State of Your Union

Last month, I went to Andrews Air Force Base and welcomed home some of our last troops to serve in Iraq. Together, we offered a final, proud salute to the colors under which more than a million of our fellow citizens fought - and several thousand gave their lives.

We gather tonight knowing that this generation of heroes has made the United States safer and more respected around the world. For the first time in nine years, there are no Americans fighting in Iraq. For the first time in two decades, Osama bin Laden is not a threat to this country. Most of al Qaeda's top lieutenants have been defeated. The Taliban's momentum has been broken, and some troops in Afghanistan have begun to come home.

Killing terrorist leaders does little to stop terrorists from hating you. Lieutenants are easily replaced. Momentum may be all it takes to win an American election but it has little to do with fighting a holy war. Nine years is endless to Americans. Thousands of casualties are unacceptable. But your enemies are prepared to fight and martyr themselves generation after generation. This war will not end in your lifetime.


Imagine what we could accomplish if we followed their example. Think about the America within our reach: A country that leads the world in educating its people. An America that attracts a new generation of high-tech manufacturing and high-paying jobs. A future where we're in control of our own energy, and our security and prosperity aren't so tied to unstable parts of the world. An economy built to last, where hard work pays off, and responsibility is rewarded.

A country that truly cares about children does not have one of the worst educational systems in the developed world. You have some pretty good universities but you also have high schools that graduate children who cannot read. There is no guarantee of health cover for children. In fact, many Americans are fighting very hard to make sure that children are not covered. And some of the food you serve your children should be considered child endangerment.


They understood they were part of something larger; that they were contributing to a story of success that every American had a chance to share - the basic American promise that if you worked hard, you could do well enough to raise a family, own a home, send your kids to college, and put a little away for retirement.

The defining issue of our time is how to keep that promise alive. No challenge is more urgent. No debate is more important. We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by. Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules. What's at stake are not Democratic values or Republican values, but American values. We have to reclaim them.

I don’t think this exists in America anymore. Nobody works at one place their entire adult life. Pensions are no longer enough to keep you and your wife healthy and happy for the rest of your days. A single income today cannot sustain a family. Hard work is not enough for a house, two cars in the garage, higher education for the children.


We should start with our tax code. Right now, companies get tax breaks for moving jobs and profits overseas. Meanwhile, companies that choose to stay in America get hit with one of the highest tax rates in the world. It makes no sense, and everyone knows it.

So let's change it. First, if you're a business that wants to outsource jobs, you shouldn't get a tax deduction for doing it. That money should be used to cover moving expenses for companies like Master Lock that decide to bring jobs home.
Second, no American company should be able to avoid paying its fair share of taxes by moving jobs and profits overseas. From now on, every multinational company should have to pay a basic minimum tax. And every penny should go towards lowering taxes for companies that choose to stay here and hire here.

The cost of living in America is much higher than places like China and India. You can easily hire seven Chinese to do the same job as one American. Anybody who went to any business school will tell you that seven workers are more productive than one. Chinese workers do not demand overtime pay, sick days, paid vacations. Chinese workers do not have unions.


We're also making it easier for American businesses to sell products all over the world. Two years ago, I set a goal of doubling U.S. exports over five years. With the bipartisan trade agreements I signed into law, we are on track to meet that goal - ahead of schedule. Soon, there will be millions of new customers for American goods in Panama, Colombia, and South Korea. Soon, there will be new cars on the streets of Seoul imported from Detroit, and Toledo, and Chicago.

I will go anywhere in the world to open new markets for American products. And I will not stand by when our competitors don't play by the rules. We've brought trade cases against China at nearly twice the rate as the last administration - and it's made a difference. Over a thousand Americans are working today because we stopped a surge in Chinese tires. But we need to do more. It's not right when another country lets our movies, music, and software be pirated. It's not fair when foreign manufacturers have a leg up on ours only because they're heavily subsidized.

Tonight, I'm announcing the creation of a Trade Enforcement Unit that will be charged with investigating unfair trade practices in countries like China. There will be more inspections to prevent counterfeit or unsafe goods from crossing our borders. And this Congress should make sure that no foreign company has an advantage over American manufacturing when it comes to accessing finance or new markets like Russia. Our workers are the most productive on Earth, and if the playing field is level, I promise you - America will always win.

The part about going anywhere in the world is funny. American corporations will boycott entire countries if they are less profitable than their neighbours. There are more American products in China than Taiwan because China will not let you sell to both and they have far more customers. American corporations that sell in Israel are banned from most Arab countries. 300 million Arab customers are more profitable than 8 million Israeli customers. Especially when American corporations rarely do well in Israel.


I also hear from many business leaders who want to hire in the United States but can't find workers with the right skills. Growing industries in science and technology have twice as many openings as we have workers who can do the job. Think about that - openings at a time when millions of Americans are looking for work.

That goes back to poor education. When the next generation can only write in Internet English, you are screwed.


At a time when other countries are doubling down on education, tight budgets have forced States to lay off thousands of teachers. We know a good teacher can increase the lifetime income of a classroom by over $250,000. A great teacher can offer an escape from poverty to the child who dreams beyond his circumstance. Every person in this chamber can point to a teacher who changed the trajectory of their lives. Most teachers work tirelessly, with modest pay, sometimes digging into their own pocket for school supplies - just to make a difference.

Most of the developed world invests in education. We all realise that today’s children are tomorrow’s adults. The US either does not understand this basic truth or does not care. Whenever a budget must be cut it is education that they cut first. People who care about their children would not do that.


