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Discours du président américain Barack
Obama sur l'état de l'Union - 28 janvier 2014
President Barack Obama's
State of the Union Address
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of
Congress, my fellow Americans:
Today in America, a teacher spent extra time with
a student who needed it, and did her part to lift
America’s graduation rate to its highest
level in more than three decades.
An entrepreneur flipped on the lights in her tech
startup, and did her part to add to the more than
eight million new jobs our businesses have
created over the past four years.
An autoworker fine-tuned some of the best, most
fuel-efficient cars in the world, and did his
part to help America wean itself off foreign oil.
A farmer prepared for the spring after the
strongest five-year stretch of farm exports in
our history. A rural doctor gave a young child
the first prescription to treat asthma that his
mother could afford. A man took the bus home from
the graveyard shift, bone-tired but dreaming big
dreams for his son. And in tight-knit communities
across America, fathers and mothers will tuck in
their kids, put an arm around their spouse,
remember fallen comrades, and give thanks for
being home from a war that, after twelve long
years, is finally coming to an end.
Tonight, this chamber speaks with one voice to
the people we represent: it is you, our citizens,
who make the state of our union strong.
Here are the results of your efforts: The lowest
unemployment rate in over five years. A
rebounding housing market. A manufacturing sector
that’s adding jobs for the first time since
the 1990s. More oil produced at home than we buy
from the rest of the world – the first time
that’s happened in nearly twenty years. Our
deficits – cut by more than half. And for
the first time in over a decade, business leaders
around the world have declared that China is no
longer the world’s number one place to
invest; America is.
That’s why I believe this can be a
breakthrough year for America. After five years
of grit and determined effort, the United States
is better-positioned for the 21st century than
any other nation on Earth.
The question for everyone in this chamber,
running through every decision we make this year,
is whether we are going to help or hinder this
progress. For several years now, this town has
been consumed by a rancorous argument over the
proper size of the federal government. It’s
an important debate – one that dates back to
our very founding. But when that debate prevents
us from carrying out even the most basic
functions of our democracy – when our
differences shut down government or threaten the
full faith and credit of the United States –
then we are not doing right by the American
people.
As President, I’m committed to making
Washington work better, and rebuilding the trust
of the people who sent us here. I believe most of
you are, too. Last month, thanks to the work of
Democrats and Republicans, this Congress finally
produced a budget that undoes some of last
year’s severe cuts to priorities like
education. Nobody got everything they wanted, and
we can still do more to invest in this
country’s future while bringing down our
deficit in a balanced way. But the budget
compromise should leave us freer to focus on
creating new jobs, not creating new crises.
In the coming months, let’s see where else
we can make progress together. Let’s make
this a year of action. That’s what most
Americans want – for all of us in this
chamber to focus on their lives, their hopes,
their aspirations. And what I believe unites the
people of this nation, regardless of race or
region or party, young or old, rich or poor, is
the simple, profound belief in opportunity for
all – the notion that if you work hard and
take responsibility, you can get ahead.
Let’s face it: that belief has suffered some
serious blows. Over more than three decades, even
before the Great Recession hit, massive shifts in
technology and global competition had eliminated
a lot of good, middle-class jobs, and weakened
the economic foundations that families depend on.
Today, after four years of economic growth,
corporate profits and stock prices have rarely
been higher, and those at the top have never done
better. But average wages have barely budged.
Inequality has deepened. Upward mobility has
stalled. The cold, hard fact is that even in the
midst of recovery, too many Americans are working
more than ever just to get by – let alone
get ahead. And too many still aren’t working
at all.
Our job is to reverse these trends. It won’t
happen right away, and we won’t agree on
everything. But what I offer tonight is a set of
concrete, practical proposals to speed up growth,
strengthen the middle class, and build new
ladders of opportunity into the middle class.
Some require Congressional action, and I’m
eager to work with all of you. But America does
not stand still – and neither will I. So
wherever and whenever I can take steps without
legislation to expand opportunity for more
American families, that’s what I’m
going to do.
As usual, our First Lady sets a good example.
