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We Have To Stand Up For These Issues When It's Tough, And That's What I've Done. I Did It When I Was In The State Legislature, Sponsoring The Illinois Version Of The Dream Act, So That Children Who Were Brought Here Through No Fault Of Their Own Are Able To Go To College, Because We Actually Want Well-educated Kids In Our Country Who Are Able To Succeed And Become Part Of This Economy And Part Of The American Dream.

-Barack Obama

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We Have To Stand

Barack Obama

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We Have To Stand Up For These Issues When It's Tough, And That's What I've Done. I Did It When I Was In The State Legislature, Sponsoring The Illinois Version Of The Dream Act, So That Children Who Were Brought Here Through No Fault Of Their Own Are Able To Go To College, Because We Actually Want Well-educated Kids In Our Country Who Are Able To Succeed And Become Part Of This Economy And Part Of The American Dream.

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When You Try To Sow The Seeds Of Doubt In People`s Minds About The Legitimacy Of Our Election, That Undermines Democracy. Then You`re Doing The Work Of Our Adversaries For Them.

We Did Not Come To Fear The Future. We Came Here To Shape It.

The Democrats Are Using The Human Trafficking Bill's Language That's Been There For 40 Years, Regarding The Use Of Federal Funds For Abortion.

Many Of You Know That I Got My Name, Barack, From My Father. What You May Not Know Is Barack Is Actually Swahili For 'that One.' And I Got My Middle Name From Somebody Who Obviously Didn't Think I'd Ever Run For President.

One Of The Things That I Am Concerned About Is The Degree To Which We've Seen A Lot Of Commentary Lately Where There Were, There Are Republicans Or Pundits Or Cable Commentators Who Seemed To Have More Confidence In Vladimir Putin Than Fellow Americans Because Those Fellow Americans Were Democrats. That Cannot Be.

Those Are The Ladies Sitting In Church. And In The Same Way That They Might Feel A Joy And Release On Sunday, They Are Still Going To Work On Monday. And That's Who I Was Listening To During This Process. And If At The End Of My Presidency They Feel Like I Did A Pretty Good Job, Then I'll Feel Pretty Good.

In America, One Of Our Challenges, Historically, Is That We Have Very Low Voting Rates, Even During Presidential Elections.

We Have Reaffirmed Again And Again That The United States Is Not And Never Will Be At War With Islam. Islam Teaches Peace, And When It Comes To America And Islam, There Is No Us And Them, There's Only Us, Because Millions Of Muslim Americans Are Part Of The Fabric Of Our Country. So, We Reject Any Suggestion Of A Clash Of Civilizations.

The Goal Of This Office Will Not Be To Favor One Religious Group Over Another - Or Even Religious Groups Over Secular Groups. It Will Simply Be To Work On Behalf Of Those Organizations That Want To Work On Behalf Of Our Communities, And To Do So Without Blurring The Line That Our Founders Wisely Drew Between Church And State.

We Can Give Our Intelligence And Law Enforcement Community The Powers They Need To Track Down And Take Out Terrorists Without Undermining Our Commitment To The Rule Of Law, Or Our Basic Rights And Liberties.

Of Course, There's Been A Real Debate About Where To Invest And Where To Cut, And I'm Committed To Working With Members Of Both Parties To Cut Our Deficits And Debt. But We Can't Simply Cut Our Way To Prosperity.

So Long As I'm Commander-in-chief, We Will Sustain The Strongest Military The World Has Ever Known. When You Take Off The Uniform, We Will Serve You As Well As You've Served Us - Because No One Who Fights For This Country Should Have To Fight For A Job, Or A Roof Over Their Head, Or The Care That They Need When They Come Home.

A Good Gi Bill Would Increase The Recruit Pool.

And So You [young Americans]need To Be The Idea Generation. The Generation Who's Always Thinking On The Cutting Edge, Who's Wondering How To Create And Keep The Next Wave Of American Jobs And American Innovations, Who's Figuring Out How To Out-compete The Idea Generations Of Indias And Chinas Of The World.

But What I Would Say To My Successor Is That It Is Important Not Just To Shoot But To Aim. And It Is Important, In This Seat, To Make Sure That You're Making Your Best Judgments Based On Data, Intelligence, The Information That's Coming From Your Commanders And Folks On The Ground And You're Not Being Swayed By Politics.

Together, We're Going To Finish The Job We Started.

While Freedom Is A Gift From God, It Must Be Secured By His People Here On Earth.

It's Useful For Activists Just To Be Out There To Keep You Mindful And Not Get Complacent, Even If Ultimately You Think Some Of Their Criticism Is Misguided.

My Particular Worries On Any Given Day - How I'm Doing In The Polls Or What Somebody Is Saying About Me... For Good Or For Ill - Isn't Particularly Relevant. What Is Relevant Is: What Am I Building That Lasts?

I Think That We Are In A Position To Continue To Make Progress, But It's Gonna Require Us To Both Recognize What The Problems Are, Also Recognize The Progress We've Made. Last Point I'd Make On This, Since We're On Criminal Justice: During The Course Of My Presidency Crime Has Been The Lowest It's Been Probably Since The '60s.

If We Choose Only To Expose Ourselves To Opinions And Viewpoints That Are In Line To Our Own, We Become More Polarized, More Set In Our Own Ways. It Will Only Reinforce And Deepen The Political Divides In Our Country. But If We Choose To Actively Seek Out Information That Challenges Our Assumptions And Beliefs, Perhaps We Can Begin To Understand Where The People Who Disagree With Us Are Coming From.

