forces and leading international efforts to
help that broken society pursue a lasting peace. That's why we built
a global coalition, with sanctions and
principled diplomacy, to prevent a
nuclear-armed Iran. As we speak, Iran has rolled
back its nuclear program, shipped out its
uranium stockpile, and the world has
avoided another war. (applause) That's how we stopped the
spread of Ebola in West Africa. (applause) Our military, our doctors,
and our development workers set up the platform that
allowed other countries to join us in stamping
out that epidemic. That's how we forged a
Trans-Pacific Partnership to open markets, protect
workers and the environment, and advance American
leadership in Asia. It cuts 18,000 taxes on
products Made in America, and supports more good jobs. With TPP, China doesn't set
the rules in that region, we do. You want to show our
strength in this century? Approve this agreement. Give us the tools
to enforce it. (applause) Fifty years of isolating
Cuba had failed to promote democracy, setting us
back in Latin America. That's why we restored
diplomatic relations, opened the door to
travel and commerce, and positioned ourselves
to improve the lives of the Cuban people. (applause) You want to consolidate our
leadership and credibility in the hemisphere? Recognize that the
Cold War is over. Lift the embargo. (applause) American leadership in the
21st century is not a choice between ignoring the rest of
the world - except when we kill terrorists; or
occupying and rebuilding whatever society
is unraveling. Leadership means a wise
application of military power, and rallying the
world behind causes that are right. It means seeing our foreign
assistance as part of our national security,
not charity. When we lead nearly
200 nations to the most ambitious agreement in
history to fight climate change - that helps
vulnerable countries, but it also protects
our children. When we help Ukraine
defend its democracy, or Colombia resolve
a decades-long war, that strengthens the
international order we depend upon. When we help African
countries feed their people and care for the sick. (applause) It's the right thing to do. And it prevents the next
pandemic from reaching our shores. Right now, we are on track
to end the scourge of HIV/AIDS, and we have the
capacity to accomplish the same thing with malaria -
something I'll be pushing this Congress to
fund this year. (applause) That's American strength. That's American leadership. And that kind of leadership
depends on the power of our example. That is why I will keep
working to shut down the prison at Guantanamo: it's
expensive, it's unnecessary, and it only serves as a
recruitment brochure for our enemies. (applause) That's why we need to reject
any politics that targets people because of
race or religion. (applause) This is not a matter of
political correctness. It's a matter of
understanding what makes us strong. The world respects us
not just for our arsenal; it respects us for our
diversity and our openness and the way we
respect every faith. His Holiness, Pope Francis,
told this body from the very spot I stand tonight that
"to imitate the hatred and violence of tyrants and
murderers is the best way to take their place." When politicians
insult Muslims, when a mosque is vandalized,
or a kid bullied, that doesn't make us safer. That's not telling
it like it is. It's just wrong. It diminishes us in
the eyes of the world. (applause) It makes it harder
to achieve our goals. And it betrays who
we are as a country. (applause) "We the People." Our Constitution begins with
those three simple words, words we've come to
recognize mean all the people, not just some; words
that insist we rise and fall together. That brings me
to the fourth, and maybe the most important
thing I want to say tonight. The future we want -
opportunity and security for our families; a rising
standard of living and a sustainable, peaceful planet
for our kids - all that is within our reach. But it will only happen
if we work together. It will only happen if
we can have rational, constructive debates. It will only happen if
we fix our politics. A better politics doesn't
mean we have to agree on everything. This is a big country,
with different regions and attitudes and interests. That's one of our
strengths, too. Our Founders distributed
power between states and branches of government,
and expected us to argue, just as they did, over
the size and shape of government, over commerce
and foreign relations, over the meaning of liberty
and the imperatives of security. But democracy does require
basic bonds of trust between its citizens. It doesn't work if we think
the people who disagree with us are all
motivated by malice, or that our political
opponents are unpatriotic. Democracy grinds to a halt
without a willingness to compromise; or when even
basic facts are contested, and we listen only to
those who agree with us. Our public life withers when
only the most extreme voices get attention. Most of all, democracy
breaks down when the average person feels their
voice doesn't matter; that the system is rigged
in favor of the rich or the powerful or some
narrow interest. Too many Americans feel
that way right now. It's one of the few regrets
of my presidency - that the rancor and suspicion between
the parties has gotten worse instead of better. There's no doubt a president
with the gifts of Lincoln or Roosevelt might have
better bridged the divide, and I guarantee I'll keep
trying to be better so long as I hold this office. But, my fellow Americans,