Michelle’s Let’s Move partnership with
schools, businesses, and local leaders has helped
bring down childhood obesity rates for the first
time in thirty years – an achievement that
will improve lives and reduce health care costs
for decades to come. The Joining Forces alliance
that Michelle and Jill Biden launched has already
encouraged employers to hire or train nearly
400,000 veterans and military spouses. Taking a
page from that playbook, the White House just
organized a College Opportunity Summit where
already, 150 universities, businesses, and
nonprofits have made concrete commitments to
reduce inequality in access to higher education
– and help every hardworking kid go to
college and succeed when they get to campus.
Across the country, we’re partnering with
mayors, governors, and state legislatures on
issues from homelessness to marriage equality.
The point is, there are millions of Americans
outside Washington who are tired of stale
political arguments, and are moving this country
forward. They believe, and I believe, that here
in America, our success should depend not on
accident of birth, but the strength of our work
ethic and the scope of our dreams. That’s
what drew our forebears here. It’s how the
daughter of a factory worker is CEO of
America’s largest automaker; how the son of
a barkeeper is Speaker of the House; how the son
of a single mom can be President of the greatest
nation on Earth.
Opportunity is who we are. And the defining
project of our generation is to restore that
promise.
We know where to start: the best measure of
opportunity is access to a good job. With the
economy picking up speed, companies say they
intend to hire more people this year. And over
half of big manufacturers say they’re
thinking of insourcing jobs from abroad.
So let’s make that decision easier for more
companies. Both Democrats and Republicans have
argued that our tax code is riddled with
wasteful, complicated loopholes that punish
businesses investing here, and reward companies
that keep profits abroad. Let’s flip that
equation. Let’s work together to close those
loopholes, end those incentives to ship jobs
overseas, and lower tax rates for businesses that
create jobs here at home.
Moreover, we can take the money we save with this
transition to tax reform to create jobs
rebuilding our roads, upgrading our ports,
unclogging our commutes – because in
today’s global economy, first-class jobs
gravitate to first-class infrastructure.
We’ll need Congress to protect more than
three million jobs by finishing transportation
and waterways bills this summer. But I will act
on my own to slash bureaucracy and streamline the
permitting process for key projects, so we can
get more construction workers on the job as fast
as possible.
We also have the chance, right now, to beat other
countries in the race for the next wave of
high-tech manufacturing jobs. My administration
has launched two hubs for high-tech manufacturing
in Raleigh and Youngstown, where we’ve
connected businesses to research universities
that can help America lead the world in advanced
technologies. Tonight, I’m announcing
we’ll launch six more this year. Bipartisan
bills in both houses could double the number of
these hubs and the jobs they create. So get those
bills to my desk and put more Americans back to
work.
Let’s do more to help the entrepreneurs and
small business owners who create most new jobs in
America. Over the past five years, my
administration has made more loans to small
business owners than any other. And when
ninety-eight percent of our exporters are small
businesses, new trade partnerships with Europe
and the Asia-Pacific will help them create more
jobs. We need to work together on tools like
bipartisan trade promotion authority to protect
our workers, protect our environment, and open
new markets to new goods stamped “Made in
the USA.” China and Europe aren’t
standing on the sidelines. Neither should we.
We know that the nation that goes all-in on
innovation today will own the global economy
tomorrow. This is an edge America cannot
surrender. Federally-funded research helped lead
to the ideas and inventions behind Google and
smartphones. That’s why Congress should undo
the damage done by last year’s cuts to basic
research so we can unleash the next great
American discovery – whether it’s
vaccines that stay ahead of drug-resistant
bacteria, or paper-thin material that’s
stronger than steel. And let’s pass a patent
reform bill that allows our businesses to stay
focused on innovation, not costly, needless
litigation.
Now, one of the biggest factors in bringing more
jobs back is our commitment to American energy.
The all-of-the-above energy strategy I announced
a few years ago is working, and today, America is
closer to energy independence than we’ve
been in decades.