I Take The Constitution Very Seriously. The Biggest Problems That We're Facing Right Now Have To Do With [the President] Trying To Bring More And More Power Into The Executive Branch And Not Go Through Congress At All. And That's What I Intend To Reverse When I'm President Of The United States Of America.

Robin Williams Was An Airman, A Doctor, A Genie, A Nanny, A President, A Professor, A Bangarang Peter Pan, And Everything In Between. But He Was One Of A Kind. He Arrived In Our Lives As An Alien - But He Ended Up Touching Every Element Of The Human Spirit. He Made Us Laugh. He Made Us Cry. He Gave His Immeasurable Talent Freely And Generously To Those Who Needed It Most - From Our Troops Stationed Abroad To The Marginalized On Our Own Streets. The Obama Family Offers Our Condolences To Robin’s Family, His Friends, And Everyone Who Found Their Voice And Their Verse Thanks To Robin Williams.

There Is Nothing Wrong With Our Country, There Is Something Wrong With Our Politics...when This Country Is Operating Off A Common Ground, Nobody Can Stop Us. But When We're Divided, Then We End Up Having A Whole Lot Of Self-inflicted Problems.

Keeping The People's Government Open Is Not A Concession To Me. Keeping Vital Service Running And Hundreds Of Thousands Of Americans On The Job Is Not Something You 'give' To The Other Side.

The Most Powerful Political Moments For Me Come When I Feel Like My Actions Are Aligned With A Certain Truth. I Can Feel It. When I'm Talking To A Group And I'm Saying Something Truthful, I Can Feel A Power That Comes Out Of Those Statements That Is Different Than When I'm Just Being Glib Or Clever.

In Sectors Like Energy, I Haven't Been Arguing For More Spending Per Se; I've Been Arguing That It Doesn't Make Sense For Us To Spend $4 Billion Subsidizing An Oil Industry That's Mature And Very Profitable. We Should Be Using That Money To Finance Clean Energy Of The Future.

Throughout History, The Arts And Humanities Have Helped Men And Women Around The Globe Grapple With The Most Challenging Questions And Come To Know The Most Basic Truths. In Our Increasingly Interconnected World, The Arts Play An Important Role In Both Shaping The Character That Defines Us And Reminding Us Of Our Shared Humanity. This Month, We Celebrate Our Nation's Arts And Humanities, And We Recommit To Ensuring All Americans Can Access And Experience Them.

We've Got To Identify New Strategies To Use Cleaner Energy, Because That Is A Recipe For Reducing The Overall Amount Of Pollution That's Out There.

This Is What I Would Call Old Politics. This Is The Stuff We're Trying To Get Rid Of. Because The Problem Is, When We Start Breaking Down Into Conservative And Liberal, And We've Got A Bunch Of Set Predispositions, Whether It's On Gun Control, Or Its' On Health Care, Any Attempt To Do Health Care Is Socialized Medicine.

If You're One Of The More Than 250 Million Americans Who Already Have Health Insurance, You Will Keep Your Health Insurance. This Law Will Only Make It More Secure And More Affordable.

Of Course, Israel Cannot Be Expected To Negotiate With Anyone Who Is Dedicated To Its Destruction. But While I Know You Have Had Differences With The Palestinian Authority, I Believe That You Do Have A True Partner In President Abbas.

I Consider It Part Of My Responsibility As President Of The United States To Fight Against Negative Stereotypes Of Islam Wherever They Appear.

I'm Never Surprised By Controversies That Are Whipped Up In Washington.

Now, I Swore An Oath To Uphold The Laws On The Books... Now, I Know Some People Want Me To Bypass Congress And Change The Laws On My Own... Believe Me, The Idea Of Doing Things On My Own Is Very Tempting. I Promise You. Not Just On Immigration Reform. But That's Not How - That's Not How Our System Works. That's Not How Our Democracy Functions. Thats Not How Our Constitution Is Written.

A Person’s Zip Code Shouldn’t Decide Their Destiny.

Ultimately, I Remain Optimistic About Not Just America's Future, But The Direction That The World Is Growing.

America Remains The One Indispensable Nation. And The World Needs A Strong America.

Hillary Clinton Was An Outstanding Secretary Of State. She Would Never Intentionally Put America In Any Kind Of Jeopardy.

When Times Change, So Must We.

Our Pride Is Based On A Very Simple Premise, Summed Up In A Declaration Made Over Two Hundred Years Ago.

My Administration Doesn’t Have Any Secrets, And From Now On, Neither Will You.

We Shouldn't Assume That Government Is Always Trying To Do The Wrong Thing.

If You're Really Concerned About Deficits, You Cannot Take Seriously A Budget That Would Give $30 Billion A Year Worth Of Tax Cuts To Not Just The Top 1 Percent But The Top 0.1 Percent.

We Can't Wait For Congress To Do Its Job. So Where They Won't Act, I Will.

[two Of The Most Unpopular Presidential Candidates Selected By The Two Parties In History] Indicates That There Is A Lot Of Cynicism Out There. It Indicates That The Corrosive Nature Of Everything From Talk Radio To Fake News To Negative Advertising Has Made People Lack Confidence In A Lot Of Our Existing Institutions.

Non-islamic, Non-foreign-motivated Terrorist Actions Have Killed At Least As Many Americans On American Soil As Those Who Were Promoted By Jihadists. But What We Have Also Seen Is Isil Evolve, Because Of The Sophistication Of Their Social Media, To A Point Where They May Be Inspiring More Attacks - Even If They're Self-initiated, Even If They Don't Involve Complex Planning - Than We Would Have Seen Some Time Ago.