Of course, it's not enough for us to increase student aid. We can't just keep subsidizing skyrocketing tuition; we'll run out of money. States also need to do their part, by making higher education a higher priority in their budgets. And colleges and universities have to do their part by working to keep costs down. Recently, I spoke with a group of college presidents who've done just that. Some schools re-design courses to help students finish more quickly. Some use better technology. The point is, it's possible. So let me put colleges and universities on notice: If you can't stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down. Higher education can't be a luxury - it's an economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford.

Universities are expensive all over the world. At least the good universities are. This is not a uniquely American problem. But there is one American university that is offering free scholarships to any students who want to attend, provided they meet the entrance requirements. If you are a high school student looking for a free education, look up Antioch College in Ohio.


Let's also remember that hundreds of thousands of talented, hardworking students in this country face another challenge: The fact that they aren't yet American citizens. Many were brought here as small children, are American through and through, yet they live every day with the threat of deportation. Others came more recently, to study business and science and engineering, but as soon as they get their degree, we send them home to invent new products and create new jobs somewhere else.
That doesn't make sense.

American immigration policy has always seemed queer to me. The country was stolen and built by immigrants. Almost all Americans are descendants of immigrants. Yet most Americans have a deep xenophobia of immigrants. They also seem to think that their country is overrun with immigrants when only about 10% of their population was born elsewhere. That is nothing compared to Israel and most Arab states. Even countries that nobody wants to fight over like Switzerland, Canada, Australia have a larger percentage of immigrants.


Innovation also demands basic research. Today, the discoveries taking place in our federally-financed labs and universities could lead to new treatments that kill cancer cells but leave healthy ones untouched. New lightweight vests for cops and soldiers that can stop any bullet. Don't gut these investments in our budget. Don't let other countries win the race for the future. Support the same kind of research and innovation that led to the computer chip and the Internet; to new American jobs and new American industries.

There was a time when the rest of the world looked to the US and France to find the cures to diseases. Now far more medical breakthroughs come from Germany and Israel. Even China and India devote more time and energy to medical research.

Americans seem to have an idea that advancing anything in the medical field is bad. Medical cover would make you a Soviet style communist dictatorship and medical research is a direct insult to God. There is something fundamentally wrong with this.


But with only 2 percent of the world's oil reserves, oil isn't enough. This country needs an all-out, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy - a strategy that's cleaner, cheaper, and full of new jobs.

It would not take much for the US to go into rehab and recover from its oil dependency. But when you are a recovering addict you have to stay away from the dealers and not be tempted by their sweet shiny oil.


During the Great Depression, America built the Hoover Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge. After World War II, we connected our States with a system of highways. Democratic and Republican administrations invested in great projects that benefited everybody, from the workers who built them to the businesses that still use them today.

You also had a strong leader who could get things done and a popular war that most Americans supported. Even when the power shifted from the Roosevelt-Truman Democrats to the Eisenhower Republicans there was broad public support. None of that is true today.


We don't begrudge financial success in this country. We admire it. When Americans talk about folks like me paying my fair share of taxes, it's not because they envy the rich. It's because they understand that when I get tax breaks I don't need and the country can't afford, it either adds to the deficit, or somebody else has to make up the difference - like a senior on a fixed income; or a student trying to get through school; or a family trying to make ends meet. That's not right. Americans know it's not right. They know that this generation's success is only possible because past generations felt a responsibility to each other, and to their country's future, and they know our way of life will only endure if we feel that same sense of shared responsibility. That's how we'll reduce our deficit. That's an America built to last.

Americans love to complain about taxes. Yet you have some of the lowest tax rates in the world. Your state sales taxes are much lower than most of our VATs. Your income tax rates are nothing compared to some European countries.


Anyone who tells you otherwise, anyone who tells you that America is in decline or that our influence has waned, doesn't know what they're talking about. That's not the message we get from leaders around the world, all of whom are eager to work with us. That's not how people feel from Tokyo to Berlin; from Cape Town to Rio; where opinions of America are higher than they've been in years. Yes, the world is changing; no, we can't control every event. But America remains the one indispensable nation in world affairs - and as long as I'm President, I intend to keep it that way.

If you want to be an American president you cannot say that China will be number one pretty soon. But from what I have seen people around the world are not too impressed with the US lately. The people of Cape Town don’t worship you. Not even close. Japan is still grateful for all that post war aid, but they have moved on with their lives. Even the Philippines, which used to love everything American, has moved on to an unhealthy obsession with Korean pop culture.


One of my proudest possessions is the flag that the SEAL Team took with them on the mission to get bin Laden. On it are each of their names. Some may be Democrats. Some may be Republicans. But that doesn't matter. Just like it didn't matter that day in the Situation Room, when I sat next to Bob Gates - a man who was George Bush's defense secretary; and Hillary Clinton, a woman who ran against me for president.

That dig against Clinton just makes Obama look like a dick.


So it is with America. Each time I look at that flag, I'm reminded that our destiny is stitched together like those fifty stars and those thirteen stripes. No one built this country on their own. This Nation is great because we built it together. This Nation is great because we worked as a team. This Nation is great because we get each other's backs. And if we hold fast to that truth, in this moment of trial, there is no challenge too great; no mission too hard. As long as we're joined in common purpose, as long as we maintain our common resolve, our journey moves forward, our future is hopeful, and the state of our Union will always be strong.

This obligatory patriotic ending only points out some of the reasons you are having so many problems right now. You are not working as a team. You do not have each other’s backs. Unless knives are involved. You do not rise up to challenges the way you used to. Nobody is willing to sacrifice anything for the greater good. You do not have a common purpose. You have multiple agendas that don’t work well together.