One of the reasons why is natural gas – if
extracted safely, it’s the bridge fuel that
can power our economy with less of the carbon
pollution that causes climate change. Businesses
plan to invest almost $100 billion in new
factories that use natural gas. I’ll cut red
tape to help states get those factories built,
and this Congress can help by putting people to
work building fueling stations that shift more
cars and trucks from foreign oil to American
natural gas. My administration will keep working
with the industry to sustain production and job
growth while strengthening protection of our air,
our water, and our communities. And while
we’re at it, I’ll use my authority to
protect more of our pristine federal lands for
future generations.
It’s not just oil and natural gas production
that’s booming; we’re becoming a global
leader in solar, too. Every four minutes, another
American home or business goes solar; every panel
pounded into place by a worker whose job
can’t be outsourced. Let’s continue
that progress with a smarter tax policy that
stops giving $4 billion a year to fossil fuel
industries that don’t need it, so that we
can invest more in fuels of the future that do.
And even as we’ve increased energy
production, we’ve partnered with businesses,
builders, and local communities to reduce the
energy we consume. When we rescued our
automakers, for example, we worked with them to
set higher fuel efficiency standards for our
cars. In the coming months, I’ll build on
that success by setting new standards for our
trucks, so we can keep driving down oil imports
and what we pay at the pump.
Taken together, our energy policy is creating
jobs and leading to a cleaner, safer planet. Over
the past eight years, the United States has
reduced our total carbon pollution more than any
other nation on Earth. But we have to act with
more urgency – because a changing climate is
already harming western communities struggling
with drought, and coastal cities dealing with
floods. That’s why I directed my
administration to work with states, utilities,
and others to set new standards on the amount of
carbon pollution our power plants are allowed to
dump into the air. The shift to a cleaner energy
economy won’t happen overnight, and it will
require tough choices along the way. But the
debate is settled. Climate change is a fact. And
when our children’s children look us in the
eye and ask if we did all we could to leave them
a safer, more stable world, with new sources of
energy, I want us to be able to say yes, we did.
Finally, if we are serious about economic growth,
it is time to heed the call of business leaders,
labor leaders, faith leaders, and law enforcement
– and fix our broken immigration system.
Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have
acted. I know that members of both parties in the
House want to do the same. Independent economists
say immigration reform will grow our economy and
shrink our deficits by almost $1 trillion in the
next two decades. And for good reason: when
people come here to fulfill their dreams –
to study, invent, and contribute to our culture
– they make our country a more attractive
place for businesses to locate and create jobs
for everyone. So let’s get immigration
reform done this year.
The ideas I’ve outlined so far can speed up
growth and create more jobs. But in this
rapidly-changing economy, we have to make sure
that every American has the skills to fill those
jobs.
The good news is, we know how to do it. Two years
ago, as the auto industry came roaring back,
Andra Rush opened up a manufacturing firm in
Detroit. She knew that Ford needed parts for the
best-selling truck in America, and she knew how
to make them. She just needed the workforce. So
she dialed up what we call an American Job Center
– places where folks can walk in to get the
help or training they need to find a new job, or
better job. She was flooded with new workers. And
today, Detroit Manufacturing Systems has more
than 700 employees.
What Andra and her employees experienced is how
it should be for every employer – and every
job seeker. So tonight, I’ve asked Vice
President Biden to lead an across-the-board
reform of America’s training programs to
make sure they have one mission: train Americans
with the skills employers need, and match them to
good jobs that need to be filled right now. That
means more on-the-job training, and more
apprenticeships that set a young worker on an
upward trajectory for life. It means connecting
companies to community colleges that can help
design training to fill their specific needs. And
if Congress wants to help, you can concentrate
funding on proven programs that connect more
ready-to-work Americans with ready-to-be-filled
jobs.
I’m also convinced we can help Americans
return to the workforce faster by reforming
unemployment insurance so that it’s more
effective in today’s economy. But first,
this Congress needs to restore the unemployment
insurance you just let expire for 1.6 million
people.
Let me tell you why.
Misty DeMars is a mother of two young boys.
She’d been steadily employed since she was a
teenager. She put herself through college.
She’d never collected unemployment benefits.