Of Course, There Is No Question That Libya - And The World - Will Be Better Off With Gaddafi Out Of Power. I, Along With Many Other World Leaders, Have Embraced That Goal, And Will Actively Pursue It Through Non-military Means. But Broadening Our Military Mission To Include Regime Change Would Be A Mistake.

We Are Growing The Economy In Smart Ways And Rebuilding Our Infrastructure And Investing In Science And Development And That We Stay True To Those Values That Helped To Get Us Here.

We, The People, Declare Today That The Most Evident Of Truths - That All Of Us Are Created Equal - Is The Star That Guides Us Still; Just As It Guided Our Forebears Through Seneca Falls, And Selma, And Stonewall; Just As It Guided All Those Men And Women, Sung And Unsung, Who Left Footprints Along This Great Mall, To Hear A Preacher Say That We Cannot Walk Alone; To Hear A King Proclaim That Our Individual Freedom Is Inextricably Bound To The Freedom Of Every Soul On Earth.

I Think At Times Of Significant Stress People Are Going To Be Looking For Something And They Don't Always Know Exactly What It Is That They're Looking For And They May Opt For Change Even If They're Not Entirely Confident What That Change Will Bring.

In Our Household, The Bible, The Koran And The Bhagavad Gita Sat On The Shelf Alongside Books Of Greek And Norse And African Mythology

This Is A Matter Of Congress Authorizes Spending. They Order Me To Spend.

What I Think Is Fair To Say Is That, Coming Out Of The Republican Camp, There Have Been Efforts To Suggest That Perhaps I'm Not Who I Say I Am When It Comes To My Faith - Something Which I Find Deeply Offensive, And That Has Been Going On For A Pretty Long Time.

Climate Change Constitutes A Serious Threat To Global Security.

If You're A Strong Man, You Should Not Feel Threatened By Strong Women.

I Am A Christian. So, I Have A Deep Faith. So I Draw From The Christian Faith...so, I'm Rooted In The Christian Tradition. I Believe That There Are Many Paths To The Same Place.

If You Were Successful, Somebody Along The Line Gave You Some Help. There Was A Great Teacher Somewhere In Your Life.

You Can't Rest On Your Laurels. Your Own Body Of Work Is Yet To Come.

Over The Last Several Days, We Have Heard From Members Of Congress Who Want Their Voices To Be Heard. I Absolutely Agree.

I Think [ Unpopular Presidential Candidates ] Indicates, At Least On The Democratic Side, That We've Got More Work To Do To Strengthen Our Grassroots Networks.

Internationally, I Have Obviously Been Deeply Concerned About How We Fight The Terrorist Threat.

I Think Every Case Is Different. Every Situation Is Different. People Come On The F.b.i.'s Radar Screen For A Variety Of Reasons At A Variety Of Times.

My Advice To African Leaders Is To Make Sure That If, In Fact, China Is Putting In Roads And Bridges, Number One, That They Are Hiring African Workers; Number Two, That The Roads Don't Just Lead From The Mine To The Port To Shanghai.

If You Want Some Additional Money For Your School, We'll Give It To You. But You've Got To Compete, Show Us That You're Going To Reform Your Education System So That Our Children Are Performing Better.

No Development Strategy Can Be Based Only Upon What Comes Out Of The Ground, Nor Can It Be Sustained While Young People Are Out Of Work.

America Will Rise Again. And Hope Will Rise Again.

We All Remember Abraham Lincoln As The Leader Who Saved Our Union. Founder Of The Republican Party.

Let's Take Our Clothes Off And Party

In A World Of Complex Threats, Our Security And Leadership Depends On All Elements Of Our Power - Including Strong And Principled Diplomacy.

There's No Reason Why Americans Should Die When Afghans Are Perfectly Capable Of Defending Their Own Country.

Reinvigorating The Civil Rights Division Of The Justice Department, Making Sure That In Our Department Of Education, Where We See Evidence Of Black Boys Being Suspended At Substantially Higher Rates Than White Boys For The Same Behavior, In The Absence Of That Kind Of Rigorous Enforcement Of The Nondiscrimination Principle, Then The Long-standing Biases That I Believe Have Weakened, But Are Still Clearly Present In Our Society, Assert Themselves In Ways That Usually Disadvantage African Americans.

I Think [obamacare] Will Survive. Or It May Be Called Something Else. And As I Said I Don't Don't Mind.

If You Have A Family Member Who Maybe Is Undocumented, Then You Have An Even Greater Reason To Vote.

Our Alliance With Our Nato Partners Has Been A Cornerstone Of U.s. Foreign Policy For Nearly 70 Years, In Good Times And In Bad And Through Presidents Of Both Parties Because The United States Has A Fundamental Interest In Europe's Stability And Security.

We Are The Change We Have Been Waiting For.

No Job In America Should Go Unfilled Because Somebody Doesn't Have The Right Skills To Get That Job, Nobody. So, If There's A Job Open, We Should Train Those Folks Right Away So That They Can Do The Job.

Thank You, Planned Parenthood. God Bless You.

And, As A Consequence Of The Pressure That We've Applied Over The Last Couple Of Weeks, We Have Syria -- For The First Time -- Acknowledging That It Has Chemical Weapons, Agreeing To Join The Convention That Prohibits The Use Of Chemical Weapons, And The Russians -- Their Primary Sponsors -- Saying That They Will Push Syria To Get All Of Their Chemical Weapons Out. The Distance That We've Traveled Over These Couple Of Weeks Is Remarkable.