this cannot be my task - or any President's - alone. There are a whole lot of
folks in this chamber who would like to see
more cooperation, a more elevated
debate in Washington, but feel trapped by the
demands of getting elected. I know; you've told me. And if we want a
better politics, it's not enough to just
change a Congressman or a Senator or even a President;
we have to change the system to reflect our
better selves. We have to end the practice
of drawing our congressional districts so that
politicians can pick their voters, and not the
other way around. (applause) We have to reduce the
influence of money in our politics, so that a handful
of families and hidden interests can't bankroll
our elections - and if our existing approach to
campaign finance can't pass muster in the courts, we
need to work together to find a real solution. (applause) We've got to make it
easier to vote, not harder, and modernize it for
the way we live now. (applause) This is America. We want to make it easier
for people to participate. And over the course
of this year, I intend to travel the
country to push for reforms that do just that. But I can't do these
things on my own. Changes in our political
process - in not just who gets elected but how they
get elected - that will only happen when the American
people demand it. It will depend on you. That's what's meant by
a government of, by, and for the people. What I'm asking for is hard. It's easier to be cynical;
to accept that change isn't possible, and
politics is hopeless, and to believe that our
voices and actions don't matter. But if we give up now, then
we forsake a better future. Those with money and power
will gain greater control over the decisions that
could send a young soldier to war, or allow another
economic disaster, or roll back the equal
rights and voting rights that generations of
Americans have fought, even died, to secure. As frustration grows, there
will be voices urging us to fall back into tribes, to
scapegoat fellow citizens who don't look like
us, or pray like us, or vote like we do, or
share the same background. We can't afford to
go down that path. It won't deliver
the economy we want, or the security we
want, but most of all, it contradicts everything
that makes us the envy of the world. So, my fellow Americans,
whatever you may believe, whether you prefer
one party or no party, our collective future
depends on your willingness to uphold your
obligations as a citizen. To vote. To speak out. To stand up for others,
especially the weak, especially the vulnerable,
knowing that each of us is only here because somebody,
somewhere, stood up for us. (applause) We need every American to
stay active in our public life, and not just
during election time, so that our public life
reflects the goodness and the decency that I see in
the American people every single day. It is not easy. Our brand of
democracy is hard. But I can promise that a
little over a year from now, when I no longer
hold this office, I will be right there with
you as a citizen - inspired by those voices of
fairness and vision, of grit and good humor and
kindness that have helped America travel so far. Voices that help us see
ourselves not first and foremost as black or
white or Asian or Latino, not as gay or straight,
immigrant or native born; not as Democrats
or Republicans, but as Americans first,
bound by a common creed. Voices Dr. King believed
would have the final word - voices of unarmed truth
and unconditional love. They're out there,
those voices. They don't get a
lot of attention, nor do they seek it, but
they are busy doing the work this country needs doing. I see them everywhere I
travel in this incredible country of ours. I see you. I know you're there. You're the reason why I have
such incredible confidence in our future. Because I see your quiet,
sturdy citizenship all the time. I see it in the worker
on the assembly line who clocked extra shifts to
keep his company open, and the boss who pays him
higher wages to keep him on board. I see it in the Dreamer who
stays up late to finish her science project, and the
teacher who comes in early because he knows she might
someday cure a disease. I see it in the American
who served his time, and dreams of starting over
- and the business owner who gives him that
second chance. The protester determined to
prove that justice matters, and the young cop
walking the beat, treating everybody with
respect, doing the brave, quiet work of
keeping us safe. I see it in the soldier who
gives almost everything to save his brothers, (applause) the nurse who tends to him
'til he can run a marathon, and the community that
lines up to cheer him on. It's the son who finds the
courage to come out as who he is, and the father whose
love for that son overrides everything he's been taught. I see it in the elderly
woman who will wait in line to cast her vote as
long as she has to; the new citizen who casts
his vote for the first time; the volunteers at the polls
who believe every vote should count, because each
of them in different ways know how much that
precious right is worth. That's the America I know. That's the country we love. Clear-eyed. Big-hearted. Optimistic that unarmed
truth and unconditional love will have the final word. That's what makes me so
hopeful about our future. I believe in change,
because I believe in you. The American people. And that's why I stand here
confident that the State of our Union is strong. Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America. (applause)