In May, she and her husband used their life
savings to buy their first home. A week later,
budget cuts claimed the job she loved. Last
month, when their unemployment insurance was cut
off, she sat down and wrote me a letter –
the kind I get every day. “We are the face
of the unemployment crisis,” she wrote.
“I am not dependent on the
government…Our country depends on people
like us who build careers, contribute to
society…care about our neighbors…I am
confident that in time I will find a job…I
will pay my taxes, and we will raise our children
in their own home in the community we love.
Please give us this chance.”
Congress, give these hardworking, responsible
Americans that chance. They need our help, but
more important, this country needs them in the
game. That’s why I’ve been asking CEOs
to give more long-term unemployed workers a fair
shot at that new job and new chance to support
their families; this week, many will come to the
White House to make that commitment real.
Tonight, I ask every business leader in America
to join us and to do the same – because we
are stronger when America fields a full team.
Of course, it’s not enough to train
today’s workforce. We also have to prepare
tomorrow’s workforce, by guaranteeing every
child access to a world-class education.
Estiven Rodriguez couldn’t speak a word of
English when he moved to New York City at age
nine. But last month, thanks to the support of
great teachers and an innovative tutoring
program, he led a march of his classmates –
through a crowd of cheering parents and neighbors
– from their high school to the post office,
where they mailed off their college applications.
And this son of a factory worker just found out
he’s going to college this fall.
Five years ago, we set out to change the odds for
all our kids. We worked with lenders to reform
student loans, and today, more young people are
earning college degrees than ever before. Race to
the Top, with the help of governors from both
parties, has helped states raise expectations and
performance. Teachers and principals in schools
from Tennessee to Washington, D.C. are making big
strides in preparing students with skills for the
new economy – problem solving, critical
thinking, science, technology, engineering, and
math. Some of this change is hard. It requires
everything from more challenging curriculums and
more demanding parents to better support for
teachers and new ways to measure how well our
kids think, not how well they can fill in a
bubble on a test. But it’s worth it –
and it’s working.
The problem is we’re still not reaching
enough kids, and we’re not reaching them in
time. That has to change.
Research shows that one of the best investments
we can make in a child’s life is
high-quality early education. Last year, I asked
this Congress to help states make high-quality
pre-K available to every four year-old. As a
parent as well as a President, I repeat that
request tonight. But in the meantime, thirty
states have raised pre-k funding on their own.
They know we can’t wait. So just as we
worked with states to reform our schools, this
year, we’ll invest in new partnerships with
states and communities across the country in a
race to the top for our youngest children. And as
Congress decides what it’s going to do,
I’m going to pull together a coalition of
elected officials, business leaders, and
philanthropists willing to help more kids access
the high-quality pre-K they need.
Last year, I also pledged to connect 99 percent
of our students to high-speed broadband over the
next four years. Tonight, I can announce that
with the support of the FCC and companies like
Apple, Microsoft, Sprint, and Verizon, we’ve
got a down payment to start connecting more than
15,000 schools and twenty million students over
the next two years, without adding a dime to the
deficit.
We’re working to redesign high schools and
partner them with colleges and employers that
offer the real-world education and hands-on
training that can lead directly to a job and
career. We’re shaking up our system of
higher education to give parents more
information, and colleges more incentives to
offer better value, so that no middle-class kid
is priced out of a college education. We’re
offering millions the opportunity to cap their
monthly student loan payments to ten percent of
their income, and I want to work with Congress to
see how we can help even more Americans who feel
trapped by student loan debt. And I’m
reaching out to some of America’s leading
foundations and corporations on a new initiative
to help more young men of color facing tough odds
stay on track and reach their full potential.
The bottom line is, Michelle and I want every
child to have the same chance this country gave
us. But we know our opportunity agenda won’t
be complete – and too many young people
entering the workforce today will see the
American Dream as an empty promise – unless
we do more to make sure our economy honors the
dignity of work, and hard work pays off for every
single American.
Today, women make up about half our workforce.