Your Voice Can Change The World.

I Don't Care Whether You're Driving A Hybrid Or An Suv. If You're Headed For A Cliff, You Have To Change Direction. That's What The American People Called For In November, And That's What We Intend To Deliver.

I Think I Have A Pretty Good Take On Popular Culture That Maybe Makes Up For The Fact That I'm Not A Sound-bite Politician For The Nightly News.

We Will Not Engage In An Endless Process Of Negotiations.

I Commended Angela [merkel] For Her Leadership Along With President Hollande In Working To Resolve The Conflict In Ukraine. We Continued To Stand With The People Of Ukraine And For The Basic Principle That Nations Have A Right To Determine Their Own Destiny And We Discussed The Importance Of Maintaining Sanctions Until Russia Fully Complies With The Minsk Agreement.

I Have Been Blessed By Having, And I Admittedly Am Biased, Some Of The Smartest, Hardest-working, And Good People In My Administration That I Think Any President Has Ever Had.

Someone Once Said That Every Man Is Trying To Live Up To His Father's Expectations Or Make Up For Their Father's Mistakes.

When I Read History, I [see] What Typically Happens To Presidents And The Other Party During Tumultuous Times And How People React When The Economy Is Collapsing And They're Losing Their Homes, Losing Their Pensions - It Sort Of Tracks, What Ended Up Happening, Because Some Of That Is Human Nature.

For Too Many Of Us, It's Become Safer To Retreat Into Our Own Bubbles, Whether In Our Neighborhoods Or On College Campuses, Or Places Of Worship Or Especially Our Social Media Feeds, Surrounded By People Who Look Like Us And Share The Same Political Outlook And Never Challenge Our Assumptions. And Increasingly, We Become So Secure In Our Bubbles That We Start Accepting Only Information, Whether It's True Or Not, That Fits Our Opinions, Instead Of Basing Our Opinions On The Evidence That Is Out There.

To Avoid Being Mistaken For A Sellout, I Chose My Friends Carefully. The More Politically Active Black Students. The Foreign Students. The Chicanos. The Marxist Professors And Structural Feminists And Punk-rock Performance Poets.

Leather Jackets

I Don't Think That There's A Hard-and-fast Deadline. . . .what We Have Said All Along Is That This Is Not An Open-ended Process, We Are Not In This Just To Talk For Talk's Sake. . . . We Expect Prompt, Concrete Steps To Be Taken Over The Next Couple Of Weeks.

I Believe In Term Limits For Presidents Because I Think That There Is No Doubt I'm A Better President Now Than I Was When I Start. I Would Argue That I Am The Best President I've Ever Been Over The Last Year Or Two. My Team Is More Effective Than It's Ever Been.but What Is Also True Is That Number One, This Is Grueling.

Israel Has Legitimate Concerns About Its Security Relative To Iran. I Mean, You Have A Large Country With A Significant Military That Has Proclaimed That Israel Shouldn't Exist, That Has Denied The Holocaust, That Has Financed Hezbollah, And As A Consequence, There Are Missiles That Are Pointed Towards Tel Aviv. There Are Very Good Reasons Why Israelis Are Nervous About Iran's Position In The World Generally.

I Believe We Can Keep The Promise Of Our Founders, The Idea That If You're Willing To Work Hard, It Doesn't Matter Who You Are Or Where You Come From Or What You Look Like Or Who You Love. It Doesn't Matter Whether You're Black Or White Or Hispanic Or Asian Or Native American Or Young Or Old Or Rich Or Poor, Able, Disabled, Gay Or Straight, You Can Make It Here In America If You're Willing To Try.

Native American

I Opposed The Defense Of Marriage Act In 1996. It Should Be Repealed And I Will Vote For Its Repeal On The Senate Floor. I Will Also Oppose Any Proposal To Amend The U.s. Constitution To Ban Gays And Lesbians From Marrying.

To Try To Blackmail A President Into Giving Them Some Concessions On Issues That Have Nothing To Do With The Budget.

I Want To Express Our Grieve And Condolences To The Families Of Two Hostages: One American, Dr. Warren Weinstein And An Italian Giovanni Laporto Who Were Tragically Killed In A U.s. Counterterrorism Operation.

For Half Of The World's Population, Roughly Three Billion People Around The World Living On Less Than Two Dollars A Day, An Election Is At Best A Means, Not An End; A Starting Point, Not Deliverance. These People Are Looking Less For An "electocracy" Than For The Basic Elements That For Most Of Us Define A Decent Life--food, Shelter, Electricity, Basic Health Care, Education For Their Children, And The Ability To Make Their Way Through Life Without Having To Endure Corruption, Violence, Or Arbitrary Power.

Insist That The First Question Each Of Us Asks Isn't "what's Good For Me?" But "what's Good For The Country My Children Will Inherit?

Whenever I Write A Letter To A Family Who Has Lost A Loved One In Iraq, Or Read An Email From A Constituent Who Has Dropped Out Of College Because Her Student Aid Has Been Cut, I'm Reminded That The Actions Of Those In Power Have Enormous Consequences--a Price That They Themselves Almost Never Have To Pay.