But they still make 77 cents for every dollar a
man earns. That is wrong, and in 2014, it’s
an embarrassment. A woman deserves equal pay for
equal work. She deserves to have a baby without
sacrificing her job. A mother deserves a day off
to care for a sick child or sick parent without
running into hardship – and you know what, a
father does, too. It’s time to do away with
workplace policies that belong in a “Mad
Men” episode. This year, let’s all come
together – Congress, the White House, and
businesses from Wall Street to Main Street –
to give every woman the opportunity she deserves.
Because I firmly believe when women succeed,
America succeeds.
Now, women hold a majority of lower-wage jobs
– but they’re not the only ones stifled
by stagnant wages. Americans understand that some
people will earn more than others, and we
don’t resent those who, by virtue of their
efforts, achieve incredible success. But
Americans overwhelmingly agree that no one who
works full time should ever have to raise a
family in poverty.
In the year since I asked this Congress to raise
the minimum wage, five states have passed laws to
raise theirs. Many businesses have done it on
their own. Nick Chute is here tonight with his
boss, John Soranno. John’s an owner of Punch
Pizza in Minneapolis, and Nick helps make the
dough. Only now he makes more of it: John just
gave his employees a raise, to ten bucks an hour
– a decision that eased their financial
stress and boosted their morale.
Tonight, I ask more of America’s business
leaders to follow John’s lead and do what
you can to raise your employees’ wages. To
every mayor, governor, and state legislator in
America, I say, you don’t have to wait for
Congress to act; Americans will support you if
you take this on. And as a chief executive, I
intend to lead by example. Profitable
corporations like Costco see higher wages as the
smart way to boost productivity and reduce
turnover. We should too. In the coming weeks, I
will issue an Executive Order requiring federal
contractors to pay their federally-funded
employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour
– because if you cook our troops’ meals
or wash their dishes, you shouldn’t have to
live in poverty.
Of course, to reach millions more, Congress needs
to get on board. Today, the federal minimum wage
is worth about twenty percent less than it was
when Ronald Reagan first stood here. Tom Harkin
and George Miller have a bill to fix that by
lifting the minimum wage to $10.10. This will
help families. It will give businesses customers
with more money to spend. It doesn’t involve
any new bureaucratic program. So join the rest of
the country. Say yes. Give America a raise.
There are other steps we can take to help
families make ends meet, and few are more
effective at reducing inequality and helping
families pull themselves up through hard work
than the Earned Income Tax Credit. Right now, it
helps about half of all parents at some point.
But I agree with Republicans like Senator Rubio
that it doesn’t do enough for single workers
who don’t have kids. So let’s work
together to strengthen the credit, reward work,
and help more Americans get ahead.
Let’s do more to help Americans save for
retirement. Today, most workers don’t have a
pension. A Social Security check often isn’t
enough on its own. And while the stock market has
doubled over the last five years, that
doesn’t help folks who don’t have
401ks. That’s why, tomorrow, I will direct
the Treasury to create a new way for working
Americans to start their own retirement savings:
MyRA. It’s a new savings bond that
encourages folks to build a nest egg. MyRA
guarantees a decent return with no risk of losing
what you put in. And if this Congress wants to
help, work with me to fix an upside-down tax code
that gives big tax breaks to help the wealthy
save, but does little to nothing for middle-class
Americans. Offer every American access to an
automatic IRA on the job, so they can save at
work just like everyone in this chamber can. And
since the most important investment many families
make is their home, send me legislation that
protects taxpayers from footing the bill for a
housing crisis ever again, and keeps the dream of
homeownership alive for future generations of
Americans.
One last point on financial security. For
decades, few things exposed hard-working families
to economic hardship more than a broken health
care system. And in case you haven’t heard,
we’re in the process of fixing that.
A pre-existing condition used to mean that
someone like Amanda Shelley, a physician
assistant and single mom from Arizona,
couldn’t get health insurance. But on
January 1st, she got covered. On January 3rd, she
felt a sharp pain. On January 6th, she had
emergency surgery. Just one week earlier, Amanda
said, that surgery would’ve meant
bankruptcy.
That’s what health insurance reform is all
about – the peace of mind that if misfortune
strikes, you don’t have to lose everything.
Already, because of the Affordable Care Act, more
than three million Americans under age 26 have
gained coverage under their parents’ plans.
More than nine million Americans have signed up
for private health insurance or Medicaid
coverage.
And here’s another number: zero. Because of
this law, no American can ever again be dropped
or denied coverage for a preexisting condition
like asthma, back pain, or cancer. No woman can
ever be charged more just because she’s a
woman. And we did all this while adding years to
Medicare’s finances, keeping Medicare
premiums flat, and lowering prescription costs
for millions of seniors.
Now, I don’t expect to convince my
Republican friends on the merits of this law. But
I know that the American people aren’t
interested in refighting old battles. So again,
if you have specific plans to cut costs, cover
more people, and increase choice – tell
America what you’d do differently.
Let’s see if the numbers add up. But
let’s not have another forty-something votes
to repeal a law that’s already helping
millions of Americans like Amanda. The first
forty were plenty. We got it. We all owe it to
the American people to say what we’re for,
not just what we’re against.
And if you want to know the real impact this law
is having, just talk to Governor Steve Beshear of
Kentucky, who’s here tonight.
Kentucky’s not the most liberal part of the
country, but he’s like a man possessed when
it comes to covering his commonwealth’s
families. “They are our friends and
neighbors,” he said. “They are people
we shop and go to church with…farmers out on
the tractors…grocery clerks…they are
people who go to work every morning praying they
don’t get sick. No one deserves to live that
way.”
Steve’s right. That’s why, tonight, I
ask every American who knows someone without
health insurance to help them get covered by
March 31st. Moms, get on your kids to sign up.
Kids, call your mom and walk her through the
application. It will give her some peace of mind
– plus, she’ll appreciate hearing from
you.
After all, that’s the spirit that has always
moved this nation forward. It’s the spirit
of citizenship – the recognition that
through hard work and responsibility, we can
pursue our individual dreams, but still come
together as one American family to make sure the
next generation can pursue its dreams as well.
Citizenship means standing up for everyone’s
right to vote. Last year, part of the Voting
Rights Act was weakened. But conservative
Republicans and liberal Democrats are working
together to strengthen it; and the bipartisan
commission I appointed last year has offered
reforms so that no one has to wait more than a
half hour to vote. Let’s support these
efforts. It should be the power of our vote, not
the size of our bank account, that drives our
democracy.
Citizenship means standing up for the lives that
gun violence steals from us each day. I have seen
the courage of parents, students, pastors, and
police officers all over this country who say
“we are not afraid,” and I intend to
keep trying, with or without Congress, to help
stop more tragedies from visiting innocent
Americans in our movie theaters, shopping malls,
or schools like Sandy Hook.
Citizenship demands a sense of common cause;
participation in the hard work of
self-government; an obligation to serve to our
communities. And I know this chamber agrees that
few Americans give more to their country than our
diplomats and the men and women of the United
States Armed Forces.
Tonight, because of the extraordinary troops and
civilians who risk and lay down their lives to
keep us free, the United States is more secure.
When I took office, nearly 180,000 Americans were
serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, all our
troops are out of Iraq. More than 60,000 of our
troops have already come home from Afghanistan.
With Afghan forces now in the lead for their own
security, our troops have moved to a support
role. Together with our allies, we will complete
our mission there by the end of this year, and
America’s longest war will finally be over.
After 2014, we will support a unified Afghanistan
as it takes responsibility for its own future. If
the Afghan government signs a security agreement
that we have negotiated, a small force of
Americans could remain in Afghanistan with NATO
allies to carry out two narrow missions: training
and assisting Afghan forces, and counterterrorism
operations to pursue any remnants of al Qaeda.
For while our relationship with Afghanistan will
change, one thing will not: our resolve that
terrorists do not launch attacks against our
country.
The fact is, that danger remains. While we have
put al Qaeda’s core leadership on a path to
defeat, the threat has evolved, as al Qaeda
affiliates and other extremists take root in
different parts of the world. In Yemen, Somalia,
Iraq, and Mali, we have to keep working with
partners to disrupt and disable these networks.