Absolutely. I Think, I Think The American People, At Their Core, Are A Decent People. I Think That We Still Have Prejudice In Our Midst, But I Think That The Vast Majority Of Americans Are Willing, Are Willing To Judge People On The Basis Of Their Ideas And Their Character. And In The Case Of The Presidency, I Think What's Most Important Is Whether The American People Think That You Understand Their Hopes And Dreams And Struggles And Whether They Think You Can Actually Help Them Achieve Those Hopes And Dreams.

I'm Going To Tell The American People What I Believe Will Make This Country Great.

I Don't Think That Any Economist Disputes That We're In The Worst Economic Crisis Since The Great Depression. The Good News Is That We're Getting A Consensus Around What Needs To Be Done.

The Underlying Struggle - Between Worlds Of Plenty And Worlds Of Want; Between The Modern And The Ancient; Between Those Who Embrace Our Teeming, Colliding, Irksome Diversity, While Still Insisting On A Set Of Values That Binds Us Together, And Those Who Would Seek, Under Whatever Flag Or Slogan Or Sacred Text, A Certainty And Simplification That Justifies Cruelty Toward Those Not Like Us.

The Russians Sought To Interfere With The Election Process - That The Cyber Hacking That Took Place By The Russians Was Part Of That Campaign, And That They Had A Clear Preference In Terms Of Outcomes.

Election Process

Mandela's Commitment To Democracy Was Ratified Not Only By His Election, But By His Willingness To Step Down From Power

No Single Nation Should Pick And Choose Which Nations Holds Nuclear Weapons. And That's Why I Strongly Reaffirmed America's Commitment To Seek A World In Which No Nations Hold Nuclear Weapons.

Nuclear Weapons

Short Term, The Most Important Thing Is To Put People Back To Work ... If They're Working, That Means They're Paying Taxes, That Means That They're Buying Goods And Services - And The Economy, Instead Of Being On A Downward Spiral, Starts Back Up On An Upward Spiral.

My Powers Of Empathy, My Ability To Reach Into Another's Heart, Cannot Penetrate The Blank Stares Of Those Who Would Murder Innocents With Abstract, Serene Satisfaction.

It Probably Wouldn't Be Good For Our Economy For A Bunch Of These Jobs To Come Back Because, There's No Way That People Could Be Getting Paid A Living Wage On Some Of These Jobs - At Least In Order To Be Competitive In An International Setting.

I Think What Is True Is That There's Been An Underlying Division In The United States. Some Of It Has To Do With The Fact That Economic Growth And Recovery Tends To Be Stronger In The Cities And In Urban Areas. In Some Rural Areas, Particularly Those That Were Reliant On Manufacturing, There Has Been Weaker Growth, Stagnation, People Feeling As If Their Children Won't Do As Well As They Will.

By Hook Or By Crook, We're Going To Make Sure That When I Leave This Office, That The Country Is More Prosperous, More People Have Opportunity, Kids Have A Better Education, We're More Competitive, Climate Change Is Being Taken More Seriously Than It Was.those Are Going To Be The Measures By Which I Look Back And Say Whether I've Been Successful As President.

This Is Why The Anti-discrimination Principle Being Enforced Is Important. Because It Won't Stop If Some Of The Underlying Biases Aren't Challenged And Surfaced. And That In And Of Itself Creates Backlash And Denial. This Is What I Mean When I Say Better Is Hard.

The Importance Of Making Sure That The Sense Of Accountability When, In Fact, Law Enforcement Is Involved In A Deadly Shooting Is Something That I Think Communities Across The Board Are Going To Need To Consider, We Have A Great Opportunity, Coming Out Of Some Great Conflict And Tragedy, To Really Transform How We Think About Community Law Enforcement Relations So That Everybody Feels Safer And Our Law Enforcement Officers Feel, Rather Than Being Embattled, Feel Fully Supported.

We Should Not Anticipate That Every Time Countries Come Together That We Are Doing Some Revolutionary Thing. Instead Of Hitting Home Runs, Sometimes We're Going To Hit Singles.

You Know, It's Fashionable Right Now For People To Be Cynical. We Go In Cycles Like This And Right Now A Lot Of People Are Saying, 'oh, America Is Doing Terribly' And 'what Are We Going To Do?'

But Do I Think That Our Actions In Anyway Violate The War Powers Resolution, The Answer Is No.

If You Hear What People Had To Say About Abraham Lincoln Or What They Had To Say About Fdr, Or What They Had To Say About Ronald Reagan When He First Came In And Was Trying To Change Our Approach To Government, That Elicited Huge Responses.

In Africa, You Often See That The Difference Between A Village Where Everybody Eats And A Village Where People Starve Is Government. One Has A Functioning Government, And The Other Does Not. Which Is Why It Bothers Me When I Hear People Say That Government Is The Enemy. They Don't Understand Its Fundamental Role.

We Live In A Moment When The Dream Of Equal Opportunity Is Within Reach.

I Don't Regret The Fervor, Because I Do Believe, In The African American Community But Also For Other Communities, And I Know From Talking To People, For Communities Around The World, The Election Of An African American To The Most Powerful Office On Earth Meant Things Had Changed, And Not Just In Superficial Ways. That In Some Irreversible Way The World Was Different.

No U.s. Soldier Ever Dies In Vain Because They're Carrying Out The Missions Of Their Commander In Chief. And We Honor All The Service That They've Provided. Our Troops Have Performed Brilliantly. The Question Is For The Next President, Are We Making Good Judgments About How To Keep America Safe Precisely Because Sending Our Military Into Battle Is Such An Enormous Step.