In Syria, we’ll support the opposition that
rejects the agenda of terrorist networks. Here at
home, we’ll keep strengthening our defenses,
and combat new threats like cyberattacks. And as
we reform our defense budget, we have to keep
faith with our men and women in uniform, and
invest in the capabilities they need to succeed
in future missions.
We have to remain vigilant. But I strongly
believe our leadership and our security cannot
depend on our military alone. As
Commander-in-Chief, I have used force when needed
to protect the American people, and I will never
hesitate to do so as long as I hold this office.
But I will not send our troops into harm’s
way unless it’s truly necessary; nor will I
allow our sons and daughters to be mired in
open-ended conflicts. We must fight the battles
that need to be fought, not those that terrorists
prefer from us – large-scale deployments
that drain our strength and may ultimately feed
extremism.
So, even as we aggressively pursue terrorist
networks – through more targeted efforts and
by building the capacity of our foreign partners
– America must move off a permanent war
footing. That’s why I’ve imposed
prudent limits on the use of drones – for we
will not be safer if people abroad believe we
strike within their countries without regard for
the consequence. That’s why, working with
this Congress, I will reform our surveillance
programs – because the vital work of our
intelligence community depends on public
confidence, here and abroad, that the privacy of
ordinary people is not being violated. And with
the Afghan war ending, this needs to be the year
Congress lifts the remaining restrictions on
detainee transfers and we close the prison at
Guantanamo Bay – because we counter
terrorism not just through intelligence and
military action, but by remaining true to our
Constitutional ideals, and setting an example for
the rest of the world.
You see, in a world of complex threats, our
security and leadership depends on all elements
of our power – including strong and
principled diplomacy. American diplomacy has
rallied more than fifty countries to prevent
nuclear materials from falling into the wrong
hands, and allowed us to reduce our own reliance
on Cold War stockpiles. American diplomacy,
backed by the threat of force, is why
Syria’s chemical weapons are being
eliminated, and we will continue to work with the
international community to usher in the future
the Syrian people deserve – a future free of
dictatorship, terror and fear. As we speak,
American diplomacy is supporting Israelis and
Palestinians as they engage in difficult but
necessary talks to end the conflict there; to
achieve dignity and an independent state for
Palestinians, and lasting peace and security for
the State of Israel – a Jewish state that
knows America will always be at their side.
And it is American diplomacy, backed by pressure,
that has halted the progress of Iran’s
nuclear program – and rolled parts of that
program back – for the very first time in a
decade. As we gather here tonight, Iran has begun
to eliminate its stockpile of higher levels of
enriched uranium. It is not installing advanced
centrifuges. Unprecedented inspections help the
world verify, every day, that Iran is not
building a bomb. And with our allies and
partners, we’re engaged in negotiations to
see if we can peacefully achieve a goal we all
share: preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear
weapon.
These negotiations will be difficult. They may
not succeed. We are clear-eyed about Iran’s
support for terrorist organizations like
Hezbollah, which threaten our allies; and the
mistrust between our nations cannot be wished
away. But these negotiations do not rely on
trust; any long-term deal we agree to must be
based on verifiable action that convinces us and
the international community that Iran is not
building a nuclear bomb. If John F. Kennedy and
Ronald Reagan could negotiate with the Soviet
Union, then surely a strong and confident America
can negotiate with less powerful adversaries
today.
The sanctions that we put in place helped make
this opportunity possible. But let me be clear:
if this Congress sends me a new sanctions bill
now that threatens to derail these talks, I will
veto it. For the sake of our national security,
we must give diplomacy a chance to succeed. If
Iran’s leaders do not seize this
opportunity, then I will be the first to call for
more sanctions, and stand ready to exercise all
options to make sure Iran does not build a
nuclear weapon. But if Iran’s leaders do
seize the chance, then Iran could take an
important step to rejoin the community of
nations, and we will have resolved one of the
leading security challenges of our time without
the risks of war.
Finally, let’s remember that our leadership
is defined not just by our defense against
threats, but by the enormous opportunities to do
good and promote understanding around the globe
– to forge greater cooperation, to expand
new markets, to free people from fear and want.
And no one is better positioned to take advantage
of those opportunities than America.
Our alliance with Europe remains the strongest
the world has ever known. From Tunisia to Burma,
we’re supporting those who are willing to do
the hard work of building democracy. In Ukraine,
we stand for the principle that all people have
the right to express themselves freely and
peacefully, and have a say in their
country’s future. Across Africa, we’re
bringing together businesses and governments to
double access to electricity and help end extreme
poverty. In the Americas, we are building new
ties of commerce, but we’re also expanding
cultural and educational exchanges among young
people. And we will continue to focus on the
Asia-Pacific, where we support our allies, shape
a future of greater security and prosperity, and
extend a hand to those devastated by disaster
– as we did in the Philippines, when our
Marines and civilians rushed to aid those
battered by a typhoon, and were greeted with
words like, “We will never forget your
kindness” and “God bless America!”
We do these things because they help promote our
long-term security. And we do them because we
believe in the inherent dignity and equality of
every human being, regardless of race or
religion, creed or sexual orientation. And next
week, the world will see one expression of that
commitment – when Team USA marches the red,
white, and blue into the Olympic Stadium –
and brings home the gold.
My fellow Americans, no other country in the
world does what we do. On every issue, the world
turns to us, not simply because of the size of
our economy or our military might – but
because of the ideals we stand for, and the
burdens we bear to advance them.
No one knows this better than those who serve in
uniform. As this time of war draws to a close, a
new generation of heroes returns to civilian
life. We’ll keep slashing that backlog so
our veterans receive the benefits they’ve
earned, and our wounded warriors receive the
health care – including the mental health
care – that they need. We’ll keep
working to help all our veterans translate their
skills and leadership into jobs here at home. And
we all continue to join forces to honor and
support our remarkable military families.
Let me tell you about one of those families
I’ve come to know.
I first met Cory Remsburg, a proud Army Ranger,
at Omaha Beach on the 65th anniversary of D-Day.
Along with some of his fellow Rangers, he walked
me through the program – a strong,
impressive young man, with an easy manner, sharp
as a tack. We joked around, and took pictures,
and I told him to stay in touch.
A few months later, on his tenth deployment, Cory
was nearly killed by a massive roadside bomb in
Afghanistan. His comrades found him in a canal,
face down, underwater, shrapnel in his brain.
For months, he lay in a coma. The next time I met
him, in the hospital, he couldn’t speak; he
could barely move. Over the years, he’s
endured dozens of surgeries and procedures, and
hours of grueling rehab every day.
Even now, Cory is still blind in one eye. He
still struggles on his left side. But slowly,
steadily, with the support of caregivers like his
dad Craig, and the community around him, Cory has
grown stronger. Day by day, he’s learned to
speak again and stand again and walk again –
and he’s working toward the day when he can
serve his country again.
“My recovery has not been easy,” he
says. “Nothing in life that’s worth
anything is easy.”
Cory is here tonight. And like the Army he loves,
like the America he serves, Sergeant First Class
Cory Remsburg never gives up, and he does not
quit.
My fellow Americans, men and women like Cory
remind us that America has never come easy. Our
freedom, our democracy, has never been easy.
Sometimes we stumble; we make mistakes; we get
frustrated or discouraged. But for more than two
hundred years, we have put those things aside and
placed our collective shoulder to the wheel of
progress – to create and build and expand
the possibilities of individual achievement; to
free other nations from tyranny and fear; to
promote justice, and fairness, and equality under
the law, so that the words set to paper by our
founders are made real for every citizen. The
America we want for our kids – a rising
America where honest work is plentiful and
communities are strong; where prosperity is
widely shared and opportunity for all lets us go
as far as our dreams and toil will take us –
none of it is easy. But if we work together; if
we summon what is best in us, with our feet
planted firmly in today but our eyes cast towards
tomorrow – I know it’s within our
reach.
Believe it.
God bless you, and God bless the United States of
America.
Source : Maison
Blanche (White House), 28
janvier 2014
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