We Reject The Use Of National Security Letters To Spy On Citizens Who Are Not Suspected Of A Crime.

You Have Social Media And The Internet And Immigration And So, Suddenly, Cultures Are Clashing And People Feel As If They're Less Familiar With The People Around Them. That Causes Social Anxieties.

I Think If You Worked At The Community Level In Chicago And Then A Politician On The South Side Of Chicago, And Worked At The State Level, Then You're Pretty Familiar With All The Variations Of Politics In The African American Community And Criticisms You May Get. If You're Not Familiar With Those Or You Don't Have A Thick Enough Skin To Take It, Then You Probably Wouldn't Have Gotten Here.

African American

Clem (clementa Pinckney) Understood That Justice Grows Out Of Recognition Of Ourselves, In Each Other.

I Can Say Across Europe That Many Principles That Have Been Taken For Granted Here Around Free Speech, And Around Civil Liberties And An Independent Judiciary, And Fighting Corruption, Those Are Principles That, You Know, Not Perfectly But Generally, We Have Tried To Apply Not Just In Our Own Country But Also With Respect To Our Foreign Policy.

From Obama's Book, "the Audacity Of Hope:" "i Am Not Willing To Have The State Deny American Citizens A Civil Union That Confers Equivalent Rights On Such Basic Matters As Hospital Visitation Or Health Insurance Coverage Simply Because The People They Love Are Of The Same Sex - Nor Am I Willing To Accept A Reading Of The Bible That Considers An Obscure Line In Romans To Be More Defining Of Christianity Than The Sermon On The Mount."

People Take Pride In Being Irish-american And Italian-american. They Have A Particular Culture That Infuses The Whole Culture And Makes It Richer And More Interesting. I Think If We Can Expand That Attitude To Embrace African-americans And Latino-americans And Asian-americans, Then We Will Be In A Position Where All Our Kids Can Feel Comfortable With The Worlds They Are Coming Out Of, Knowing They Are Part Of Something Larger.

Number One, It Is Absolutely Critical That We Tone Down The Rhetoric When It Comes To The Immigration Debate, Because There Has Been An Undertone That Has Been Ugly. Oftentimes, It Has Been Directed At The Hispanic Community. We Have Seen Hate Crimes Skyrocket In The Wake Of The Immigration Debate As It Has Been Conducted In Washington, And That Is Unacceptable.

We Don't Turn Back. We Leave No One Behind. We Pull Each Other Up.

Increasing America’s Debt Weakens Us Domestically And Internationally. Leadership Means That 'the Buck Stops Here.' Instead, Washington Is Shifting The Burden Of Bad Choices Today Onto The Backs Of Our Children And Grandchildren. America Has A Debt Problem And A Failure Of Leadership.

Historically, When A Previous Us Administration Enters Into An Agreement, It Carries Forward Into The Future Administration.

We Must Begin By Acknowledging A Hard Truth. We Will Not Eradicate Violent Conflict In Our Lifetimes. There Will Be Times When Nations, Acting Individually Or In Concert, Will Find The Use Of Force Not Only Necessary But Morally Justified.

I've Now Been In 57 States. I Think One Left To Go.

There Are Times Where I'd Say The Oval Office, You Use To Gather The Facts. The Decisions You Probably Make Late At Night, Or At Least I Do. But There Are Some Times Where You Think You've Made A Decision, But During That Walk, Where You're Announcing The Decision, You've Just Got To Make Sure That, You're Prepared To Live With It, Because As You Know George, A Lot Of These Decisions Are Not - The Outcomes Are Uncertain.

As I Said In My State Of The Union Address Ensuring The Security Of The United States And The Safety Of Our People Demands A Smart, Patient And Disciplined Approach To The World.

Why Hang Out With Celebrities When I Can Hang Out With The People Who Made Me One?

Now Is The Time For All Of Us To Take Our Share Of Responsibility For A Global Response To Global Challenges.

You Don't Like Dealing With Somebody Who Denies Horrible Things Happening To Your People Or Threatens Future Horrible Things To Your People.

A Better Politics Is One Where We Appeal To Each Other’s Basic Decency Instead Of Our Basest Fears.

I Think Donald Trump Is Going To Try As Best He Can To Make Sure That He Delivers Not Only To The People Who Voted For Him But For The People At Large And The Good Thing Is That There Are Going To Be Elections Coming Up So There's A Built-in Incentive For Him To Try To Do That.

I Know The American People. I've Met A Lot Of Them. I've Met A Lot More Of Them Than Any Columnist Has, Or Any Talking Head On Tv Has. And They're Pretty Sophisticated.

The Day I'm Inaugurated, This Country Looks At Itself Differently And The World Looks At America Differently. If You Believe That We've Got To Heal America And We've Got To Repair Our Standing In The World, Then I Think My Supporters Believe That I Am A Messenger Who Can Deliver That Message Around The World In A Way That No Other Candidate Can Do.

It's Good To Get Fresh Legs In [the White House]. I Think That It Refreshes Our Democracy.

Pastor Saeed Abedini Is Coming Home. Held For Three And A Half Years, His Unyielding Faith Has Inspired People Around The World In The Global Fight To Uphold Freedom Of Religion. Now Pastor Abedini Will Return To His Church And Community In Idaho.

The Day After The Attack, Governor, I Stood In The Rose Garden And I Told The American People And The World That We Are Going To Find Out Exactly What Happened. That This Was An Act Of Terror And I Also Said That We're Going To Hunt Down Those Who Committed This Crime.

We've Endured Too Many Tragedies. And Each Time I Learn The News I React Not As A President, But As Anybody Else Would - As A Parent.

This Is Not Class Warfare. It’s Math.

If You Think That We've Overregulated In The Environmental Space What I Can Show You Is That We Have Tripled The Amount Of Wind Power In This Country, Increased By Tenfold The Amount Of Solar Power. We Are Producing As Much Oil And Gas As We've Ever Produced.

Jesus Christ Is The Lord. I Believe In That.

There Are Very Few Moments In Our Lives Where We Have The Privilege To Witness History Taking Place. This Is One Of Those Moments. This Is One Of Those Times.

What We've Seen At Least Since 1979 Is Iran Making Constant, Calculated Decisions That Allow It To Preserve The Regime, To Expand Their Influence Where They Can, To Be Opportunistic, To Create What They View As Hedges Against Potential Israeli Attack In The Form Of Hezbollah And Other Proxies In The Region.

We, The People, Recognize That We Have Responsibilities As Well As Rights; That Our Destinies Are Bound Together; That A Freedom Which Only Asks What's In It For Me, A Freedom Without A Commitment To Others, A Freedom Without Love Or Charity Or Duty Or Patriotism, Is Unworthy Of Our Founding Ideals, And Those Who Died In Their Defense.

But Let Me Perfectly Clear, Because I Know You'll Hear The Same Old Claims That Rolling Back These Tax Breaks Means A Massive Tax Increase On The American People: If Your Family Earns Less Than $250,000 A Year, You Will Not See Your Taxes Increased A Single Dime. I Repeat: Not One Single Dime.

Fdr, Jfk, Lbj [all Democratic Presidents ] We Have A Pretty Long List Of Presidents Who Maybe Were Not Entirely Forthcoming With Intelligence Information Before They Went To War, So I'd Be Cautious Against Making Legal Cases Against The Administration.

The World Is Complicated And Full Of Grays, But There's Still Truth There To Be Found.

The True Test Of The American Ideal Is Whether We're Able To Recognize Our Failings And Then Rise Together To Meet The Challenges Of Our Time. Whether We Allow Ourselves To Be Shaped By Events And History, Or Whether We Act To Shape Them. Whether Chance Of Birth Or Circumstance Decides Life's Big Winners And Losers, Or Whether We Build A Community Where, At The Very Least, Everyone Has A Chance To Work Hard, Get Ahead, And Reach Their Dreams.

No Challenge Poses A Greater Threat To Future Generations Than Climate Change.

One Of The Things I've Learned About Being President Is That We'll Work On Issues For Long Periods Of Time, Sometimes In Obscurity.

I've Been Fighting With Acorn, Alongside Acorn, On Issues You Care About, My Entire Career.

To Break Our Addiction To Oil Is One Of The Greatest Challenges That Our Generation Will Have To Master.

That May Prevent Us From Getting A Deal Done, It Is There To Be Had. Whether Ultimately Iran Can Seize That Opportunity - We Will Have To Wait And See, But It Is Not For Lack Of Trying On Our Part.

We Are Reaching A Tipping Where The Pace Of Settlements, During The Course Of My Presidency Has Gotten So Substantial That It's Getting Harder And Harder To Imagine An Effective, Contiguous Palestinian State. And I Think It Would Have Long-term Consequences For Peace And Security In The Region, And The United States, Because Of Our Investment In The Region, And Because We Care So Deeply About Israel, I Think Has A Legitimate Interest In Saying To A Friend, "this Is A Problem."

I Have To Say That My Kids, Like Every Child In America, Is Completely Absorbed With Harry Potter. And So, I Have Gotten Sucked Into It, Too; I Can't Wait For The Next One To Come Out. I Am Trying To Figure Out What Happens With Harry And Voldemort. So We Have Been Reading That.

If We're Going To Prevent People From Being Susceptible To The False Promises Of Extremism, Then The International Community Has To Offer Something Better And The United States Intends To Do Its Part.

When Michelle And I Decided That I Would Run For President, It Was Because Of A Shared Belief In The Power Of Community And Connection, A Commitment To The Idea That We Are Our Brothers' Keepers.

But Having Made My Decision As Commander-in-chief Based On What I Am Convinced Is Our National Security Interests, I Will Seek Authorization For The Use Of Force From The American People's Representatives In Congress.

My Identity Might Begin With The Fact Of My Race, But It Didn't, Couldn't End There. At Least That's What I Would Choose To Believe.

We Are In What We Hope Is An Intensive Diplomatic Phase Now. It Will Not Be Open-ended.

I've Been Saying For Years, We're Gonna Have To Spend A Lot More Time On Cyber Security.

Obviously, If Congress Wants To Talk About Anything, We're Happy To Provide Information. We're Committed To Moving Forward Under The Current Act.

We Have Proved That The True Strength Of Our Nation Comes Not From The Scale Of Our Wealth But From The Power Of Our Ideals - Opportunity, Democracy, Liberty And Hope.

I Haven't Been Sorting Through Each And Every Aspect Of This. Here's What I Know: Hillary Clinton Was An Outstanding Secretary Of State. She Would Never Intentionally Put America In Any Kind Of Jeopardy.' Mr. Wallace Pressed Further On The Jeopardy Angle, And Mr. Obama Responded Again: 'i Continue To Believe That She Has Not Jeopardized America's National Security. Now What I've Also Said Is That - And She Has Acknowledged - That There's A Carelessness, In Terms Of Managing Emails...'"

We Are A People Of Improbable Hope.

We Honor Those Who Walked So We Could Run. We Must Run So Our Children Soar. And We Will Not Grow Weary.

It Would Be Naive Of Me To Suggest That With Russia Committed Militarily, As It Is, To Supporting What In Many Cases Are Barbarous Tactics By The Assad Regime To Crush The Opposition.

There's No Straight Line To Progress.

Donald Trump Will Be The Next President, The 45th President Of The United States. And It Will Be Up To Him To Set Up A Team That He Thinks Will Serve Him Well And Reflect His Policies. It Takes A While For People To Reconcile Themselves With That New Reality. Hopefully, It`s A Reminder That Elections Matter. I Think It`s Important For Us To Let Him Make His Decisions, And I Think The American People Will Judge Over The Course Of The Next Couple Of Years Whether They Like What They See.

When I Ran For The U.s. Senate The Assumption Was That Anyone's Name That Was Close To "osama" Doesn't Stand A Chance. So If Somebody Thought That Tacking On "hussein" In There Would Be A Killer, Then I Think They Underestimate The American People And The Seriousness Of The Problems We Face.

We Created A Whole Lot Of Millionaires To Boot. Businesses Did Just Fine. And You Know There Are Plenty Of Patriotic, Successful Americans All Across The Country -- I Meet Them Every Day -- Who'd Be Willing To Make This Contribution Again Because They Understand There Is Such A Thing As The Common Good. They Understand That We're In This Thing Together.

If I Did Not Love America, I Wouldn't Have Moved Here From Kenya.

I'm About To Embark On What May Be As Important As An Initiative As Anything I Do As President, Trying To Nudge The World In The Direction Of Doing Something Serious About Climate Change.

I’m Asking You To Believe. Not Just In My Ability To Bring About Real Change In Washington...i’m Asking You To Believe In Yours.

If You Give Up On The Idea That Your Voice Can Make A Difference, Then Other Voices Will Fill The Void: Lobbyists And Special Interests; The People With The $10 Million Checks Who Are Trying To Buy This Election And Those Who Are Making It Harder For You To Vote; Washington Politicians Who Want To Decide Who You Can Marry, Or Control Health Care Choices That Women Should Make For Themselves.

The Iranian Regime Supports Violent Extremists And Challenges Us Across The Region. It Pursues A Nuclear Capability That Could Spark A Dangerous Arms Race And Raise The Prospect Of A Transfer Of Nuclear Know-how To Terrorists. Its President Denies The Holocaust And Threatens To Wipe Israel Off The Map. The Danger From Iran Is Grave, It Is Real.

My God, Donald Trump Is Unfit! He's Ill-tempered, He's Unsuited, He Is Not Qualified, He's Unsuited To Be President.

I Would Say To People Is, That Investigation, As It Has Already Been Stated, Is A Marathon And Not A Sprint. But It Is One Of Great Concern To The American People. And So We're Committed To Keeping People Informed.

Look, Americans Will Go For Leadership That Makes Sense. Our Job, You Know, As Public Officials, Is Not To Put Our Finger In The Air. Our Job Is To Listen, And Then Lead.

I Would Not Have The Justice Department Prosecuting And Raiding Medical Marijuana Users. It's Not A Good Use Of Our Resources.

To Those Americans Whose Support I Have Yet To Earn, I May Not Have Won Your Vote Tonight, But I Hear Your Voices. I Need Your Help. And I Will Be Your President, Too.

For The First Time In Our History, The Winners Of The White House Turkey Pardon Were Chosen Through A Highly Competitive Online Vote. And Once Again, Nate Silver Completely Nailed It. The Guy Is Amazing.

Constitution Is A Living Document; No Strict Constructionism.

My Hope Is That The President-elect [donald Trump] Coming In Takes A Similarly Constructive Approach, Finding Areas Where We Can Cooperate With Russia, Where Our Values And Interests Align. But That The President-elect Also Is Willing To Stand Up To Russia Where They Are Deviating From Our Values And International Norms.

Some May Still Deny The Overwhelming Judgment Of Science.

Poorly Secured Nuclear Material In The Former Soviet Union, Or Secrets From A Scientist In Pakistan Could Help Build A Bomb That Detonates In Paris. The Poppies In Afghanistan Become The Heroin In Berlin. The Poverty And Violence In Somalia Breeds The Terror Of Tomorrow.

We Seem To Have Trouble With [critical Thinking]. And Our Political System Doesn't Help.

It's The Answer Told By Lines That Stretched Around Schools And Churches In Numbers This Nation Has Never Seen; By People Who Waited Three Hours And Four Hours, Many For The Very First Time In Their Lives, Because They Believed That This Time Must Be Different, That Their Voice Could Be That Difference.

Generally The Constitution Is A Charter Of Negative Liberties, Says What The States Can't Do To You, Says What The Federal Government Can't Do To You. But It Doesn't Say What The State Or Federal Government Must Do On Your Behalf.

It Is My View That If Society Was Doing The Right Thing With Respect To You, [and There Were] Programs Targeted At Helping People Rise Into The Middle Class And Have A Good Income And Be Able To Save And Send Their Kids To School, And You've Got A Vigorous Enforcement Of Anti-discrimination Laws, Then I Have Confidence In The Black Community's Capabilities To Then Move Forward.

Our Vulnerability To Russia Or Any Other Foreign Power Is Directly Related To How Divided, Partisan, Dysfunctional Our Political Process Is. That's The Thing That Makes Us Vulnerable.

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